Beaneball

Observation of the day: the area around Yeshiva University's Wilf Campus up here in northern Manhattan is basically a ghetto. Those people who know Washington Heights won't be surprised. Those people familiar with the area immediately surrounding Columbia University, however, might be: while Columbia is certainly in the heart of Harlem, there's this halo around it of shops and restaurants that would be completely out of place but for the university. Yeshiva has no such halo, which I found surprising. Perhaps, though, it's actually Columbia that's the exception. Is there a halo around U.S.C.? Around U. Chicago? That's just to name two schools that are notoriously in the midst of, essentially, ghettos. I'm sure there are more, but I'd be curious to find out whether they have the "Columbia halo."

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Education at 21:26 | |

People who read the New York Times ought to read this Sunday's sports magazine's profile of Bill Parcells by Michael Lewis. It's about what you expect from Lewis, presenting a well-written and intriguing portrait of Parcells while always keeping the economic side of the game close at hand. He discusses, for instance, the proliferation of "non-uniformed" personnel (coaches, assistant coaches, associate coaches, trainers, assistant trainers, etc. etc.) and the evolving understanding of which positions are most important on the field (noting the vastly increased salaries of left tackles (to which subject Lewis devoted an entire book) and cornerbacks). These observations will probably seem more like insights to casual fans than the hardcore (I'm closer to the former), but a clear exposition of the interesting implications of economic changes in the game is worthwhile nonetheless.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Football at 17:15 | |

I opened up ESPN's NBA page just now to make sure that the basketball season really was starting tomorrow (it's not - it starts Tuesday), and I see that Red Auerbach passed away on Saturday. He was such an NBA fixture, despite being 89 years old, that it kind of seemed like he'd just keep on keeping on forever. Even with that black cloud in mind, I'm excited for the start of the season. The Lakers are in deep trouble to start the year: they have a great schedule in terms of how many home games they have, but they'll be hard-pressed to take advantage of it because Phil Jackson is probably just getting back into the swing of things now (and might not even make the trip up to Oakland for the Lakers' second game) after missing a lot of training camp recovering from surgery, Kobe's knee still hurts, and the top two centers (Kwame and Chris Mihm) are both hurt (leaving Andrew Bynum to fill the breach). Plus, Smush Parker is still a starter. My hopes for the season: Sasha Vujacic plays his way past Smush by the thirtieth game of the season; Kwame Brown builds on a solid playoff series against Phoenix; Chris Mihm becomes one of the best bench big men in the game (the man has some skills and there's no real reason why he couldn't be an excellent role player); Ronny Turiaf does everything for this team that Brian Grant was supposed to; and Luke Walton figures out some way to compensate for his physical limitations on defense so that he can be on the floor when it matters. Unfortunately, I think none of those scenarios are terribly likely. If I had to pick one to bet the farm on, it'd be Mihm.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in L.A. Lakers at 13:39 | |

Dusty Baker says he'd listen if the A's talked to him about a job. Dusty Baker is dreaming the impossible dream. That will be all.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 22:58 | |

So Ken Macha is out. For those of us who tear our hair out at some of his decision-making, this isn't soon enough. On the other hand, that's what we said about Art Howe, and look what the change to Macha brought: the same success the A's would've had no matter who was at the helm. The manager's job in Oakland is essentially to stay out of the way and keep the personalities together. The notoriously cranky Frank Thomas and Milton Bradley weren't problems this year, but Macha apparently angered certain players (like Mark Kotsay, notably) with insensitive comments when they were injured. The name Larry Bowa keeps resurfacing, which strikes me as a terrible idea. The A's didn't lose in the ALCS because they were too relaxed and need a taskmaster to come after them. Bob Geren has been groomed for this job for years, and here, from the outside, I think it's his to lose. Ron Washington may be tempted away by another team this year, so I could see a situation where the A's offer him the manager's job just to keep him in Green and Gold. Orel Hershiser's name has also been bandied about. If intelligence on television is any indicator, Hershiser looks like a stellar candidate. If any of the people that have been mentioned have the chance to turn into the next Earl Weaver or Davey Johnson (both of whom are still alive, last I checked - you listening, Billy?), it's Hershiser. In other news, Sweet Lou wants Alex Rodriguez to join him in Chicago. This sounds like a fantastic idea to me. First and foremost, it'd allow me to openly root for A-Rod again. I'm sick of being conflicted because he's a Yankee. Put him on the Cubs and I can become a happy fan again. What's odd, though, is that the idea is apparently to put him at third base. Has he really been over there long enough that we've forgotten he was a marvelous defensive shortstop? What I saw of his errors this year were not range problems, but just yips throwing the ball, little stupid things. I don't think they're an indicator that his tools have declined to the point where he couldn't man the 6-hole anymore. On the other hand, he's a significantly larger man than he was 3-5 years ago. It's possible that had he been entrenched at shortstop all this time, it'd now be about time to move him off of the position anyway. Back to the first hand, though, Cal Ripken stayed at short for a lot longer than age 31. Besides which, if the Cubs were to acquire Rodriguez, planning to play him at short would free up the possibility of not trading Aramis Ramirez in the deal. A left side of the infield of Ramirez and Rodriguez would look pretty sweet, even after Rodriguez's previous left-side partners: Derek Jeter, and before him Hank Blalock.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 13:17 | |

Esteban Loaiza just ended the A's season. That's terrible. Just terrible. How the A's could think that paying him as much money as they are would be a good idea is just beyond me. It was beyond me in the first half and it's beyond me now. He had, what, a good two months? Horrible. I feel sick about this. The Tigers are going to win maybe 84 games next year and the A's are getting destroyed at home. Just abysmal all around.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 22:08 | |

Congratulations to the Tigers. Whodathunk it'd be A's-Tigers in the ALCS? The A's were a popular pick to win the West, but with their injuries and traditional first-half problems, it was certainly doubtful whether they'd live up to those expectations. Then, of course, the A's got the Twins in the Division Series, a team chock full of award candidates (Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau). And then finally, the spectre of playoff failures past still haunted the team, even if there were only two players left over from that first jaunt into the postseason, in 2000. And the Tigers! The Prospectus folks almost uniformly picked them to finish either third or fourth. Dayn Perry had them at second, but not winning the Wild Card. Combine low expectations with the fact that the team wasn't all that impressive in the second half (40-41), particularly as compared with its stellar first half (55-26), and Yankees in three or four games seemed like a reasonable outcome. But instead, here we go, with Barry Zito against Nate Robertson (according to Fox) on Tuesday. After seeing some of those Tiger pitchers really dominate a good Yankee offense, the LCS certainly has me worried, but I think the A's have a good chance to get to the World Series. I'm taking A's in six.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 19:32 | |