Dr. I has come up with a new goal: ‘top quartile contact quality’
I dle Thoughts, while waiting for high school football, college football, pro football, football pregame shows, football postgame shows, football Sundays at the Birdseye and football in general:
• Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, lays the foibles of the Yankees at the hands of their almighty analytics department. It rules everything, answers for nothing and has taken micromanagement to dizzying levels.
This, for example, was reported in Newsday earlier this month:
“Before every road trip, the Yankees traveling party receives a ‘sleep guide,' complete with a suggested ‘bedtime' and ‘time to wake up.'
“And that kind of smothering from the performance science crowd contributed at least in part to a much-derided decision on the just-completed trip West. The decision: Rather than the usual step of flying home after the conclusion of Wednesday's game (July 12 in Anaheim), which started at 4 p.m. Pacific time, they would wait until around noon Thursday (complete with an inconvenient hotel change Wednesday night) to depart.
“The thought being players should get a better night's sleep in a hotel instead of maybe a few uncomfortable hours on a red-eye that might not see them get to their respective homes until anywhere from 4-6 a.m. Except, overwhelmingly, most simply wanted to get home ASAP. A significant number of the traveling party, players included, spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning exploring other options back to New York in the hopes of spending their off-day at home.”
Sleep patterns.
Any patterns available that can teach these people how to hit?
Ah, the franchise formerly known as the Yankees.
• Trivia: Shohei Ohtani's 46 home runs in 2021 are the single-season record by an Angels left-handed hitter.
Who held the record before Ohtani? (Answer below).
• More analytics amusement: This was tweeted from @swinggraphs earlier in July:
“Elly De La Cruz (of the Reds) is an exciting player, but he has a very big problem: His attack angle is second lowest in MLB (only Eric Hosmer's is lower). This is costing him a whopping 81 pts of xwOBAcon. So unfortunate because with his above average VBA, he could easily have top quartile contact quality.”
It's here Dr. I envisions Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy breaking into a rousing, “Ah, sweet mystery of life I finally found thee … top quartile contact quality.” (It even rhymes).
• If you are in a giving mood: The Southeast Soccer Club is holding its first golf tournament Aug. 21 at Shennecossett to raise money for kids with the ability to play at a higher level, but can't afford to do so. Per tournament director (and all around good guy) Brian Cole, any consideration of participation or sponsorship is greatly appreciated. If you'd care to play or contribute, email Cole at brian@qualityprinters.us or make a check payable to Southeast Soccer Club, care of Brian Cole, P.O. Box 749, New London, CT 06320.
• Fact about life in journalism: Frequently, writers from bigger media outlets fail to acknowledge the existence of the Dr. I's of the world. They believe their lofty media affiliation somehow transforms their every utterance into an echo from a higher order.
That was never the case with the great Bill Reynolds, the longtime columnist for the Providence Journal. Wonderful guy. Approachable and insightful, always. Bill passed away earlier this month at 78. May he rest in peace.
• Congrats to Waterford High grad Ryan O'Connell, a part of state championship basketball and baseball teams in Lancerville.
“Oak,” now pitching at St. Bonaventure, has been promoted to the prestigious Cape Cod League (Wareham) for the rest of the summer.
• Good luck today to East Lyme Little League, in pursuit of the state baseball championship.
• A thrilling week for Dr. I: The 20-minute drive to Mystic took an hour; the 1:10 trip to Trumbull (to cover East Lyme) took a crisp 1:52.
Remember when city slickers were buying houses here during the pandemic because we had no traffic?
• A very happy 70th birthday Saturday to the great Flo Potter. (Nobody has ever made Dr. I laugh harder. Ever.)
• Dr. I agrees with (fellow BC grad) Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, who said recently that along with the pitch clock, there should be a “National Anthem Clock” for the singers who turn it into a 10-minute ballad.
• Trivia answer: Reggie Jackson (39 homers in 1982).