A "cutter" is a fastball that breaks slightly as it reaches home plate. Nasty, and hard to hit.  The other cutter, of course, is a surgeon.

Today, I could not name five members of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. Nor could I name those who are assisting a cardiologist who's going to implant a pacemaker in one of my relatives.

But, once again, the Oakland A's are being used as a benchmark for the way that medicine ought to be practiced in a Wall Street Journal article focusing on developing cheaper, better care benchmarks.

Quoting David Merritt of the Center for Health Transformation: "Until you have data on past performances, which hopefully will indicate future performance, it's almost impossible to tell who's going to be a major-league ballplayer and who's not."

That, of course, comes from the Homer Simpson "no-duh" school of reasoning. It explains why A's general manager Billy Beane became a geek-god of having fun with up and comers before letting others have them when they became pricey.

Do I want quality, affordable health care -- without finding some haven overseas? Sure. Do I expect a good "cutter" to deliver -- at any price, whether in Yankees pinstripes or an antisepticed stranger in gown and gloves? O'course. And skilled practitioners at Community Medical Centers and elsewhere are taking huge leaps and bound in hardwiring quality into every element of care.

Baseball, sadly, can get boring. But good medicine will always mean examining every option and opportunity -- and delivering right on the money, value over volume, as the news story noted.

Kind of like a 2-hour pitchers' duel. And to complete the shameless pandering on baseball, pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Feb. 20, 107 days away and counting (and you can keep track right here, http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ )