Wilson Leaves, and other updates

Hey gang,

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Life's been quite busy. Since I've last posted:

* Steffan Wilson left Harvard after being drafted by the Brewers in the late rounds. An interesting choice--one wondered whether he might return for another year and improve his draft position after what had been, by any measure, something of a disappointing season for him. Anyway, Steffan Wilson is gone, and SoBB wishes him the best.

* Summer started. Where are people? Here and here.

* Pablo Torre did an interesting piece about race and Crimson sports, in which Joe Walsh was quoted.

* Matt Vance was Harvard's lone All-Ivy First Team rep.

I will likely conclude my regular run here at SoBB soon. I've got a new job coming up soon and a new writing project I'm taking on--with any luck, you'll hear about it some day. I will update off and on, and leave blank posts for you guys to work the comments. Thanks to Harvard Baseball and its extended family for so many years of great baseball, and for putting up with me.

That's that.

A loss in Game One doomed any shot the Crimson had, although Brown took the one game they needed to sew things up in Providence as well. Harvard's season will end with its non-league game against Northeastern on Tuesday.

Congratulations to Brown and Penn (Princeton nearly came all the way back to force a divisional playoff only to falter in 12 innings at Cornell). This is the first time in quite a few years that the Ivy League championship series will happen with neither Harvard or Princeton involved, but it's arguably overdue. Brown has fielded too many fierce lineups over the years not to break through at some point.

It's worth realizing now that we came within a hair's breadth of repeating as division champions despite huge losses in last year's seniors. That's a testament to the coaching staff and to the team leadership, particularly the seniors and Brendan Byrne. He'll be missed next year. Jake Bruton had a breakout season. Jay Brown should be commended for his body of work over the length of his career at Harvard (and what will Harvard baseball be without at least one Jason Brown on the roster?). Drew Casey, as much as I've lamented his bat here, proved to be one of the more potent bats in the games that counted. A hearty thanks and farewell to Justin Roth and Jake Levine as well.

What's left going forward? Arguably the best rotation in the Ivy League in 2008, for starters, with Haviland, Perlman and Unger back for more. Boomer Eadington and Adam Cole would seem to have an interesting offseason ahead of them, and an interesting battle come next fall and spring. Matt Vance has become an even more complete package--speed, power, versatility. Steffan Wilson will presumably be back, Matt Rogers took a big step, Tom Stack-Babich bounced back in a big way, Jeff Stoekel turned out to be a fine starter, and hopefully an Andrew Prince without hamstring trouble will be a very effective heart-of-the-order presence.

More on this later. There will be more posts in the days and weeks to come, and then at some point I'll sit down and figure out what to do next year.

An awful break

We are officially in trouble.

After Max Perlman predictably shuts down the Big Green in game one, Brad Unger can't follow up after a line drive caroms off his right (pitching) shoulder two outs into the first. Just terrible, terrible luck.

Although he battled characteristically, Unger could never really sette in after that and gave up eight runs. Harvard rallied late but couldn't make up the deficit. Meanwhile, Brown swept Yale today in New Haven. Harvard would need to sweep Dartmouth at home tomorrow (very possible) and have Yale sweep Brown in Providence tomorrow (highly unlikely) in order to extend the Ivy League season.

Feel free to add commentary.

I should also note that Dartmouth's radio broadcast proved enjoyable, with a play-by-play guy who was particularly solid compared to what we're used to out of WDRC.

It's time to think some happy thoughts

Happy thoughts like...

...as one commenter pointed out, Boomer Eadington's tremendous relief appearance back in the spring break trip, one I overlooked (although it has been a while)...

...Adam Cole and the what could be...

...the ridiculousness that is Matt Vance...

...Ryan Lavarnway and Marc Sawyer...

...the fact that we've got arguably three of the top six starting pitchers in the league going this weekend against a team that, to date, hasn't hit much...

...I'm excited. As you undoubtedly know, you can get your live stats here. We also expect Dartmouth College Radio to cover the games--and historically, their radio station is an absolute joke. Makes the HRB guys sound like Vin Scully.

Anyway: Enjoy, and go Harvard. More reading material here and here.

Elsewhere:
Brown has its eyes on the prize. Penn is achingly close to its first division title in a long while, but can only watch.

Rotation Madness

That's a bit strong. But something strange is going on here. In an earlier post I laid out what I thought was a pretty logical way for the rotation to unfold this season--a rested Max Perlman Saturday, Brad Unger Saturday afternoon, Shawn Haviland Sunday and Boomer Eadington for as long as you can ride him in the second game.

Not so, says Joe Walsh:

While the Harvard skipper normally sends out freshman Max Perlman and junior Brad Unger on Saturdays, followed by rookie Eric Eadington and junior Shawn Haviland on Sundays, Walsh expects to mix it up this weekend due to the significance of this particular series.

He plans to use Eadington out of the bullpen Saturday and possibly even Sunday and then plug someone else in as a starter alongside Haviland for the second twinbill.

“We’ve got our backs against the wall and we’ve got to win a title,” Walsh said. “We’re going to play every game like it’s our last.”

The most viable candidate as an alternative starter is sophomore Adam Cole, last season’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

So what's this about? My theory is that this has a lot more to do with the pen than Eadington. I think the rough outings by Jake Bruton and Cole lately have eroded Walsh's confidence in the bullpen, and he wants someone like Eadington available as another option.
If this is the reasoning behind this move, and who knows, it's the sort of thing that the commenters will have a field day over. We haven't seen much of Boomer in the pen at all, and none at all in meaningful games. Moreover, it leaves someone like Cole to start what could be a season-deciding game, days after he got shelled by Yale in his first Ivy League start all season. The Adam Cole of 2006 would be a welcome for starter, as would the Cole of recent bullpen outings. But at this point, do you know which Cole you're going to get? Harvard is, of course, saying all the right things:

While Cole was shelled for seven runs in just 2/3 of an inning in his start in Harvard’s 13-0 loss to Yale on Wednesday, he has been near-dominant out of the bullpen, including three shutout relief innings last weekend versus the Bears.

“I really hope he can just clear his mind [of Wednesday’s game],” Haviland said. “Everyone has those bad ones from time to time.”

Walsh expressed confidence in giving Cole another shot at starting. “He’s the kind of kid who can bounce back,” Walsh said. “Would I go back to him? Absolutely.”

What if he doesn't? Whom does he go to other than Cole? Presumably Eadington if he hasn't been used at all (possible against the Dartmouth lineup and with Haviland, Unger and Perlman throwing the first three). And if not? Dan Zailskas? Max Warren?

Stay tuned...

A Word About Photos

I just realized I'd gone the season without yet crediting or thanking Jim Meehan, father of Taylor, from whom we get many of our fine photographs, and Kurt Svoboda, Harvard's tremendous SID, from whom we get quite a few others and is one of the best in the business. Thanks very, very much to both of you.

So Now Then

One game back of Brown going into four this weekend with Dartmouth.

Brown plays Yale, a decent but underachieving team that needs to sweep Dartmouth to have a chance at the division championship.

Harvard plays Dartmouth, a bad team with no hope of winning the division, but a proud program that always makes these games difficult for its archrival, no matter how insignificant they may be.

Harvard presumably throws a fully-rested Perlman (my information is that he's fine, but was just unable to throw on 3 days) and Brad Unger in Hanover Saturday. Presumably, you throw Shawn Haviland in the early game Sunday, lest you risk saving him for a meaningless game. And then it's young Boomer Eadington to start a nine-inning game that could mean everything for this team, on a team with all kinds of bullpen question marks right now.

I still like Harvard's chances. Just take care of business.

Who was out there for the Yale games? Hit the comments.

Yale Games

Because the below post is comment-deficient somehow, here's a new one for the Yale games. Harvard won Game One behind ace Shawn Haviland's one-hit shutout, his finest performance of the year, 2-0. But Adam Cole, a surprise starter in Game Two, lost control after that and Harvard trails 6-0 with Jake Bruton on in relief.

Joe Walsh, All Class

I already mentioned the peculiar Beanpot fate of UMass, an apparent innocent victim of the Ivy League's decision to reschedule the Yale doubleheader on the day of the Beanpot. Well, cry for them no more:

While head coach Joe Walsh will usually opt for playing two games instead of one on any given day, this is one instance where that is not the case. Playing the Bulldogs on Wednesday means that Harvard will have to forgo its place in the annual Beanpot at Fenway Park.

Unable to play in the event, a disappointed Walsh prepared his team for a pivotal series against the Bulldogs instead. But he also did something out of the norm, setting in motion a plan that would allow Massachusetts its rightful place in the renowned ballpark. Walsh spent most of his Tuesday on the phone with the Red Sox organization, UMass and Holy Cross, proposing that the Crusaders be allowed to take Harvard’s place for the game.

How about that? Good job here by Coach Walsh, and good job by the Red Sox for allowing this to happen. Now we can only hope that whatever residual anger Harvard feels for missing the Beanpot, it takes out on Yale baseball on Wednesday.

Update: Jon Lehman of the Crimson savages Yale in this column.
Update 2: Joe Walsh is straight-up mad at Yale:

"We appreciated the fact that we're guests over there [Fenway]," said Walsh. "It's an honor to play over there.

"The Yale coach [John Stuper], he got to play in The Show, he was in the big leagues. I hope he hasn't forgotten what it means to the kids.

"That's not just a big league park -- that's Fenway."

Update 3: The comments on this post seem to have vanished in my updating: Sorry about this. There were two, generally expressing approval of what Walsh did. I'll try to figure out how to re-activate the comments here.

Dartmouth remains meaningful.

Harvard split its series with Brown this weekend, meaning at the very least that the Dartmouth series next weekend will be meaningful. The Ivy League has moved the makeup games from a week ago to Wednesday instead of Tuesday--more on that in a second--but regardless of what Brown does at Dartmouth and Harvard does against Yale at home, there will be meaningful Rolfe Division baseball next weekend. No matter how bad their team is this season, get ready for more of the brilliant young members of the Loudmouth Brigade.

This weekend saw another winning Max Perlman start, a costly and rare bad outing by Jake Bruton, another stout effort by Brad Unger (125 pitches), more Matt Vance power (the team's leader in slugging percentage) and more good stuff from Adam Cole, setup man. But anyone can read a boxscore. Were you there? Tell us what you saw in the comments.

Meanwhile, the Ivy League's decision to move the makeup games to Wednesday has cost Harvard a trip to Fenway Park to play UMass in the Beanpot consolation game. I wonder why the league made the switch--did someone lobby for to push so that the teams could have Saturday's starters able to go against league opposition on three days rest? [Update: Yep, it was Yale.] Does this mean we'll have Perlman and Haviland on Wednesday--if so, I imagine we'd flip the rotation next weekend and have Boomer and Unger Saturday and Perlman and Haviland on three days once again on Sunday. Or, Max Warren gets involved. I can imagine most coaches wanting to avoid getting to their fifth or sixth starters at this point in the season--especially Brown, whom I suspect doesn't have anyone quite as steady as Warren waiting in the wings.
Still, Fenway day has always been one of my favorite days of the year as a follower of Crimson baseball, and it's too bad the players don't get to experience it this year (they've already lost out on a first-round game due to Fenway's increasing reluctance to make the park available for the Beanpot at all). Although I've gotta say, as unfortunate as this is for Harvard, it's gotta be even worse for UMass.
Finally, a hearty congratulations to Joe Walsh for winning his 500th career game. More on this in a future post.

Brown Games

Live audio for the first game, and live stats for both, available here.

Max Perlman Facts

Max Perlman threw 20 straight strikes against Yale.

Max Perlman was named Ivy League Pitcher and Rookie of the Week.

Max Perlman got some play from Baseball America in its weekend preview.

Max Perlman's calendar goes straight from March 31 to April 2; no one fools Max Perlman.

Got more Max Perlman facts? Hit the comments.

Good hitting meets good pitching

Those of you who answered the poll in the upper right corner of this page: The answer turned out to be Brown. Just ask Dartmouth.

Still, you have to like where Harvard's pitching is going into the weekend, with Shawn Haviland returning to his dominant form of late, Max Perlman teaming with him to form the most lights-out Saturday doubleheader combo since Ben Crockett and Marc Hordon prior to Hordon's labrum injury in 2002 and Brad Unger and Boomer Eadington looking strong in their last starts against Cornell. Brown's rotation isn't quite as deep behind Jeff Dietz.

Anyway, should be an interesting matchup. Feel free to comment on the pivotal (and potentially warm!) weekend ahead in the comments. Or, today's Beanpot loss, in which, notably, Andrew Prince returned to action and Adam Cole threw a clean inning.

Wet and Cole

Beanpot Thursday... Maybe. Postponed Holy Cross game? Postponed again. Makeup with Yale? Scheduled for Tuesday...

Meanwhile, the Crimson ran an interesting story today about Adam Cole, the onetime ace-in-waiting who simply couldn't throw a strike this season, and his recent positive steps in relief.

With Harvard up, 6-2, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the bases full of Tigers, Walsh took the ball away from sophomore Ryan Watson, and sent Cole to the mound to exorcise his control demons in a situation where control was of the utmost importance.

The move seemed questionable at first, after Cole walked the first batter he faced to bring the score to 6-3. But the second-year fireballer’s next trio of pitches erased any doubt. Power-hitting Princeton catcher Jack Murphy stepped up to the plate, and Cole reared back and retired Murphy on three consecutive strikes to begin his transformation into a closer.

“Things just weren’t the same as last year,” Cole says. “After Coach put me in to get the save I got a lot of confidence back in my head.”

Now, almost two weeks later, Cole has emerged as a force out of the bullpen, and an important piece in a Harvard pitching staff that leads the Ivies with a 3.99 combined ERA.

"Force" might be pushing it at this stage, but the signs are certainly encouraging. I wish they'd asked him a bit about what he felt was at the root of his control problems this year, but I'm glad to hear he's coming around. Not that Harvard's floundered without him.

“You can’t say enough about [Perlman and Eadington],” Cole says. “We had expectations when they came in but I think they’ve surpassed those.”

But with Cole back to form, one might think that he would be clamoring to get his rotation spot back. On the contrary, he seems to relish his new role and the pressure that comes with it, as well as the opportunity to throw his best stuff on every pitch.

“It’s exciting coming in when the game is on the line,” Cole says. “You’ve got to hold that lead. Not having to hold back and being able to pump hard strikes is really a relief to me.”

Just the same, I can't help but think that if we wind up playing four against Brown Saturday and Sunday and two more against Yale on Tuesday, Adam Cole would start one of those Yale games. I don't know who Yale's fifth and sixth starters would be, but I'd happily take that matchup.

So, about this rain...

Beanpot's been moved to Wednesday. Yale may be as late as next Monday, creating a three-day, six-game weekend. Stay tuned...

Today's Games

...have been postponed, according to the online schedule (and common sense). I'm not sure whether they'll be able to get them in for Monday, since it's still supposed to rain that morning and this storm sounds vicious enough to do a number on the field.

A Word on Comments

Hey all,

So I just checked in on the Princeton comments thread, and I figured it might be good to post about comments generally.

The point of comments is to allow a place for viewpoints better placed than my own (i.e., people who actually get to see most of the games) and broaden the overall discussion by creating a forum for people who similarly care about this program. As a big fan of the marketplace of ideas and someone who isn't a big fan of, say, fascism, I'm not one to delete comments willy nilly. I've done it a couple of times here when the comments clearly added nothing to the discussion and were aimed at hurting people. Short of that, I'm inclined to lay off.

That said, as my seventh grade teacher used to tell me, "Mr. Bell, this isn't a democracy." The tone of some of the Princeton comments concerns me, and I'm not going to put up with comments that are clearly made without the requisite underlying respect for the student athletes and their coaches. Write with that respect, and write accurately. You can question individual coaching decisions--who hasn't?--but please, do so guided by that underlying respect. Questioning the players' and coaches' desire to win is a below the belt hit that we don't have to tolerate here.

I think I might have a bit more to say about the specific Princeton thread issues in the comments, but I think this is worth putting out there for now.

Harvard sweeps Yale: Open thread

Perlman and Haviland shut down the Bulldogs. Were you there? Add some color in the comments.

Midweek Notes

* Harvard beat URI today, and freshman Dan Zailskas had a nice start. Matt Vance homered. They've asked him to do different things this season--hitting lower in a less powerful order, playing third (saw him make two incredible plays there at Columbia). His numbers won't be what they were last year, but he may be the most important player on this team.
* Brad Unger is the new captain... of Harvard Harvard basketball, which has been in a news a bit lately.
* After yesterday's makeup doubleheaders, Brown and Harvard are tied atop the division lead, two games ahead of Yale. The (other) Bulldogs come to town this weekend. I will not be there, but I pray that someone brings a video camera. Yale Coach John Stuper goes nuts every once in a while out there, and the last time he hit Cambridge, he got tossed from a game and threw the single most spectacular on-field tantrum I've seen in person, leaving destruction in his wake. I'd love to see something like that up on Youtube.

Harvard Sweeps Cornell

Read all about it. The boxscore makes it sound like Boomer Eadington was much more in control this week, and Tom Stack-Babich continues to crank out hits. Got observations? Comment away.

Meanwhile: It's not too early to look up at the standings. Interestingly, the perenially surperior Rolfe Division has gone only 12-16 against the Gehrig Division this year (with makeup doubleheaders still to play tomorrow at Brown and Yale), thanks largely to stumbles out of the Ivy gate by Dartmouth and Yale.

Princeton Open Thread

It's the home opener today, so I figure some people at the games will have observations. Drop them in the comments section.

Princetalk

Hmmmmmmmm...

According to Kaplan, the Tigers are especially looking forward to facing the Crimson, given the teams' recent history.

"We're definitely excited to go back to Harvard," Kaplan said. "Harvard is usually a pretty good team, and I'm sure that beating them at their place last year for the Ivy League championship is going to give them some motivation to beat us. They were pretty confident they were going to beat us, and we actually destroyed them. Ever since last year it's kind of gotten personal between the two of us."

Sophomore pitcher Brad Gemberling likes his team's chances.

"I think we're the most talented team in the Ivy League," Gemberling said. "We took care of Harvard last year — we took them down hard in the Ivy League championship. I think we stack up against anyone."

More SoBB AV Club: Brad Unger

Brad Unger really settled down in the third inning of Sunday's second game. Here is that inning.

Harvard Splits With Columbia

Read all about it. Some thoughts...

* People Who Impressed Me:
1. Brad Unger, who undoubtedly deserves to be starting. A hard-luck loser today, Unger struggled early but settled in and consistently threw strikes. I'll put some video footage of him up later in the week if I get time.
2. Jake Bruton. He'd been having a solid spring, but I hadn't put a lot into that until getting to see why today. I'll put up some footage of him as well, but Jake has some zip on his fastball I don't remember being there, and was incredibly efficient (including a six or seven pitch inning).
3. Tom Stack-Babich, who homered early in the second game and seems over his difficult first season.

* Eric Eadington: In a Sons of Bart Brush multimedia first, here is Boomer Eadington's first-ever inning of Ivy League baseball, a 1-2-3 start against the Lions. Great mound presence, good fastball, and a curve that made some hitters straight up look silly at some points (I may post a couple more of the more interesting swings from later in the game).

Unfortunately, things went a bit downhill from here, and Boomer never looked comfortable again. He was wilder even than the boxscore indicates, and seemed vulnerable to aggressive baserunning (the "ba-a-a-ack!" calls--accurate ones--came quite a bit earlier on pickoffs than one would like). That said, it was freezing, and he's from California.

* Andrew Prince, who just looks like a kid who's going to hit a lot of home runs, has hamstring issues that kept him out of action this weekend. Hopefully they won't nag for too long.

* Assistant Coach Gary Donovan was tossed for arguing early in the second game, and Head Coach Joe Walsh followed after protesting the ejection. I won't describe what happened immediately after that, but let's just say that as a fan of the late 90s-early 2000s Mets, it warmed my heart.

* I'd never been to a game at Columbia, but it is immediately my favorite road ballpark, as it is easily the worst. The field hangs on the small patch on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Harlem River and is a victim of both the river's constraints and those of the football field adjacent to it. Deep center is about 300 feet--tops, there is almost no foul territory on either line, you can homer into the river, and every game features a continuous cacophany of Metro North trains running on the other side of the river between Grand Central and points north punctuated by the occasional loud boat running alongside. It is absolutely charming.

Yikes.

There's nothing cool about being no-hit for 7 2/3 innings. Somehow, it might be even worse to scrape together three runs and keep the game close while being held hitless, only to still faulter in the end.
Not the best of days for Shawn Haviland, as Harvard falls to Penn, 6-4. Not the best of days for the lineup, either. And that's all I've got. If you were at the game, you've got more to say than I do. Drop us a note in the comments section. How did Haviland and Perlman look?

Welcome to the Ivy League, Max Perlman

CG (7 inn), 2 ER, 2 K, 4 H, 2 BB. Not a bad debut at all. Impressively, Perlman faced only two batters above the minimum, and induced ten (by my rushed count) ground ball outs, including several double plays.
I'd imagine Shawn Haviland is next.

Game On!

The Ivy season starts at Penn today. Live stats here. GoCrimson preview here. The Daily Penn tells us that Penn fears our speed more than our power.

A pre-Ivy summary:
* Tom Stack-Babich: .326 BA, .465 SLG.
* Brendan Byrne: .326 as well.
* Brad Unger: Yes, it was Eckerd, but he's throwing strikes.
* Matt Rogers: .286, seven steals, two doubles, two triples. Salsgiver II?
* Boomer Eadington: 15 hits and 11 walks in 12 innings, but he's shown an ability to pitch out of trouble. The story of the spring was Eadington and Max Perlman's work against Notre Dame.

And all of this officially matters... none at all. Play ball!

Video coming (hopefully)

Harvard beat Barry today and, perhaps notably, Adam Cole only pitched an inning in relief (shaky relief at that, as his struggles finding the strikezone this March continue). I suspect that we may be looking at a Haviland, Perlman, Unger and perhaps Eadington rotation after all. We'll see this weekend, when Harvard plays its first Ivy games at Penn (Saturday) and Columbia (Sunday). I hope to be at the Columbia games, video camera in tow.

Once again, it's up to the bullpen

Jason Brown is on in relief for Harvard right now, trying to keep Florida International at bay in a 4-4 game. Stack-Babich has two hits and an RBI so far to pace the Crimson.

The bullpen didn't fare so well yesterday, coughing up another 9-7 lead in the ninth against Florida Atlantic. Harvard lost, 10-7.

Other results from earlier this week:

Monday: Harvard 5, Eckerd 1; Central Fla 7, Harvard 3
Sunday: Tampa 11, Harvard 0

Bullpen falters as Harvard falls to N'Western, 10-9

In like a lion, out like ... Rick Ankiel.

Harvard's relief corps, a bright spot for much of March, roared through six more solid innings of work Saturday before its command broke down in the ninth in a 10-9 loss to Northwestern. Jason Brown and Brad Unger combined to face six batters in the decisive final inning, but retired none and plunked two. The second hit batsman forced home the game-winner for the Wildcats, wasting a five-run comeback by the Harvard bats.

The blown save was an untimely hiccup for Harvard's bullpen, which entered today with an overall ERA of 3.12. The relief corps continued to shine even after Northwestern jumped out to a 5-0 run lead through two innings Saturday, giving rookie Boomer Eadington an early shower in his second college start. Jake Bruton, who posted four innings of four-hit ball, and Brown, who pitched a perfect seventh and eighth, gave the Crimson lineup a chance to mount a comeback.

Harvard did, scoring four in the eighth. Three more runs in the ninth gave the Crimson a 9-7 lead. Matt Vance led the attack, with two hits that plated four runs. Andrew Prince and Matt Kramer also knocked in runs to pace the comeback. For the game, Jeff Stoeckel went 3-for-3 and scored three times.

The loss won't help maintain Harvard's rather lofty RPI, but the good news is, Harvard's frantic Florida schedule won't give them time to dwell on it. This is the beauty of March games in Florida versus May games in Hanover. Oh yeah, that remains me: Dartmouth got smoked by this same Northwestern team, 12-2, just hours before Harvard played them Saturday.

Joe Walsh will continue to kick the tires on his roster Sunday against Tampa. Game time is 1 pm. Live stats are here.

P.S.: If you didn't check out Friday's Crimson preview by Loren Amor, you don't want to miss your chance to read some rare sound bytes from Crimson assistant coach Gary Donovan. Donovan, Walsh's consigliere since the "vagabond" days at Suffolk University who for years has played the straight-man during Walsh's postgame standup routines with student reporters, must have been manning the phones inside Dillon Thursday when Amor called to chase down some quotes. We need more doses of Donovan. Perhaps he and Walsh can do a podcast together for us later in the year.

Spring Break Opener: THE Ohio State University 5, Harvard 3

First, a disclaimer: Harvard's impressive victory over Notre Dame two weeks ago offered a window into what this year's Crimson edition is capable of, but always be mindful of the larger purpose of Joe Walsh's "take all comers" approach to non-conference scheduling. It is the 52-ounce bat you swing in the on-deck circle to get ready for the Ivy season. Adjust your expectations accordingly during the coming week's breakneck slate in Florida, and you'll be in much better position to enjoy the ride.

Now that you're in the proper frame of mind, meet the Ohio State Buckeyes (13-3), preseason favorite to win the Big Ten and bona fide aspirant to take in Omaha's many pleasures later this summer. You may remember them from such winning streaks as their last 12 games. It turns out their highly regarded weekend rotation features more than a couple guys whom parts of Columbus consider Greg Oden-in-stirrups. Today, Harvard (2-3) faced three linchpins of that vaunted staff in a single nine-inning game. The box score suggests this was as tough a challenge as you'd think -- but only for the first eight innings. In the ninth -- and here's that silver lining that portends well against the more relevant Red Rolfe foes -- the Crimson torched OSU's sophomore manchild Jake Hale for a three-run, two-out rally. Harvard even got the tying run to the plate before falling, 5-3. More on the near-comeback in a second.

Shawn Haviland started for Harvard and got tagged with the loss, despite showing some pluck against a tough lineup. Kurt Svoboda, as usual, tells the story in good detail here.

These games against elite programs are always interesting for acquainting you with names you'll eventually hear again in the June amateur draft. (Before Craig Hansen was a first round pick for the Red Sox in 2005, he was pitching in the Metrodome against Harvard earlier that spring.) OSU lefthander Cory Luebke might be another of those guys. The Buckeyes ace and Big Ten POY contender was draft-eligible as a sophomore last year on account of being old for his grade. He went in the 22nd rd (due to signability considerations likely), opted to stay in school, and today continued to make his case for a higher-round selection this year with six shutout innings against Harvard, striking out eight. Only Brendan Byrne and Matt Rogers managed hits.

OSU also gave Harvard a two-inning dose of another of its weekend starters, JB Shuck. All he did was keep Harvard hitless in the seventh and eighth.

Then entered 6-foot-7 Hale, the Buckeyes' imposing answer to Jonathan Papelbon in that he has moved from frontline starter as a freshman to lights-out closer as a soph. (Witness the sub-1.00 ERA to go along with four saves.) With no save possibility in order Friday, Hale may have been treating his appearance in a 5-0 game as a live bullpen session. But after a walk to Steffan Wilson and a wall-ball double by an ever-impressive Tom Stack-Babich, torque specialist Andrew Prince socked a three-run blast to right that gave Harvard some life. Byrne then reached on a base hit before Hale induced a groundout to end the game.

With that, Day 1 of the Crimson's spring break gauntlet ended on something of a positive note. As always, we welcome eyewitness accounts in the comments section. Congrats to Prince on his first Harvard homer.

Harvard meets another Big Ten entry, Northwestern, later today. Get your live stats here.

Doryoku is Japanese for "Bulldog"

Next time the pitch-count police starts calling Joe Walsh all sorts of names over the way he deploys his stud pitchers, maybe they should call him this:

Sensei.

In SI's baseball preview issue (on newsstands now), Tom Verducci's excellent cover story on Daisuke Matsuzaka predicts that the Red Sox import may introduce America to a new and improved philosophy on how to develop pitchers. The thinking is, Dice-K -- with his ho-hum regimen that includes 300-pitch bullpens and twice-a-week long-toss sessions -- might do for U.S. pitching coaches what Toyota has done for U.S. auto manufacturers. In the article, former Met skipper Bobby Valentine vouches for the Japanese approach, whose essence is captured by the Japanese word doryoku, meaning "unflagging effort." Valentine, who's managed in Japan the last three seasons, says he now believes the U.S. system is too risk-averse when it comes to injury and coddles its pitchers too much.

Betcha didn't realize that Deuce was simply channeling Far East philosophilies all those times he left Ben Crockett in to throw a complete game. Doryoku, it turns out, is Japanese for "bulldog."

The Crimson's Preview

Is up.

Weekend 2: Cancelled

Bummer. Would've been awful sweet to take it to Notre Dame again on the actual St. Patrick's Day, but such are the dangers of being a northeast school--even your road games in sunny climates are at risk in March.

But we do have a little rain delay theater for you. First, this read about Ben Crockett '02, who has caught on with the Red Sox, albeit not in the way some of us once hoped. Injuries are injuries, but in the minds of many, it'll always be a Saturday afternoon in Cambridge and he'll always be dealing at O'Donnell, with batter after batter reaching for that ridiculous curve. Anyway, enjoy that read.

More: One of the commenters who was at last week's games offered some additional reads on the team from last weekend via e-mail (bartbrush@gmail.com), and I include a few here.

[Andrew] Prince looks like the Mo Vaughn of the Ivy league right now. He has basically the same swing, getting no weight transfer. However there is some serious torque going on with a relatively compact swing. He could hit a lot of hard liners or tower fly balls.

Jake Bruton had pretty good numbers in long relief. Fastball riding in on righties with a 12-6 curve ball also slightly backing up. He could have found his role there.

[Brad] Unger [fresh off basketball season] seems to be building up arm strength but falls behind on a lot of hitters as can be seen in the play by play. He can't use the changeup effectively when he is always behind in the count and with runners on base.

[Justin] Roth can swing the bat.

Weekend 1: Firsthand Observations

Thanks to everyone who checked in with observations from last weekend's games. We're happy to grant anonymity whenever we can (which is pretty much all the time), and with me no longer being in Cambridge, we're going to depend on SoBB readers as our eyes more than ever.

We've got some comments, first this one on the overall state of the team. Highlights:

Having seen all 4 games, I came away from the weekend feeling very good about this club. Overall, they hit the ball hard throughout. There were many "atem" ball shots that didn't show up in the hit column, but that registered strongly on the field and in the stands. Vance, Rogers, Wilson (when they pitched to him), Stack-Babich, Kramer and Stoeckel were solid throughout. Byrne made a living as a walk machine and along with Douglas, Casey and Prince, also added key hits. The Roth HR was a no brainer at the crack of the bat.

Defensively, Harvard was up and down. Solid in the victories and looking rusty and tired in both losses. I suspect the inconsistency was related to not playing at game speed since last fall. Practice only goes so far. I would say that the middle infield and outfield play was excellent. The speed of Rogers and Vance and the arm displayed by Stack-Babich in right bode well for the upcoming season.

And this on the frosh arms, one of whom was named Ivy Rookie of the Week on Tuesday:

The freshmen shutout of Notre Dame has created an understandable buzz in Florida and Cambridge. With the addition of Perlman and Eadington to a starting rotation that includes last year's Ivy League Pitcher of the year and rookie of the year, Joe W. has a right to be pumped up! ..and don't forget the solid saturday performance turned in by the freshman from Washington, Ian Bolliger.

Another SoBB reader e-mailed with a little more about the freshmen:

Perlman was lights out against ND. Good fastball in the high 80’s. He did not show a pattern. He would thrown either fast, change or curve first pitch with command of all three. He routinely got ahead 0-2 on hitters. Then he tried to nibble a bit but he seems to know how to pitch.
Eadington looked a little wild up n the zone but he was dealing. He had to have been consistently in the 90s with a plus curve. I did not see too many changeups but he got a few hitters on them as a show me pitch. If he develops that along with the other two, he will be a force. He also made a huge play that seemingly went unnoticed when he forced out a ND runner on a bunt situation at third. Two on, none out, ND batter lays down a bunt and he big guy got to the ball and flipped to third for a big out.
Perl and Boomer will almost certainly be weekend guys. Unger and Cole may be battling out for the other spot.

This is interesting. What about Adam Cole, last year's Ivy ROY? We saw those walks in the boxscore...

He was throwing gas early with a good breaking ball but just lost control, command and composure. Duq batters were not even close to hitting him. One infield hit was all they got. Very similar to last year but he either does not seem to know how overpowering he is or simply has command issues with his pitches. He throws so many pitches it is tough to watch.

Seems to me that Cole's start this weekend bears watching as much as anybody's.
Meanwhile, we got an undoubtedly angry Notre Dame team again this weekend. I believe there will be free audio at ND's site, you just have to go through a registration process.

Harvard loses to Tampa

Roth homers in a loss. The official story is here, and the Crimson has this story about the weekend.

Can anybody who was there give us some details on what happened this weekend, particularly about the Notre Dame game and Perlman and Eadington? Let us know in the comments.

And a Happy St. Patrick's Day to You!

Harvard beat Notre Dame today, 4-0. Freshmen pitchers Eric Eadington and Max Perlman combined for a five hit shutout.

Eadington: 4 1/3 innings, 3 hits, 6 walks, 3ks.
Perlman: 4 2/3 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks.

Welcome to Harvard, fellas. I'm sure Jon Lehman and the gang at the Crimson will have some good stuff on this tomorrow, but Kurt Svoboda gets us going with some nice detail in the official report:

The pitchers, making their collegiate debuts, used different styles to get the result but both were effective against a Fighting Irish team that exploded offensively in a win over Duquesne earlier in the day.

Eadington, a lefty, started the game and scattered three hits before being removed in the fifth inning as his pitch count moved into the low 90’s. Eadington fell behind often as he walked six batters and hit another, but he consistently worked out of trouble including the first and third innings in which he left the bases loaded.

Perlman came on in the fifth and used a strong fastball with a variety of off-speed pitches to get ahead of the ND hitters. He scattered just two singles to pick up the victory.

Duquesne 6, Harvard 4

1-1 after one day of the 2007 season. Biggest thing to come out of today: Tom Stack-Babich - 3-for-7 with two walks and two doubles. Stack-Babich had six extra base hits all of last season. Count this a very encouraging start.

Cole, like Haviland, was a bit wild today, and no one should worry about either, at least not purely based on the boxscore.

Notre Dame tomorrow at 3:15. Looking at who's pitched so far, I'm guessing Max Perlman will make his debut against the Irish, whom we're apparently also going to play on Monday. Looks like there may be audio available from the Fighting Irish website, although it may cost you.

Undefeated!

Harvard is 1-0 after winning its 2007 debut, 4-3 over Quinnipiac in extra innings. Tom Stack-Babich, batting fifth, went 2-for-4 with a double and drove home the game winner, and what a huge event a Tom Stack-Babich (re?)surgence would be for the team this year.
Shawn Haviland, from the boxscore, looks like he was awfully wild in his debut, but no one should worry. Nice to see Brad Unger jumping right in after the conclusion of the 2006-07 Harvard men's basketball season. Interestingly, Andrew Princeton batted cleanup as the DH, and Matt Kramer started at first while Drew Casey caught--I'm all for this, I just want to see Kramer's bat in the lineup someplace. Matt Rogers, as the New Salsgiver, played left, batted second and stole two bases.
Another game tonight. I'd expect Adam Cole, but really, who knows.

2007 Season Debut: Harvard vs. Quinnipiac, Harvard vs. Duquesne

It all starts at 2:45 pm. Live stats are available here. If anyone happens to find a working online radio broadcast, let us know in the comments.

Sorry for the lack of posts

My laptop broke. It is somewhere in Georgia, being fixed. My only other machine is at work, and I tend to do work there. More when my laptop comes back.

Back to the Future

Ages ago, SoBB promised you profiles of the '07 newcomers akin to our brief glimpse of Dan Zailskas. Time has lapsed and the team has official profiles upposted its own profiles, but eventually, I'll get around to tossing in some bonus Google results for the die-hards.

But first: Something's gotta be said about this solid profile by Kurt Swoboda of Harvard (who needs some sort of nickname other than Kurt the Harvard SID around these parts). He did a great job, but of course, he doesn't have the luxury of prognosticating and recklessly editorializing from afar. SoBB does.



As Harvard baseball fans tend to be a pretty literate bunch, I won't duplicate much here: you can read the profile. But I'll pull a few bullet points in summary:

* I'm experiencing deja vu. What do I mean by this? Pitching is the strength of the team--but you'd better pray none of the starters gets hurt. You've got a big bat in the middle (Steffan Wilson) and a whole lot of question marks in the way of protection. You've got a some potential pop in the form of about 3-4 different guys who could be complementary bats as catchers. Man, this sounds familiar...



Hop in your time machines, kids, and ride to an era pre-Farkes/Klim/Salsgiver/junior-year Mann and re-introduce yourselves to the 2002 Crimson! With Shawn Haviland as Ben Crockett, Adam Cole as Justin Nyweide (or, in the best of all possible worlds, a pre-injury Marc Hordon? We saw glimpses of both last season), and Max Perlman or Eric Eadington as potential immediate Chaney Sheffields (this is, particularly for immediate purposes, a compliment). Steffan Wilson is Trey Hendricks, and the Matt Kramer-Andrew Casey-Justin Roth platoon can only hope to inspire memories of Brian Lentz and young Mann in the aggregate. Matt Vance--who seems set to move to shortstop if for no other reason than to feed this analogy--is your Mark Mager presence, with added turbo boosters on the bases. Jay Brown, having become the team's favored option out of the pen last year, is your presumptive Barry Wahlberg-esque righty closer...

I continue this (by now) tired comparison to illustrate a couple points:
1. We've been spoiled by power the last few years, but it's worth remembering that Ivy League championships can be won even if it isn't raining homers.
2. Relatedly: It ain't gonna rain homers this season.
3. The 2002 team managed to overcome any number of flaws (there were few glaring ones) and significant injuries (there were quite a few of these) with poise and determinaton. As some observant if overly verbose Crimson columnist noted at the time, a lot of that had to do with the incredible senior leadership on that team (nine seniors saw serious time, all contributed mightily to a wild title run). This bunch, though similar on paper to that bunch in a lot of ways, is also much younger). They may have to grow up in a big hurry.



* Versatility? Or just uncertainty? You say tomato... There are very few sure things in this lineup. Steffan Wilson's bat and Matt Vance's feet and Brendan Byrne at second. That's it. Sophomore Matt Rogers? Ideally your #2 hitter, but Walsh's expectations for him seem tempered this time around, and he'll have something to prove in the early games. Tom Stack-Babich? After his arrival was heralded a year in advance, the transfer from Wake Forest's first season in Allston was disappointing. Whether he works his way back to the lineup, let alone its heart, seems an open question to those of us who haven't followed the team up close this winter. Jeff Stoeckel, who apparently has looked great? Harry Douglas? Griff Jenkins? Jon Roberts? Max Warren? Who knows? All are multiple position guys whose fate could just as easily as anything be determined by whether Vance's transition to shortstop works out or not and what happens in the resulting squeeze. Toss in potential power bats Walsh is careful not to talk up too much in Zailskas and Andrew Prince (he's far more effusive about his freshman arms than either of them, and notably, less gushing about either than he was about Adam Cole at the start of last season, although that might just be smart), and who knows how much or how little we'll see of anyone, or who'll be starting at first (assuming Wilson stays at third), short (if not Vance--although you'd like to think Taylor Meehan's experience there would be dispositive) or any of the outfield spots, really. Yes, that was a horrible mess of a sentence. But it'll take you less time to figure it out than it'll take me to fix it.

* And then there's catcher. I'm gonna come out and say it: I loved Matt Kramer's bat out there last season, and I loved his attitude (even if he got a little overzealous here and there). I thought he should've been the full time guy most of last season, and if he's looking as improved as Walsh says in that interview, the job should be his to lose, unless Stoughton's Wortzman is the second coming. If Justin Roth hits like people think he can hit, fine, I'd love to see both in the lineup.

* Also, needless to say, this preview only assumes that Shawn Haviland will continue to be among the best pitchers in the Ivy League. No reason to even begin to think otherwise.

Enough for now, gang.

Field Of His

Joe O'Donnell of O'Donnell Field fame visits the team under the bubble and gets this write-up at the official site. I have little to add here, except that money is an awful nice thing for a baseball team to have, and it's great having strong supporters.
Update: Pic from Kurt.

Welcome to the Terrordome

Future First Ballot Harvard SID Hall of Famer Kurt has generously sent over a couple of shots of team practices in the bubble. Behold, the advent of domeball:

Bubble up!

As of this past week, the Harvard stadium bubble is up and hosting offseason practices by spring teams. The pictures here aren't great; if anyone can take anything better, please e-mail it to bartbrush@gmail.com.

Still, this looks even more awesome than the preliminary reports had indicated:

The playing field is accessible through a revolving door located at the open end of Harvard Stadium. The bubble is attached to a permanent concrete base that lines the perimeter of the playing field, while the interior area is pressurized and climate-controlled.

"The excitement in practice has hit new levels," said Joe Walsh, the Joseph J. O'Donnell Head Coach for Harvard Baseball. "We have accepted the challenge of playing nationally ranked teams each season, and this renovation will not only allow our ballclub to compete with NCAA powers, but to help us beat them."

I can only imagine a development like this being a big lure to prospective recruits as well, demonstrating that the Harvard athletic program is committed to improving its facilities and becoming even more competitive across the board. Hats off to Bob Scalise, the donors, and everyone who made this possible.

Baseball America Picks Harvard

The leading baseball authority and the only objective entity to bang out such predictions has Harvard beating Princeton in a rematch of last year's stunning sweep (or, put differently, a rematch of almost every Ivy League Championship Series of the past ten years). For a second straight year, Baseball America has named Steffan Wilson the preseason player of the year. GoCrimson.com lists Shawn Haviland and Matt Vance as preseason all-conference picks, which I take to mean that someone other than Haviland was named preseason pitcher of the year--I imagine it would have to be Christian Staehley, who burst onto the scene by taking a no-hitter into the 8th against Arkansas in the NCAAs last year. When last we saw Staehley, he pitched the Tigers past Harvard in the league clincher.

I wouldn't bet against the nastiness that is defending Ivy Pitcher of the Year Shawn Haviland taking some motivation from this.

Meanwhile, Vance is a logical pick to represent the Crimson in the outfield again after terrorizing the league at the plate and on the basepaths last year; the big question is whether Matt Rogers can take the next step and join him in giving Harvard a uniquely terrifying one-two speed combo again.

I'll post more on the all-conference selections once I get a hold of them.

Nice Brendan Byrne feature...

...up on GoCrimson.com about the glorious throwback-ness of Brendan Byrne, two-sport athlete:

Regardless of the outcome of the baseball season, Walsh is certain his captain will infuse the team with his signature confidence and work ethic, which he credits Byrne’s upbringing for.

“He might have come out of Milton Academy,” says Walsh. “But I know he has some Dorchester in him. If the team takes on his personality this year, you won’t find a happier guy than me.”

I've always liked Byrne, who had an underrated knack for getting the big hit with men on base when healthy.
Meanwhile, the Crimson's other impact two-sport guy, Brad Unger, is averaging 15 minutes a game for the basketball team and was Harvard's COOP Athlete of the Week for December 11.

More blasts from the past: An old rival on Brian Ralph and Crimson clutch

While Princeton has arguably been best known for its pitchers over the years, between Chris Young and Ross Ohlendorf and Thomas Pauly, Brown has produced a number of the best hitters in the league over the past few years (I still shutter to think of what this guy used to do to against the Crimson, for example). Brown had quite a few of the elite mashers. Todd Iarussi was one of them, a two-time All-Ivy outfielder who is the Ivy League's all-time leader in career doubles. Todd wrote in to SoBB recently:

Sons,

I played at Brown from 1998-2001 and was talking about a Sox article that mentioned Princeton alum and current Sox employee Mike Hazen, who I'm sure you remember. I told my friend a story about how my freshman year Hazen preserved a win against us by making a catch crashing into the centerfield
fence at our place, slicing his leg open on the play. He was helped from the field, didn't start Game Two, then came in to pinch hit later in the game and hit a monster home run, limping around the bases while the bench was goading him on to do give the Kirk Gibson fist pump.

Anyway, so my friend asks who the best player I played against in the league was, and I didn't hesitate for a second in saying that it was Brian Ralph. He was without a doubt the best small guy I have ever seen on a field (one of the best players I’ve seen in general), and I am still firmly convinced that he could have helped a major league team win ballgames. I searched Google to provide my friend a stat or two on him, and it lead me to this blog, where something similar about Brian was mentioned in the Bart interview.

The most clutch player I played against? It kills me to say it, but it would have to be Faiz. He should run a clinic on the art of hitting soft game winning liners into short center. I must have said "take a full swing, you little bastard" to myself countless times in the outfield when he would start fouling balls off with cuts that made you wonder if cricket was actually his first sport, but you certainly can't argue with the results.
It got so bad at one point that I pleaded with Coach Drabinski to employ a Faiz shift that would place our right fielder directly behind second, shifting the centerfielder over to right center to form a triangle in the outfield. In fact, when David Ortiz fisted the game winning single to center in Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, my dad yelled "he Faized it!" He can't seem to let it go either.

Cheers,

Todd

Couple thoughts: First, huge thanks to Todd for writing in. There's lots to be said here about class and the greatness of the league, and I won't get into it all here. And there's lots to be said about why stories like this are why so many of us love baseball, but I won't get into all that here, either. I will say that this is much appreciated, and I'm glad Todd wrote in.
Then there's the fact that description of Faiz's swing might be the most enjoyable writing we've had on the site to date.
Finally, I'm glad to know I wasn't the only person out there who, in the midst of bedlam, thought back to a couple memorable moments in Allston.

When Harvard Faced Ross Ohlendorf in the Ivy Championship

The most prominent Ivy baseball alum in the news lately has been Ross Ohlendorf. Here with thoughts on Ohlendorf is our own Faiz Shakir '02:

Former Princeton hurler Ross Ohlendorf's name has been in the news of late because he was a key part of a blockbuster trade between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks that sent LHP Randy Johnson back to team he helped lead to a world championship in 2001. Ohlendorf, along with fellow minor league pitcher Steven Jackson, infielder Alberto Gonzalez, and Diamondbacks reliever Luis Vizcaino, were shipped to the Yankees.

Ohlendorf has enjoyed a very promising young career in the professional ranks, having been named to Midwest League all-star team in 2005. Clearly, Ohlendorf has developed and progressed as a pitcher a great deal since my teammates and I faced the freshman ace in Game 1 of the 2002 Ivy League Championship.


Ohlendorf came into the game with a 6-2 record, and with a reputation as a hard-throwing big right-hander. For those of us who had faced Chris Young, Ohlendorf seemed to be the second coming. 6'-4”, 200+ lbs, Ohlendorf was a big presence on the mound. While he threw hard, he didn't rely on his overpowering stuff. Rather, he pitched a great deal to spots (specifically, throwing low and away a gret deal) and he accompanied the fastball with a hard slider that seemed to be his strikeout pitch.

Our senior right-hander Justin Nyweide outbattled Ohlendorf on that Saturday – Nyweide went all nine, striking out 14 and winning 5-1. What I remember most is that the Princeton defense let down Ohlendorf on that day. Early in the game, Ian Wallace and I laid down back to back sacrifice bunts that were misfielded by the Princeton third baseman, loading the bases for Trey Hendricks to drive in the first (and game-winning) runs. Ohlendorf left after 5 innings, striking out 6. He certainly left his mark as someone who was going to have a bright future, but for a freshman pitching in his first Ivy Championship game, it seemed his nerves may have gotten the best of him. Certainly, in the time that has passed since, Ohlendorf used those experiences to develop maturity and poise on the mound and seems not too far away from one day pitching Yankee Stadium.

Congratulations and best of luck to Ross.

Domeless

Harvard Stadium is beautiful and historic. One thing it isn't is partially covered by a dome.
It was supposed to be by now. Back in the fall, Joe Walsh spoke excitedly about the prospect of the Harvard athletic department's dome project being ready to house offseason workouts for other teams, including the Crimson. This photo was taken yesterday (thanks, PST). No dome.
What's the holdup? The Crimson hasn't reported on the delay, to my knowledge. Anyone got a clue? Let us know in the comments.
Also, I'm hearing local rumors that among next year's recruits is a lefty from my alma mater. This is awesome.

Happy New Year from Sons of Bart Brush

Happy 2007, gang. With another baseball season drawing near, I wanted to post to say a couple of quick things.
First: There will be Sons of Bart Brush content this season. How much of it will be from me, I can't say. I'm working (a lot) and in New York now, and I've always done the lion's share of the posting around here, so the frequency of posts might not be what it once was. But my hope is to offset this in a number of ways.
1. Open threads. I'm going to put up an open thread for every home game, and it'll be its own self-contained forum where people who were actually there can comment on the games.
2. Pictures. Last year, we got an incredible boost from Mr. Meehan's pictures. I invite anyone who's got snapshots of game action to e-mail them to us. Don't be shy; Gmail can handle it. Case in point: The above shot from Harvard baseball's fall banquet, sent to us anonymously.
3. Got a digital video camera? Got footage? I'll probably have the Columbia games covered, but as for everybody else: Get to know Youtube now, and send me links to your clips. If I'd owned a videocamera last year, this alone would've made the site ten times better. We'll see if someone out there can bail me out this time.
More posts to come. Thanks for a great 2006. Looking forward to another one.