Everybody hates Bonds because of steroids, right?

Also everybody seems to concede that 1999 or 2000 was the year in which he started using them, right?

It just so happens that up until the 1999 season, Barry Bonds had played in exactly 2,000 games, hitting 445 home runs.

Hank Aaron had played in 1,964 games in the nearest full season break. Through that point, he hit 442 home runs. The following season he played in 155 games, hitting 39 home runs. So we can estimate that through 2,000 games, Aaron hit 451 home runs.

I just wrote the following e-mail to my season ticket account representative at the Mariners. If the story I read (referenced below) is true, then I am furious. On the one hand, MLB gives local teams total control over TV. As a result, given that I live in Vegas, if I buy their Extra Innings television package, games from the following teams are usually blacked out: A's, Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Angels. Why? Because those teams claim Vegas as their "home market." Bullshit. MLB should step in and tell teams to stop blocking customers from being able to buy their product.

On the flipside, MLB is now dictating to teams how they can do secondary ticket resales. Ticket sales truly is a local thing, and should be handled on a team-by-team basis. The Mariners have an outstanding secondary ticket resale mechanism. I basically set the price and up to 2 hours before a game, a fan can buy tickets from me, sometimes for less than face value, sometimes for much more. Now MLB is going to ban this system and make everybody use StubHub. Since StubHub requires fans to actually mail tickets to other fans, the cutoff before games is several days, not 2 hours. (Under the current system, tickets are e-mailed.)

Moreover, the current system allows me to forward tickets to my friends. StubHub does not support this.

For the past 12 years, I have averaged about $10,000 per year in spending with the Seattle Mariners. So what do I get for having spent $120,000? The idiotic MLB coming in and telling the Mariners how to handle ticket resales, which really should be the last damn thing the MLB is worried about.

Since I've been selling my tickets while living in Vegas, I've eked out a small profit. Eventually I'll move back to Seattle and start going to games again. But until then, this decision will cost me thousands of dollars. MLB can go to hell for all I care. They obviously hate their customers.

Here's the letter I sent to my ticket rep.:

Hi ****,

I just read an article (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2165537,00.asp) saying that the MLB has just signed a deal with StubHub that will replace services like the Ticket Marketplace with some StubHub version.

I am sending you feedback in the hopes that you can pass it along to the powers that be – the current Ticket Marketplace, which allows for the electronic redistribution of tickets, is a really good service.

This Stubhub replacement is a HORRIBLE service since you need to physically mail tickets once you sell them. Now I can sell tickets on the day of game. With Stubhub, you need to do it several days in advance unless you are willing to meet the buyer before the game.

If this article is correct and the Mariners will be forced to stop using Ticketmaster, it is an affront to Season Ticket holders. We pay good money for our tickets, and to have the MLB corporate headquarters big foot around telling local teams how to handle tickets is really very, very bad customer service.

Currently, I can forward tickets to friends. With Stubhub, I cannot do this.

I hope the Mariners organization and others can stand up for their season ticket holders and send this plan where it belongs: to the trash.

Thanks,
Jed

I wonder how long it will take Mayor Nickels to try and parlay the tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota into more support for his plan to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel?

Tony Snow is already pointing fingers, blaming the the state of Minnesota. What a classless piece of waste that man is.

Later in the morning, the White House said that an inspection two years ago found structural deficiencies in the bridge. White House press secretary Tony Snow said it rated 50 on a scale of 120 for structural stability.

"This doesn't mean there was a risk of failure, but if an inspection report identifies deficiencies, the state is responsible for taking corrective actions," he said.

The Mariners eked out a win last night against the Angels, keeping them 3 back. I still think the Ms will fade, but you never know.

The Ms are 12 games over .500 -- and have outscored their opponents by 2 runs.

The Diamondbacks are 11 games over .500 -- but their opponents have outscored them by 23 runs.

To have been outscored by 23 runs and still have a .500 record is absolutely remarkable, let alone a record 11 games over .500. Since 1980, only 1 team has been outscored by more runs and had more wins -- the 1984 Mets. the 1987 Twins were outscored by 20 runs and won the World Series. Roughly 90% of the teams that were outscored had losing records. Those with winning records averaged a .514 record. The D'Backs are .550 and the Ms are .557.

Last month, I noted that the Yankees were under .500 despite having outscored their opponents by 72 runs. I suggested they were underrated and would have a big second half. Since my post, they've gone 16-6 and have outscored their opponents by 65 runs in that stretch alone. They have closed the gap with the Red Sox to 7 games. The Red Sox have the best record in baseball, but the Yankees have outscored their opponents by even more than the Red Sox.

The Yankees are on pace to outscore their opponents by 189 runs. Since 1980, 17 teams (2.4%) have outscored their opponents by at least that much. 6 of those teams went to the World Series and 4 won it. Their average record was about 104-58.

Why am I so focused on run score differentials? Because you win games by outscoring your opponents. Looking at net runs is a way of weeding out luck. Net runs has a .93 correlation to a team's winning percentage, at least since 1980.

People have placed a lot of emphasis 1-run games, thinking that is a good measure of a team's clutch performance. All I can say is cognitive bias. The correlation of 1-run winning percentage to overall winning percentage is .59 -- just a little lower than .93.

The Luxor is undergoing a major overhaul. In general, it seems like a very smart move. But I have to wonder if "CatHouse" is really all that good a name for a restaurant? I mean, I get the punny reference to a whorehouse. But how cool or appetizing is that? And who really wants to eat cat? Who knows. Maybe HBO is sponsoring it?

Yesterday, the FBI raided Alaska Senator Ted Stevens's home as part of a corruption probe.

Also yesterday, one of Michael Vick's co-defendants pleaded guilty.

According to Google News, there were 1,896 articles published with the words "Ted", "Stevens", and "Home."

Meanwhile, there were 3,114 articles published with the words "Michael", "Vick", and "dog-fighting."

FOXNews.com featured 23 videos about Michael Vick. It had no videos about Ted Stevens (that's right, zero, nada).

They decide...because they report.

Arlen Specter recently slammed Harry Reid for being "rude" and "dictatorial."

Reid's offense? He made Specter wait thirty minutes before giving a floor speech. What happened during those thirty minutes? The Senate voted on an education bill.

The funny thing is that some people have called George W. Bush rude and dictorial.

The reality is, both sides are lying a little.

It's like the two kids in grade school math class studying the multiplication tables. The teacher asks each of them what  6*4 is. One of them answers 26. The other answers 298,341,334,287.

They're both lying a little.