Author Archives: Ted Berg

Drafting fictional players

Posted on by
Reply

The 1974 NHL Amateur Draft was an example of these tactics coming to a head. The draft was conducted ahead of schedule and via secret conference call in order to prevent leaks. The system, however, had a significant downside — it was tediously slow. And for the first time ever, an NHL team drafted a Japanese player. With the 183rd pick in the draft, George “Punch” Imlach, general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, announced his team’s selection: Taro Tsujimoto, the star center of the Tokyo Kitanas….

A few weeks into training camp, Tsujimoto had still not shown his face in Buffalo. Disgraced by the mocking? Visa troubles? Nope. Tsujimoto hadn’t arrived because Imlach had made him up; the byproduct of a bored general manager frustrated by the league’s cloak and dagger draft.

– Dan Lewis, Now I Know newsletter.

Cool. I think drafting fictional players and hyping them up is something I’d definitely be tempted to do if I were running a professional sports franchise. You need a good endgame, though, because otherwise you’re just going to end up with an empty roster.

Anyway, this tidbit from Lewis’ newsletter reminded me of a couple points: First, late in the 2010 season, Chan Ho Park earned his 124th win to pass Hideo Nomo as the winningest Asian-born pitcher. It’s weird; I think I’ve come to associate Park so closely with his big contract in Texas, his brutal one-start stint with the Mets and his diarrhea kerfuffle from earlier this season that I forget he was actually the first Major Leaguer in the recent wave of imports from the Far East. He actually tossed two innings at the beginning of the 1994 season, a full year before Nomomania set in.

Second, now seems like a good time to pop Lewis’ newsletter, which is awesome. It’s basically one random bit of trivia a day, and it’s a breeze to read. You can subscribe here.

Frenchy Tracker update

Posted on by
10

Thanks to all those who hipped me to this New York Times piece, which contains the stunning realization that Jeff Francoeur has yet again found a magical adjustment in his approach that will catapult him into the ranks of the game’s elite hitters and doesn’t mention once that his inflated stats with the Rangers might have something to do with small sample size or enjoying a higher proportion of his at-bats against left-handers.

And thanks to Joe for the heads up on this New York Post feature, which keeps us abreast on the Rangers’ platoon right fielder’s relationship with the Mets’ most recent manager and general manager.

That puts the total at four so far and the ALCS games haven’t even started, so it’s looking good for all those who took the over on 20.

Also, no Francoeur updates yet that I know of from the Bergen Record or the Newark Star-Ledger, which is baffling. How will the people of New Jersey get their latest Jeff Francoeur news?

And don’t quote me on this, but I don’t think any enterprising reporter has yet thought to catch up with Darren Oliver on how he essentially turned his career around with the Mets, or with Darren O’Day on his brief, weird stint in Flushing.

Frenchy Tracker, go!

Posted on by
7

Today on Twitter, I set the over-under on Jeff Francoeur-themed sidebars in New York papers during the ALCS at 20.

So far we’re at two, this epic from the Daily News and this one I can’t read from Newsday.

I will try to stay vigilant, but I’d appreciate all the help I could get in monitoring this situation. So please, if you find a story about Jeff Francoeur in a local paper, please alert me via the comments section or the contact box at the above right.

But I’m not interested in stories that just quote Jeff Francoeur somewhere — that’s basically all of them; they have to be about Jeff Francoeur. Items in notebook/roundup pieces are fine as long as Francoeur gets his own dedicated subhead inside the article.

Why do I care? Because I’m a jackass, primarily. But also because I’m really, really interested in knowing how Jeff Francoeur feels about his first taste of the postseason in New York, what it’s like for him to be back here after leaving so recently, what he thinks about Cliff Lee, how he has fit into the Rangers’ clubhouse, his favorite places to eat in New York, and something about his dogs.

Darrelle Revis stuff

Posted on by
2

“We’d all feel better if he did practice,” Ryan said. “Let’s see how he’s moving around. It could be that we think he looks great and we fly to Denver and all of a sudden, he’s not great.”

Revis was amenable to taking the cautious approach that would give him an additional 15 or so days to rehab and rest before the Packers game. However, he’s fully aware of the fickle nature of hamstring injuries. “I can rest this game and rest the bye and come back and it’s still the same situation,” Revis said.

Revis hasn’t lost sight of the big picture.

“It’s a long season,” Revis said. “We don’t want to re-injure it.”

– Manish Mehta, N.Y. Daily News.

Little bit of strangeness coming out of Jets camp about Revis and his injury. Maybe I’m paranoid because I’m a Mets fan grown accustomed to the miscommunication and mishandling of injuries, but it kind of sounds from this and a couple other articles like Revis doesn’t feel up to playing on Sunday and Rex Ryan is trying to push him toward it.

But then earlier in the article, Ryan admits he put too much trust in Revis to diagnose himself before Monday night’s contest and that, as a competitor, Revis will always want to be out there.

Obviously I’m not a doctor so I’ll resist speculation. It seems like playing it safe is the best option, even if passing the ball is pretty much the only thing the Broncos do well.

But then the counter to that is to argue that Revis needs reps to get up to speed, and so should push through the injury if it’s not going to get any worse since that’s what he needs to do to return to playing like Darrelle Revis.

Because the big issue is that Revis got tossed around and beat badly by the likes of Percy Harvin on Monday night, and the Jets’ secondary — presumed to be a strength heading into the season — appears like it could be the club’s Achilles heel if Revis can’t get right.

I’d err on the side of caution. Brian Bassett agrees. Obviously every game is important in a 16-game schedule, but resting Revis now betters the chances he’ll be full strength and again dominant during the playoffs, plus provides the added benefit of more reps to Kyle Wilson, who could use some getting up to speed himself.