It does my heart good to hear Dusty Baker say stupid things. It helps me put my own problems into perspective.

Lest you think that “clogging up the base paths” nonsense that he sputtered while in Chicago stayed behind with the deep-dish pizza, Dusty’s been taking again:

“I’m big on driving in runs and scoring runs,” Baker said. “Guys in the middle should score about close to equal to what they drive in. On-base percentage, that’s fine and dandy. But a lot of times guys get so much into on-base percentage that they cease to swing. It’s becoming a little bit out of control.

“What you do is run the pitcher’s count up, that helps,” Baker said. “You put him in the stretch, that helps. But your job in the middle is to either score them or drive them in. The name of the game is scoring runs. Sometimes, you get so caught up in on-base percentage that you’re clogging up the bases.”

Thanks, RLN, for pointing out the link.

And you thought Dusty Baker overplayed the veterans.

Somehow I missed the Astros signing Shawn Chacon this week for $2 million. Chacon basically moves from the Pirates to the Astros.

It seems like a good signing. Chacon will be 30 this season, but he’s shown success in the past in both starting and relieving roles. Of course, he’s had moments of suckage, too. In fact, like Star Trek movies, he seems to alternate between good years and bad years. Too bad he wasted his good year in Pittsburgh. Well, I guess he didn’t exactly waste it. 😉

Welcome to round 2 of the Jason Romano Commemorative NLC’s hottest baller contest. 15 of the best-looking players on NLC (plus the newest Mariner) face off in a single-elimination tournament.

Today’s match is a showdown of a couple of Reds, second-baseman Brandon Phillips and barely-more-than-prospect Joey Votto. An NLC’s Hottest Baller award and a breakout season would do wonders for keeping Votto out of a 5-player trade, but it would also go very nicely with Phillips’ shiny new 4-year, $27 million contract.

Joey Votto
ht: 6-3 wt: 220 dob: 09/10/1983

Brandon Phillips
ht: 6-0 wt: 195 dob: 6/28/1981

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