Player Hater's Ball - August Edition

It's been a while since I let it out.  The hate in my heart, that is.  This should be therapeutic in some twisted way......

Consider this prerequisite reading before you continue. 

Now as you can see, I have written about Keith Law in the past.  And it's fair to say they were less than glowing reports.  Generally, I listen to what he says then look at it from the exact opposite perspective:

Fuck Klaw. If he doesn't like it, then i like it even more..... RT @drunkjaysfans: @GloBlair Yeah, he thinks Jays got hosed. #jays #bluejays

Pussy RT @keithlaw: I hate home plate collisions. If I wanted to see one grown man try to knock another over, I'd watch football.

I was completely fine with leaving it at that.  I really was, until last night I wrote this in response to one of his tweets to a fellow Jays fan:

DICK RT @keithlaw: I'm sorry, did I hurt your widdle feewings? RT @ChrisArnold33 would it kill you to tweet something nice about the #jays?

That seemed to anger Klaw.  As you can see, I have called him worst things in the past.  

So he drops by the site:

1 Blue Jays Way By Out Links > Visit Detail Visit 35,789
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And sends me this e-mail:

Very classy. Some idiot whines to me about bias after I agree with criticism of Cito's handling of Snider, so I call the guy out for whining, and you resort to profanity against me? Seriously? 

Keith 

So I decide to let the people know about it: 

Heyo! @keithlaw just sent me an email after I called him a dick 4 being a dick 2 @ChrisArnold33 Should I post it? Yes or No #jays #bluejays 

And the response was overwhelming: 

@1bluejaysway Absolutely. Don't let him hide behind emails!

@1bluejaysway YES! (or at least fwd it to me ;)

@1bluejaysway Absolutely post it. He was out of line being such a, well, 'dick'. Could've answered that guys frustration a little better...

Yes! His writing = sodden + irrelevant #lessontousall rt @1bluejaysway Heyo! @keithlaw sent me an email... @ChrisArnold33 Should I post it?

@1bluejaysway yes

@1bluejaysway yes yes you should. Man all I asked was he say something positive for once. He even criticized Jayas after Morrow's one hitter 

The last one being from the one and only @ChrisArnold33 himself.  I got him to send me over the conversation for reference.  Here it is in it's entirety: 

@keithlaw would it kill you to tweet something nice about the #bluejays ? Even after Morrow's 1 hitter you bitched he was out too long

I'm sorry, did I hurt your widdle feewings? RT@ChrisArnold33 @keithlaw would it kill you to tweet something nice about the #bluejays ?

@keithlaw wow I thought you were a pro. Sad. Just pointing out a fact of you being bias. And I know I'm not alone.

@ChrisArnold33 No, you are not alone in your ignorance. Watch the news some time - you'll feel right at home

@keithlaw I have enough MLB reporters on here and you're the only one that tweets one positive per 10 negative Jays posts.

@keithlaw forgot that its 'cool' these days to shit on Toronto. At least for you anyways. 

After reading that exchange I decided to do a little research on Klaw.  Here are the results:

• Full name is Keith Edmond Law
• Graduated with honors from Harvard where he majored in sociology and economics
• He does a weekly chat on ESPN 
• He use to live in the SkyDome 
• A day in the life of 
• He has photos of the boys over at Drunk Jays Fans making out with each other
• He has a man crush on Tim Raines 
• His e-mail address is keithxlaw@gmail.com 
• His IP adress is 108.7.223.#
• He is a Gemini.  Which means:

On the turn of a moment, Gemini can become cynical, biting, moody and quickly angered. Inseparable as two sides of a coin, those born in this sign can be dazzling and irresistible or inconstant and irrational.

His titles when he was with your Toronto Blue Jays included:

• Consultant to Baseball Operations 
• Head of Scouting 
• Kinesiologist 
• Coach 
• Special Assistant to the General Manager

There are a lot of other people that have a "dislike" for Keith.  The highlights:

• I Doubt Keith Law and JP Ricciardi are friends
• Keith Law Sucks
• This Keith Law Guy 
• Keith Law is an Idiot
• Reader Mail

Considering Klaw has a vote on who wins the major awards in baseball every year I think we can all take these honors a little less seriously in the future.  The Baseball Writers Association of America denied him into the club once, only to admit him a year later.  Think they regret that decision at all?

Conclusion:

After determining that Klaw is a Gemini, his behavior makes a little more sense.  He actually has a split personality and cannot control himself.  On one hand you have the extremely smart stat junkie that talked his way into the baseball industry and on the other you have the little bitch that sends silly e-mails and tweets.

I'll send it over to Silky Johnson for his insightful take on Klaw.  Hit it Silk.

That was Beautiful. On the weekends, Beautiful does stunts for Little Richard in gay movies.

Player Hater's Ball - April & May Edition(s)

Picture courtesy of King Jordan (sorta)

If you noticed, and judging by the daily hits on sitemeter you have not, we missed last month's edition of hate.  Fittingly, we saved up and decided to unload an extra helping on Mike Wilner.  Anybody that has called in to Jays Talk has more than likely been trashed by this "expert".  Friend of the site, Mr. Ike Stake, called in after a game early last year and asked simply if Travis Snider was going to get some at bats against left handed pitching.  It was the first question of the night and dickhead Wilner made sure to set the tone for the show by stating: First of all it's Snider, not Snider.  He then went on to rant about how Snider couldn't hit lefties and should be happy with a platoon role to start his career.  He then cut Ike off without giving him an opportunity to respond.  Typical Wilner.

In all fairness, most of the calls he receives are from idiots.  And I guess if I was in his chair, I would get a little tired of it to.  But Mike, we don't call you for a fucking English lesson and quite frankly you are not schooled in either the language, sports broadcasting of even journalism for that matter.  You have a degree in psychology remember?

Here is a quote from Mike:

"I played youth softball growing up, and played league baseball for six or seven years at Bond Park and Sentinel. I caught a no-hitter once, and once threw out five guys on the bases in a League Championship game -- those were the highlights."

Good for you sir.  You played softball and league (not rep) baseball growing up.  Guess that qualifies as baseball experience.  I once played tee ball and have a degree in underwater bingo, can I get on the radio please?

So just how did Wilner get on the radio anyways?

It all started back in 1988 while he was still at the U of T learning to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior.  He got a gig at CIUT, a campus and community radio station found @ 89.5 on the FM dial.  Within a year, he was anointed the title of sports director.  He also worked for Toronto’s Cable 10, where he hosted a show "Let's Talk Sports" from 1989 to 1995.  He then took a job in 1995 with 680 NEWS covering sports for them.  In 2001 he jumped over to the Fan 590 to cover baseball for them.  Mix in a little minor league play by play for the Welland Pirates, Watertown Indians and Hardware City Rock Cats and what do you have?  Experience.....I guess.

That's what is says on paper.  What it doesn't say is how he got the job.  I'll bet his friend Keith Law had something to do with it.  Let's look at the facts:

• Wilner started as the third man in the booth in 2002.

• J.P. got the job as GM of the Blue Jays after the 2001 season ended.

• KLaw was on J.P.'s original staff.

You get what I'm laying down?

Wilner says: "I just got lucky, and worked from there."  Sure you did Mike.  Your friend got you the job, that's not luck.  The least you can do is admit it.

Wilner is quick to point out that he does not actually work for the Jays.  His paycheck comes from the Fan 590, which is part of the Rogers Media umbrella.  Rogers Media is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications.

Question: Who owns the Blue Jays, the SkyDome, Sportsnet and the Fan 590?
Answer: Wilner is full of shit. 

We here at 1BlueJaysWay always take our heckling to the next level.  Always.  So here is a bit of personal info on Wilner.  I must say, he is a very private man but that just makes the search more challenging.....and we like that!

His full name is Michael Samuel Wilner.
He is born in 1970 not 1969 as it is reported.
He is a Pisces.  Which is a fish.  Some of the bad traits of that sign are as follows.  Tell me if any of these sound familiar:

• Escapist and idealistic

• Secretive and vague

• Weak-willed and easily led

He grew up in the Bathurst and Steeles area.
He is a Jew.  He said it, I'm just relaying the message.
He resides in Mississauga.
He has a mail order bride from Argentina.
He has two daughters.
He enjoys dice based fantasy baseball games, specifically Dynasty League Baseball.
He has a face for radio.
He has a weakness for the brilliant and cheesy music of the 1980s. 
He really hates it when you call him the voice of the Blue Jays or when you pronounce a players name wrong.  So you know what to do next time you get through now.....

Samuel Wilner, as he will now be known in these parts, will be on hand June 17th in St. Marys @ 7pm to play in a "celebrity" slopitch game.  I guarantee this chump has zero game.  So much so, that I will call on my childhood friend to take some pictures of his performance and demand that they are exclusive to us here at 1BlueJaysWay.  Stay tuned.

If you want a chance to spike him breaking up the double play or perhaps go elbows up, you can buy some tickets for a draw to play in the game.  I think it would be a fucking awesome idea to pool some money together and buy out the rest of the tickets.  Then we find the biggest ex football player / juice monkey in southern Ontario, jack him up with some Red Bulls and teach him how to "play the right way".  Just a thought.  Who is with me?  

In closing, I will send it over to Silky Johnson for a few words.  Go ahead Silk.
 

 



"We are the Time-Haters. We've traveled back in time... to call ya a cracker."







Update:

Looks as though Samuel has done it again!  In advance of the biggest series of the year to date, he has been given "the weekend off".  Say what you will about the optics of said decision and how it equates to censorship.  But knowing how Wilner conducts himself and his business, I am pretty sure he deserved whatever he got.  And personally, I think it looks good on him.....   

How does it feel to be on the other end of the phone Samuel?

Now, moving forward, he really has but two options:

1) He tones it down and tries to play nice with the other children.
2) He comes back even more insufferable than before.

Is there really any doubt which way he goes on this one?

Player Hater's Ball - March Edition

J.P. fucking Ricciardi.  How did it take this long for your number to get called for this monthly trashing?  Nothing short of a miracle.  Even Paul Beeston, one of the nicest men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, couldn't hold back.  Listen to this interview and fast forward to 11:26. 

“I love the game,” J.P. said, “I love the people in the game, so I’m not looking to rip people. I’m looking to explain how things work.”

He then goes on to rip his former owners, IN THE SAME ARTICLE.  I called the author out on it in the comments section. ;)

“I’m not saying you have to have money to be successful, but if you don’t have money you’d better be willing to go seven or eight years of bad baseball before you start seeing the fruits of those No. 1 picks getting up to the majors. I’d go into another job with my eyes a lot more open and probably do a little more homework on who the ownership group is and what their expectations were because that’s what ultimately controls everything.”

I guess he has blocked out the fact that he was given the money required to do these moves.....

Courtesy of These's No "I" in Blog:

B.J. Ryan (five years/$47 mil/two years missed to injury), Alex Rios (seven years/$69.835M), and Vernon Wells (seven years/$126M) were all signed to risky, back-loaded contracts by Ricciardi, and none of the three worked out. Nor was he able to draft or mine the bargain bins well enough to find talent for cheap, which would offset the poor Free Agent contracts.

Toronto Blue Jays payroll for 2010:

Ownership, however, cut payroll last season from a planned $100 million to $66 million and the team won only 75 games after a very strong start.

J.P. was most proud of his trades for Troy Glaus, Ted Lilly and Shea Hillenbrand, and his drafting and developing of Aaron Hill and Adam Lind, both of whom hit 35 homers and drove in more than 100 runs last year, and Ricky Romero, who won 13 games as a rookie.

He seems to have also blocked out the Chris Carpenter clusterfuck, selling Raul Mondesi for a guy who pitched a little over 2 innings in the major leagues and the Carlos Delgado non arbitration offer fiasco.  Let's not even talk about the way he handle the Halladay trade.  I think we can all agree he wasn't very good to the "star" players.

By constantly drafting college level players like Russ Adams, J.P. neglected the minor league system for to long.  When he was fired we had one of the worst rated farm systems in baseball.  Finally in 2006 he strayed from his rule by selecting Travis Snider in the first round out of high school and look how he is turning out.  A young high ceiling guy, exactly what we need to compete in this ultra competitive division.

“As soon as a trade is made,” Ricciardi said, “there are 50,000 people blogging about how the general manager did a bad job, and they don’t understand what he was up against from a standpoint of what the ownership wanted to do, what kind of money he had to work with, how he was putting his team together based on a four- or five-year deal, what the player wanted.”

Apparently, a handful of Major League Baseball teams offered J.P. a job after the Toronto Blue Jays mercifully fired him last fall as their general manager, but he wasn’t interested.

Ricciardi will be paid by the Blue Jays through 2010, so he wanted to take this season off after spending the last eight trying unsuccessfully to overtake the Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East.  Besides doing the broadcasting gig for ESPN, the year away from MLB will give him the chance to help coach his sons, Dante, 13, and Mariano, 11, on their Worcester Heat AAU baseball team.

My man Silky Johnson wanted to say a few things.  Take it away Silk:

"Here's a fact about J.P. you may not know, his wife wears underwear with dick holes in them."

Player Hater's Ball - Febuary Edition

Buckle up.  This one may get messy.....

Dear: The Cito,

I have been an avid Blue Jay fan since I began walking.  Your face was in the dugout for as long as I can remember.  You started as the hitting coach in 1982 at the tender age of 38.  You then took over the managing duties in 1989 and we started winning games in our new stadium.  You did that.  I love you for it.  You had the horses and you let them ride.  You played your veterans and hit the rookie 9th in the line up.  It was what needed to be done with those World Series Champion caliber teams.  The strike came in 1994 and everything changed.  It wasn't your fault.  MLB realigned the divisions and started the wild card.  Management took away your horses and replaced them with guys like Erik Hanson, Bill Risley, Orlando Merced and Alex Gonzalez.  By the time 1997 rolled around we were a bottom of the division type team.  You were fired with 5 games to go in that season and it got messy.  We heard your name mentioned  for a while in the papers.  You were turned down for the manager job by Cleveland, Detroit and the Dodgers.  I'm sure there were many others as well.  After a few years had gone by we stopped hearing your name.  In 1999 you came back and were recognized in the Level Of Excellence.  It is the most prestigious award bestowed by the Toronto Blue Jays.  Rightfully so I might add.  You then returned as the hitting coach for us in 2000 and 2001 under Jim Fregosi and Buck Martinez.  It was good to see you back in the dugout where you belonged.  But it was short lived and you were let go again.  I was pretty sure it was for good this time.

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about anything you did for the Toronto Blue Jays organization up to this point.

I wish you had left it that way but you came back as Club Ambassador and Special Assistant to the President and CEO which to me sounds like a glorified Walmart Greeter.  Then at 64 years of age you made your return to the dugout as the manager in 2008 replacing Gibby.  At the time we were off to a slow start, 35-39, and things seemed bleak.  Our hitters were being taught to work the count and take walks by new hitting coach Gary Denbo.  It wasn't working.  Management cleaned house for you, allowing you to bring in your own guys and your own philosophy.  You had an immediate impact on the season and we went 51-37 the rest of the way under your tutelage.  You unleashed your hitters and told them to swing away at the first pitch if it was in their zone.  It worked.  Everyone was happy with the results.  We started thinking about what kind of damage we could do if we had you as the field manager for a whole season.  At first glance things looked wonderful with you back in the dugout.  But underneath it all, you were the same guy.  You managed the same way as you did before because it was the only way you knew how.

One slight problem, the team is very different now.

Back in the day, your championship winning teams policed themselves.  We spent more money on salary than any other team in baseball in 1992 and 1993.  You had Hall of Fame players you could lean on.  You had clubhouse veterans that were productive players.  You had a team full of pros that came to Toronto to win.  Managing in that type of environment must have been a dream come true.  I'm sure it was easy to push the cruise control button, sit back and watch the boys play.  Your line up card pretty much wrote itself and there was no need to change it in game because it was awesome.  You basically sat on the end of the bench and kept out of the way.  The only real decisions you had to make in game were with respect to pitching changes and your starters pitched deep into games for you.  Everyone had a defined role.

This is the type of team you exceeded at managing.

This in no way resembles the current group we have now.  I fully recognize you have very little control over player personnel.  You are given 25 guys to work with and you are forced to go with what you got.  I'm sure your input is valued and respected but at the end of the day your players are the players you are given.  Your current guys are mostly young, inexperienced kids.  They don't understand what it means to be a pro.  Take Travis Snider for example: young stud, can't miss type guy.  He made the team out of camp to start 2009 with so much promise.  You were tasked with making sure he was able to make the adjustment to the majors.  You hit him 9th in the order and refused to let him play against left handed pitching.  He made it till mid May and then was sent down to AAA after you deemed him uncoachable.  You had Roy to show the pitchers what it took to win.  He led by example.  They followed and made great strides.  He's gone now.  For the everyday players it is safe to say that Vernon is your guy.  He is the team representative and clubhouse leader.  But he was the one that called you out early October in the media.  There were whispers of clubhouse unrest.  The term mutiny was being used in the news to describe the team.  Vernon was the one who stood up and faced the music, not you.  He did little to calm the rumors down and actually sounded like he agreed with the idea of you being a problem.  You responded by saying you were surprised and unaware of any issues.  The GM was fired.  About a month later you signed a four year consulting deal with the team that is scheduled to start in 2011, all but eliminating any chance you would not be back as manager for the 2010 season.

People stopped asking questions but the damage was done.

This off season you were not heard from for quite a while.  Then you took part in last month's State of the Franchise event along with the GM and President.  You were quick to contradict yourself and your new boss.  You talked about how you could have as many as seven 25 homerun guys in your lineup but also said you may need to play some small ball to score runs.  You lobbied for the return of fan favorite Carlos Delgado even though your boss had already gone on record saying there was no interest only a week before.  You said: "If there's some way to bring Carlos back here, I'd love to see him back here, because he can do a lot of things as far as helping the young kids about knowing about hitting."  On top of all that you found the time to mix up some of your bullpen guys and make everyone aware of the fact that you had no idea Brandon Morrow was brought over here to be a starter.

What I'm about to say is with all due respect sir:

I think you are a fucking joke!

I can't stand by and watch you fuck up this once proud team any longer.  You do not have the type of players on your team that you need to be successful.  Deal with it.  Try something new.  Engage the rookies.  Teach them something.  Don't rely on your players to do it for you.  Writing the name Kevin fucking Millar into the clean up spot of your line up at the end of last season should have been grounds for your immediate termination.  Platooning him with Lyle Overbay was another one I have to question.  Not so much the fact that you did it but the fact you didn't talk to Lyle about it first. Refusing to pinch hit for guys like John MacDonald in a close game late is pretty much negligence on your part.  Running Jose Bautista out there against a bunch of AAA pitchers in September only assured his return for 2010.  Now you think he is your early candidate to lead off?  What does he have to do to lose it.....hit below .200 against right handed pitching?  Let me just briefly talk about the pitchers.  This group of guys had been brought along quite nicely by former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg.  He was able to make great strides with the young guys and things on that side of the house seemed fine.  But he wasn't your guy.  You two didn't seem to get along and at the end of last season he disappeared to the NL.  He was a great asset to this organization and well respected amongst his peers.  You sent him packing.  Very, very bad call.

Look for the pitching staff to take a major step back this season.

I could literally never stop writing this letter to you sir.  On a daily basis during the season you do or say things that blow my fucking mind.  I have no doubt that trend will continue this year.  I want to be one of the sheep that follow you blindly based on the fact that you led us to the promise land before.  I want to believe that you know more than us and you are always one if not two steps ahead because that is the way it use to be.  I want to, but I can't.

The game has changed and you have not.

So to you our fearless leader I say this in closing: Get whatever the fuck it is you need to get out of your system this year.  Consider it your season long retirement party.  Bask in the glory.  It is your time to shine.  But always know this, we will be waiting and not so patiently I might add, for you to leave the dugout once and for all.  And we worry dearly about the carnage you are destined to leave behind.

Sincerely,

P.S. Silky Johnson wanted to say a few words.  Go ahead Silk:

"The Cito, in regards to your hairdo, I suggest you change the oil every 5000 miles or so, it looks like you're pushing the limits....."

Couldn't agree more Silk.  Couldn't agree more.

Player Hater's Ball - January Edition

Hate hate hate hate hate hate!

We all hate. Some pretend they don’t, but deep down inside, they know they do.

Hate is one of the purest emotions, and can really inspire some people to achieve greater heights than they normally perform at. So, welcome to the inaugural edition of 1 Blue Jays Way’s Player Haters Ball. It happens that during your time as a fan of The Toronto Blue Jays, or any sports team really, that there are players who you just don’t like. It isn’t necessarily that they perform poorly, or they act a certain way to the paying public. It could just be that you don’t like their face. It’s a hard thing to come to grips with, being that you watch this player routinely and he is a highly trained athlete who performs at a high level, but you just want him to do a little bit more. And until he does, you hate him. I’ve brought along a friend to help dispense the hate: 2002 Hater of the year, Silky Johnson.

January’s Subject:

Lyle Overbay, 1B

Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977 in Centralia, Washington) was drafted by the Arizona Diamond Backs in the 18^th round of the 1999 Amateur Draft. Overbay was acquired by the Brewers in the trade on December 1, 2003 that sent Richie Sexson and Shane Nance to Arizona for Overbay, Craig Counsell, Junior Spivey, Chris Capuano, Chad Moeller, and Jorge de la Rosa. On December 7, 2005, Overbay was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers along with pitching prospect Ty Taubenheim to Toronto in exchange for outfielder Gabe Gross and pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Jackson. Overbay was brought to Toronto in the hopes of former GM J. P. Ricciardi to be the player that would get on base and hit a shit-tonne of doubles. Why do I hate this man? Let’s have a look at the first base position around the majors.

2009 Home Run Leaders

6 of the top 10 leaders in homeruns in the Major Leagues were first basemen.

2009 RBI Leaders

5 of the top 10 leaders in runs batted in, were first basemen, including the top 4.

2009 Batting Average Leaders

4 of the top 10 leaders in batting average, were first basemen.

Say what? You’re saying, what the fuck does it all mean? My answer is simply this. We are in the toughest division in baseball; I think most reading this would agree. We go up against the New York Yankess and Boston Red Sox a lot more than other teams, and we have a first basemen with the potency of a daffodil. The Yankess have Mark Teixeira, the Red Sox have Kevin Youkilis and the Rays have Carlos Pena. Every day “The Cito” pencils in a lineup that includes Overbay at 1B, lets have a look at how the stats add up in our own division;

2009 – AL East Division First Basemen:

Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	2Bs	HRs	RBIs	Runs
Mark Teixerira	.292	.383	.565	43	39	122	103
Carlos Pena	.227	.356	.537	25	39	100	91
Kevin Youkilis	.306	.413	.548	36	27	94	99
Lyle Overbay	.265	.372	.466	35	16	64	57

How about the 2009 Major League Division Winners:

Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	2Bs	HRs	RBIs	Runs
Mark Teixerira, NYY	.292	.383	.565	43	39	122	103
Justin Morneau, MIN	.271	.363	.516	31	30	100	85
Kendry Morales, LAA	.306	.355	.569	43	34	108	86
Kevin Youkilis	.306	.413	.548	36	27	94	99
Ryan Howard	.279	.360	.571	37	45	141	105
Albert Pujols	.327	.423	.658	45	47	135	124
James Loney	.281	.357	.399	25	13	90	73
Todd Helton	.325	.416	.489	38	15	86	79
Lyle Overbay	.265	.372	.466	35	16	64	57

Courtesy of Beyond the Boxscore:

1B Lyle Overbay

Explanation of stats here:

Lyle's DiamondView shows us Toronto's problem in a nutshell: an average player (32) with below-average defense with at least one major hole in his tool belt--all at a premium position on the field that is completely dominated by three other teams in the division. He is an average first baseman with the stick, good for an OBPs of .315, .358, and .372 for the past three years while barely squeezing out an ISO of .151, .149, and .201 over the same period. One might notice that this latest year has actually been an uptick, so expect him to regress to the mean a bit for 2010.

While some would suggest that his value is his glove, even a quick glance at his UZR for the past three years shows a precipitous drop from 3.9 to 2.9 to -0.6 (and that's ignoring his -5.2 in 2006!). And if you're holding out for discipline on the base path, you're holding out for a guy that will never get caught stealing because he never tries. That said there are Ford Pintos running better than Mr. Overbay here. 

 
Yikes! Our first baseman blows ass comparatively speaking of course. There could be a correlation to be made between have a first baseman that can rake and wins. Both of which the Blue Jays are lacking in.

Courtesy of Beyond the Boxscore once again: Our AL East DiamondView journey comes to a close, and with it, any mystery why the standings turned out the way they did in 2009. With unexpected precision, this method shows that the teams with the better starters in the ON BASE and POWER categories came in the exact same order as they appear in the standings. While the obvious remains obvious, this visual is certainly enlightening:

So here is my first of many season-long Lyle Overbay sucks posts. I hate him; I mean I truly hate this man. When I think about the position and the venerable wasteland that it has become in Toronto and the mounds of talented big men who hit BOMBS at that position, it angers me. Let’s please move this man and let Brett “Thunder Thighs” Wallace step in. Maybe then we’d get some production from the position. Until that day Lyle Overbay is a hated man. Lyle, you can’t hit, you’re always hurt and you’re a money-ball player, except for the fact that you are not a “player” at all really. You just kinda stand there, getting paid to do a mediocre job at a position that mashers play at. So for that Lyle, I hate you.

Take it Silky: “The only balls that Lyle Overbay takes a swing at are those belonging to other dudes.”