Doing 10 lists of 10 is actually harder than you might think. Coming up with the lists and then what's on the list, it's 100 pieces of information for a column. Okay, it's only 70 because I always have three sort of goofy lists when I do these. But still, even the goofy ones require some thought.
It's a format I enjoy but that's harder than it might appear at first glance. Takes forever to write, actually. The only positive? You don't need to write a clever intro since it's exactly what it says it is. Ten lists of 10. So I'm going to take advantage of that and dive in. As always, the numbers you see in parentheses are ownership percentages in ESPN standard 10-team mixed leagues.
List One: Ten things I noticed when going through the box scores for last night (Wednesday, May 27).
1. Juan Rivera (3 percent) goes 2-for-3 with an RBI. He's now up to .293 on the year. Over his past 10 games, he is hitting .316 with three home runs and six RBI.
2. Luke Scott (5 percent) hit a home run and is now off the DL. He's hitting .311 on the year.
3. Delwyn Young (0.3 percent) batted second and played second base. He's now appeared at 2B, LF and RF. They keep finding ways to get him in the lineup. He's hitting .294 on the year.
4. Rick Porcello (32 percent) wins his sixth game of the year by going six innings and giving up only two runs. Over his past five starts, the rookie is 5-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 30 innings.
5. Matt Murton (0.1 percent) batted cleanup for the Rockies. He's a guy that I've just always liked and has some power. He's been starting recently.
6. Jason Isringhausen (2 percent) pitched two scoreless innings in a loss to Cleveland. And recently, anyone throwing scoreless innings in the Rays' bullpen is worth paying attention to.
7. Jerry Hairston Jr. (15 percent) hit his second home run in four days. He now is hitting .300 with five home runs and 12 RBI in the month of May along with four steals. He has appeared at 2B, SS, 3B and OF.
8. Daisuke Matsuzaka (97 percent) needed 102 pitches to get through five innings in his second start since his return.
9. In that same game, Denard Span (49 percent) went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and his 11th stolen base. He is hitting .316 on the season. I have no idea what Span needs to do to get more respect.
10. Justin Upton (98 percent) stole his fifth base of the season. We know about the power, but he had stolen only three bases in the past two seasons combined. But he did have 36 steals in three seasons in the minors. It's not a fluke. If you own Upton, expect 12 to 15 steals this year as well.
List Two: Fun with small sample sizes. Ten guys who have been on fire over their past 10 games.
1. Gary Sheffield (14 percent): .414, 3 HR, 12 RBI
2. Ryan Garko (2 percent): .257, 4 HR, 10 RBI
3. Casey Blake (44 percent): .405, 2 HR, 10 RBI
4. Aaron Rowand (8 percent): .375, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 Runs, 2 SB
5. Cody Ross (9 percent): .395, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 11 Runs
6. Nolan Reimold (2 percent): .278, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 Runs
7. Adam Kennedy (9 percent): .415, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB
8. Andy LaRoche (3 percent): .429, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB
9. Michael Cuddyer (49 percent): .390, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 11 Runs
10. Carlos Ruiz (2 percent): .300, 2 HR, 7 RBI and even 1 SB
List Three: Ten guys who are owned in more than 50 percent of ESPN standard leagues that you should have no problem cutting.
1. David Ortiz (88 percent)
2. Delmon Young (63 percent)
3. Placido Polanco (80 percent)
4. Howie Kendrick (87 percent)
5. Carlos Guillen (53 percent)
6. Ricky Nolasco (63 percent): though I still think he turns it around eventually.
7. Andy Sonnanstine (63 percent)
8. Scott Kazmir (89 percent)
9. Brandon Morrow (60 percent)
10. Troy Percival (69 percent)
List Four: Ten e-mails or comments I have gotten that I am guessing the folks who wrote them would like to take back.
1. Will Seaborn (Arlington, VA): Just wanted to say thanks for the awesome recommendations on Chris Carpenter and A.J. Burnett on the BS Report with Bill Simmons. (TMR note: I liked Carpenter and hated A.J.)
2. Robert Costello (Boston, MA): I'm not sure what this means, but I find myself thinking about you a lot. It's nothing sexual, I'm sure of that. It's something else.
3. From the ESPN Conversation on my Love/Hate article: Trojanav: "You've got to put Carl Crawford on the "hate" list. Every year he gets taken in the first two rounds of a lot of drafts and can't hit 15 homers, has a so-so average and his SB numbers are down."
4. From ESPN Conversation on my March 6 article: RealSamoyed: "I'm just wondering how much Mike Cameron paid you to put him on every list for the past three years? You even ranked him in the top 100 last year, before and after the break! What's the "word" on Cameron? The guy can hit and run. But, he doesn't."
5. From ESPN Conversation on my March 20 article: Angelgr89: "It looks like TMR is going out of his way to bash Yankees players. A.J. Burnett is my breakout player of the year so I'm glad people in my draft are not picking him up earlier."
6. From ESPN Conversation on my March 20 article: Play4Keeps360: "I agree with tecuala. Magic Wandy Rodriguez is mostly hocus and no pocus in my book. Peripherals are there but luck often isn't."
7. Brad (Aliso Viejo, CA): I have enjoyed your work and you're a pretty funny fella. So far this year I have been disappointed. It seems like you recommend everyone with a little upside and the whole Big Papi is done thing, that's gonna sting.
8. From ESPN Conversation on my April 23 article: Crenshaw07: "It is way too early to give up on Conor Jackson. The entire team is struggling to warm up at the plate. You will be sorry come late May if you drop this guy."
9. Pretty much everyone from that same April 23 article that defended Mike Brown and the Cavaliers.
10 Dylan (Seattle) First, if you're at all familiar with "LivingSocial" on Facebook, I threw you in my "biggest celebrity crushes" alongside Hayden Panettiere, Erin Andrews, Maria Sharapova and Yvonne Strahovski. Your good looks speak for themselves.
List Five: Ten things I wish I could take back and/or was dead wrong about.
1. Being so down on Joe Mauer. I really didn't think he'd be playing a lot this year due to the back.
2. Putting Derek Jeter on my pre-season "Hate" list.
3. Putting Victor Martinez on the same list.
4. Clearly, I was wrong on Ryan Howard.
5. Not thinking Justin Verlander would bounce back.
6. Being so high on David Purcey.
7. And Jose Arredondo.
8. Not real proud of the "B.J. Ryan is okay" call.
9. Saying Armando Galarraga will finish with a sub 4.00 ERA.
10. Predicting Francisco Liriano will win the AL Cy Young award.
List Six: Ten pitchers I think are sell high and won't sustain the level of success they are having. They will still be good or solid, but I feel they have reached the peak of their value, whatever that may be.
1. Jered Weaver
2. Kevin Millwood (get whatever you can)
3. Brian Bannister
4. Doug Davis
5. Matt Cain
6. Tim Wakefield
7. Randy Wolf
8. Jair Jurrjens
9. Johnny Cueto
10 Zach Duke
List Seven: Ten movies. Every year, my friends and I do a "Summer Movie Pool" where we each pick 10 movies that we think will make the most money from the weekend after Memorial Day until the middle of September. You can't pick a movie that has already opened. Most money made wins, with a bonus if you pick correct order for any film. We've done it four years now. I've won it once and finished second once (there's about 20 of us). Here's the list I just submitted. I'm taking a huge gamble by not putting Public Enemies on here but with this game, that's how you win.
1. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
3. "UP"
4. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"
5. "Bruno"
6. "Taking of Pelham 123" (this instead of "Public Enemies" will either make or break me)
7. "Year One"
8. "Hangover"
9. "Inglourious Basterds"
10. "Land of the Lost"
List Eight: Ten pitchers with one really bad start. Here's 10 pitchers' ERAs if you take out their one worst start of the year.
1. John Maine (39 percent) 3.70
2. Bronson Arroyo (22 percent) 3.94
3. Trevor Cahill (3 percent) 3.45 (and that includes one brutal 7 ER start. I took out only one)
4. Livan Hernandez (3 percent) 3.43
5. Carl Pavano (4 percent) 4.15 (and he has a 3.58 ERA over his past six starts)
6. Chris Young (69 percent) 3.72
7. Micah Owings (2 percent) 4.10
8. Clayton Kershaw (93 percent) 3.17
9. Brian Tallet (2 percent) 2.87
10. Ubaldo Jimenez (37 percent) 3.59
List Nine: Fun with splits. Those of you in daily leagues who stream pitchers, here are some interesting split stats.
1. Gavin Floyd (26 percent) at home: 1-2, 3.55 ERA
2. Paul Maholm (34 percent) at home: 2-0, 1.98 ERA
3. Joel Pineiro (11 percent) at home: 3-1. 2.05 ERA
4. Barry Zito (9 percent) at home: 0-1, 2.36 ERA
5. Big Fat Bartolo Colon (3 percent) at home: 2-2, 2.75 ERA
6. Tim Wakefield (42 percent) at home: 4-0, 3.00 ERA
7. Ross Ohlendorf (4 percent) at home: 3-1, 3.00 ERA
8. Jason Hammel (0.2 percent) on the road: 1-1, 1.64 ERA
9. Jon Garland (6 percent) on the road: 2-1, 2.13 ERA
10. Kyle Davies (13 percent) on the road: 0-1, 2.16 ERA
List 10: My 10 favorite mystery writers. When I read for pleasure, I mostly read mysteries. I tend to like mindless stuff when I read. Here are 10 really good writers. I highly recommend all of them if you like that sort of stuff.
1. Michael Connelly
2. Robert Crais
3. Stuart Woods
4. Harlan Coben
5. Gregory McDonald (The Fletch series is terrific)
6. Janet Evanovich
7. Sue Grafton
8. Stephen J. Cannell
9. Carl Hiaasen
10. Patricia Cornwell
Matthew Berry -- The Talented Mr. Roto -- has been playing fantasy since he was 14, but only came out the closet when he was 21. He is a five-time award winner from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, including a Writer of the Year award. He is also the creator of RotoPass.com, a Web site that combines a bunch of well-known fantasy sites, including ESPN Insider, for one low price. Use promo code ESPN for 10 percent off. Cyberstalk the TMR | Be his cyberfriend