I’m sick of the drama that surrounds George Steinbrenner and Joe Torre every year.

As much as it pains me to support anything Yankee, what an accomplishment for Torre to have taken the Yanks to the postseason EVERY year of his tenure there.

Of course, every time the Yankees hit a skid along the way, Torre’s job security is on the line and Steinbrenner gets all the headlines. Maybe it’s just a ploy to fire up the hitters (even though it’s pitching they need most). I don’t know. But if Steinbrenner was ever seriously considering firing Torre this week, he’s just dumb.

Is it Torre’s fault that the Yankees pitchers have all gotten hurt? I’ll agree that it’s sad for a team that has an offense like that not to be over .500, but it’s only May 1st. Give it time.

Let’s get to today’s mailbag:

Scott S., St. Louis: Worst baseball movie of all time? My vote goes to “For the love of the game”

Part of the reason I hated that movie was because it is actually called “For Love of the Game.” They left out the “the” for some odd reason. There are a lot of ways I could go with this question — “Major League 3″ comes quickly to mind. But I think I’ll give it to “The Sandlot 2” and “Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch.”

Matt F., Dekalb, Ill.: Baseball was a completely different game 70-80 years ago. Do you think it makes any sense to compare hard stats from the deadball era to the liveball era?

From a practical standpoint of judging players today, I certainly think it’s silly to consider how players performed that long ago. So much about the game has changed. Players need to be viewed in the context of the time they played. This is why I don’t think hitting 500-600 home runs in the modern era automatically punches someone’s ticket to Cooperstown.

Thanks for the questions guys. If you have questions for me, e-mail them to djust2@uiuc.edu with your name and hometown. I will answer it in a timely manner.

Just, out.

Have a stat you cant find? Have a beef with your favorite team? Want to know if the trade you’re about to make in your fantasy league is a good one? Or do you just want more of my unusual brand of “infotainment”?

I would really like to begin a regular mailbag to the end of posts and create some separate posts devoted to answering your questions as well.

You can send questions about anything and everything baseball related to djust2@uiuc.edu.

I will answer EVERY e-mail I receive, so keep ‘em coming.

Will Danny Glover make the sequel? How old is that kid from Third Rock From the Sun?

Anyway, there’s been a lot of talk about the woes in the Cubs outfield this season. While I can’t quite figure out all the logic that went into signing Alfonso Soriano and Cliff Floyd, I can’t get my head around what sort of situation the Cubs expected. They knew Soriano may not work out in center and with all the money that changed hands they never covered their bases, so to speak.

Someone asked ESPN analyst Steve Phillips about the situation and Phillips’ reply was:

The Cubs outfield is a real situation in that they have a number of workable parts, none of which really work in the positions in which they are playing. If Pie can play at the major league level, then he has to play center. Then I would have Soriano in left and Jones and right. If Pie cannot hit in the majors right now, then they have to play Jones in center, Soriano in left, and Floyd and Merton in right. That configuration plays three outfielders out of position, but I still think it is better than putting Soriano in center. The bigger problem the Cubs have is that they would like to go back to a twelfth pitcher which would mean Pie or Merton goes to the minor leagues. Merton has proved he can hit and deserves to be there, but Pie is they’re only true center-fielder. It is a real mess. My friend Steve Stone, with whom I worked games with at ESPN, compares the Cubs’ outfield with playing a round of golf with three 7 Irons and two 3 woods. You have pieces that may work in certain situations but they do not work in every situation; it is tough to win that way.

Ignoring that he misspelled Murton (not once or twice, but thrice), Phillips pretty much dodged the question. I don’t blame him, though; it’s a near-impossible situation.

My friend at the Just Baseball St. Louis office suggested an idea to me that I initially balked at, but am starting to believe might be the best solution.

Has anyone considered moving Soriano back to second base? The Cubs are halfway to pulling off this plan by moving Ryan Theriot to shortstop. I’d leave Pie in center and see what he can do while I platoon the corner outfield position. Whether or not Soriano has an issue with moving back to second base I am not sure, but I think this plan would satisfy the outfield dilemma while keeping the quality bats in the lineup.

Thoughts?

Just, out.

Still pitchin’ after all these years. (AP Photo)

Forty-four-year-old Phillies starter Jamie Moyer carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning on Sunday. He didn’t get it, but he picked up his third win of the season.

His fastball, which reached up to a stunning 82 mph, was baffling hitters. He doesn’t look like the Cub, Ranger, Oriole or Red Sox pitcher he once was, but he’s showing remarkable sign of that old Mariner self, who did actually get the job done until the 2004 season.

From a fantasy angle, he’s certainly worth a look in larger mixed leagues when the matchups are right. The Phillies are a good team and Moyer will pick up wins. I expect him to get absolutely pounded every once in a while, though.

Right now, Moyer boasts a 2.65 ERA to go along with a 3-1 record. All five of his starts this season have been “quality starts.”

Will he keep it up? Probably not. I still think he’ll finish with an ERA in the low 4s. But he’s one of the better stories in baseball so far this season.

Just, out.

I had the pleasure of having an AIM conversation with frequent Just Baseball poster Gerg today.

We, of course, got immediately to arguing. I argued that Darin Erstad is not a good hitter, and Gerg countered, saying that Kenny Williams has found another potential Jermaine Dye.

As adamantly as I disagree with that, I’ll allow the comment and not retort. I mentioned that Erstad has had an OBP hovering around .325 over the past several years. Then Gerg said this:

.325 is not the end of the world OBP. It’s solid. Not super good, but a solid benchmark and respectable.

I quote this with Gerg’s consent, of course. He then clarified his comment by saying .320 to .350 is average and anything over .350 is great.

Gerg defied me to prove to him that two-thirds of the league’s starting position players have an OBP over .300. He didn’t think this was true, so I (of course) took him up on the challenge.

In 2006, 10 out of 189 players with 400 or more at bats had an OBP below .300. They are (in order of at bats): Ronny Cedeno, Pedro Feliz, Jose Castillo, Adam Everett, Clint Barmes, Angel Berroa, Juan Uribe, Miguel Olivo, Yadier Molina, and Jorge Cantu.

Of those 10 players, only half (Feliz, Everett, Uribe, Olivo and Molina) are playing everyday this season.

It’s also interesting to note that the overwhelming majority of the players listed above are defensive specialists (particularly Everett) coming from the two positions (shortstop, catcher) that often emphasize the glove more than the bat.

There were only eight additional batters in the 300-400 at bat range (which included guys like AAA-bound Brian Anderson).

Click here to see the MLB page I acquired this information. It has 2006 position players ranked in order of at bats.

In sum, there were 236 players with 300 or more at bats in 2006. Eighteen of them had OBPs higher than 300. That’s just more than 92% of baseball. This accounts for almost every starter in baseball because the NL has roughly 128 starting hitters (8 * 16) and the AL has 126 (9 * 14). But with teams changing starters midway through the year and other circumstances, it is impossible to 100% account for every starter.

Frankly, I’m embarrassed at this point to have had to devote an entire post to prove that a .325 on base percentage isn’t good. But, winning an argument against Gerg makes it worth it.

I hope, dear readers, that this is the last post I devote to Gerg, because it’s really just not worth it (he won the trivia this week, though, so that doesn’t count).

Just, over and out.

The winner of last week’s trivia is Matt Fleishman. Congratulations, Matt! The correct answer was Nixey Callahan of the Chicago White Stockings. He shut out the Tigers 3-0. You can revisit the question here.

Let’s get to know Matt:

Full name: Matthew Alan Fleishman
Age: 20
City/State: De Kalb, Illinois
Occupation: Business Management major, Northern Illinois University
First baseball memory: 1992 NLCS Game 7–Braves score 3 in the ninth to get to the World Series
Favorite baseball moment: June 2000, White Sox sweep 7 game road trip in Cleveland and New York
Favorite team: White Sox
Favorite active player: Frank Thomas
Favorite all-time player: Frank Thomas
Least favorite player: Sammy Sosa
Favorite Baseball Tonight commentator: Tim Kurkjian
Favorite baseball movie: Major League
MLB player with the funniest name: Candy Maldonado
Will the Cubs win the World Series in the next 100 years?: Who do I look like, Biff Tannen?
If you could change any baseball rule, what would you change: Increase the height of the pitcher’s mound
You can say 25 words max to Barry Bonds; what do you say?: Remember that time you hit all those home runs?…That was great. (RIP Chris Farley)

Now, onto this week’s trivia question:

Identify the pitcher who has struck out four batters in one inning three different times.

Send your answers to djust2@uiuc.edu

Good Luck!

Twenty-nine-year-old Josh Hancock died in a car crash early Sunday morning.

Hancock was an integral part of the Cardinals World Series season a year ago and was in the middle of his sixth season in the majors.

According to the Associated Press, Hancock’s car struck a truck as it was assisting a disabled vehicle.

The Cardinals have postponed tonight’s game against the Cubs that was scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN. The team and police department are scheduled to meet with the media at 3 p.m.

Hancock’s death comes less than five years since another Cardinals pitcher, Darryl Kile, was found dead in his Chicago hotel room.

I will have more on this story later tonight.

A quick glance at Joe Borowski’s numbers made me double-take.

Borowski is the AL saves leader with 9 and he boasts a solid 15 strike outs in 11 innings. He does have one blown save, which is pretty normal for a closer after one month.

His ERA, though, is an ungodly 9.00 and he boasts a WHIP over 1.7. I’m sure Eric Wedge gets an ulcer every time he calls on his closer to finish out a game.

Let’s have some fun with the numbers Borowski is on pace for. Bear in mind we are one month into the season:

Yikes. That’s a hell of a season. How does a closer give up one run per inning and record 72 saves?? I guess when you’re playing for your 7th big league team you stop worrying about perfect innings and you focus more on just winning the game.

Borowski has 88 career saves. Will he be closing long enough to see No. 100? Time will tell.

Just, out.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a column on Friday called “Cubs: No Tinker. No Evers. No chance.”

When Post-Dispatch reporters asked La Russa about the column after Friday night’s game, La Russa refused to answer their questions. He said he completely disregards everything the column tried to do.

The column (and the press conference) were the topic of conversation during the FOX broadcast of the game Saturday. The announcers asked Lou Piniella what he thought about it, and he actually seemed a bit amused by the piece.

This is a situation where La Russa is clearly in the wrong. As the Post-Dispatch reporters said to the Cardinals manager, they have no control over what gets published. And it’s certainly not La Russa’s place to take out his anger on them.

Just, out.

And the final pick of the draft was none other than Sandy Koufax.

Koufax was picked by the Modi’in Miracle, managed by Aret Shamsky, a former Major Leaguer.

“His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league,”Shamsky told the Associated Press. “It’s been 41 years between starts for him. If he’s rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team.”

There will be six teams in the new league, which plans to have its first game on June 24. The six teams include: Modi’in Miracle, Netanya Tigers, Tel Aviv Lightning, Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, Ra’anana Express, and Petach Tikva Pioneers.

The teams, which consist of players drafted from nine different nations, will play a 45-game schedule.

A quick search on Wikipedia informed me that Israel has applied to enter the next World Baseball Classic. Jewish-American baseball players like Brad Ausmus, Mike Lieberthal, Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler, Ryan Braun, Shawn Green, Jason Marquis and others would be invited to play for the team.

For more information on the new IBL, check out their website.

Just, out.