Congrats to the Red Sox on their World Series victory or whatever. Stephen said it best in the comments:
Nothing warms my heart more than seeing Tom Werner standing on the podium to accept the WS trophy.
For those who may have forgotten why we detest Werner in these parts, here’s a handy reminder. Aside from the fact that he almost destroyed baseball in San Diego, I’ve got no real problems with the guy.
To the winter leagues…
Friday, October 26
- East Rising Stars 3, West Rising Stars 2 (box | recap). Matt Antonelli batted second and went 0-for-2 with a walk. Interesting that he bats in the #7 or #8 hole for the Saguaros but moves to #2 in a “showcase game.” (Speaking of Antonelli, the second entry in Sunday’s U-T letters to the editor is hilarious. Sample size, anyone?)
Saturday, October 27
- Scottsdale 3, Saguaros 0 (box | recap). Will Venable went 1-for-4. Started in right field and batted cleanup again. Antonelli also went 1-for-4 in the #8 hole. Jonathan Ellis needed six pitches to work a perfect eighth.
- Navojoa 4, Mexicali 1 (box). Oscar Robles went 2-for-4 with a double for Navojoa. Robles has played only shortstop this winter, but he’s been mentioned as a possible successor to Marcus Giles at second base in 2008. Luis Cruz, playing third base, went hitless in four at-bats. Fernando Valenzuela, days short of his 47th birthday, pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief for Mexicali.
- Caracas 2, Aragua 1 (box). Paul Abraham worked a scoreless eighth in this 14-inning affair. Ex-Padre Eric Cyr got the start and worked five solid innings.
Sunday, October 28
- Navojoa 8, Mexicali 2 (box). Robles singled twice in three at-bats, and started two double plays in the field. He’s hitting .282/.363/.394 in 71 at-bats. Cruz, again at third, went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, his second of the season. He’s at .220/.288/.322 in 59 at-bats.
Rained wiped out most Dominican games over the weekend. Their Sunday scores were unavailable as of this writing.
Tunes: Alison Krauss/Robert Plant, Pinback, Silverchair.
50: I’ll miss Little, though. He was basically incompetent.
That’s the thing: the other definition of Moneyball is “sabermetrically oriented.” That’s what the detractors complain about: too much emphasis on walks and power and not enough on stolen bases and bunts etc.
#52: Which, of course, means they’re misunderstanding sabermetrics as well.