Shimmering Wang

Well, my Cubs/Reds under is toast. Final score prediction:Cubs 8, Reds 7Wang

Of course. It's so I can make a Spinal Tap joke."These go to eleven."

I posted these in the "GIANTS FANS ARE THE DUMBEST IN ALL OF BASEBALL" thread, but it doesn't belong there. I go to these sites -- and a few more -- every day. I spend more time reading about baseball than anything else. Here's a cross-section of my daily bases stuff.Enjoy.1) Fangraphshttp://www.fangraphs.comThese guys are awesome nerds, and the site has mini-articles written and posted more than daily. Their stats collections are near peerless.2) USS Marinerhttp://www.ussmariner.comA Mariners fan site. I read it daily even though I'm not a Mariners fan because these guys are shockingly goo

Yeah, I kinda wish I'd been watching it on MLB.tv instead of just the gamecast. Sometimes when I get nervous I just shut down the tv feed and switch to even more-agonizing gamecast feeds.But it was pretty hilarious to see the updated gamecast commentary. 4 borderline pitches, and then "Matt Kemp walks. Doug Brocail ejected."

1) Fangraphshttp://www.fangraphs.comThese guys are awesome nerds, and the site has mini-articles written and posted more than daily. Their stats collections are near peerless.2) USS Marinerhttp://www.ussmariner.comA Mariners fan site. I read it daily even though I'm not a Mariners fan because these guys are shockingly good. Just fantastic. Dave Cameron also contributes to fangraphs.3) MLB Trade Rumorshttp://www.mlbtraderumors.comExactly what it sounds like.4) Joe Posnanskihttp://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/Joe writes for the KC Star, and started a blog to promote his Buck O'Neill Buck "The So

If anybody wants, I'll link you guys to all my daily baseball reading. I just use an iGoogle homepage, and click to my heart's content for 3 hours each morning/afternoon. Some of it is analysis, and some is a little lighter, but all of it is really good.

How I wish I were Asian...Advanced statistics were created so baseball could be more thoroughly and objectively quantified, to eliminate the subjective, old-time-mythological analysis that is so prevalent in the game I love.

For the afternoon:Two totals, I submit for your consideration:Reds/Cubs under 11.0 (1x)This has NO CHANCE of cashing. Arroyo and Lilly are going to get slapped around like rag dolls. The score is going to be 9-4 Cubs by the 5th.Brewers/Rockies under 9.5 -110 (1x) I actually like this play, which terrifies me. Apart from that, it's mostly an action play.And one side:Reds +161 (1x)

I will have a response to this at some point today. You make some reasonable points, but they ignore some key aspects of Griffey's Jr. and Bonds's careers. Since WARP (Wins above replacement level) uses defensive metrics (including FRAR, which has come under some criticism recently), I'll direct you to a purely offensive statistic. RunsCreated per 27 Outs. How many runs per game would a team of JUST this player score? http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=OFhttp://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=OFI linked to Griffey's and Bonds's pages on fangraphs (

I am the worst thing that has ever happened to... well, anyone. Of course I was on the Indians tonight.

Results: 2-4, -.62x

5 Run Leads Blow So Far Tonight: 2And it's only 1030!EDIT: I just saw that the run that will ultimately cost me the game that scored in the SECOND of the Blown 5-run leads crossed the plat on a balk. That's just precious. This day had 4-2 5x written all over it, and instead I'm going to be 2-4, -2x. ****ing awesome.

You can make an argument for Pujols with the Cardinals in '06 as the "consensus" best player in the game. Close enough for my tastes.Sabean was/is a terrible GM, but as long as you're not suggesting it's:a) in any way Barry Bonds fault that the Giants did not win the World SeriesB) Barry Bonds would somehow make a team that has him LESS likely to win the World Seriesthen we're okay. As long as you're not even hinting at either of those two things. Yes, Sabean is retarded. Yes, he threw money at turds like Aurilia and Vizquel and I don't even KNOW who else, but that has nothing to do with B

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/bondsba01.phphttp://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/griffke02.phpGriffey was awesome, but even if we look at their respective careers before the age of 34 (around when Bonds started juicing), it's still not really close. Look at those WARP 3 numbers. Bonds blows Griffey away WELL BEFORE there was any steroid use. Bonds's OBP was well over .400 ever year, while Griffey rarely did. And other geek stuff I won't get into. Suffice it to say, it's not really all that close.Wang

5 Run Leads Blown So Far Tonight: 1

I'm willing to bet steroids has a far, far lesser impact that the average baseball fan thinks it does. It's probably minimal. There's a good website that tackles the steroid question objectively, and comes to some pretty dismissive conclusions. Lemme see if I can find it.Wang

I took this screen-capture a while back while sweating a Dodgers bet. I thought I would share

I tend to respect your opinions, but this is the kind of sentiment that makes no sense to me. Barry Bonds was probably the greatest baseball player of all time. They almost won a World Series, and he CARRIED them. He was singlehandedly responsible for like 13 wins a year OVER HIS ENTIRE CAREER. The fact that Bonds didn't win a World Series means absolutely nothing about his ability as an MLB player. It just so happens his teams never won a WS.Wang

Secretariat is dead but he should still be on the list.

Aaaaand I'm down. On the followingCleveland +148 (Byrd) at Detroit (Bonine)A Bonine fade. That guy sucks. Still rooting for the Tigers, though.Chicago (Vazquez) at KC +114 (Bannister)I don't like Bannister all that much. I like Vazquez. I don't like this play at all.San Fran (Sanchez) +200 at NY Mets (Santana)Okay, Sanchez is really good, and Santana shouldn't be commanding this price against ANYONE. Wait a second, there's something fishy going on here. I might buy out of this one if I can do so cheaply. That number seems too big...Arizona (Owings) at Washington (Lannan) +113I ONLY GET

Hoopsie. That last game is going to be a pass for sure. The game is off the board most places, and apparently will stay that way, since Texas is yanking their starter, and instead just throwing their entire bullpen at the Angels tonight. Too bad. I hate the Angels.Wang

Matchbook is down, so it looks like I'm going to have to pay real juice. Ugh. Current leans, in order of preference:Cleveland, Colorado, KC, Washington, San Fran, Texas. Already turned off the marlins/pads game. Wang

14-5 is the current score in Boston. I don't know why I have such an extreme aversion to playing heavy favorites. I know the math doesn't change or anything, and an edge is still an edge, but it feels so... square. Even when it probably isn't. I mean, I'm a contrarian for ****'s sake; I get off on discomfort.

EDIT- Charl Schwartzel is playing the Scottish Open, Merick the John Deere.I don't think that was clear.

Secretariat.