It's pretty much a law - one has to say that the greatest era of Saturday Night Live was the era that was on when they were fifteen.  Of course, noone expresses it in those terms.  It just shakes out that way.  At fifteen, you're still impressionable, but now you "get it."  You know who Colonel Angus is, but you're parents find him too dirty for television.  Of course, your parents will never admit that The Beatles were always considered hipsters with long hair.

Everything from your time was always white bread, mom, and apple pie.   (Oh and by the way, with the existence of wheat, pumpernickle, rye, sourdough, etc, why does white bread get the glory?)  Of course, we view our baseball in the same light. 

Much to my chagrin, I had to deal with

Let's give Bud Selig some credit.  Somehow the All-Star Game has become a three day sports talkfest.  Day one - the home run derby and celebrity game.  Day two - the game.  Day three - talk about the home field advantage stipulation. 

Longtime readers of IJWMFTT know that the Commissioner is, in my eyes, Emperor Bud.  Everything about him and his public persona exudes an "aw shucks" aura.  When he has to testify, he finds the worst sport jacket available.  It makes him look sympathetic.  Of course, for every "aw shucks" moment, he seems to get more power.  First it was the elimination of league offices.  Then it was the Mitchell report.  Then it was the "oh what the heck" extension he got from the owners after he told Dan Patrick

As a subscriber to some SABR theories, I am called all sorts of nasty things.  People lob all sorts of allegations at me.  "If you actually watched baseball games..."  "Baseball is played on the field..." "You are sheep..."

The first of the bunch is funny.  Why would anyone spend any length of time on something they didn't enjoy?  The latter is infuriating.  What is sheepish about questionning 100+ years of baseball thinking?  The sac bunt is the sheep play.  There, I said it.  The "by the book logic" is what I question.  I'm not always right, but it's worth asking the questions. 

As proof of my non-sheepness, I give you my MLB manager rankings.  Why managers?  Well, this is where I differ from the SABR crowd.