Jon

ESPN.com Looks like he's 11th. But check out Vazquez and Johnson. Wow.

You wouldn't expect managers to change their thinking (unnecessary small ball isn't going to be ending anytime soon), but you'd at least hope GMs could think through these things and come to the conclusion that OBP might just be more important than stolen base totals for a leadoff hitter. Looking at it from an education standpoint the answer is simple. We all carry with us the knowledge we have learned through our lives. To learn new knowledge requires us to "scaffold" the new knowledge onto the old. In this process we decide which of the information is "good" and which is "bad" changing our knowledge base accordingly. When we learn the "bad" new knowledge it requires us to not only unlearn the "bad" new knowledge but also relearn the "good" new knowledge to continue to learn the right things. Hard enough for a grade school student, much less a 50-year-old man whom views himself as a MLB GM. Applying this to baseball, (keeping in mind that the game has a very mafia mind set), you can see the same things happening. The work of Bill James and the others that have followed him have all been done by non-insiders. Hence to the "Made men" of baseball it is for the most part "bad new knowledge" because it challenges the knowledge base that has made them "successful" in their very closed field. Also it challenges the schema of knowledge they have gained through the application of "the good knowledge" to the problems before them. IE; when you steal, playing for one run, the hit and run, the sac bunt, the... you get the picture. If they fail to see a problem then their knowledge is still good. Human pride, which we all have, makes this difficult to see even with a mountain of evidence to the contrary. The Billy Beanes and Theo Epstiens of the world are not part of the "Baseball Mafia" who have been able to break into the ranks with out paying the dues (1). Because they enter with a different set of knowledge they are more open to "new" knowledge than their "made man" contemporaries. They have been able to embrace and integrate the new knowledge into the schema of thought in running their organizations. The end result we see is a World Series championship in Boston after a few false starts to learn where human nature must be taken into account over the numbers. Closer by committee comes to mind in Boston leading to the pick of Foulke to be the guy in the ninth. Until Chicago brings in, or promotes from within, someone who is willing to challenge the groupthink and approach the problems with a new schema of knowledge expect more of the same. (1)(Yes Beane was a marginal player, but is the exception to the rule, ala LaRussa who is also book smart that didn’t have the normal career path. Doug Glanville is a good homegrown name to throw out there for the hostility toward the "book smart" player in baseball.) Oh, I pretty much agree. But stolen bases would seem to be one of the easier things to change. With increased power, I still would have expected more people to deemphasize the importance of stolen bases intuitively. Maybe I'm underestimating the marketability of the prototypical leadoff hitter. Or just how attractive the idea sounds.

btw - Corey is able to. I should have been more specific. I meant the guys most people think of as good base stealers (with high stolen base totals). There seems to be an inconsistency there. Corey has been very good on the bases this year.

The Cubs are four back in the win column. Hopefully this is the beginning of their run.

You wouldn't expect managers to change their thinking (unnecessary small ball isn't going to be ending anytime soon), but you'd at least hope GMs could think through these things and come to the conclusion that OBP might just be more important than stolen base totals for a leadoff hitter.

How many guys are able to consistently do well on the base paths? Pierre was never really that good, but there are some guys who have great years but can't repeat them. Is stealing bases that much of a crap-shoot? Just take a look at Podsednik: 2003 - 43/10 2004 - 70/13 2005 - 59/23 2006 - 33/14 He was great in 2003 and spectacular in 2004, yet has been bad in both 2005 and 2006. How long until managers actually begin to question the value of the stolen base? And how long until general managers really begin to question the value of going after someone for their speed? And then how long after that will the Cubs begin to rethink things?

During the bogus 4 minutes of stoppage time: -one yellow card (the 7th of the half) -one punch thrown and a bunch of pushes -one Fire victory Chicago wins 2-1 thanks to two more goals for Herron and will face DC United on 9/6 at Toyota Park in the semi-finals. Actually, the next 3 games will be on CSNC. After that, 4 of the last 7 MLS season games will be on TV (2 on CSNC and 2 on ESPN2).

Francis Beltran lives! He's making his AAA season debut with New Orleans after 6 games in rookie ball.

The Fire have a USOC game tonight and then play on CSNC on Saturday night for the first time in a month.

Let's not forget that Dusty has no idea what it's like to have to sit at home in October. I'm sure he'll remind us of that in the next few weeks.

He was damaged goods when the Cubs traded him. Frankly, I suprized the Cubs didn't get called out.It's odd that the Pirates didn't say anything about Hill, as well, although I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is. I believe he revealed his back injury a few weeks after the trade and the Cubs supposedly had no knowledge about it.

Veal's final line: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 4-7 GO-FO

It's Tony that doesn't get FSC. I have FSC and GolTV (gotta watch my first love - Roma!) through Dish Network. my bad. well in any case, i only spend $5 a month on mine. Do you know if you can get it with any package?

I just realized that Ramirez is on pace to set a career high in IsoP with .269 (.266 last season). His IsoD of .063 is also higher than any other season IsoD of his career. It would be nice if he could turn some of those outs into singles, but he's been able to do a lot with a .280 BA.

Figure it's about time for a thread for all the soccer action (MLS, EPL, USMNT, etc.). To start it off, the Fire have actually won two straight, in addition to a USOC victory over KC. I believe Chicago is now tied with NE for second in the East with 28 points. And apparently Beasley was this close to heading to the EPL. There were also talks of him coming back to the MLS with RSL, too, but it appears he'll likely stay with PSV Eindhoven. In addition, the MLS prevented a $1.5 million transfer of Dempsey to Charlton Athletic recently.

Both Thomas Jones and Mushin Muhammad are expected to play in game 3.

At least one of Rashied Davis' drops was questionable (it was just a tad overthrown), but Grossman looked pretty good at times. The first down completion to Berrian for 18 yards was a good play fake, but he still had to throw it on the run b/c he was under some pressure...and it was right on the money to the near sideline. Then late in the second quarter, he hit Davis over the middle and then down the right sideline off a playfake to Berrian from the pocket on the very next play. And with the Chargers' rush defense and no Jones or Benson, I'm sure SD keyed in more on the passing game.

Psht. Dusty has been a winner everywhere he's been. Just ask him.

That sucks. But yeah, Lovie didn't seem happy about it. He did say that it was his fault, though, because there's no tackling in camp. I also forgot that Harris was still playing out of position, but still, that was pretty ugly.

Both. Their picks were pretty darn brutal. The first two were good plays that were entertaining only because of what happened after the catch was or should have been made. The top pick wasn't even a play. But it's been a long time since I've actually been able to watch ESPN, let alone BBTN.

It's a shame that ESPN is still on the air.

Me thinks Harmon just had a brain fart on that pick.

The Chargers just didn't show up to play tonight I don't think. That was nothing more than a stutter slant, the CB sat on it and then just let Gage release to the inside. Hey, I'm just happy Gage finally did something. Ooooh, fog.

TD Bears! Apparently the Chargers drafted Kurt Smith, who kicked the last kickoff, in the 6th round this draft, yet he did not kick FGs in college at Virginia. He was strictly kickoffs-only. He sure can boot it, but didn't have much hang time on the last one.