Brett’s Blog

Probably more than any other sport, baseball reveres stats in the highest regard. Maybe it’s because there are so many games. Or maybe it’s because there are so many things you can measure. Or maybe it’s because there are so many variables, like the starting pitcher, and the outdoor conditions, and all that.

But it’s all secondary.

The point of any game is to win. Winning in baseball is determined by who has the most runs. Therefore . . . .

The most important stat for a batter in baseball are the runs scored.

The second most important stat for a batter are runs batted in.

Everything else - batting average, home runs, slugging, on-base - EVERYTHING - should just be a means to that end. A tactic. A cause and not the effect.

But you rarely hear the league leader in runs scored praised, at least for their ability to score runs. RBIs are a little more popular, but they are definitely the Holy Spirit equal in baseball’s trinity (batting avg. and home runs being much more popular). And I’ve never heard of many contracts that have bonuses based on runs scored.

But that’s really all that matters. More runs = more wins.

p.s. - We’ve got something special happening this year, as the leader for Runs Scored and Runs Batted In is the same person - Alex Rodriguez. That’s the ultimate production; how could anyone else be the MVP this year?

Here’s some fun for Friday.

Long before there was the famous “Make 7/Up Yours” campaign, 7-Up had this little advertising gem.

Featuring none other than the greatest baseball player of all time . . . . . George Brett. Kinda funny his only line is laughing.

I’m tired of all the “news” on Bud Selig possibly not being there for Barry Bonds’ record-breaking home run. To me, it’s a simple solution, and I have no idea what Selig is hiding behind.

Bud, you’re the commissioner of baseball. You are not a judge, a jury or a detective. Bonds is currently innocent, and even though there is a mountain of evidence against him, right now, he’s innocent. That means the game of which you’re in charge of is about to experience one of its top 5 finest moments in the last 100 years.

As commissioner, you can make a big deal of this. You can celebrate it, and when you do, everyone else will celebrate it. Regardless of how you feel about Mr. Bonds, baseball needs something to celebrate. And instead of being a keystone cop about the whole thing, and suddenly deciding to stand on some kind of principles, you should just be a proud pappa busting your buttons over the game.

It’s sad that Bonds has done what he’s done to get to this point, but it’s sadder that the fans don’t have a leader to follow on how to properly respond to it.

Here’s another edition of ‘Weekend Reading’ with lots of great links worth at least a minute or two of your time:

1. All You Can Eat Baseball? A story on Yahoo detailing how the L.A. Dodgers are doing well with a new buffet seat at ballgames. Seems like a great idea - I would be a sucker for it every time. Great example of taking something that seems to be set in stone and doing it a different way.
2. Real Meaning of Genius: Tom Asacker’s got an excellent post about how genius has more to do with doing and risking and less about knowing. It’s full of excellent quotes, like Oscar Wildes’s “An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
3. The Differentiation Trade-Off and Marketing to Values: I’ve said it before, and here it is said even better. If you’re aiming for a target, you’ve got to pick one and neglect the rest.
4. Miss USA Falls Down: OK, I’m sure you’ve seen this one by now, but just in case you haven’t . . . . Priceless. My question - how did Tony Romo become a judge?
5. How to Cure Your Bad Breath in 12 Minutes: I don’t think this is an issue for me, but you can never be too sure. Something about the headline drew me in, so maybe it’ll work on you, too.
6. Why Do People Refer?: With word-of-mouth being all the craze, answering this question seems to be all too important. The duct-tape marketer has a great post leading the way.

Kind of a slow weekend, as far as reading goes. But here are some good ones:

• Even though the Rangers suck, baseball still seems to be on everyone’s mind. Check our Frank’s Blog and his series on future Hall of Famers, and 1Lord and his predictions on how the season is going to end up.
• 10 Ways to get to $1 Million - nice article on simple ways to save some dough around the house.
• SEO Checklist - I know search engine optimization is important, but that’s about as far as my knowledge goes. However, this little checklist seems to be one of the simplest I’ve seen.
• The Measure of One Word - I actually stumbled upon this post twice this weekend, forgetting I’d already read it. Which says a lot about the headline.
• The Consumer is Breaking Up with the Advertiser - very funny, and very telling, video. Ironically, it’s by Microsoft.

Curt Schilling has been in the news quite a bit lately, and come to find out he’s a fellow WordPress blogger. It’s pretty fascinating reading through it, especially lately with the “un-retirement” of Clemens and his hot sports opinions on Barry Bonds breaking Aaron’s record.

I’ve always liked Schilling, both his skills and his attitude.

I’ll have more to say in the next week about Clemens, Bonds and some other sports topics that I haven’t gotten around to lately.

Great links and articles I came across this weekend:

1. Great post from Mark Cuban on a spam email he got from none other than Donald Trump, looking for “like-minded” folks who want to get rich. Nevermind that Trump and Cuban are like Skywalker and Vader to each other. And nevermind that Cuban already has the money thing taken care of. It also shows the vast differences between how the two go about living and sustaining their brands.
2. Ads on the outfield doors of Wrigley Field. Here’s a post from Phil in Portland with links to the two main articles on this whole fiasco. My comments are on Phil’s post, so I won’t repeat them here.
3. Bad Apples in the Office. Interesting read on stats to back up why you love it when the office natzi is out.
4. The New “M-E” generation: Pretty good article showing how advertising alone just won’t cut it anymore.
5. Kim Klaver - Would you buy from a parapelegic? This is one of the best articles I’ve ever read on the importance of walking the walk as a marketer - especially a network marketer. For all my AdvoCare buddies, this is a must read. The post before it is really good, too.