Seeking understanding in a contradictory world…
Defensive stats are a little like batting averages — they take a LONG time for the sample size to improve sufficiently to be meaningful. We’re not there yet, but I’m itching to look at them anyways… Zone Rating is the best available measure to consider at this point in the season, defined as the proportion of balls hit into a fielder’s zone that he successfully converted into an out. (All stats courtesy of ESPN.com) Read the rest of this entry »
Following the example set by New York City, the City of Brookline is considering its own trans-fat ban. What are the implications of this? Does it make sense for a minor municipality to enact such a ban? Read the rest of this entry »
True excellence in baseball can be defined as a .617 winning percentage, an even 100 wins over the 162 game season. Checking the standings this morning I see six teams with a winning percentage north of that mark (data courtesy of ESPN.com):
| MLB | W | L | PCT |
| Milwaukee | 24 | 10 | 0.706 |
| Boston | 23 | 10 | 0.697 |
| Atlanta | 22 | 12 | 0.647 |
| NY Mets | 21 | 12 | 0.636 |
| Detroit | 21 | 12 | 0.636 |
| Cleveland | 20 | 12 | 0.625 |
There is a very simple answer to proponents of unfettered capitalism: read “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, telling a story of the Chicago meat-processing plants around the beginning of the twentieth century. The working conditions were dreadful, wages were dismally low. Sanitation was non-existent, and unspeakable things made their way into the vats. Read the rest of this entry »
The Red Sox have played some great baseball this past month. Not only are they sitting on a 20-10 record, but their run differential of 150-105 suggests that it is not a fluke. In fact the Pythagorean estimator, W% = RS^2/(RA^2 + RS^2), fully supports their current pace of 108 wins! Yet looking back over this streak, I can’t help but wonder if they got a little lucky in their competition? Read the rest of this entry »
“The administrative judge — whose job, mind you, entails determining civil infractions and penalties — claimed that he deserves $65,462,500 in damages for the “mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort” caused by the loss of his suit pants.”
This is simply a sick joke, right? Please tell me that nobody would act like such a fool (and that nobody would take him seriously if he did)!
Update: Aug. 10, 2007
The Chung’s fought the suit. They won. Now the plaintiff may be on the hook for $83,000 in legal fees (though he is fighting that as well). Yes, there are still shreds of sanity in the world.
In this recent Globe article, Sacha Pfeiffer writes, “Female lawyers continue to face intractable challenges in their attempts to become partners, causing them to abandon law firm careers — and the legal profession entirely — at a dramatically higher rate than men, according to a local study to be released today.”
The article could almost be a reprint of a dozen similar stories over the past years. While overt discrimination has been greatly reduced (not eliminated), the most prestigious, powerful, and lucrative positions remain largely empty of women. Partner in a law firm? Tenured professor at Harvard? Nationally prominent politician? Corporate officer of a Fortune 500 company? Forty years after the Women’s Liberation movement in the 1960s brought some semblance of workplace equality, we still see no more than 20% female representation in the upper echelons of our leadership. Read the rest of this entry »
Curt Schilling has allowed 14 runs this year. He gave up 90 in 2006 and 59 in 2005, for a total of 163 runs over the past two-plus seasons. Every single one of those runs has been earned. Digging a little deeper, we find Curt has not allowed an unearned run since June 16, 2004 — a span of 66 starts, 21 relief appearances, and 209 runs since he last allowed an error to make a difference on the scoreboard. Read the rest of this entry »
Donald Luskin, of the National Review, has a lot to say about Lou Dobbs. The article is worth reading, and he makes some intelligent points. Nevertheless, his tone throughout reminds me of a four-year-old child throwing a temper tantrum. I’m not suggesting that liberal commentators are any better behaved. I’d just like to send the whole lot for a “time-out” until they learn how to discuss instead of simply argue.
Quotes and Commentary: Read the rest of this entry »