The SoapBoxers

For those of you who are not sports fans, hang with me through the next couple of weeks. I’ll be hitting you with a heavy dose of WBC, but will return to a more regular mix of posts once the WBC is complete. I promise a non-sports post either Wednesday or Thursday (possibly both days, if I get more time to write).

This update covers the games from March 8 and March 9

Game 5 (loser eliminated): Korea vs. Cuba (Sunday)
Korea ends China’s WBC with a 14-0 win. Korea starter Suk Min Yoon went 6 innings, allowing two hits and no runs. Korea was already up 4-0 in the 5th inning when they busted the game open by scoring five runs on three hits, two walks, one hit batter, and two errors. That’s not a pretty way to score runs, but it is effective. The mercy rule (one team ahead by 10 or more runs after 7 innings) was invoked after the top of the 7th.

Game 6 (determines the pool winner): Japan vs. Korea (Monday)
Korea avenged a game 3 loss to Japan with a 1-0 nail biter. Korea got their run on a walk and two singles against Japan starter Hisashi Iwakuma. Korea had just four hits in the game, but Korea’s pitches did no allow a run on six hits and no walks.

I find it a bit odd that Korea is the pool winner. My opinion is that the game 3 winner should be declared the pool winner, and the team that has a loss after the first 5 games is the pool runner-up. Japan shouldn’t feel too bad, as they lost a 1-0 squeaker and won a 14-0 rout – so they should be confident in their chances if they run into Korea again.

Pool A is complete.

Game 1: Cuba vs. South Africa (Sunday)
This was a horrible mismatch on paper, and turned out to be a mismatch on the field as well. Cuba starting pitcher Norge Luis Vera allowed 2 hits in 6 innings, including no his through the first four innings. South Africa managed 4 hits in the game and finally dented the scoreboard in the 9th inning. Cuba hit 6 homers (5 solo shots) in the game, including 2 by Frederich Cepeda. Neither team committed an error.

Game 2: Mexico vs. Australia (Sunday)
In a stunner, Australia knocked off the home team Mexico 17-7. Australia hit four homers and set a WBC record for hits in a game with 22. Australia is kind of a low second tier club. They weren’t really expected to contend, but on the other hand, they are definitely a big jump up in talent from the likes of South Africa and Taipei. They’ll have their hands full with Cuba, and if they lose to Cuba, they would need to beat Mexico again in game 5 – something that the Mexico City crowd might not allow.

Game 3: (loser eliminated) Mexico vs. South Africa (Monday)
After being upset by Australia in their first game, Mexico bounced back with a 14-3 win over the toothless South Africa team. Adrian Gonzalez hit two homers and drove in six runs and Oscar Robles and Jorge Cantu also hit homers. This games was actually 3-2 after six innings, and the bats awoke for team Mexico. Elmer Dessens allowed two runs on three hits and no walks through six innings. Mexico will face the loser of Australia/Cuba in game 5. The winner of that game will advance to the next round.

Game 3 (winner advances): USA vs. Venezuela (Sunday)
Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta saved a run by preventing a wild pitch, and then broke open the game with a three run double (advancing to third on the throw home) to make the game 6-3. The game also included homers by Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun, and Adam Dunn. Oddly, one of the guys on TV (a guest, I believe) initially credited the Dunn homer to Derek Jeter, in spite of the fact that the 6’6”, 275 pound Dunn looks absolutely nothing like Jeter. Well, I guess they are both human beings.

Game 4 (loser eliminated): Italy vs. Canada (Monday)
Wow. Italy beats Canada 6-2. I had Canada advancing as the #2 team in pool C, but that was not to be. Chris Denorfia was 4-4 with three doubles and two RBI. Dan Serafini (1st round MLB draft pick in 1992) didn’t allow any runs until the 4th inning, when he allowed the only two runs of the game. Interestingly, neither Denorfia nor Serafini were actually born in Italy. There is not birth or residency requirement in the WBC, so you see a lot of people (Americans, especially) playing for the country of their ancestors. This is true of many teams, not just Italy – I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with this, just that it’s an interesting aspect to the WBC.

Next: Italy and Venezuela face off in game 5, with the winner getting a trip to the next round.

Game 3 (loser eliminated): Dominican Republic vs. Panama (Sunday)
The Dominican Republic bounced back from their upset loss to the Netherlands by shutting down Panama 9-0. Miguel Olivio hit two homers. Dominican starting pitcher Johnny Cueto went 4 2/3 innings. He allowed just two hits and a walk, but he did plunk two batters.

Game 4 (winner advances) Netherlands vs. Puerto Rico (Monday)
This game was closer than Puerto Rico would have liked, but they managed to punch their ticket to the next round with a 3-1 win over the Netherlands. The Netherlands scored in the top of the first and held a 1-0 lead until the 8th inning, when catcher Yadier Molina (of the famous catching Molinas) drove home two runs with a double.

Next: Game 5 will be a rematch of the Domincan Republic and Netherlands. The Netherlands has now strung together two good games – can they beat the Dominican Republic again and clinch a spot in the next round? I like the Dominican Republic to win the WBC, so I can’t turn against them now – I think the DR does bounce back and beat the Netherlands.

Note: In case you missed it, I slipped in a second post – a WBC update – late in the day yesterday. When you’re finished reading today’s post, go ahead and read that one as well.

I am a firm believer in the importance of a fantasy team’s name. If you take the easy way out and name your team “Bob’s Team”, what sort of a message does this send to your team? The players can tell that the lack of creativity stems from pure, unadulterated laziness. Suddenly, the players think that it’s OK for them to be lazy. Your hitters stop running out ground balls and your pitchers lose focus on their follow through. Suddenly, your fantasy team is in the crapper – all because you couldn’t take the time to think of a name.

On the flip side, a brilliant team name can do wonders for the psyche of a team. Out of the blue, that good-field, no-hit shortstop is hitting .330 with 20 homers on July 1.

Another important rule is that you cannot reuse a name from one year to the next (or for teams in multiple fantasy leagues). Each team has its own unique identity, and giving each team a unique name fosters the team concept. There is an exception for keeper leagues. If more than 70% of the players are retained from one year to the next, you may use the name you used the previous year.

Each year, I spend a considerable amount of time thinking of the name. “Satan’s Navy” and “Hobbes Eats Calvin” have been names of former teams. I have a couple dozen names that I have retained for possible future use.

I am proud to announce that I have narrowed the choices for my 2009 fantasy team to the final 2.5 names.

1A) Tulo’s Whiskey. This is derived from the name of my favorite player, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

1B) Tulo’s Wet Skis. Same general idea as 1A.

2) Jesus Cust, Superstar! The name of the famous rock opera has been altered to allow A’s hitter Jack Cust to step into a starring role. I’m a big fan of Cust’s combination of walks and homers.

Do you have an opinion? If so, tell me which name you prefer by leaving a comment (note: you can comment as “anonymous” – this allows you to comment without creating an account). I’ll still be in charge of the final decision (it is still my team), but I’ll take your opinions under advisement.

Tomorrow’s post will describe the evolution of my fanhood.

I was going to wait until midweek to do this update, but I’m too excited about the WBC to wait.

Game 2:
Korea clobbered Taipei 9-0. The starting pitcher for Taipei was knocked out after 1/3 of an inning. He allowed two hits (including a grand slam by Jin Young Lee), walked three batters, and hit a man. The bullpen actually did a decent job, but the horse was already out of the barn at that point.

Game 3 (loser eliminated)
The losers of games 1 and 2, China and Taipei, met in this game. China starting pitcher Lu Jiangang pitched into the sixth inning and allowed just one run. Ray Chang was 3-4 with a homer, a double, two RBI, and a run scored. China won the game 4-1. Taipei is eliminated from the tournament. China will face the winner of game 4 to determine who survives.

Game 4 (winner automatically advances)
In the winner’s bracket, Japan trounced Korea 14-2, as the mercy rule (ahead 10+ runs after 7 innings or 15+ runs after 5 innings) comes into play. Korea’s starting pitcher Kwang Hynug Kim was touched up for eight runs in 1 1/3 innings of work. Jpana starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was pretty good through four innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. The two runs came in the first inning. Daisuke settled down after that point. The Japanese bullpen was dominant, allowing no hits and one walk over the final three innings. The margin of victory over a quality opponent is definitely a feather in the hat of Team Japan.

Korea will face China in game 5. The loser will be eliminated. The winner will face Japan in game 6 to determine who is the pool winner for pool A. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Clearly, the winner of the winner’s bracket would be the pool winner.

No games have been played.

Game 1 will feature a monstrous mismatch, with Cuba facing South Africa. I’m predicting a mercy rule outcome – perhaps even the 5th inning mercy rule (one team ahead by 15 runs)

Game 2 will be Mexico against Australia. This game is in Mexico City. The house should be rockin’, and Mexico should win.

Game 1:
This was a border war between the US and Canada. The game lived up to its billing, with the US winning 6-5. There were five homeruns in the game – two by Canada and three by the US. Adam Dunn had the homer that put the US ahead 6-3. Kevin Youkilis and Brian McCann also homered for the US, while Joey Votto and Russell Martin hit dingers for Team Canada.

Game 2:
Italy starting pitcher Mark DiFelice did not allow any runs for the first four innings against favored Venezuela. In the fifth inning, the wheels came off, with relievers Jason Grilli and Lenny DiNardo allowing four runs. Venezuela went on to win 7-0. Venezuela starter Carlos Silva scattered six hits in four innings, allowing no runs. Felix Hernandex went four innings and allow just one hit and no runs.

Next:
The US will face Venezuela in the winner’s bracket (game 4), with the winner clinching a spot in the next round. This should be a good game.

Canada be favored against Italy in the loser’s bracket (game 3), with the loser being eliminated.

Game 1:
The shock of the tournament so far was Netherland’s 3-2 defeat of the Dominican Republic. The Dutch were not considered to be serious contenders, whereas the Dominicans were one of the popular picks to win the WBC. The Netherlands loaded the bases in the first with a single, a bunt single, and a walk. A run sored on a wild pitch by Edinson Volquez, and two more scored on a Hanley Ramirez error. Sidney Ponson and the bullpen held on for a 3-2 win. Dominican Willy Taveras was gunned down trying to steal third base to end the game. The talent differential between these two teams is rather large; this definitely qualifies as a major upset. Note: the Netherlands includes players from the islands of the Netherlands Antilles, such as Curacao.

Game 2:
Puerto Rico’s Ivan Rodriguez homered twice, and teammate Carlos Delgado hit another as Puerto Rico beat Panama 7-0. Javier Vasquez and the PR bullpen held Panama to five hits.

Next:
Netherlands will face Puerto Rico in the winner’s bracket (game 4) with the winner clinching a spot in the next round. Puerto Rico will be a big favorite in that game.

Domincan Republic will face Panama in the loser’s bracket (game 3) with the loser being eliminated from the tournament. Dominican Republic will be a big favorite in that game.

Note: I am going to continue to provide WBC updates as I have the time. I will also be doing some other posts, so you may see several days that have more than one post.

World baseball classic
The WBC got underway on Thursday, as Japan beat China 4-0. Japan starting pitcher Yu Darvish set the pace early, allowing no runs and walking just one batter. The five relievers each allowed exactly one hit and did not walk anyone. Third baseman Shuichi Murata provided offense with a two run homer.

Darvish is a candidate to be the breakout star during this WBC. Many die hard fans already know him, but the WBC will allow him to reach a wider fan base. The 22 year old Darvish is the son of an Iranian father and Japanese mother who met while attending college in Florida. They settled in Japan, were Yu was born.

Yu had a very successful high school career. Several major league teams were interested in him, but he stayed in Japan and was drafted by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (note: Hokkaido is the name of the island, Nippon Ham is the name of the sponsor, Fighters is the team name).

Yu has had great success for the Fighters:
2005 (age 19): 5-5, 3.53 ERA
2006 (age 20): 12-5, 2.89
2007 (age 21): 15-5, 1.82
2008 (age 22): 16-4, 1.88

Yu has also increased his strikeout rate while decreasing his walk rate. The net result is a strikeout : walk ratio of more than 4:1 over the last two seasons.

Of course, it must be noted that many baseball people consider the Japanese leagues to be on par with an AAA league in the US, a step below the major leagues. However, if a 22 year old player was putting up these numbers for an AAA team, the team would be very happy, as these would be great numbers and would suggest that the player would have a successful major league career.

Darvish has stated that he has no intention of signing with a US team any time in the near future and that he would like to win 200 games in Japan. This is a bit disappointing to me, as I would like to chance to see Yu pitch on a regular basis (preferably for my team).

Korea and Taipei face off at 3:30 AM Central time on Friday. This is too late of a start time to meet the TCO’s publishing deadline. The Asian teams are starting a couple days early because of travel considerations (they play the first round in Tokyo; all other pools play in North America)

Baseball injury watch
Alex Rogriguez has a torn labrum in his hip. He may face a surgery that would require four months of rehabilitation. Keep on eye on this story before grabbing A-Rod high in your fantasy draft.

Boating accident
In sad news, two NFL players (Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith) and two other men (Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler) were on a fishing trip in Florida when the weather turned bad and their boat overturned. Schuyler was rescued. The other three have not been found, and hope is fading.

Matt Cassell trade
Former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassell and linebacker Mike Vrabel were traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for pick #34 in the NFL draft. Even with the high value teams place on draft picks, I think this is a great deal for the Chiefs. It is true that Cassell had a lot of weapons at his disposal in New England, but you still have to make effective use of those weapons.

Manny
Manny Ramirez ended months of posturing by finally signing a contract with the Dodgers. Manny will make $25 million in 2009, with a player option of $20M in 2010. $25M of the money is deferred over the span of five years. I’m not a big fan of the player option. In theory, this would allow Manny to hit .200 with 5 HR, and then exercise his option and make $20M in 2010 – but if he hit .370 with 50 HRs, he could opt out and perhaps sign with the Yankees for $30M. If you wanted Manny for two years, make it a regular two year contract.

Kurt Warner
In negotiations that were considerably better (although Warner did allow the 49ers to woo him) Kurt Warner signed a deal with the Cardinals – two years with a total compensation of $23M. Warner will give back $2M if the Cardinals are able to renegotiate the contract of WF Anquan Boldin. I’m a big fan of Warner (although my wife is even more of a fan) and I’m hoping he lights up the skies again next year. Maybe he can seal the deal and win a Super Bowl for the Cardinals (how strange does that sound) and punch his ticket to Canton.

TCO weekend
The Soap Boxers will bring you some light reading this weekend.

Saturday: Some good time wasters on the internet
Sunday: The importance of a good fantasy team name

[Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. The author has taken dramatic liberties with the personalities of any real person portrayed within this story.

Note: when reading this, keep in mind the fact that the exchange rate is roughly 100 yen per 1 US dollar]

The Soap Boxers has had some well placed sources eavesdropping on the Manny Ramirez situation. As a result, TCO is the first media outlet to bring you this breaking news – Manny Ramirez has signed with the Tigers.

No, not those Tigers. The Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Central League. TCO sent our Chief Observation Officer, reporter Scoop Chevelle, to the Ramirez compound to get the inside information. When Scoop arrived on the scene, Manny was dressed in a kimono, resting in his Lazyboy and sipping some red sake.

Scoop: Manny, I must say that I am shocked at this news, as is the rest of the sports world. It really seemed to come out of nowhere. Why did you decide to sign with Hanshin?

Manny: Well, Scoop, they offered me a three year deal at thirty million yen per year. Thirty million! I was having a lot of difficulty getting the Dodgers to give me even twenty five, and then Hanshin drops in with an initial offer of thirty. Needless to say, I was very impressed. I was able to negotiate the deal myself – I didn’t even involve Boras in the deal.

Scoop: Are you sure that it was wise move to negotiate the deal without an agent?

Manny: Yeah, I saved a few bucks cutting Scott out of the deal. He takes a big chunk of the money.

Scoop appears to be on the verge of making a comment, then thinks better of it and remains silent.

Manny: Also, they’re naming the stadium after me. Very cool.

Scoop: How familiar are you with the Japanese culture? Do you expect to have any difficulty adjusting to a new country?

Manny: Me, have trouble adjusting? No, way, man. I’m like a chameleon. Manny the chameleon is what they called me in Boston. I blend in wherever I go. I’m really looking forward to experiencing the Japanese culture. I love egg rolls and fortune cookies, and I’m anxious to see that wall that everyone is always talking about.

After wrapping up that interesting interview, Scoop jumped on TCO’s private jet and flew across the Pacific Ocean to talk to Hanshin manager Akinobu Okada.

Scoop: Congratulations on signing Manny Ramirez, Mr. Okada.

Okada: Thank you Scoop. We were actually pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were able to negotiate a deal with Mr. Ramirez. We think we have a deal that is fair to both sides.

Scoop: Manny mentioned that Hanshin will be naming the stadium after him. Is that really true?

Okada: That’s not quite true. We’re actually naming the field after him. We will play on Manny Ramirez field at Koshien Stadium. You might say that we’re taking a page out of the book of your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Scoop: What do you expect from Manny? Do you anticipate any problems with his adjustment to the Japanese style of baseball?

Okada: We think that Mr. Ramirez can really help strengthen our offense. Hanshin not won a Japan Series since 1985 nor a Central League title since 2005. Our fans deserve a title. We feel that signing Mr. Ramirez gave us the best chance to win. We certainly don’t expect any problems with Mr. Ramirez’s adjustment. The American players typically adjust fairly quickly to the mindset that the players must always follow the orders of the manager. We foresee a quick adjustment for Mr. Ramirez.

Scene shifts to TCO Studio

Scoop: Well, there you are, folks. After months of wooing Manny, the Dodgers had him stolen away at the last minute by Japan’s Hanshin Tigers. The addition of Manny should put Hanshin in a position to battle Central League juggernaut Yomirui for the league title.

Rockies
Today is the first game of the season for my Colorado Rockies! We play our hated rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sure, it’s a “meaningless” spring training game, but I am absolutely stoked to finally have games. This also means that I need to resubscribe to MLB audio so that I can catch all the games this season (it’s a bargain at $14.95!).

I definitely will be watching a few battles during spring. Rockies top prospect Dexter Fowler will be in camp, and I’m pulling for him to win the centerfield job. I want Ian Stewart to somehow win a starting job. Preferably, this would be at 3B, although this would probably require a trade of Garrett Atkins, which seems less likely since the Twins have now filled their 3B void by signing Joe Crede. Stewie might end up at 2B or in the outfield. With SP Jeff Francis out for the year, a lot of players will be competing for jobs at the back end of the rotation. I’m hoping that Franklin Morales can harness his talent and make the team. And of course I want to see my favorite player, SS Troy Tulowitzki, get off to a hot start.

World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic begins on March 5. Since baseball has been dropped from the Olympics (at least in 2012) this is going to be the best international tournament we see for a while. Many of the top major league players won’t be playing, but there will be some familiar faces. Six Rockies will be participating. Catcher Chris Iannetta and outfielder Brad Hawpe will play for the USA. Rockies pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez (Dominican Republic), Jason Grilli (Italy), Manny Corpas (Panama), and Adam Bright (Australia) will suit up in the uniforms of our enemies.

The WBC is divided into four pools (A,B,C,D) with four teams in each pool. There is a double elimination tournament in each pool, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the next round (pools 1 and 2). Once again, there is double elimination. The top two teams from each of those pools advance to the semifinals. The champion of each pool plays the runner-up of the opposite pool to determine the finalists.

The USA is in a pool with Venezuela, Canada, and Italy. Here are my predictions. Japan, Korea, Cuba, Mexico, USA, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico advance to the second round. Japan, Cuba, USA, and Dominican Republic advance to semis. Japan loses to Dominican Republic in the finals.

Taipei and South Africa could be on the wrong side of some really ugly games. Pool D is probably the toughest, top to bottom. It features the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, and The Netherlands (which includes the Netherland Antilles).

Manny watch
Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers continue their negotiations. Manny originally wanted 100M over 4 years. However, with the economy being in the tank, the Dodgers being his only serious suitor, his reputation as a malcontent, and his age (36), there is absolutely no chance of this happening. We’re about five weeks away from the start of the season, so it’s about time to end this game of chicken.

Vikings
My Vikings are apparently on the verge of trading for Houston Texas backup QB Sage Rosenfels. Sage and I share an alma mater (Iowa State) and I am a big fan. He was the QB of a 9 win season in 1999 – the first 9 win season since 1906. It would have been 10 wins if not for a bad call on a field goal at the end of the game. I’m not much of a fan of current Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson, so I would love to see Sage take the starting job away from him.

Bad first impressions
Last week was the NFL’s scouting combine (“the combine”). For those of you who might not be familiar with the combine, it is an event where all of the top college players get together in one location. They are measured, weighed, interviewed, given an IQ test, and put through a variety of physical drills (weight lifting, 40 yard dash, and everything in between). This is the opportunity for players to make a strong impression with the scouts. It is an extremely important day for these players.

Perhaps not so important for Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith. Smith had previously been touted by some experts as a top 5 pick. He showed up at the combine overweight, with the explanation that he got a late start with his training. He didn’t offer an explanation (such as an injury the impaired his ability to train), leaving the scouts to wonder why he got a late start. After all, he had been suspended for Alabama’s bowl game for violating team rules (red flag) so he basically had 3+ months to focus on getting ready for the combine. Smith then abruptly left the combine early.

Smith definitely left an impression on the NFL personnel, albeit not a good one. Some people are suggestion that he will fall to the late first round or early second round. The average first contract (multiple years) for a late first rounder is about $20 million less than the average first contract of the #5 pick.

Now Smith admits that he didn’t handle things very well. Of course, a good media skewering tends to get you to look in the mirror.

Injury
The top wide receiver in the draft, Texas Tech junior Michael Crabtree, was unable to compete in the combine due to a stress fracture. He does not have blazing speed (but does possess awesome talent in every other area) and he could have erased some doubts with a fast 40 yard dash time. The injury may cause him to fall in the draft. I personally think that it would be a serious mistake to pass up Crabtree. While it is true that he benefited from a pass-crazy offense at Texas Tech, Crabtree has crazy skills and could be a special player in the NFL.

They called him “The Kid” and “The Natural”. I was coming of age as a sports fan in the late 1980s, at a time when Ken Griffey Jr. was breaking into the major leagues and establishing himself as an elite performer.

Griffey broke into the major leagues at the tender age of 19 and had a strong rookie season, hitting .264 with 16 homers in 127 games. During his eleven season with the Mariners, he became one of the most feared hitters in the game, recording six seasons of more than 40 home runs (including two seasons of 56). Griffey also compiled a .300+ batting average in seven of those seasons. He won ten Gold Gloves awards for his spectacular defensive play. He was also a durable player, having at least 500 at bats eight times between 1990 and 1999. He was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1997 (.304 with 56 homers and 147 RBI).

After the 1999 season, at the age of 30, Griffey signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds. This was not simply a case of selling himself to the highest bidder. Griffey had grown up in Cincinnati, and he wanted to play in his home town. With 398 career homers at such a young age, Griffey seemed like the heir apparent to Hank Aaron.

Griffey’s homecoming started out with 40 homers and 118 RBI in his first season with the Reds. Unfortunately, this is where the injuries began to mount. After 520 at bats in 1990, he had a total of 1027 at bats in the next four years. The fact that he was able to hit 63 homers is so few at bats, while recovering from injuries, is actually fairly impressive.

Griffey bounced back with 35 homers in 2005, 27 in 2006, and 30 in 2007 as he continued to fight through injuries. in 2008, he struggled through a season in which he hit .249 with 18 homers for the Reds and White Sox.

The man who hit .300 seven times in eleven seasons in Seattle managed to do this just once in the next nine seasons (.301 in 2005). The man who won ten consecutive gold gloves in Seattle has never won another.

Injuries and the approach of father time have robbed Griffey of his once elite skills. With 611 homers, he will not catch Barry Bonds. With 2680 hits, he may not even reach 3000.

At the end of the 2008 season, Ken Griffey Jr. became a free agent. His decision came down to a choice between Atlanta and Seattle. Atlanta would seem to have a stronger core of players for 2009. However, Ken Griffey Jr. once again decided to go home – this time to Seattle, to once again play in front of the legions of fans who adore him.

Another baseball season is finally upon us! I follow baseball with a passion that borders on addiction. Well, perhaps it’s beyond the border. The internet is a great place to get information. I have compiled a list of some of my favorite baseball sites. I have focused on sites where most of the content is free (with the exception of mlb.com, just because of my addiction to MLB audio)

MLB.com, of course, is the official site of Major League Baseball. In addition to news, standings, etc, MLB.com is home to MLB.tv and MLB Audio. For $80 (or $110 for premium content) you can watch any game on your computer (subject to blackout restrictions) all season long. For $14.95, you can listen to the audio feed of any game (not subject to blackout). This works great for out of market teams. I live in Iowa and follow the Rockies, so this works great for me.

MLBTradeRumors is a nonstop source of rumors about trades and free agent signings. Updates occur multiple times during the day, hitting a frantic pace at the trade deadline. The guy who runs the site scours multitudes of other sources in an effort to compile every rumor.

SportsBlog Nation is a compilation of blogs from every major sport. The folks who run each blog keep up to date on every aspect of the team and pass the knowledge on to you. In addition to covering the major league team, they also keep you up to date on all of the minor league teams in your organization. The fan interaction is also a great feature. Game threads – in which fans are commenting on game action as it occurs – is pretty cool.

Renowned minor league analyst John Sickels runs Minorleagueball.com. John is one of the most knowledgeable minor league experts in the country. He publishes a book on prospects every year, but he also gives out an incredible amount of free information on his site.

There’s also the official Minor League site. MILB.com posts draftee profiles each spring.

You can find player salary information in several places, but COT’s Baseball Contracts keeps tracks of all the nitty gritty details – such as incentives and service time (helpful for determining when players will be eligible for arbitration or free agency).

baseball-reference.com is the best place I have found for baseball statistics. It tends to allow you to delve a bit more deeply into the numbers. In addition to tons of great content, BR’s premium “PI” service allows you to do some really deep searching. You can subscribe to PI for very short time periods (as low as $1.35 for 24 hours) so you don’t necessarily need to pay the $29 annual fee for a short research project.

Fangraphs goes into a lot of depth in their statistics. Considering the name, it should come as no surprise that they also have graphs on the site. The graphs show how player performance has differed from year to year, while also comparing the performance to the MLB average for those statistics.

The Lahman Database is a free (donations accepted) compilation of statistics for every player from 1871-present. MS Access, SQL, and CSV formats available.

From small ball to the long ball analyzes the types of pitches every pitcher has seen, as well as the types of pitches that every batter has seen.  Update: this blogger has decided to retire and has removed some of the content.

Summer Ball covers collegiate players, with a specific focus on the collegiate summer leagues. The summer leagues use wood bats instead of the aluminum bats used in NCAA games. If a player performs well in a summer league, it can often boost their stock in the draft, since the adjustment to wood can be a problem for some players.

Nippon Baseball Tracker covers Japanese leagues.

MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement can be downloaded in PDF format. I actually have a printed copy of the CBA which I keep in a binder. I wouldn’t say that it is a page turner, but it is great for settling arguments.

Some people are going to think that I am trying to defend A-Rod. Let me be perfectly clear about this. A-Rod’s decision to use steroids was wrong, period.

At the same time, I am concerned about the actions of the MLBPA (the union) and whether they served the best interests of their members.

My concern isn’t even that someone within the union may be the source for the story. My concern was that the information was ever there in the first place.

The 2003 steroid tests were screening tests. The players were tested merely to see if 5% of players tested positive. If more than 5% tested positive (they did), then the union would agree to mandatory testing. There was never any intent to determine if any specific player was taking steroids.

With the nature of this testing, there would have been no reason to link a sample to a particular player at any point in the process. I guess you might say that this would allow a player’s “B” sample (essentially a backup to re-test to rule out a faulty test) to be tested in the case of a positive. However, even this wouldn’t necessitate identifying the player. I am no expert on drug testing, but this methodology would seem to satisfy everyone:

1. Collect a player’s “A” and “B” samples
2. Have the team’s union representative and a management representative secure the team. This could be done by having them sign their name on an adhesive strip and placing the strips across the sample’s seal.
3. Group each A and B sample together. (Perhaps by placing both samples in a small box.)
4. Have the union rep and management rep leave the room and be replaced by a second team. The new people would have no way of guessing which samples were from which player.
5. Take the samples out of the box and label them “1A”, “1B”, etc.
6. The end result is a situation where A and B are tied together, each side is confident that there will not be any tampering with the samples, and the samples are completely anonymous.

The union’s troubles don’t stop there, however. USA Today reported that the test results (from 2003) were later seized from union offices by the feds as part of the BALCO investigation (in 2004). Why on earth would the union keep these results? I struggle to think of any way the union could have used this information for the benefit of their clients. Really, the only important piece of data from the tests were the number (and percent) of positive tests. The specifics of which players tested positive were irrelevant – the only question was whether or not the number was higher than 5%.

I know a lot of people think that it is a good thing that this information came out, but a key point is that the purpose of the union is to represent the players and protect their interests (as defined in the collective bargaining agreement). The role of the union is NOT to decide when the actions of its members are right or wrong.

I would not be surprised if the union ends up with a lawsuit on its hands – especially if the names of the other 103 players who tested positive are leaked to the press.

(Once again, I state that what Alex Rodriguez did is wrong and I do not condone his actions).

I have played fantasy baseball for about a dozen years now. My only regret is that I didn’t get started sooner.

Last year, however, I decided to make a change. I turned my league into an alternative format league. This isn’t particularly noteworthy – there are lots of leagues that use non-standard formats. The particular format I chose, however, was quite unusual.

The key constraint of the league is that a team could not start more than one player for each letter of the alphabet. If Alex Rodriguez was your “R” starter, you could not also start Manny Ramirez. The league was christened the Alphabet Soup League. Like the other leagues I have run, the winner would be awarded a rather cheap trophy. There would be no money involved – simply the pride of a hard fought championship.

The strangeness of the league began with the draft. It was a ten player league, so I randomly assigned each team 10% of the alphabet (2-3 letters). For the purposes of the draft, Q, U, X, Y, and Z were combined into on letter grouping – if you were assigned the “wildcard” letter, you could pick anyone from those letters.

The draft was conducted by email. People simply sent in their choices for each letter. The order was not important, because people were not competing against each other for players (since the other players had different letters). After everyone was done, I assigned another set of letters, and the process continued until we were done.

The draft strategy was a bit unusual. You had to look ahead to see what letters you would have in the upcoming rounds. The letter M, for example, is stacked with good catchers. If you had M in the first several rounds, you were assured of a good catcher and could ignore other catchers. On the other hand, if you had lousy catcher letters for the next several rounds, you be forced to grab a sub-par guy in the current round, just to have an adequate starter.

The draft itself took about a week to complete. Not terribly bad, considering that it was done via email. This seemed like the best option, though. Getting everyone into a chat room at the same time would have been difficult, and the autodraft systems of the major fantasy sites would not know how to deal with the alphabet restriction.

The importance of the uncommon letters (I and N, for example) also became apparent. If you had the first choice of those letters, you could draft a reasonably solid player. If you had last choice of those letters, you got a guy who rides the shuttle between AAA and the majors.

I laugh at what the Yahoo people would have thought if happened to peruse our draft results.

During the season, the game was very much like any other fantasy league, aside from the fact that players that were studs in normal leagues languished in free agency in our league (especially players from the stacked letter R) while players of minimal value in other leagues got some quality at bats and innings in our league.

Unfortunately, there was not a good way to prevent people from violating the alphabet rule. There, I had conduct random audits of teams and penalize them for violations. As a penalty, they had to forfeit all of their points to their opponents. This meant that they were credited with an 0-10 record for the week, while their opponent got a 10-0 record. This is being tweaked a bit in year 2, so that the opponents do not get such a big reward for having the dumb luck to face a violator.

As spring training beckons, I am readying myself the league. I have my copy of Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster, of course. I also have a fantasy baseball magazine. It was chosen, in large part, because it lists the players in alphabetical order.