The Baby and the Bath Water.

Don Orsillo's mailbag. What can I say? The man watches a lot of baseball and he probably knows this team as well as anybody. Like most people, he sometimes has interesting things to say and he sometimes has bone-headed things to say. Like today's answer about Ellsbury's defense:

"I am not a fan of this method of evaluating a player. I realize agents and some scouting departments are searching for ways to quantify a player's defense; I just don’t think it tells you enough of the story. I am guessing most baseball people agree, based on how people view your two great examples, Ellsbury and Jeter. I think a scout's eye can more accurately determine whether a player is a good defender and can cover ground. Again, this is a way to quantify an area that, with the exception of fielding percentage, has been tough to quantify. Still not a fan though."

Oh, Donny O. Fielding percentage? Really? Come out of the dark ages. How many times have you and Jerry sat there and disagreed with the official scorers call on whether something was an error or not? How then can you rely on a statistic that has errors as an integral part of it's formula?

Look, I agree with you that Ellsbury was treated unfairly by UZR this season. And I agree that you should rely on what you can see. What I've seen is Jacoby making plays much more difficult than they need to be. How many times have you called something to the effect of: "Jacoby started in and now he's headed back to leap and make the play." or "Jacoby started back and now he's headed in but he has the speed to make up for it." And that's all I'll say about that because it's all been said before.

Also, I'm not sure what it says about me but in the photo included with the mailbag, I recognized the dugout at Angels Stadium (at least, I hope it's Angels Stadium after I called Don Orsillo's opinions bone-headed) before I recognized Varitek.

The Sweet Sounds of Donny O.

I rarely listen to national broadcasts to begin with, neither Fox nor ESPN puts out a product that's worth the effort. And Chip Caray manages to piss me off by just breathing. So when Don Orsillo happened to mention that he'd be doing the TBS broadcasts, I was ecstatic. Don is just really good at what he does. He managed to work with a motley crew this past season and, for the most part, make them interesting. Orsillo is also excited about continuing on with the Red Sox:

"Every year it gets great and we go home. This year, for the first time in nine years, it gets good and I'm going. So I'm excited about that."

Awww. But Donny O, I've got a mission for you: Convince Buck that it's Or-TIZ not OR-tiz. Thank you.

One More Day.

The hairs a little bit thinner but I'll willingly sit through a Heidi Watney interview if I get to hear Don.

A Heads Up.

Come with me back to last May. It was a Monday night--the 19th to be exact. It would become an important night for Jon Lester but that didn't happen until later in the evening. We're still in the first or second inning.

It's not a particular affection for Heidi that causes me remember this (my head is generally filled with useless information) but she began babbling on about how it was her birthday. Dear Don took the thread and ran with it. He wanted to know when Jerry's birthday was but Jerry didn't want to play. Then he casually mentioned that his birthday was December 16. The inning ends. Cut to commercial.

Or not.

Jerry and Don think that they are in a commercial break and start chatting. They criticize some girl's sign, American (?) Airlines, and then Jerry turns on Don. He demands to know why Don revealed the date of his birth. Sheepishly, Don admits that he hopes that viewers will send him birthday cards with cash to commemorate the event.

So. If you wish to fulfill his request (and he is turning forty)...

Don Orsillo

c/o NESN

480 Arsenal St., Building #1

Watertown, MA 02472

The Appeal of Sox Appeal?

I've got to say that there really isn't too much about the silly little thing that is appealing. Mostly, I'd just like to watch the ballgame please. Thanks. But the one thing, the one thing I find amusing about it is that Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo remind me of these two: