The Chub Rock's Blog

Did you know that Babe Ruth wore number 3 because he was the third hitter in the lineup; in 1929, the Yankees became the first team to make numbers a permanent part of the uniform. Earle Combs led off so he wore No. 1, followed by Mark Koenig #2, Ruth, Lou Gehrig #4, Bob Meusel #5, Tony Lazzeri #6, Leo Durocher #7, Johnny Grabowsfoki #8, Benny Bengough #9, and Bill Dickey #10. While other teams began putting names on the backs of jerseys in the 1960s, the Yankees did not follow the trend. No Yankee has ever had their name on the back of a Yankee jersey in a game.

I went with my grandfather to visit my Uncle Michael at the cemetery Sunday morning. Not easy watching your grandfather kiss his hand and rub the gravestone of his son, which he does twice a week without fail. We said some prayers and we talked to him with crying voices. Uncle Michael is always with me, but after yesterday's experience, he was truly living inside of me. What I felt compelled to write about was the "talking" part. Regardless of religion or background, this is what you do when you visit the dead. You talk out loud to them whether you're alone or with others. It was just really eerie yesterday talking to Uncle Michael and more so, hearing my grandfather talk to him as well. The ultimate questions are raised when it comes to death, but those questions have no answers. I love you Uncle Michael.

From the Miami Herald (2/3/2003):
Michael S. Bernstein, an assistant public defender who spent 20 years helping troubled youngsters lead productive and law-abiding lives, died on Saturday of a heart attack. He was 54. An attorney at the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Public Defender's office, Bernstein often sought rehabilitation instead of punishment for his teenage clients, believing ''children had a greater potential for redemption than many adults,'' said his boss, Public Defender Bennett Brummer.Many of those teenagers did turn their lives around -- and at least one is now a University of Miami junior.Bernstein was born in Waterbury, Conn., on Oct. 21, 1948.He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1972 and earned his law degree from the University of Baltimore in 1975.Bernstein moved to South Florida soon after finishing school to be a lawyer for the Internal Revenue Service's Fort Lauderdale office.And in 1983, he joined the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Public Defender's Office, where he rose through the ranks to become a mentor for young lawyers, Brummer said.''This is a man that never said a bad word about anybody and always looked on the bright side of things,'' said his brother-in-law, Robert Shapiro.Family members say Bernstein, of North Miami Beach, enjoyed listening to music and kept a collection of old records.During his early years as a lawyer, he moonlighted as a stand-up comedian.''He was always helping people,'' said his father, Sol Bernstein.''That was his life, helping people.''

Just wanted to share an email that I sent to the "Board," a group of four good friends that barrage one another with emails all day:

Why all the hating on Daunte especially considering the risk/reward here - no $10 mill or whatever guarantees Brees was demanding. This is a guy who threw for 4,700 yards two seasons ago. Last season was a bad year for him and I think that has soured people's perspective, which is unfair b/c it was 7-8 games and because it also included losing his best receiver, his offensive coordinator, tearing his knee and getting in trouble for piping activities on a boat - i mean, cmon. I acknowledge the knee injury as a real issue, but this is a QB who was heralded as Top 7-8 in the league just 24 months ago. This is also a guy who has never really played with an elite RB and comes into a situation where he potentially will be playing with two Top RBs. This is huge for him and for Ronnie as we all know that the NFL is the ultimate team sport.

Lets not forget that Drew Brees has thus far played with the best back in the NFL, a dual threat running and catching. This has absolutely undoubtedly allowed this little pisher to go out and ask for the world. Lets give the Chargers organization the benefit of the doubt here for a minute. A team that let Vick go to trade down and get LaDanian, that let Eli go to get a yet-to-be proven Philip Rivers. Maybe they're making all the right moves. So lets see how successful Brees is with a solid RB, but coming off an injury in Deuce, but clearly not LT caliber.

Bottom line is this - The risk/reward is there and I can't say the same if they succumbed to Brees's demands. AND, would you rather a proven QB coming off a knee injury or a shoulder injury, especially the throwing shoulder. AND, would you rather get a QB thru the draft thereby foregoing the next 3 years. This is a no-brainer to me. Daunte just turned 29 in January. He is arguably in the prime of his career. Here's hoping the ultimate evaluation of Nick and Dave is in what they did with their 2nd round picks.

Baseball, the sport commonly referred to as the best metaphor for life, has in recent years become excessively reliant on statisitical evaluation as evidenced by the book Moneyball, and the real life examples of Theo Eptein, Paul DePodesta and JP Ricciardi, all young GMs implementing the Bill James theories and Billy Beane strategies. However, one statistic that I have a problem with is this notion of Pitch Count. That a pitcher, irregardless of the game situation and more importantly, their individual abilities, are limited to a certain number of pitches in fear that they will "overuse" their arm. Granted, for different pitchers, there are different limits, and granted, this pitch count number should be recorded for statistical purposes, however, pitchers are paid to win games and I would like to think that they want to be on the mound as long as possible to help their team win games. So when managers pull their starters b/c they are over 80 pitches, 95 pitches, 100 pitches, etc. and not because the game situation has dictated or warranted a move to the bullpen, it appears that MLB franchises are moving away from the ultimate reason this game is played, which is to win games.

Let me pose these questions: what about the 20-50 warm up pitches prior to the game? Shouldn't those count against the pitch count and "overuse"? What about the 5-10 pitches prior to the start of the inning? Shouldn't those count against the pitch count and "overuse"? Although these are not game situation pitches, they are still thrown at a high velocity with varying curves, sliders, and off-speed pitches.

How did this Pitch Count myth begin in the first place?? According to my research, the concept of a pitch count originated with Steve Busby, a promising young pitcher for the Kansas City Royals (1972-1975) who won 56 games in his first three full seasons but suffered from a rotator cuff tear at age 27 due to overwork. His doctor suggested counting the number of pitches Busby threw as a means of gauging his recovery. Prior to his injury, Busby is known to have thrown 200 or more pitches in a game--double the number of pitches recommended today.

To me, statistics are relevant, especially in baseball where the regular season is over 160 games, but Pitch Count is a myth that is "overused".