Michael Lewis on Motley Fool

Fool.com: Don't Listen to Buffett [Commentary] October 26, 2004

"If we weren't doing things this way already and we were starting afresh, would we do things this [same] way?"

A great quote summing up Bill James' approach to baseball analysis and a good idea to keep in your head. Overall, looks like a mildly interesting series of articles with the author of that baseball book. But at what point does Lewis get sick of the Moneyball questions?

And do I get extra "moneyball" credit for suggesting that Lewis co-wrote the Motley Fool articles about himself...? (background here)

Eminem

Will Carroll Presents...: Eminem

"There is no frickin' way that this one's going to end up on MTV, even after the election."

Just follow the link through Will's site to the video.

Fun with Pictures

Build a better Bush

That Fenway-Nike Commercial

I don't understand the new Nike commercial. What's the "it" you're supposed to "Just do"??

Sit there like a bump on a log for 80 years?

Conflicting Priorities

Stone: Yankees Lose

"You'd think a self-styled baseball blog would have some commentary on the baseball story of the season. But, alack, no."

I think this has got to be one of the first times in the history of mankind that a boss has called out an employee for not blogging enough about baseball. This, folks, is historic.

Stink

Before their current series against the Red Sox, the A's had won 16 of their last 19 games. Normally, a record like that suggests the team is playing good baseball.

Well, the A's haven't looked like a good baseball team at all over the last four games. They've lost three games and are well on their way to losing their fourth in a row, the last three of these losses against the Red Sox. The Sox have outplayed the A's in every regard: pitching, defense, patience at the plate, power, you name it...

Normally, I like to look at the stats to back up my claims, but I can't bear to look deeper. We can all see with our bare eyes that the A's really don't belong on the field with the Sox right now. This isn't making me feel very good about (A) the A's chances of making the playoffs or (B) doing anything in the playoffs, should they make it at all.

And while I'm griping, why is it that I recently find myself screaming at the TV, "THROW STRIKES" whenever the A's are pitching?

UPDATE: 8-0 Sox in the middle of the fourth, with Tim Hudson already bounced from the game. Ugh.

Plight of An A's fan

Here they go again...

"Argh - it's hard to decide which team to root against, the Sox or the Yanks. I usually despise the Yanks above all else, but visions of "Li" and "lly" taped on red jackets and the idiocy of Cowboying Up are being revived by the September weather." - Comment from Nikolai

Absolutely. Another conflict I'm having is whether or not I want the Yankees to miss the post-season entirely. It's not ridiculously out of the question at this point that the A's, Angels and Red Sox could all sneak past the Yankees, leaving the Bronx Bombers out of the postseason for the first time in ages... But that would put the Angels and the Red Sox in the post-season, and I don't really like them either.

I guess I'll just have to root against all three teams and hope the Rangers make the playoffs. I don't hate them yet...