Sunday, December 4, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
In case you were wondering about the Euromess, here's a great map!
A great map in the New York Times Magazine that breaks down the Euromess and how each country is interconnected with every other Euro country.
Balanced Baseball Leagues...what about schedules?
I wrote back in 2009 that a solution to improve Interleague play would be to balance the leagues with 15 teams each. I doubt the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball read my blog post on this but they seem to have done the same thing with the move of the Houston Astros to the American League West in 2013.
One thing I left open in my 2009 post was how the opponents outside of the strength-of-schedule method that I proposed would be selected. My solution: starting with the team with the worst record, select the nearest opponent that is not already scheduled until all of the teams are scheduled. Then, also beginning with the team with the worst record, schedule the three games against the teams with the best record at home, leaving the other three as road games. As the home/road splits get assigned, things start to shake out where everyone gets equitably scheduled.
If this seems a bit random and arbitrary, it's meant to be. Considering that baseball schedules cannot be determined until two years in advance (unlike at the end of the regular season like the NFL), it wouldn't be a huge impediment if, say, Baltimore played Philadelphia more often than other teams because there is not telling where those teams will be two years from now (okay, maybe Baltimore and Philly are bad examples but who would have thought Arizona would go from worst-to-first while Minnesota and San Diego both went first-to-worst in one season?)
I went through this exercise for all of the teams based on the final records of the 2010 and 2011 seasons (because this is how I enjoy spending my free time) and here's a sample of what I came up with:
- The Mets would play six games against the Yankees as a "regional rival". They would also have played, based on the 2010 schedule, Toronto and Seattle at home and Boston and Kansas City on the road. Based on 2011, the schedule in addition to the Yankees would be Houston and Baltimore at home, Toronto and Cleveland on the road.
- Pittsburgh had the worst record in MLB in 2010 and ended up with Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland at home and Baltimore, Kansas City, and Seattle on the road.
- Houston had the worst record in MLB in 2011 and ended up with Arizona, Colorado, and St. Louis at home and Miami, Chicago, and San Diego on the road.
- Philadelphia had the best record in MLB in both years and ended up with (based on 2010) Baltimore, Minnesota, and Toronto at home, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Texas on the road; and (based on 2011) Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore at home, and the Yankees, Detroit, and Texas on the road.
Definitely enough variety there to make the scheduling interesting but also increasing local/regional fan interest by ensuring that teams closest to each other have the best chance to play each other more often.
One thing I left open in my 2009 post was how the opponents outside of the strength-of-schedule method that I proposed would be selected. My solution: starting with the team with the worst record, select the nearest opponent that is not already scheduled until all of the teams are scheduled. Then, also beginning with the team with the worst record, schedule the three games against the teams with the best record at home, leaving the other three as road games. As the home/road splits get assigned, things start to shake out where everyone gets equitably scheduled.
If this seems a bit random and arbitrary, it's meant to be. Considering that baseball schedules cannot be determined until two years in advance (unlike at the end of the regular season like the NFL), it wouldn't be a huge impediment if, say, Baltimore played Philadelphia more often than other teams because there is not telling where those teams will be two years from now (okay, maybe Baltimore and Philly are bad examples but who would have thought Arizona would go from worst-to-first while Minnesota and San Diego both went first-to-worst in one season?)
I went through this exercise for all of the teams based on the final records of the 2010 and 2011 seasons (because this is how I enjoy spending my free time) and here's a sample of what I came up with:
- The Mets would play six games against the Yankees as a "regional rival". They would also have played, based on the 2010 schedule, Toronto and Seattle at home and Boston and Kansas City on the road. Based on 2011, the schedule in addition to the Yankees would be Houston and Baltimore at home, Toronto and Cleveland on the road.
- Pittsburgh had the worst record in MLB in 2010 and ended up with Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland at home and Baltimore, Kansas City, and Seattle on the road.
- Houston had the worst record in MLB in 2011 and ended up with Arizona, Colorado, and St. Louis at home and Miami, Chicago, and San Diego on the road.
- Philadelphia had the best record in MLB in both years and ended up with (based on 2010) Baltimore, Minnesota, and Toronto at home, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Texas on the road; and (based on 2011) Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore at home, and the Yankees, Detroit, and Texas on the road.
Definitely enough variety there to make the scheduling interesting but also increasing local/regional fan interest by ensuring that teams closest to each other have the best chance to play each other more often.
How to Avoid Food Waste This Holiday Season | Time.com
Great tips to help reduce the 1.3 billion tons of food wasted each year.
New York Mets Top 10 Prospects Lists ('Tis the season for this too.)
As many Met fans measure the length of rope necessary to hang ourselves when Jose Reyes signs with another team, the more optimistic ones like myself look to the future and see whether the stuff growing down on the farm are worthwhile buds or just sprouting weeds. With this in mind, I was very interested in reading Baseball Instinct's recently released list of the top ten prospects: in the New York Mets organization. Baseball Instinct's top ten Mets Prospects are:
1. Matt Harvey - RHP
2. Zack Wheeler - RHP
3. Jennry Mejia - RHP
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Brandon Nimmo - OF
6. Michael Fulmer - RHP
7. Jordany Valdespin - 2B/SS
8. Reese Havens - 2B
9. Wilmer Flores - SS (for now)
10. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
Bonus - Aderlin Rodriguez - 3B
A few weeks ago, Baseball America released a fairly similar list, with the exception of Cesar Puello making the list instead of Valdespin:
1. Zack Wheeler - RHP
2. Matt Harvey - RHP
3. Brandon Nimmo - OF
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Cesar Puello - OF
6. Jennry Mejia - RHP
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
8. Michael Fulmer - RHP
9. Reese Havens - 2B
10. Wilmer Flores - SS (again, for now)
I have to admit though that the countdown that has fascinated me so far is the one over at MetsMerizedOnline.com, where Petey Pete has been counting down the list of Top 20 New York Mets Prospects and released #7 on the list earlier today. (The list of prospects #7 through #20 are listed at the bottom of the link. Petey Pete was kind enough to oblige my request to hyperlink each prospect on the list to his own page in the countdown.)
The interesting part about the list is it's safe to assume the four stud pitchers (Familia, Harvey, Mejia, and Wheeler) and Brandon Nimmo will take five of the remaining six spots. So who gets the last of the six spots and who is left out, Aderlin Rodriguez or Kirk Nieuwenhuis? Or do both of them get dropped in favor of LHP Robert Carson, CF Matt den Decker, or OF Fernando Martinez? (Not likely but possible and yes, F-Mart is still considered a prospect and, in spite of his arthritic knees, is still only 22 years old.)
I know I'm anxious to see who makes #6 on the list on Monday!
1. Matt Harvey - RHP
2. Zack Wheeler - RHP
3. Jennry Mejia - RHP
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Brandon Nimmo - OF
6. Michael Fulmer - RHP
7. Jordany Valdespin - 2B/SS
8. Reese Havens - 2B
9. Wilmer Flores - SS (for now)
10. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
Bonus - Aderlin Rodriguez - 3B
A few weeks ago, Baseball America released a fairly similar list, with the exception of Cesar Puello making the list instead of Valdespin:
1. Zack Wheeler - RHP
2. Matt Harvey - RHP
3. Brandon Nimmo - OF
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Cesar Puello - OF
6. Jennry Mejia - RHP
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
8. Michael Fulmer - RHP
9. Reese Havens - 2B
10. Wilmer Flores - SS (again, for now)
I have to admit though that the countdown that has fascinated me so far is the one over at MetsMerizedOnline.com, where Petey Pete has been counting down the list of Top 20 New York Mets Prospects and released #7 on the list earlier today. (The list of prospects #7 through #20 are listed at the bottom of the link. Petey Pete was kind enough to oblige my request to hyperlink each prospect on the list to his own page in the countdown.)
The interesting part about the list is it's safe to assume the four stud pitchers (Familia, Harvey, Mejia, and Wheeler) and Brandon Nimmo will take five of the remaining six spots. So who gets the last of the six spots and who is left out, Aderlin Rodriguez or Kirk Nieuwenhuis? Or do both of them get dropped in favor of LHP Robert Carson, CF Matt den Decker, or OF Fernando Martinez? (Not likely but possible and yes, F-Mart is still considered a prospect and, in spite of his arthritic knees, is still only 22 years old.)
I know I'm anxious to see who makes #6 on the list on Monday!
For Bobby Valentine, charity can be all-consuming | Boston.com
It's hard not to root for a guy like this. Or someone with enough intelligence to do this:
"[Bobby Valentine] would eventually learn 2,042 kanji characters out of an instructional book, practicing them in the dirt with the toe of his cleats during practice, and by the time he made his tearful goodbye speech to the team’s fans in 2009, he did so in Japanese."
"[Bobby Valentine] would eventually learn 2,042 kanji characters out of an instructional book, practicing them in the dirt with the toe of his cleats during practice, and by the time he made his tearful goodbye speech to the team’s fans in 2009, he did so in Japanese."
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