Five Bad Moves From Five Defending Champions
After a 2010 season that saw him energize the Giants offense with an .891 OPS and 6.0 fWAR in 668 plate appearances, Giants GM Brian Sabean felt like he needed to keep his new star in the fold, and signed him to a two year, $22 million contract. Keep in mind that in 2009, the year before his breakout season (at age 33) with the Giants, Huff had a .694 OPS and was worth a sparkling -1.8 fWAR in 597 plate appearances for the Orioles and Tigers. Predictably, the Giants offense languished in 2011, and while the broken ankle suffered by star catcher Buster Posey was a huge concern, the .676 OPS and -0.6 fWAR posted by Huff in 579 plate appearances didn't help matters in the slightest. Further pushing the signing to the edge of insanity was the presence of top prospect Brandon Belt in San Francisco's farm system. Belt had a 1.075 OPS in 2010 in the minors, finishing his season at AAA Fresno. He spent a good bit of 2011 there as well, despite a .989 OPS in the minors. When Belt did get time in the majors last season, he spent a majority of it on the bench, only getting into 63 games and 209 plate appearances. His .718 OPS was better than Huff's, and his 0.7 fWAR produced was also better. Thank god Huff is under contract for next season too, so that he can steal even more time away from Belt! San Francisco did not make the playoffs in 2011.Norman Borlaug: The Genius Behind The Green Revolution
, Portrays sympathetically one of the great figures of the 20th Century.Borlaug’s life was one of extraordinary paradoxes: A child of the Iowa prairie during the Great Depression who grew up on a dirt-poor farm, attended a one-room school and flunked the university entrance exam but went on to become one of most renowned plant breeders in history – and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for averting malnutrition, famine and the premature death of hundreds of millions. (That was at a time when the award meant more than political correctness.)
Borlaug introduced several revolutionary innovations. First, he and his colleagues laboriously crossbred thousands of wheat varieties from around the world to produce some new ones with resistance to rust, a destructive plant pest; this raised yields 20% to 40%.
Second, he crafted so-called dwarf wheat varieties, which were smaller than the old shoulder-high varieties that bent in the wind and touched the ground (thereby becoming unharvestable); the new waist or knee-high dwarfs stayed erect and held up huge loads of grain. The yields were boosted even further.
Globe and MailSince retiring in 2006, Yzerman has worked as a vice president for the Red Wings, the only team he played for during a 22-year career in which he scored 692 Lightning Score a Coup by Hiring Steve Yzerman as New GMYzerman departure tough on IlitchesYzerman Brings Hope From Hockeytown to Tampa Bayall 819 news articles »
He put up 692 goals, 1063 assists and 1755 points over a span of 22 seasons. The center also captained Detroit from 1987-2006. He also holds the Red Wing
