One of my all time favorite movies is The Natural. Robert Redford plays the role of Roy Hobbs, a baseball player with a dark past and a talent that no one has ever seen. Years ago, when I was a teenager I picked up the jersey Hobbs wears in the movie. Last year, I picked up the matching hat. Tonight I watched the movie, in my Aviator chair, with the jersey and hat on, while drinking a Chimay. Yes, I’m a dork.
There’s something really exciting about when the ball is in the air. Where’s it going to go? Who’s going to catch it? I love it. Cora, recently started throwing balls, well and clothes too.
Cora Throws The Ball
You can see the excitement in her eyes when the ball leaves her hand. Will it be a good throw? Will someone catch it? Will it go where I thought it was going to go?
See when the ball is in the air, all eyes are on the ball. And, as the ball is getting closer to you, something like the wind can change its trajectory. That’s why you can’t ever take your eye off of the ball. You need to be focused. But, you can’t be focused just on the ball. You need to have the presence of mind to know where all the other players on the field. Some people react well when the ball is in the air. Others, not so much. How we react when the ball is what separates the good from the great.
How will you react?
On day 3 we arrived at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Adam has been to the museum several times, but this was Cheryl’s and Cora’s first visit. We covered the museum inside and out and top to bottom. We saw Schilling’s bloody sock, all 7 of the balls from Nolan Ryan’s no-hitters, and so much more.
The exterior of the museum.
These are the plaques from the first 5 Hall of Fame inductees: Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, and Honus Wagner.
This was a letter from Roosevelt to Kenesaw Landis (commisioner of baseball) encouraging Major League Baseball to keep playing even though the war was going on. As Roosevelt stated, "these players are a definite recreational asset to at least 20,000,000 of their fellow citizens -- and that in my judgement is thoroughly worthwhile."
Cora and Cheryl posed in this cut-out. Maybe one day, she'll be a pro.Perhaps Cora's favorite part of the museum was this chair and this room. She had to be practically dragged away. I swear if I could find a baseball glove chair I'd buy it.
Outside of the museum is an exhbit that features a bronze statue of Johnny Podres throwing to a bronze statue of Roy Campanella. Cora was in love with Roy's glove. Perhaps this means she'll become a catcher.
Quick disclaimer: I think Alex Rodriguez is overrated, over paid, doesn’t show up in the clutch, and is a whiner. Ok with that out of the way, many people consider A-Rod (silly nickname) the best baseball player in the league, a sure-fire hall-of-famer, and destined to rewrite the record books. Back in 2003, the New York Yankees traded Alfonso Soriano for Alex Rodriguez. I thought the move was silly and didn’t make sense. Soriano made less and offered similar production. Not to mention, the Yankees already had Derek Jeter at shortstop. Well the Yankees didn’t call me up for my opinion and as such they’ve been “stuck” with A-Rod for the last 5 seasons. During those 5 seasons the Yankees haven’t won a World Series, but the Boston Red Sox have won 2. Just saying.
Ok, well I’m a data driven guy. I love data. With Soriano and the Chicago Cubs seemingly headed to the World Series (wouldn’t it be great if they won) it got me thinking about Soriano and Rodriguez. I pulled the stats and I was flabbergasted. For the purposes of streamlining this comparison, we’re going to look at the following statistical categories: Salary, Games, Hits, Runs, Stolen Bases, RBI, Home Runs, Batting Average, OPS, and World Series titles. Check this out:
So on the surface, A-Rod seems like the better performer. If your course correct for the games played differential, the numbers get within +/- 10% of each other. For example Soriano averages 1 home run every 4.10 games. If you scale out the home runs for Soriano to the same 743 games A-Rod has played you’d end up with 181 home runs. Fascinating.
The real question though should be, “Is Alex Rodriguez worth 156.69% more (that’s the salary differential) then Soriano?” If we assume the goal for the Yankees, as it is every year, is a World Series, then no. But, let’s be serious, no one wins the World Series every year. So let’s find a way to normalize the player’s value. Thank god for win shares. During the time period we are evaluating, Soriano had 98 win shares, while A-Rod had 151 win shares.
According to the win shares formula, A-Rod produced 53 more win shares. Based on the formula, 53 win shares, means A-Rod generated 17.67 more wins over those 5 seasons. As a percentage he was 153% better than Soriano. This is where the surprise came in. Even though the raw numbers don’t seem to indicate A-Rod was worth 156.69% more money, his win shares seem to indicate he is.
For what it’s worth, I’d argue the Yankees would have been better off keeping Soriano and filling the third base hole with someone else. But, that’s just me 
Last night we took Cora to her first baseball game. She got to watch the Minnesota Twin beat the Texas Rangers in extra innings. Cora saw some great defense, so-so pitching, and a few home runs. We even almost caught a foul ball. Literally, the ball was caught two rows directly in front of our seats. Oh well sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t.
Cora made some friends at the game and had her first taste of cotton candy. It was really funny watching her try to figure out why the cotton candy kept melting in her mouth. Photos were taken with the Fuji; so please excuse the quality.
Heading to a Twins game tonight; should be a lot of fun! Haven’t been to a real baseball game in a few years. Got some tickets down by home plate for only $50.00 a pop. Just goes to show you the difference between the NY and MN markets. Have to love the web…was able to purchase and print the tickets on line. No need for will call. Sweet.
Head of Social Media at Walgreens. Interactive marketer, innovator, boat rocker, continuous learner, movie lover, risk taker, dad and all around good guy. I'm always up for a spirited conversation. These are my thoughts and ramblings, not those of my employer.
