Statistics That Confuse

Well, maybe not confuse. As I told you a couple weeks ago, I am doing research on baseball statistics for my team. It always seems like you get to the 6th inning and you have the bottom of the order leading off. So, I wanted to know what our actual numbers were. Interestingly, when removing the 1st inning, position 6 leads off 18% of the time, position 1 leads off 16% of the time, position 7 leads off 14% of the time and positions 5 and 9 lead off 13% of the time.

So, that didn't help too much. Let's look further. Leading off the 5th inning 26% of the time is position 5 and position 9 18% of the time. The bottom third of the order leads off the 5th 41% of the time, the middle third leads off the 5th 31% of the time and the top third of the order leads off the 5th 28% of the time. The 6th inning? Well, position 6 is 30% and positions 1 and 8 are 20%. So, the bottom third leads off the 6th 35% of the time, the middle third leads off the 6th 40% of the time and the top third leads off the 6th 25% of the time.

The feeling that the bottom of the order leads off the 6th all the time isn't true. But, what do I do with these stats? Hmmmm. I'll let you know!

Little League Baseball Makes Me Happy

I have been teaching baseball since my oldest boy could walk. I've coached 3 different teams with my boys: machine pitch, Minors and Majors. My teams have won the league each year and this year shouldn't be much different. This will be the first time I have not had both boys on the same team. Son number 2, while not saying so, is ready to be out from under the shadow of his brother.

Last year was a rough year. It was the first year that I had a parent whine to me about playing time and I had two complain. I offered to let them coach, but they walked away. It's never the parents of the good players that complain. Anyway, we won the league on the last night of the season, in the last inning. It was awesome! Since we won the league, I got the honor of being the all-star manager for the second year. We almost beat the defending regional champs, losing 3-2. When it was all over, I didn't think about baseball for months.

Then, in January, I saw a parent of one of my players. He greeted me, "Hey, Coach." That was it, I was ready for baseball. (NOTE: If you are a baseball parent, either help or support the coaches. Most of them work like mad and don't need people whining. Either help or get out of the way. Oh - teach your kids how to play; coach them at home.) What am I to do to fill the months before the season? Statistics!!!! Baseball is a statistic lovers dream.

So, I am on a quest to find the following: which position in the batting order leads off an inning the most and bats with runners in scoring position the most. I'm curious to see if there is a pattern that can be exploited to our benefit.

Spring Is Almost Here!!!

Pitchers and catchers starting reporting today and that means that baseball is back and that means that I now have a reason to get up in the morning!!

Just for fun, I'll post about my season coaching this year. I know nobody reads this, but my words be surfing the 'net, so that's cool.

Obama a Communist?

I have little doubt that the messiah and most of the Democrat leadership are closet Socialists/Communists. This "stimulus" abomination should be enough proof. Except for you closet Socialists/Communists who think it is great. Came across this article this morning. Read at your own risk and don't shoot the messenger.

Embrace What is Right?

Excuse me? Again, in reference to the inauguration, the preacher that said the prayer had this gem of a line: "white embraces what is right". What? Just can't take 8 seconds off from all of the racism garbage. Yeah, I know it exists. I also know it does not exist to the degree that the liberals claim. If it did, Mrs. Palin would have been VP today. Millions of crackers voted for a black man. What more do we evil whiteys have to do?

Slap a Poet

I'm listening to the inauguration of the messiah and the poet just finished her "poem". Wow. Talk about uppity. If you see a "poet" today, slap them for me.

Fridays Are Funny

I love cats.



Have an adequate weekend.

My Two Cents on Sarah Palin

Everyone and their mom seems to be down on the lovely Mrs. Palin. Why? Where does this come from? Last I checked, the election ended over two months ago. McCain has dropped off the face of the earth and the messiah's poo still doesn't stink. But Mrs. Palin is still being used as a lightning rod for the hate and vitriol of the moron media and the left.

The answer is simple: fear. Those that bash Mrs. Palin do it out of fear. She stands for many of the things that the great Ronald Reagan stood for. She's a conservative and true conservatism scares the hell out of those that don't want to be held to any moral standards. The lefties claim to want everyone to be free to live their lives. Truth is, their policies do nothing by imprison people. Welfare? Liberal idea. Quotas? Liberal idea. Putting hand cuffs on our automobile industry? Liberal idea. (Side note: check out how the big three are doing overseas. Their foreign operations, without all the stupid liberal regulations, are flourishing. Things that make you go "Hmmmm".)

So, all these people believe putting Mrs. Palin down over and over will diminish her in our eyes. They believe that we will see her for who they believe she is. They are scared to death that the messiah won't actually be able to walk on water and that he'll be ripe for the picking in 2012. Instead of waiting for the next election cycle to hit, the moron media is bashing Mrs. Palin now. Not sure how these people live with themselves.

Liberals truly fear the greatness of people like Reagan. We have not had anyone that rivals Ronaldus Maximus since he left office. The liberals have not had much to fear in 20 years. Suddenly, Mrs. Palin bursts onto the national scene. While she's not the second coming of Reagan, she's definitely at the top of the conservative ladder.

Who knows what the future holds. Mrs. Palin may not even bother to venture into the national political scene again. Who could blame her? She's got a fantastic life up there in Alaska. However, I'm sure she's tough enough to endure the barbs and arrows and come out swinging when the time is right.

Mrs. Sarah Palin, thank you. You have given this conservative hope that new blood is out there. Yes I'm nuts, but I'm thinking Palin/Jindal 2012. Or Jindal/Palin 2012. Either way, count me in!!

Fine, I'm Crazy - I Liked Despereaux

I took my male offspring to see The Tale of Despereaux Christmas day. I've seen a lot of "reviews" of it that were not positive. Therefore, I put it upon myself to be the voice of dissension. I really enjoyed it. My boys liked it. In fact, they liked it so much, they spent many hard earned Christmas dollars on the video game (if that doesn't speak volumes, I don't know what does).

I'm not sure what all the fuss is over the animation. I thought it was different that what is normally put out there - that's a good thing!!! Why does everything have to be the same as everything? Good grief.

I've read complaints that it was dark (both visually and plot-wise). Read the book. It's a story of darkness. Granted, not "adult" darkness, but darkness that kids understand. The moral behind the story is what you want for your kids - actions have consequences and sometimes things don't end like you want or expect. I will be buying the DVD when it comes out.

New Years Day

Made it through 2008 without doing jail time! Yay! I'm one of those people that usually sits and tries to figure out how I can make the new year better. For some reason, the fact that we elected "hope and change" doesn't turn my crank. I couldn't wait to get through all of the holidays this year. Now that I'm past them, there is a new year sitting in front of me. I guess that I should try to make it a better year, but I'm not sure that I'm up for it. Am I capable? Others think I am, but why can't I see it myself? Well, we'll see.

I hope that you all have a great year and achieve something great with your lives. Thanks for reading.