- Daedalus discusses her trip to Cincinnati, and her disappointment in the Reds.
- Jerry Narron on not bunting Aurilia:
Shoot - you're going to take the bat out of the hands of the guy who's been your hottest hitter over the last 10 days? Not me.
Managing with the heart again I suppose.
- Brian Erts is guest starring over at Baseball Analysts.
- Being a Reds fan is like getting hit in the head with a shovel. I don't disagree with that at all.
- Dmitri Young is available. I wouldn't mind him as a bat off the bench next year.
- The Red Sox really don't have anyone but themselves to blame for not making the playoffs this year. They've traded away three pretty good pitchers this year in Arroyo, Anibal Sanchez, and Cla Meredith. They're 11th in the AL in ERA.
- I'm not sure we need to worry about the Pirates anytime soon. Their hitting coach:
"People with their numbers ... they are trying to get so particular," said Manto, whose club's batting average of .267 was sixth in the National League prior to last night.
"You can drive yourself crazy with these newer numbers."
Manto is admittedly biased against the "nu skool" numbers that have come to dominate discussions among a culture of statistics starved fans.
For starters, Manto is no fan of on-base percentage, partly because he believes its emphasis on walks does not take into account that a base-on-balls is not always a desired or productive result.
- I'm starting to think Joe Posnanski is the best sportswriter in America. Anyone who can make the Royals interesting is pretty amazingly talented.