Ken Davidoff's Baseball Outsider

Mission Accomplished/We're Closed

2010-03-21T14:11:00.022-04:00

You may recall August of last year. The Yankees were pulling away in the AL East and the Mets were adding eight games to their deficit in the NL East. Over in Bethpage, Newsday had just unveiled a new version of its web site which we will simply say had some growing pains.

In response to the KDBI crisis, we launched this site. Our goal was clearly stated:

Ken's main site has ceased to be a functional place for discussion. Comments don't appear, basic formatting is impossible, and the site design shows no adherence to readability and usability conventions. And in the three weeks since his corporate-mandated new site went live, there has been negligible improvement and, in fact, some instances of further degradation.

All that said, we plan to use this site as a way for us in the Ken Davidoff community to continue the conversations we previously had – here.

We are well past the point of having a need for KDBO, so it is time to officially DFA this blog. We will leave the contents here, but beginning Monday the 29th when Ken returns from his vacation, we will disable commenting.

As a final tribute to Ken and his community, we have the long-awaited Expat home video from 1983. Like most home movies, the scenes change quickly and the camera was a tad shaky. Despite the unsteady hands of Mama Expat, the video is a wonderful time capsule.

Times were different back when Expat roamed the Shea Stadium field. In 1983, Bob Tufts made his final major league appearances, and Banner Day was held on July 31, a day which saw a doubleheader with the Pirates. Both games went 12 innings, with the Mets sweeping the twin bill. This upped their last-place record to 39-65, while the Pirates retained first place despite falling to 54-49.

In the first game, 26-year-old Jesse Orosco picked up the win in relief for the Mets and some guy named Lee Mazzilli struck out as a pinch hitter for the Pirates. The second game saw Hubie Brooks break up a no-hit bid by Jose DeLeon with one out in the ninth. A still 26-year-old Jesse Orosco picked up another win in relief after pitching a scoreless 12th, and the Mets won on a run-scoring groundout by George Foster.

Between games, the Mets held Banner Day festivities. At the outset of the video, we get sisters of Expat playing in the yard. We are then transported to Shea Stadium where Expat and another sister proudly march their banner around the field. As an added bonus, be sure to note the Newsday ads in the left and right field corners of the stadium.

Afterward, we see Expat playing with her sisters in the backyard. Like the true baseball fan she remains to this day, she proudly runs to the camera to flash her copy of the 1983 Mets Yearbook.

Enjoy the video, and we will see you on the KDBI side of the Internet. (Hopefully, this will include you, Sandy.)

Godspeed to all,

NaOH and JE

And if you need a little guidance without KDBO around, you can always follow the Cowboy Commandments of longtime baseball man Gene Autry:

Adding Meaning to Sunrise

2010-02-13T08:42:00.006-05:00

The word sunrise has basically had two meanings in my life. The first definition, obviously, is the one we all know: the time when the sun appears and daylight begins.

The second one comes from my time in high school. At the school I attended, if you received a detention it was served before classes began, and the result was a 7AM date with study hall. I don't think "Sunrise" was the officially sanctioned name, but it was a dreaded term used by all, even Mr. Buxton, the squat, Olympics-class wrestler who was the teacher who would kindly inform of your scheduled appointment.

Well, now that Ken has taken to early-morning radio appearances, I can add him to my associations with the word. Out in these parts, sunrise was officially at 6:56 this morning, and Ken's call in with Richard Neer of WFAN was at 7:05 local time.

As promised in his morning Tweet, the hot topics as we inch closer to Spring Training were the Yankees and the Mets. Check it out, all 14 minutes of Davidoff at sunrise, with a bonus, on-air use of "suckitude."

Heads Up

2010-02-08T09:55:00.003-05:00

A longtime friend of the blog, Jason of It's About The Money, has launched a site re-branding today. This change is part of his good fortune of being a partner site to ESPN and its Sweetspot Network led by Rob Neyer.

Jason has been on the baseball blogging circuit for about 2½ years now. ESPN partnered with him and a number of other sites for the 2009 playoffs, and has since decided to continue those relationships. Congratulations to all of those bloggers.

For some perspective, Jason has published about 2,000 posts in his time. Here at KDBO, in about six months of leaching off Ken, we've put up 132 posts. Some quick, back-of-the-napkin calculations suggest that around the beginning of 2016 JE and I may make the big time.

While JE and I start looking for inexpensive and trainable monkeys to increase our post count, stop over at It's About The Money. Of course, tell him KDBO sent you.

Coming soon!

2010-02-08T00:20:00.002-05:00

This post consists simply a friendly reminder to all those whose cars are buried under mounds of snow, have lost their favorite scarf, or are sick with flu for the third time this season.

Pitchers and catchers* report to spring training starting on the 18th ... a mere ten days away!

* To be sure, the Mets have invited no starting catchers to camp.

The KDBO Super Bowl Post

2010-02-07T12:42:00.002-05:00

Below is the complete list of things I like about football.

Does the platoon make sense on teams that carry 12 pitchers?

2010-02-01T20:12:00.018-05:00

The Seattle Mariners yesterday signed right-handed first baseman Ryan Garko to a one-year contract worth $550,000. He is expected to platoon with Casey Kotchman, another off-season acquisition.

Meanwhile, there is speculation that Fernando Tatis, who recently re-signed with the Mets for one year at $1.7 million, will platoon with Daniel Murphy.

The Garko signing prompted Dave Cameron to ask about the value of a platoon when most teams carry 12 pitchers during the season.

Because of the ever increasing size of bullpens, these types of hitting specialists have fallen out of favor. The meager salaries that these guys have had to accept highlights the lack of value that teams are now placing on platoons. With only 13 of 25 roster spots dedicated to position players on most teams, it is becoming far more difficult for teams to accommodate left-right platoons and still have the necessary reserves for their starters in case of injury.

Cameron subsequently arrives at the tentative conclusion that, on balance, a 12th arm is probably more valuable than employing even a single platoon.

Regardless of the substance of the argument, Mets fans have reason to think fondly of the platoon system. After all, the 1986 Mets' 24-man roster included a second base platoon of Wally Backman and Tim Teufel and also featured until August a Lenny Dykstra/Mookie Wilson center field platoon.

And, amazin'ly, the 1969 Mets boasted FOUR platoons following the Donn Clendenon mid-season trade: Clendenon and Ed Kranepool shared first base, Ken Boswell and Al Weis were at second, Ed Charles and Wayne Garrett were at third, and Art Shamsky and Ron Swoboda shared right field.

I have a bit more to say on the subject, but will offer up those thoughts tomorrow. (My apologies, but paying clients continue to take precedence!) Meanwhile, your comments are welcome.

A NY Sportswriter. In Florida. On a Baltimore Radio Station

2010-01-25T11:51:00.008-05:00

In case you've been out of the loop, Ken is in Port St. Lucie to check out the Mets' voluntary mini camp. Before spending some fun in the sun this morning, Ken made an appearance on WNST in Baltimore.

It's understandable if you missed this. Ken was on at 7:45 AM, and, much to JE's chagrin, Ken only announced this "all of 17 minutes before the start of the interview!" If JE thinks that's bad, he best not try living two time zones away. I was still fast asleep and missed the interview, comforted not by the supple sound of Ken's voice but by the warm embrace of I-505.

Wait, that didn't come out right.

Anyway, check out the audio. And maybe after everyone has had a chance to listen, we'll post our first-ever poll to determine which cellular service provider Ken should use.

This is HUGE!

2010-01-19T00:09:00.015-05:00

Hey, you would have a confident look on you too if you woke up to discover that you were the most awesome MSM baseball columnist on the planet and still in your 30s! (Although that lawn chair cup holder is inexplicably missing a tasty beverage!)

From the creators/sole proprietors/editors/lackies (or is it lackeys?) at KDBO, as well as our seven (sometimes eight!) loyal and quasi-distinguished readers/commenters:

Have a most happy birthday, Ken, and a wonderful 40th year!

Or as I-505 might say, "Keep accumulating those win shares while you still can!"

LOL!

Name That Stupid PED User

2010-01-13T20:31:00.006-05:00

Match the PED-related quote with the PED user.

The Speakers (listed alphabetically)

Hank Aaron

Gary Bennett

Mark McGwire

Andy Pettitte

Alex Rodriguez

F.P. Santangello

The Quotes

“It was the stupidest thing I ever did."

"Was it stupid? Yeah, it was stupid."

"I was very, very stupid."

"It was a stupid thing to do.…”

"Obviously, it was a stupid decision."

"I was stupid."

What's at stake? If JE and I can rustle enough change from between the couch cushions, the first person to correctly identify each speaker with their quote may receive a custom t-shirt.

On the front will be our current ~~LOL~~ image of Ken. On the back it will say, "I'm a PEDophile."

Live Chat: Tuesday at 11 AM

2010-01-02T17:37:00.010-05:00

Unlike Ken, we feature no legal guidelines, no moderation, and no insider baseball connections. And the odds are good that one of us will still be hungover from New Year's Eve acts of debauchery. Really, what could be better? Hope you'll join us.

KDBO Live Chat

Christmas with Ken

2009-12-25T14:29:00.002-05:00

As he blogged and tweeted this morning, Ken was just on WFAN with Adam The Bull. Batting leadoff in his appearance was the upcoming Hall of Fame candidates. Ken always gives us a thorough explanation of his ballot after he submits it, so consider this a preliminary look at Ken's 2010 selections.

In other baseball news, Ken offers Mets fans some perspective and applauds the team's front office, takes a look at the impact of some Yankees' moves and compares their rotation to Boston's, speaks about some of the other teams this Hot Stove season (Seattle, Cubs, Houston), and touches on the remaining big-name topics (Holliday, Bay, revenue sharing, CBA negotiations)

It's Ken, so the 15-minute clip is worth your time. Think of it as a KDBI and KDBO gift to everyone. Certainly easier to digest than our earlier offering.

In honor of Ken, Happy Festivus, Everyone!

Jon Bon Richie?

2009-12-25T12:45:00.008-05:00

I'm a cowboy

On a steel horse I ride

I'm wanted

Dead or alive

This post and all contents contained herein

are guaranteed Photoshop-free.

Pan Asian Games

2009-12-15T23:17:00.008-05:00

It's well-known that racism pervades the New York Mets under Omar Minaya. The clear preference for Hispanic players has been prevalent throughout his tenure. You want proof? Just look at some of the names of guys he's brought in: Carlos, Luis, Fernando, Fernandez, Martinez, Angel (two of them!), Moises, and Raul.

Gone are players with beautiful names of clearly Western lineage, guys like Billy, Trot, Nick, Casey, and Scott. But let's be serious here. Who cares about the internal machinations of a seemingly rudderless fourth-place team? Much more important is what's been going on with the crosstown Yankees.

No one thinks to take a hard look at them. Fans are too focused on the euphoria of the team ending its long World Series drought. And the media, if they're paying any attention, is too focused on offseason transactions to notice the insidious completion of the cleansing plan that's been going on in the Bronx.

Take a look, and it's apparent the Cashman-Steinbrenner-Levine-Oppenheimer Yankees don't like Asians. The proof is everywhere, and the team clearly has no use for anyone who even remotely has Asian ancestry.

Johnny Damon: He emerged from the womb of a Thai woman and lived in Japan as a child. Technically an American because his father was stationed overseas for the US military, but that's some diluted blood right there. As they say in Thailand, ไม่ ขอบคุณ. Or, as us red-blooded Americans would say, "No, thank you."

Chien-Ming Wang: In all his years as a Yankee, note the team was never willing to negotiate a long-term deal with him. They say he was from Taiwan, but since those Asians all look the same, my money says he's a North Korean spy working under the auspices of the original Dear Leader, Kim Jung-Il. How do I know? Note the weird hyphenation in both of their names. As they say in Korea, 시도는 좋았다. Or, as us Americans who can never be fooled say, "Nice try."

Hideki Matsui: The fact that they wouldn't let him play the field this past year should have been a clue. The fact that they never offered him a contract this winter was another. But the ultimate proof was the World Series MVP. You only award a Japanese guy a Corvette if you think he's worse than a member of the Burakumin class. As they say in Japan, アメリカのハートビート, though I prefer that said with the supple harmony of the American commercial jingle, "The heartbeat of America."

Alfonso Soriano: He played in Japan and, worse, speaks Japanese. Questionable strike zone judgment was just a cover. You trade that type of clubhouse cancer every day of the week and twice on Sundays for a narcissistic PED user who the team captain loathes. More precisely, テキサスでは混乱を行う, aka "Don't mess with Texas."

Darrel Rasner: What do you do with a Caucasian for whom you no longer have any use? Why, ship him to Japan for $1MM. As some Asianophiles like to say, "Sayanora!"

Kim Ng: Left the Yankees for the same position with the Dodgers. Sounds to me like the team did a fine job of creating a hostile work environment for folks of her kind. Yes, she was born in the United States to American parents, but her mother was born in Thailand and both sets of grandparents are Chinese. Bottom line: Like Damon, the hint of an Asian blood thinner in her system is a little too close for comfort. As they say on the Chinese mainland, "罷休." As the young kids loitering at Wal-Mart can be heard to say, "Get out of here."

Kei Igawa: He was never considered for a spot in the rotation, not to mention the fact that he's not even on the 40-man roster. Joba Chamberlain — he's from beautiful Nebraska, you know — had a much-maligned and rocky year as a starter. No problem. Kei Igawa, the all-time AAA wins leader in blue-collar Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, was given just 13 starts in the bigs before being cast as a pariah. 何のおかげで, buddy. Thanks for nothing.

Kanekoa Texeira: He was born in Hawaii, but with a name like that we'll just assume his ancestry comes from some place farther east, especially since the team left him unprotected in this winter's Rule 5 Draft. Who knows what language this freak prefers, but, c'mon, who cares?

Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens: At one point he was touted as a power-hitting corner player. That didn't work out, so now he's a major league coach. In fact, he's the new hitting coach for the Giants. Typically, a player-turned-coach is something the Yankees cultivate as part of its family and tradition mantras. You know, guys like Dave Eiland, Don Mattingly, Ron Guidry, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Willie Randolph or Joe Girardi. But when Bam Bam went to Japan for a few seasons in the 90's, that was unforgivably uncool.

Babe Ruth: Following the 1934 season, he went on a barnstorming tour of Japan. He never played another game for the Yankees. Obviously, non-Asian Yankee pride and tradition extends throughout the team's history.

NaOH: I've been to at least five Asian countries, so that explains why Cashman never returns my calls and why all my resume/cover letter submissions come back with this boilerplate response.

Thank you for your interest in working for the New York Yankees Professional Baseball Club. The New York Yankees is an equal opportunity employer regardless of race, color, religion, creed, sex, marital status, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, on-the-job injury, sexual orientation, political affiliation or belief. Employment decisions are made without consideration of these or any other factors.

If your background indicates a match with our available openings, we will contact you to discuss your qualifications further.

Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna buy that.

More Retro-Technology Ken

2009-12-12T22:40:00.003-05:00

Ken made his third radio appearance of the week this morning, this time with Adam The Bull of WFAN. While the topics were certain to include the Mets and Yankees, the two of them discussed a number of other teams, including the Angels, Phillies, Braves, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Cubs, and Tigers.

Among the big names discussed were Chien-Ming Wang, Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, John Lackey, Carlos Delgado, Benji Molina, Dioner Navarro, Marlon Byrd, Roy Halladay, Milton Bradley, and Garret Atkins. Best of all, Ken has joined us here at KDBO in believing the Pirates "are actually moving in the right direction."

In non-baseball news, Ken admitted he "mailed it in" yesterday. That's Ken's secular way of saying he's been burning the Shamash candle at both ends.

Regarding The Mets

2009-12-11T16:32:00.002-05:00

As noted at KDBI this morning, Ken was on ESPN 1050 in New York with Brandon Tierney. In the bizarre world that is NY sports media, the topic of conversation was not the Yankees' flurry of deals, but the Mets' general inactivity thus far.

The first seven minutes of the audio are strictly Tierney discussing the pros and cons of players like Jason Bay. Whether or not you agree with his opinions, the information he details speak to the risks. In the second half of the audio we get Ken's input as the conversation broadens to other big-name players the Mets may consider.

Winter Meetings Midway-Point Update

2009-12-10T02:04:00.003-05:00

Were you up early yesterday? Ken was, as he and Drew Forrester of WNST in Baltimore got together for their first baseball chat since speaking in October. Topics include the Yankees, the Granderson deal, the Orioles, big-name free agents, Roy Halladay, and Ken's youth.

Best of all, you know Ken cares about us. See, the Winter Meetings are notoriously busy for those involved, but Ken took time around the 7:20 mark of the interview to give a shout out to our own Richie G.

Don't just skip ahead, though. The whole interview is worth your while.

The RichieG Guest Post

2009-12-05T14:04:00.002-05:00

The World Won't End in 2010

By Rich Glanzer

As the Mets decide what to do for 2010, it is important the front office and the team's fans remember this one very significant point: there will be a season in 2011 and beyond, and they will care deeply about each and every year.

The Yankees’ “stupidity” for not trading Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and others for Johan Santana was vilified by some in 2007, but after the 2009 parade down the Canyon of Heroes, few, if any, critics remain upset by the non-trade.

The brilliance of the Yankees the past two off-seasons is that they remained focused on the big picture. The team's front office understood in December of 2007 that there would be a seasons in '08 and beyond, and they used this perspective to guide their decisions. Had they traded their youth that winter for the immediate benefit of Johan Santana, surely the 2008 team would have been significantly better, but the 2009 and beyond teams may well have suffered.

One year later, the Yankees signed CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. It looked like their off-season was complete. But then General Manager Brian Cashman made a significant realization based on his ability and willingness to see beyond the then-current circumstances. The 2009 free agent class was going to be weak and limited. There wasn’t going to be one player who was a true superstar.

Instead of resting contently with the Sabathia and Burnett signings, Cashman convinced ownership to green light the signing of Mark Teixeira. This year, I would bet the Yankees won’t sign any big free agents because they saw the big picture the last two off-seasons, preventing the need for drastic action this year.

That’s why I believe the Mets have to take it on the chin this off-season. Matt Holliday and John Lackey are good ballplayers, no doubt. But I don’t feel they are worth the money they will get this off-season, especially since the limited talent pool will likely increase their price tags.

Holliday may be a great player, perhaps even a superstar, but I’m always concerned about a guy who tore the cover off the ball in Colorado. And while his performance with the Cardinals will help bring him a boatload of money, I’m not willing to simply say his stats with the A’s were due to a small sample size. Don’t get me wrong: his A’s numbers were pretty good, but they weren’t $100 million good. Also, note his home run totals. His career high of 36 was in Colorado back in 2007. Last year he had just 24. I can’t imagine he’d get a significant increase in pitcher-friendly Citi Field.

Now if you could assure me he’d put up the exact same stats the next five years as he did this past season, I’d sign him without hesitation. Call it a gut feeling, but I don’t think he will.

As for Lackey… he’s good. He seems tough, a bulldog, but he also seems like an injury-prone bulldog. Why give $80 million or more to a 31-year-old pitcher who hasn’t thrown 200 innings in a season since 2007? There’s no question that if healthy he’s worth a Burnett-type salary, but I’d be a little too concerned.

How, then, would I approach the free agent market? With free agents, I believe in signing the best. I’d rather pay an extra $20-60 million for a can't-miss, absolute stud than take a chance on someone who has question marks. If you look at next season’s potential free agents, you will find some top-flight pitchers: Roy Halliday, Cliff Lee, Josh Becket, and Brandon Webb. Halliday will probably be signed by a team that trades for him this winter, but the other three have a legitimate shot to be available. Shouldn’t the Mets wait one year and try to sign an elite pitcher like one of them rather than settle for Lackey just because he’s available now?

Webb and Beckett do have some injury concerns, but spending big bucks on them may be a little easier on the stomach during next year's off-season than it would be now. Plus, they have the coming year to demonstrate how healthy they are.

So what would I do if were GM of the Mets this winter? I think 2009 was the Imperfect Storm. Whatever could go wrong did. As bleak as Met fans feel right now, most teams would trade their top five players for the Mets' top five of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, David Wright, Johan Santana, and Francisco Rodriguez. If they all stay healthy next year, this team will contend. So you can’t just take a wait-for-Lebron New York Knicks-style route.

As for the available free agents, I’d try to overpay for one year of good players rather than get market value for multiple years of merely serviceable ones. And even though this will be an unpopular opinion, I’d sign Orlando Hudson even if I can't unload Luis Castillo. Castillo could become a pretty valuable (albeit expensive) bench player, and Hudson can give this team some added pop, speed, and, yes, grit. From everything I’ve read, Hudson is a guy that busts it on every play. And much like the Yankees benefited from the enthusiasm of guys like Nick Swisher and A.J. Burnett, the Mets could benefit from someone with Hudson’s aggressive style.

Lastly, I would put the money that will be saved by not signing Holliday and Lackey, and put it toward the 2011 season. Because it will come, and when it does, you will care.

About The Author

RichieG (Lynbrook) is known throughout the metro-NY area and beyond for his devotion to hustle, grit, and team chemistry. His efforts to quantify in a non-statistical manner these paranormal intangibles drive his posts at 516ads, KDBI, and here at KDBO. Having spent most of his life as a resident of Long Island, RichieG had brief sojourns to Las Vegas, NV and Utica, NY, but he now continues to call Long Island home.

In his spare time he enjoys poker, take-out from Gino's Pizza in Lynbrook (preferably pizza or baked ziti), sub-cultures, car shopping with his mother, playing hockey, watching the NHL Rangers, drinking beer, driving anywhere but the mountains of the western United States, and cozying up like an 80's rock star with his cat Merlin.

Coming Soon: The RichieG Guest Post

2009-12-04T16:37:00.002-05:00

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

What's next for Josh Johnson?

2009-11-23T13:00:00.009-05:00

I watched the Marlins' Josh Johnson pitch at Nationals Park on a humid evening in early August.

For seven innings, the dude's performance was nothing short of awesome. Throwing 82 pitches, he struck out nine, walked none, and gave up only three hits. He even hit a home run. Adam Dunn, who struck out three times against Johnson, called his fellow towering monster "in my opinion, the best pitcher in the game."

To be sure, Johnson's performance did not lead to a win for the Fish. Leading 4-0 in the bottom of the eighth, he surrendered three consecutive singles, then a long double, and was removed from the game with his team still ahead by two.

By the time the third out got recorded, however, a Marlins two-run lead had vanished and become a two-run deficit, thanks to a Dunn two-run home run. ("A different pitcher, thank God.")

The no-decision and less than stellar eighth inning notwithstanding, the 25-year-old behemoth made an impression on the small group of spectators who were in attendance that evening.

His overall numbers for 2009 look quite impressive, even by ace standards: an ERA of 3.23, ERA+ of 131, FIP of 3.06, WAR of 5.5, 209 innings, 191 strikeouts, and only 58 walks.

One researcher looked closer and noted:

... Josh was somewhat fortunate in terms of home runs served up (0.6 HR/9, 7.5 HR/FB%), but he was an elite arm regardless. Throwing 209 innings, Johnson had a 3.42 XFIP that ranked 5th among National League starters. His K rate climbed to 8.22 per nine innings, with unusually sharp control for a power arm (2.5 BB/9).

As if the whiff rate and ability to paint the corners weren’t enough, Johnson induced grounders at a career-high 50.3% clip. He jumped ahead of hitters often, with the best first-pitch strike percentage of his big league tenure. Johnson got first-pitch contact or gained the 0-and-1 advantage on the batter 63 percent of the time (58.2% MLB average).

Fast forward to now: I read late last week that contract negotiations between Johnson's agent and the team have reached an impasse:

Johnson and his agents used Zack Greinke's four-year, $38 million contract with the Kansas City Royals as a framework in contract discussions. [Matt] Sosnick said talks broke down when the Marlins declined to offer more than a three-year deal -- which would buy out only one year of free agency for Johnson. Sosnick declined to discuss any differences over money in negotiations.

In short, the Marlins have control over Johnson through the end of 2011 -- Johnson has two salary arbitration years remaining before becoming eligible for free agency. He earned a little over $1.4 million this past season. (FanGraphs estimated his worth at $24.6 million!)

It is important to note that Johnson underwent Tommy John surgery in 2007, missing most of that season and approximately half of 2008. So it cannot be said that there is little downside in giving him four years. And according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, the Marlins have never offered a pitcher a multi-year contract.

Still, when comparing Zack Greinke's 2008 numbers with Johson's totals from 2009 -- and factoring in Greinke's prior battles with depression as a counterweight to Johnson's surgery -- one may be hard pressed to argue that a fourth year for Johnson at $9-10 million per season is a risk not worth taking, even for the most frugal of franchises.

Comments?

Retire No. 36!

2009-11-17T07:00:00.005-05:00

Does anyone else find it curious that a team that has played 48 big league seasons has retired only one of its players' numbers?

Glance at these statistics and then explain to me why the New York Mets have not retired Jerry Koosman's number.

Too tired? OK, then follow along with me.

In 12 seasons in Queens, Koos accomplished the following:

An ERA of 3.09
An ERA+ of 113, including a 160 in 1969
A FIP that was never higher than 3.45*
A WHIP of 1.22
A 2.19 strikeout-to-walk ratio
1779 strikeouts
Runner-up to the Cy Young Award in 1976

* The 5.85 FIP in his rookie season in 1967 was based on nine games, three of which were starts.

Compare that with Ron Guidry, who put in 14 seasons with the Yankees and had his number 49 retired in 2003:

An ERA of 3.29
An ERA+ of 119, including 208 in 1978
A FIP of 3.27
A WHIP of 1.18
A 2.81 strikeout-to-walk ratio
1778 strikeouts
A Cy Young Award in 1978, second and third-place finishes in 1985 and 1979

There is not all that much difference between the two southpaws. Yes, the Louisiana Lightning had a much greater winning percentage (.651 vs. .505) and twice as many rings, but KDBO regulars know how much value NaOH and I place in those factors.

Frankly, were it not for Tom Seaver and his amazin' 1969 performance, the Appleton, Minnesota native might have become the face of the young franchise.

If Ron Guidry's numbers were good enough to secure immortality alongside the Babe, Iron Horse, and the Mick, then there is no excuse for the Mets to deny Koosman his rightful place on Citi Field's left field wall.

It's That Time of Year

2009-11-12T11:59:00.004-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Colorado – November 12, 2009 – In accordance with Article XX B (2) of the KDBI-KDBO Collective Bargaining Agreement, NaOH today filed for free agency. NaOH is coming off an impressive MVP-caliber campaign. Among his many 2009 accomplishments, he helped launch the Ken Davidoff Baseball Outsider site and performed humanitarian work scaling oppressive pay walls.

NaOH entered the season determined to keep his impending free agency from becoming a distraction. "It's a long season, and lots can happen between now and the winter," he said back in February when he reported to camp. "I just want to have a good year, do some quality Photoshop work, keep my comments in check, and focus on fundamentals – grammar, spelling, clarity, reasonable analysis, and some occasional humor. I know my detractors think I can't take my eyes off a spreadsheet to watch a game, but I don't need to prove anything to them. If I play my game and stay healthy, good things will happen."

His final numbers show he was able to do that and more. NaOH brought in nearly half of all KDBO page views by securing a link at the esteemed Uni Watch blog. As further testament to NaOH's strong season, he posted 67% of all the entries ever published at KDBO while also handling the site's graphics and design responsibilities. Elsewhere, NaOH tied for seventh place in the Ken Davidoff's Baseball Insider preseason predictions contest, and won four giveaway contests at KDBI, garnering himself three books and a DVD set.

At the just-concluded blogger meetings held at the Dallas Intercontinental Hotel, the native of New York City was nowhere to be found. His representative, Arthur Goldberg, made the rounds and took every opportunity to speak with media members about his client's unique combination of talents.

"NaOH is not just a great blogger. We're talking about an online and offline presence, one that's never before had to be assigned a value," said the Chicago-based agent. "We live today in a saturated blogging market where the lowest common denominator is all too prevalent. But the cream always rises to top, and in this case we're talking about someone who is more like an artist, one who is sure to bring sites to new levels of traffic through differentiation and online charisma. Only NaOH can deliver that."

"It's not just the dedication he has. It's not just his ability to post. Or his handle on the technical side of things. Or even his grasp of HTML. Or his dexterity with Photoshop. It's all of those things in one complete package. If this were baseball we'd be talking about a five-tool player about to enter his prime. Premium talent like NaOH comes along maybe once a decade," said Goldberg.

"This is like Fake Steve Jobs meets Huffington Post 2.0. Until Oprah abandons television for the Internet, there's NaOH on one level, and everyone else fighting for position beneath him. Really, it's that simple."

"Any blog that wants to be competitive for years to come would be foolish not to seek his services. This isn't just about ad revenues and site traffic data. My client will bring his next employer brand equity that will extend well beyond the term of the contract and pay for itself many times over."

Pressed for reasons why NaOH would seek to blog elsewhere, Mr. Goldberg remained steadfast in defense of his client. "Look, he's earned this right. He would be a fool not to see what's out there. Yes, he is open to returning to KDBO. JE had nothing to do with this decision. Their relationship is fine. How bad could it be? They've never even met."

A spokesman for JE had no comment. Throughout the year, however, there have been numerous rumors of how JE might proceed should NaOH sign elsewhere. Among them are a contest to determine the next blog author, a Missed Connections posting on Craigslist, and the industry-wide belief that JE would prefer to blog solo while focusing less on Ken Davidoff and more on the New York Mets.

Reached at his home in Colorado, NaOH was brief in his comments. "It's been a great year. I just want to settle down, spend some time with the kids, and after the holiday start talking with my family abut where we want to be. My kids are getting older, and I feel like I've missed a lot of important time as they've grown up. My next blogging assignment could be my last, so I want to choose carefully what's best for me, my career, and my family."

"JE and I have had a great run together. Maybe we can go even further. But I've payed my dues to get this opportunity, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's out there. I realize the grass isn't always greener. But this isn't about the money. I just want to go to a site where I feel I'm being respected."

In addition to his work at KDBI and KDBO, NaOH also had a 2009 guest post at Squawking Baseball and contributed graphic design work to It's About The Money and Vote For Manny.

END

"Alright, give me a Hamm on 5, hold the Mayo."

2009-11-10T19:58:00.001-05:00

Godspeed to Captain Oveur.

"It's The Economy, Stupid"

2009-11-05T22:37:00.007-05:00

As promised in his afternoon post (and Twitter), Ken was on WFAN with Adam The Bull this evening. Unlike some sites, The Fan doesn't have a pay wall, so we've got the goods.

In semi-related news, KDBO sources are still investigating the mystery of the left side of Ken's face. An insider source suggests we're chasing rainbows, that it's just a case of bad TV choreographic guidance.

We're not buying it. If it were that simple, why wasn't Ken on Fox 5 Sports Extra after Game 6? And notice Ken is now making radio appearances, a format which prevents us from seeing his face. Sounds to us like whatever is wrong with the right side of Ken's face has spread to the left side.

Anyway, radio or TV, we've got the Davidoff goods. Topics are predictable considering where we are on the baseball calendar: the Yankees this year and next, the World Series, and the upcoming Hot Stove.

Predictable, however, does not mean boring. Check it out.

Congratulations Yankees

2009-11-04T22:38:00.014-05:00

Congratulations to the New York Yankees. 114-63 is mighty impressive. It made for an impressive regular season and a great playoff run.

If you're a fan of the team, please keep reading.

Things You Shouldn't Do

No use of "we, "us," "my," or "our." You had nothing to do with it. Don't understand? Simple, you don't say something like, "We showed the Phillies the AL rules." No. They won. The Yankees. You're not one of them. You're just a fan.

Avoid saying anything which includes the words, "The Core Four." It demeans the fact that this is a team game, and it's a made-up idea that gets about 75% of its acceptance from the fact that it rhymes.

The team you wanted to win did so. You got what you wanted. So just shrug when people complain about the team's payroll. Don't defend management, don't point out how the team pays extra for that high payroll. Don't even mention that what the team does is all within the rules. Just shrug.

Don't mention the team's 27 championships. The other 26 are irrelevant.

Things to Remember

The team had a great year. It means nothing next year. Once Spring Training rolls around, your time to gloat has ended. If you want to bring this accomplishment up when the Yankees face the Red Sox (or any other team), you're just being a jerk. You're choice.

Jeter is a great player. This championship doesn't change that. He's no better or worse than he was before.

The same is true for Alex Rodriguez.

And if you ever bitched about Alex Rodriguez in past playoff appearances for the Yankees without first mentioning how poorly those Yankee teams pitched, then don't mention his great postseason this year. You're likely fickle, have a limited understanding of baseball, and there's a good chance you're a sanctimonious hypocrite.

When the team makes an offseason move, don't say it means another championship is certain in 2010.

Remember this moment next year if the team is playing poorly. Before you complain next May about Eiland, Girardi, Long or some player – and many of you questioned the credibility of lots of these people at times this season – remember what they contributed and accomplished in 2009. Then, before you open your mouth or type a comment somewhere, be prepared to fully explain what changed from now until then.

Things like grit and determination had nothing to do with the Yankees' championship. The Yankees played well, they played hard, and were generally injury free this year. They outplayed their opponents in the playoffs, plain and simple. It's not that they wanted it more, they just played better.

Things You May Do

Gloat about the fact that you won home games without fans who waved towels, relied on thundersticks, or hoped to see a rally monkey.

Cherish this season. Despite all the money the team spends and how well operated the franchise is, it may be a while before the team wins another World Series. Enjoy this one.

Enjoy the offseason. You get the shortest and happiest one of all fans.

World Series Game 4 Mystery

2009-11-02T16:54:00.014-05:00

For my team-agnostic tastes, I thought tonight's game was great, the best game of the series in terms of quality play and dramatic moments. But who cares about the game. Unless you're an international man of mysteries like JE, you probably already saw the game.

So what else is there to say? Well, let's just say that while no one is calling me for my opinions on the game, Duke Castiglione of Fox 5 in NY wanted to hear from Ken.

Before you watch, let's just update our Davidoff fact chart. Here are some things we already know about Ken:

Likes the Simpsons, Cheers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Seinfeld
Doesn't drink coffee and isn't much of a soft pretzel eater
Has vacationed in the Hamptons at least twice
Graduated from the University of Michigan
Writes for Newsday
Has a blog

Maybe there are a couple other things that I'm forgetting just now. And while some of the details may be different for Ken than us little people, the above list shows he's regular folk like us.

But maybe there's something else. Like, say, the right side of his face. Watch below, and notice he carefully conceals it from view. What's to hide, Ken? Childhood scar? Birthmark? Shaving cut? Embarrassing tattoo? Star Trek-style sideburn?

Rest assured readers, KDBI sleuths will be researching this. As always, we welcome any reader tips. They're much cheaper than sending JE abroad.

Great scarf, though.

Beachballs in field of play, BAD; video cameras in field of play GOOD (and other ground rules)

2009-11-01T10:54:00.012-05:00

A-Rod never had an opportunity to hit the sign in Ebbets Field that would have earned him a free suit, but the umpires last night did award him a home run for hitting a video camera situated in the field of play.

"We tour the field during the series whenever we go to a new ballpark, and discuss specific ground rules and potential trouble areas just like that," Davis said. "Because we cannot control what the cameraman does with the camera, one of the specific ground rules is when the ball hits the camera, [it's a] home run.

MLB officials said the camera struck by Rodriguez's ball will be adjusted moving forward in the Series.

Does it seem a tad, er, AMAZING that no one connected to Selig or the Phillies had noticed this "protruberance" prior to the start of the game? And we accuse the UMPIRES of being clueless?

Derek Jeter is the Messiah, Example 544

2009-10-31T10:34:00.007-04:00

From NaOH via Newsday (of course!):

Derek Jeter held up his right arm as if he were a pitcher releasing the ball. "When he was about right here," Jeter said. "I'm serious."

The question was when he decided to bunt with two strikes, two on and none out in the seventh inning of Game 2. Jeter fouled off the bunt try for strike three. He called the decision "stupid" after the game but backtracked Friday. "It was kind of like stealing third with two outs," he said. "If you make it, it's good. If you don't, it's stupid.''

He later said, "That's how you win, man," he said. "You win by moving guys over and trying to get them in. I always try to do that. You have to understand how hard it is to score."

See? That's how you win, man. Now, let's play a game: substitute "Derek Jeter" with "Alex Rodriguez." How do you think this would have been received...?

Exactly.

Addendum: Joe Posnanski has a piece about Jeter and the bunt. Here's his main point:

Trouble is — [Jeter] IS a great hitter, and hitting is the best way he can help the team win — in that situation and in pretty much every other situation. He should know this. The Yankees should know this. But the Jeter mystique has been blown up to such proportions that it has become its own monster, and monsters need to be fed.
When I saw Derek Jeter foul bunt on strike three like some helpless pitcher, I immediately thought it was one of the five dumbest plays I had ever seen* — and I know I would have felt that way had he gotten the bunt down.
*Hey, a fanbole! I’m getting to use all my Joe Words.
In retrospect though, well, it’s still one of the dumber plays I’ve seen. But I think of it now as more of a case of mistaken identity. After all these years, the Yankees still don’t seem to full understand or appreciate why Derek Jeter is one of the great players his generation. And what’s even stranger is that Jeter may not be entirely sure himself.

My two pounds (LBP) on the World Series

2009-10-28T15:32:00.003-04:00

Greetings from six time zones away (seven as of this Saturday night).

Contrary to popular belief, I did not come here to escape persecution from Satan's Series. The truth of the matter is that my overseas flight left US airspace more than 24 hours before the Yankees celebrated their 40th American League pennant.

Nonetheless, I cannot tell you how much of a pleasure it has been to walk the streets and nearby university without coming across even one Yankee cap. Of course, I also did not see anyone reading Newsday.com either. (To be sure, there was a shifty-looking fellow at the entrance to the school sporting what appeared to be a Steelers windbreaker. Naturally, I assumed that he was a Hezbollah operative and steered clear.)

Unfortunately, I am scheduled to return to the East Coast just before the start of the fourth game, meaning that I will be forced to watch the Yankees celebrate a victory which will put them one win away from their first World Series trophy since William Jefferson Clinton was president.

Meanwhile, enjoy tonight's CC-Lee matchup. And before you plop your sorry ass on the couch, check out one or more of these interesting World Series previews.

Can You Hear Me Now?

2009-10-26T20:29:00.021-04:00

As we knew would happen, the Newsday.com pay wall goes up tomorrow. I don't need to tell anyone why this decision is a difficult one to bear. This morning, Ken Davidoff summed up the rationale behind the pay wall in his typically succinct prose (scroll down to the bottom of page 3).

Let me be clear. What I have written here is independent of Ken's piece. Other than knowing he planned to post something today about the pay wall, I knew nothing of what he would write. That said, this piece serves as a fine complement to his post.

Now let's get some facts out of the way.

Financial Data

Cablevision paid $650MM for Newsday in May of 2008.
Cablevision took a $400MM write down on its Newsday assets in February.
Newsday lost about $20MM in the most recent financial year, despite cutting 5% of its work force.

Newsday Circulation Facts

Newsday has the 11th-largest circulation rate among all American newspapers. It has the highest circulation rate among suburban papers.
Newsday has a weekday-circulation rate of about 357,000 and on Sundays it jumps to about 415,000. Newspapers, in case you don't know, make about half their revenue from the Sunday advertisements.
Newsday sells about 17 million newspapers a month.
The most expensive copy of a Newsday paper is $2.00 for the Sunday edition, in select locations. Circulation, though, is a poor source of direct revenue; typically, about 75% of Newsday revenues come from advertising.
Total Newsday revenue, as things currently stand, is just under $30 million per month. Total expenses are just under $32 million.

Internet-Related Data

In September, Newsday.com had about two million unique visitors.
The average visitor to Newsday.com spends about 4.5 minutes on the site. Per month.
If the lessons of other pay walls provide any guidance, Newsday can expect a 50% drop in traffic from outside their market.
If you are not eligible to receive Newsday.com for free, the cost is $5 per week or $260 per year. In contrast, only two large newspapers have successfully implemented a pay wall: The Wall Street Journal ($103 per year) and The Financial Times ($181 per year).
The NY Times – a paper with much greater readership – tried placing some content behind a pay wall from 2005-2007. When this subscription model was ultimately axed, there were about 220,000 subscribers, either paying $8 per month or $50 per year. If all of those people had chosen the monthly rate, the resulting revenue would have been a paltry $21.2 million per year.

Anyone can easily see that Newsday is faced with a challenging situation. But when it comes to the Newsday.com pay wall, everything I wrote above is actually irrelevant.

For a company like Cablevision, Newsday's total revenues are remarkably small. Even the paper's losses – about $1.7 million per month at last report – are negligible for a company like Cablevision.

Cablevision, you see, is in the cable-based telecommunications business. While that used to just mean television, today it means three services, all of them very profitable: cable TV, Internet, and telephone service. And in those business areas, the Cablevision balance sheet looks pretty good.

Cablevision has 10.5 million customers of its various services, each of which results in a monthly bill averaging just over $45 per month. For Cablevision, that's telecommunications-derived revenue of about $500 million per month.

Here's a quick reference guide comparing the revenue of Cablevision's telecommunications units to Newsday:

1 month of telco revenue = 17 months of Newsday revenue

I haven't even mentioned Cablevision's other substantial holdings:

MSG: Three professional sports teams, a TV network with distribution rights for six NY-area sports teams, an arena, and some smaller holdings.
Rainbow Media: AMC (makers of the hit show Mad Men), the Sundance Channel, WE, and IFC.

So what's the problem here for Cablevision, a company with annual revenues around $6 billion? Actually, Cablevision thinks they have big problems. And with good reason.

Phone Service: As of June, Cablevision had a 41% market penetration rate in this category. That sounds like a success with room for continued growth, but the truth is that this is approaching the ceiling for phone service sales. That penetration rate is essentially equivalent to the rate for traditional phone companies.

Internet Service: A couple years ago, Cablevision was seeing annual subscriber growth of around 20%. Now the growth rate is only about 5%. Market penetration in this sector is pushing 55%.

Cable TV: In the last year, Cablevision has seen a 1.2% drop in basic TV service customers. Meanwhile, growth in digital cable customers has been essentially flat, at 4.1% year-over-year growth. Market penetration is nearly 65%

The problem is that Cablevision's three core services have done too well. Like all mature markets, there's little room for growth until, or unless, some innovation comes along to spur new revenue streams.

The concern for a publicly traded company like Cablevision is twofold. One, limited growth potential means the stock price will remain flat or, worse, decline. And second, there is a threat of lost revenue from competition.

Lost revenue, in industry parlance, comes from churn, a term which refers to customers who leave for a competitor's services. As I said before, Cablevision's core assets are TV, Internet and phone service. Cablevision has long had a large, wealthy segment of the metro New York market all to itself.

Now, though, there is competition: namely Verizon, but also AT&T and other regional players. About 90% of Cablevision's market is overlapped by Verizon. Their FiOS service overlaps about 30% of the Cablevision market. Suddenly, many Cablevision customers have a choice.

Basic economics theory says competition is good, since it often spurs innovation by businesses and the result for customers is usually increased purchasing options and/or lower prices. In this case, Cablevision is skipping innovation and opting for a shortcut: They're using the Newsday web site as a unique product offering to attract and retain customers.

We've all seen the redesigned site. Let's be honest here: Newsday 2.0 is terrible, a bastion of usability, readability, and functionality shortcomings. But don't be fooled by it. No matter how well they could have constructed the site, Newsday is not the answer to the fundamental issues Cablevision is attempting to confront.

Newspapers, while faced with challenging offline overhead, have unique assets to leverage. As an added strength for Newsday, it is the primary print news provider for the Long Island market of 7.7 million people.

There are alternative approaches, both for Cablevision and for Newsday. Cable and its range of services are ripe for growth and development. For a really simple example, go pick up the remote control provided by your cable provider. Now go look at an iPod. Both are about navigating and managing digital content. Which one do you think has had more thought and innovation go into the design?

I'd give my thoughts on how to capitalize on these opportunities, but there's no point. Cablevision is using Newsday.com as a carrot to lure and retain cable-based customers. This is not a decision to move news or print media into the 21st century. This is about giving away Newsday.com in the hope that it will benefit Cablevision, a far more profitable business which happens to share the same market territory as most Newsday readers.

Cablevision executives don't care about Newsday.com readers inside or outside of their cable footprint. They're not concerned with how a writer like Ken Davidoff has developed a following beyond the metro New York market. They won't even care if no one chooses to pay $260 per year to see what's on the other side of the pay wall.

Cablevision only cares that customers of its telecommunications services don't leave. Everything that makes up Newsday – its readers, writers, advertisers, editors, delivery drivers, you name it – is just a pawn in Cablevision's fight against Verizon.

Can you hear me now?

About That Pay Wall

2009-10-22T16:49:00.009-04:00

As first reported by Expat this morning, the Newsday pay wall goes up on Wednesday, October 28th. As KDBI regulars know, many of us live outside the areas where all the fine Cablevision services are offered. If you're one of those who doesn't have Internet service from Cablevision or a subscription to Newsday, it seems like a problem which can only be solved by paying the $5 per week fee.

Or is it? Here at KDBO, we think we've already solved this dilemma. I say "we think" only because we can't be certain until the pay wall goes up. If I were to put a figure on the likelihood of our technique working, I'd say it's somewhere north of 95% likely.

So what's the trick? I won't say. At least not here. If you want to know how, I will provide assistance to anyone I recognize as a KDBI regular.

Simple e-mail me at NaOH[dot]KDBO [@] gmail.com

The Sports Lodge with Ken Davidoff

2009-10-22T12:08:00.003-04:00

As promised in his morning post, Ken was on the The Sports Lodge radio show this morning in LA. Ken and Roger discussed a range of topics and the two of them clearly enjoy bantering on sports radio. Among the topics discussed were

The Yankees: A-Rod's legacy, his relationship with his teammates, Rivera's spitball
ALCS Game 5: Lackey vs. Burnett and strategy suggestions for Mike Scioscia
The Dodgers: Manny, Torre and the McCourts
The Phillies: Lidge and Lee
John Lackey: His impending free agency

As for the bet Lodge and Davidoff made prior to the ALDS series between the Angels and Red Sox, well, you'll have to listen to find out if Ken is still in the hole on that one.

Davidoff on Coleman

2009-10-21T21:59:00.006-04:00

Ken was on WFAN this evening with Ed Coleman after being delayed by dinner. If you're guessing that they talked about the MLB playoffs, give yourself a gold star.

Specific topics include C.C. Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira's efforts to break out of his slump (which is also the focus of his column for tomorrow), his predictions for tomorrow night's ALCS matchup and the World Series, and – surprise, surprise – his endorsement of instant replay.

Target Field Images

2009-10-11T15:41:00.007-04:00

If you didn't see Ken's latest post, he checks in with a positive review of the Twins' new home. Opening next year, Target Field will be an open-air stadium featuring the same dimensions as the Metrodome and numerous nods to the team's past players and history. Perhaps my favorite design element is the Twins' equivalent to the Mets' Home Run Apple. As Ken wrote,

[T]here's an old-fashioned Twins logo in centerfield. Every time a Twins player goes deep. the two figures (representing Minneapolis and St. Paul) will shake hands, and the logo will light up.

Seriously, if you're not familiar with that logo, click the link and check that out. It should be beautiful when it lights up at night.

As for images of Target Field, Ken had some trouble getting the photos uploaded, but we received some anonymously sourced images of the new stadium. Without further ado, here they are. Enjoy.

Center Field Scoreboards – View It Large

Left Field Line – View It Large

From Right Field – View It Large

Twins' Clubhouse – View It Large

Ken Davidoff: The #2 New Yorker

2009-10-06T12:09:00.009-04:00

If you don't do Twitter, you're just not cool. I know a few KDBI readers have Twitter accounts, though the infrequency of their tweets indicates none of us are too strongly into it.

In contrast to us laity, Ken works in a field where the quality of written content is a driving force, yet somehow the 140-character Twitter system is an occupational necessity. Well, Ken tweeted this morning that he would be on WNST in Baltimore. While KDBI readers may be New Yorkers at heart, Baltimore is a great sports town. The original home of the Yankees, Baltimore has also given us such sports legends as Babe Ruth, Johnny Unitas, and the Under Armour corporation.

Now we can thank the Charm City for bringing us Ken's takes on a range of topics: the pulse of NY in regard to the Mets' season and the Yankees' playoff hopes, what we can really learn from Nick Swisher, the bromance of Mark Teixeira and Brian Cashman, the bizarre Miguel Cabrera situation, Ken's World Series prediction, the Cy Young award, and more.

Pay-for-Pray

2009-09-25T10:27:00.012-04:00

So Newsday's pay firewall is set to go up in mere days. According to Jim's trusted source, only print subscribers will be exempt from the need to pay the man. (Good luck to anyone who thinks that forwarding hard-earned cash to Ken's employer will enable problem-free posting.)

As NaOH stated in the previous post, we have been discussing the future of KDBO. Should Newsday go ahead with its effort to divorce Ken from his readers, we are fairly certain that our site will resume its daily posts, offering up enough of Ken's latest prose to keep you informed and, in limited instances, get you very, very excited!

Again, please stay tuned.

Thank you to the Marquette University Law School for the photo.

The VORP of The Internet

2009-09-22T21:08:00.004-04:00

After running the numbers and accounting for the intangibles, we've distilled everything we learned from this blog into one sentence: This Internet thing is going to be huge.

We'll be back in just a couple days as we're working on the final touches for KDBI as we move forward.

We've got lots of great features planned – white text on a dark background, oddly cropped images, automatic double posting of your comments, and more! Stay tuned.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-21T05:00:00.001-04:00

1780: Benedict Arnold, in an act that would ensure his named lived in infamy, committed treason by arranging to surrender West Point to the British in exchange for money and a position in the British military. In a somewhat bizarre outcome, Arnold would spend the rest of his life mostly in Britain while his British co-conspirator, Major John André, would be hanged a few weeks later.

2007: Ken's early post brought us the unused portions of an interview he did with Bernie Williams. The big topics included his music career, his future, and what it would be like when he first visits the team. Coincidentally, it would be exactly one year later that Bernie made that first visit for the closing of Yankee Stadium II. Ken's late post brought Weekend Predictions.

2008: The first post brought Sunday Reading, but the inability to access old Newsday articles leaves Ken's words a mystery. The late post brought Ken's memories of Yankee Stadium in advance of the final game to be played there that evening. While Ken was not going to be in attendance, the Stadium already held a bounty of positive memories for him. Among them were the following notable events:

His first game there as a fan in 1978 to see a game against Boston
His first game there as a sportswriter against the Blue Jays in '95
The Aaron Boone playoff game against Boston as that was his first game as a father
Playing hooky to attend his first opening day game in 1988 with good friend Scott. After the game, they returned to Scott's car to discover a flat tire, but even that couldn't dampen the fun they had.

In all honesty, I was at that game, too. In something less than truthfulness, I snapped this picture of a Chrysler LeBaron after the game.

Summer Commenting Olympics (Half-Staff Edition)

Sorry, the four posts from Ken on this day only generated 11 comments, so it's difficult to give awards based on so little material. Usually, like Ken, we have a flag waving for this section, but today I'd ask you to imagine a flag flying at half staff.

See, it's been a little over a month since JE and I started this silly blog. We basically did it with two goals in mind. One was to keep Ken's community intact and the other, in line with our personalities, was to have some fun without taking ourselves too seriously.

In this short time we've gotten to know each other pretty well. Most days we have some contact, whether by phone, e-mail or text message. The conversations are varied and rarely about this blog – baseball, pop culture, business ventures, marketing, technology, and politics are just some of the topics I think we've regularly discussed.

Unlike most people we know – about whom we could sketch the outline of a biography – neither of us know the details of each other's lives. I've seen a couple pictures of him and he's seen just one of me. We'll bust each other's chops the same way you might with a friend you've known since high school. And we have a good sense of what makes each other tick.

It's funny, though. We've never met, yet I wouldn't hesitate to consider him a good friend. And in my world, the good friends are the ones for whom I would do anything I possibly can.

Earlier tonight I received a text from JE asking me to handle this Davidoff History post. No big deal. We send each other messages like this all the time. Later, as I was writing this, JE sent me another message informing me that a dear family member had passed away. I was devastated to get this news, despite the fact that I have never met JE and know very little about this relative beyond the fact that it was someone he loved very much.

Typical JE, though, his e-mail was titled "Thanks." It was sent to a few other people besides me, and the brief, three-sentence note focused on his appreciation for those of us who have given him support during this difficult time. For me, that captures everything about JE but his sense of humor and infectious laugh.

I know our readership has declined with the resumption of most services at Newsday, and I know folks don't necessarily know JE beyond his posts here and comments over at Ken's Place. Still, I would ask that those of you who read this take a moment to remember those who mean the most to you. If you're still in contact, perhaps you could reach out to them today and express your appreciation.

Knowing JE, it would ease his pain to know that his experience has helped others appreciate those who are most important in their lives. That alone captures the spirit of JE.

And, JE, since I know you will wake up and read this post despite the mournful events in your life, you know that my best wishes go out to you and everyone in the JE family. And while it never needed to be said because we both intuitively understood it, the past five weeks have been a blast. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Thanks.

Godspeed, JE.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-20T05:13:00.004-04:00

1973: In a seminal moment for women's sports, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets. Here are some notable details about the event, many of which have been forgotten with the passage of time.

Venue: The Houston Astrodome

Attendance: The 30,492 spectators was a record for a tennis match.

Ticket Prices: Some went for as much as $100. In 2009 dollars, that would be $486.11.

Bobby Riggs: By the time of the famous match, Riggs' glory days on the tennis circuit were well in the past. Having been a top player in the 40's, Riggs by this time was looking to market himself and the sport. Prior to playing King, he actually faced the number one women's player, Margaret Court, in May of that year. Riggs won that best-of-three match easily. In advance of that match and the one against King, Riggs willfully played the chauvinism card to generate interest.

Billie Jean King: By 1973, King was 29 and already a 5-time winner at Wimbledon. She was offered the opportunity to be Riggs' opponent for the May match, but declined. Once Court lost, King accepted an opportunity to face Riggs.

The Match: It took King just 2 hours and 4 minutes to handily defeat Riggs, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 in their best-of-five match played in accordance with the rules of men's tennis.

The Prize: Mrs. King took home $100,000.

Personal Aftermath: King would go on to win 129 singles titles in her career with prize money totaling just under $2 million. Riggs would disappear from the tennis scene. He died in 1995 from prostate cancer. He and King remained friends until his passing.

Little Known Fact: Upon accepting the challenge to face Riggs, King practiced diligently. Her practice partner? Some guy named Davidoff.

Um, nice shorts, Ken.

2007: It was just a brief, one-post day from Dear Leader, and a frightening one at that since it was titled, "I'm in a Larry King mood." Among the topics were Ken's final visit to RFK Stadium, the retirement of NY Times columnist Dave Anderson – who was very helpful to Ken as he started his career – and the organizational skills acquired by working under George Steinbrenner, as Mike Walsh learned when his career path took him from the Yankees' Tampa office to the launch of his own business.

2008: This year brought us an even shorter post, mainly noting that "Jerry Manuel had the magic touch" the night before in his use of four pitchers to secure a Mets win. Other minor notes included Sabathia about to be deployed (again) on short rest, perhaps the only valid issue ever raised by Hank Steinbrenner.

September 20th Summer Commenting Olympics (Joe Torre Edition)

Dennis takes the Bronze for this outrageous statement about the Yankees as they were 6.5 back of the Wild Card and on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons.

The Yanks would be in the race right now if Torre was still the manager.

Jim, an admitted Yankees fan, took the Silver for this quip about the 2008 Yankees without Torre:

Would the Yankees be in the playoffs under Torre? Not unless he could pitch and hit.

JE – who doesn't deserve squat since I got home tonight after 3 AM only to discover I had to do this blog post – takes the Gold for this commentary on Torre's first season at the helm in LA.

Torre has not done much for LA, other than star in an amusing State Farm commercial. ("What do you think of my screenplay?")

When the Dodgers were acting lifeless in Philly and DC -- and that was with Manny on the team! -- Torre's boosters were strangely quiet. Torre had guided the team to an unremarkable 54-54 record in a lousy division [before Manny arrived]. Today, they are only six games above .500 [after 46 games with Manny].

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-19T11:00:00.002-04:00

1906: Addressing the annual dinner of The Associated Press in New York, Mark Twain said there were "only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe ... the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here."

1929: Joe Sewell sets a major league record by playing in his 115th consecutive game without striking out. The Indian third baseman will be fanned only four times in 578-at-bats this season. (The ancestors of Rob Deer, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Howard were unavailable for comment.)

1943: Hall of Fame second baseman and ESPN analyst Joe Morgan was born in Bonham, Texas. (Curiously, this web site was founded some six decades prior to Morgan's birth.)

1957: The United States detonates a 1.7 kiloton nuclear weapon in an underground tunnel at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a 1,375 square mile research center located 65 miles north of Las Vegas. The test, known as Rainier, was the first fully contained underground detonation and produced no radioactive fallout.

1982: Emoticons were born when Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman proposed punctuating humorous or sarcastic computer messages with a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis as a horizontal "smiley face." :-)

1995: The New York Times and The Washington Post published the Unabomber's manifesto.

2007: Ken expressed horror at the Amazins' ongoing collapse:

Are you speechless, Mets fans? This has been a mind-blowing five days, with Mike Pelfrey trying to prevent an RFK Stadium sweep tonight. Consider this: If the Mets lose tonight, and the Padres win, the Mets would own a worse record than the NL wild-card leader.

Still, he advised us that everything would get better soon, sort of.

On the bright side for the Mets, there is every logical reason to think that the Phillies can't sustain this run, given how awful their pitching is. In last night's crazy win over the Cardinals, they got 11 innings from their bullpen. But then again, you have to suspend rational thought at this time of year.

2008: Ken interviewed Michael Jack Schmidt. The Hall of Fame third baseman expressed regret for words contained in the message that he had written to the current players on the Phillies roster questioning the Mets players' mental state:

"I shouldn't have said '(The Mets) know you're better than they are," Schmidt said. "It's something I might have said if I was in uniform, in the clubhouse. 'They know you're better than they are,' that's kind of a tough comment. Maybe 'You know you're better than they are' would've been better.

19 SEPTEMBER 2009 COMMENTER OLYMPICS

The BRONZE goes to Dennis for offering up a to-do list when the playoffs prove elusive for his favorite team:

As a Yankees fan, here's what I would do with the Yanks not making the playoffs.

1. Watch the playoffs and root against the Red Sox and Mets (If they get there).
2. Watch football.

The SILVER goes to Steve From South Amboy:

In terms of sports, the 1964 Phillies debacle was as bad as it gets. I was not anything close to a Phillie fan, at the time, and still found this very difficult to deal with. I cetainly hope the Met fans don't have to experience this. I think that Willie is doing a credible job. He can only play with the cards that he was dealt. Maine and Perez are overachievers. They have produced in clutch situations, which is to their credit, but should not be confused with Koufax and Drysdale by any means. The important thing is not to panic. They will find a way to turn things around and make their way into the playoffs.

Yup! That's it! Don't panic!

The GOLD goes to Sandy for his rant against MVP candidates who are seemingly judged by their play in September and not in April or May:

I can't see for one minute a guy who hits .220 all season and tries to break his own record for strikeouts can be MVP just because he has a hot last month. The same guys who want to vote Howard MVP also think Manny should be MVP and CC should win the NL Cy Young Award.

To all who celebrate the Jewish New Year: have a sweet and healthy 5770.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

1793: George Washington lays the cornerstone to the United States Capitol building, the home of the legislative branch of American government.

1904: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Glidden completed the first crossing of the Canadian Rockies by automobile on this day, arriving exhausted from their 3,536-mile trip. The couple had driven from Boston, Massachusetts, to Vancouver, Canada, in their 24hp Napier.

1968: After being no-hit yesterday by Giants' hurler Gaylord Perry, the Cardinal hurler Ray Washburn returns the favor by no-hitting San Francisco, 2-0.

2002: Major League Baseball teams across the nation celebrate the first annual “Roberto Clemente Day”. Each home team’s recipient of the John Hancock’s Roberto Clemente Award will be recognized (the balance will be given when road team arrives home) and the national recipient of the award, chosen from among the 30 club honorees, will be announced during the World Series.

2007: Ken's post, There's More to Life Than Vorp, brought up the same issue that always comes up at this time of year – the MVP vote. In response to an article by Jon Heyman criticizing the stat, Ken, an occasional MVP voter, gave his approach to the vote. While he admitted stats like VORP are useful, he added that he felt consideration should be given to players whose teams seriously contended for a playoff spot. Most importantly, I think, since he captures the unique characteristics within each season, Ken wrote,

I like to call my philosophy about the MVP "contextual," although I'm not sure that matches the unofficial definition. I look at each season as a living, breathing entity, with peaks and dips that are shaped by certain players.

Ken won't be voting on the MVP this year, but I think those words are worth keeping in mind come November when the awards are given and some writers publicly explain their vote.

2008: If you ever think about the Yankees, then you probably have an opinion on Cashman. Ken's post was a must-read for his classification of moves during Cashman's tenure into three categories: 1) Cashman All The Way, 2) His Player, Not His Price, and 3) He Might As Well Have Been at the Atlantis With His Family.

Combine that information with the fact that Cashman has generally had full authority since the 2005 offseason, and we can begin to properly evaluate his tenure.

As a companion work to his blog piece, Ken busted out his easel and produced this painting of Cashman which he proudly – note the smug smile – presented to the Yankees GM.

Sept. 18 Summer Commenting Olympics

JoeNunz takes the Bronze for his 2007 summary of why Jeter could have better served as a team leader in support of the oft-maligned Alex Rodriguez.

All the CAPTAIN had to say was, "Hey I hope the fans will support the team, we're trying to bring a championship here and Alex is an important part of the team." Jeter's silence spoke volumes about his pettiness against A-Rod.

Jim is like a Two True Outcomes commenter. He often hits it out of the park or he swings and misses. Here at KDBO we love his persistence and his willingness to put his thoughts out there. He takes the Silver for this humorous prediction in light of the Mets impending collapse last year.

Richard Nixon on 8.2.74: "Under no conditions will I ever resign the presidency."

Richard Nixon on 8.8.74: "I hereby resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow."

Ken Davidoff on 9.18: "Omar is in no trouble whatsoever. I really can't stress that enough".

Ken Davidoff on 9.30: "Omar Minaya's contract will not be renewed by the New York Mets, sources have told Newsday. The decision was reached yesterday by the Wilpon family during meetings that stretched long into the night. The move follows a stunning last season collapse by the team for the second consecutive year."

Dear Leader gets the Gold for this response to Jim:

Jim, would you like to make a donut bet on Omar?

We know from the comments Jim was only willing to bet if the donut were fat free. We don't know if the wager was ever consummated. As a trained baker, though, who just recently made donuts, I hope for Ken's sake he never received a fat-free donut. As we say in the food industry, fat is flavor.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-17T07:37:00.003-04:00

1620: A group of 102 Pilgrims, most of them religious dissenters known as Separatists, depart for North America from Plymouth, England, aboard the Mayflower.

1862: In a battle waged close by Antietam Creek at Sharpsburg in western Maryland, more than 23,000 combatants lost their lives, a human toll never exceeded on any other single day in the nation's history.

1947: The Sporting News names Jackie Robinson its Rookie of the Year two weeks before the season ends. At year's end he has hit .297, enjoys a wOBA of .391, and leads the league in stolen bases and sacrifices. He has fourteen bunt hits, and in a game against the Cubs in June, scores from first base on a sacrifice. [Now THAT's "hustle", Richie G!]

1980: After surrendering a two-run home run to Rusty Staub, Rick Langford is removed with two outs in the ninth inning of Oakland's 6-4 win over Texas, ending his consecutive complete-game streak at 22.

1993: Nolan Ryan strikes out catcher Greg Myers for his 5,714th and final career strikeout.

2007: Giving us a preview of the remaining regular season games, Ken offers up his best, better, worse, and worst-case scenarios for the Mets and Yankees. Guess which one applies to the Amazins?

2008: Ken utters the following:

If the Mets collapse out of the playoffs, can they really bring Manuel back for 2009 to open Citi Field? For all of the goodwill Manuel has won in replacing Willie Randolph, that would be a tough sell to Mets fans, wouldn't it? Whereas all of the key players, with the possible exception of impending free agent Perez, will return.

Maybe Manuel will be fine; the front office and ownership do think very highly of him. Still, after hanging onto Willie Randolph last offseason wound up costing them, it would have be tempting to start fresh in the new ballpark in '09.

That was way too much to hope for, dude.

Ken also has kind words for the Yankee captain:

Congratulations to Derek Jeter for setting the all-time record for hits at Yankee Stadium. There's an element of cheesiness to the title, only because the old-timers will tell you that it's essentially a different place since the 1974-75 renovation. But it's still a remarkable accomplishment.

As a contrarian of sorts, I often find myself criticizing Jeter, just to counter what I feel to be overly exuberant coverage of his "intangibles." Yet at the end of the day, Jeter is an all-timer and a no-question Hall of Famer. And if I had to stake my livelihood on one baseball player who hasn't used illegal PEDs, I would choose Jeter. Just as Jose Canseco did in his memorable sequel, "Vindicated."

Synchronized swimming with Jose? Hmmm, I should try that someday.

17 September Commenter Olympics

The BRONZE goes to me (so sue me) for providing this NationalsEnquirer.com photo, thanks to BaseballMusings.com:

The SILVER goes to I-505, who offers these pearls about Jeter's record hit total at the House That Oscar Gamble Built:

Jeter deserves the record, without any hints of asterisks being attached. It's all the same dirt underneath the cleats.

The GOLD goes to Sandy for a comment about Jason Giambi's generosity and reminding us that our stock portfolios were on the fast-track to oblivion:

I've always heard about how at the end of the year each player takes care of the clubhouse people (tax-free for them) with huge tips for how they did good jobs during the season. However, in a sense they are part of the team and also deserve to be rewarded when the team makes the playoffs. Everybody always says Giambi is a real good guy, he might cheat, but he's a real good guy. Lehman Brothers was a good brokerage company once too. But I digress, 500 point drops in the Dow bug me some.

Enjoy your Thursday, folks!

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

1957: The Los Angeles City Council gave approval of a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for Dodger Stadium in exchange for the club financing a public recreation area. For those who don't know, the Chavez Ravine part of LA had been populated by Mexican Americans.

In the early 1950's, the city bought out existing residents using the power of eminent domain and money from the 1949 Federal Housing Act with the intention of creating a federally-backed public housing development, Elysian Park Heights.

(Now if you're catching all the symbolism here, you're doing really well. If not, here goes.

Elysian Fields is the name of the field in Hoboken where the first organized baseball game is believed to have been played. Going a touch further back, in Greek mythology Elysian Fields was the section of the Underworld where the souls of the heroic and virtuous went to rest.

More recently, Underworld was the title of a Don Delillo novel which used Bobby Thomson's famous home run as a key plot device. The idea for that plot device came when Delillo noticed that the home run occurred on the same day as the Soviet Union completed a critical nuclear test, a fact many missed at the time. In an ironic way, Thomson's hit became known as the Shot Heard Round the World when the news of that day maybe should have given the title to the Soviets.

Such is baseball, but I digress.)

Anyway, after all that work in LA, support for the housing project dissipated and the city purchased the land back from the federal government at a steep discount. Shortly thereafter we got the transaction mentioned at the outset of this piece. The following June, it went to a referendum, was approved, and the Dodgers received 352 acres.

In the end, it looks like everyone took a bath on this one except for the Dodgers. The lesson here, kids, is that if you shrewdly bilk a city and its population in the name of growth and expansion like Walter O'Malley did, you too may end up immortalized in the baseball Hall of Fame.

On the other hand, music tends to make things easier to bear since nice harmonies go down more smoothly than bitter politics. Here's Ry Cooder singing "3rd Base, Dodger Stadium" from his 2005 album Chavez Ravine about the plight of the Mexican-American community from that ill-fated public housing project. The introduction is by Bob Dylan.

Of course, our readers are a wise group, so I can assume you already know who helped with the production and lyric writing for that album.

Over at KDBI in recent years, things were much less political. As always, though, good fun and keen insights were plentiful.

2007: Señor Davidoff no escribió nada.

2008: Ken's early post focused on what could help the ailing Mets. Well, he was mostly kidding around (I think), since he did end with this:

I know it seems very bleak right now. But it really can't be stressed enough how much better the Mets are as a team this year [compared to last].

Over in the Bronx, Ken noted the emergence of some young pitchers for the Yankees, namely Aceves and Coke. Sure enough, a year later they've been helpful bullpen additions.

The late post brought a KDBI contest. The question had a simple theme: Mel Stottlemyre's one degree of separation.

And here's the riddle Ken put out there for readers to solve.

Mel has been on the same team as 18 Most Valuable Players, nine Cy Young Award winners and 21 Rookies of the Year. These include his teammates as a player, his superiors (managers and coaches) when he played, players on a team he coached, managers under whom he coached and fellow coaches.

Ken gave 24 hours for the contest, so it would be wrong for me to reveal now who won.

Sept. 16, 2008 Summer Commenting Olympics (El Capitan Edition)

Dear Leader takes the Bronze. Richie asked if Jeter knew his name, and the response was ever-so-humble Ken:

I've known Jeter since '96. I think that, if he were threatened with bodily harm, he would admit to knowing my name, although he's never used it.

Richie takes the Silver for this reply to Ken:

One day if I see [Jeter] I will threaten him for you Ken to find out.

The Gold goes to baileywalk for his take on the 2008 Cano situation. That is, when he seemed to need a kick in the pants for not hustling. Jeter, baileywalk noted, did well to not chastise Cano through the media:

I always assumed that bred hostility. It's seems cowardly to drop insults to reporters, because then those criticisms are sort of filed away and forever used against them.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Times Change: On this day in 1961, the Yankees set a new record for home runs in a season with their 222nd home run. The previous record was held by the '47 Indians. Nowadays, for perspective, 1993 was the last full season when a team hit less than 221 home runs.

Further Proof Times Change: In 1997 the utility company Edison agreed to pay the Angels $50 million for a 20-year stadium naming rights deal. In contrast, the Mets are the current MLB leader in this department with their 20-year/$400M deal with Citi Bank.

Gaylord Perry turns 70 today. [Insert Vaseline joke of choice here.]

On this day in 2004, the NHL decided to lock out the players, eventually leading to the cancellation of the coming season. Dear Leader, the Forrest Gump of sports labor issues, was there to enjoy the historic day with Commissioner Gary Bettman.

2007: No KDBI on this day.

2008: The early post was an unintentionally perfect lead-in to the afternoon news of the day. Ken's big topic was the question of whether the Mets or Brewers were more likely to collapse as the season drew to a close. Ken's thought was the Mets were more likely to avoid the collapse.

Elsewhere, in a belated move, Joe Girardi finally benched Robinson Cano for a failure to hustle. He rebounded well when he got back in the lineup, and has played well this year, too. If there's a connection, I don't know, but it seems plausible as a contributing factor.

Later in the day, Ken posted about the Lou Lamoriello-style firing of Brewers manager Ned Yost. Ken thought it was a good move, but I particularly enjoyed this line:

Dale Sveum is an interesting choice. He played for the 1998 Yankees and was a nice enough fellow, and he served his time as a coach. But really, if Yost was as much the cause of stress as it seemed there, the Brewers could've hired an inanimate carbon rod, and it would've been an upgrade.

September 15, 2008 Summer Commenting Olympics

Nancy gets a Bronze for kind of, sort of already being eager for this year's celebration of Jeter setting a new franchise hit mark. Jeter had just eclipsed Gehrig's Yankee Stadium hit mark, and Nancy, our KDBI resident Jeter lover, was quick to pounce:

Disappointing to see that you didn't think Derek Jeter tying Lou Gehrig's hit record deserved any type of mention.

Jim gets the Silver for his perspective on Jeter's accomplishment.

I thought the whole "Jeter breaking Gehrig's hit record in the two different Stadiums combined" is a completely manufactured "accomplishment." Who has hit the most doubles? The most triples? Driven in the most runs? I would ask "who cares," but it is obvious that some people do. I don't. I like Jeter and he has enjoyed a great career. I would cheer for Jeter and have done just that. But this "record" is essentially meaningless.

The Gold also goes to Jim for this beauty about Posada, Joba, and, um, Sean Penn after seeing the Yankees' catcher on the YES program Centerstage (is it still sponsored by Becks beer?):

Unless Posada has some type of medical degree that we are oblivious to he should be keeping his mouth shut on Joba's career and his potential health problems down the road. Listening to his opinion on this is only slighly more palatable than listening to Sean Penn tell everyone who to vote for in the presidential election.

KDBO Kwik-E-Mart

2009-09-14T11:30:00.006-04:00

"Paging Shane Victorino!"

Ken's morning post is up!

He takes note of the comparative lack of drama in this year's playoff races, looks forward to seeing Tim Lincecum and Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch in their return from injuries, and credited Scott Boras for Magglio Ordonez's 2010 option for $18 million vesting later this week.

There is also this quote:

If you look at Pedro's FanGraphs page, you'll see that he has benefited somewhat from luck. Nevertheless, even his 3.64 FIP (worse than his 2.87 ERA) is pretty darned good. ... Should the Mets have brought back Pedro? Eh. I'm still not convinced he could make it through a full season. But at the start of July, before things fully fell apart? At this point, you've got to say that it couldn't have made the Mets any worse.

***

Elsewhere:

Woody Studenmund offers his take on New York's new ballparks here.

***

Over at Nationals Enquirer, events of the past few days has not made Christian Guzman feel appreciated.

***

This quote is borderline priceless, considering the source:

What have I seen from Rios? A lot of outs. The only batting ninth guy making $5 million was me. This mother [bleeper] is making $10, $12, $14 million, he ain't going to be batting ninth [in 2010]. I'm going to make sure he earns his money. But right now I have to put him there because he's struggling. Next year, if we have Rios batting ninth we're in deep [crap] once again.

Learn more about what is on the mind of the South Side's top diplomat here.

***

Jonathan Weissman believes that Joe Torre should skip Chad Billingsley's next start, "not because he's a lost cause, but because he's the opposite."

***

And...

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Justin Merry breaks down which of the 30 MLB teams offers the best beer prices in the stands considering the product on the field.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-14T07:00:00.008-04:00

1812: One week after winning a bloody victory over the Russian army at the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée enters the city of Moscow, only to find the population evacuated and the Russian army retreated again.

1814: Attorney Francis Scott Key composes the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the massive British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland.

1901: President William McKinley died of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

1905: Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers of the Chicago Cubs engage in a fistfight on the field during an exhibition game in Washington, Indiana, because Evers took a taxi to the park, leaving his teammates in the hotel lobby. The pair will not speak to each other again for thirty-three years.

1994: Acting commissioner Bud Selig announced the cancellation of the baseball season on the 34th day of a strike by players. And Ken was there as Selig celebrated what Bud thought was the certain end of the MLBPA as we knew it.

2007: No KDBI post.

2008: Ken did his best to explain why Francisco Rodriguez would almost certainly not wind up a Met in 2009. Really?!? (Of course, we do not recall his reasons, since the link to the print column is long expired.)

14 September 2009 Summer Commenting Olympics

The BRONZE goes to Tivhir, the South Asian doppelganger of Richie G:

Ken, I hate signing free agents. But if I put on my Omar hat...I have to sign this guy. Had the Mets had K-Rod, they could legitimately be up by 12.5 instead of 2.5 games.

The SILVER goes to, well, how about me, JE, for my retort:

RG, how do you come up with K-Rod being a 10-win boost to the Mets? Bob was correct in pointing to Marchman's column as a warning about giving K-Rod the moon AND the stars to pitch in Flushing. ... Before Wagner went down, the ninth inning wasn't the team's Waterloo; it was the inability to get through the seventh and eighth innings without relinquishing the lead or preserving a tie game.

The GOLD goes to baileywalk for his rant against Joel Sherman:

I wouldn't blame Cashman if he wanted to move on. It's completely madness here. You have jerks like Joel Sherman beating him with a stick every day about things like not trading Hughes for Santana. Sherman knows full well why Cashman didn't make that move (which was brave, actually). And Sherman is the biggest hypocrite, since he whacked the Yanks constantly for not having any young pitching. He would pule daily about the losses of such crap-tacular pitchers like Brandon Claussen and Brad Halsey. He was the one screaming about them not having a viable farm system, and now he's mad they didn't blow it up. ... Ken, I find your writing fair and (thankfully) logical, but I can't say the same for your brothers and sisters in the press.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

1845: Alexander Cartwright published 20 rules which became the basis for today's game. Some of them are basically unchanged to this day. Cool.

1983: Dan Quisenberry set a new all-time single-season save record with his 39th save. He would finish the year with 45. Exactly 25 years later, Francisco Rodriguez set a new MLB mark when he notched his 58th save on his way to 62 for the season.

1990: "Law & Order" premiered on NBC. That seems irrelevant, but one of the precursors to that show was Hawaii Five-O. The part of Danno eventually went to James MacArthur, but few know that Ken was originally called in to audition for the part. Ken turned down the role in favor of an opportunity to attend the University of Michigan.

2007: Ken was MIA on this day.

2008: Most of the day's post was devoted to Cashman and Ken's belief that the Yankees would try to retain him with the same autonomy he's had since 2005. While Ken thought Cashman would return, he was admittedly not positive about this, placing the odds at 55-45. More interesting, I think, was this line from Dear Leader:

We're headed toward what has become a Yankees tradition of late: An October far more intriguing because of what happens off the field than actual baseball.

At least this coming offseason seems to be a divergence from the non-baseball October drama in the Bronx of the past two seasons. That's a credit to Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner being on the same page in terms of how the organization operates.

In other news, Ken gave some insight into his 2008 NL MVP voting as he said Albert Pujols "absolutely deserves consideration," an idea Jim had doubts about since the Cardinals were not playoff contenders at the end of last season.

Unlike yesterday's dramatic victory by Michigan over Notre Dame, Ken predicted a 24-14 win for the Wolverines in the 2008 matchup. Unfortunately for Dear Leader, the Fighting Irish won handily, 35-17.

Sept. 13, 2008 Summer Commenting Olympics

Richie takes the Bronze for bringing the conversation on a baseball blog to USC football and OJ Simpson:

I will never root for USC while Pete Carrol is coaching because he welcomed OJ Simpson with open arms and said something like, we respect ledgends here.

Funny how a year changes our views. Even Jim saw this when discussing Cashman, and it got him the Silver:

As of right now, Cashman has failed. As Ken points out, next year could see us saying that Cashman has succeeded.

Dear Leader gets the Gold for connecting Michigan's loss to Notre Dame with the Yankees' disappointing 2008 season:

Looks like the Michigan team has something in common with the '08 Yankees: Transition (in other words, poor results).

KDBO Kwik-E-Mart

2009-09-12T22:43:00.020-04:00

There's a rule in my house: Football season doesn't start until baseball ends. Here, then, is some Sunday reading from around baseball in the past few days.

Around NY

Here's a great read on Alfredo Aceves. It's like a mini baseball biography with the classic themes of adversity, perseverance and eventual success.

Need more Jeter news? Peter Abraham has the audio from the press conferences following his team-specific historic day.

Someone, somewhere, probably thinks this only happened because it wasn't in cavernous Citi Field.

The Mets have a lot of work to do this winter. Here are some first base options to be considered. And here are some ideas for the bullpen.

Are Brian Schneider's days in NY numbered? He thinks so.

Elsewhere

Not only is Billy Wagner pitching well in Boston, he's getting along just fine with everyone there.

Back in July, Michael Shapiro had an interesting article in the NY Times about the Continental League. Turns out that article was part of a book project. For those who don't know, the Continental League led to the Mets, among others. Looks like a book I'd enjoy winning at KDBI.

I still enjoy long Sunday baseball notes columns like this one. Anyone know of any others out there?

Ichiro is batting .355. Yet Adam Dunn has gotten on base more times this year than him.

Heading up toward Boston? There's gonna be lots more sports radio options very soon.

The Yankees won their game yesterday in the Florida State League playoffs. More importantly, Ian Kennedy pitched in that game.

The Yankees could have had Willie Mays. No word on what this would have meant for Mickey Mantle.

Do you think pitchers pitch to the score, like Jack Morris is reputed to have done? Think again.

From the man who led everyone to believe the key to developing young pitchers is how many innings they increase from year to year, now comes news of their pitch count.

Some people believe MLB is calling the shots in Arlington due to owner Tom Hicks' financial troubles. Not everyone agrees.

Kudos to all involved.

I think Terry Francona is one of the best managers in the Majors. He also managed the man considered the best basketball player in history.

Need more proof Albert Pujols is great? That's easy.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-12T09:20:00.013-04:00

2007: On the eve of Rosh Hoshanah, Ken gave us a quick post, entitled "He Got Game."

We learned that Our Dear Leader's favorite ballplayers to watch, at least for aesthetic purposes, are Orlando Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki. Favorites offered by commenters included Pedro Martinez and Jose Reyes (Poppy), Jeromy Burnitz and Phil Plantier (Jon), and Derek Jeter (Patrick, Nancy).

2008: Ken offered up "Weekend Predictions, and a discussion - and there's a live chat today."

Not for the last time, he pooh-pooh-ed the idea that Hank Steinbrenner has any say over Yankee baseball operations.

He attempted to relate recent hedge-fund management advice from financial guru Leon Cooperman to the Hot Stove League. For the record, Cooperman offered this assessment of equity markets in December 2007:

I'm still constructive on stocks for 2008, for now, holding aside the potential effects of the 2008 presidential election. While there is certainly a fair amount to worry about - subprime and housing issues, bank write offs against capital, a slowing econ and slowing earnings - there are several reasons to be bullish on stocks.

Anyway, Ken's comments that morning included this:

I see that Rotoworld predicts Sabathia will sign with the Yankees for eight years and $176 million. That would be insane, would it not? What is the likelihood that Sabathia is going to be worth anywhere near a $22 million AAV in 2016, at age 36? Or even 2014, at age 34?

Sabathia would sign with the Yankees for 7/$161M. If not "insane", Ken, might that at least qualify as a wee bit excessive?

12 September 2009 Commenter Olympics:

The BRONZE goes to Bob Tufts for a comment about his minor league innings totals:

I was inappropriately macho in my career. I threw almost 200 innings in the minors in 1978 and experienced the first stages of my eventual career ending shoulder problems then. The club loaded me up with indocin, butazolidin and DMSO - not to make me better, but to keep me pitching. I threw 180 innings in 1979.

The SILVER goes to Islander 505 for a snippet from a longer reply to Bob:

Nice drugs BTW.

The GOLD goes to Ken for his response to a question about Chin Meng Wang's injury and his ability to bounce back for 2009:

The idea, Jim, is the older you get, the stronger your arm is. Now that Wang has already passed the 200-IP mark, he should be fine going back there again next year. Of course, it was also a foot injury he suffered, not an arm injury.

KDBO Kwik-E-Mart

2009-09-11T19:48:00.004-04:00

Ken has an afternoon blog post up. The title probably gives all the introduction you need: History vs. evaluation regarding the Yankees.

While Ken and JE linked to this great Newsday article about fans old enough to have seen both Gehrig and Jeter, Ken's competition took a different tact, finding that Lisa Wilson now lives in Gehrig's last home.

Does this actually count as punishment?

I always enjoy little accounts like this one about how Joe McIlvaine, former Mets GM and Frank Cashen assistant, helped orchestrate the deal that brought Ron Darling to the Mets.

Chipper says he may retire before his contract is over. I can respect that. But it so rarely happens that I'll believe it when I see it.

In light of all the talk about Jeter becoming the Yankees' all-time hit leader, here are the leaders for all of the current franchises. Note the Cubs should be listed as Cap Anson, not Ernie Banks. Once Jeter passes Gehrig, 6 of the all-time franchise hit leaders will still be active, and six others retired this century.

If what Billy Wagner says here is correct, then Ken was correct about why the Mets did poorly in that trade with Boston.

Here's one of those easy reads which reminds me I don't really know what it's like to be a pro baseball player.

Combine globalization with Ichiro and 9/11 and you get an interesting read by Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.

Need a reason to feel optimistic about the Yankees chances in the playoffs? Apparently they have the secret sauce.

Lots of starters available for the Mets this winter. Notice I didn't say lots of good starters.

On this day in 1981, Bob Tufts came on in relief to pitch the bottom of the 8th against the Astros. Bob threw his first career wild pitch in that one inning of work while also giving up a single to Jose Cruz, a walk to Art Howe, and striking out Gary Woods.

No Reason to Cheer

2009-09-11T11:22:00.016-04:00

In Ken's 9/11 morning submission, he remembers those he knew.

...

He links to a Karla Schuster story profiling fans old enough to have watched both Lou Gehrig and Derek Jeter play, while suggesting that the lousy weather in New York means that Jeter may have to wait until tomorrow to pass Gehrig for most hits as a Yankee.

...

Ken shares with us his print column, which highlights Dwight Gooden's baseball academy venture with the Newark Bears. The goal: to attract inner-city minorities to the game.

...

Regarding the Mets, well, young Davidoff wonders why any fan of the Amazins would care about the final three-plus weeks of the season.

...

Thanks to TinFoil.com for the photo.

This Day in Davidoff History

2009-09-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

On this day in 1962, the Beatles recorded their first single, "Love Me Do" with the b-side "P.S. I Love You." Unbeknownst to many, Ken was the second Beatles drummer. It's well known that Pete Best was the original, but before Ringo, the Fab 4 consisted of John, Paul, George and Kenny. Unfortunately, Ken was let go by his band mates for refusing to get a haircut which conformed to the band's style.

2007: It was overzealous day for Dear Leader as he opened with this line,

It's just a matter of days now before I have to issue a mea culpa on my preseason "Mets won't make the postseason" prediction....

Well, the Mets bailed him out on that one. First, though, Ken was walking about the same thing he recently discussed about the Yankees: Who starts Game 4 in a playoff series? Ken figured it would either be John Maine or Oliver Perez. My how times have changed.

2008: Yesterday at KDBI, Ken looked at how time changes our view of player acquisitions. On this day in 2008, Ken looked back at how views of some 2007-08 offseason trades had shifted.

Astros-DBacks: The Astros got a proven closer in Jose Valverde while the Dbacks got infielder Chris Burke and two righthanded pitchers, Chad Qualls and Juan Gutierrez. At the time of the deal, Ken thought it was a great deal for Arizona. A year later, after the Diamondbacks' 2008 offense let them down, they could have used a closer to preserve the leads they did muster.

Braves-Tigers: Everyone thought the Tigers made out like bandits by getting Edgar Renteria for Jair Jurrjens. Well, Jurrgens ended up being the best starter for the Braves and Renteria had a paltry .697 OPS for Detroit.

Orioles-Seattle: The O's got a ton of talent while the Mariners got Bedard. Many thought it would help Seattle reach the playoffs which they'd narrowly missed the year before. Nope, he was so-so last year and this year, frequently on the DL, and the Orioles got some great young talent.

Twins-Mets: The Mets got Johan Santana and the Twins got some mediocre prospects. Any questions?

September 11 Summer Commenting Olympics (Never Forget Edition)

One Gold, shared by many who had others on their mind on the 7th anniversary of 9/11/01. In no particular order...

Islander505

Joe Coppo

Bob Tufts

Neil Levin

Barbara Olsen

Many good people from Cantor Fitzgerald

Jim

Judd Cavalier

Ray Downey, Sr.

Jake Jagoda

Dennis Edwards

Joe Anchundia

Michelle Titolo

Michael McCarthy

Susan Clyne-Dietrich

Chris Sullivan

Richie G.

Unnamed

Ken Davidoff

Kevin Cohen

Kevin Dennis

Jim Gartenberg

Andrew Gilbert

Scott Schertzer

Is Ross Ohlendorf suddenly overvalued?

2009-09-10T18:58:00.013-04:00

It took nearly the entire 2009 season, but at least one member of the NDNYMSM (Non-Davidoff New York Mainstream Media) has finally rediscovered Ross Ohlendorf, one of the four young players that the Pirates received from the Yankees in exchange for Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady.

Tyler Kepner wrote last week:

Ross Ohlendorf has had a breakthrough season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 11-9 with a 3.97 E.R.A. for a last-place team. ... The trade with the Yankees is the type of deal the Pirates have tried to make as they attempt to reverse a losing culture. The Yankees are rolling now, so it is hard to say the deal hurt them. But the Pirates definitely got the better of it, shedding veterans coming to the end of their contracts for young players whose rights they retain for years.

That comment triggered several objections, most notably this one from Mitchel Lichtman:

He gives up too many extra base hits and WAY too many HR’s and doesn’t strike out enough batters. His fastball has lost 2 mph from 2008 to 2009. He is 27 years old, which means he is likely going to get worse and lose more on his fastball.

Basically, Ohlendorf is a terrible pitcher. I have him currently projected at replacement level. He has done nothing better in 2009 other than pitch in the NL for a whole season, and even then his K rate (per PA) is less than it was in 2008 and 2009 which is not surprising considering his loss of velocity. I say “loss” but it could be intentional of course. Either way, he is a really bad pitcher.

Yes, because of his 11-9 record "for a last place team" and his 3.97 ERA, some blogger thinks he has had a “breakthrough season.” And I bet there are lots of people who share that "opinion."

Lichtman subsequently acknowledged that the reduced fastball velocity may be the result of his being converted from relief work to a starting pitcher. Still, his assessment is brutal.

So is Ohlendorf simply a beneficiary of a weak group of NL Central batters -- those not named Pujols, anyway -- or is it way too soon to project his future based on concerns about a 27-year-old pitcher's first full season as a starter?

Thanks to the Sporting News for the photo.

About those transactions, real or almost real

2009-09-10T11:30:00.014-04:00

In this morning's edition, Ken reviews several trades and signings that did or did not happen this past winter.

He offers cursory thoughts on A-Rod to the Red Sox ('03-04) and Johan to the Yankees ('07-08), then dissects the most recent offseason.

The conclusions:

In choosing between free agents Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez, the Mets should have signed ... Randy Wolf ... or traded for Jason Marquis.
Richie G's unbridled lust for Orlando Hudson notwithstanding, the Mets have benefited from the presence of Luis Castillo, that one, little incident in the Bronx notwithstanding.
Theo would have been better off with Mark Teixeira at first base (presumably meaning that Youkilis would have played third base and Lowell would have been traded).

In the wake of Derek Jeter's latest accomplishment, Ken speculates that two more Series rings in the next three years, coupled with a contract extension, will insulate the future Hall of Famer from any meaningful criticism from Yankee fans when his skills give out for good.

Regarding Jose Reyes' injury, Our Dear Leader takes umbrage at those who criticize the 26-year-old's durability, pointing out that Reyes started at least 153 games for four consecutive years before this season's issues.

Speaking of Jeter, for those who did not hear Ken live on AM 830, "The Radio Home of Angels Baseball," DEFINITELY check here periodically to see whether an audio file becomes available. How come? You will experience host Roger Lodge -- didn't he host a kinda creepy dating show four or five years ago? -- practically fall out of his chair after Ken referred to Jeter's legendary clubhouse persona as, "Meh!" When Lodge seemed too shocked to offer up a coherent follow-up, Ken again uttered, "Meh!"

As Hawk Harrelson exclaims nearly 50% of the time at the conclusion of White Sox games, "Y-Y-Y-E-S-S-S!"

Thanks to Open Book Systems, Inc. for the image.