The Wall Street Journal conducted a fascinating, yet highly tedious, study on Major League Baseball announcers recently. Writer David Biderman, watched every team's home broadcast, and for a half inning he tallied how many words each announcer spoke. After that he average that out to words per minute to come up with your winners....or losers depending on how you look at it....

Vin Scully (Dodgers)- 143.51
Dan McLaughlin (Cardinals)- 109.93
Bob Carpenter (Nationals)- 102.33
George Grande (Reds)- 102.06
Daron Sutton (Dbacks)- 100.36
Ryan Lefebvre (Royals)- 96.71
Brian Anderson (Brewers)- 96.06
Dick Bremer (Twins)- 94.81
Bill Brown (Astros)- 89.11
Dave Niehaus (Mariners)- 84.14
Tom McCarthy (Phillies)- 82.97
Don Orsillo (Red Sox)- 81.73
Tim Neverett (Pirates)- 81.55
Chip Caray (Braves)- 78.70
Drew Goodman (Rockies)- 78.51
Rich Waltz (Marlins)- 78.08
Mario Impemba (Tigers)- 75.39
Michael Kay (Yankees)- 73.40
Gary Cohen (Mets)- 73.04
Matt Underwood (Indians)- 72.02
Len Kasper (Cubs)- 71.5
Ken Harrelson (White Sox)- 70.98
Josh Lewin (Rangers)- 70.57
Dewayne Staats (Rays)- 69.69
Steve Physioc (Angels)- 68.26
Gary Thorne (Orioles)- 66.97
Glen Kuiper (Athletics)- 65.00
Jamie Campbell (Blue Jays)- 62.66
Mark Neely (Padres)- 61.64
Duane Kuiper (Giants)- 55.44

Obviously there are a handful of factors that go into this number, but the main one is how much each PbPer's color analyst talks. Vin Scully obviously doesn't have one at all, which is why he's at the top, but the rest of this sort of makes sense. At least it does in my market, where Gary Thorne's analyst (Jim Palmer), doesn't ever shut up.

Meet Baseball's Chattiest TV Announcers (Wall Strett Journal)

I've been impressed with not only the live baseball coverage on the MLB Network, but with some of the in house productions as well (especially "Prime 9"). Well the network is all set to debut another one this weekend, and they're about to get all statistical and historical on you. Via MLB-N PR....

MLB Network will air the television premiere of the original documentary “Base Ball Discovered” on Sunday, May 17 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Narrated by Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor Edward James Olmos and produced by MLB.com, the film is a detailed exploration of the many generational theories about the origins of America’s national pastime that will take viewers overseas as it makes an unexpected and historic discovery in Surrey, a county in the South East of England.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully has said of the film, “'Base Ball Discovered' is a grand slam of a study. It provides an intentional walk through the scorebook of history and whether of British or Yankee beginnings, rounders or cricket, whether to salute a general or pitch to a private, it scores big time and is a winner.”

In September 2008, “Base Ball Discovered” won the Award for Baseball Excellence at the third annual Baseball Film Festival at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. The award is given to the film which excels in research, factual accuracy, historical context, appreciation of the game, and/or embodiment of the spirit of baseball.

The show will air this Sunday at 6pm, and repeats will be on May 19th, May 21st, May 22nd and May 24th. I'll see if I can get some clips ahead of time, but you might want to block some time to check it out.

I love these stat based press releases that ESPN puts out. I just picture an intern having to sit at his desk for three days, counting all of the data, and then sending the spreadsheet to the PR Department, so they can put it into words. Either way, the data always amazes, and today's is everything about the selections YOU made on your Bracket Challenge sheet. There are over 5 million entries, and so far only eight are picked exactly correct (mine is not one of them....stupid Wake Forest). Here are some of the more interesting facts....

* 6 entries (0%) predict that Arizona, Purdue, Gonzaga and Xavier will advance to the Final Four;
* 459,038 entries (9.9%) predicted all four top-seeded teams - Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Louisville and Connecticut – will advance to the Final Four
* 80,931 entries (1.7%) predicted Arizona, Purdue, Missouri and Gonzaga would reach the Sweet 16;
* 3,925,017 entries (84.8%) predicted that all four top-seeded teams – Connecticut, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Louisville - would advance to the Sweet Sixteen;
* 28,791 entries (.6%) predicted that Cal State Northridge would defeat Memphis in the first round;
* 1,339,080 entries (28.9%) incorrectly predicted Wake Forest and Washington would reach the Sweet Sixteen;
* 11,115 entries (.2%) predicted Oklahoma, Memphis, Michigan State and Duke advancing to the Final Four
* 382,802 entries (8.3%) predicted USC would defeat Michigan State in the Second Round;
* 1,511,193 entries (32.6%) predict Syracuse will defeat Oklahoma in the Sweet Sixteen;
* 207,520 entries (4.5%) predict Xavier will defeat Pittsburgh in the Sweet Sixteen;
* 86,663 entries (1.9%) predicted Purdue and Missouri advancing to the Elite Eight;
* 6,817 entries (.1%) predict Gonzaga and Purdue meeting in the Final Four;
* 536 entries (.1%) predict Xavier and Arizona meeting in the Final Four.

If Arizona plays Xavier, or Purdue plays Gonzaga, for the Championship....I will quit writing this site entirely. Actually, I won't, but you get what I'm saying. People, and their brackets, continue to amaze me every year.

I don't claim to be anywhere near an expert on the ways of Sabermetrics, but I definitely think the thinking is important to the game of Baseball. Apparently the analysts at the MLB Network, namely Harold Reynolds, Barry Larkin and Sean Casey, aren't experts either. The trio, along with Matt Vasgersian, tried to discuss the topic on MLB Tonight recently, and here was the result....

Here's the thing that has always bothered me with this discussion, and you can almost compare it to the "battle" between bloggers and mainstream media members. No statistician thinks that scouts or scouting department needs to be replaced. Just like bloggers think that mainstream media shouldn't be rendered obsolete.

Sabermetrics is really just another way to gather information, and I really don't think a team that utilizes it, is completely basing their decision on just the stats. To think that a team would draft a player, without seeing him play or watching tape, is just ignorant.

You have to commend the MLB Network for trying, but if you don't really know anything about the topic, it's best to just stay away. Much like me talking about MMA.

Why The MLB Network Is A Failure (And That Happened)

I was actually watching this past Sunday night when Joe Morgan was talking about the netting that encompasses the outfield at Wrigley Field. He mentioned something about Ernie Banks depositing a plethora of homers there and even referred to it as "Ernie Banks Boulevard". I didn't pay much attention but lucky for us the checks and balances that's the internet these days did. Here are multiple reactions from Cubs blogs regarding Dr. Morgan collected via Walkoff Walk....

Bleed Cubbie Blue: "There are many reasons virtually all of us criticize Joe Morgan's "broadcasting" (the quotes are there for obvious reasons; he may be among the worst sports broadcasters in history). However, when he invents "facts" to back up his biases, I think he needs to be called on it and shown that doing this isn't just wrong, it's irresponsible. I speak here of his continued carping about the Wrigley Field outfield wall basket and his contention that Ernie Banks deposited "many" home runs into the basket.

Ernie Banks was nearing the end of his career when this basket was installed. I went through Ernie’s game logs. After April 26, 1970, he hit 8 home runs at Wrigley Field. Eight. The first one he hit after that was one I personally witnessed -- his career #499, hit on May 9, 1970. That one didn’t go in the basket. Video exists of his 500th, hit three days after that, on May 12, 1970 -- you've probably seen this video, and know that one didn’t go in the basket, either.

That leaves six others. It's possible that all of them landed in the basket, but I doubt it. And even if that's true, that's six of 512 -- a little over 1% of his career total, maybe 2% of all he hit at Wrigley. The basket was never, ever called "Banks Boulevard", nor nicknamed after any other player."

Cub Hub: "On Sunday night, he entertained the national TV audience with a fanciful, imaginary tale of how the basket on the top of the Wrigley outfield wall was called “Banks’ Boulevard” because Ernie hit so many of his home runs there. Wha??? I have never in all my years heard the term “Banks’ Boulevard” and seemingly from the callers and hosts on Chicago sports radio today, no one else has either.

In fact, the record will show that PK Wrigley installed the famous basket as a deterrent to Bleacher Bums who used to hang their legs over the wall to be tempted to jump down on the field. Furthermore, the basket was installed in 1970 - after our beloved Mr. Cub had already hit 497 of his 512 career home runs! What planet is Joe Morgan from anyway??"

Goat Riders Of The Apocalypse: "If he does a live chat on ESPN, go there and blast him. If he's scheduled to call a game at your local ballpark, intentionally get bad seats near the press box, go with signs, and rip into him. It should come as no surprise to baseball fans that Morgan is a tool, and he's always displayed a bias against the Cubs. So, screw him. Make his job hard."

I know it's frustrating Cubs fans, and I feel your pain, but you have to understand that this is just the way things are. Hell Joe scoffed at the mere mention of the term OPS that same game. I don't know how else to say this to ESPN, but Joe Morgan is far and away the worst announcer to ever grace the airwaves. This of course means nothing though and we're all going to be stuck with him for years to come. The guy will always ignore statistics and will always make stuff up because he thinks he's untouchable.

Welcome to the club, Cubs Fans though....there's room for all of you here.

Joe Morgan Besmirches Ernie Banks, Is Completely Wrong (Walkoff Walk)

Old school Baseball heads look immediately to Moneyball as the reason for Baseball becoming run by nerds, but the entire game is going through a nerdy over-haul. Well according to FOX Sports the movement isn't slowing down now....

Earlier this month in San Francisco, Sportvision Inc., the sports-entertainment technology company that helped develop the system, hosted a Pitch f/x "summit." By the end, the stats wonks, engineers and nine team representatives in attendance could barely contain themselves.

Nearly everyone at the conference believed such advancements in measuring fundamentals could finally bring a "why" to the "what" of box scores and stat sheets. The same technology will spread to hitting and fielding, they say, and could be applied to other sports.

"Instead of saying, 'There's a hard smash to third base' we could say, 'That ball was hit 106 mph and the third baseman had a third of a second to react.' " says Peter Jensen, a statistician and summit attendee who has written for the Hardball Times, a baseball analysis site. "That adds some context that's been lacking so far."

Not everyone is infatuated with this technology — a fact that became clear during Pitch f/x's debut on 2006 postseason telecasts on FOX. After its cameras clocked pitches from Detroit's Joel Zumaya at the unheard-of speed of 103 mph, some fans assumed it was broken. Sportvision says the system was measuring the ball's speed at the release point rather than in mid-flight, as radar guns do.

I think more information is a good thing just so long as that a**hole "Slider" "Scooter" isn't passing it on to us. However, there is a point where enough has to be enough. If you want to use it as a scout that's fine, but as a viewer I could care less about reaction times.

Baseball's nerd machine (FOX Sports)

Have you ever wondered how much time Sports Center devotes to each sport in a month? Of course you have. Well have I got a study for you! Sports Business Daily took the time to watch every clip of the 11pm edition for the month of November and here are the results.

Boxing- 0:00:25
Etc- 1:19:32
MLB- 1:35:23
MLS- 0:02:28
MMA- 0:00:00
NASCAR- 0:47:13
NBA- 3:46:36
NCAA Basketball- 1:53:13
NCAA Football- 4:38:22
NCAA Women's Basketball- 0:05:15
NCAA Other Sports- 0:00:00
NFL- 10:40:46
NHL- 0:32:58
Olympics- 0:00:53
Tennis- 0:01:46
WNBA- 0:00:00

Obviously football was going to dominate, but it actually seems like they DO cover Hockey. I never would have guessed. 32 minutes compared to almost 2 hours of College Basketball is probably similar to local coverage and other highlight shows around the Country.

Also, 11 hours of Football coverage! That's just amazing.

(Via Sports Business Daily)

Being one of the millions of people who got caught up in the Moneyball movement, I'm excited that 60 Minutes is planning to do a feature story on author and Red Sox Consultant Bill James in the near future. Via the Providence Journal's Sawx Blog....

A crew from ``60 Minutes'' is here this morning, led by longtime correspondent Morley Safer. The show is preparing a feature on Bill James, who serves as a consultant to the Sox and is the father of the sabermetrics movement and statistical analysis.

Safer plans to interview a number of people from the Baseball Operations staff and manager Terry Francona about James later today.

The father of Sabermetrics should be an interesting interview and I always love 60 Minutes' trips into the world of Sports (yes, even the Derek Jeter interview).

Waiting... (Projo)