South Side Sox, a Chicago White Sox community

At my library last week, I pIcked up a copy of "Extra Innings" from Baseball Prosepectus. It is well worth reading. The parts I really enjoyed were related to use of bullpens and how to construct a bullpen. In the section on constructing a pen, there was some great information on cost per WAR for by position (starter, reliever, fielders) and variability from one year to the next. It was really enlightening. I'd do a full review, but I'm, uh, booked right now at work. And if you do not have a card for your local library, GET ONE. Remember: you are not a Braves fan, and you can read.

This is probably the highlight of the column. "You want the Cardinals to be a sabermetric-based creation? Well, you better SABR La Russa down to the ground, ’cause it’ll happen over his dead body. You want defense and a high OBP? Well, La Russa wants ballplayers who hustle and scuffle and rip the knees on their uniform pants. He wants a team of no-retreat, no-surrender players. In other words: Skip Schumaker. And TLR will always invest in Skip’s heart." Nice to see Cincinnati doesn't have the only idiot columnists.