Daily Archives: November 6, 2003

David Pinto has an forthright and instructional post today about “How to Become a Stat Head.” Keep this one handy in case you ever run across someone who would like to learn about sabermetrics but doesn’t necessarily know where to start.

Here is more from Red Smith, on the agony of writing:

I don’t enjoy the actual labor of writing. I love my job, but I find one of the disadvantages is the several hours at the typewriter each day. That’s how I pay for this nice job. And I pay pretty dearly. I sweat. I bleed. I’m a slow writer.

…When I began doing a column…I found it wasn’t something that I could rip off the top of my head. I had to do it painstakingly. I’m always unhappy, very unhappy, at anything that takes less than two hours. I can do it in two hours, if I must. But my usual answer to the question, “How long does it take to write a column?” is “How much time do I have?” If I have six hours, I take it. I wish I could say that the ones that take six hours turn out better. Not necessarily. But I will say this: I do think that, over three hundred days, effort pays off. If you do the best you can every day, taking as much time as necessary, or as much time as you have, then it’s going to be better than if you brushed it off.

“No Cheering in the Press Box” was released in 1973, and along with Lawrence Ritter’s seminal work, “The Glory of Our Times,” remains one of the great oral histories in baseball literature.

The Mets officially introduced Rick Peterson as their new pitching coach yesterday. Again, I think this should give Mets fans something to be excited about, as Peterson has earned his reputation as one of the best in the business.

When I was growing up, Reggie Jackson was my favorite player. He dominanted my thoughts; he was my idol. Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph came next, but they were a distant second. The irony is when I played baseball—through high school–I actually modeled myself on Randolph, the quiet, but solid professional. Reggie was the perfect hero for a child; Randolph is the ideal role-model for an adult.

Harvey Araton has a piece in The Times this morning about why Willie should be next in line as Yankee skipper (an assumption that Don Mattingly agrees with):

He has come to work, done his job, never once embarrassed the uniform he wore. One day last season he mentioned to me how a reporter had asked him before a game against the Red Sox if he felt entitled to succeed Torre. Randolph said he couldn’t believe someone who knew anything about him would have thought he would answer, at that time or any time. “I would never talk about it out of respect to that man in there,” he said, nodding toward the manager’s office.

The Yankee realist in me thinks that Randolph is unlikely to ever manage in the Bronx. To be fair, I don’t know if he’d actually be good at the job, but it’s simply too sensible to ever happen in Boss George’s world. But stranger things have happened. After all, how long has Joe Torre been managing the Yanks now?

I spoke with Christian Ruzich, The Cub Reporter, who recently lost his home in the wild fires that ravaged southern California. He is alive and doing as well as can be expected. Ruz and his wife, Darryl were in Europe when their house went up in flames. Would you believe that Christian works in the fire-insurance business? Fortunately, they were able to place a call to a co-worker before the fire claimed their home, and Darryl’s wedding dress, as well as many of their photographs were saved. (As I mentioned earlier, so were their dogs as well as their automobiles.)

Instead of flying directly home, Christian and D chose to stay in Paris for a few days. They went to the Louvre, and then went to the movies. They needed an escape. So they went to see Clint Eastwood’s skillfully constructed, yet emotionally opaque, “Mystic River.” Talk about a pick-me-up. Yeesh.

Ruz is back home in California now, and he is doing OK. One thing that is certain is that Christian has been absolutely humbled by the amount of support that he has recieved from the internet community. I suggested to him that the love he’s gotten is a reflection of what a good man he is. Not that people wouldn’t have sympathized with him regardless, but if he were a shmuck, I doubt folks would have reached out to him in the same fashion.

Good morning, readers. What better way to start the day, than some words of wisdom from the late, great sportswriter, Red Smith:

Over the years people have said to me, “Isn’t it dull covering baseball every day?” My answer used to be “It becomes dull only to dull minds.” Today’s game is always different from yesterday’s game. If you have the perception and the interest to see it, and the wit to express it, your story is always different from yesterday’s story. I thoroughly enjoyed covering baseball daily.

I still think every game is different, not that some of them aren’t dull, but it’s a rare person who lives his life without encountering dull spots. It’s up to the writer to take a lively interest and see the difference.

This quote was lifted from Jerome Holtzman’s fine collection of interviews with old time sports writers, “No Cheering From the Press Box.” (More later…)