Here was the thing: Joakim Soria seemed magical. That was the word. Magical. He came to the Royals as a Rule 5 draft pick, an almost complete unknown, and by the end of April he was already being asked to close some games. He had a nearly two month stretch — from the end of…
Month: May 2011
The Trouble With Soria
Here was the thing: Joakim Soria seemed magical. That was the word. Magical. He came to the Royals as a Rule 5 draft pick, an almost complete unknown, and by the end of April he was already being asked to close some games. He had a nearly two month stretch — from the end of…
The Two Lives of Tom Watson
Tom Watson is one of the greatest golfers who ever lived. That’s a given. He won eight major championships — only five legendary golfers (Nicklaus, Woods, Hagen, Hogan, Player) have won more. He won 39 PGA events, which ties him with a couple of guys named Sarazen and Mickelson for 10th. He beat Nicklaus head-to-head,…
The Two Lives of Tom Watson
Tom Watson is one of the greatest golfers who ever lived. That’s a given. He won eight major championships — only five legendary golfers (Nicklaus, Woods, Hagen, Hogan, Player) have won more. He won 39 PGA events, which ties him with a couple of guys named Sarazen and Mickelson for 10th. He beat Nicklaus head-to-head,…
The Real MVP
In the 1996-97 NBA season, Karl Malone was named the league MVP. It was, by the numbers anyway, a semi-reasonable decision. Malone had a great year. He averaged 27 points a game, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out 4.5 assists. He led his team, the Utah Jazz, to the best record in the Western Conference —…
The Real MVP
In the 1996-97 NBA season, Karl Malone was named the league MVP. It was, by the numbers anyway, a semi-reasonable decision. Malone had a great year. He averaged 27 points a game, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out 4.5 assists. He led his team, the Utah Jazz, to the best record in the Western Conference —…
Jo-Jo's Circus
NEW YORK — Every now and again, you will hear somebody make fun of baseball numbers geeks by inventing some silly made-up statistic of their own. For instance, they might say: “Hey, did you know that Player X is hitting .403 with runners in scoring position on Wednesdays when the starting pitcher is left-handed, a…
Jo-Jo’s Circus
NEW YORK — Every now and again, you will hear somebody make fun of baseball numbers geeks by inventing some silly made-up statistic of their own. For instance, they might say: “Hey, did you know that Player X is hitting .403 with runners in scoring position on Wednesdays when the starting pitcher is left-handed, a…
Splitt
You will hear people say all the time that they don’t want to live in the past. But I think that, more often than not, is a half-truth. Don’t we all want to live at least a little bit in the past? Don’t we all want to remember those moments when the sun was brightest,…
Splitt
You will hear people say all the time that they don’t want to live in the past. But I think that, more often than not, is a half-truth. Don’t we all want to live at least a little bit in the past? Don’t we all want to remember those moments when the sun was brightest,…