The Futility Infielder

It's been a slow week on the baseball front, which has suited me fine. Things might stay a little quiet around here for the next several days; I've got a couple of big projects in the works which are taking a lot of my writing time. If the tumbleweeds start to get you down, I invite you to check out the pieces which I consider to be my best work of 2003. I'm extremely proud of each and every one of these seventeen (too many for a Top Ten, not enough for a Top Twenty, and with no baseball relevance whatsoever, numerically speaking), which remind me that this transitional year -- in which I left my job of nearly six years, moved in with my girlfriend, seriously injured myself, saw this site's readership more than double, and made some real-live friends thanks to my work here -- was a pretty good one for me, bum shoulder be damned.

Apologies to anybody who feels this is overly self-congratulatory, but as the great writer Jimmy Breslin once said, "If you do not blow your own horn, there is no music." Roughly in chronological order (and with apologies if the permalinks to blog entries aren't working in your browser):

• The Hoyt Scale Re-Revisited, my first article for Baseball Primer, in which I examine a helpful method to rate relief pitchers. Just this morning, I hit the motherlode for the data I was missing (thanks to friends in high places), and I'll be significantly revising this study in the coming weeks.

• DIPS 2002, my attempt to keep Voros McCracken's groundbreaking work in the public eye. Yes, full 2003 stuff is coming, as is a rundown of some of the latest research...

• Lenn Sakata: The Midget Wrestler Catches On. Hot on the heels of this site's first mainstream media mention in the San Jose Mercury News is a profile of the first ballplayer I ever spoke to.

• Tony Suck: The Man Who Lived Up to His Name, my study of one of the worst players in baseball history. So highly thought of, it was a Clutch Hit on Baseball Primer not once but twice.

• Spring Back to Life, my account of a trip to Florida in March in search of some rejuvenation.

• Up in Arms, a look at the A.J. Burnett situation and the topic of pitch counts. Who knew that this would have such an impact on the Florida Marlins?

• Clearing the Bases Several Times Over, one of my notorious multi-topic pieces. I really got on a roll in this particular one, to which I'll attribute being the first time I got comfy writing in my new apartment.

• Return of the Bulldog, my review of Jim Bouton's latest book, Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark. Sadly and predictably, the team Bouton and his partner tried to purchase, which became the Berkshire Black Bears in the hands of rival owner Jonathan Fleisig, is abandoning Wahconah Park and moving to Connecticut. Oddly enough former Red Sox GM and frequent Futility Infielder target Dan Duquette is the man with the best hope for keeping baseball in Wahconah.

• A Perfect Pitch, my review of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City's exhibit, "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball." The exhibit runs through February 1, 2004, so if you're in the area, it's a must-see.

• The Bonds of Summer, my reaction to Dan Le Batard's ESPN Magazine article on Barry Bonds and the passing of his father, Bobby.

• Goosebump Moments, a wrap-up of the regular season's final weekend. I attended two games and watched two more, and saw some things that I'll remember for a long, long time. How often do you give a standing ovation from your own living room?

• I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, my coverage of the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS Game Seven. No, the Yanks didn't win the World Series, but memories of this night are keeping me warm this winter. I've watched that eighth inning a few dozen times already. Favorite images include Hideki Matsui's leap into the air after scoring the tying run and Jorge Posada's Incredible Hulk celebration after the hit which did it. See also Rhapsody in Pink, my girlfriend's account of what it was like at the Stadium that night.

• A Futility Infielder Vocabulary Lesson, a quick piece I did earlier on the day of Game Seven while trying not to dwell on the matchup. My entries for the Big Book of Bitter Defeats, the Big Book of Bad Ideas and the Get Off My Property Home Run were well-timed, if not quite prophetic. Soooner or later, I'll make this a permanent feature of the site.

• Let It Bleed, a rumination on writing that's both a reaction to a piece on the hiring of Don Mattingly and an introduction to the exhumation of a feature which presaged this site. We'll count the first two links as part of this "Best of" bunch, but I make no such claim on the third. Caveat emptor.

• Bum (with a Bad) Shoulder, a discussion of my torn labrum and impending surgery, with a big assist from Will Carroll and his fatehr, Dr. William Carroll.

• Working the Room in a Winter Wonderland, my account of attending baseball's Winter Meetings in New Orleans, a weekend that I'm still savoring.

Well, those were my faves. If anybody out there feels that I've missed one of theirs, please let me know via the comments link.

I'll close my final entry of the year with a hearty "Thank You!" to all of my dear readers for taking the time to visit this site during 2003, and for making this endeavor feel special to me. At the risk of slapping my forehead for leaving somebody out, here's a special thanks to the not-so-small handful of (mostly) writers who've given me some encouragement, help, traffic, or just stimulating discussion this year: Rich Allen, Alex Belth, Chaim Bloom, John Bonnes, Dan Brown, Mike Carminati, Will Carroll, Clifford's Big Red Blog, Jon Daly, Elephants in Oakland, Sean Forman, Aaron Gleeman, Steven Goldman, Aaron Haspel, Julien Headley, Alex Lash, Rich Lederer, Jonathan Leshanski, Mitchel Lichtman, Larry Mahnken, Tim Marchman, Art Martone, Travis Nelson, Irina Paley, Avkash Patel, Long Gone John Perricone, Dayn Perry, David Pinto, Repoz, Christian Ruzich, the Score Bard, Joe Sheehan, Geoff Silver, Nate Silver, Pete Sommers, Greg Spira, Seth Strohs, John Strubel, Dave Studenmund, Robert Tagorda, Jon Weisman, John Wiebe, Ryan Wilkins, and the Baseball Primer Clutch Hitters.

Even more special thanks to my family (Mom, Dad, Bryan) and friends (Issa, Julie, Nick, the Hardts, the Hoffstens, the Pipers, the Wiedemanns, and others) who've provided such wonderful encouagement and emotional support during this very strange year, and most definitely to my girlfriend Andra, for not only giving me the space to spend so much of my time on this, but for letting herself get caught up in the fun as well. I'm a very, very lucky guy to have all of these people in my life.

Best wishes to all of you for a Happy New Year!