Friday, December 26, 2008

Makes Me Wonder

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I did. And, I took vacation time for the rest of the year, so I'm looking forward to sleeping in, doing whatever I want, and being lazy. I can't think of a better way to spend the end of the year (unless of course, I was doing all that in a tropical location).

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Hey, there's finally a new Twin we can welcome (sound the horns -- or at least the kazoos)...

Welcome to the Twins, Mr. R.A. Dickey.

His name kind of reminds me of those attorneys who advertise on cable at three in the morning..."DWI? Bankruptcy? Theft? Bribery? Embezzlement? Ponzi schemes? Selling senate seats? Call the Law Offices of R.A. Dickey. Phones answered 24 hours a day."

But anywhoo, he's a knuckleballer, but not really the eighth inning guy fans are looking for. I don't really remember the Twins ever having a knuckleballer, and both LaVelle and Kelly Thesier mentioned that they've (the Twins, not the reporters) wanted one for awhile. So it kind of made me wonder who the last Twins knuckleballer was. (I looked around various blogs and articles for about five minutes, which is the true extent of my interest, but no one said anything.)

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So all that wondering made me decide to list a bunch of other things I've wondering about lately too:

1. I know there's going to be a new MLB Network starting on Jan. 1st. For something so cool, I haven't really heard much about it. I wonder what exactly they're going to talk about in January (let me guess...the Yankees).

2. I know they keep track of pitchers' walks and fielders' errors, and they can be kind of a big deal. But I wonder if anyone ever keeps track of costly walks or errors -- you know, the ones that actually result in runs. I mean, if the baserunner who reached because of a walk or error is stranded, then the walk or error shouldn't count as much than if someone scores because of it. I suppose they probably do keep track of that -- they keep track of everything. And I know that the costly errors get figured out in a way because it's an unearned run, and they need to know that for the pitchers' ERAs, but that's the pitchers' stats, not the fielders'. I also wonder why the heck I'm wondering this at all.

3. I know that baseball writers vote for post-season awards and for Hall of Fame inductees, but I wonder why baseball broadcasters don't. I imagine that John Gordon has as much access and knowledge about the Twins and baseball in general as Joe Christensen, but Joe's the one who gets to vote. I don't understand it.

4. I wonder how I could find a list of all active MLB players sorted by age. I ask because Jamie Moyer signing with the Pirates, and now Randy Johnson signing with the Giants, there are at least two players who are older than me. I'm hoping there are more, but I have my doubts.

5. And finally, I wonder if the Yankees will ever run out of money. And I wonder how delicious it would be if they were to miss the playoffs in 2009.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Yankees will never run out of money. It's like if I were to turn on the faucet in my tub. I could leave it running indefinitely and never run out of water. It would be kind of selfish, pointless and wasteful, but I could do it if I felt like it.

Enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Theron Schultz said...

Joe Niekro was a Twin at the end of his career, but that was twenty years ago.

For a listing of active players sorted by age, here you go: 2008 Players Sorted By Age

It might not be sorted perfectly within each year (I think Timlin is actually the oldest 42-year-old) but it's got the years right.

k-bro said...

Theron,

Thanks for visiting my blog. And thanks for the info.

I guess I kind of forgot about Joe Niekro, but you're right, it has been quite awhile.

And thanks for the list. It does confirm my suspicions...I am getting old. Moyer and Big Unit are indeed the only big leaguers older than me. Kenny Rogers, who is still unsigned, is a week younger than me. *sigh* ;-)