The Wizard

SPORTING GOODS

I owe my own baseball numbers obsession to two people: Rob Neyer and Bill James. So you could say I owe it all to James, since Neyer is his protege. And I'm certainly not the only one.

Anyway, there's an interesting article about James, his work life, and his relationship with the Red Sox, in today's Globe. It's worth a read if you're interested in James or the Sox.

And I'm going to go out and pretend that "great minds think alike," and assume that Bill James was talking about John Flaherty here.

Do they make moves you don't recommend? ''Yes, sometimes I'm filing a minority report," such as this spring, when James argued vociferously against one player and the Sox invited him to spring training nonetheless.