Game Theory: WWJD, or What Was Joe (Girardi) Doing?

That’s right, I’m going to address decision making that occurred before many fans had gotten out of the beer line, because two-thirds of an inning into a 162 game season, with his ace on the mound, Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi felt the need to start making decisions and effect the process, like a jumpy trader at 9:32 in the morning, incapable of letting his positions alone during the first few minutes of the trading day. Similar to the trader who decides he must get in there and do something, Girardi walked to the mound and ordered an intentional walk to the right-handed hitting Rodriguez. The season wasn’t even ten minutes old! Ladies, take note – Joe Girardi clearly doesn’t believe in foreplay.

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Opening Day, an Appreciation

Just as a generation of Yankees fans have grown to recognize the opening notes of Enter Sandman as a bridge to Mariano Rivera, himself a bridge to Sinatra’s New York, New York, and just as the students in Madison, WI know Jump Around as the inspirational fourth-quarter anthem for the Wisconsin Badger football team, and just as Padres fans for years got goose bumps from the opening chimes of AC/DC’s Hells Bells signaling the arrival of Trevor Hoffman from the bullpen, One Shining Moment serves as a bridge to Opening Day for baseball fans. When the final notes of that song mercifully end, it means were just a day or two away from Opening Day.

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2012 Preview: Final Projected Standings

Coming to you live from the LVH, the hotel formerly known as the Las Vegas Hilton, I give you a finalized look at the projected standings for MLB’s 2012 season. The over/under column reflects the current (and presumably final) market on the eve of Opening Day, as posted at the LVH, the epicenter of baseball betting in Las Vegas.

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2012 Preview: Colorado Rockies

Every once in a while you’ll hear a story about parents who went away on a trip and assured their teenage son that they trusted him to be sensible. Sure, they said, you can have some friends over, but you know our rules so we trust you. Then, as sure as the growth of grass follows a rain storm, a week later they express disbelief upon arriving home to find empty bottles of beer stuffed into the pillowcases in the master bedroom and the lawn furniture sawed clean in half in the backyard*. Never really blaming themselves, the parents instead can’t believe that the combination of teenagers, alcohol and a hospitable venue proved so toxic.

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2012 Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers

In 2011, the Los Angeles Dodgers squandered one of the National Leagues’ great hitting and pitching combinations. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay can at least make an argument they were better, by degrees, last year than NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and NL MVP winner Ryan Braun had as great a year at the plate (and on the bases) as runner-up Matt Kemp, but no team possessed a star pitcher and hitter as good as the Dodgers.

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