Saturday, August 9, 2014

Billy Beane, Can I Be On Your Little League Team?

If you've viewed this blog before, you might notice that I made some changes to it.  The first change is that I put up a new poll to the right of the page.  The second and most important revision that I made is to the title, switching it from "Matt's Sports News Blog" to "Billy Beane, Can I Be On Your Little League Team?"  A professor I had in graduate school suggested I make a change to the title, and I never did.  Until today.  

So why did I pick this title for my blog?  It's really about my career as a little league player.  I didn't consistently hit or field during my nine years as a baseball player.  I believe I only batted over .300 for the season once and I made what I think was a highlight-reel catch as a left fielder on a cloudy day, but I was never really a fantastic player.

But I did walk.  A lot.  And since it was little league, I also "stole" a lot of bases, moving up a base and making it home numerous times on what I now believe were passed balls and wild pitches (I'm unsure whether or not I ever had a true steal).  So I'm guessing that maybe I could have been a decent player on Billy Beane's little league team, which, to the best of my knowledge, is something I made up.  

Now I know Billy Beane's ideas, as discussed in Moneyball, aren't just about getting bases on balls. I read the book and have also read a few articles about it, one of which said explicitly that the text was about more than overweight and out-of-shape players who walk. 

And I understand that.  

So please don't take this title too seriously.  In my writing, I'm trying to improve, be creative, and have a little fun, all with a brand new title to my blog.

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