August

Sandy Alderson answers some questions. Notably, he mentions that really good teams aren't built on star players. Fans come out to see a team with personality. That's true. I like a team with a good personality. And as the Yankees have shown in recent years, it takes a little something more than having every single dude that nobody else can afford. The upshot of having a charismatic team is that it's also the best way to build a losing team. If you have a losing team with a bunch of superstars, your fans hate you. If you have a lovable losing team -- say, the Bad News Bears or the Cleveland Indians back when Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger were playing -- then a losing season is easier to take also. It's a very clever and sneaky way to keep people buying season tickets.

One other thing that's notable is this quote:

If you read between the lines a little bit, he's saying, "Quit screwing around with the stupid small ball game. Play for the big inning." Really, for the small ball game to work, you have to have players who can run the bases, and right now, the only player who can run the bases effectively is Robert Fick. Nobody else. The rest of them suck. Fick's the only player I've seen consistently take that extra base when it's available. Nobody else moves from first to third on base hits anymore. People take ill advised steals. Outs are wasted in bunting runners from second to third. Silly things. Let's play for the big inning. No more of this, Well we only came away with one run there, but at least we had 3 men on base. It's not all On Base Percentage. OBP has this team confused. Forget that if you can't implement it properly. It's all about runs.

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In other news, I went to watch Jess's soccer game last night and I ran into John Weisbarth. I was standing in the middle of the open area between the soccer fields and he came jogging out of the office. I stepped in front of him and said, "Hello, Weisbarth."

I think he was a little shocked to see me. There may have been a little fear in his eyes. He said, "Oh. Hey there, man. How's it going.... Ummm..."

"Dex," I said. "It's me, Dex."

"Oh that's right. You fixed my car."

"No, we met at that thing..."

"Right. Well have fun playing soccer! Watch Channel 4!"

And then he jogged off leaving my heart a titter.