James jabs Berryhill, Frey, autographs

Bill James is unmistakably a numbers cruncher. But that doesn'tmean he can't see the human forest for the statistical trees.

For example, one of his favorite players in all of baseball isSox catcher Carlton Fisk. "What's there not to like," James says."He still throws well. He still hits well. Obviously he knows whathe's doing in terms of calling a game."

But perhaps more important, James says, is Fisk's character."You gotta love the Deion Sanders incident," James says.

The Deion Sanders incident occurred last year when Fiskchastised the much younger Sanders for, among other things, notshowing proper respect for the New York Yankees uniform.

James …