David Wadler’s Assorted Thoughts

It certainly doesn’t stop with political patronage. George C. Deutsch didn’t even graduate from college, but managed to land a job where he could effectively stifle one of the world’s top climate scientists. Scary.

ESPN’s Buster Olney notes that homeruns are down to a reasonable level at Coors Field, but it remains far too easy to get a hit. Ostensibly, the humidor is largely responsible for helping balls stay in the yard. However, the outrageous dimensions at Coors make it an offensive paradise. Bringing in the fences might be an easy fix. (If I remember correctly, the deep fences were put in place to mitigate the pre-humidor homerun issue.)

Plus, check out these well-deserves kudos for Baseball-Reference.com.

Jon Weisman has a piece in Sports Illustrated about the increasing use of statistics to evaluate the defensive perfomance of baseball players. Good article. But Derek Jeter enthusiasts be warned, it paints a pretty honest picture of the Yankee shortstop’s defensive shortcomings. Speaking of which, I still think A-Rod should be the starting shortstop for the Yanks.

I have never met an MBA-holding technology executive with a better personality or stronger appreciation for stylish footwear than Oren Michaels. Please give Oren a hearty welcome as he’s now officially a blogger.