Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[SkyDog112046]

What a shitty series so far. I was hoping for a really good pitching duel in game 1 and Lee choked. I'll bet that cost him some $$ this off season. It does appear the way to beat the Rangers is to get at their bullpen. I wonder if they will be harder to beat with the DH and not having to pull pitchers for pinch hitters? Hopefully Texas wins the next 2 games and makes this a series again.

[killeverything]

What a shitty series so far. I was hoping for a really good pitching duel in game 1 and Lee choked. I'll bet that cost him some $$ this off season. It does appear the way to beat the Rangers is to get at their bullpen. I wonder if they will be harder to beat with the DH and not having to pull pitchers for pinch hitters? Hopefully Texas wins the next 2 games and makes this a series again.

Yep. I want a tighter series. It's still mind-blowing to me the Lee/Lincecum game. I figured Texas' bullpen would be the downfall though. The first evidence came in game one against Sabbathia. Knock out the MFY #1 then have your BP fuck you. That's got to be infuriating.

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

Trick or Treat! Scary Stats for Halloween
October 29, 2010

With Halloween coming up on Sunday, we offer you a top ten list of the "scariest" stats from this past baseball season. If you have a fear of such things, we suggest you stop reading now!

10 ) The worst hitter in baseball playing as a regular last year was Baltimore's Cesar Izturis with an MLB-low on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .545.

9 ) The worst pitcher in baseball was Jeremy Bonderman with an ERA of 5.53.

8 ) The worst fielder was Yuniesky Betancourt. He cost the Royals 21 runs with his poor defense at shortstop.

7 ) Chad Tracy went 1-for-24 (.042) with 11 strikeouts as a pinch hitter for Florida.

6 ) Angels' outfielder Torii Hunter was caught stealing 12 times in 21 attempts, for an MLB-worst 42.9% stolen base percentage.

5 ) The Ranger's Vlad Guerrero was thrown out attempting to advance on the bases in non-stolen base situations (for example, trying to go first to third on a single) an MLB-worst 12 times.

4 ) Ricky Romero, Toronto, threw 18 wild pitches, the highest total in the last five years.

3 ) Yankee A.J. Burnett hit 19 batters this season, the highest total (tied with two others) in the last six years.

2 ) Mark Reynolds’ 211 strikeouts was the second highest total ever. Only he himself ever had more, with 223 in 2009.

1 ) The Royals' Billy Butler grounded into 32 double plays. No one has hit into more in the past twenty-five years (Jim Rice, 35 in 1985)

If you have any other scary stats you want to share, send them to me on my Twitter page.

Yo, I got one. Derek fucking Jeter has a couple of Gold Gloves.

[Machado]

What a shitty series so far. I was hoping for a really good pitching duel in game 1 and Lee choked. I'll bet that cost him some $$ this off season. It does appear the way to beat the Rangers is to get at their bullpen. I wonder if they will be harder to beat with the DH and not having to pull pitchers for pinch hitters? Hopefully Texas wins the next 2 games and makes this a series again.

Yep. I want a tighter series. It's still mind-blowing to me the Lee/Lincecum game. I figured Texas' bullpen would be the downfall though. The first evidence came in game one against Sabbathia. Knock out the MFY #1 then have your BP fuck you. That's got to be infuriating.

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

Trick or Treat! Scary Stats for Halloween
October 29, 2010

With Halloween coming up on Sunday, we offer you a top ten list of the "scariest" stats from this past baseball season. If you have a fear of such things, we suggest you stop reading now!

10 ) The worst hitter in baseball playing as a regular last year was Baltimore's Cesar Izturis with an MLB-low on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .545.

9 ) The worst pitcher in baseball was Jeremy Bonderman with an ERA of 5.53.

8 ) The worst fielder was Yuniesky Betancourt. He cost the Royals 21 runs with his poor defense at shortstop.

7 ) Chad Tracy went 1-for-24 (.042) with 11 strikeouts as a pinch hitter for Florida.

6 ) Angels' outfielder Torii Hunter was caught stealing 12 times in 21 attempts, for an MLB-worst 42.9% stolen base percentage.

5 ) The Ranger's Vlad Guerrero was thrown out attempting to advance on the bases in non-stolen base situations (for example, trying to go first to third on a single) an MLB-worst 12 times.

4 ) Ricky Romero, Toronto, threw 18 wild pitches, the highest total in the last five years.

3 ) Yankee A.J. Burnett hit 19 batters this season, the highest total (tied with two others) in the last six years.

2 ) Mark Reynolds’ 211 strikeouts was the second highest total ever. Only he himself ever had more, with 223 in 2009.

1 ) The Royals' Billy Butler grounded into 32 double plays. No one has hit into more in the past twenty-five years (Jim Rice, 35 in 1985)

If you have any other scary stats you want to share, send them to me on my Twitter page.

Yo, I got one. Derek fucking Jeter has a couple of Gold Gloves.

Kill-
I need to buy you a beer to help you get over this Jeter fascination you have.


There is so much debate about starting pitchers needing to be protected and whether or not certain teams are doing right by young pitchers.
A great example is bonderman.
The kid was a stud and now look at him.
An average pitcher on a good day.
Ever since he threw 214 innings in 2006, he has not been the same pitcher.

[killeverything]

What a shitty series so far. I was hoping for a really good pitching duel in game 1 and Lee choked. I'll bet that cost him some $$ this off season. It does appear the way to beat the Rangers is to get at their bullpen. I wonder if they will be harder to beat with the DH and not having to pull pitchers for pinch hitters? Hopefully Texas wins the next 2 games and makes this a series again.

Yep. I want a tighter series. It's still mind-blowing to me the Lee/Lincecum game. I figured Texas' bullpen would be the downfall though. The first evidence came in game one against Sabbathia. Knock out the MFY #1 then have your BP fuck you. That's got to be infuriating.

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

Trick or Treat! Scary Stats for Halloween
October 29, 2010

With Halloween coming up on Sunday, we offer you a top ten list of the "scariest" stats from this past baseball season. If you have a fear of such things, we suggest you stop reading now!

10 ) The worst hitter in baseball playing as a regular last year was Baltimore's Cesar Izturis with an MLB-low on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .545.

9 ) The worst pitcher in baseball was Jeremy Bonderman with an ERA of 5.53.

8 ) The worst fielder was Yuniesky Betancourt. He cost the Royals 21 runs with his poor defense at shortstop.

7 ) Chad Tracy went 1-for-24 (.042) with 11 strikeouts as a pinch hitter for Florida.

6 ) Angels' outfielder Torii Hunter was caught stealing 12 times in 21 attempts, for an MLB-worst 42.9% stolen base percentage.

5 ) The Ranger's Vlad Guerrero was thrown out attempting to advance on the bases in non-stolen base situations (for example, trying to go first to third on a single) an MLB-worst 12 times.

4 ) Ricky Romero, Toronto, threw 18 wild pitches, the highest total in the last five years.

3 ) Yankee A.J. Burnett hit 19 batters this season, the highest total (tied with two others) in the last six years.

2 ) Mark Reynolds’ 211 strikeouts was the second highest total ever. Only he himself ever had more, with 223 in 2009.

1 ) The Royals' Billy Butler grounded into 32 double plays. No one has hit into more in the past twenty-five years (Jim Rice, 35 in 1985)

If you have any other scary stats you want to share, send them to me on my Twitter page.

Yo, I got one. Derek fucking Jeter has a couple of Gold Gloves.

Kill-
I need to buy you a beer to help you get over this Jeter fascination you have.


There is so much debate about starting pitchers needing to be protected and whether or not certain teams are doing right by young pitchers.
A great example is bonderman.
The kid was a stud and now look at him.
An average pitcher on a good day.
Ever since he threw 214 innings in 2006, he has not been the same pitcher.

I'm down. No PBR though.

I think part of what Beckett's problem is he was way over-pitched in Florida for his age. He was 19 when he was drafted in 1999. He pretty much went straight to the majors too. In 2001 at 21 years of age he threw107.2IP with 23GS.

It's kind of chicked/egg arguement, because Cy Young and all the old school pitchers disagree, but the evidence is there to support bringing them up slower.

[Machado]

Kill-
Nolan Ryan and his rangers seem to think that pitching a lot will only help their staff.
Like you said, other's will disagree and believe in bringing along a young pitcher much slower.

I wonder just how many pitchers like Cy Young and Bob Feller and Bob Gibson, etc....actually suffered major shoulder/elbow injuries.
Did they suffer from those, but doctor's were unable to diagnose correctly?
How often did those pitcher's have surgery to help with the pain?

In the last few years the Yankees have been criticized a lot for how slowly they brought along Hughes & Joba.
Beginning in 2011, it appears the Yankees plan might have done some good.
That's not to say the rangers plans will fail because it differs greatly from the Yankees or the majority of MLB teams.

[killeverything]

Kill-
Nolan Ryan and his rangers seem to think that pitching a lot will only help their staff.
Like you said, other's will disagree and believe in bringing along a young pitcher much slower.

I wonder just how many pitchers like Cy Young and Bob Feller and Bob Gibson, etc....actually suffered major shoulder/elbow injuries.
Did they suffer from those, but doctor's were unable to diagnose correctly?
How often did those pitcher's have surgery to help with the pain?

In the last few years the Yankees have been criticized a lot for how slowly they brought along Hughes & Joba.
Beginning in 2011, it appears the Yankees plan might have done some good.
That's not to say the rangers plans will fail because it differs greatly from the Yankees or the majority of MLB teams.

Exactly. Nolan and the old schoolers think differently. I think the MFY's actions with Hughes were right on. Remember he almost had a no hitter through eight and fucked up his leg. When he came up. I looked through fangraphs and couldn't find the game, I believe it was against Baltimore.

Anyways them having him come out of the BP for a bit was a good move transition him into being a starter. Now Joba OTOH, I think they fucked a lot, because he was a starter, then a closer, then a set-up man, starter, repeat.

I think moving him so much screwed his development. He never got a chance to develop + secondary pitches. So when you start losing mph on your fastball which has steadily declined monthly it seems. The dominant run he was on when he first came up from the BP ends abruptly.

Then you're left with a pitcher who has no choice but to head-hunt, and stomp around on "called" strike-outs.....after giving up 8 runs.

[JakeYonkel]

Hughes' near no-no was in Texas actually, kill, when he was (I think) 20 years old in 2007.

I hate to admit I've literally not been able to watch any of the World Series... having to wake up at 5:45AM every day pretty much takes me out of the running to stay up too late, and these fucking games start after 8PM every night. It's ridiculous.

Not that this is a complaint that hasn't been made, but shit, kids can't watch the games on school nights either.

[killeverything]

Hughes' near no-no was in Texas actually, kill, when he was (I think) 20 years old in 2007.

I hate to admit I've literally not been able to watch any of the World Series... having to wake up at 5:45AM every day pretty much takes me out of the running to stay up too late, and these fucking games start after 8PM every night. It's ridiculous.

Not that this is a complaint that hasn't been made, but shit, kids can't watch the games on school nights either.

Texas! I wonder why I thought it was Baltimore. Oh well fuck Baltimore. Here we are:

05/01 6.1IP 6K 3BB Unfuckingreal.

He was sent back down to A+ to work out his injury, then made a return to "the show" on 08/04 against KC where he gave up 6ER in 4.2IP. So the arguement remains. Which came first the chicken or the egg? I think the MFY handling of Hughes was fine personally.

Jake, your missing a great WS, that's a bummer mang. How flawed Texas BP is is extremely evident. Aside from Nefatali Perez I'm sure Rangers' fans damn near have a heart attack every time one of the relievers come in with a lead.

I read somewhere that the usage of their bullpen lead the majors this season. Unfortunatley I'm finding trouble looking it up. Which does nothing but add to the rhetoric I suppose.

[Machado]

Why does the texas rangers CEO think he has anything newsworthy to say about the Yankees while his team is playing in the world series.


The CEO of the Texas Rangers called New York Yankees fans "violent," "apathetic" and "an embarrassment" for their behavior during the American League Championship Series in an interview on Monday with ESPN Radio in Dallas.

Responding to a question about Rangers fans' demeanor during the postseason, Chuck Greenberg digressed into a critique of Yankees fans which included an unflattering characterization.

"I think our fans have been great," Greenberg said on the "Ben and Skin Show" on 103.3 KESN. "I think particularly in Game 3 of the World Series they just blew away anything I've seen in any venue during the postseason. I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful. They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good. So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I've seen in the postseason. I thought they were an embarrassment."



"I thought where our fans were really amazing was in Game 2 against the Yankees," he said. "Because Game 1 was a real gut wrencher, you know, it was a tough way to lose. I thought our fans were spectacular and you'd be amazed how much our players picked up on that passion and enthusiasm."


Previously, Kristin Lee, the wife of Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee, had said that Yankees fans cursed her, spat at her and threw beer at her while her husband was shutting down the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium.


Yankees president Randy Levine did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Tenacious_Dio]

Why does the texas rangers CEO think he has anything newsworthy to say about the Yankees while his team is playing in the world series.

Because he's trying to hold on to Cliff Lee?

[Machado]

Why does the texas rangers CEO think he has anything newsworthy to say about the Yankees while his team is playing in the world series.

Because he's trying to hold on to Cliff Lee?

Someone should tell this moron there is no such thing as a "HomeTown Discount".

You're probably correct-It's his way to get the idea into lee's head that NY is the enemy,

[SkyDog112046]

Congratulations to Tim Wakefield for receiving the Roberto Clemente award. Wake is truly one of the good guys in sports.

[Machado]

Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg appologized for his remarks from earlier in the day: “Earlier today, in the course of praising the extraordinary support and enthusiasm of Texas Rangers fans, I unfairly and inaccurately disparaged fans of the New York Yankees. Those remarks were inappropriate. Yankees fans are among the most passionate and supportive in all of baseball.”

[JakeYonkel]

Karma's a bitch, Chuck. Should have been a little more concerned with your team getting trounced by the F'ing Giants.

For the record I've seen games at Fenway (pre 2004, but still) without incident but the only place where the fans were truly animals was at Shea. I was spat on and screamed at. And believe me I'm the kind of guy that's pretty unassuming, not one of those loudmouth drunkards.

[killeverything]

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

The Fielding Bible Awards 2010

November 1, 2010

THE 2010 FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS have been officially announced after the first unanimous winner in the five-year history of the Fielding Bible Awards. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won his fourth consecutive Fielding Bible Award with a perfect score of 100, 26 points ahead of second-place finisher Carlos Ruiz.

Joining Molina as repeat winners are Ichiro Suzuki (his third, second in a row), Mark Buehrle (his second, back to back), and Troy Tulowitzki (two also). First time winners include Daric Barton, Chase Utley, Evan Longoria, Brett Gardner, and Michael Bourn.

A panel of ten analysts, listed below—including John Dewan, Peter Gammons and Bill James—examined the 2010 seasons of every defensive player in Major League Baseball and then used the same voting technique as the Major League Baseball MVP voting. First place votes received 10 points, second place 9 points, third place 8 points, etc. A perfect score was 100. A complete record of their votes can be found in The Bill James Handbook 2011.

One important distinction that differentiates THE FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS from most other baseball awards, such as the Gold Gloves, is that there is only one winner at each position, including separate recognition for each outfield position, instead of separate winners for each league. The goal of THE FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS is to stand up and say: “Here is the best fielder at this position in Major League Baseball last season.” Another key feature of the system is that it also recognizes the runners-up for each position, instead of just focusing on the winners.

Here are the results of THE 2010 FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS:

FIRST BASE—DARIC BARTON, OAKLAND ATHLETICS (86 POINTS)
Albert Pujols' four-year lock on the award was finally broken by Barton thanks to the estimated 20 runs he saved defensively for the A's, according to our Runs Saved statistic.

SECOND BASE—CHASE UTLEY, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (86 POINTS)
Utley has consistently proven himself to be one of the best second basemen around, and this year he was rewarded with his first Fielding Bible Award. Now the question, can Utley win his first Gold Glove award?

THIRD BASE—EVAN LONGORIA, TAMPA BAY RAYS (92 POINTS)
In the closest race of the awards, Longoria prevented Ryan Zimmerman from winning his second consecutive award by a single point (92 to 91).

SHORTSTOP—TROY TULOWITZKI, COLORADO ROCKIES (97 POINTS)
Tulowitzki's bat garnered more of the limelight this season as he led the Rockies in another near-miraculous end-of-season comeback, but it's his glove that saved the Rockies 16 runs and earned his second-career Fielding Bible Award.

LEFT FIELD—BRETT GARDNER, NEW YORK YANKEES (96 POINTS)
In the big upset of the awards, Gardner unseated three-time winner Carl Crawford by 10 points in the scoring. The judges recognized his speed and skill in covering the spacious left-field territory in the Yankees' new stadium.

CENTER FIELD—MICHAEL BOURN, HOUSTON ASTROS (91 POINTS)
The 'Stros are lucky to have Bourn patrolling their center field. He saved his team 16 runs, despite missing a handful of games due to injury.

RIGHT FIELD—ICHIRO SUZUKI, SEATTLE MARINERS (92 POINTS)
Winning his second consecutive Fielding Bible Award, third career win, Suzuki made three home-run-saving catches last year, saving five runs for the Mariners.

CATCHER—YADIER MOLINA, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (100 POINTS)
Hands down, bar none, Molina is the best catcher in Major League Baseball. This is his fourth-consecutive award, tying him for most career Fielding Bible Awards with Albert Pujols, and very nearly his fifth as he lost in '06 by only six points. Factoring in his runs saved on Misplays and Good Plays, Molina saved the Cards a whopping 20 runs defensively in 2010.

PITCHER—MARK BUEHRLE, CHICAGO WHITE SOX (86)
Buehrle won this award handily—runner up Zack Greinke only had 63 points. Buehrle's edge is his ability to control the running game. He only allowed six of 12 would-be base thieves to steal against him, and he picked off six additional baserunners.

The Panel

1. Bill James is a baseball writer and analyst and the Senior Baseball Operations Advisor for the Boston Red Sox;
2. The BIS Video Scouts at Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) study every game of the season, multiple times, charting a huge list of valuable game details;
3. The man who created Strat-O-Matic Baseball—Hal Richman;
4. Named the best sports columnist in America by the AP Sports Editors, Joe Posnanski is a Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated and occasional columnist for the Kansas City Star;
5. For over twenty years, BIS owner John Dewan has collected, published and analyzed in-depth baseball statistics and is the author of The Fielding Bible and The Fielding Bible—Volume II;
6. Mat Olkin is a sabermetrics consultant to major league teams;
7. Hall-of-Famer Peter Gammons serves as on-air and online analyst for MLB Network, MLB.com, and NESN (New England Sports Network);
8. Rob Neyer writes about baseball for ESPN.com and appears regularly on ESPN radio and ESPNews;
9. Todd Radcliffe is Lead Video Scout at Baseball Info Solutions;
10. The Tom Tango Fan Poll represents the results of a poll taken at the website, Tango on Baseball (www.tangotiger.net);
The three tie-breakers are Steve Moyer, President of BIS, Dan Casey, veteran Video Scout at BIS, and Dave Studenmund, one of the owners of www.hardballtimes.com and the editor of The Hardball Times Baseball Annual.

[JakeYonkel]

Cool post Kill.

With Gammons on the panel I'm surprised Ortiz didn't win the award for 1B.

[Machado]

Brett Gardner-
The Yankees 2011 lead off hitter.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Marlins are bringing back Edwin Rodriguez as Manager. Let's see what he can do.

And they're also bringing back PERRY FUCKING HILL as 1st base coach and infield coach. Thank you, baby Jeebus, thank you!!! <3 <3 <3 Watch the errors fall waaayyyyy off!

[MurrayFiend]

Fuck the Marlins!

Go Mets.

[HeavyMetalZombie666]

Fuck the Marlins!

Go Mets.

I would love to see another Mets world series.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Fuck the Marlins!

Go Mets.

I would love to see another Mets world series.

I love when the Marlins knock the Muts out of contention for the playoffs!

ColaZombie, are you lost?

[TawnyVonJagger]

Sparky Anderson has been placed into Hospice, suffering from dementia. Love ya, Sparky.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/11/03/spar ... with-deme/


Sparky Anderson, Hall of Fame Manager, in Hospice Care With Dementia


11/03/2010 10:38 AM ET By FanHouse Staff


Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson is suffering from dementia and has been placed in hospice care, his family said Wednesday.

The 76-year-old Anderson won the World Series at the helm of both the Reds (1975-76) and Tigers (1984). He reached the playoffs four additional times in a managing career that ran from 1970-95, compiling a career record of 2,194-1,834. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 after being elected by the veteran's committee.

He has lived since retirement in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he'll undergo care for complications of dementia, according to a statement released Wednesday by his family. It read in part:

"The Anderson family, which consists of wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, and daughter Shirley Englebrecht, wishes to express appreciation to all friends and fans for the support and kindness they have shown throughout Sparky's career and retirement."

Anderson's health has taken a turn for the worse, but he alluded to that possibility last fall. In Detroit for a 25th anniversary celebration of the Tigers' most recent World Series championship, Anderson acknowledged how much the reunion meant to him because it would probably be the last time the entire group was able to gather together.

"I'm 75. I know I ain't going to make it," he said.

His final 17 seasons as a manager were spent with the Tigers, an organization that already has suffered the loss of one icon this year with broadcaster Ernie Harwell's death in May.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

I hope in his mind he's leaning against the top railing watching some neverending doubleheader on a warm day. They don't get much more iconic than Sparky.

[Machado]

Sparky was the man.
Very sad news to read.

Sparky led the Big Red Machine to world titles and much success.

[Machado]

i could be wrong, but i think the number is 101,
101 days until pitchers and catchers report to
Spring Training

[TawnyVonJagger]

Fuck, that was quick.

Just saw on Twitter that Sparky died today. RIP to a baseball giant.

[SkyDog112046]

RIP Sparky

[killeverything]

Awww man. RIP Sparky.

[WOLF]

RIP Sparky. You were great on that episode of WKRP. Not bad at the managing gig either...

[johnk5150]

I hope in his mind he's leaning against the top railing watching some neverending doubleheader on a warm day. They don't get much more iconic than Sparky.

Stunned to read he was only 76. His wrinkled, angry ass is one of my first memories of sports as a youth. He's the only manager to be the winningest for two separate teams with Detroit and Cincy.