Dustin & Derek Sittin' in a Tree....

These guys at the WBC are having just way too much fun! And it looks like Dustin Pedroia is getting the best of Mr. Jeter. First off, Jeter has quite an interesting array of infield teammates around him: Youk & Pedroia to his left on the diamond, and to his right at 3rd base, he has David Wright of the Mets.

Anthony McCaron of the NY Times reports that Pedroia ripped a Jeter deodorant ad out of a magazine and taped it to his locker in Toronto at the WBC. In the ad, the Yankee captain is depicted keeping cool despite being in a hostile environment- outside [of] Fenway.

"That was pretty funny," Jeter said, laughing. "He's pretty fun to be around....It's all in good fun and I enjoy it."

Chipper Jones added:

"They go at it constantly. It's fun when Yankees and Red Sox go at each other, because you know they're going to hate each other in a month."

On top of that, Pedroia, who is now blogging for WEEI, (thanks to Bottom Line Rob for pointing that out to me), says Jeter can't do push ups. During batting practice, some team USA players played a game. According to Pedroia:

So this is how the game went during Monday’s workout: Each of us taking batting practice can’t hit a ball foul or it will cost five push-ups. Then if we hit a ball we think is going out you have to call it, but if it doesn’t go out then that will cost you five push-ups. I end up hitting a couple of line-drives that hit the top of the fence that I thought were gone. So I did my push-ups … real push-ups. Derek Jeter? Well, he didn’t really go down all the way. I’m not a trainer or anything, but those weren’t push-ups.

Or as 'Ah-nold' the governator of CA might say, 'girly-man' push-ups?

Read more...

Moneyball Meets Health Care

The way to save health care may be by using the same approach small and big market teams used to change their view of stats. In an op-ed to the NY Times; Sox fan and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and A's GM Billy Beane outline a way to take health care from worst to first.

Franchises have used this data to answer some of the key questions in baseball: When is an attempted steal worth the risk? Whom should we draft, and in what order? Should we re-sign an aging star player and run the risk of paying for past performance rather than future results?... America’s health care system behaves like a hidebound, tradition-based ball club that chases after aging sluggers and plays by the old rules: we pay too much and get too little in return. To deliver better health care, we should learn from the successful teams that have adopted baseball’s new evidence-based methods. The best way to start improving quality and lowering costs is to study the stats.

See, baseball can make everything better. You are not wasting a day watching a ballgame, you are improving the lives of Americans.

Read more...

Youk Talks About Yankee Fans

The New York Times has an article about Kevin Youkilis and the Yankee rivalry. The Times asks Youk what it is like to now be one of the more hated players on the Red Sox by Yankee fans. Youk told the Times the following:

"It’s weird thing, though, it’s real different where I grew up. I was a real Cincinnati Reds fan. If some guy was using expletives and this and that to a player on the field, with kids around, a parent would say something to those people. Here, it’s like it’s taught to the kids.”

Read more...

Hank Is A Dumbass

Hank Steinbrenner had the following to say about Red Sox Nation to the New York Times:
“Red Sox Nation?” Hank says. “What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.”

Was that the Red Sox I saw on the news at the White House this week Hank? I guess this website does not exist because there are no Sox fans outside of Boston.

Read more...