I know you've had a rough time with the postseason prognostication so far. I'm not saying this out of pity to give you a self-esteem boost, just giving credit where credit is due. Keep up the good work, King!

Ever think about hiring someone in the field of political science to write one of these pieces? Their writing style can be dry, but then again, they actually know things.

I was hoping someone would post a link to that Mr. Show clip.

She said "Gay's Anatomy"

"But overall this is an aging team that relies on a bunch of guys who haven't looked great lately, guys like Shawn Green and Oliver Perez."

I wouldn't say the Mets "rely" on Shawn Green more than any team relies on its number eight hitter. Green is what he is--nothing special, but at the same time, I'll take a guy at the bottom of my lineup with an OBP of .344 (Green's last year).

As for the "aging" part--yes, they have Glavine and El Duque and Alou. But as you mentioned, their biggest stars are pretty young (Wright, Reyes, Beltran). Don't be surprised if Mike Pelfrey is in the rotation before long, and John Maine should be more of a factor than last year (His PECOTA numbers last year were pretty solid, which is usually pretty good at forecasting future performance). And the bullpen is young, good, and deep.

I think you're off the mark here, but who the hell knows.

We all know by now that the man is scrappy, but good On Base? His career OBP is .350 (last year .351), which is pretty much the league average. This goes against popular sentiment, but Eckstein is just not that good a leadoff man. And if you're using him as one of your reasons to defend the Cardinals as a strong WS champ, then you are pretty much proving King's point.

Pujols and Carpenter are awesome. But let's be honest about the '06 Cardinals; they won the Series because their little-bit-better-than-mediocre (besides Carpenter) pitching rotation got unconscious in the postseason. It does not make them a bad team, and it does not mean they didn't earn the championship. But a pretty strong argument can be made that they are the worst WS champion ever.

I agree with Woody. Bonds is really just a dick. Self-centered, self-pitying, and unaccountable, the guy deserves every ounce of criticism he is receiving.

I think the guy is the center of so much outrage because of just how much steroids did enhance his performance. If he sucked, people wouldn't care as much (e.g. Alex Sanchez). But Bonds has not sucked; he holds the single-season homerun record (2001), and he's had two years that probably rank as the greatest offensive seasons in the history of baseball ('01 and '04). As a result of the steroid allegations, most baseball fans believe--correctly, in my opinion--that these superhuman seasons are somehow tarnished.

To imply racism is the cause of any animosity towards Bonds kind of trivializes racism--especially when discussing a man who has given so much reason to be disliked.

nearly made me punch my computer.

Ty Cobb, anyone?

What the shit does that mean? Does anyone romanticize Ty Cobb anymore? He stabbed black guys for looking at him funny. What does this have to do with Barry Bonds? How do you justify one asshole's behavior by mentioning a worse asshole? Why is this letter to the editor composed entirely of questions?

A quote from Sandy Tolan's next piece: "So maybe Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir 'supports' the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Darfurians. But does the name Joseph Stalin ring a bell?" This is admittedly hyperbolic, but along the same lines.

I will now walk away from the computer and look for a kitten to pet.

Can we please stop with this nonsense? Aside from the reality that the combination of a strict weight training regimen and increased whey protein ingestion will not grow one's head 4 sizes, we have the fact that Barry Bonds ADMITTED TO USING HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE in front of a grand jury(!) This happened.

I agree that the "enmity [towards Bonds] predates Bonds chasing Aaron." And this is clearly due to racism. Why would anyone wish failure upon a man who once told autograph-seeking children to fuck off? Because's he's black. How about when Bonds was at Arizona State and his teammates voted him off the team by a margin of 22-2? Sun Devils? More like Sun Klansmen!

Well played, Farnsworth.

Oh yea, and Obama's response to the question will have no effect ever on anything.

No, no, no! He confessed in front of a grand jury that he used Human Growth Hormone (a steroid). He claims he did not know what he was taking, but he ADMITTED taking it. Please, please stop with the "presumption of innocence" and "circumstantial evidence" bit.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/destruction_of_national_pastime

Being the staunch Barry Bonds defender she is...

Although Raines and Baines are comparable on OPS and BA, you have to factor in Raines' 811 stolen bases at a 85% success rate, among other facets of the game. It is more telling when comparing the two guys using stats that encompass more factors:

Tim Raines (career):

EqA: .308

Warp3: 131.8

Harold Baines (career):

EqA: .291

Warp3: 96.2

They're not really even close.

When you refer to Milch, I believe you mean to say Ed Burns. David Milch is the creator of "Deadwood", whereas Ed Burns is the former detective/teacher and co-creator of "The Wire".

That homeless man was indeed one of the port workers from season 2; Johnny Fifty (he drank 50 beers on his 21st birthday)

Horse(face) was this guy: http://www.hbo.com/thewire/img/castcrew/character_season03/theport/horseface.jpg

How about Ernie Adams, the man behind the man? Really good article from--surprisingly--ESPN The Magazine:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=adams