Home Run Derby

So the other day my brother-in-law (the one who reads the site) tells me he found a pic of a hot Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan. 

My initial reaction … “The Devil Rays have fans?” 

They do, God love them.

My second reaction … “Let’s see that link.” 

My final reaction … “Wait a minute … that’s Jenn Sterger.”

You might remember Jenn Sterger … the Florida State coed whose rise to fame began when she and some friends were caught by an ABC camera crew during the 2005 Miami vs Florida State football game. 

She then became the “Facebook Princess” who parlayed her good looks and internet popularity into photo spreads in Maxim and Playboy and a Sports Illustrated online writing gig.

Well, as a Tampa-area native, she’s a Rays fan.  According to an interview she gave to  DRays Bay, she’s been a fan since grade school. 

I was first introduced to the Devil Rays back in grade school. I remember them coming to my school, and getting to meet the owners. Even as a kid, I thought it was really cool that they would come to my school …

And the Devil Rays are no dummies. 

They’ve had Sterger do some promotional work for them … at last August’s College Alumni Night at Tropicana Field … 

In January 2007, she was on a Devil Rays Float in the Tampa Gasparilla Piratefest Parade … 

And earlier this month, she was at a Baseball Prospectus Feed with BP honcho Will Carroll at the Trop.

Mind you, Jenn is also an Atlanta Braves fan … since the Braves were the closest team to Tampa before the Rays showed up ten years ago. 

And she likes that Jeff Francoeur guy …

… Southern girls like me are a little partial to Braves outfielder (and one of my favorites) Jeff Francoeur.

This YouTube video is a little slow (I never realized how boring this game really is) until about 20 seconds left … And then it’s awesome!

The 2007 Yankees are dead. 
Not even Roger Clemens can pull a Lazarus for this squad.

So I was having a catch with my son the other day and he tried to jump up and catch one a la Torii Hunter.  He thinks Hunter is awesome – but probably only because of his “Spider-Man” nickname.

He missed: “Dad – what kind of glove does Hunter use? I need one of those.” Already he wants an upgrade from the Derek Jeter special I got him (there weren’t any Clint Barmes models.)

“I think he uses a Rawlings. You’ve already got a Rawlings.”

“Is that the best glove? Do they make more catches?”

I was about to say something poignant about great skills being more the player and not the leather … but I said, “Yep. That glove will help you catch anything.”

That got me to thinking. What are the fielding percentages by glove this season in MLB?  Then I got beaned since I wasn’t paying attention.

When I came to … I remembered that baseballgloves.com had a list of players and their  gloves.  It’s not a complete list and there were some glitches (Sosa and Dunn were listed twice and there were a bunch of retired players) but after auditing the list and adding some players, I came up with a sample list of 199 players.  And then I mined ESPN for some fielding stats.  One pivot table later …

I’m not surprised to see that Rawlings holds a 50% Market Share in the Major Leagues.  But I was surprised to see that Wilson didn’t have a higher percentage of users. 

By the way, I was right … Hunter uses a Rawlings.  And my son caught the next 6 balls thrown at him.  If you think you have a magic glove … you have a magic glove.

Stats through Monday 5/28.