Odds and Sods

Whew! That was a close one.  We haven’t dodged a bullet that big since the Brett Favre vs. Goliath Super Bowl.  Dickie V just died a little inside.

Let us see what narrative arc the gossip poobahs at ESPN will engender for us now.

If you are betting on ratings for this final, take the under.

Bill James created a controversy through an off-hand comment about the Minnesota Twins in his The Bill James Gold Mine 2008.

James said the following about the Twins.

Two of the greatest home run under-producers of all time were teammates: Kirby Puckett and Gary Gaetti in 1984. Puckett hit no home runs (-16), Gaetti hit only 5 (-19). Suggesting the possibility that the Twins’ two World Championships may have been aided by their team being among the first to discover…well, I’d better not go there. Nor will I point out that Gaetti was bald and had acne and Puckett died young.

Bugs and Cranks assumed this passage to be deadpan.  I don’t agree.

The logical inconsistencies are egregious and un-Jamesian.  The year in question, 1984, comes as a blip in Gaetti’s career.  It was also Puckett’s rookie year, when he was adjusting to Major League pitching.

If James had meant to out the Twins’ championship teams, he probably would have expounded upon the argument and featured it more prominently.

There is also the dramatic… pause, which seems to indicate that James was not entirely serious.

I agree with Rob Neyer.  It seems to be more of a subtle joke, poking fun at conclusionist steroid czars employing statistics as weapons.  Such jokes from those normally serious are sometimes lost in translation.