Links at lunch

I'm working on the midseason report cards and whatnot, I was short on time last night but will at least work on them tonight during the game. Since I don't have those ready and beyond that the sporting world is dead for another day and a half, I've got some links.

Steve Zielinski has another new piece of reading up at Irate Fans, this one entitled "Best Park, Worst Owners."

Jayson Stark has a nice write up of the Derby and the added excitement of having the Allegheny well within striking distance for guys like Howard and Ortiz.

Dejan asked a bunch of All-Stars what they think is wrong with the Pirates. A sample of the answers,

A-Rod:

I'm sure it's frustrating for everyone here. But with the system we have in place right now, every team has hope. If you look at what revenue sharing has done, if you look at the way Oakland, Minnesota and now Detroit operate, you can get to where you're a player or two away, or a good decision by the manager away. Good baseball decisions can be made in Pittsburgh, too.

Ugh, I agree with A-Rod.

Tom Glavine:

I don't know the ins and outs of what's going on here with the ownership group, but you have to take a look at that and see if that's a source of the problem. You have teams over the past few years that weren't doing well before, but they're doing well now. You have to ask that question: Have the economics of those other teams changed so dramatically? Or have the people who run those organizations done a better job of putting a team together?

Ugh, I agree with Tom Glavine.

Also there's a new Stats Geek column about the All-Star game and an amusing piece about Sanchez and Bay's experience being home town all-stars.

UPDATE: I missed this one earlier, but while we're at it, here's an ESPN column about Jason Bay's crazy day on Monday.