Clik here to view.
ANALYSIS: Five Reasons Erik Bedard Is So Underwhelming, And How To Fix It
Erik Bedard has stayed off the DL, but where is the dominance? (Keith Allison/Creative Commons) Erik Bedard has been frustrating. There’s no other way to put it. He was the Pirates’ Opening Day...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Pirates Should Not Trade For Justin Upton
Upton may not be the superstar he seems to be, if he leaves Arizona. (Congvo/Creative Commons) When I saw the news that the Pirates have engaged in discussions for Arizona’s Justin Upton, I was excited...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Off To The London Olympics, And The Power Of The Moment
(Photo by Tom Nguyen/Creative Commons) She got drunk and kissed me by the window as Saturday faded into Sunday. I didn’t see it coming. That’s one aspect about our longest-lasting memories. Most of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fastballs and Stress: Five Problems for James McDonald (And Reasons For...
It has been a lonely few starts on the mound for McDonald. (Jon Dawson/Creative Commons) How quickly things change when you are in the heart of a pennant race. Six starts ago, Pirates pitcher James...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Real Progress: How to better evaluate Neal Huntington’s record as Pirates GM
Pedro Alvarez, a 30-home-run hitter drafted by Neal Huntington. (Keith Allison/Creative Commons) Columnists come up with fun generalizations on occasion. The won-loss record is the only way to judge...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Top 15 Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects for 2013 – A Compilation
Gerrit Cole was ranked as the Pirates’ top prospect on all six lists. With regard to sample sizes, if some is good, more is better. I compiled the Top 10 rankings of prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quentin, Greinke Start Brawl as Padres Fall 3-2
A two-act brawl between the Padres and Dodgers was not enough to inspire San Diego to a series win over its L.A. rivals. Juan Uribe hit a go-ahead pinch-hit home run in the 8th inning to put the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bowl Games Prosper Despite Schools Losing Money On Unsold Tickets
(Justin Matlock/Creative Commons) College football fans had been waiting years for it. College presidents had talked around it. Coaches and players longed for it. Last June, it was finally confirmed....
View ArticleClik here to view.
USC Baseball’s Run of Poor Seasons All Goes Back to Recruiting
The Trojans have not put a winning team on the field since 2005. (Photo Credit: Shotgun Spratling/College Baseball Daily) There are many reasons USC named its baseball stadium after Rod Dedeaux. He...
View ArticleClik here to view.
August Madness: Handball has NCAA Tournament vibe
(This piece originally appeared on NBCOlympics.com on August 8, 2012.) These are dark times for college basketball aficionados. The start of the season is more than three months away, and even hardcore...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BlogForAYear: I’m Going to Write Every Day for the Next 365 Days
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There is no way around these two things that I am aware of, no shortcut.” — Stephen King I have never...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Knowing Advanced Metrics: The Four Kinds of Player Stats
All stats are not equal. Some of the more ignorant opponents of the sabermetrics or fancy-stats revolutions tend to characterize advanced stats like the obscure numbers Twins broadcaster Wally Holland...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2024 U.S. Olympic Bid Cities: A Ranking
Two years from today, we will be right in the middle of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While the next 24 months will be pocked by stories of construction behind schedule and the exorbitant costs of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Effectively Wild, Pocket, Jonah Keri: “Things I Like” Thursday
Oprah had her favorite things. Mine are objectively better. The meaning of “Like” has been unfortunately co-opted by Facebook and Instagram. Now we like everything, including a high school acquaintance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Makes a Good Major League Ballpark?
If you’re expecting the type of researched pieces of import that you’ve seen the last few days (well, researched enough for a blog), you best turn around now. I’m writing as I travel on Interstate 70...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ballpark Review: Nationals Park
As my father and I entered Nationals Park, we were handed a promotional Nationals hat, one of those cheap little ballcaps with the Miller Lite logo emblazoned on the back. I was a bit put off by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five Confusing, Misused Words and Phrases
This is the first of an occasional series, likely when I don’t have any better ideas. Let’s discuss the English words and phrases that are confusing by their nature or have become twisted by American...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Want to Give a Team Stat More Punch? Rank It
I don’t mean to pick on people, but I do need a recent example of kinda-useless-stat deployment. So, Gene Collier. You’re a very good writer and you’ve always been kind to me. Your writing is funny,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Study Shows Tuesday Night to be Sexiest Night of the Week
Sayonara, Saturday. Farewell, Friday. Think again, Thursday. The sexiest night of the week is Tuesday, according to scientists at the Stanford University Institute for Debauchery Research. The new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is Actually Good
Quick blog post today. Let’s blame it on my continued recovery from taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge at the behest of my brother Andrew. What a jerk. Here was the result: It’s time to beat ALS. If I...
View Article
