• Working off somebody else's list, Harry Pavlidis turns a microscope on the 10 best setup men in the majors. Brad Ziegler's one of them. He's now pitched roughly as many innings this season as he did last season. We knew he wouldn't post another 1.06 ERA this season, or set another crazy record. He's been pretty good again, though. He's always going to give up some hits because he won't rack up many strikeouts. But in 116 major league innings, he's given up exactly three home runs. That'll play.
• Walkoff Walk's Rob Iracane pens a love letter to Jeff Kent (not).
• This is just a good baseball story.
• Speaking of good baseball stories, Jeff Zimmerman (not, not that Jeff Zimmerman) reviews Larry Tye's Satchel Paige biography ... and follows up with a few questions for the author.
• BtB's Tommy Bennett offers a lovely little primer on baseball statistics and how they can make us smarter (or not).
• MGL has the nerve to question (as I have, in my own head) a bit of baseball wisdom: Is elevating a starting pitcher's pitch count really a good thing?
• Jeb Stewart on the 1971 Topps cards, one of my favorite sets (even though I regret the introduction of the huge borders and small photos).
• Congratulations, Washington Nationals: You've won the Sweepstakes! Oh, wait ...
• Sure, that's easy for you to say.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Rob Neyer
Neyer is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He began his career with legendary baseball author (and now Red Sox executive) Bill James, then joined Stats Inc. and wrote about MLB, the NFL and the NBA. Neyer joined ESPN.com in 1996, and it's believed that he's written more words for the site than anybody.
Neyer moved to Kansas City in 1976, just in time for the Royals' first division title, and fell in love almost immediately. He attended the University of Kansas the same four years as Danny Manning, and is now happy to wait another 20 years for the Jayhawks' next championship.