The New Moneyball

"The new Moneyball player looks a lot like Boston's new centerfielder: fast, athletic, a slick fielder who even at age 37 and for $8 million a year is a bargain. 'Mike Cameron played on two of the 10 best defensive teams of all time [the 2001 Marlins and the 1999 Reds],' says [Tony] Blengino. 'Every team he's played for has gotten better. Every team he's left collapsed when he left. No, Mike Cameron's not a Hall of Famer. But he's clearly a winning baseball player.'" -p. 67, Sports Illustrated (March 1, 2010)


Hello skeptics! I know you're out there: you Red Sox fans who scoff at Theo's newfound love for run prevention and predict a downfall of epic proportions. I disagree with you. The players disagree with you. The front office (obviously) disagrees with you. But I know that won't sway you, so maybe this will: Sports Illustrated recently ran a six page article [in the Olympic issue, no less!] on the "new Moneyball," which, in case you were wondering, is defense and run prevention.

I'm guessing there's a lot of overlap in the "doubt Theo" and "Moneyball is all about OBP and Billy Beane is a failure" demographics, so before I start, I'm going to make some clarifications. Moneyball was not about OBP, but rather the exploitation of undervalued commodities within baseball. In the early days of the last decade, OBP was all but ignored, and so those who paid attention to it (Hey there, Billy Beane) reaped the benefits. Now, of course, on base percentage is quoted just as often as the old standby, the batting average, and it's displayed on scoreboards and television screens across the country. OBP is no longer undervalued by the market, and so teams looking for an edge no longer prioritize it as the Holy Grail of statistics.

According to SI's Albert Chen, defense is the new byword, and the movement is being spearheaded by the Seattle Mariners, who, despite scoring fewer runs than anyone in the American League, won 85 games last year, overcoming a pitching staff that essentially boasted Felix Hernandez and no one else. These same Mariners went 4-2 against your very own Boston Red Sox, on the back of a defense and run prevention strategy.


Theo's not stupid. He saw what we all saw: a stacked lineup (and bottomless pockets) to the south, and a team out west with a small payroll but good results. He put two and two together, added Cameron, Adrian Beltre, and Marco Scutaro, and as a result, Sox fans are about to be treated to a parade of defensive gems from April to [hopefully] sometime in October. This offense will be just fine, and the defense promises to be one of the best New England has seen. Let's all just take a deep breath and relax... and if you really feel the need to worry about something, I suggest you fret over the state of Beltre's balls.

Quote of the Day

Dan Shaughnessy did a column today on Adrian Beltre's lack of... erm... protection for his nether region. That's right, the new Sox third baseman doesn't wear a cup, and the discussion of this topic naturally led to some comedic gems from members of the team.

"If you don’t wear a cup, it’s going to do some damage and it makes you talk funny for a while.’’ -Dustin Pedroia

I like to think Pedey would make a face something like this one...

“You could saw my cup in half and it would still work.’’ -Mike Lowell (Lowell, of course, had one testicle removed during his fight against cancer.)

One of the most epic Mikey faces I've ever seen.

A numbers game.

It's official: I need professional help.

I went skiing with some friends this weekend (it's why there wasn't a post - sorry!), and they pointed out the extent of my obsession.

As you can see from the above photo, Cranmore's lifts have numbered chairs, and so every time I sat on one, I muttered the name of the last Red Sox player to wear that number. My friends thought this was hilarious and ridiculous, "Only you," they claimed.

I, of course, protested. There are other people out there like me: I can't be the only skier that, upon settling into Chair #42 thinks Mo Vaughn... Reitred by MLB for Jackie Robinson... Still worn by Mariano [The Android] Rivera...

During our last run, we should have gotten on Chair #14, but I made everyone wait so we could ride #15. Now, I know what you're thinking. Jim Rice wore #14. JIM RICE!

But if you know me at all, you know that Dustin Pedroia will always have my heart - even on the slopes.

Opening Day

Today is one of the best days of my life. At about 1:10 this afternoon, I got a phone call from my mother.

"We got them," she said.

I screamed. Loudly. Then I ran out into the common room of my dorm and I screamed at my roommates. They knew exactly what had happened, and I'm guessing that most of you do, too.

I am going to Opening Day. And I really couldn't be more excited if I tried.


Not only have I never been to an Opening Day, this year, we're playing against New York, and it's an 8pm game. This means that I will be missing my 9am class the next morning, but the last time I missed that professor's class for a baseball game, he said "God bless you," so I don't see it being an issue.

He's nothing like that OTHER 23...

I think he'll fit in just fine here in New England. Just the fact that he - a veteran player, no less - stopped to chat with the fans speaks volumes about his ability to embrace the environment in Boston.

Just from that short clip, it's easy to see that Mike Cameron has at least a basic grasp of the history of the franchise: I mean, he understood that #24 was "semi-retired," not just because of the petulant Manny Being Manny Ramirez, but because of the inimitable Dwight "Dewey" Evans, who played his last game in 1991.

He also appreciated Francona's quip about a certain shortstop that John Henry is still paying:


"Tito told me, 'Hey, if you wear twenty-three, make sure you don't miss the first ball, cause the fans are all gonna say LUUUU-GOOOOO!!!'"

Be honest, folks: that's totally something we would do. However, it doesn't look like it will be necessary, as Cameron seems like the type of confident (and competent), yet easy-going player who thrives in Boston. I know that the Ellsbury fangirls (and fanboys) are howling that Golden Boy is moving over to accommodate a thirty-seven year old journeyman. Please, let him show you what he can do. Personally, I plan on loving him, and I hope you'll all give him a chance, too.

"Because we're the Yankees."

On the list of douchiest quotes ever given, Spring Training edition, Mark Teixeira took strides to an early lead yesterday. In an article appearing in the New York Post (thanks to Surviving Grady for the link!), Teixeira made his prediction that the Yankees will repeat as World Champs. Now, you're probably wondering, "What's so douchey about that? Everyone from the Astros downward says they'll win this time of year."

Yes, I know how preposterous it would be to kick off Spring Training by proclaiming that your team has regressed, and you're probably good for a third or fourth place finish. It was the choice of words Teixeira used that makes his prediction so unbearably douchey.

When asked why he was so confident, the first baseman replied "Because we're the Yankees.... You have to feel that way every season." He might as well have said, "Because our GM will throw buckets of cash at anyone we could possibly ever need, so why worry?"

Teixeira went on to say that he felt good about the "great team with a core of guys back." Presumably, at this point the reporter slapped him across the face, then reminded him that the Yankees had lost World Series MVP Hideki Matsui and Queen of Cheap Home Runs Johnny Damon; Teixeira immediately recanted his take with the following:

"That's baseball. Every year there's a different group of guys. The guys we brought in are going to do just a good a job as the guys that left, so I don't think we're going to skip a beat."

And if you do, Cashman can just buy you some more players, right Mr. Mercenary?

It's no secret around here that I loathe Mark Teixeira. He's second on my Most-Hated Yankees list, Contemporary Edition, to one Joba Chamberlain, and this article is a perfect example of why. I never hope for a player to get hurt in any physical way, but I will admit to wishing Teixeira the very worst in the way of luck and statistics this year and beyond. As the leader in douchiest quotes ever given, Spring Training edition, he deserves it.

Separate from Baseball

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Mike Lowell is the classiest of class acts. He knows very well where he stands, and that he's not even likely to have the chance to fight for a starting job. No, Mike Lowell is trade bait, and everybody knows it.

"I have to separate some things. I think there’s the baseball aspect of it and I think there’s (a) real life aspect of it and I’m very comfortable with where I am in my real life. You know what I mean? I feel I’m in a tremendously privileged situation. No one needs to feel sorry for me in life. Is my baseball situation not ideal? Yeah, it’s not ideal. I don’t want to diminish the baseball fact. But you never know what can happen." -Lowell, via Boston.com

Mikey has perspective that most players (I'm looking at you, Cinco-Ocho) can't imagine. Part of his ability to separate baseball from "real life" comes from his experience with a disease that has touched us all:


"'The worst case scenario,' he [the doctor] continued, 'is that you have surgery, they do the analysis, and it may be a progresses state of cancer.' Whoa, cancer?! 'Yes, cancer,' he added. 'You'll need radiation, chemotherapy, and the we'll see how far along it is. It might cost you a year or so before we think you're healthy.' And he wasn't even mentioning baseball." -Lowell, Deep Drive

After a conversation like that, how could the prospect of a trade (or a salary cut, or a reduced role) possibly make you quake? Mike Lowell doesn't want the fans to pity him, and so I won't feel sorry for his situation. All I have (all I have ever had) for Mike Lowell is admiration, pure and simple. I hope he gets to play this season, and I'll miss him if he ends up elsewhere, but he deserves every chance he gets.