Potpourri for $1200 please, Alex

Random things worth linking/writing down.

The Hardball Times trio

• Sal Baxamusa has a fun look, including video, of every inside the park homerun last year.
• John Beamer examines the physics of radar guns and the fastest pitchers in baseball.
• Geoff Young explores the meandering career of local boy Emil Brown. Before the off-season got into full swing, I was hoping that the Sox could swoop in and pick up Brown's probable .800 OPS in LF for a song. The Royals reportedly were trying to shop him in November, but found no takers at their asking price.

The future is now

I remembered these commercials from the very first digitally compressed, grainy frame. Back in 1993, AT&T was trying to sell us on the future. Many of the things they showed us are part of our everyday lives, some... are not.

My Hall Ballot (No, I don't expect to ever have one)

1. Ripken - Duh
   
2. Gwynn - I hate hearing these two grouped together because they were "good guys." They get in on their own on-field merits. This isn't the Hall of Really Nice Guys.
   
3. Gossage - Better than the recently elected Suter.
   
4. Blyleven - For Lederer, who recently wrote a good piece about pitchers' strikeout rates and batted ball types.
   
5. Alan Trammell - Often overlooked.
   
6. Albert Belle (is he still on the ballot?)- Peak of a HOFer, career cut short by injury. He'd be in already if he had the image of either of the top two on the list.

I'd leave off Dawson (Hall of Very Good), Baines (same), and McGwire. I'm torn on McGwire. He's probably a HOFer by the numbers, and he'll be on the outside looking in this year. If I had a ballot, he'd be off mine, but just for this year. I'm OK with sending a message by not allowing him to be a first ballot guy, but I don't think he should be left out based on well founded suspicions.

Mailbaging

I found this question in on the MLB's Texas Rangers site quite funny.

This is exactly the same (or is it opposite?) reasoning that I used to explain why I didn't like the McCarthy trade.

Even scarier, I often found myself agreeing with Scott Merkin's responses in his latest Q&A.