Ahem.... Harden to have surgery?

[Slaky]

For the day games Harden just needs use Kaplan's tanning plan prior to taking the mound.

Which is what? Rubbing Peanut Satay all over his skin?

[Brownie]

One theory to be examined would be that Harden always wears the pajama tops. There's a reason the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins like to wear white at home.

(no I'm not serious)

But why do the Redskins do it?

September afternoons in DC are not very chilly. If I remember right, Clyde Simmons once ran afoul of Buddy Ryan, and whatever he did people expected would result in a benching. Instead, Simmons started the opener at RFK vs. the Skins, and played, and played fairly well.

Someone asked Buddy Ryan why he didn't suspend him. Ryan said that he did better than a suspension. It was 90 in DC, about 10 degrees warmer on the field. What punishment is worse than making him play ... every ... down... in those green jerseys?

[R-V]

Interesting stuff on Rich's second pitch:

Harden is more or less a two-pitch guy now, though he seems to mix in a changeup. His real killer pitch isn't the change, however.

The second graph is Mariano Rivera's cutter, a pitch that's I've heard is kind of good. It's lot faster than Harden's slider-thing, but the movement chart just struck me. I'm calling it a slider, though FG calls it a changeup. At any rate, it's a pitch that almost no one else is throwing, which is probably the reason Harden gets so many empty swings on it. Harden's only real problem is that he's been a fly ball pitcher since he cut down to two pitches, and he's been lowering his velocity while still pitching up in the zone. Wrigley Field also did him no favors, contributing to a career-high 15.1% HR/FB in 2009.