Baseball record books are filled with statistics on home runs, runs batted in, earned run averages, etc. but there’s nothing in them on the intangible factors of the game. For example–in 1944 Chicago traded Stanky to the Dodgers. He played fifty-eight games at second base and the Dodgers finished in seventh place. In 1945 Stanky became the regular second baseman. The Dodgers rose to third place, in 1946 to second, and in 1947, with Stanky at second, the Dodgers won the pennant.

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The Piketty and Saez chart on page 11 of A New Era Of Responsibility: Renewing America’s Promise is not a valid basis for making charges of a “legacy of irresponsibility” by the top 1% of American taxpayers. Piketty and Saez consider only earned pre-tax income and they exclude transfer payments in their study.

That exclusion distorts the true picture of poverty and affluence in the U.S. by showing much lower income for the lower quintiles of the population than is actually the case and higher income for the highest quintile than is the case. (more…)

Eddie Stanky and Alvin Dark complemented one another in the field, just as well they did at bat and on the bases. In 1950, with Stanky at second and Dark at shortstop, the Giants executed 181 double plays in 154 games, close to the then National League record. That was one more every two games than in 1949 when Buddy Kerr, Bill Rigney and Hank Thompson were playing short and second. Double plays crush rallies and demoralize the team at bat. Stanky was as adept at demoralizing the team at bat when in the field, as at demoralizing the team in the field when at bat. (more…)