AGRI Biz

This New Yorker is by no means a Boston Red Sox fan. But if I were, I'd now be thinking in terms of "wait till next year," Yogi Berra fashion. Many might say, 'but it's just early in the season, there are almost 150 games to go.' But that's just the point: The Red Sox are already five games behind both the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay ...

So far this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have given up 75 runs and scored only 53. That (negative) differential is better than only those of the cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros. So you wouldn't expect the Pirates to be 7-5, or above the .500 mark. But they are. That's because their six most recent victories have come with scores of 5-3, 5-4, 4-3, 6-5, and 6-3, and 4-3. Only the opener against ...

In baseball, there are such things as intentional walks on defense. Could there be such a thing as intentional strikeouts on offense? That is a question that may have been put to the Yankees last night. You're the home team, with one out in the bottom of the fourth. You have just made the breakthrough of a formerly tied game; first, having loaded the bases, and then scoring all three runners ...

The Texas Rangers have always been prominent on one side of the baseball equation—hitting. This was the team, after all, that signed A-Rod and drafted Mark Teixiera (who are now playing for tonight's opponent, the high-budget Yankees). This year is starting out a bit differently. Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus are hitting well. Others, like Michael Young and Julio Borbon are not—so far. But the Rangers have, in the past, ...

All right, the Pittsburgh Pirates began 2010 by winning two out of three at home, then lost two out of three each in two road series, for a tally of 4-5. At that rate, alternating an extra win at home and an extra loss on the the road, would put them at .500. And their record, so far, has been compiled against three fairly redoubtable teams, but all outside their division. The next ...

The Los Angeles Angels have gotten off to an uncharacteristically bad start. "Regression to the mean" suggests that they will do better. But it won't be enough better to allow them to contend, or even necessarily to take them to .500. The reason is structural and dates back to the ALCS last fall. Only ONE of the Angels' starters, Jered Weaver, is pitching reliably. The others are not. Conspicuous by his absence ...

In this morning's paper, six games into the season, the order of the six National League Central division teams was listed as the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs, and the Houston Astros. That looks like the season-end order to me. With an offense led by Albert Pujols and a sturdy rotation, the Cardinals figure to top the National League Central again. The ...

Oh. Oh. Charlie Morton can't pitch at night. That was the sinking feeling I got shortly after releasing the last piece about Morton's SOMETIMES stellar pitching. I almost wanted to take it back. "Sometimes," actually held true for about two innings, probably as long as the sun was in the sky. Morton got five of his first six outs on strikeouts, and six of his first eight. Those are numbers ...

The New York Yankees have one player, Nick Swisher, who can play at least three positions; right field, first base, and pitcher. Last night offered an opportunity for him to be used in the last role, after he was successful in his debut almost a year ago against the same Tampa Bay Rays, pitching one full inning of scoreless ball. The Chicago Cubs have been pioneers in such conversion efforts, turning former ...

All right, I'll take the Pirates' capture of their first series with two games in the "W" column, and one in the "L," which they have done in the recent past. But it was a muted "win" that basically reeked of defeat. (And I was saying this two games ago with a reference to a "Pyrrhic" victory.) The Dodgers outscored the Pirates, 18-17. The Dodgers outhit the Pirates 33 to 27. The ...