The Luck of Baseball

I read the book "Moneyball" a couple months ago and finally am getting around to writing a blog post about it. The book centers are the Oakland Athletics management team -- more specifically, their GM Billy Beane -- and a fresh approach they starting taking a few years ago at analyzing players based on statistics rather than on a scout's subjective analysis. Here are some of the interesting tidbits I picked up from the book regarding the game of baseball:

1. On-base percentage and slugging percentage are the most objective statistics for measuring a hitter's success. Other statistics such as batting average and RBIs are overrated because they have more to do with luck and situational consequences than a hitter's ability.
2. For measuring pitchers, the amount of strikeouts they get and the amount of home runs they give up are the most objective statistics. Strikeouts indicate a pitcher had good enough stuff that the hitter couldn't succeed on 3 pitches; home runs indicate a pitcher was bad enough that the hitter could hit the ball very far.
3. A lot of baseball comes down to luck. In a given three game series between the worst team in the league and the best team in the league, if the worst team gets enough good breaks, they could easily win 2 or 3 of the games even though they are not the better team. The best indication of a team's ability is to look over a large set of data, i.e. games. Maybe that explains why there's so many games each team plays (162 to be exact) in a baseball season.

Reading this book has made me re-evaluate baseball statistics and how they are used to measure players; it has even made me brainstorm possible new statistics to incorporate into baseball. Maybe I can be the one to invent the next important baseball statistic that can objectively evaluate hitters or pitchers. Maybe people will pay me money for this new statistic. Maybe I can be famous for it and the statistic will be named after me.

Or maybe I can just continue sitting on my recliner watching baseball and hope the Brewers get lucky enough this year to make the playoffs.

Sewing 2

The second thing I made this week was and apron. I was baking a lot a few weeks ago (when I had the giant zucchini) and my friend AmyJo came over. I was wearing an apron that my mom had made for me at the time and she commented that she has never had an apron. I love my apron so I set out on a mission to make one for her. I actually bought a pattern for $2 but then decided that I wasn't really into following someone else's directions. So, I just used the apron my mom made me as a guide. It was fun. Also, in case you were wondering the perfect TV show to watch while sewing is Felicity. My friend Jenna has all the seasons so I borrowed the first one and am 1/3 of the way through. You don't have to do as much watching and listening to the dialog is very entertaining.

Finally, if anyone reads this blog because they like to read Matt's posts I'm hoping he posts soon. He has discussed a couple of posts with me but he just hasn't done it yet. So, keep waiting and you might be rewarded.

Sewing

One of my goals for the summer was to work on some sewing projects so I got my sewing machine out last week and visited the fabric store. I founds some cute fabric on sale and decided to make a purse. I actually ended up making 2. So the one on the left if the purse rightside out and the one on the right is the purse inside out so you can see the lining. There were a couple of instructions that confused me a little, but I decided not to call my mom and try it on my own. And I did it. I guess I learned something from all the years of sewing my mom made me do. Below is a picture of me dorkily modeling one of the lovely purses so you can get an idea of what size it is.

State of Fear

Well, I did something I've never done before...bought the same book twice. Ooops. When the book State of Fear came out by Michael Crichton I just had to have it. I couldn't even wait for the library to get and available copy. So, I went out and bought the hardback copy. I read about 10 pages and then quit. Now fast forward 2 years...I was in a train station in Germany perusing the English section of the book store while Matt was off paying for the bathroom and I saw the book State of Fear. Of course I remembered that I had started the book once but had no recollection of actually purchasing it. I was seized with the same need to read the book then and there, so I bought the paperback copy. I was able to read about 1/3 of the book on my plane ride home from Germany but haven't picked it up since the plane. I now own 2 copies of a book I can't seem to read. It's a pretty good story so far but I have a problem with books that I own. I tend to not read them because I can read them anytime I want. Then I go to the library and check out way more books than I can read and try to plow through those before they are due and forget about books I've bought. My goal is to finish State of Fear before school starts. Does anybody want a copy? I'll give it to you for free.

How Many of Me

I heard about this site from a friend. So I had to check it out. It's pretty fun and takes 5 seconds to figure out how many of you there are using your first and last name.

Anne's results.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 11 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Matt's results.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 31 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

You Should Buy This CD

Matt's friend from college, John, is really cool and so is his wife. Her name is Lindsey Teefey and she just released a CD. I received our copy in the mail already and love it. The cool thing about it, besides the listening pleasure, is they are using the money they make from the CD to help pay for an international adoption. I've been encouraged to hear about their heart for taking care of the orphans in this world and to see the steps they are taking to do this. But it can be very expensive so if you want to support a good cause and get a good CD, visit www.lindseyteefey.com and buy your own CD ($10 including shipping). Even if you don't want to buy the CD visit the website to hear some samples of the music and learn more about Lindsey, her family, and her heart for making music for the Lord.

Jared, Yvonne and Joshua's Visit

We had a great time with Jared, Yvonne and Joshua this weekend. We really enjoyed being able to catch up with them and had some quality bonding time with our nephew. Some of our favorite activities were going to the mall and playing in the indoor play area, riding the carousel, going to McDonald's playland, playing in the sprinkler, playing t-ball, and taking a nap while Joshua napped!

I'll have one extra large zucchini please.

My piano student Abby gave me this Zucchini on Tuesday from her parents' garden and it was one of many this size. I really had no idea what to do with so much of it. So, I decided to make some bread. Yummm. I found a great recipe online and have made 4 loaves of bread with it. I also pan-fried some zucchini for dinner last night in some garlic olive oil, with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice at the end. Delicious. And I still have a huge piece of it left. Looks like zucchini is on the menu again tonight:)

Back in the USA

Well we made it safely back to Champaign last night after a long day of travel. We spent exactly 21.5 hours traveling. All in all it was only about 2 hours longer than I expected but towards the end the 2 hours seemed like a million. I spent the whole morning doing our laundry, unpacking and putting our pictures online. So feel free to check out all or some of them on our webshots page.

Finally, for those of you who care, my favorite piece of mail that greeted me at home was my new standard teaching certificate. I was so excited that I did everything right to get it!

More from Germany

Well we are nearing the end of our fabulous vacation in Germany. We are hanging out in an Internet Cafe again so Matt can charge his Ipod for the grueling 19 hour trip home. We leave Freiburg by train tomorrow at 10:00 am Germany time and if all flights are on time should arrive in Champaign at 10:00 pm Central Standard Time. That's 12 hours plus the 7 hour time differnce and you get 19 hours. I'm not looking forward to that but it's worth it to be here.

Anyway we have enjoyed our last week in Germany. After traveling to Munich we took a day to relax around Freiburg and then went to Heidelberg, Germany on Sunday. The weather turned a little rainy in the afternoon but we still enjoyed seeing the castle there. Then we decided to stay in Freiburg again on Monday. I think we were getting a little tired an needed another laid back day. Unfortunately on Monday night Matt had a little bought of what we think was food poisoning which put him out of commission on Tuesday. So Tuesday was our worst day since Matt was laying around all day. I just walked around and went shopping about 10 times. It's hard to take care of someone who's sick in another country. Anyway, praise God, Matt was feeling better by dinner so all in all he was only sick for about 15 hours.

Wednesday we had a wonderful day which made up for a crappy Tuesday. We made our way to Interlaken, Switzerland. We took a nice walk/hike and hung out by the most beautiful mountain lake I've ever seen. We just put our feet in the freezing water and read for the afternoon. Then we walked back to the train station and took the train to the Bern, Switzerland took a walking tour of the downtown and had a Mexican dinner that was delicious. Finally we headed back to Freiburg and got home just after midnight. Today we are trying to pack and enjoy our last day here.

Greetings From Germany

Hello! I'm sitting in an internet cafe right now in Freiburg, Germany and thought I would blog a little about our trip so far. Matt is checking sports or something so I have to find something to do. We have been having a wonderful time and will share all of our pictures on webshots when we get back. We've been able to go to Strasbourg, France and Zurich, Switzerland and have another day or two planned to visit other places in Switzerland. In Zurich we took and awesome boat cruise around Lake Zurich. The scenery was stunning!

We've also taken a couple of day trips around Germany. One day we visited a cute little town of Karlsruhe and another day we went to see some castle ruins. That ended up being a strenuous trip because we had to hike up a huge hill (mountain by Illinois standards). The trip up was 6.5 km and then we only walked a couple km back to the bus stop on the way home. We figured we walked about 5 miles (and it was hot out). But it was totally worth the hike. We also took a 2 day trip to Munich. That was sooo much fun. I went to Munich when I lived in Germany but it was winter and raining so I didn't really like it that much. This time was great! The weather was nice we saw tons of sights, hung out in a beautiful city park and stayed in a nice hotel we booked on Priceline for cheap. Matt's favorite part was the Hofbrauhaus which is a famous beer hall that sells brats. Yumm!

Ok, I think I've used up enough time on the computer. I need to leave some man wants us to pay. Bye. I didn't have time to proofread so excuse my typos! Auf vieder sehen!