News Cut: February 2, 2008 Archive

The quiet comeback

Posted at 8:37 AM on February 2, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

Gov. Pawlenty has proposed lifting a moratorium on nuclear power plants in Minnesota. The nuclear industry's comeback is just behind a calculated schedule by the Department of Energy that was set in motion long before the price of oil started its meteoric rise. It's prompting an aging generation to try to rev up its no-nuke machine one more time.

So, who would be willing to have a plant near them? Many Minnesotans already do.

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The jinx of the highest-paid pitcher

Posted at 9:26 AM on February 2, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

Johan Santana has signed the richest contract for a pitcher -- ever. He was traded from the Twins to the Mets earlier this week. He'll make more for every strikeout this year than most people make in a season.

It's not a scientific calculation, but let's take a look at what happened to some of the recent pitchers to have -- at least for a little while -- the distinction of being the "highest paid pitcher in baseball" and how they did after signing for the big bucks.

Carlos Zambrano - Cubs. $18.3 million per year. Signed 2007.
How the pitcher did: He signed his extension in mid-August. Won 4 games and lost 5 the rest of the way.
How the team did: The Cubs won their division. In the playoffs against Arizona, Zambrano pitched well in the first game, the Cubs still lost, and were swept aside by Arizona.

Barry Zito - Giants $18 million per year. Signed 2007.
How the pitcher did Terribly. He went 11-13 last season with a 4.53 ERA.
How his team did: Finished dead last in its division at 71-91.

Mike Mussina - Yankees. 2005. $19 million per year
How the pitcher did: Won only 13 games in 2005 with an ERA above league average. Lost the deciding game in the divisional series to the Angels. 15-7 3.51 ERA in 2006. Injuries have made him ineffective. Won only 11 games last season and at 39, is considered on last legs.
How the team did: Yankees have made early exits in the playoffs the last three seasons with Mussina losing two games, winning one. Yankees lost 3 of 4 games in which Mussina pitched.

Roger Clemens - Astros. $18 million. 2005.
How the pitcher did: 13-8. Miniscule ERA. Asterisk for rumors of steroid use.
How the team did: Second in division. Clemens went 2-1 in league playoffs, didn't win a game in the World Series, and the Astros have became a mediocre team in a mediocre division.

Bartolo Colon - Angels $16 million. 2005
How the pitcher did: Won Cy Young Award in first season, has won seven games total in two years since, blew out his arm and is considered washed up.
How the team did: - Lost a game in the division series, which the Angels won. Injured and did not play in the league champonship series, which the Angels lost.

Sorry, Mets fans.

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The head case

Posted at 6:39 PM on February 2, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

It didn't take long for yesterday's story of mentally ill women being used as bombers in Iraq to be reported as fact. In many cases its source wasn't attributed. The truth? Maybe they were. Maybe they weren't.

Who says they were mentally ill and how do they know? It comes from Gen. Qasim Atta, a spokesman for Baghdad's security plan. The claim is based on an examination of the severed head of one woman. Since it was deformed, it was assumed the bomber had Down syndrome.

A U.S. general seized the assumption:

At a news conference, Army Maj. Gen. Jeff Hammond, who commands U.S. forces in Baghdad, showed reporters photos of the bombers' heads, which typically are blown from the body in suicide attacks. He said the broad foreheads, flattened noses and almond-shaped eyes were all suggestive of Down syndrome.

"These two women were likely used because they didn't understand what was happening and they were less likely to be searched," Hammond said.

It is a claim of questionable value since the explosion could've had something to do with the deformity. One British forensics expert called the claim "dangerous." Nonetheless, it probably should have been reported with more uncertainty, at least until there was more substantive evidence.

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