Baseball Musings: Superstitions Archives

April 14, 2008

A Little Bit of Neyer
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Even if you don't pay for ESPN Insider, you can see Rob Neyer's idea on what the Yankees should have done with the buried Ortiz jersey. Brilliant!

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:14 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

April 13, 2008

Wasted Money
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I understand that players have superstitions, but management should be a little more rational:

Earlier this week, a construction worker who is a Boston fan working on the concrete crew at the $1.3 billion new Yankee Stadium buried a Red Sox shirt in with the concrete foundation, in the hopes of jinxing the New York Yankees' new home, the New York Post reported.
The newspaper reported Sunday that two workers approached a construction manager with what they thought was the location of the jersey. After digging a two-foot by three-foot hole, the jersey was found.

"They absolutely pinpointed that if it was in the ground, that's where it was," Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion told the newspaper.

Hal Steinbrenner wants the person who buried the shirt assaulted by his co-workers. If this is what the Yankees front office takes seriously, I fear for the future of the franchise.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:17 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Wasted Money
Permalink

I understand that players have superstitions, but management should be a little more rational:

Earlier this week, a construction worker who is a Boston fan working on the concrete crew at the $1.3 billion new Yankee Stadium buried a Red Sox shirt in with the concrete foundation, in the hopes of jinxing the New York Yankees' new home, the New York Post reported.
The newspaper reported Sunday that two workers approached a construction manager with what they thought was the location of the jersey. After digging a two-foot by three-foot hole, the jersey was found.

"They absolutely pinpointed that if it was in the ground, that's where it was," Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion told the newspaper.

Hal Steinbrenner wants the person who buried the shirt assaulted by his co-workers. If this is what the Yankees front office takes seriously, I fear for the future of the franchise.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:17 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

April 08, 2008

Playing with Fire
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I suppose the good omen of the hawk attack allows the Red Sox to tempt fate.

Update: The hawk just flew into Fenway to the roar of the crowd. It was carrying a mouse in its beak. It looks spectacular in high definition. It also did a great pass of the mouse from its beak to its claws in mid air.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

April 06, 2008

Winning for a Song
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The Orioles changed the song played when the players take the field:

The campy " Orioles Magic" song that harkens to the days when there was a "thundering roar from Section 34" got scratched after Opening Day.
In the past four games, the Orioles have darted out of the dugout before the first pitch to "Click, Click, Boom," a song by the rock band Saliva, which might or might not have been inspired by former Oriole Roberto Alomar.

The concept of never-say-die Orioles Magic seemingly expired years ago, and now the song has taken at least a temporary hiatus from pre-game at Camden Yards.

Don't start mourning yet, oh tradition-obsessed Orioles fans. Or at least know this before you pine for the olden days: In those four games, without hearing about "when Weaver moves," the Orioles are undefeated. That includes an Orioles Magic-esque comeback against the Seattle Mariners today, when they scored three runs in the ninth against a team that didn't blow a game like that all of last season.

So when a keyed-up Orioles team returned to the clubhouse after the inspiring victory, how did it celebrate? By blasting "Orioles Magic" as loud as it could on the clubhouse stereo.

Whatever works.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 24, 2007

Pining for the Fjords
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The Red Sox are thawing out the bullpen parrot:

"We noticed it was gone (yesterday)," Timlin said. "It kind of sounds funny but he's kind of a good luck charm, especially for (Hideki) Okajima. We need to have him back."
Fortunately for Okajima and his fellow relievers, Parlay is back on its bullpen perch. WBZ reported last night that a pair of Northeastern students found the parrot in their freezer Monday, although they claimed they did not know how it got there.

"Norwegian Blues stun easily, major."

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 10, 2007

The Return of Ray
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Tom Withers notes the improbable events of the Cleveland Indians season, all since restoring the lost Ray Chapman plaque.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 01, 2005

Lord of the Ring
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It's a good day for this story about the Yankee Ring Ceremony.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 11, 2005

Who Has Tom Seaver's Locker?
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Carlos Beltran has a dubious locker.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 04, 2004

Reverse the Curse
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"So the curse only lasted 86 years, huh? I guess the ol' Bambino wasn't as powerful a necromancer as we thought."

More thoughts here. :-)

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

October 22, 2004

Curses
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My good friend and Canadian ex-pat Dan Wechsler writes:

Care to include a link to this? I especially like the last part about ex-Cubs.

Here's the part about the Cubs.

And we must warn you of another, less familiar mystical force: the ex-Cub factor. The idea is that the Chicago Cubs are so poisoned by failure that the team with more ex-Cubs loses the Series. In the playoffs, the Yankees had the most ex-Cubs: six. St. Louis had three; Houston only one. Boston, with two ex-Cubs, may be safe because the hex seems to require a minimum of three. It has been broken only twice since 1945, by the 1960 Pirates and the 2001 Diamondbacks. Each time, the Yankees lost in Game 7, in the bottom of the ninth.

I guess this was written before the Cardinals won last night.

So Dan (and any other Canadians reading this), which ex-Expo are you rooting for? Larry Walker or Pedro Martinez?

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:14 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

A-Rod is Not the Problem
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I've seen this in two places now, the idea that A-Rod brings defeat with him. First it was at Soxaholix (warning, obsenity laced (but funny) rant). The 2nd is at Let's Fly Under the Bridge. I'll fisk the 2nd, since this tries to be a kid friendly blog:

Alex Rodriguez, surrounded by potential Hall of Famers; Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr., the Mariners fail to reach a World Series.

How about this: Long time superstars Johnson, Martinez and Griffey are given the best hitting shortstop of this generation to compliment their talents and still can't win a World Series. And since reaching the World Series is the goal here, I don't remember the 2001 Mariners doing any better in that regard.

Look, the Mariners were a very good team in the late 1990's. In 2001 they replaced 1 superstar with 2 superstars. Surprise! They got better! They got really good! The problem was the Yankees figured out Ichiro's weakness for the ALCS, and the Mariners sunk. It's just a thought, but A-Rod, who has fewer weaknesses than Ichiro, might have done better.

Free agent Alex Rodriguez, after assuring the Seattle Mariner fans that money wouldn't determine his destination, signs with the Texas Rangers for $250 million. Texas immediately goes to the bottom of the standings.

And they went there with a good offense, which was the whole point of getting A-Rod. In his three years in Texas, the Rangers finished 3rd, 5th and 5th in runs per game, but 14th, 12th and 14th in ERA. This year, they finished 4th in runs per game and 5th in ERA. Surprise! They didn't finish last. I'm sure A-Rod was the only reason their pitching improved so much.

2004: After aborting a trade to the Boston Red Sox, Rodriguez finds a home at third base in Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox accomplish the unheard of; regrouping from a 3-0 deficit, they win the final four games, and take the American League pennant. Now await a National League opponent in the 2004 World Series.

I believe it was the Union that aborted the trade, but that's neither here nor there. How about this: With A-Rod in New York instead of Boston, the Yankees play 12 games better than their Pythagorean projection and finish three games ahead of the Red Sox instead of 8 games back. Had the Red Sox gotten A-Rod, leaving the Yankees with no third baseman of any quality, the Yankees probably don't make the wild card, and this grand comeback doesn't happen.

So sure, go ahead and hang all these losses on Alex Rodriguez and ignore reality. There are plenty of teams who wish they were cursed with A-Rod.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:26 AM | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)

June 09, 2003

Locker Shocker
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Tom Bridge sends this article that combines two of my favorite things; great pitchers and exploding drummers.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:26 PM | TrackBack (0)

Baseball Info Solutions The publisher of the Bill James Handbook and a great source of stats.

ESPN.com's baseball page.

STATS, Inc. You'll find great baseball books and fantasy games here.

Baseball Direct Scoreboard This is powered by STATS, Inc. Good box scores, and good situational stats.

Baseball Reference.com It's like having Total Baseball and the Big Mac online!

Baseball Prospectus.com Wonderful commentary and analysis.

Baseball Primer Baseball for the Thinking Fan.

The Hardball Times Baseball. Insight. Daily.

Takkle High School Sports

Minor League Spilts Database Up-to-date minor league statistics, broken down by situation.

Inside The Book A blog by the authors of The Book.

Baseboogle A search engine for baseball research sites.

Win Shares From Major League Baseball Graphs.

The Transaction Guy A baseball transactions blog.

Japan Baseball Daily An English language site for Japanese baseball news and stats.

Doug's Business of Baseball Weblog A blog with a focus on the economics of the game.

Why I Like Baseball A Yankee fan writes about her favorite team.

Skilton's Baseball Links Links to numerous baseball sources.

Dan Lewis A blog about all sports.

Birds in the Belfry A site about the Orioles. Articles and research.

Only Baseball Matters A baseball blog by a John J. Perricone.

Jocksalot Lots of sports links.

Al's Ramblings A Brewer's blog.

Futility Infielder Jay Jaffe's baseball site. More than just a blog.

Mike's Baseball Rants Mike Carminati's baseball blog.

Aaron's Baseball Blog A general interest baseball blog.

Boy of Summer Travis Nelson on baseball.

Baseball Crank Dan McLaughlin's blog on baseball, the war and politics.

Bambino's Curse Edward Cossette's blog about the Red Sox.

Oakland Athletics Blog David Levens writes about the A's.

Ducksnorts Articles and Blog by Geoff.

Boston Sports Media Bruce Allen's roundup of the Boston Sports Media.

The Diamond Angle An online baseball magazine.

The Cub Reporter A Chicago Cubs blog.

Bronx Banter A baseball blog by Al Belth.

At Home Plate Articles by Jonathan Leshanski.

Dodger Thoughts Jon Weisman on the Dodgers.

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Baseball Writing Joe Zibell's essays on baseball.

The Eddie Kranepool Society A Mets blog.

Mariners Weblog The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's weblog written by Shannon Fears

PortlandSoxFan.com A Red Sox blog from Portland, CT.

The Detroit Tigers Weblog Two Tigers fans and their take on the Motor City team.

A Rookie's Life The blog of Cleveland Indians' rookie Jody Gerut.

The Baseball Desert An Englishman living in France writes about the American game.

ChiSox Daily Mike Lubuda writes about the White Sox.

Shallow Center A blog mostly about the Phillies.

The House that Dewey Built Jeff Kuhn writes about the Red Sox.

SethSpeaks.net A blog by a Twins fan.

Frank's Field of Dreams News about Asian players in the United States.

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Red Reporter JD Arney writes about the Reds.

Dominican Players Raul Tavares writes about players from his home country.

The Pearly Gates An Anaheim Angels Blog.

Red Sox Haven Randy Booth on baseball.

Tigers Weblog The Detroit News weblog on the Tigers, written by Tom Gage.

Management by Baseball Jeff Angus writes on how business can learn from baseball.

The View From the Bleachers A Chicago Cubs blog.

Cubs Now! Brian Hipp on the Cubs.

Honest Wagner A Pittsburgh Pirates weblog.

All-Baseball.com A collection of excellent baseball weblogs.

Soxaholix A comic strip blog about the Red Sox.

Most Valuable Network Blogging all 30 teams.

Baseball, Etcetera Andrew Godfrey's baseball blog.

Most Valuable Network, Astros Lisa Gray and others write about the Astros.

fenwayfanatics.com A Boston Red Sox blog.

Balls, Sticks & Stuff A sports blog with an emphasis on baseball.

Phillies Nation Brian Michael writes about the Phillies.

Batgirl Less stats, more sass.

Sabernomics Economic thinking about baseball.

Fire Brand of the American League A blog about the Red Sox.

Ivy Chat Chicago Cubs and other rants.

Baseball Evolution A group website writing about baseball.

The Cubdom.com Byron Clarke blogs about the Cubs.

Red Sox Stats Sabermetric numbers for the Red Sox system.

DRays Bay A blog devoted to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Baseball Analysts Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith combine their baseball expertise into a single site.

Over the Monster A Red Sox blog by Randy Booth.

Viva el Birdos Ghosts of the St. Louis Cardinals past, present, and future.

Black Sox Blog A look at the current and historical teams of the South Side of Chicago.

Redleg Nation A group blog about the Cincinnati Reds.

Barry's Journal Barry Bonds' web log.

Hardball Dollars Keeping track of major league salaries.

Clem's Baseball and it's "Green Cathedrals" The resource for baseball stadiums on the web.

The Baseball Zealot Looking at the game of baseball from all sides of the spectrum .

Was Watching Laconic commentary from a Yankeeland zealot.

Bleed Cubbie Blue A Chicago Cubs blog.

Beaneball A's baseball from the heart of New York City.

The Writers A collection of sports writers express their opinions.

Yard Work What the Baseball Tonight crew would write if it could.

United States of Baseball Peter Handrinos' baseball columns.

Beer Leaguer Alternative veiwpoints on the Philadelphia Phillies.

Red Sox Connection Links to everything Red Sox.

Baseball Pilgrimages Stories of visits to baseball parks.

Fangraphs Multi-year charts of player stats.

Roto Authority Unique fantasy baseball information.

Yanksfan vs. Soxfan A Yankees fan and a Red Sox fan battle it out in the blogosphere.

Sawxblog.com A Red Sox fan writes about the home town team.

Oriole Magic An MVN blog about the Orioles.

The Baltimore Chop Joseph Jackson on the Orioles.

Lookout Landing A Seattle Mariners blog.

Sons of Bart Brush A blog about the Harvard baseball team.

Base Blogging A resource for sports and baseball bloggers.

Three True Outcomes A group blog by on major league baseball.

Cardinals Diaspora A blog for Cardinals fans living away from St. Louis.

Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? A Pittsburgh fan chronicles life in the Grand Canyon.

Brew Crew Ball A blog about the Milwaukee Brewers.

Getting Paid to Watch Posts by a former trainer for the NY Mets.

The Gas House Gang An historical St. Louis Cardinals Blog.

6-4-2 An Angels/Dodgers double play blog.

El Guapo's Ghost Rambles on about the Red Sox Baseball and the Red Sox.

Baseball Etc

Tiger Tales A Detroit Tigers web log.

The Baseball Card Blog A blog about baseball cards.

Sox1Fan A Red Sox blog.

Out of Left Field Another Red Sox blog.

New York Yankees Update A Yankees blog with lots of photos.

Liberty Ball A current and historical Phillies blog.

Crawfish Boxes A Houston Astros blog.

MLB Rumors Clearinghouse News from around the majors.

Roar From 34 A group blog about the Orioles.

Blogging Baseball All-time baseball highlights and real-time commentary.

Rubber Arm A group blog about major league baseball.

Fenway Nation More news about the Red Sox.

Rays of Light A Devil Rays blog.

Fantasy Baseball Chronicle Information for fantasy players.

American Legends A sports blog.

Duffy's Cliff An interactive Red Sox site, featuring a lexicon of the Red Sox.

Oriole Post - The World of Baseball and Beyond An Orioles blog.

DRays Bay A Devil Rays blog.

Mets Heads A blog about the New York Mets.

The Soul of Baseball Joe Posnanski promotes his book on Buck O'Neil and blogs about baseball.

My Baseball Bias A blog about East Coast baseball.

Sports Business Radio Articles and talk about the business of sports.

The Game of Baseball A blog about Major League Baseball.

Baseball Hot Corner Opinionated observations for the thinking fan.

FantasyDope.com Fantasy baseball news.

Peter's Red Sox Forever A Red Sox blog.

Sox Nest Commentary on the Red Sox.

The Big Oz A Florida Marlins blog.

Baseball Reflections Where old school baseball meets sabermetrics.

The Sommer Frieze A Yankees blog.

Fenway Nation A Red Sox fan site.

In-Between Hops A Milwaukee Brewers blog.

Right Field Bleachers Another Milwaukee Brewers blog.

On Baseball and the Reds Another Cincinnati Reds blog.

Crooked Pitch A fantasy baseball blog.

Bless You Boys A Detroit Tigers blog.

Cubs f/x Pitch f/x and the Chicago Cubs.

The Hot Corner

Eephus Pitch Tossing pure junk about New York baseball since 2006.

It Is High, It Is Far, It Is Caught A tribute to John Sterling.

Baseball GB Baseball from a British perspective.

Nick and Nick's Twins Blog A couple of Nicks write on the Twins.

SkyKing162 Baseball with a hint of lime.

Center Field A Red Sox blog.

Empyreal Environs Writing about the Red Sox.

Trophy League Planet Aggregating the baseball blogosphere.

Cardinals Best News Links Aggregating St. Louis Cardinals news.

HSAC Blog Official Musings of the Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective.

The Baseball Fix A general baseball blog.

MLB Roundup A baseball video blog.

Fantasy Dope Fantasy Baseball News.

The Cubs Brickyard Hilarious fake news.

Spitting Seeds A blog about Major League baseball.

Instapundit Politics and the law. This site inspired me to start blogging.

Wild Treasure Treasure hunts through the blogosphere.

San Diego Ticket Finder San Diego Ticket Information.

Prize Sports.net Baseball Collectibles.

Fantasy Sports R Us The #1 Fantasy Baseball Leagues site on the web.

RotoRank - Fantasy Baseball Draft Guides Customized For Any Fantasy Baseball League.