What's a guy have to do to get on this cover? ... View full size photo » ... A week and a half ago we did a mini-review of what Chris Jaffe's forthcoming Evaluating Baseball's Managers had to say about Cardinals managers. Now, the long-promised excerpt: a look at our very own Tony La Russa's managerial career ... Excerpt housework: the tendencies database Jaffe refers to is defined and discussed at this link; the book covers the years 1876-2008. In the interest of full disclosure, I have
More photos » ... by Gene J. Puskar - AP ... If it weren't for Connie Mack having managed until he was the last surviving man to put a space inside the word "baseball", Tony La Russa would be two and a half seasons from becoming the winningest manager of all time ... Browse more photos » ... It says something about the current state of managerial analysis that Chris Jaffe's work on Evaluating Baseball's Managers began with a presentation about how "lucky" and "unlucky" certain things were.
More photos » ... by Morry Gash - AP ... St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Joel Pineiro throws during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 9, 2009, in Milwaukee. It was probably a strike ... Browse more photos » ... What's there to say about Joel Pineiro? His success is consistent with the way he's pitched—the results he's gotten are commensurate with the things he's done—but the things he's doing are unimaginable over the course of an entire season. Strikeouts per nine:
The St. Louis Aces of the World Team Tennis League return to action this week with two games. On Thursday, July 2, they face the Boston Lobsters, and on Saturday, July 4, they play the New York Sportimes. The Independence Day match is also "I (Heart) St. Louis Night," which means toasted ravi ...
Franklin is in the mix to be St. Louis Cardinals closer ... Traveling is the enemy of workable schedules. I'll have something up tonight, but in the meantime what do you guys think about this possibility? ... On the one hand, it's probably just La Russa creating a motivating situation, as he's wont to do, but on the other it's a classic early-sabermetric idea come to life—supposedly unenlightened manager puts mediocre reliever in closer slot, unwittingly installs his best relievers as Relief