Sierra VS Spy.

Moises Sierra comes up to the Jays and hits in a time when no one besides Edwin Encarnacion wanted too. He hits better than Anthony Gose, his prime roster spot rival, and he makes some highlight real throws. He looks like a big leaguer. One would tend to think...

The Weight of Injury

I talked with Jeff Niemann after the game yesterday, before the media scrum jumped on him to ask him what his physical malfunction was out on the field. It was a strange encounter. I knew he was ready to address the media, and when a player gets ready to talk to the...

A Player’s Manager

I had a chance to talk with Joe Maddon today. I also had a chance to talk with Price, Jennings, Moore, and, well, everyone else on the team. I know just about all of them, and their personalities and it was great to be around them again. It’s a treat to be in a...

Dallas Does Steroids

For fans of the second book, Out Of My League, Here is an interesting story. Early on in my career, right after I got drafted, I remember sitting on the bus in ear shot of a drunken Dallas Preston. It was an off day, but we also had to travel on it so the coach let us...

Maddon Being Maddon.

People ask what makes the Rays the Rays. Well, a large part of it is Joe Maddon. Very few managers in the game are as proactive in shaping the social structure of a team as Maddon is, and he does in multiple ways (a multiple tool social structure manager?). The way he...