→ May 16, 2009
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Keith Law, for rent.

I’ve mentioned many times that my daughter is a big fan of PBS Kids programming, both on WGBH, our local PBS affiliate, and on the cable channel Sprout, which airs kids’ shows 24 hours a day. (That doesn’t make me a fan – I can’t stand Caillou, and I think Angelina is a mean little drama queen.) A reader who works at WGBH noticed this and asked if I’d be willing to donate some time to help the station raise money, and the result is this entry in their current auction: Scout with ESPN’s Keith Law. The winner gets to tag along with me to a minor-league game (or a Cape game, if that’s more convenient) at some point this summer. Proceeds, of course, go to WGBH.

Back on the baseball front, I’ve got a draft gossip piece up on the site, and I’m assuming most of you saw my first top 100 ranking for this year’s draft, which was posted just in time for #3 James Paxton to show up for his last start missing 2-4 mph on his fastball. Good times.

This high school coach should be fired. (Hat tip: BBTF.)

Apparently, dish hero Alton Brown will be appearing this weekend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to talk sustainable seafood. If you go, I want a report.

Jack Kerouac was kind of into sim baseball. Go figure. (HT: BBTF and Shysterball.)

No radio/TV for me this weekend due to a very important birthday party today.

Filed Under: Appearances, Sports Tagged With: , ,
→ April 27, 2009
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TV today.

I’ll be on ESPNEWS via phone at 2:20 pm EDT sometime in the next hour. Stay tuned.

Also, thanks to those of you who chimed in on the water heater. We went with a tank over tankless; the configuration of our basement was going to make the installation of the tankless very expensive, so even after the rebate and tax credit it was an additional ~$1500 to go tankless. We don’t really want to stay in this house for that long anyway, so making that kind of investment just for the psychic value (having the “cool” toy, helping the environment) didn’t make sense.

Filed Under: Appearances Tagged With:
→ March 30, 2009
→ By

Facebook page.

A few of you have already noticed that I set up a fan page for myself on Facebook, which I have to admit feels a bit presumptuous. I just learned that Facebook has an upper limit on the number of friends a person can have of 5000, which I’ll hit in about a year and a half at the rate at which friend requests have been coming in of late. I figured I should get ahead of the curve and am no longer accepting friend requests from people I don’t actually know.

I don’t intend to unfriend any of you who are already friends with me – well, unless you piss me off – but would encourage you to follow me through the fan page, which I’ll update regularly with links to ESPN content and media appearances.

Speaking of which, I’m doing a phoner on First Take on Monday at 11:25 am EDT on ESPN2, and am tentatively scheduled for a hit on Phoenix’s KTAR 620 AM on Thursday at 7:20 am Arizona time.

Filed Under: Appearances Tagged With: ,
→ January 2, 2009
→ By

Happy New Year.

Many of you already know there’s been some medical drama in the Law household this week, and I probably won’t be updating the site or commenting on it until next week at the earliest. Everyone is fine now, but we’re still playing catch-up.

In the meantime, here’s a fun article on the origins of twenty of the most popular Muppets.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
→ December 10, 2008
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Woo hoo.

Yes, I was admitted to the BBRAA this morning. As I mentioned in a comment on a previous thread, I didn’t ask ESPN to submit my name this year, and did not intend to seek membership, but once my name was submitted, I couldn’t retract my name without getting clearance from the powers that be at the Four-Letter.

I am still unclear on why, exactly, I might need to be a member; after conversations with probably a dozen current members, I think the opposite is true – the BBRAA needed people like me, Rob, etc. as members, to try to boost their credibility as an organization in a time when they receive so much criticism for the backwardness and outright hostility towards intelligent analysis (statistical or scouting) displayed in so much mainstream writing, to say nothing of the RBI/wins fetish in BBRAA voting.

I suppose the plus side is that Tim Raines will get one more Hall of Fame vote in 2018, because Lord knows he’s not getting in any time soon.

Filed Under: Media Tagged With: ,
→ December 5, 2008
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Thank you.

(This was originally posted on Thanksgiving 2008).

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and thank you for reading what was originally intended as nothing more than an outlet for miscellaneous thoughts on books and a way to share notes on restaurants with friends of mine who travel. From those tiny, unambitious beginnings, the dish now reaches over 12,000 people per month, many of whom are regulars. I’ve written 400 posts (this one is #401), and you’ve left over 5,000 comments.

I feel very fortunate to have a dedicated and thoughtful readership, many of whom have followed me from behind the subscriber wall at ESPN.com to read what I write on topics other than baseball. It’s been a wonderful experience for me; I know I’ve improved as a writer, since now I have an obligation to you to finish every thought and check every fact (although I know I still make my share of mistakes), but I’ve also come to know many of you via your comments, via email, via Facebook, and occasionally even by meeting in person. I was concerned at one point that increasing my contact with fans would mean being in touch with lunatics; as it turns out, that’s exactly what happened – most of you are complete lunatics, and I wouldn’t have you any other way, because I am clearly a lunatic too.

So thank you for reading, commenting, calling me out when I’m wrong and backing me up when I’m right, and telling your friends about the dish. The site is what it is because of your participation and feedback. The BBRAA won’t relinquish the RBI until we pry it from their cold, dead hands, but perhaps we’ll make more progress in ridding the world of bad food and subpar literature.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
→ May 3, 2008
→ By

Thanks and welcome…

There’s a neat thread going on over on Dodger Thoughts where writer Jon Weisman is asking his readers to list their favorite sportswriters, regardless of medium. Many readers have named me, and one even specifically cited the Dish. So to all of you who mentioned me on that thread, thank you, and to those of you who wandered over here from that thread, welcome.

Also, while I’m at it, I’ve recorded a segment for tonight’s V Show on ESPN Radio (hosted tonight by Amy Lawrence), and you can catch me on Sunday on ESPN 1000 in Chicago at 9:20 am CDT, on ESPNEWS via phone at 1:40 pm EDT, and on ESPN Radio’s Gameday at 2:20 pm EDT.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,