Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MlbTradeRumors/~3/uPANOQsjwW8/yankees-acquire-sergio-mitre-.html
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Thursday, June 30, 2011
Roster Doctor visits a crazy league
Skewed strategies don't always blossom in strange leagues
Click the title to read more.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Click the title to read more.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Source: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/roster-doctor-visits-a-crazy-league/
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And That Happened
Mets 16, Tigers 9: The Mets blast the Tigers' pitching for the second night in a row (though the Tigers blasted back a bit themselves). Everyone in the Mets' starting lineup hit, including Scott Hairston, whose bases loaded triple in the first broke it open, after which he did some lame antlers thing or whatever it was. Really, I don't even. Point is, the Mets have scored 52 runs on 69 hits in their past four games.�Phil Coke was a disaster for Detroit. His stint as a starter may have to end soon, because it just ain't working.
Braves 5, Mariners 3: The Braves take their eighth win in ten tries, beating King Felix of all people. Ten hits. All singles. Eric Wedge left Hernandez in for 127 pitches for some reason.
Twins 1, Dodgers 0: Scott Baker continues to impress.�He has a 3.16 ERA and a strikeout/walk ratio of 100/28 in 105 innings.
Reds 4, Rays 3: Ryan Hanigan hit a three-run homer in the fourth. I'm still not forgetting that he missed a ball during long toss that hit me in the arm during spring training. And I don't care if it is my fault that I was standing right behind him. I believe he was subject to some sort of implied covenant to protect dumb bloggers.
Indians 6, Diamondbacks 2: Four hits and an RBI for Orlando Cabrera. He has raised his batting average by five points since I made fun of him for being an Ayn Rand fan. I'm going to take credit for that. Not because I believe I'm responsible, but because, as a Rand fan, it probably angers him that someone else could be responsible for his self improvement.
Angels 1, Nationals 0: Dan Haren: two hits over seven and a third shutout innings. Davey Johnson has not won a game as a major league manager since Bill Clinton was president.
Padres 4, Royals 1: San Diego continues to roll. This one was aided by Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer combining to butcher a popup that they each lost in the sun, leading to a big unearned-run inning for the Padres. I guess they don't have sun in Omaha, so it's understandable that those two had their troubles. �San Diego is now out of the cellar.
Cardinals 5, Orioles 1: Chris Carpenter looked like Chris Carpenter, allowing a single run in a complete game. �The Orioles starting pitching -- which most of us felt would be the difference between the O's being respectable this year and being a punching bag -- has turned into something of a punching bag of late.
Phillies 2, Red Sox 1: For once John Lackey looks good -- and hell, he even drove in a run with a double -- and what happens? The vaunted Bosox offense can't get anything going. But hey, the Phillies have all of those aces. �Wait, what? It was Vance Worley? Well, then. Oh, and for what it's worth: Gonzalez in right and Ortiz at first were a non-factor in this game, both for good and for ill.
Blue Jays 2, Pirates 1: Yet another low scoring game on a night full of low scoring games. Brandon Morrow Ks 10 in seven innings.
White Sox 3, Rockies 2: A ninth inning rally off Huston Street, capped by a sac fly that scored Carlos Quentin boosts the Sox over the Rox. Two nights in a row that the game between these two has been decided by a close play -- or what should have been a close play -- at the plate.
Rangers 3, Astros 2: Two homers for Ian Kinsler. One of which came after he was hit in the stomach by a pitch but, because umpire Bob Davidson said he was trying to bunt, wasn't awarded first base. Lucky for him I guess.
Yankees 5, Brewers 2: Russell Martin hit a three-run homer. Which is kind of impressive because I was of the impression that Martin was near death and was going to stagger his way through the rest of the season an injured heap. Just kind of a vibe I had.
Marlins 3, Athletics 0: Five-hit shutout for Ricky Nolasco. Two RBI for Hanley Ramirez. That's how this stuff is supposed to go for Florida.
Cubs 2, Giants 1: A serious duel between Ryan Dempster and Tim Lincecum, though neither got the decision. Carlos Marmol came in to the game in the ninth to lock down the 1-0 Cubs lead but couldn't, allowing one of Dempster's runners to score. But never fear, Aramis Ramirez is here, and he singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Braves 5, Mariners 3: The Braves take their eighth win in ten tries, beating King Felix of all people. Ten hits. All singles. Eric Wedge left Hernandez in for 127 pitches for some reason.
Twins 1, Dodgers 0: Scott Baker continues to impress.�He has a 3.16 ERA and a strikeout/walk ratio of 100/28 in 105 innings.
Reds 4, Rays 3: Ryan Hanigan hit a three-run homer in the fourth. I'm still not forgetting that he missed a ball during long toss that hit me in the arm during spring training. And I don't care if it is my fault that I was standing right behind him. I believe he was subject to some sort of implied covenant to protect dumb bloggers.
Indians 6, Diamondbacks 2: Four hits and an RBI for Orlando Cabrera. He has raised his batting average by five points since I made fun of him for being an Ayn Rand fan. I'm going to take credit for that. Not because I believe I'm responsible, but because, as a Rand fan, it probably angers him that someone else could be responsible for his self improvement.
Angels 1, Nationals 0: Dan Haren: two hits over seven and a third shutout innings. Davey Johnson has not won a game as a major league manager since Bill Clinton was president.
Padres 4, Royals 1: San Diego continues to roll. This one was aided by Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer combining to butcher a popup that they each lost in the sun, leading to a big unearned-run inning for the Padres. I guess they don't have sun in Omaha, so it's understandable that those two had their troubles. �San Diego is now out of the cellar.
Cardinals 5, Orioles 1: Chris Carpenter looked like Chris Carpenter, allowing a single run in a complete game. �The Orioles starting pitching -- which most of us felt would be the difference between the O's being respectable this year and being a punching bag -- has turned into something of a punching bag of late.
Phillies 2, Red Sox 1: For once John Lackey looks good -- and hell, he even drove in a run with a double -- and what happens? The vaunted Bosox offense can't get anything going. But hey, the Phillies have all of those aces. �Wait, what? It was Vance Worley? Well, then. Oh, and for what it's worth: Gonzalez in right and Ortiz at first were a non-factor in this game, both for good and for ill.
Blue Jays 2, Pirates 1: Yet another low scoring game on a night full of low scoring games. Brandon Morrow Ks 10 in seven innings.
White Sox 3, Rockies 2: A ninth inning rally off Huston Street, capped by a sac fly that scored Carlos Quentin boosts the Sox over the Rox. Two nights in a row that the game between these two has been decided by a close play -- or what should have been a close play -- at the plate.
Rangers 3, Astros 2: Two homers for Ian Kinsler. One of which came after he was hit in the stomach by a pitch but, because umpire Bob Davidson said he was trying to bunt, wasn't awarded first base. Lucky for him I guess.
Yankees 5, Brewers 2: Russell Martin hit a three-run homer. Which is kind of impressive because I was of the impression that Martin was near death and was going to stagger his way through the rest of the season an injured heap. Just kind of a vibe I had.
Marlins 3, Athletics 0: Five-hit shutout for Ricky Nolasco. Two RBI for Hanley Ramirez. That's how this stuff is supposed to go for Florida.
Cubs 2, Giants 1: A serious duel between Ryan Dempster and Tim Lincecum, though neither got the decision. Carlos Marmol came in to the game in the ninth to lock down the 1-0 Cubs lead but couldn't, allowing one of Dempster's runners to score. But never fear, Aramis Ramirez is here, and he singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Source: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/and-that-happened063011/
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Yankees continue to roll with win over Brewers
A.J. Burnett pitched neatly into the eighth inning, Russell Martin hit a three-run homer and the Yankees kept rolling right along with a 5-2 victory over the Brewers on Wednesday night. Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310629110&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Burnett, Martin keep Yankees rolling (AP)
Things are going so well for the New York Yankees that Jorge Posada took two trips around the bases on one home run. A.J. Burnett pitched neatly into the eighth inning, Russell Martin hit a three-run shot and New York kept rolling right along with a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.
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Ever-realistic British fans ever hopeful for Murray
Columnist Christine Brenna notes how Andy Murray has British fans at Wimbledon excited again.
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Killer swing, generous heart
Harmon Killebrew?s passing brought to a close a life filled with honor on and off the field
Museum News
The Hall of Fame Remembers Harmon Killebrew
Video Tribute to Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew's Induction Speech Video
Harmon Killebrew's Induction Speech Text
Photo Gallery of Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew was one of the most feared sluggers of his or any generation, and when he retired after the 1975 season, he had accumulated more home runs than any right-handed batter in the history of the American League.
He wasn't called "Killer" for nothing.
"If I was a pitcher, I would have been scared," said Killebrew's Twins teammate Tony Oliva. "Because whenever he was up, there was a chance the ball would disappear."
Off the field, however, the gentle giant was the antithesis of his nickname ? known around the globe for his kindness and charity.
Killebrew died Tuesday at the age of 74 in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a battle with esophageal cancer.
Born June 29, 1936 in the small town of Payette, Idaho, it was there, on the high school ball fields, that he was discovered by the Washington Senators. He was given a large signing bonus, and the "Bonus Baby" rule of the time required the 17-year-old to be kept with the major league team for at least two years, or the Senators would risk losing him to another club. It was because of this rule that Killebrew saw limited action, but once the Senators were able to send Killebrew to the minors in 1956, his growth as a player accelerated.
When Killebrew returned to the big leagues full time in 1959 at age 23, he had a breakout year as Washington's third baseman, cracking 42 home runs and knocking in 105 runs. Orioles manager Paul Richards marveled at his immense power and prestigious blasts, saying: "Killebrew can knock the ball out of any park, including Yellowstone."
From 1959- 1971, "Killer" put together eight- 40 home run and nine- 100 RBI seasons, was named to 13 All-Star teams (including two each in 1959 and 1961) and won the American League MVP Award (1969). Longtime Senators and Twins owner Calvin Griffith remarked "He hit home runs like few people can in the category of height and distance... Harmon didn't hit many line drive home runs. He would hit the ball so blooming high in the sky, they were like a rocket ship going up in the air.",
Teammate Bob Allison said of Killebrew: "Harmon has that graceful, fast swing, he swings up at the ball just a little bit and hits those high homers."
Griffith called him "The meal ticket for our franchise for all those years in Washington and Minnesota." Killebrew left the Twins at the conclusion of the 1974 campaign and on his first trip back to the Twin Cities in 1975, with his new team the Kansas City Royals, the Twins retired their beloved slugger's No. 3.
In 1984 Harmon Killebrew became the first member of the Minnesota Twins inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Upon receiving the honor he called it "the greatest thrill I've had in baseball."
Killebrew finished his 22-year big league career with 573 home runs and 1,584 RBI and was named an All-Star in 11 of his major league seasons. He finished in the top four of the American League Most Valuable Player voting six times and led the Twins to the postseason in three seasons. He led the AL in home runs six times, RBI three times and walks four times.
"Killer," however, was a reserved, kind and quiet man off the field. Once, when asked what he liked to do for fun, he replied "Well, I like to wash dishes, I guess."
Longtime Twins public relations representative Tom Mee once said of Harmon: "He is one of the finest individuals in the major leagues... to know Harmon Killebrew is to be a Killebrew fan."
Rich Reese called him former Twins teammate "One of the classiest people I've ever met in my life... He treated people with respect, even with the stature he had."
Of life, Harmon Killebrew said: "Life is precious and time is a key element. Let's make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own."
The Killebrew Family would like to thank fans for their generous outpouring of support and prayers for the late legend Harmon Killebrew. At this time, in lieu of flowers, the Killebrew family is urging fans to send donations to the Harmon Killebrew Foundation "Legacy Program" at P.O. Box 14550 Scottsdale, AZ 85267 or by visiting www.HarmonKillebrewFoundation.org.
The Harmon Killebrew Foundation is a nonprofit 501c3 dedicated to enriching the quality of life by promoting positive and healthful participation in sports, specifically baseball, by partnering with other 501c3 organizations to raise funds for their missions of promoting mental and physical health, education, self-sufficiency and community service.
Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Source: http://baseballhall.org/news/museum-news/killer-swing-generous-heart
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Major trip for minor leaguers
Phillies Triple-A team, led by manager Ryne Sandberg, visits Hall of Fame
Museum News
COOPERTSOWN, N.Y. ? Led by a member of the national pastime's most exclusive fraternity, almost two dozen Lehigh Valley IronPigs could be found roaming the corridors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Wednesday afternoon, awed by their historic surroundings.
Arriving via bus from their home in Allentown, Pa., members of the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies spent an off-day, on their way to a game in Pawtucket, R.I., gazing at exhibits, checking out the artifacts, and overall just enjoying the experience of visiting the game's most hallowed grounds. And at the forefront was the squad's skipper, Ryne Sandberg, whose bronze image the players made sure to find in the Plaque Gallery.
"This was a generous opportunity presented by the Philadelphia Phillies, who as an organization are going to bring one of their affiliates to Cooperstown each of the next five years," a casually dressed Sandberg said midway through his visit. "So we're the first team to do that, and for me to be their guide today, with a great bunch of guys that I already like, I just felt like they'd take right to this.
"Some have been here before and really enjoyed it, but for those who hadn't I thought it would be a treat that would last a lifetime. Not only will it affect them today but probably for the rest of their lives."
Sandberg, elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005, originally drafted by the Phillies and in his first season managing the IronPigs after having spent the previous four years as a skipper in the Chicago Cubs' minor league system, said he still enjoys every opportunity he gets to visit the Museum.
"It's still mind-boggling to me to think this game has been going on for so long," Sandberg said. "For me, I like to picture back to the person who was wearing a certain glove - what was their life like, what did they do on a daily basis, what kind of work did they do in the off-season, where did they live, what were the conditions? I put myself back in history that way the best I can, trying to picture myself back then. It's all about the history for me and going back in time."
A 10-time All-Star second baseman, Sandberg won nine Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slugger Awards during a 16-year big league career spent mainly with the Cubs. At the time of his retirement, his 277 home runs as a second baseman were a big league record.
"I've been doing this since I was 18 years old. When I signed my name to that first professional baseball contract I became a professional baseball player," Sandberg said. "To spend all those years in the game, I have an appreciation for what this game stands for. Going into the Hall of Fame in 2005 really was a time of reflection for me that year, thinking of all the people that helped me and all the trials and tribulations that I went through to have a career.
"And now I have a feeling of wanting to help younger players and any player get to the major leagues. I know the benefits from it, not only financial but just the experience of being part of a team and being part of history in this country."
Having walked amongst the fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and grandmothers and grandfathers who visited the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Sandberg talked about the ability that the game of baseball has in connecting generations.
"It is a sport that you can enjoy with a simple game of catch," he said. "You can go to a baseball game and the game hasn't changed over the years. It's still the same dimensions on a baseball field. And just the fact that it's been a constant through so many years and generations.
"I think that people connecting with the game through generations has helped it become America's pastime."
Bill Francis is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Source: http://baseballhall.org/news/museum-news/major-trip-minor-leaguers
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Phils lose another closer, Madson to DL (AP)
The Philadelphia Phillies have placed closer Ryan Madson on the 15-day disabled list with a right hand contusion. Right-hander Andrew Carpenter was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Madson's spot. The move was made Tuesday before the major league-leading Phillies opened a three-game series against Boston.
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Why Jonah Lehrer's Criticism of Sabermetrics is so Disappointing (Beyond the Boxscore)
Let me say this up front: I like Jonah Lehrer. I am a fan of his writing and generally find him quite informative and thoughtful. This probably explains my visceral reaction to his latest, a dismissive column at Grantland that criticizes the use of analytics in various sports, including baseball . As JD mentioned, it's a bad column and disappointing. I don't simply claim it to be bad because I...
Source : Beyond the Boxscore
Explore : Baseball Blogs, Sports
Source: http://wik.io/info/US/274388091
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Harmon Killebrew and ?Versatility?
The recent death of Harmon Killebrew prompted many touching reminiscences about a man with seemingly no enemies, despite carrying around the nickname of ?Killer? for most of his life. (He did not really need a nickname; both his first and last names are unique in major league history.) By all accounts, he was a gentle and loving person, who also happened to hit home runs more frequently than anyone of his time. He hit 45 or more round trippers six times in the 1960s, while no other American League batter did it more than once. For baseball fans of a certain age, no player will ever better personify the word ?slugger.?
Another interesting thing about Killebrew, perhaps unique among Hall of Fame players: he was repeatedly shifted between three defensive positions throughout his career, getting 44% of his starts at first base, 33% at third base, and 22% in left field. While many players shift positions along the defensive spectrum as they age, moving from shortstop to third base, or from left field to first base, Killebrew?s managers shifted their star hitter, nearly to the end of his career, depending mainly on the other players on the team. (It would be as if Tony LaRussa started playing Albert Pujols at third base. Oh, wait ?)
Let?s review:
1954-58. Forced to start his big-league career early because of the bonus rule, Killebrew spent parts of five seasons as a little-used infielder for the Washington Senators.
1959. Having traded Eddie Yost, manager Cookie Lavagetto gave Killebrew the third base job. Harmon responded with a league-leading 42 home runs, and started his first All-Star game.
1960. Harmon remained at third until mid-season, when Lavagetto decided he needed to get Reno Bertoia into the lineup (or Julio Becquer out of it) and shifted Killebrew across the diamond to first base.
1961. With the franchise now in Minnesota, Killebrew spent the first half of the 1961 season splitting time between first and third, until Sam Mele became the skipper in mid-season and kept Killebrew at first. (I am not going to recite lots of offensive statistics, so just go ahead and assume that Killebrew hit 45 home runs and batted .260 with a bunch of walks, since he did that every year.)
1962. Just prior to the start of the 1962 season, the Twins acquired Vic Power, a great defensive first baseman, and moved Killebrew to left field for the first time.
1963. Left field.
1964. Left field. Tony Oliva took over in right field in 1964, and Power was discarded early in the season, creating a perfect opportunity to get Killebrew back to first base. Instead Mele shifted Bob Allison and left Killebrew in the outfield.
1965. Killebrew moved to first base (and Allison to left), but Harmon began shifting to third often by mid-season so that the team could play Don Mincher against right-handed pitchers. In early August Killebrew hurt his arm during a collision (while playing first base), but returned in September and played all seven games?at third?in the World Series.
1966. He played all 162 games, moving between third base, first base, and left field depending on who else Mele wanted to play. The Twins also had Cesar Tovar playing all over the field, leaving Mele about seven million possible defensive alignments. Tovar played this role for several years.
1967. Mincher was traded to the Angels, allowing Killebrew to play a full season at first base (160 games) for the first time in his career.
1968. A full-time first baseman again, Killebrew ruptured his hamstring in the All-Star game stretching for a throw on Houston?s AstroTurf (which was blamed at the time for the injury). When he returned in September Rich Reese had taken over at first, so manager Cal Ermer put Harmon (recovering from a severe injury) back at third base to play out the season.
1969. New manager Billy Martin took one look at the 33-year-old slugger coming off major surgery, and decided to return Killebrew to the 3B-1B role, allowing Martin options at the other corner spot. Harmon started all 162 games (96 at third base, 66 at first), drove in 140 runs, and won the MVP award, while the Twins nabbed the inaugural AL West title.
1970. Martin was replaced as skipper by Bill Rigney, who made Reese more of a full-time player. Killebrew started 129 games at third, but still managed 26 back at first.
1971. Killebrew again played both corner spots, though Reese?s poor season (.219) gave Killebrew several long stretches at first, where he started 82 times.
1972. For the first time since 1958 (when he played just nine games in the field), Killebrew played just one defensive position, first base. He was 36 and had slowed down quite a bit, though he could still rake (138 OPS+).
1973-75. With the advent of the designated hitter, the elderly Killebrew seemed to have a ready-made role. Unfortunately, the Twins also had a hobbled Tony Oliva, who needed the role even more. Killebrew eventually made it to DH, but spent his final three seasons fighting injuries and ineffectiveness.
OK, so the question is: how much defensive value did Harmon Killebrew have? According to bWAR, Killebrew?s cumulative defensive value was -7.6 wins, meaning that his place on the field cost his teams nearly 8 games on defense when compared with a replacement level player. Killebrew was a big guy, not fast, and no one ever accused him of being a good glove man. On the other hand, one wonders whether he could have been better on defense had he been allowed to play one position (preferably first base) for 15 years.
More importantly, did Killebrew?s ability to play multiple positions, often day-to-day, provide additional value to his team? In 1969 Martin played Harmon at third base 2/3 of the time so that Rich Reese could play first base. In an otherwise undistinguished career, Reese hit .322 with 18 home runs (good for a 139 OPS+), Killebrew had his best year, and the Twins led the league in runs. According to bWAR, Harmon?s (mostly) third base play cost the team 1.3 games on defense. This might be true, and Harmon?s isolated value might have been better had he just played first base all season and let Frank Quillici or someone play third. In order to get Reese?s bat in the lineup (or Mincher?s, Power?s, or Bertoia?s), Killebrew was asked to play a position he could not play particularly well.
It seems to me that Killebrew?s ?value? to the Twins might have been greater than his statistical record might show.
Another player shifted around the diamond throughout his career was Pete Rose. Unlike Killebrew, Rose did not move day-to-day?he stayed in one place for several years before moving on. Also unlike Killebrew, Rose was an outstanding defensive player for part of his career, before being asked to move again. Rose came up as a second baseman in 1963, then moved to left field (1967), right field (1968), left field (1972), third base (1975), and first base (1979). Let?s examine his move to third base.
Rose won two Gold Gloves in right field, where he had good range though only a fair arm. He was moved to left field in 1972 largely in deference to Cesar Geronimo, a great defensive player with a cannon. In left field, Rose was outstanding. How outstanding? According to the defensive runs metric used on baseball-reference.com, here are the best outfielders in baseball over the years 1972-74, in aggregate.
??Pete Rose 52
?Paul Blair 52
Cesar Geronimo 34?
Bill North 30?
Bobby Bonds 26??
Other than Rose, these are all center fielders. As a hitter, Rose trailed only Willie Stargell, Cesar Cedeno and Reggie Jackson in batting runs among outfielders, making him every bit as valuable as he was famous.
Nonetheless, in May 1975 Sparky Anderson moved Rose to third base. The effect on the Reds was to replace third baseman John Vukovich, hitting .211 with zero home runs, with left fielder George Foster, who would hit .300 with 23 home runs. Rose continued to hit as well as ever, and the team won 108 games and the World Series.
Over the 1975 and 1976 seasons combined, Rose had the sixth highest total of batting runs in the major leagues, but rather than being worth two wins per season on defense (as he had been in left field) he was now worse than replacement level. Meanwhile, George Foster became a star and the Reds won two championships. Anderson could have moved Foster to third base, but he thought Rose could handle it. Given what happened to the Reds, I am forced to conclude that Anderson knew what he was talking about.
So, what am I saying? I am not saying that there should a new statistic to measure flexibility, nor am I suggesting that the WAR values we have become familiar with are wrong, or should be adjusted. I am saying: assessing ?value? is complicated.
Mark Armour is a baseball writer living in Corvallis, Oregon, and the director of SABR?s Baseball Biography Project. His book Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball was published in 2010 by the University of Nebraska Press. He and Dan Levitt are working on a sequel to their 2003 book Paths to Glory.
Source: http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2011/06/harmon_killebre_1.php
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Monday, June 27, 2011
Fluke Watch (or really, Breakout Watch): Madison Bumgarner
Is Madison Bumgarner primed to break out?
Click the title to read more.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
: Madison Bumgarner)
Click the title to read more.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Source: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/fluke-watch-madison-bumgarner/
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Dodgers file for bankruptcy after failed TV deal
The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled team afloat.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6708046&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Dodgers file for bankruptcy after failed TV deal
The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled team afloat.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6708046&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Peavy remains in line for Thursday's start
Peavy remains in line for Thursday's start
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Dunn hits century mark in strikeouts
Dunn hits century mark in strikeouts
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Sunday, June 26, 2011
Phillies' Oswalt out until August with bulging disk
Roy Oswalt rushed to return the first time his balky back put him on the disabled list.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6704455&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Jose Bautista: Patience and Power
Jose Bautista’s breakout has been one of baseball’s most interesting stories of the past two years. From 2006 to 2009 Bautista was a slightly below-average hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays, hitting between 13 and 16 home runs each year. But since the start of 2010 Bautista has hit more HRs, 74, than anyone else in the majors — Albert Pujols is second with 55. Over that time he also leads the league in walks taken with 152 and walks per plate appearance, 16.6%. All those walks and home runs make Bautista the best hitter, as measured by wOBA, since the start of 2010. Here I am going to look deeper into Bautista’s success.
Bautista is a pronounced pull-HR hitters. Of his 74 HRs since the start of 2010 just three have gone to the opposite field (that is had a horizontal angle of less than 90° according HitTracker). That is fewer opposite-field HRs than any other player on the 2010-2011 top 10 HR list — even though he tops the list.
With this extreme pull power one would assume he couldn’t handle away pitches as well. Pitchers have assumed as much, Garik16 showed that pitchers have incredibly pitched him away. But he also showed that Bautista has gotten better over the past three years at dealing with those outside pitches, and now has a positive run value on them. Here is a big reason why. This graph shows the horizontal pitch location on each pitch Bautista has hit for a HR since the start of 2010, and then the angle of that HR in play.
A large number of Bautista’s HRs have come off pitches on the outer half of the plate, and he has still been able to pull those pitches to left field. In fact he has three pulled HRs on pithes far off the plate away. (On a side note Max Marchi has a great article analyzing this type of data at the Hardball Times.)
With that prodigious power pitchers have responded by increasingly pitching around Bautista. He has eight IBBs so far this year second in baseball to Miguel Cabrera’s 12. And even when he is not intentionally walked he is not given much to hit; he sees the fewer pitches in the zone than any other hitter.
Here is a set of graphs showing the how often Bautista sees pitches in each location, based on the intensity of the blue, and Bautista’s 50% swing contour. So Bautista was more likely than not to swing at a pitch within the contour, and more likely than not to take a pitch outside it.
In 2008 and 2009 pitchers pitched to Jose Bautista as they would to most average hitters: throwing mostly in the zone and slightly away. With Bautista’s breakout starting in the end of 2009 and continuing in 2010, pitchers increasingly threw away and down. This change in location is partially a consequence of Bautista seeing fewer fastballs and more breaking and off-speed pitches. Bautista’s swing zone has remained fairly static, and as a result he is walking much more.
Around the end of April Dave Cameron suggested that Jose Bautista might be the best hitter in the AL. Since then Bautista has continued to hit like crazy, and his ZIPS rest of the season projected wOBA is now the best in baseball: an amazing ascent for a batter who went into the 2010 as an at-best average hitter.
Source: http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2011/06/jose_bautista_p.php
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Top games of the week: June 19 to 25
Time to rank the five most exciting games of the past week.
The Athletics @ Mets contest topping the above list is ranked 16th for the season. The May 18 game featuring the Yankees @ Orioles is still the best of the year.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
date game stars 06-22 Athletics @ Mets *** box score 06-24 Reds @ Orioles ** box score 06-21 Rockies @ Indians ** box score 06-24 Nationals @ White Sox ** box score 06-22 Angels @ Marlins * box score
The Athletics @ Mets contest topping the above list is ranked 16th for the season. The May 18 game featuring the Yankees @ Orioles is still the best of the year.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Source: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/top-games-of-the-week-june-19-to-25/
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Mauer to start working out at first base
Mauer to start working out at first base
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Serena, Nadal, Federer and Sharapova roll at Wimbledon
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapoa all won in straight sets Saturday to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.
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Celebrate the games
Museum visitors get a taste of cricket?s relationship to baseball in Hall of Fame?s new exhibit
Museum News
The chatter was like that of any group of baseball fans ? exchanges focusing on batting, pitching and fielding.
But on Saturday at the Baseball Hall of Fame, many of those fans were talking about baseball's distant cousin, cricket, and the Museum's new Swinging Away exhibit that celebrates the relationship of the two sports.
Swinging Away: How Baseball and Cricket Connect opened in April at the Hall of Fame, which will display the exhibit ? created by the Marylebone Cricket Club of London with assistance from the Baseball Hall of Fame ? through February. Events celebrating the exhibit on Saturday in Cooperstown ? and continuing on Sunday ? feature round-table discussions of the history of both sports as well as demonstrations of cricket.
"It has been a great pleasure to put this exhibition together, but it would have been a one-sided endeavor without the enthusiastic support of the staff at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum," said Beth Hise, lead curator of the exhibition, based in Sydney, Australia as lead curator of the Historic Houses Trust, and author of the book by the same name, Swinging Away. "It has also been a privilege to explore cricket in America through the collection of the CC Morris Library in Haverford, which the generous support of their staff. I hope Swinging Away brings some new discoveries and interesting stories to the visitors at the Hall of Fame."
Cricket evolved as the first team sport in America, before giving way in popularity to baseball and other games. George Kirsch, a professor of history at Manhattan College and one of Saturday's roundtable panelists, estimates that as many as 10,000 Americans played cricket before the Civil War ? an astounding number for a largely agrarian society.
"Cricket was America's first team sport," said Kirsch, has penned several books about the subject. "Why did baseball overtake it in popularity? One reason is that Americans would simply not accept an English game as the National Pastime."
Worldwide, however, cricket continues to prosper, and the game is generally considered the second-most popular sport on the planet, behind only soccer. Paul Hensley, president of the C.C. Morris Cricket Library at Haverford College, which has loaned several artifacts to the Swinging Away exhibit, suggests that another challenge for cricket in America was the exclusivity of the teams.
"You can look in the Swinging Away exhibit and see ? from the photos of the teams more than 100 years ago ? that the game was played by people of uniform ethnicity," Hensley said. "It became difficult for other people to connect to cricket."
But Lloyd Jodah, president of American College Cricket, believes the ethnicity of the game is now helping grow the sport in America.
"When immigrants came to this country 100 years ago, they wanted to be Americans," said Jodah, who moved to the United States from Guyana in 1982 and is now working to support cricket's popularity among colleges. "The best way to do that was to play the American game: Baseball.
"But now, the game of cricket is making a comeback, and it's a comeback based on ethnicity. That's a strength of the game in this day and age."
Swinging Away reveals some remarkable surprises, dispels some cherished convictions and sets out for the first time to explore these two great bat and ball sports side by side. The collection includes uniforms and equipment worn by the biggest names of each sport, including as Derek Jeter and Andrew Flintoff, Bengie Molina and Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, Paul Collingwood, Robin Wallace and Charlotte Edwards and Shahid Afridi.
Swinging Away is featured on the third floor of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and admission to the exhibition is included with Museum admission. For more information on Swinging Away, please click here.
Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Source: http://baseballhall.org/news/museum-news/celebrate-games
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Saturday, June 25, 2011
Dodgers executive Steve Soboroff resigns
Steve Soboroff, hired by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to oversee improving the fan experience, has resigned after two months on the job.
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Cards Agree To Terms With Draft Pick Kolten Wong (MLB Trade Rumors)
The Cardinals have agreed to terms with first round pick Kolten Wong, reports Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). He will receive a $1.3MM signing bonus, slightly above MLB's slot recommendation of $1.287MM for the 22nd overall pick. Wong, a second baseman from Hawaii, was expected to be in St. Louis this weekend as the two sides neared a deal. Baseball America (subs. req'd) says he has...
Source : MLB Trade Rumors
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Lincecum lifts Giants over Twins, 2-1 (Seattle Times)
Tim Lincecum struck out 12 in seven superb innings, helping the San Francisco Giants beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 Thursday.
Source : Seattle Times
Explore : Baseball Players, Minnesota Twins, MLB, San Francisco Giants, Sports
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Andrus exits game with sprained left wrist
Andrus exits game with sprained left wrist
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Lugo and Lowrie
Julio Lugo will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday to repair a torn mensiscus. The Red Sox are not sure of the severity of the tear, but Julio is unlikely to make opening day, handing the starting shortstop job to Jed...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031385.php
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Team Offense, Arizona Diamondbacks
Chris YoungPhoto: Icon SMI The series on team offense continues with the Arizona Diamondbacks. I plug the probable lineup from CBSSportsLine into the Lineup Analysis Tool, and fill in the numbers with Marcel the Monkey projections. For pitchers, I...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031390.php
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Friday, June 24, 2011
Shields pitches third consecutive complete game in Rays' win
James Shields became the first pitcher in Tampa Bay history to throw three straight complete games as the Rays beat the Houston Astros.
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Dodgers' winning streak ends in 7-5 loss to Tigers (Seattle Times)
The Dodgers hadn't allowed a home run in seven consecutive games. They served up four to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, tying a season high.
Source : Seattle Times
Explore : Detroit Tigers, Sports
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New RSS Feed
If you read Baseball Musings via RSS, with the move to WordPress there is a new feed. Please change your readers to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Baseballmusingscom....
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031392.php
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Throbbing Gristle reissues on vinyl (Boing Boing)
Our friends in Throbbing Gristle have announced the re-activation of their pioneering label Industrial Records and the imminent reissue of deluxe vinyl editions of TG's seminal albums. Chris Carter remastered the audio from the original recordings and each album comes with a color booklet with unpublished photos, press reviews of the era, and other visual curiosities. Industrial Records will also...
Source : Boing Boing
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Thursday, June 23, 2011
Giants fan Bryan Stow moves arm; condition upgraded from critical to serious (L.A. Now)
Giants fan Bryan Stow, who was severely beaten after the Dodgers' home opener in March, was upgraded from critical to serious condition, doctors in San Francisco announced Wednesday. At a news conference, doctors at San Francisco General Hospital said Stow...
Source : L.A. Now
Explore : Giants win World Series, Sports, World Series
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Bonds proceedings delayed until August
Bonds proceedings delayed until August
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Senators Dick Durbin, Robert Menendez, And Pat Leahy Attempt To Lead The Way On Immigration (Think Progress)
I?m eager to see what impact, if any, Jose Vargas? brave article about his immigration status will have on the debate. Will he be deported? Will someone explain what the rationale for the Vargas Exception is? Will the New York Times be prosecuted for publishing work by someone they knew wasn?t eligible to work legally [...]
Source : Think Progress
Explore : Baseball Players, Hockey, Hockey Players, Politics, Sports
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Lee tosses six-hitter as Phillies blank Cardinals
Cliff Lee threw a six-hitter for his second straight shutout and the Phillies got homers from Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard in the fourth inning of a 4-0 victory over the Cardinals.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310622124&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Entering a critical two weeks for McCourt's ownership of Dodgers
The clock is really ticking now for the Dodgers and Frank McCourt.
The cash-strapped owner met his mid-month payroll obligation of about $10 million, making him five for five this season. But that's a stat in which every owner needs to bat 1.000.
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Cubs' Soriano pities Dunn getting booed at Cell
While empathizing with slumping Chicago White Sox slugger Adam Dunn, who's being booed at U.S. Cellular Field on a consistent basis, Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano said Chicago fans can be harsh.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6692394&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Six fights to watch this weekend
Sheer numbers make up for a lack of title-picture fights this weekend on cable TV.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/ww1dJ32DvqU/1
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Pledge Drive Update
The Baseball Musings Pledge Drive is up to $2295 through the first two weeks of donations. With 16 days to go, continuing that pace would make this the best pledge drive in the history of Baseball Musings. Peter Gammons donated...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031388.php
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