Category Archives: Sports

HOW DID THE ORIOLES DO IT LAST YEAR?

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Philip

HOW DID THE ORIOLES DO IT LAST YEAR? Nick is a believer in the sabermetric argument that Earl Weaver was right and that, except in special circumstances, playing for one run is a mistake. I told Nick that I would … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Sports | 1 Comment

SHORTENING A BASEBALL GAME TO SIX INNINGS.

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Philip

SHORTENING A BASEBALL GAME TO SIX INNINGS. One current strategy in baseball follows Gene Mauch’s approach of trying for an early lead. If a team can succeed in building a deep bullpen, with three or four shutdown relievers, it can … Continue reading →

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EARL WEAVER AND GENE MAUCH AND SABERMETRICS.

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Philip

EARL WEAVER AND GENE MAUCH AND SABERMETRICS.. Earl Weaver and Gene Mauch were both successful managers during roughly the same period (Weaver, 1960 to 1987; Mauch, 1960 to 1986.) Weaver and Mauch had different views on a major issue in … Continue reading →

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NEW SUPPORT FOR REDUCING BASEBALL COLLISIONS

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Philip

NEW SUPPORT FOR REDUCING BASEBALL COLLISIONS. I have posted several times, including here, supporting changes in baseball rules to reduce injuries from collisions. A lot of collisions at home plate and second base occur because of customs that are defy … Continue reading →

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HOW I READ THE NEWS.

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Philip

HOW I READ THE NEWS. The front page of Yahoo news has been my home page for a long time in internet years. I really don’t like the latest revision, and that dislike highlights for me how different the way … Continue reading →

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COMPETITVE SNOW CARVING TECHNIQUES.

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Philip

COMPETITIVE SNOW CARVING TECHNIQUES. I posted here about sand-castle techniques used in competitions, including the Gas-Powered Jumping-Jack Tamper. This article on wired.com by Nathan Hurst describes some of the techniques used in an ice carving competition at a ski resort … Continue reading →

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SABERMETRICS AND SCRABBLE—VALUE OVER REPLACEMENT TILE.

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Philip

SABERMETRICS AND SCRABBLE—VALUE OVER REPLACEMENT TILE. I have posted several times on the new baseball statistics. One of them is Value Over Replacement Player (VORP). This wikipedia article describes the concept: “how much a hitter contributes offensively or how much … Continue reading →

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SHOULD THE VALUES OF SCRABBLE LETTERS BE CHANGED?

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Philip

SHOULD THE VALUES OF SCRABBLE LETTERS BE CHANGED? Stefan Fatsis has this article in Slate about proposals to change the values of the different letter tiles in Scrabble. One argument is that the English language has changed since Scrabble’s invention … Continue reading →

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SUNK COSTS—CHASE HEADLEY AND MARK SANCHEZ.

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Philip

SUNK COSTS—CHASE HEADLEY AND MARK SANCHEZ. In this post from a year ago on sunk costs, I cited an article by Baliga and Ely arguing that a determination that there are sunk costs that should be written off because of … Continue reading →

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SUNK COSTS—THE CASE OF MARK SANCHEZ.

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Philip

SUNK COSTS—THE CASE OF MARK SANCHEZ. A friend called my attention to an article by James Surowiecki in the New Yorker (January 21). Mark Sanchez, the New York Jet quarterback, had a poor year, but has a guaranteed salary for … Continue reading →

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