Wednesday, April 29, 2015

04/29 JAVARIS CRITTENTON GUILTY, ORIOLES DEFEAT WHITE SOX, WORST FREE-AGENT SIGNINGS, DANICA PATRICK LOSING GODADDY

JOIN Former All-Pro NFL defensive end Fred Dryer and Mike Horn as the talk sports!

Join them this week as they discuses the following topics


JAVARIS CRITTENTON PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER



ORIOLES DEFEAT WHITE SOX WITH NO FANS IN ATTENDANCE



TOP 5 WORST FREE-AGENT SIGNING OF ALL TIME


DANICA PATRICK LOSING GODADDY SPONSORSHIP IN 2016



Don't forget to "Like" Fred's Facebook Page!


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

04/22 Sports stories, headlines, stats and schedules with Fred Dryer

Former All-Pro NFL defensive end Fred Dryer, talking sports! 

Join him every Wednesday for Sports stories, headlines, stats and schedules!



Don't forget to "Like" Fred's Facebook Page!


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

04/15 Sports stories, headlines, stats and schedules with Fred Dryer

Former All-Pro NFL defensive end Fred Dryer, talking sports! 

Join him every Wednesday for Sports stories, headlines, stats and schedules!



Don't forget to "Like" Fred's Facebook Page!


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

04/08 DAN LEVITT, IN PURSUIT OF PENNANTS

DAN LEVITT – AUTHOR, IN PURSUIT OF PENNANTS

The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t?

General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennantsexamines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.

Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.

Hall of Fame GM Pat Gillick writes that In Pursuit of Pennants gives “the reader an inside look into the different cultures and challenges facing professional sports executives. Their management styles might differ, but the objective never changes: ‘Be a consistent winner.’”

The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled —smart organizations have always been searching for an edge.  After World War I several clubs created the general manager position, and twenty years later the best teams all had GMs.  In the 1930s the smartest front offices created farm systems, and in the 1940s Branch Rickey had the courage to tap the previously restricted African-American player pool.  Several teams gained an advantage in the late 1960s by figuring out how to exploit the newly instituted amateur draft.  A decade later, a few teams intelligently capitalized on free agency, finally granted to the players in 1976. In the 1980s, Toronto was at the forefront of creating an identifiable presence in the Dominican Republic, leading to a decade of contention and two championships.  More recently teams have combined sophisticated video and high-speed computing.

In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams.  Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one’s circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage.

DANIEL-LEVITT.COM

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

04/01 JAY JOHNSTONE ON THE UPCOMING MLB SEASON

JAY JOHNSTONE - FORMER PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER - OBSERVATIONS ON THE UP-COMING MLB SEASON

John William Johnstone Jr. (born November 20, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player, active from 1966 to 1985 for the California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. Johnstone was known as a versatileoutfielder with a good sense of humor, known for keeping clubhouses loose with occasional pranks and gimmicks. He later served as a radio color commentator for the Yankees (1989–1990) and Phillies (1992–1993).

Career highlights include:
  • As an Angel, he preserved Clyde Wright's no-hitter against the Athletics in the seventh inning by catching aReggie Jackson fly ball 400 feet from straightaway center field, just in front of the wall (July 3, 1970).
  • As a Phillie, he went 7-for-9 in the 1976 National League Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds. However, the Reds swept the Series.
  • As a Dodger, he hit a pinch-two run home run in Game Four of the 1981 World Series against the New York Yankees, the home run rallying the Dodgers from a 6–3 deficit to win 8–7. The victory also enabled the Dodgers to tie the Series at two games each; they won the next two games to win it all.

Clubhouse prankster
He pulled off a number of infamous pranks during his playing days, including placing a soggy brownie inside Steve Garvey's first base mitt, setting teammate's cleats on fire (known as "hot-footing"), cutting out the crotch area of Rick Sutcliffe's underwear, locking Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda in his office during spring training, once dressing up as a groundskeeper and sweeping the Dodger Stadium infield in between innings and then hitting homers the next, nailing teammate's cleats to the floor, and replacing the celebrity photos in manager Lasorda's office with pictures of himself, Jerry Reuss and Don Stanhouse. One time, during pre-game warm ups, he climbed atop the Dodger dugout and, in full game uniform, walked through the field boxes at Dodger Stadium to the concession stand and got a hot dog. He also once dressed up in Lasorda's uniform (with padding underneath) and ran out to the mound to talk to the pitcher while carrying Lasorda's book and a can of Slim Fast.

As a baseball announcer, he once covered a microphone with a scent of stale eggs then proceeded to interview Dave Stewart, Mickey Hatcher and other players.

Many of the pranks, along with other aspects of his career, are described in the books he co-authored with sports columnist Rick Talley – Temporary Insanity, Over the Edge, and Some of My Best Friends Are Crazy.