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<p>Blue Jays designate Danny #Valencia in a weird move. He's a 3B/COF/1B with a career average of .326-.368-.497 vL! 64 xB's in 586 vL AB's. Munenori #Kawasaki gets the call up? Heck, #Valencia's vL bat is what we hope Montero's is!</p>
A.P.E., by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch, is a stellar book that brings together three distinct but overlapping roles for anyone who wants to make writing books a big part of their future. In some ways, it's like the tactical side of Steven Pressfield's Turning Pro. If you've done the inner work to think of yourself as an author, A.P.E. will walk you through how to live out being an Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur.
Writing is hard. Becoming an author is even harder.
For me the difference is that a writer is always writing (there are tens of millions of us), and an author publicly calls her- or him- self an author and actually publishes (meaning finishes and somehow makes public) work. It's not so much about volume as it is about commitment to the craft, how you see yourself, and what you put your time and energy toward. I would say I was a writer for about 25 years. I have stacks of journals and I would publish xeroxed zines to my family and friends. I had a few poems published.
This week I read a great piece by Shawn Parr asking a simple question: Does anyone care about authors, publishers and books?
My answer? No one thinks they do, but everyone does.
Indulge me in a little philosophy before I emphasize what I think Parr got emphatically right.
Back in the day (as in thousands of years ago), there were significantly less people on the face of the planet Earth. To these much smaller populations, scattered and disconnected from each other in many cases, the concept of fertility was the essence of life itself. More children meant that a tribe could survive and, once societies grew and became more organized, were a symbol of wealth and prosperity. As the years went by, fertility remained important, at least until recently.
27,000 Bq/Kg measured in Kawasaki, 240 km from Fukushima. fukushima-diary.com
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=== You Won't Get Any Arguments About ... ? ===
.... the proposition that Byron Buxton is a high-school player who makes a feasible #1 overall selection. Especially since none of the college players this year are irresistible.
... your swooning away over Buxton's athleticism. He is evidently a real freakazoid by any standards, an athlete in excess of even Justin Upton and B.J. Upton, a guy people talk about with Bo Jackson as being the legendary cross-sport athletes they've ever seen. Ever.
... the opinion that Buxton will play center field and steal bases in the majors, muchly lowering the bar that sets the minimum standards for his hitting.
... his being a super-nice kid, good head on his shoulders, who won't backfire on you Delmon Young style, who won't make you hold your nose while watching him Bryce Harper style.
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=== What's Fresh About 'Im ===
The reports about his athleticism are laugh-out-loud funny. ... We all were wow'ing about Taijuan Walker's dunking ability, not realizing that 80% of MLB players including pitchers can dunk about like Taijuan can. But Buck Buxton sounds like something out of the 1940's color line stories.
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=== Brendan Ryan ===
Folks are singing the praises of using Ryan in the 2 slot. Does SSI see the bright side of this one, as well?
SSI loathes this idea. We'll tell you exactly why.
We understand the notion that Ryan can be "pesky" from the 2 slot, making "productive outs," and having some of those hit-and-run grounders go through. The proposition is to maximize the value of Ryan's batted balls. Also, Tony LaRussa used to put Dave Henderson #2 behind Rickey, in front of the Bash Brothers, because he got the fastballs he craved (Hendu never could hit a wrinkly pitch).
Problem is, Ryan can't hit good velocity; for one thing, he has a real big right hand swing for a light-hitting middle infielder. His career run value on fastballs is way below zero. The only strengths he has, are on pitches below 85 MPH. You're moving him into a spot at which he'll see more heaters?
There is data to amplify Dr. D's anxiety. Ryan hits considerably worse, for his career, in the #2 slot than he does in the #8 or #9. His EYE ratio is 24:80 in the two slot, and a much better 80:150* at the bottom of the order. His SLG has dropped from .350 to .310 when moving to the two.
Ryan looks like a classic #2 hitter, a "contact" hitter who can't hit well. In this specific case, all you're doing is giving lots of extra AB's to the very last person who needs 'em. Two Thumbs Down on Ryan at #2.
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Funny how Jesus Montero's pitch calling is just fine when Jason Vargas or Felix Hernandez is out there able to execute the signs he puts down, isn't it?
Felix shook Montero off a ton, to which I can confidently say, who cares. At worst, this shakeoff routine means that Olivo vs. Montero is 100% a non-issue with a good pitcher on the mound. At best ... what? Hmmmmm...
Don't quote me, kiddies. But watching Jesus Montero for several days, I'm getting a creeping suspicion that he is an overall better defensive catcher than Miguel Olivo. To paraphrase my fave beat writer, I'll come on and debate anybody who wants to take the other side. After I dust you off we can still be friends.
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The coaches are locked into a micromanagement paradigm, like NCAA basketball coaches judging players by whether they set backscreens off the ball. Wedge judges Montero by whether he is starting to do the specific small things that a 10-year catcher does. If they shifted paradigms, they might notice that rookie catchers bring their own fresh perspectives to the game.
Of course, Olivo is technically more sophisticated. That does not resolve the larger issue. There are basketball players who do not cut the right way off a triangle offense, but who win you games by hitting 35 points. There are a whale of a lot of youth basketball coaches who lose games because they judge players by technical sophistication, and are completely blind to anything that cuts across that.
One year we co-coached a youth girls' soccer team that went 14-0. That winter the other coach sat down and analyzed every player technically to a fare-thee-well; our star defensive stopper was 10 lbs too heavy, he "realized," and he put a bunch of players out there who would execute as he directed. Eleven little puppets out there, extensions of the coach's will. I politely withdrew as co-coach, and they went 6-8.
At 14-and-0, we were coaching to what each girl brought to the table, adapting our system to them. At 6-and-8, the coach tried to teach each player to adapt to his system.
