A great breakdown of the numbers involved in determining what a star player like Alex Rodriguez, means to an organization like the Yankees.

Quoted: The landmark $305-million contract should prove a sound investment because of Rodriguez's performance and marquee value. - Major League Baseball news

click to play

Another new Tivo commercial, also funny.

Quoted: What does your TiVo get you? Share your TiVo story (and try on your antenna) at MyTiVoGetsMe.com

Curt Schilling's "38 Pitches" blog is actually quite compelling reading tor you baseball fans. It's a look inside the day to day public life of one of the game's great pitchers, replete with media bashing, mea culpas, and straight talk.

Yikes. I'm glad i never had to face an ambidextrous pitcher in little league.

Quoted: Pat Venditte Creighton University pitcher Pat Venditte, believed to be the only ambidextrous pitcher in N.C.A.A. Division I baseball, performs in a game.,

Last night's Game 7 NLCS game was one of the most enjoyable baseball games I have watched in a while. It had high drama, amazing plays and gritty performances.

This new reliever, Mark Lowe, has been absolutely stellar every time I have seen him. Fearless. He's pitched in 9 games in some very difficult situations (bases loaded, etc.) and he has not given up a run yet!

The snapshot as of today:

1W / 0L
9 Games
10.1 IP
5 H
3 BB
12 SO

ERA 0.00

Yowzah!

An exceptionally well written review of the new "Game of Shadows" book which is causing Barry Bonds such a stir. it sounds like a really intriguing read.

I like Bill Clinton's take on the whole issue:

"First of all, keep in mind that as I understand it Major League Baseball did not adopt a clear, unequivocal ban on steroid use with consequences, like the Olympics has had for years, until recently ... Well, my experience is in politics and everything else, if you're in a great contest with high stakes, people will do what it takes to win within the framework of the rules ... It's clear now that there is an overwhelming, perhaps unanimous consensus among the owners and the players and the representatives and the media that steroid use is not only bad for the players, it's bad for the game and it's wrong, and it should be banned and there should be consequences for violating the ban ... But I think we have to be careful looking back before that was the rule and even before that was the consensus ... We need to remember that baseball itself was highly ambivalent about doing anything about this, facing the truth and having strict rules for years and years and years. So now we have the rules. Let's go forward and enforce them. But I think ... looking back and looking down on people and trying to claim that, you know, things that happened five, 10 years ago in their careers weren't real because they did this -- I think that's a little hypocritical. Where were we then and why didn't we ban it then if that's the way we feel?"

Quoted: "Game of Shadows" makes a powerful case that Barry Bonds is guilty of steroid use. But baseball is guilty, too -- and so am I.

This term was used in a blog I was reading regarding Bush's well-rehearsed and scripted presentation to troops recently. Bush joked with a military commander that he didn't mean to throw a hardball when asking how things were going in Iraq. Audio shows that this was rehearsed and more of an Eephus pitch than a hardball. Cool metaphor.