It’s become nearly axiomatic that the NFL is a league of parity and that MLB is a league dominated by a perpetual battle between the haves and have-nots.  Back of the envelope evidence for this usually includes a list of Super Bowl champions and the high variance in playoff teams in the NFL and the [...]

Postseason odds are becoming an obsession of mine.  Quite obviously there are plenty of factors that could render these odds irrelevant.  A team’s best player could go down with a season-ending injury, or a club could go on a hot streak like the Rockies in 2007, but generally speaking the odds provide a good way [...]

About last night.

Felix did what Felix does. Over eight innings, he struck out 11 and allowed no runs. He walked only three batters, and scattered four hits. The Yankees never had much of a chance, because AJ Burnett turned from Jekyll to Hyde, allowing five runs over his first four innings and letting in [...]

In 2005 the Yankees called up 22 year-old second-base prospect Robinson Cano and he responded by hitting 14 home runs in 132 games on his way to a .778 OPS.   In 2006 he took a major step forward, hitting 15 home runs in 122 games while posting a solid tripleslash of .342/.365/.525.  His walk [...]

Earlier today, Jason from It Is About the Money, Stupid posted an article about whether Albert Pujols would be baseball’s savior, “the one who restores our interest in home run milestones”.  He quotes liberally from Roy Johnson of ESPN NY.  Johnson assumes the familiar “let me tell you how it is” tone and states [...]

The story about Dustin Pedroia and his injured foot is hardly new ground, but yesterday readers were treated to a new bit of information about his timetable for recovery, and the risks he has been running by attempting to play.  In the Boston Globe’s Red Sox notebook yesterday we read the following:

Here stand the Yankees: defending World Champions, first place in the American League East by 2 games, best record in baseball at 55-32 and best run differential at +111, no serious injuries at present time, the class of baseball and confident in mostly every important aspect of the game.  For the Yankees, things are good. [...]

Ok.  So the win last night was ugly.  But it was a win nonetheless, and the Yankees are now 2.5 games up on the Red Sox and Rays on June 24.  How they got there, I have no idea.  To me, the past week has been a rotten stretch of baseball for the team.  Despite [...]

As the Yankees enjoy today’s off-day, let’s take a look at the week ahead.

On Tuesday, the Phillies come to the Bronx for a three-game set.  The Phillies, which hail from the city that has now lost two major sports titles in the past calendar year, are currently in third-place in the NL East, 3.5 [...]