Rinku & Dinesh

A little while ago two Indian nationals won a pitching competition the Million Dollar Arm. I don't know the specifics of the contest but the ultimate prize was a minor league contract with The Pittsburgh Pirates (which is a good news/bad news sort of prize).

Anyway both are from rural backgrounds and know little of America or baseball. They train at USC and keep a blog of their experiences.

It's freaking awesome. An excerpt:

One very, very bad thing about the news is that they say I on the BABEWATCH. This not true. i not watching girls. i only pitching, training, eat, watch baseball/Movies and sleep. American women very dangerous and very crazy. I like only Indian woman. Dinesh and JB, Sir have been harrassing me about this BABEWATCH. I do not like the BABEWATCH.

I also learn how to play darts from Neil, sir. First time, I thinking I throw darts too hard and they no sticking. Neil, sir also claim to be real person they make Snakes in a Plane movie about. Dinesh and I not believe him anymore. He is a tricky one.

I think my favorite part is their movie reviews.

A Change-up We Can Believe In

Another electoral stunner today, as Tim Lincecum has one the Cy Young award.

Lincecum is a biomechanical freak who looks about twelve years old and can walk on his hands. How he generates upper 90's heat from his tiny, little pixie-man body is (sort of) detailed in this SI article.

The other notable aspect of this is that it is a sign that statheads are gaining more influence in baseball. There was a time when Brandon Webb's 22 Wins would have assured him the Cy Young, but now more people are have been convinced by the stathead movement that wins are much more luck based then things like ERA and strikeout to walk ratio.

So Tim Lincecum's victory is victory for intelligent data analysis and against judging people based on their appearances.

USA! USA!