2014 regular season chatter

Just watched the opener archive, 4 hours late... Arizona needs the NL to pass an emergency DH rule to save them from Trumbo's glove.

are the red-sox supposed to be major contenders again? haven't paid attention to MLB is years now, but now it seems charming again.

i didn't even realize the opener was today! or last night. or whatever.

SYDNEY -- Manager Don Mattingly struggled Friday trying to explain to an Australian reporter, in baseball terms, just what makes Clayton Kershaw so special, when all he really had to say was, 'Just watch.'

Don Mattingly the great ambassador for baseball

"If you stay with us over the course of a season, you'd understand the importance of Clayton," Mattingly said, when given another shot in the postgame news conference.

are the red-sox supposed to be major contenders again?

yep, expected to win the division. if all else fails, you can always check out fangraph's projected standings and amaze your friends with your ability to tell the future

https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/448620720315068416/photo/1

FRANCOEUR TO THE PADRES on a minor league deal

It's good to be the king

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/3/25/5548060/mlb-payroll-2014-dodgers-yankees

braves payroll + marlins payroll + $21.5m = phillies payroll

god can this season finally start already

australia doesn't count

Friend offered me a free ticket to Mets on Monday, but I can't make it back from DC in time! Anyway it might be 50 F, too cold.

mook, the Bucs come to Citi at the end of May, u better go w/ me if I am able.

ok!

if i'm reading this correctly, wilin rosario did not walk after july last season:

http://www.fangraphs.com/statsplits.aspx?playerid=8002&position=C&season=2013

yeah, hoping monday is at least sunny and calm. friend hooked me up w/ tix to the mets opener also. though, i think the seats are swank and come w/ access to all the internal club$ & shit so im not really worried

u bastard :)

working during opening day is going to kill me

Wtf is this "rojos" vs Houston on the 31st on MLB atbat calendar? Assume its the reds..

i dont see that, but it's probably los diablos rojos del mexico (city). they're playing veracruz over the weekend

Is Quentin on the DL @QuentinOnDL
Yes

Brian Wilson is imploding in the 8th and so the Padres took the lead. Fun atmosphere at PETCO.

pads are my fav nl team this year

just wish they'd kill the camo jerseys ugh

I'm used to them at this point

come on baseball, START

http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4200811/this-is-baseball.gif

poly what are your thoughts on the rizzo/cashner trade? kinda interesting to look at in hindsight

hahahaha that dog

smdh pirates and cubs both wearing alternates on opening day

"Written in the Stars" on repeat all day. So hyped.

poly what are your thoughts on the rizzo/cashner trade? kinda interesting to look at in hindsight

Cashner seems like he could become a workhorse. His velocity is great, but as a pitcher he's still figuring some stuff out.

Rizzo was atrocious in his one season with the Padres, so I'm glad the result of the trade was a legit major league player and not a bag of balls and two PTBNL's.

Braun's first AB is gonna be a home run, calling it now

nope

so f disappointed

retconning every one of braun's 211 home runs as weak popups to LF (strds)

tanner scheppers got j-roll'd

j-roll's hr trot: 25 seconds

Ryan Braun gets a standing ovation from the Milwaukee fans after returning from 65-game suspension

burn milwaukee to the ground imo

jp arencibia just drew a walk off cliff lee

yeah how dare Milwaukee cheer for its star baseball player, for shame

yeah for real; he's all we got cut us a break

this rangers-phillies game might go on for a while

@SarahSpain
I had a feeling #Brewers fans were idiots, but a standing ovation for Lyin' Ryan Braun is a whole new level of stupidity.

Sweet Christ it's going to be a long season

difference between "cheering for a guy" and "standing ovation" come on

Interleague on Opening Day still made me do a double take

Thank you for telling us the exact right amount we should be cheering for him. I was afraid we were supposed to root against him, but now I know we can cheer, if only in polite moderation.

way to get it dude

standing ovation in this case is loaded, most people probably standing up to say "we support you in your recovery from this awful strd infliction you've inflicted on yourself we got yr back" but it's not hard to read it as "hey you got boned we always had your back selig did 9/11"

lol not a single Brewer fan I know things Braun is innocent. we're just glad to have him back. keep in mind this team hadn't made the playoffs for TWENTY SIX YEARS at one point.

Yeah, overwhelming consensus is that Braun is a lying douchebag largely responsible for the hell the team endured last season. But you can understand why fans don't like being ridiculed as backwoods hicks because they're excited to have the star player the team's entire future hinges on back in the lineup after an ugly long absence.

I don't really think Milwaukee should be burned to the ground fwiw

hahaha phew!

successful video challenge by nl manager of the year clint hurdle

they should at least have the organ player jam out while we wait

otm. This graphic is pretty damn cool though

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkFNpMsCMAAwkpa.jpg

don't really get the outrage at milwaukee fans. sad franchise loses star player, fans are happy to have him back

a study in contrasts - listening to the cardinals announcers stupidly shittalk about joey votto taking walks, interrupted by yadi making an incredible head's up play to start a double play

NESN announcers are getting on my nerves.

i haven't heard ANY baseball announcer say anything intelligent about joey votto/walks/obp

votto would look like a mad genius if he had anyone behind him to protect him/drive him in

don't really get the outrage at milwaukee fans. sad franchise loses star player, fans are happy to have him back

I don't care about steroids that much, but Braun brought the sample collector Dino Laurenzi down with him. That puts him in a class with guys like Lance Armstrong imo. Not merely a cheater, but fucking with other people to hide your lie.

"GLOBE LIFE PARK in Arlington"?

jesus don baylor

cubs have signed joel pineiro to a minor league contract

he's 35, hasn't pitched in the majors since 2011, and isn't even left-handed

i forgot that joel pineiro existed

yanquis dfa eduardo nunez lol

Jeetz takes one on the hand to start/nearly end the season

aw man, that's the hand he would use to wave during his infinite series of goodbye ovations this year, poor guy

wd've been sweet if Ellsbury had broken an ankle on Tal's Hill there

I LIKE THESE YANKEES

which oldschool analyst is going to have a stroke watching defensive shifts?

Brian McCann hits CLEANUP for the Yankees?!

rays reportedly locking up chris archer for cheap-ish

scherzer all over the place, first and third with one out, billy butler hits a 3-0 pitch into a 6-4-3 #royals

Cool box score so far in ATL/MIL game

said box score, in the top of the 7th, continues to be cool

now only half cool

things just became half as cool

still, pretty, pretty cool there

i would be much more optimistic about harang's ability to remain cool if it were 2006 or something

nah, he can do a card trick, lotsa sucky pitchers have

apropos of absolutely nothing, i just did a quick check to determine which player with a career negative fWAR had the most plate appearances.

Alfredo Griffin. 7331 PAs. Career fWAR: -1.0

Among active players, it seems to be Delmon Young, with 3939 PAs and a career fWAR of -1.3

Yuniesky dint last long nuff?

only 4278 PAs for poor old Yuniesky.

but an admirable, solid -0.8 fWAR

Yuniesky Betancourt's streak of SEVEN consecutive seasons with a negative WAR is mindblowing (fWAR is a little kinder to him, but not by much). During much of that time he was a full time player!

I actually was writing that post before the last 3. I guess we thought of the same dude.

"COME ON, give us a break," Hawk croaks, as a replay shows Semien's swing nowhere near a check.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2014/0402/mlb_hat_d1_576x324.jpg

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10715887/uni-watch-some-fans-removing-chief-wahoo-logos-protest

as the announcer of a crappy team i don't care about one way or another, hawk is tremendous and stone is his perfect partner

when the white sox get good again, tho, it'll piss me off

Hawk needs to be set adrift in the Arctic while there are still ice floes

tbf he has a better home run call than gary's pubescent 'it's outta here'

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10715887/uni-watch-some-fans-removing-chief-wahoo-logos-protest

― Andy K, Wednesday, April 2, 2014 7:29 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cool, now if they'd start protesting the team name

rays change their pitchers, go for the intentional walk, and then change their pitcher again.

lol maddon

jonathan papelbon tonight:

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/cache/location.php-pitchSel=449097&game=gid_2014_04_02_phimlb_texmlb_1&batterX=0&innings=yyyyyyyyy&sp_type=1&s_type=3&league=mlb&cache=1.gif

http://www.youcantpredictbaseball.com/?p=3344

wacha-cingrani could be the start of a beautiful rivalry

it's been a great game

cingrani's really impressive

first flash of regular season power from wong there in a very long time. hamilton has looked preeetty terrible the first few two games. 4 strikeouts in the 1st game of course (which apparently puts him in the company of 16 or 17 other players since 1900) and not looking so great in CF either

cubs just turned the dreaded 7-2-3 double play

emilio bonifacio is 10-for-13 so far

with four stolen bases

11-14

scoring in the 1st and doing shit afterward rlly seems like a Met tradition across the eras

bonifacio has already tied his 2013 war: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4054&position=2B/OF

Didn't he have a really hot start a few years back?

Last few innings of this Twins-White Sox game have been pretty comical.

...and just got way more comical.

matt holliday, with runners on 1B and 2B, just singled off the very top of the outfield wall, leaving the bases loaded.

wacky play

rip ryu

miggy 9th player to reach 2000 hits before turning 31

i still have a month and a half until i turn 31, so there's a chance i could be the 10th

similarly, i feel like it's not too late to become the star of an action movie franchise if someone would just give me a good line like 'i will find you, and i will kill you'

charlie blackmon 6-6

bossman jr out strong again - 3/25 11ks

is there a site w/ just hi res pics of bats flying into the stands? these are just the best

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BklNUxkCIAAh0wi.jpg

Prince Fielder is wearing #84?!? Is this a Purple Rain ref???

Jim Johnson seems to start 9th innings of fthe way John Franco used to

single, walk, failed bunt, walk...

tie score, blown save, w/ a 2-run lead

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-watch-billy-hamilton-make-a-run-happen/

http://cdn.fangraphs.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/HamiltonSF2.gif.opt_.gif

jesus

jon jay doesn't exactly have a cannon but that was about a perfect throw, coming from him

He overpursued the ball a bit which didn't help his throw strength, but it's still insane.

Don't slide into first base, kids!

@BNightengale
Josh Hamilton suffered complete tear of ulnar collateral ligament along with a torn capsule when he slid head-first into 1st base. #Angels

@injuryexpert
More damage inside the thumb as well for Hamilton. That 6-8 week estimate could be on the low end for this type of repair and rehab.

http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/article.jsp?content_id=30846588

that pic of the bat flying into the stands... fucking love the dude on the right. everyone pulling a funny face and he's just chilling there like, "huh. strange place for a bat."

a's going closer by committee for now

Avisail out for the year, dadgummit.

i switched him off my HACKING MASS team yesterday!

el toro

"Sometimes a blister can really ruin a pitcher's....career."

- Al Hrabosky, worst announcer of all time, April 11, 2014.

is there an example of a blister ruining a pitcher's career? i understand the effects it can have on a season, but a career?

he's already the worst announcer of all time, regardless of whether or not his quote can be backed up by anything.

when i go to sleep i try to think of al hrabosky and pete kozma in a boxing match, a simultaneous double-KO, but somehow it never materializes in my dreams

a few nights ago one of the other cardinals announcers made a joke on air that was really in the awkward middle zone of interpretation - it was a dryly delivered joke about al hrabosky sucking and no one wanting to talk to him. there was an incredibly tense second or two where the only sound was the joker laughing to himself as you could almost hear hrabosky's remaining neurons fly around in an attempt to determine whether or not it was a joke. then hrabosky responded with a weak counter joke in return, basically of the "no...YOU'RE the one who sucks and no one wants to talk to..." variety

you'd love michael kay + al leiter then

in a hunger games style scenario, i wonder how many announcer teams would immediately betray each other?

Punkin' Frenchy for a month

http://deadspin.com/jeff-francoeurs-teammates-pulled-a-hilarious-month-lon-1562734995

he's not very bright is he

great american launching pad

heh

Arizona's ERA: 7.82, 2+ worse than Twins'

Springer called up

lol billy hamilton drew a walk to open the first and the pirates immediately shit their pants: SB, WP, WP and tony sanchez doesn't know whether to cry or wind his watch

i wonder how many Stankee stalwarts are braving the 41-degree afternoon

Man, this ninth inning in Arlington...

uuuggghhh

Fly out, strike out, single, walk, error, wild pitch, game-ending single.

CHW strikes out 15 times, BOS walks 15 times in 14 innings

@TimBritton
"I love him like a second son. I always have." Hawk Harrelson on A.J. Pierzynski

dubbaya tee dubbaya

"Josh Johnson will see Dr. James Andrews next Tuesday, per Bud Black. Will "look at everything" (ligament, forearm flexors, back of elbow)."

This went about as well as I'd expected.

does anyone but jed lowrie still rock the double-flap helmet?

i feel like matt carpenter would, if only he were a switch-hitter

Shin-Soo Choo has always rocked the double-flap helmet.

Bronson Arroyo also always wore one for some reason too.

http://www.red-hot-mama.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/20120908-arroyo-batting.jpg

excellent

Is Willie Harris still active?

Weirdest play: Kinsler on first, ran on pitch -- ball four to Cabrera. Conger threw -- wildly -- to second anyway. Trout picked up the throw, threw -- wildly -- to pitcher Santiago, who threw -- wildly -- home. Three throwing errors on a play that should not have happened.

http://deadspin.com/how-fast-does-billy-hamilton-get-to-first-1565540319?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Sale was "tender" prior to throwing 127 pitches against the Red Sox.

Now he's on the 15-day DL with a flexor strain.

cliff lee's last 10 starts: 92 strikeouts, three walks

lotta strikeouts in atlanta tonight

Yeah. I can't remember Bill James' definitions for Cheap Wins and Tough Losses, but Alex Wood is the Tough Loss Poster Boy this season, if this score holds up.

Whew, combined 28 Ks, no walks.

fernandez game score = 90 / wood = 81

game scores:
jose fernandez 90
alex wood 81

lol xp

wow

Harang and Eovaldi are both dealing in the finale, and the teams are up to 68 Ks in the series (ties ML record) with 3 innings to go.

cubs are really cubbing it up in the ninth

on its 100th birthday, wrigley field killed justin ruggiano

michael wacha has struck out the side in each of the first 3 innings

7th pitcher to do it

is he the first to do it at the beginning of a game?

accordingly to the (totally unreliable and stupid) cardinals broadcasters, 7th to do it at the beginning

can't believe you're not listening to gary, ron and keith

i was googling aorund for more info yesterday, and i am probably more unreliable and stupid than they are, but the NL record for k's i found in an order to start a game was one mickey welch in 1884, and the record was 9 -- and they would've mentioned if he shared the record. so michael wacha might be only the second? and the first in 130 years? (al record was 7, btw)

i get the feeling it's two different records we're discussing here. one is most consecutive strikeouts to consecutive batters to start a game - in other words, no one else gets a walk or a hit or anything. i'm guessing that's the one with the record set back in the 1800s (Morbs was mentioning it too in the Mets thread).

then there's the record for most consecutive outs recorded with strikeouts at the beginning of the game. that's the one wacha would be relevant to, as he gave up 2 walks and a hit in the first 3 innings along with the 9 strikeouts. i think when the cardinals broadcasters mentioned that wacha was the 7th player to do it, this was the record they were talking about.

haha. i was coming back to say that i had misunderstood after looking up the play-by-play.

well, 7 to do it or 2, kid's still goddamn impressive. also, didn't we see a game kinda like this with danny salazar like 2 weeks ago? he had something like 10 ks but his pitch count tapped him out in the 4th or 5th inning.

wacha's pretty awesome, but one major asterisk to his performance is that it was windy as hell on the field. wacha's cap flew off his head at one point when he was just standing there! that may have helped him out at some points. i'm not sure if that much wind would change the trajectory of a pitch, but it must have been really distracting for the batters. or at least, on balance, more distracting for the batter than for the pitcher.

and in the end it looks like it got to wacha too, because he gave up 5 walks in 4 innings

http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/32074621/Bl8cCdICIAAz41v.0_standard_709.0.png

Citi Field, like Shea, must to avoid in April (usu for day games too)

CGSHO in consecutive starts for martin perez; gave up 3 hits in each game, threw 109 total pitches in each game

I do NOT get Mattingly's challenge on the tagout at home. Ruiz moved entirely into the RH batter's box -- where the fuck is he sposed to go to "give a lane," the on-deck circle? Wasted time.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/baseballs-worst-rule-is-dead/

In reality, though, we only had to live with the rule for those last 11 days, because according to Ken Rosenthal, MLB has already reversed course and the old definition of a catch will return to MLB in time for tonight’s games.

Starting Friday night, umpires will rule on catches the way they did in the past, using more of a common-sense approach rather than following the letter of the law, according to major-league sources.

A catch, forceout or tag will be considered legal if a fielder has control of the ball in his glove, but drops the ball after opening his glove to transfer the ball to his throwing hard, sources said. No longer will the fielder be required to successfully get the ball into his throwing hand.

so striking out the entire lineup, in order, has only been done once to start a game? I mean I know that's impossibly difficult but with like ~2400 games being played a year (plus playoffs) you'd think it would've been done more than that.

if the average hitter strikes out 20% of the time (not sure on the actual number but its somewhere around that) then the chances of it happening are 1 in 1953125, so you'd expect it to happen once every 800 seasons or so

err sorry, once every 400 seasons since theres 2 opportunities per game

In the abstract yes but there's got to be factors that combine to rise that number. Good pitching, bad lineup, lots of wind, etc. I was thinking bout this myself (I assumed 25% of the time sounded right, though hitters strike out way more than they used to) and yeah it feels like it should be super rare but I didn't figure it to be a lottery ticket.

I mean we have already had Vander Meer's two no-hits in a row and Fernando Tatis hitting two grand slams in the same inning. Both those seem way more unlikely than striking out the first 9 in a row. Maybe the math proves me wrong though.

ciderpress how did you get that number? the number i got was lower but my math might be dumb. also the "avg player" watermark on fangraphs is at 18.5%

i just did 1/(0.185^9)*2

"lower number" meaning i got one in every 20000ish games instead of 1953125

xp i did that exact same calculation so i dunno

the odds of back to back no-hitters are not actually that unfavorable if you don't care who or when

i got once every 1969810 games (assuming 2 chances per game), or once every 810 seasons

the ILB team hard at work

http://i.imgur.com/tf6gqJW.jpg

im a fucking idiot, i multiplied by 100 at some point because percentages

guys i am really off my game today

1/[(0.185^9)(2)(2430)]

i didn't actually do any math on the no-hitters but intuitively, if there's about 1 per season on average, then
a) there's a decent chance of there being one in any given season
b) once there is one, the chance of the back-to-back is just 1 in 4800 or whatever

the ILB team hard at work

http://i.imgur.com/tf6gqJW.jpg

Will M hard at work

http://math-fail.com/images-old/millionaire.jpg

obviously we are ignoring all context here and treating pitcher starts as independent

lol will

Every team in the AL East has a negative run differential.

it appears every team in AL East has a negative run diff.

Good pitchers duel between Teheran and Cueto today.

both pretty similarly great performances, outside of Cueto's 11k to Teheran's 5.

with bases loaded and one out in the third inning of oak-tex, brandon moss was picked off first by yu darvish

how does that even happen?

‏@castrovince
The #Tigers have played 21 games, the #Dbacks have lost 21 games.

how the hell are the D-Backs so terrible??

they're completely failing at preventing runs, plus giving a ton of PAs to martin prado who's playing below replacement level

their starting pitchers' peripherals are pretty good though so its hard to imagine them all continuing to give up 5+ runs every game

BP playoff odds now set them at 72 wins (same as Cubs)

the dbacks also got mercilessly destroyed by injuries (and gm ineptitude). they lost their best pitcher, best setup man and best pitching prospect to elbow injuries/tj and didnt have skaggs, santiago or addison reed to replace them with.

billy hamilton home run!

tiny crowds in philly and the bronx because of rain -- you can really hear the individual hecklers

need to specify that it was a billy hamilton outside-the-park home run

also another wood vs fernandez pitching duel but the kind of duel with guns and not swords

brewers now 11-1 on the road, d-backs 2-15 at home

@jay_jaffe
Dodger catchers thus far: .143/.228/.165, 1 RBI in 102 PA. Lowest OPS at position by 149 points. SLG 5 points lower than MLB pitchers

O_O

April stats are fun :) wasn't there a time when the combined OPS of Houston pitchers was higher than their hitters? or am I misremembering that?

too late – I've read it and shall henceforth accept it as fact. repeating it as often as possible.

Dodgers are trotting out Drew Butera as a backup catcher to the backup catcher. He ranks in the top (bottom) 10 of worst career OPS among all MLB players since 1901.

http://www.truebluela.com/2014/2/8/5366240/drew-butera-dodgers-2014-profile

3.0 WAR in one month for Tulo???

Every team in the AL East has a negative run differential.

― Andy K, Saturday, April 26, 2014 7:50 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Still.

Only three teams in the AL are +.

not really putting any stock in divisional run differentials when 90% of the games have been played against teams in the same division

I shouldn't use so much animated language when citing April and May statistics.

The Rockies are hitting .350 at home.

troy tulowitzki at home this year:

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bm9pPRnCEAAWzhB.jpg

Did Keith Hernandez make any I-know-what-Bob-Gibson-would-do remarks last weekend?

Re: Tulo, just realized how stupid his numbers are right now. 3.1 fWAR...in 31 games played. That's on pace for 16.1 fWAR; the highest position player WAR since 1900 is Ruth's 1923 15-WAR performance. And it's not like he's leaning heavily on defense; his wRC+ is 236 -- 5 points higher than Ruth's in 1923.

Obviously he'd need to sustain this pace for 162 full games, which when combined with his injury history seems unlikely. (He's also putting up a BABIP .080 higher than his career average -- funny enough, the same figure as Ruth in 1923 give or take a few .001s.) But if somehow he does keep this up, he could compete for the best positional performance of all time.

Time to start paying attention to Rockies games.

naaah

Tulo has been too injury prone for me to worry about - same with cargo. Rockies go massive stretches of time without one or the other or both.

Looking at bbref he's had a couple seasons of140+ games... Should note he played in 155 in 2007 - only Rockies ws appearance

http://i.imgur.com/KXZ5h5X.png

sigh

my MVP-HM

needs a streak soon to keep job? they just called some kid up

it'd be nice to have a unanimous MVP pick in the NL + for tulo's talent to be recognized, knocking on every wood surface in america for his health

lol jk cabrera will win the NL MVP too

Tulowitzki's been phenomenal, but I think you have to be a little realistic about where he might end up in terms of WAR or any other measure. His slash line is .421/.522/.794 at the moment.

i'm calling a final slash of .567/652/.914.

If he does make a late-season run at the magic .570 mark, I'll be cheering him on.

the problem is Coors field is a joke, everyone on that team right now is Superman.

Haven't been following them, but I see what you mean--their first seven hitters tonight are slugging between .500-.789.

Rockies at home this year: .355/.401/.600. As a team.

(I thought that kind of insanity ended years ago in Colorado, or had at least calmed down some.)

fortunately WAR factors in these things. and tulo's the only one doing it with stellar SS defense.

i think maybe colorado management figured a blake street bombers approach was a bit more entertaining and more lucrative than humidor-ing the offense into warning track flyouts. i kinda agree, i mean unless they're going to scientifically make sure every ball will fly the same no matter where they're playing, you're going to have variations of all sorts all over MLB. just let 'em rip.

except that almost always has fucked up THEIR pitching...

didn't the humidor just stop working? I saw Dan O'Dowd talk about this in Denver at SABR in the last decade, and he very convincingly communicated that they were trying everything to "solve" Coors, and failing.

make the outfield twice as big and allow 3 extra outfielders problem solved

lol

Tulowitzki at home this year: .608/.677/1.098.

I really don't mean to detract from what he's doing. You go with what you're given--Koufax had Chavez Ravine, countless Cubs and Red Sox had their parks, and that's just the way it goes. But at a certain point--like maybe hitting .608--I think the ability to adjust and neutralize has limitations.

humidors have been introduced in minor league places like colorado springs/albuquerque/salt lake in the last few years and *appear* to have cut homers by 20%-30%, but it's still a pretty sss

Marlins now 17-5 at home, 2-10 away

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnNQDWqCcAA3-H4.jpg

mlb trollin' morbs again

do u want to go to Mets-Pirates that day to witness my dyspepsia?

probably gotta work, but i could go on tuesday

@r_j_anderson
Six of the top nine Padres hitters this year have hit to their 10th percentile PECOTA projections

the petco blues

Braves home games are more tolerable this year with Glavine and Smoltz splitting time as the 3rd man in the booth. Glavine talks a bit of shit about Smoltz, Smoltz talks a bit of shit about Glavine, and they both clown on Maddux pretty hard.

no 100th win for you, cole hamels

(xpost) Sounds basically okay. My first thought was that Glavine and Smoltz together would be a lot like Sammy Maudlin and Bobby Bittman.

Pretty sure they would ignore the game completely, which would be ok by me. They're both good pitching analysts and both cut down on the amount of time Chip Caray has his mouth open, saying words.

I know about what a great clubhouse influence he is, but do you really want Jason Giambi taking up a roster spot?

@gregorMLB 8m
The Red Sox are down three runs and they just gave away an out here in the 8th. Bunted runners over to 2nd and 3rd. Umm, okay. #BlueJays

@gregorMLB
#RedSox bunt to get to a guy hitting .167, essentially kill their own rally, bail out a struggling bullpen. Incredibly bizarre stuff.

"He proved last year that pitch counts don't mean anything...as he led the league in innings pitched"

- Cardinals broadcaster Al Hrabosky dropping some knowledge RE: Adam Wainwright

goddamn he is dumb

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/10961284/alex-guerrero-los-angeles-dodgers-involved-altercation-triple-teammate-miguel-olivo

miguel olivo bit off a piece of alex guerrero's ear

@TonyPaul1984
Perfect Rod Allen quote, after the Miguel Cabrera ejection: "That's all right. We can watch Tim Timmons for the rest of this one."

Indians used their whole bullpen and are now using the guy who was supposed to start tomorrow.

Scherzer gave up seven runs in the first three innings then shut the Indians down through the seventh.

Don Kelly has had four of Miguel Cabrera's at-bats.

Pretty wild game.

also hector rondon is trying to blow another samardzija win

and has done so

Balk-off win for the Indians.

@suss2hyphens

shouldn't have made that left turn, Alburquerque

Danny Worth tossing 69-mph knucklers right now.

1B, K, lineout, K

last strike was juuuust a bit high

looked good tho!

Bill Hall
I have decided to make a comeback. So stay tuned for my plans for the future. My mind has never been clearer. Now I know what I'm playing 4!

http://www.purplerow.com/2014/5/15/5712224/the-numbers-are-lying

interesting article re: park effects and if they really even mean anything when looking at rockies hitters

that went from interesting to a bit bonkers very quickly

i was wondering about this and actually asked cameron in one of his chats (he didn't answer bc he is a fascist) if it's possible that the rockies have simply figured out how to exploit coors to such an extent that the park factors can't keep up (ie to an extent far beyond their opponents' abilities). that seems to be a bit more reasonable than assuming the rockies are victims of coors being too nice to them or smth. it's like the baseball version of "affluenza". but it's a rockies fansite and i guess it's easier to imagine your hitters are better rather than worse. silly circular logic to say "how can the rockies have terrible offenses when [list of four good hitters with coors-inflated numbers] were on the team (rarely at the same time)"

yeah i don't really buy that guy's conclusion at all from the data he's presenting, the data just as easily could reflect the rockies fielding below-average teams who, thanks to the effects of coors field, look like an average offensive team at home

you can put it on the board imo

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_05_23_nyamlb_chamlb_1&mode=video&content_id=33110685&tcid=vpp_copy_33110685

trout had a ridiculous play tonight where he called off the right fielder on a ball in right center, caught the ball, reversed his momentum, and fired a laser to third base for a double play

going to phillies game today - hope i catch a win.

love getting drunk at ball games

Interesting game for josh Beckett so far

this is brutal

✓

mordy i hope you stayed til the end!

i did

voodoo works!

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 34m
The single worst first pitch in baseball history now belongs to 50 Cent. This is just wow. https://vine.co/v/MdAweK9YdED

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BorsECqIQAAh8cM.jpg

I'm gonna find that guy and beat the shit out of him

they could put that sign right next to the BIG MAC in LF

http://wilwheaton.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/that-stupid-drudge-siren-lol.gif BEN REVERE HOMERED http://wilwheaton.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/that-stupid-drudge-siren-lol.gif

in the space of a half hour, i saw Washington and Colorado (in separate games) load the bases with 0 out and not score.

weird that they could both manage that without pedro alvarez fanning/hitting into a double play

revere is such a weird player, i was just browsing his stats -- doesnt walk, doesnt strike out, 45/49 of his hits this season are singles

Sounds like Juan Pierre.

http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/pitches2.jpg

whoa, nolan ryan through it that far behind a batter? i'm kinda surprised!

Fitty playing post-Mets on 6/14 if anyone wants to troll 'im

nick punto homer

RED SOX PITCHER BRANDON WORKMAN AND THIRD BASE COACH BRIAN BUTTERFIELD WERE EJECTED IN THE TOP OF THE SIXTH INNING WHEN WORKMAN THREW BEHIND RAYS THIRD BASEMAN EVAN LONGORIA.
RED SOX BENCH COACH TOREY LOVULLO WAS EJECTED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING BY HOME PLATE UMPIRE DAN BELLINO FOR ARGUING.
RED SOX MANAGER JOHN FARRELL WAS EJECTED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST INNING BY HOME PLATE UMPIRE DAN BELLINO FOR ARGUING.

http://deadspin.com/5914008/better-know-an-umpire-dan-bellino

has mlb.tv been fucked all night?

just tried right now and it won't come on.

i'm on line now

I just learned that George W. Bush had better control than Greg Maddux.

Ortiz said Price acted like a "little girl" and a "bitch." Ooh, burn.

I just learned that George W. Bush had better control than Greg Maddux.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Saturday, May 31, 2014 4:57 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's a fuckin meatball dogg colon could get around on that. fwiw I remember GWB throwing from the mound so he has the velocity i guess

phil hughes' revenge!

http://vine.co/v/MprMXVKWA39

lol

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BpJXfqQIIAEney-.jpg

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xi2oyv_being-becoming-george-f-will-s-sports-machine_shortfilms

Comment From big boy
Billy Butler starting to turn the corner?

Dave Cameron: Sure, if the corner took him from Disaster Blvd to Atrocious St.

http://replygif.net/i/265.gif

Annual Symposium on Baseball and American Culture in Cooperstown last week, antidote to C-SPAN atrocity above:

Walk-Up and Entrance Music in Baseball: Identity, Motivation, and Intimidation
Timothy A. Johnson (Ithaca College: Ithaca, New York)

The Economics of the Infield Fly Rule
Howard Wasserman (Florida International University: Miami, Florida)

Food Concessions and Middle Class Identification at Baseball Games, 1900-1950
Seth Tannenbaum (Temple University: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

The Next Frontier for Baseball Analytics: Studying Team Chemistry
Vince Gennaro (Society for American Baseball Research: Purchase, New York)

http://baseballhall.org/symposium

https://vine.co/v/MptdYeqY3Ep

i love this man's sincerity

wha happen

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/5/4/2/77936542/060214_nyy_cano_sandwich_iy7gwxwi.gif

phillies had a team meeting today after going 9-17 in the last month

it doesn't seem to have worked

molina-off in tampa bay, yall

Tim McCarver + Rich Horton , discussing Peralta's durability

Rick: Not only has he thrown a ton of innings, but they've often been high leverage innings
Tim: ...that's right. he has both durability AND longevity.
Rick: ...

The dream team of broadcasters

That's great! (Why "thrown a ton of innings," though, if they're talking about Peralta?)

the cardinals broadcasting team pioneered the post-fact landscape that dominates the modern world

an inning later, mccarver got pissed, set off by a mound visit from yadier molina to sam freeman, the young cardinals reliever. mccarver set out to "debunk the myth" that young pitchers are afraid to shake off yadier molina. not only are they not afraid of shaking him off, he says, but yadier WANTS them to shake them off (this post is rated R, sorry). mccarver then repeats these two ideas - young pitchers are not afraid of shaking him off, and yadi wants them to do that - over and over over the course of one to two minutes, slightly adjusting the wording with every cycle.

then dan (not rick, as i said earlier - the cardinals have a 4-man rotating broadcasting crew that usually consists of 2 of 3 of dan mclaughlin, ricky horton, and fucking al hrabosky, and occasionally drops in tim mccarver just to remind bible belt citizens that there's a possibility that we really are currently living in the times of armageddon) says "...so just to play devil's advocate, i've seen yadi quite a bit this year, and pitchers really haven't shook him off very much this year". tim responds, baldly lying, "yes, but i meant ALL catchers...not just yadi", despite him very specifically talking about yadier molina the entire time.

mike minor has allowed 8 runs in 4 innings in colorado, is currently in line for the win

cespedes' was deeper, but man this was a rope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PH6XJypKno

the thing about cespedes's throw is that he did it basically off his back foot. it just blows the mind

link?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/as-yoenis-cespedes-amazing-assist-stands-after-review-vs-angels?ymd=20140611&content_id=79214646&vkey=news_mlb

Posnanski on the same:

http://joeposnanski.com/joeblogs/the-throw/

my adventure tonight
Arctic Monkeys - AM

repost:
i went searching on the internet to look for Yoenis Cespedes of the A's incredible throw that i have been hearing about and ran into this link. knowing that i'm only about 20 miles away only heighten my excitement, though i'm not there.

oh so yeah thanks for the link.

that is the best throw i have ever seen.

and tonight's

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/as-yoenis-cespedes-defies-odds-with-another-rocket-throw?ymd=20140611&content_id=79353786&vkey=news_mlb

wow

you's almost think the muffs were intentional

here comes the physics: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23864

latroy hawkins has picked uruguay to win the world cup

ATL-COL:
Corey Dickerson knocks Gerald Laird out with a big backswing to the mask, David Carpenter plugs Dickerson in the hip with the next pitch and gets tossed. Walt Weiss is mad as hell, gets tossed. That is all.

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/thumbnail/715/img/photos/2014/06/12/b2/ed/Braves_Rockies_Baseball-2.JPE.JPG

nine assists for cespedes, in like 60 games. what's the record for a season?

Checking Baseball Reference, the leaderboard is ancient. The highest figure I can spot for the last 70 years is, perfectly enough, Clemente's 27 in 1961. Stan Spence, someone I've never heard of, had 29 in 1944.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/A_of_season.shtml

brandon wood, who hit 43 homers in 134 minor league games at age 20 and had the following prospect rankings by baseball america:

Pre-2005: Rated #83 Prospect
Pre-2006: Rated #3 Prospect
Pre-2007: Rated #8 Prospect
Pre-2008: Rated #16 Prospect

was released by the sugarland skeeters last week after batting .098/.156/.159 in 90 plate appearances over 25 games.

his mlb line was .186/.225/.289 in 272 games. still only 29, so there's still time to learn a knuckleball

i remember when he was always going to be the next big thing

some recent research concluding that minor league power isn't very indicative of future performance

he hit the 43 homers in the california league, which is known for that shit. but still, no one else was hitting 43 homers there.

i am curious about how park effects affect prospects -- maybe if he'd spent that year in the florida state league, which is a homer graveyard, he'd have learned how to make better contact? either way, the complete lack of subsequent power for wood is mysterious.

i'm really interested to see what becomes of gallo. not even giancarlo demonstrated this kind of power on the east coast. and while he still fans a lot, he's dramatically improved his contact/obp since last year

Atlanta - Bottom of 9th
Ernesto Frieri pitching for Los Angeles
E Frieri relieved J Smith. 5-1
A Simmons singled to left. 5-1
R Doumit hit for D Carpenter. 5-1
R Doumit singled to right, A Simmons to second. 5-1
J Heyward singled to center, A Simmons scored, R Doumit to second. 5-2
B Upton tripled to deep right, R Doumit and J Heyward scored. 5-4
F Freeman hit a ground rule double to deep right center, B Upton scored. 5-5
M Morin relieved E Frieri.

don't know where else to put this so i'll put it here: the new mlb.com gameday interface is possibly the worst thing on the internet

there's a link to "classic gameday" which is a million times better but still ancient for some reason, why not just link to the last (perfectly fine) interface?

Switched from the Braves game to watch a 71-minute film and missed three whole innings.

Cubs pitcher Travis Wood pinch-hit in the 13th inning against the Marlins yesterday and hit a game-winning double.

Anyone else think Dr. James Andrews is evil? I don't know why, I just have a bad feeling about him.

red sox have dfa'd grady sizemore

expecting morbs to offer a deal

too broke for ideal deal

since March 30 the Padres have 210 runs and since April 30 the A's have 223 runs

man trout is on an absolute rampage lately

2 homers and a double tonight

leapfrogs tulo in fWAR too

http://m.angels.mlb.com/video/v33803761/laacle-trout-hits-his-second-homer-of-the-game?partnerId=as_mlb_20140618_26203156

this second homer is just a golf shot -- 400 feet from down at his ankles. why would you throw anything down to him?

http://i.imgur.com/ukHfbLv.jpg

haha, that is great!

travis snider just struck out joey votto

swinging

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11118900/alex-torres-san-diego-padres-first-pitcher-wear-padded-cap

first guy to wear the weird new hats. This will look extra good in camo

http://i.imgur.com/fiRtUGv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ozqf34r.jpg

wtf?

lol, i thought that was a cell phone.

that call giving the Angels a run when the baserunner was clearly out but the catcher was challenged as 'blocking the basepath' was some real bullllshit.

is the protection from liners really worth all the atomic wedgies

Game scores:

Marcus Stroman 78
Chase Whitley 5

holy crap. without looking it up, name the three oldest ballparks in the national league.

cubsville
atlanta
miami fish sticks park

wrigley, dodger stadium, coors?

95% certain about miami fish sticks arena

Rox def played in Mile High for a few years

wrigley, dodger stadium, coors?

yep. coors totally surprised me. 1995!

nice! turner field was the only one i wasn't sure about.

i try to keep one thread going and YES i realize i probably drive a lot of people crazy. sometimes i just need that outlet and i'm sorry for that.

haha, wrong thread.

that was suppose to go here: Your favorite team

The struggling San Diego Padres have fired general manager Josh Byrnes.

Under Byrnes, the Padres payroll increased nearly $40 million to $89,881,696 on Opening Day this season -- 23rd overall -- but the team has made little progress.

grady sizemore to the phillies (well, triple-a lehigh valley)

yankees cut heath bell

Haha the Padres payroll is 89 million? Holy shit. Talk about not getting what you pay for.

professor farnsworth released by the astros (in favor of jose veras)

could this be the end

HERE WE GO

@MikeDiGiovanna
And RHP Ernesto Frieri goes from #Angels to #Pirates for Grilli.

lololol

i don't even get what the point of that was.

both teams wanted badly to get rid of the players they had

like, really badly

they are, of course, the sunday night game, but i appreciate the fact that a sox-yankees series is, at least for the moment, merely a showcase for mediocrity

FRIER UP THE GRILL HERE COMES FRIERI

votto with a flyout [/drudge alert siren]

oh it was in the outfield, n/m

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/expected-run-differentials-2-0/

crossposted to kickass

walkoff grand slam by rajai davis, not too shabby

Beautiful triple play by the Tribe tonight.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Brjz0pcIAAACMug.png

Radio Feed Day

god bless amarlinca

Wins of last-place teams: 38, 38, 36, 37, 37, 36

NL Central win% in the last month:
PIT .630
CIN .630
STL .615
MIL .615
CHC .519

i'm already dreading the coming dominance of the cubs in 2016-17

otm

somehow they need to convert shortstops into pitching, which should be intersting

i know everyone's like lol fuck the cardinals but tonight's game with the pirates is fun: carlos martinez, polanco, and taveras. feels like watching the all-star game for the next 12-15 years

hey at least the bucs' closer got some rest

and i'm sure neil walker wouldn't have scored anyway, so no big deal getting picked off third

h8 u karl malone

anthony rizzo is kind of a hothead

Pitchers	IP	 H	 R	ER
C Lewis		2.1	13	13	11

kid throws with both arms, gets tommy john on the right, gets up to 94mph with the left in the meantime, now a serious prospect

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/cape-cod-league-focus-ryan-perez

whoa. that's crazy! i'm assuming he throws lefty against lefties, righty against righties, but does he change gloves as well, between batters?

there's a guy named pat venditte, now in triple-a with the yankees -- who does this. he has a special glove that fits either hand.

when he broke in a few years ago, the first time he faced a switch-hitter resulted in this back-and-forth dance as they both kept switching sides. ultimately the new york-penn league made a rule that the hitter has to declare his side first.

we're hoping that venditte makes it (he's a reliever), but he doesn't throw anywhere near 94 with either arm. but even as a soft-tosser, he always has a platoon advantage.

told to Pay attention if you're going to criticize by keith law, almost certainly the highlight of my post-playing baseball career

sad that i failed to follow all of his various media emanations over the past week

He gave his followers at least ten minutes notice prior to his two-minute appearance on Dover's top source for sports talk. Keep up.

woah - Juan Segura's 9 month old just died.

oh man. :(

i had read rumors of something bad happening last night and the brewers clubhouse not wanting speak to the media after last night's game, but...that's awful.

madbum: .275/.302/.550

astros being accused of shenanigans re: top pick brady aiken

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/casey-close-calls-foul-on-astros-and-mlb-in-negotiations-with-no-1-draft-pick-brady-aiken-071414

i got curious about who has yet to sign with the deadline closing in. figured i should share...
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/2014-draft-signingbonus-tracker?ymd=20140610&content_id=79082538

Disco Demolition 2

how are people going to physically destroy their mp3s

rangers have dfa'd carlos pena, new starting 1b is . . . j.p. arencibia

replacing one .190 hitter with another

it seems the astros did *not* sign aiken (or nix)

ugly

this would be fucked up

Jeff Passan ✔ @JeffPassan
Follow
Scary Astros possibility: If Nix wins grievance to pay agreed-upon $1.5M, Houston 17% over bonus pool, would forfeit next two 1st-rd picks.

and/or awesome

tonight in pittsburgh chris perez came in for the dodgers in the eighth, down a run. he got the first guy to pop up, then walked the next four batters in a row (all of whom went on to score).

in the pirates broadcast booth, play-by-play man greg brown exclaimed 'four straight walks -- can you believe it?'

and color commentator steve blass softly replied 'yeah'

tsk tsk, know your analyst

top rookie pitchers by VORP

Name IP VORP

1. Tanaka NYA AL 129.3 22.4
2. Odorizzi TBA AL 106.7 19.8
3. Betances NYA AL 59.3 17.5
4. DeGrom NYN NL 80.7 11.8

can't they use VOR like everyone else

Richards v Scherzer a good matchup in Anaheim tonight

yeah i'll be watching this on mlb.tv

who started the whole batting-glove-readjustment-between-every-pitch thing? was it nomar?

Jeter?

i think carlton fisk had this insane ritual every at bat where he'd adjust his gloves and take deep breaths and look at the sky, he'd be up there for ten minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tGm_JajqLo

maybe

Realized the other night that Rajai Davis leaves the box after a pitch only if he has swung at it. If he takes a pitch, he stays put.

Bonuses should be paid for similar behavior.

after watching mike matheny order a bunt (which failed) with a runner on first, no outs, tie score in a game at wrigley, i realized that he is even dumber than i thought. this isn't groundbreaking analysis or anything, but i realized that quantitatively, bunting in such a situation is even worse than the run expectancy matrix would lead one to believe.

according to tom tango's matrix, the average run expectancy in a situation with 0 outs and a runner on 1B is 0.941, while the average run expectancy with 1 out and a runner on 2B is 0.721. again, i think that's something a lot of people realize - all else equal, a successful bunt in that situation lowers your run expectancy for the inning. but i never took into account the probability of a failed bunt which results in another out without moving the runner. in the case of a failed bunt, the run expectancy for a runner on 1B with one out is 0.562.

i'm not sure what the authoritative figure is for failed bunts, but this analysis from 2005 came up with 77% success/23% failure, so I'm going to use that.

so in other words, if you have a situation with a runner on 1B and no out (avg. run expectancy 0.941) and decide to bunt, the projected run expectancy after the bunt if you take into account the probability of failure is 0.684 = (.77 x .721) + (.23 x .562), not 0.721.

in conclusion mike matheny is an idiot, oscar taveras 4ever

i'm not sure what the authoritative figure is for failed bunts, but this analysis from 2005 came up with 77% success/23% failure, so I'm going to use that

well pretty much every manager seems to believe the split is 100/0 so there's your first problem

all we can hope is that these guys feel at least a *little* bad about themselves when these guys bunt into a double play

recent FG article had about 50% of bunt attempts landing fair (or foul popouts) for even the most experienced bunters ??

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-truth-about-bunting/

Yasiel Puig is starting in CF in SF today

lets hope nobody gets killed out there

i know i've mentioned this before, but the biggest arguments i ever had with my wife were about bunting -- i maintained that a baseball player who can actually hit major league pitching *should* be able to lay down a sacrifice bunt if asked (which should be very rare), she felt that the majority of hitters never practiced it and that it was asking for something above and beyond

not gonna send her that fangraphs link

re: matheny what is the expectancy of scoring ~something~ vs. not scoring at all in those situations? obv giving up an out kills a big inning (and overall run expectancy), but if it's the ninth you only need one

re: matheny what is the expectancy of scoring ~something~ vs. not scoring at all in those situations? obv giving up an out kills a big inning (and overall run expectancy), but if it's the ninth you only need one

let's see...via the same tom tango reference, only this time using the "chance that a run will score at some point in the inning" table:

no outs, runner on 1B: .441
1 out, runner on 2B (aka the successful bunt situation): .418
1 out, runner on 1B (aka the unsuccessful bunt situation): .284

all else equal, successfully bunting to 2B slightly lowers your chances to score at all, and the not-so-unlikely scenario where the bunt fails significantly decreases it

thx

37yo jason lane making his first major league start as a pitcher rn

Justin Upton seemed especially peeved at striking out against this guy.

as well he might be

lane is changing speeds, but when the upper limit is 86 it's a dangerous game

all else equal, successfully bunting to 2B slightly lowers your chances to score at all, and the not-so-unlikely scenario where the bunt fails significantly decreases it

Well sometimes it can make sense if the guy at the plate has a low career OBP. In this case it's Mark Ellis who isn't having a great season but still has an OBP north of .320 so I believe the numbers quoted there are about accurate. Even still this was in the 6th inning I believe where "playing for only one run" makes zero sense. I'd like to see what those numbers look like with the average pitcher at the plate (who I would assume also bunts unsuccessfully more often)

Lane is owning the Braves so far. If Atl loses this game, Ervin Santana should be allowed one free shot at each teammate with a wiffle bat.

oso b

Ah, there we go.

whom dick enberg just called 'husky'

The Padres struck out 14 times today, their 3rd game with at least 14 strikeouts in 2014.

Tony Gwynn struck out 14 times in 1999.

lane stars in "boyhood" and now this, is there anything he can't do

haha

who was the last reigning world series champ to finish last in its division

'91 braves?

the barves won the world series in 1990?

Oh sorry so drunk, read that the other way around

Darvish on his tormentor: "I just blame the parents of Brett Gardner. I just blame them for creating a great hitter.''

i think the jays did it in 94, i was a kid and it was the first time i ever heard the term "first to worst"

hmm i guess it must not have been the end of the season when i saw that. they ended up 2 games ahead of the tigers before the strike.

wait this shouldn't surprise anyone. 1997 marlins ws (92-70 season), 1998 marlins, worst in the LEAGUE (54-108)! in '97 they had Moises Alou, Devon White, Sheffield, Bonilla, Conine, Renteria... in 1998 they had... Renteria... and some other dudes (I seriously have no recollection of a center fielder named Dunwoody).

I guess teams that kept most of their players haven't done it

seeing deGrom v Peavy on saturday night if it doesn't thunderstorm

padres dfa'd jason lane!

fuc the padres

easy Twins pickup, he'd be #2 behind Hughes

Damn, it's a cold business.

I think they very much did right by him and this is the best thing that could have happened to him, but hey.

WS-to-last: the Red Sox also finished last in 2012. Even that makeshift Marlins team of '97 wasn't part of a last-WS-last sequence.

bob walk on dan uggla: 'he looks like he thinks every pitch is going to be a fastball'

He looks like he wants to kill everyone imo

http://i.imgur.com/eLolXzh.gif

Cubs win in 16, Nate Schierholtz 0-for-7

That gif was already great pre-text, but now it's hysterical.

Dan Uggla AS second base is how I read it

happy 80th birthday to Allan H. (Bud) Selig!

https://7e8c.https.cdn.softlayer.net/807E8C/origin.theweek.com/img/dir_0105/52998_article_full/those-may-not-be-cheers-of-appreciation-bud.jpg?206

Bartololz at the bat, through the years

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/7/30/5952111/bartolo-colon-at-bat-photos-mets-expos-red-sox-athletics

those 'loops' on the yahoo box score pages are a fucking abomination

poss not as bad in other browsers but i opened this -- http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/
in IE @ work and my fucking lord

speaking of technology and mlb, that home run derby app they keep advertising during commercial breaks in mlb.tv looks embarrassssssing

http://mlb.mlb.com/assets/images/2/3/8/87131238/cuts/hr_lands_in_beer_twitter_zxw0i7bb_kgyb1ct0.gif

i have no commercials on mlb.tv, it's so great.

ironically, when i was watching games on mlb.tv in france i would have the same 4 commercials play over and over and it would drive me mad, especially at 3 in the morning.

those 'loops' on the yahoo box score pages are a fucking abomination

Yep, they are awful ... it's annoying because I have to check yahoo because of fantasy baseball, but I don't even bother opening the box scores there anymore.

Cnn.si did a major renovation of its site just as the season was starting--their box scores used to be excellent, just hate them now (the box scores themselves and the navigation). I've switched over to mlb.com--better, but not as good as what cnnsi.com used to have.

is this just kind of a free for all thread? I'm new here. Sucked in by ILM and noticed this base-ball thing-y here. are there special rules?

Welcome!

You shall dislike Bud Selig, Mike Matheny, Derek Jeter.

I think that's the only one.

It helps to follow Jose Canseco on twitter but it's not mandatory

I follow Ken Rosenthal, and my new fave twitter acct, @DodgerzGM

what's to dislike about Matheny?
no problem with Allan or the Captain.

oh just you wait

I was actually just going to add to the list of things you should hate, as decreed by our own commissioner:

--all awards
--the HOF
--counting stats
--baseball myths (team chemistry, clutch hitting, etc.)
--triple crowns
--no-hitters involving 100+ pitches
--no-hitters in general

I probably forgot a few.

Welcome to I Love Baseball! Please Introduce Yourselves!

forgot AL MVP voting ya doof

Is anyone else reading Derek Jeter's Diary? It's killing me.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/derek-jeter-diary-new-york-yankees-bud-selig-retirement/

“Cramming a regular-size person and a centaur in here is not very relaxing.”

I am no commish, power is a toxin. I don't think I hate anything about baseball, except when it prompts people to repeat c.w. axioms over and over again.

unwritten rules. we hate those.

Does anyone know which player said 'the offseason is when i get to have my own friends'? p sure it was dave winfield but idk. it came by way of Ken singleton during in-game chatter.

fuck you, diamondbacks

Beat me to it.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bt7WeAXCMAAPrAp.jpg

And a bullshit walk-off at Chase Field.

smh

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BuJpiLrCYAEXSwL.jpg

Look at this textbook baseball slide:

http://exclusivesg.com/media/Doug-Baldwin-Blocked-Punt.jpg

next year a pirate will be plunked for daring to hit nick ahmed in the arm

love watching jeter slowly jog to first after hitting into a double play like a true professional

seriously i think those yahoo boxscore loops are created by a person with zero sense of what's actually funny in life let alone in gif form.

Garrett Richards is pretty good.

puj showin up puig
http://network.yardbarker.com/mlb/article_external/watch_pujols_pulls_a_fast_one_on_puig/16974200

Lol showed up someone should throw a baseball at his head

Joking of coz

Ken Rosenthal
Source: Tigers sign Jim Johnson to minor-league deal.

I love the Tigers/Athletics rivalry

The A's can have Evan Reed.

mccutchen has a broken rib

wonder how that happened

i thought this was a separate thing from the HBP

@Ken_Rosenthal
Just now received follow-up text from trainer saying McCutchen injury probably NOT from HBP. Injury is ligament or tendon pulling from bone.

yesterday it was an oblique strain

so NL MVP is now Tulo, Lucroy or Kershaw?

Maybe McCutchen should see Adam Lind's mom.

ha!

The search committee formed to identify a successor for Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has narrowed the candidates down to a list of three finalists, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred, MLB vice president of business Tim Bronson and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner are the candidates, according to Nightengale.

frenchy has a .105 slugging percentage so far

jose molina infield hit

then nearly passed by kevin kiermaier after the latter hit a homer

Kiermaier has really impressed me the last few times I've seen him play. Huge outfield arm, and very fast.

miami's dan jennings took a 101mph line drive off the head

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/JenningsLineDrive080714.gif

Damn.

that cap liner is still too ugly to wear, huh

sadly, it is.

:(

all pitchers should wear a mr. met head

btw that ball was caught on the fly by the shortstop; pretty sure jennings gets an assist

Rule 10.10(a)(1) Comment: Mere ineffective contact with the ball shall not be considered an assist. "Deflect" shall mean to slow down or change the direction of the ball and thereby effectively assist in putting out a batter or runner.

Is he okay? That was scary.

yea that is fucked up

concussion, but it sounds like he's more or less okay

what happened to ike davis? dude is hitting like a savvy defensive shortstop

now that pedro alvarez has steve sax disease, he's taking grounders at first, and he can at least hit the ball a fair distance on those occasions that he makes contact

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2156912-athletics-stephen-vogt-shows-he-could-be-a-part-time-nba-referee

https://i.imgur.com/nNQQSq7.jpg

the dreaded 3.0 WHIP

to be fair the orioles seem unstoppable atm

Angels win on a Pujols HR in the bottom of the 19th!

The AL is leading in interleague play this year, but just barely, 154-146. The NL hasn't been this close in ten years. Does this mean anything? Is it a one year blip or is the talent pool finally evening out?

I think it's hard to really say because of the parity in both leagues this year -- it's hard to say who is good and who isn't when most teams are mediocre, bordering on fringe contenders.

that king's court gimmick is extremely annoying

http://i.imgur.com/A8c24uY.png

will Tom Werner squeeze out Manfred for commish? we'll know tomorrow, it seems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/sports/baseball/tom-werner-can-block-rob-manfreds-bid-to-replace-bud-selig.html

NL Central Projected Standings
TEAM        EXPW   EXPL
Brewers     86.1   75.9
Pirates     86.1   75.9
Cardinals   86.0   76.0

http://www.fangraphs.com/coolstandings.aspx

Adam Dunn is in right field today

and buster posey got a triple out of it

dunn almost killed leury garcia

It's the eighth inning and he is still in right field

Detroit vs Seattle ought be fun to watch

@whitesox
Hawk has accepted the #ALSIceBucketChallenge, and will complete it during tonight's game broadcast.

couldnt that theoretically traumatize an old man

are they gonna surprise him in the middle of the broadcast

you know, i would just, like, donate to the charity.

do we have a thread about playing baseball?

playing baseball

this is exactly what I was looking for.

great cardinals broadcast tonight. the entire thing is dedicated to interviews between people in the military and their families and st. louis, with a baseball game occasionally appearing in the background

the announcer is terrible and is hellbent on trying to make people cry or, if they don't cry, reminding everyone that they are very emotional and very good at hiding it

well try the A's announcers doing an exit interview w/ Beelzebud for two halves of an inning last night

It rained at the Giants/Cubs game last night, hard, but only for 15 minutes. However, the grounds crew couldn't get the tarp on fast enough so the field got totally soaked. They didn't call the game (for the Cubs) until 1 a.m., about four hours after the rain. Apparently the Giants were pissed.

details:

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/8/19/6047429/the-chicago-cubs-with-the-worst-tarp-application-of-all-time

There is absolutely no way there should be 5-inning games curtailed by rain, especially with a contender involved. Suspend everything less than nine, and resume.

klassic kubs

The Giants likely will file a protest with Major League Baseball, saying they were told everything would be done to resume the game. For at least the final hour of the delay, the field was untouched except for a guy using a rake.

“It’s my last (recourse). I hope they listen and watch what happened there because in this day and time, it shouldn’t happen, can’t happen, I think, with the importance of these games,” Bochy said.

http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2014/08/19/goofiest-rain-delay-ever-sf-giants-fall-to-cubs-2-0/#26056101=0

I will not be wearing my Cubs hat when I visit SF next week.

They tried to dry the field with a leaf blower??

they tried to get everyone in attendance to chant "no rain"

samardzija getting rocked

i went to a nats game their first season at rfk and they fucked up the tarp pull so badly that the entire third-base line was uncovered. didn't call the game, tho -- it just took them an extra 45 minutes to apply sawdust or whatever

went to a nats game their first season at rfk and was seated directly behind a huge pillar

fuck rfk

lol

Giants won the protest.

greetings from a fenway park corporate suite! got the displeasure of seeing garrett richards completely destroy his knee in person.

sorry, karl : /

i should have figured out that the rain delay would have been in this thread.

anyways, this is the right move. the Giants should not lose the game this way. also, on the other hand, the Cubs shouldn't have to forfeit either.

better this way, obviously, but i can see the forfeit angle -- if a team doesn't have it's shit together enough to cover the field, then fuck em

The suspended game is being delayed by rain. Do we have a tarp-cam?

Both games will probably be rained out, it's supposed to storm all night.

its, dammit

?

sorry, i meant in my previous post last night

Didn't check this out, but something I read this morning says that NL runs per game (3.96) are the lowest since 1992, and AL (4.24) the lowest since 1981.

thanks Obama

But the whole bizarre episode was cast in a new light Thursday when the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Cubs had slashed worker hours to keep them under 30 hours a week to avoid paying health benefits under Obamacare.

Citing "numerous sources with direct knowledge," the Sun-Times reported that the Cubs had sent home 10 grounds crew workers early the night of the Tuesday game that ended in disaster. And at least part of the reason, per the newspaper's sources, is that the team has been trying to keep seasonal workers under 30 hours per week as the Affordable Care Act takes effect.

a great org to work for

Castillo to Sawx for 72,5 millions.

a mere 80% rise from puig's contract.. 2.5 years later.. and this guy might not be as good.

I also havent heard much from the Cubs' Soler these days..

soler was absolutely killing double-a in july; he is not killing triple-a in august, but he's only 22 and still has nice peripherals

also lol
double-a babip: .457
triple-a babip: .239

soler over the weekend: 9-for-14, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K

today's BP odds for a World Series win:

Angels 16%
Nats 15%
A's 13.5%
Dodgers 13.2%
Orioles 9.8%
Tigers 6.8%

chris young to the yankees! (minor league deal)

found myself checking the mariners depth chart website before i realized what that meant

yanks get 9 hits in a row off dave price, ok sure

http://nextimpulsesports.com/2014/08/29/confirmed-hitting-186-mph-fastball-super-easy/

Tulo seems to be a bit of a diva.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/29/troy-tulowitzki-says-hell-retire-before-he-switches-positions/

no problem when your position is DL

yankees have outperformed their run scoring by six games; ie they should be in fourth place, and not least because they are evil

also the fuckin cardinals. (the angels are about right record-wise but they should nevertheless be in third place)

*god* i hate these statistical anomalies unless my team benefits

Indians wearing '74 unis tonight. Everybody wearing stirrups.

Presumably not commemorating this:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE197406040.shtml

http://didthetribewinlastnight.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/tencent1.jpg

classic

We should place bets on who has the most callups tomorrow.

clev/kc sunday night baseball

i honestly dont think ive seen either of these teams play in ~5 yrs, maybe the royals like one series vs nym 2 yrs ago

kinda sux for cleveland having to play in kc tonight, then tomorrow afternoon at home

Wind

so either the dodgers or the giants are gonna win the NL west and the other will be the first wild card

and the second NL wild card will be either the brewers, braves or pirates, all of whom basically suck

please not the braves

8 loss in a row for the Brewers, swept by the Cubs, this is becoming tragic.

losses.

yeah they absolutely need to get 3 of 4 from the Cards this weekend to have a chance now. what a depressing collapse. it's not like they're getting edged out either, they're losing by 4-5 or more pretty much every time out.

i was thinking a Royals/Brewers WS would be awesome.

I think we can count on at least one of the teams in every wild-card game to basically suck

the giants have been terrible for half the season.

i was thinking a Royals/Brewers WS would be awesome.

ha, I posted that sentiment exactly on FB last week. Fox executives jumping out windows, etc

sorry, still prefer to see Beane get his ring, or failing that, Trout vs Strasburg, Harper & Rendon.

Hoping for another championship for the Giants, even though someone jinxed it this year.

If the Giants are out I'm jumping on a expansion team bandwagon, most likely the Nats (drought since 1924).

There's an outside chance no one in the NL will win 90 games this year (the Nationals project to 93 wins). Assuming someone in the NL ends up in the low 90s (but no better), would that be a record for worst-ever league best?

Well, didn't have to look too far back: Arizona's 90-72 was the league's best as recently as 2007. Carry on.

whoever wins the NL batting title has might have the lowest BA for a winner since Yaz in '68. ben revere is at .314 and leading the league. the top 5 contenders are pretty interesting...

ben revere
justin morneau
josh harrison
buster posey
aramis ramirez

Ramirez is the perfect candidate for Joe Posnanski's Hall of Very Good.

josh harrison is having a season, pretty much out of nowhere. unless he totally falls apart over the next three weeks, he should get some mvp votes

and it's nice that he can play six different positions (they haven't put him at first, but he can probably handle it)

Maybe voters will mix him up with Josh Hamilton?

Hoping for another championship for the Giants, even though someone jinxed it this year.

with the way things started i didn't think this was even remotely true. now i think you are right. i couldn't wait any longer, trying to learn though.

Kevin Towers is out! Bye bye asshole!

Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers making all the right moves
by Scott Bordow, columnist - Jun. 6, 2011 08:45 PM
The Arizona Republic

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/20110606arizona-diamondbacks-kevin-towers.html

Towers, on the other hand, is a people person, and everyone from owner Ken Kendrick on down rave about his communication skills.

I'm out of it -- I was about to congratulate the Padres.

ha hahhaa - my first thought aswell!

We've grown old together, Thermz!