It's the word from the fifth most popular Brewers blog in the world:
Even more importantly, "Soup" is a great guy to have in the clubhouse. I know clever-clever little sabermetricians are fond of talking about small sample sizes (gee, think they're really just talking about themselves?), but they don't exactly just hand out NLCS MVP awards and World Series rings to just anyone. [And I don't suppose many of these jokers understand a little thing called park factors -- if they did, they'd notice his 1.76 ERA pitching in Miller Park! That ain't just whistlin' Dixie.] Soup will bring all his timeless knowledge and winning attitude to a young team that stopped listening to Geoff Jenkins long ago.
Very entertaining stuff. I promise I'll use that sample size line as often as possible.
Also, I promise to write my take on the Suppan signing tomorrow. I'm at my parents' house over the holidays and haven't had the wonderful 24/7 internet access on my laptop to which I've grown accustomed. Expect a lengthy disquisition on groundball rates, infield defense, and the importance of strikeouts in a veteran pitcher.
In the meantime, I've got a couple of Hardball Times columns this week, on the topic of starting rotations, and what we mean when we call pitchers "#3 starters" and the like:
Until tomorrow, I'll leave you with the best line from the article I linked above:I can think of ten free agents that are more overpriced than Jeff...and they all play for the Cubs! Buh-doom PISH!