Many months ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a friendly bet between yours truly and Bill Bear, owner of Crash Burn Alley.
Just before the Major League Baseball season got underway, Bill wrote an article I commented on, brazenly predicting the Detroit Tigers would become the first team in MLB history to score 1000 runs.
The bet was simple – the loser had to write a glowing review of the other person’s site, complete with references to kings, royalty, greatness, awesomeness and other adjectives suggesting near deity status.
As the baseball season came to a close this past Sunday, the final standings revealed the Tigers had only scored 819 runs, fifth best in the majors.
Since the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins finished in a virtual tie for the American League Central Division pennant, the Tigers had to play the White Sox Monday to break the tie.
Detroit scored two runs and officially completed their season with a total of 821 runs, just a tad short of the 1000 I predicted.
So being a man of my word, this post is my humble attempt to meet the terms of our wager and offer what amounts to a lesson in futility in attempting to accurately describe just how awesome Bill’s site is.
Since the heady days of Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig and the other legends of Major League Baseball, no writer in the history of the game has offered more greatness than Bill has.
He’s often on the cutting edge of the game’s finer points, discussing Sabermetrics with an acumen only Kings and Captains of industry are capable of.
Guys like Peter Gammons and Tim Kurkjian often use Bill’s site as a primary source of reference. Former New York Mets General Manager and current ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips was overheard to say, “If it weren’t for Baer, I’d have absolutely nothing useful to say.”
For those of you familiar with Nostradamus, the 15th century apothecary and noted author of Les Propheties (The Prophecies), it is said that contained within the 11th quantrant there is a small passage, which upon closer examination has been translated to read:
“And out of the darkness shall come a past time, played with leather and wood, and the game will BAER greatness upon the nation.”
So if you haven’t gotten the gist, Bill is one of the more avid baseball fans you’ll meet and his writing reflects his passion for the game.
Please visit Crash Burn Alley as Bill continues to provide in-depth coverage of baseball’s post season as we work our way towards crowning a new World Series champion.
By the way, next spring, someone remind me to keep my mouth shut.
Hilarious. Good post, and it looks like it’s entirely based in fact. Biographers will be citing this many times in the future.
I thought you might get a kick out of this. I had fun writing it. I thoroughly reviewed the facts and there’s no question Nostradamus had you in mind for future greatness.
Never challenge Nostradamus.
[...] man of his word, has written that complimentary piece about me and my blog over at Moondog Sports. Click here to read [...]