Jeff Fletcher | February 28, 2009

I’m still all worked up this morning, even though I probably shouldn’t be taking this so personally. What got me started was this article on Fangraphs about how great it is that non-traditional, free content has sprouted in the baseball media in the wake of dying newspapers. The author of that article, Dave Cameron, didn’t mean to infer that the death of newspapers is a pleasant result of the rise of blogs, but rather an unpleasant side effect.

However, it’s clear that many of the people who have commented on his story and mine do not feel that way. Many of them — and feel free to ignore this if you aren’t in this group — have said: “Good riddance to those reporters. We don’t need them.”

It just really strikes a nerve with me when people fail to see the value of mainstream, professional, trained reporters. (I’m referring to those whose work appears on the web, as well as newspapers.)

I get plenty of emails asking me about what the Giants front office is doing (free agent moves, trades, etc.). Frankly, all I can tell them is what I read in the Chronicle, the Mercury News and MLB.com. The Giants don’t exactly invite the public in on their internal discussion, and it takes the hard work of professional reporters to seek those answers. It is work that you just can’t do unless you have experience, access and — to be honest — someone paying you to do it.

Even on the easier stuff — “What’s the plan for Madison Bumgarner this year? Why did you take out Lincecum after 120 pitches? Why stick with Frandsen-Burriss instead of going after Orlando Hudson? What position is Angel Villalona going to play?” — you need someone there to ask the questions.

If you are a pure between-the-lines fan and have no interest whatsoever in profiles of players or finding out who might have used steroids, there is still plenty of on-field stuff you need reporters to ask for you.

Sure, you can argue that a lot of reporters don’t fully understand VORP or Win Shares, or maybe even that they don’t use the right criteria in voting for the Hall of Fame, but none of that is the critical part of the reporter’s job. A reporter’s job is to report everything you can’t get by watching a game or reading the box score, which is a lot of stuff. A lot more than (some of) you realize because you take it for granted.

In the meantime, every time a newspaper shuts down or a reporter loses his job, some of that information is lost.

And that isn’t good for anyone.

Category: A's, Giants | 12 Comments »
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Jeff Fletcher | February 28, 2009

A once-a-week look at stuff other than baseball…

Gather round folks, because I’ve figured out the answer to all of our economy’s problems:

Girl scouts.

I came to this realization somewhere around my third or fourth box of Thin Mints. Then I remembered my experiences with my daughter a couple of years ago selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door. I believe our success rate was about 90 percent of people who answered the door. A lot of people said, “Oh, I’ve already bought some, but I’ll buy some more from you.”

The cookies are OK, but the real selling point is the little 9-year-old girls with their brown vests and smiling faces. No one can say no.

Picture this. You’re walking into the bank trying to get a home loan. The loan officer frowns, glances down at your 435 credit score, notices that you haven’t had a job in a year and smells alcohol on your breath at 9:30 in the morning. He’s just about to say no, but then your daughter pops into the scene, smiling and toting an armfull of Tagalongs…

Bingo. You’ve got a loan. Works the same at a job interview.

Someone hit up Barack’s Blackberry for me. I’m busy eating Thin Mints.

On to other things…

• Keep an eye on Steve Singleton, a shortstop in the Twins system. Singleton is from Bishop O’Dowd High in Oakland and the University of San Diego. I have no idea if Steve can really play, but this winter I dealt poker with him a couple times.
• The classic comedy Blazing Saddles was released 35 years ago this month. It is still one of the funniest movies of all-time, and I’m not just saying that because one of the guys who wrote the screenplay, Andrew Bergman, is related to me. I think he’s my grandfather’s sister’s nephew’s cousin’s uncle. Or something like that. I’m sure my Dad will post here soon and explain it. Anyway, he also wrote the screenplay, just coincidentally, to Fletch.
• Poker tip of the week: If you’re ever about to make a “pot odds” call on the river, don’t. A pot odds call is one in which you think: “Well, I’m probably beaten, but I’m getting 3 to 1, so I’ve only got to be right 25 percent of the time.” Pot odds don’t mean squat if you are going to lose. Most people overestimate their chances of winning, so if you already think you are “probably” beaten, you are “definitely” beaten. You need a lot better than 3 to 1. Besides, if the other player has a clue at all, the reason he’s giving you 3 to 1 is so you’ll call, instead of fold. He wants you to call. Don’t do it.

Category: Sideshow | 1 Comment »
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Jeff Fletcher | February 27, 2009

As you should know by now, one of the nation’s best newspapers, the Rocky Mountain News, printed its final edition today, forced out of business by a bad economy and a world in which so much information is free on the internet. That prompted Dave Cameron of Fangraphs to write how great all of this is for the baseball fan. And he got an atta-boy from Rob Neyer, a highly respected writer who is now a member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Cameron writes that it’s good that the baseball media is being whittled down to where there is less room for the professionals and more room for the bloggers.

Much like the open source movement in software, there’s been a revolution in the baseball community. The best content available isn’t being written in books or newspapers, or even behind subscription walls that require payments to access – the best knowledge available is free to everyone who wants it.

Really?

I’d like them to do an experiment. For one week, don’t read a single word produced by a member of the hated “mainstream media.” Don’t read anything written by someone who was paid to write it.

I don’t think it would take a week to realize just misguided Cameron’s opinion is. I’ll agree that the best work in “statistical analysis” is done by people working for free on the internet, but that represents a mere sliver of what there is to be written about baseball.

What about, oh, everything else? The features. The news stories. The injury reports. The investigative stories when Dominicans lie about their age. The trade rumors. The steroid stories. I’ll bet if Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci hadn’t written about Ken Caminiti’s steroid use in 2002, we still would not have any steroid testing in the majors.

A media of experienced professionals is vital. If you don’t believe it, go check out one of those blogs and click on some links and see where they take you.

I can tell you one link you will not see on this blog ever again: Fangraphs.

Category: A's, Giants | 20 Comments »
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Jeff Fletcher | February 27, 2009

Did you catch this story? It seems the federal government is upset that the judge ruled that all of their good evidence is not admissible in Barry Bonds’ perjury trial, so they are appealing. That means the trial, which was scheduled to start on Monday, may not start for months.

Just when we were seeing that there might be some closure to all this… It’s the story that will never end.

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Jeff Fletcher | February 27, 2009

Just wanted to alert you guys to the big charity special on Country Fastball, which will be broadcast Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Pacific time on the web site. There will be interviews with Jake Peavy, Sean Casey, Brad Lidge, Justin Morneau and more. Of course, there will also be lots of country music, if you’re into that sort of thing. The show is hosted by Robert Buan, A’s postgame talk show host and a good friend of Bay Bridge Baseball.

Category: A's | No Comments »
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Jeff Fletcher | February 26, 2009

Manny Ramirez has rejected a Dodgers’ offer for the fourth time!

Something incredibly fishy is going on here. By all accounts the Giants are merely hanging around, not willing to outbid the Dodgers. So, what could Scott Boras be doing?

One of the following must be true…

1. The Giants are really willing to throw big money (ostensibly at least $45 million) at Manny, and just being really coy about it.

2. There is a third team lurking out there willing to give Manny more than $45 million.

3. Manny has pictures of Frank McCourt in a compromising position with a sheep, and he’s just waiting to bust them out.

4. Manny and Scott Boras have both lost their minds.

Personally, I’m thinking that 2 is the most likely of these scenarios, but I wouldn’t rule out 4. What about No. 1? Logic says that if the Giants really had an offer better than $45 million to make that they would have made it long ago and Manny would be wearing black and orange already.

So I have no idea.

Sure makes for interesting reading, though.

Category: Giants | 16 Comments »
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Jeff Fletcher | February 26, 2009

Reading some of the comments in this thread, I came to the conclusion that a lot of Giants fans are unhappy that GM Brian Sabean didn’t go out and get an upgrade at one of the corner infield spots. Funny, because it seems to me that a lot of other people used to complain that Sabean never gave the Giants young players a chance to play before replacing them with some stop-gap veteran.

So which is it?

I see why you are torn on this issue. On one hand, the young players the Giants have don’t seem like future All-Stars. On the other hand, the players that were available from elsewhere (Joe Crede, Ty Wigginton, etc.) came with baggage of their own. Other than signing Mark Teixeira, I don’t think there was a move Sabean could make with the infield that was good for the Giants in the present and future.

Given the choice between questionable veterans and questionable young players, I think it’s right to go with the young players. They are cheaper and they have more upside.

Travis Ishikawa is probably not going to hit .300 with 25 homers, but he might. You never know unless you throw him out there and see what he can do. Frankly, it’s better to just keep running through Ortmeiers, Bowkers and Ishikawas until you find someone than it is to stick some old crusty veteran out there.

The crummy National League West is also partly responsible for the Giants dilemma. It would be a lot easier to stomach a rebuilding effort if there were a powerhouse team in the division. As it is, the division stinks so much that simply getting to 85 wins might be enough to reach October. But do you want to build a team to win 85 games? No, you want to build a team to win 100 games. 

And you don’t do that with Ty Wigginton.

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Category: Giants | 6 Comments »
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