I know I’m not usually allowed out of my cage on a Monday, but I thought I oughta drop in a little plug for something that caught my eye. Eephus League, a sort-of-blog (more like a collection of cool graphics and general baseball miscellanea with a side of blogging), has created a baseball scorecard book that I personally think is the most amazing thing around. It is, as they said in the 90′s, the bomb. The shizznit. The cat’s meow. You get the point.

I’ve personally been unable to find a scorecard book that I actually like (I’m about two web shopping trips from printing something out, going to Kinko’s with it, and making my own) and have instead been growing a messy, unwieldy pile of scorecards from baseball programs. This scorebook totally appeals to me, and it should appeal to you too, if you love baseball scorekeeping. It’s a nerd thing, but hey, I’ve spent Saturday nights compiling spreadsheets.

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Kickstarter, but the basic gist is is that the owner of a project posts a brief, hand-made video and text synopsis, then says they need X money in Y days. People pledge money to the project. If enough money is pledged, the project goes through. If not enough money is put in before time is up, no money is paid out at all. The more money you donate, the cooler gifts you get (I went for the pins). Sadly, no Paypal allowed.

You should all put in five bucks because baseball scoring is awesome. $15 nets you a scorecard and a feel-good vibe in your gut. Click here for the Kickstarter page.

Here’s some links to check out before the Jets take on the Mangenius, the Giants sack Jon Kitna 17 times and the Pats find a way to beat the Steelers.

Mike Fish at ESPN.com has a piece on Roberto Alomar’s life since his career ended.  I knew it was bad, after reading this column it’s worse than I thought.  Alomar who will get into the Hall of Fame this year was an amazing ballplayer.  I think because he played for 7 teams and didn’t play any of his peak in a big baseball market he’s a little overlooked, but he was special.  Alomar was a very similar player to Derek Jeter and I can’t imagine how he’d be viewed had he spent his whole career in the Bronx, Boston, Philly or another good baseball hotbed.  He certainly would have gotten into Cooperstown on the first ballot with room to spare.  His career fell off a cliff in 2002, but what he did as a second baseman for a 10 year stretch was pretty amazing.

Former Yankee prospect Brandon Weeden is finding success on the football field.  Weeden was the first player selected by the Yankees in the 2002 draft  He showed some early promise but his baseball career was derailed by injuries.  I enjoy stories like this so I’m glad to see he’s having success.  Weeden is 27 years old, so I wonder if his coach Mike Gundy considers him a man or not?

Marc Carig wrote on his blog about the difficultly he can run into writing for different audiences through different mediums.  It’s a very good piece and while I’m sure many have you have seen it, if you haven’t I suggest doing so.  Like now.  Also take a look at Craig Calcaterra’s take on Carig’s post which is also informative and thought provoking.  Pretty good stuff in both posts.

Here’s a good piece over at Yahoo by Kendall Rogers on Karsten Whitson and why he spurned a couple million bucks to go to college. I think we can often interject ourselves into players lives’ without truly knowing how they feel so it’s good to see Whitson’s explanation.  It’s definitely something to consider when free agents don’t sign where you hoped or expected, or when draftees decide not to sign.

Just a few links to tide you over this Saturday afternoon.

Tim Marchman lays out the facts about Derek Jeter. As usual, Marchman hits on the most important points. The takeaway:

You can futz with the math a bit, but even after you apply a standard aging curve, even after you weight 2010 more heavily than 2009 and 2009 more heavily than 2008 and do all other good things backed by actual research rather than one’s vague sense that the man’s bat has slowed and that time has crept upon his face, he projects as a very good player for next year and even beyond, one whose declining offense is offset by his ability to play a lot, to run the bases well, to field a difficult position tolerably and so on.

Nailed it.

Beyond the Boxscore takes a look at Joba Chamberlain using PitchFX. It’s a neat look at how things have changed, but I’m not sure how much the article itself helps — the author fails to take into account Joba’s shoulder injury from 2008. That seems particularly important when evaluating his progression as a pitcher.

William of The Captain’s Blog makes a cameo at The Yankee U to discuss MLB and NFL ratings. He does an excellent job of putting the issue in perspective.