Category Archives: Sports

FAREWELL TO THE BIGGEST HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE OF THEM ALL.

FAREWELL TO THE BIGGEST HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE OF THEM ALL. USA Today Sports Weekly for September 23 to 29 has an article on the last days of the Metrodome, the home park of the Minnesota Twins. It will be replaced … Continue reading

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MOE BERG REVISITED.

MOE BERG REVISITED. I posted here on how Moe Berg, a polymath who spent many years in the major leagues as a catcher, went to a lecture by Werner Heisenberg in Switzerland during World War II with instructions to kill … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, History, Sports | 3 Comments

NOT RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT.

NOT RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT. On Friday, I posted on how Mike Francesa and people in Florida were speculating that Florida would score 100 points against Tennessee. In the event, Florida won, but the score was only … Continue reading

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RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT.

RUNNING UP 100 POINTS ON YOUR OPPONENT. I heard Mike Francesa saying today that there are rumors that Florida is going to try to score 100 points against Tennessee tomorrow. Sure enough, this article in a Florida newspaper says that … Continue reading

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BASKETBALL AND PIANO MUSIC.

BASKETBALL AND PIANO MUSIC. Some time after Van Cliburn had burst upon the American musical scene by winning a major Russian piano competition, he gave a concert in Kansas City at the same time that a major basketball tournament was … Continue reading

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BALLET AND BASEBALL.

BALLET AND BASEBALL. Mary Jane remembers Phil Rizzuto talking excitedly about the ballet. His wife Cora had taken him. Rizzuto was especially impressed by Nureyev and raved about what Nureyev could have done if he had become an outfielder. During … Continue reading

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BALLET TRAINING FOR ATHLETES.

BALLET TRAINING FOR ATHLETES. The Wall Street Journal reports here that the Minnesota Twins have signed Max Kepler-Rozycik, the sixteen-year old son of two professional ballet dancers, with an $800,000 bonus. One of the advantages that the ballet background gives … Continue reading

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ONE WALK EQUALS TWO OR THREE STRIKE OUTS.

ONE WALK EQUALS TWO OR THREE STRIKE OUTS. Marc Normandin wrote in Baseball Prospectus (on July 3 if you have an account): “…if you can explain to me why Nick Blackburn still has a 3.10 ERA, then I’m all ears. … Continue reading

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FRONTIERS IN BASEBALL STATISTICS.

FRONTIERS IN BASEBALL STATISTICS. Yesterday, I contrasted the dramatic improvements in the collection of baseball data and in the number and sophistication of the statistical analyses of that data with what seems to be much less study of data on … Continue reading

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LEARNING ABOUT CHEMOTHERAPY REGIMENS.

LEARNING ABOUT CHEMOTHERAPY REGIMENS. When Mary Jane was being treated for breast cancer fifteen years ago, I learned that there were different drugs and different combinations of drugs to choose among and also that for each combination of drugs there … Continue reading

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