Talkin' Baseball: Thongs, Pitching, & More

49er16: I was reading Wendy Thurm over at Fangraphs the other day and she was looking at the women items sold at the MLB store. My favorite item is the baby wrap carrier and in the picture they have a man wearing it even though it's marketed towards women.

The Colonel: My favorite is that the you can buy a Phillies "thong". Fitting since no one in Philadelphia wears underwear that doesn't have their fans logo.

49er16: "I'm taking a dump on the Eagles!"- Eagles fan. /dumps in shorts after Michael Vick gets hurt.

The Colonel: Good ole Philly fans. They are a walking, talking caricature of themselves.


49er16: I thought this article at Fangraphs was also really good on Vogelsong. Vogelsong was asked about his FIP and why he's successful. Vogelsong said he concentrates more with runners on base and try's to strand runners by throwing more fastballs to induce groundballs.

The Colonel: Vogelsong also slows down to a snails pace with runners on base and I'm pretty sure that drives the batters nuts. I know it would drive me nuts. Which leads me to another observation. I love advance stats. I really do, but they get one thing wrong. They don't account for the mental part of the game. I know sabermetrics writers say, "well that doesn't matter because projection A says so", but they're wrong.

49er16: Well I'll admit I've always been more interested in the mental part of the game than the math part. And I agree that Vogelsong taking his sweet ass time with runners on base has to drive the hitter nuts. Numbers should be a part of the game for evaluation, but they're not everything. And I do include the standards stats like ERA, W-L Record, RBI's, etc.

The Colonel: That's what I'm trying to say. They're not everything. They're a huge part of the game, but not everything.

49er16: ZOMG! Sandoval is over weight again! Panic on the streets! The Giants are doomed!

The Colonel: It wouldn't be spring training with at least one "Sandoval is over weight" headline. My theory on Sandoval is that he's just big. There's nothing you can do about it except don't let his weight get out of control. If he can move and swing the bat, then it really doesn't matter how big he is.

49er16: Apparently Hector Sanchez has conditioning issues as well. It wouldn't bother me at all if Hector started the year in the minors.

The Colonel: "BUT WE HAVE TO GET THAT BAT IN THE LINEUP!" /you would understand this joke if you are a Giants fan.

49er16: Next weekend the spring training games start. Excited?

The Colonel: Oh yes I'm really excited about games that don't matter with players I've never heard of. In all seriousness  I do like spring training games when we get to the time when the players you never heard of get into the game. I want to see what Gary Brown does this year in spring training.

49er16: There's always that one player every year that has a good spring and somehow ends up on the roster. Usually though it's a relief pitcher.

The Colonel: Relief pitcher or the 25th man on the roster.

49er16: Whatever happens, I couldn't be more excited to listen to Duane Kuiper and Jon Miller again next week.