Idiots Write About Sports

Me and The Other Guy who posts stuff here spent Sunday afternoon at Sabermetrics Day at the A’s, a joint production of Baseball Prospectus and the Lefty O’Doul Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. Our guest speakers included Ken Korach, the wife’s favorite announcer, A’s assistant G.M. David Forst, and Rob Neyer, who is a baseball writer of some repute.

As you might imagine, with baseball’s annual draft less than 24 hours away, much of the questions directed Forst’s way had to do with the prospects the A’s planned on adding to their organization Monday. And two questions for Forst in particular stand out, now that the draft is in the books.

For the first question, one of the attendees asked if any local collegians — the A’s tend to disdain drafting high schoolers, you know — were on the A’s draft board. Forst gave the kind of answer you might expect — not really revealing the A’s hand, while at the same time, acknowledging that the franchise didn’t like to be scooped by other teams in its own backyard. And while Forst took pains to avoid naming any names, one of the few he did name was Stanford’s Danny Putnam — “Of course, we’re very familiar with what he can do.”

The second question dealt with Oakland’s miserable bullpen and whether there was a college player in the draft who might make a near-immediate jump to the big leagues, a la David Aardsma. The questioner specifically mentioned Huston Street from the University of Texas. Forst threw a few compliments Street’s way and then went into a rather interesting explanation of how young players were only valuable if they could contribute to the big club before becoming arbitration-eligible.

And after all that, who did the A’s select with the 36th and 40th picks of the draft? Danny Putnam and Huston Street.

Another interesting note arising out of Sabermetrics Day — during his talk, Rob Neyer expressed disappointment that Michael Lewis of Moneyball fame wasn’t in attendance at the event. It wasn’t that Lewis couldn’t make it, Neyer suggested, it was that he wasn’t even invited. And, Neyer further implied, the A’s don’t-call-us-we-won’t-call-you policy toward Lewis came from on high. Neyer didn’t name names, but here’s guessing the name of the fellow putting the kabosh on any team-sanctioned Lewis appearances at the Coliseum rhymes with “Steve Schott.” (It’s worth noting that, in response to a question asked by The Other Guy who posts stuff here, Neyer contended that Billy Beane was probably thrilled with the attention and enmity stemming from Moneyball.)

I find this particular case of stadium intrigue engaging because last season, I attended a SABR meeting at the Oakland Coliseum where Lewis was advertised as the scheduled speaker. And he didn’t make it — we were left with the impression that he had to cancel at the last minute. But if what Neyer says is true, I guess the absence of Lewis last year isn’t so mysterious, after all.

One last embarrassing note from Sunday’s event: I brought my copy of Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Lineups — a real fun read if you haven’t picked it up — on the off chance that I might work up the nerve to ask Neyer if he’d sign one of his books. I never did. Because when Neyer walked in, I noticed that he was carrying his copy of Bob Carpenter’s Baseball Scorebook. Which I also own — basically because Neyer had positive things to say about it Feeding the Green Monster. Also, because my wife gave one to me for my birthday.

So naturally I couldn’t approach Neyer on Sunday. Because instead of looking like a harmless fanboy, here I was with a copy of one of his books in one hand and a scorebook he had recommended in the other and basically looking like some sort of cultist who was basing his entire life around Rob Neyer and all of his teachings. And I’ve got enough restraining orders in my life without having Rob Neyer think I’m some sort of stalker. So no signed copy of The Big Book of Baseball Lineups for me.

I’m hoping to avoid similar embarrassment at the Baseball Prospectus event next week in San Diego.

Huh! Apparently my brother just graduated with pick #311 (Brady Endl, Braves).