Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[MurrayFiend]

The Angels' commentators are pretty bad (I saw some of their recent series against the Rangers, when the big win streak for Texas was snapped), but they're nothing like fucking Michael Kay.

[Machado]

The Angels' commentators are pretty bad (I saw some of their recent series against the Rangers, when the big win streak for Texas was snapped), but they're nothing like fucking Michael Kay.

Even I can admit that Kay is horrible in the booth. I don't care for his style or to hear his voice. The only occasion where he is tolerable are the telecasts that also include Paul O'Neil and Al Leiter and David Cone.

[tin00can]

Rivera blew another save last night. Is he finally starting to show his age? If he starts to lose it NY can forget doing anything in the post season.

And that fake to 3rd throw to 1st pick off Walden pulled on Granderson was sweet!

Mo finally threw a cutter that did not cut. Ball was over the heart of the plate and a pro hitter like Abreu should send that ball over the fence.

I was watching the game via the Angels telecast-I don't know who the two broadcasters are, but those two are terrible.
All night those two took shots at Yankee players and for no reason.
Do they do there homework? Are they prepared?

Victor Rojas and Mark Gubiczak. Victor is OK, takes a bit to get used to him. Guby, not so much.

[Machado]

NEW YORK -- A tightened-up baseball postseason schedule will start Sept. 30 with a pair of AL playoff games.

This will mark the first time since the 1915 World Series that the major league postseason will begin on a Friday.

This year's schedule does not include any off-days between games while a series is in one city. Last year, the Reds and Phillies had an off-day between Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia.

The World Series will open in the home of the National League champion on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

[killeverything]

Haven't posted these in a while. This one is interesting though. I knew Texas was aggresive on the basepaths, I didn't know Philly was too.

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

Who are the Top Baserunning Teams?

August 12, 2011

One of the more popular sections in the annual Bill James Handbook is the analysis of baserunning. The Baserunning section reports how often teams go first to third, second to home, how often players are thrown out on the bases, among other data.

We evaluate a team’s baserunning prowess in two parts: Baserunning Gain (or loss, if it’s a negative number) and Stolen Base Gain (or loss). Baserunning Gain is the total of all the types of extra baserunning advances minus the (triple) penalty for all the baserunning outs relative to the league average. Stolen Base Gain is the number of stolen bases minus two times the number of caught stealing. Plus numbers are above average and negative numbers are below average.

Once we have a team’s Baserunning Gain and Stolen Base Gain, we add them together and get a team’s Net Gain. Here are the team leaders:

2011 Team Baserunning Leaders
Team
Baserunning Gain Stolen Base Gain Net Gain
Texas Rangers
+41
+38
+79
Philadelphia Phillies
+37
+42
+79
San Diego Padres
+3
+76
+79
New York Mets
+20
+48
+68
Los Angeles Dodgers
+8
+47
+55

The Rangers and Phillies, two of the teams tied for the overall lead, are in first place in their respective division. Their Net Gains come from a close to 50-50 split between their Baserunning Gain and Stolen Base Gain.

The other team at the top, the Padres, is actually in last place. They have an incredibly high Stolen Base Gain and are just above average in Baserunning Gain.

Here are the bottom five teams:

2011 Team Baserunning Trailers
Team
Baserunning Gain Stolen Base Gain Net Gain
Chicago White Sox
-32
-23
-55
St. Louis Cardinals
-31
-16
-47
Pittsburgh Pirates
-46
+3
-43
Chicago Cubs
-48
+8
-40
Atlanta Braves
-16
-14
-30
The two teams from my home town show up on this chart, the White Sox and Cubs. While the White Sox are on a roll right now, they still remain a game below .500 and behind the Indians and Tigers in the AL Central. The Cubs? Second worst record in the National League. Chicago fans are disappointed; poor baserunning isn’t helping.

[johnk5150]

Thome has 600 home runs. Did the steroid thing take any and all fanfare from such an accomplishment?

Did Sosa/McGwire etc ruin any and all accomplishments regarding home runs? Is the romance gone? It used to be so damn important and now it feels like our innocence is gone.

[dtmfs]

Thome has 600 home runs. Did the steroid thing take any and all fanfare from such an accomplishment?

Did Sosa/McGwire etc ruin any and all accomplishments regarding home runs? Is the romance gone? It used to be so damn important and now it feels like our innocence is gone.

There was a Typical NY douchebag on ESPN yesterday, a guy who actually votes for the HOF, and He said Thome isent a hall of famer because He questions everyone from the steroid era, another guy at the table then said, what about jeter, and the guys reply? "Jeters different, has 3k hits blah blah, the other guy was like "You just said everyone from the steroid era", the dude was schooled, both are HOF but 600 HR is a far more exclusive club than 3000 hits. Fucking idiot yankee nut lickers are intolerable. as far as I know Thome has never been suspected, wasent named in the mitchell report or by Canceco who seems to know everyone who did em and has proven it time and time again, I highly doubt Thome was juicing but you never know. cocksuckers like mgwire, bonds, sosa and Aroid etc def put a black cloud over that entire era and its sad.

[dtmfs]

Also WTF!!! can Philly please get a new manager next year, I swear they've won the majority of their games the last few years in spite of that guy, I like him and all but why the fuck do You let Halladay stay in the game in the 9th after giving up 2 straight singles, amd his ERA in the 9th this season is over 7 and batters are hitting .444 of him in the 9th Overbay was already 2 for3 but no don't bring in Bastardo for a lefty lefyt matchup, He hasent been good this year or anything, man its a good thing they're 7 upon the braves, but I swaer that fucker is getting senile and has forgotten when to bunt/steal when needed.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

Also WTF!!! can Philly please get a new manager next year, I swear they've won the majority of their games the last few years in spite of that guy, I like him and all but why the fuck do You let Halladay stay in the game in the 9th after giving up 2 straight singles, amd his ERA in the 9th this season is over 7 and batters are hitting .444 of him in the 9th Overbay was already 2 for3 but no don't bring in Bastardo for a lefty lefyt matchup, He hasent been good this year or anything, man its a good thing they're 7 upon the braves, but I swaer that fucker is getting senile and has forgotten when to bunt/steal when needed.

Manuel is under tremendous pressure to win the whole thing this year with that staff but I worry he is going to burn them out...Hamels is already fatigued. I read something that they may consider a 6 man rotation for the rest of the year to rest the arms and it may be a good idea, especially if they go into September up 10 or more on the Braves. I completely agree that with Bastardo, Lidge or even Madson in a non-save situation would be preferable to having Halladay going nine like that.

[johnk5150]

Thome has 600 home runs. Did the steroid thing take any and all fanfare from such an accomplishment?

Did Sosa/McGwire etc ruin any and all accomplishments regarding home runs? Is the romance gone? It used to be so damn important and now it feels like our innocence is gone.

There was a Typical NY douchebag on ESPN yesterday, a guy who actually votes for the HOF, and He said Thome isent a hall of famer because He questions everyone from the steroid era, another guy at the table then said, what about jeter, and the guys reply? "Jeters different, has 3k hits blah blah, the other guy was like "You just said everyone from the steroid era", the dude was schooled, both are HOF but 600 HR is a far more exclusive club than 3000 hits. Fucking idiot yankee nut lickers are intolerable. as far as I know Thome has never been suspected, wasent named in the mitchell report or by Canceco who seems to know everyone who did em and has proven it time and time again, I highly doubt Thome was juicing but you never know. cocksuckers like mgwire, bonds, sosa and Aroid etc def put a black cloud over that entire era and its sad.

It just sucks because it used to be so fucking special. How do I explain to my six year old why he should care about this shit when no one seems to anymore.

[Machado]

Thome has 600 home runs. Did the steroid thing take any and all fanfare from such an accomplishment?

Did Sosa/McGwire etc ruin any and all accomplishments regarding home runs? Is the romance gone? It used to be so damn important and now it feels like our innocence is gone.

There was a Typical NY douchebag on ESPN yesterday, a guy who actually votes for the HOF, and He said Thome isent a hall of famer because He questions everyone from the steroid era, another guy at the table then said, what about jeter, and the guys reply? "Jeters different, has 3k hits blah blah, the other guy was like "You just said everyone from the steroid era", the dude was schooled, both are HOF but 600 HR is a far more exclusive club than 3000 hits. Fucking idiot yankee nut lickers are intolerable. as far as I know Thome has never been suspected, wasent named in the mitchell report or by Canceco who seems to know everyone who did em and has proven it time and time again, I highly doubt Thome was juicing but you never know. cocksuckers like mgwire, bonds, sosa and Aroid etc def put a black cloud over that entire era and its sad.

It just sucks because it used to be so fucking special. How do I explain to my six year old why he should care about this shit when no one seems to anymore.

Back in the day the 600 Home Run would have been major news, national news, no matter what city/team the player was on.

These days there is less coverage and all because of the steriod scandal.
So many ex-players are to blame for the mess.

[dtmfs]

Manuel is under tremendous pressure to win the whole thing this year with that staff but I worry he is going to burn them out...Hamels is already fatigued. I read something that they may consider a 6 man rotation for the rest of the year to rest the arms and it may be a good idea, especially if they go into September up 10 or more on the Braves. I completely agree that with Bastardo, Lidge or even Madson in a non-save situation would be preferable to having Halladay going nine like that.

Yeah, please no more CG games for Roy unless he's up by 10, I never knew his 9th inning numbers were so bad, I've heard about the 6 man rotation, hopefully Hamels can get to 100% after missing his next start, and Worley has been fucking awsome with the exception of one game, and Oswalt needs to return to form.

[dtmfs]

Back in the day the 600 Home Run would have been major news, national news, no matter what city/team the player was on.

These days there is less coverage and all because of the steriod scandal.
So many ex-players are to blame for the mess.

It should still be major news, no fucking excuses, the piece of shit media acted like Jeter was the only mother fucker ever to collect his 3000th hit and we all know why. what was he like the 27th guy to 3k hits? WOW!!!! it's a great accomplishment but with thome you're talking just the 8th guy ever and if You take the obvious roiders in there who tainted their own numbers He'd be next to Ruth, Aaron, Mays and Griffey as the only clean guys to do it. If Thome was with the Sox or yanks that story would've been tracked 24/7 and big jim would have a parade in his honor.

[Machado]

Back in the day the 600 Home Run would have been major news, national news, no matter what city/team the player was on.

These days there is less coverage and all because of the steriod scandal.
So many ex-players are to blame for the mess.

It should still be major news, no fucking excuses, the piece of shit media acted like Jeter was the only mother fucker ever to collect his 3000th hit and we all know why. what was he like the 27th guy to 3k hits? WOW!!!! it's a great accomplishment but with thome you're talking just the 8th guy ever and if You take the obvious roiders in there who tainted their own numbers He'd be next to Ruth, Aaron, Mays and Griffey as the only clean guys to do it. If Thome was with the Sox or yanks that story would've been tracked 24/7 and big jim would have a parade in his honor.

You made a lot of valid points
1)Jeter was the first Yankee to reach 3,000. That alone was huge news, considering how many "HOF" players the Yankees have had in their history.
2)If Thome was more of a "superstar" and not someone with a rep of being very quiet, keeps to himself, etc....then maybe the press would have covered his story a lot more. I don't know. Probably did not help that he hit the home runs playing in towns like Cleveland and Minnesota. Listen, not everybody can play in a large market like L.A.

[Machado]

By C. Trent Rosecrans
After a couple of days of talking about Carlos Zambrano, let's look at the other side of the good teammate spectrum -- the tale of the Cleveland Indians and Jack Hannahan.

Hannahan is in his first year with the Indians, and after a hot start is hitting .214/.301/.331 with five home runs and 23 RBI in parts of 86 games. He's one of the best defensive third basemen in the game, and by all accounts a really good guy and teammate. However, he's not alone in the "good teammate" category in Cleveland.

Earlier this month the Indians were in Boston and Hannahan's agent Joe Speed got a call from Hannahan's mother that his wife was having contractions and my go into labor in a matter of hours.

Jenny Hannahan had been regulated to bed rest for nearly a month at this point, despite being barely in her third trimester of pregnancy. With Jack Hannahan and the Indians in Boston, it was apparent that the night was near.

So even while Hannahan was at bat in the game, Speed booked the first flight in the morning out of Logan airport in Boston back to Cleveland, even knowing that would likely be too late. His next step was calling about private planes. They were available, but they cost $35,000. Even though Hannahan has a contract for $500,000 this year, $35,000 is still seven percent of his annual salary -- that's a lot of money on a gamble that it would be the night Jenny gave birth.

After Hannahan was notified after the game of what was going on, he considered that, because it was the only way he'd be getting back to Cleveland before the morning. However, the price tag was just too high for the fiscally conservative Hannahan.

At some point after the game, teammate Justin Masterson asked Hannahan what was happening and as soon as Hannahan told him, Masterson told him get the private jet.

"Book it," Masterson told Hannahan, according to Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press. When Hannahan balked, Masterson insisted.

At that point, Masterson passed around a hat, getting donations from teammates. And pretty quickly, they had the $35,000 covered -- call it a baby shower gift from his teammates.

Hannahan booked the plane and once it landed in Cleveland, there was a limo waiting for him at the airport to take him to the hospital. Hannahan finally got to his wife at 3 a.m. and just 15 minutes later, John Joseph Hannahan V was born.

Although the youngest Hannahan was born prematurely and weighed just two pounds, 11 ounces at birth, Speed said son, mother and father are all doing well now, even though Hannahan's son has yet to come home.

These days you don't often get stories about the good guys -- instead I'll spend 10 hours writing 12 different stories on the actions of jerks -- but every once in a while you get a story like this, a good guy being helped out by more good guys. The Indians are two games back in the American League Central going into Tuesday night, but it's hard to think they're anywhere but first (or at least tied for it) in class.

[SkyDog112046]

Fuck Bud Selig.
Asshole


MLB's Controversial Decision To Stop Nats From Wearing Military Tribute Hats
Thursday, August 18, 2011 7:05 am
Written by: Ben Maller

No sport in America is more patriotic than Major League Baseball, so it was odd that the powers that be got in the way of a tribute to our fallen military heroes.

The Washington Nationals, who play their home games just down the street from the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, wanted to wear special hats with military insignias during their game with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. This was the Nats' first home game since 30 soldiers riding in a helicopter were killed in Afghanistan on August 6th. But Commissioner Bud Selig's top executives stopped it from happening.

Dan Steinberg of D.C. Sports Bog went to the team for an explanation. Here's what he got:

"As a team that is dedicated to supporting our military service men and women, we requested permission from Major League Baseball to wear hats representing all of the military branches during batting practice and throughout the game. We realize this was an extraordinary request and were pleased when permission was granted to use the hats during batting practice. The players were honored to wear the hats and in doing so were able to demonstrate the team’s solidarity with our military community."

Steinberg, one of the nation's top sports bloggers, then spoke with MLB spokesman Pat Courtney, who explained the decision.

"We reserve hats for national tributes, where every club is wearing them on the same day," Courtney said. "But we're happy to work with clubs on alternatives."

But don't the Padres sometimes wear camouflage on Sundays to honor military heroes? Why can't the Nats hats be another on the list of "alternatives"?

F.P. Santangelo, Nats broadcaster, talked about the move on the team's TV broadcast: "It's unfortunate that they couldn’t wear the hats during the game. They tried, and Major League Baseball said no, but they wore 'em during batting practice today. We'll be wearing them throughout the broadcast tonight; you and I have our armed forces hats on. And it's just a special tribute to these guys, and we'd just like to thank them for all they do."
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For special events such as the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, baseball has all of its teams wear special stars-and-stripes logo caps.

Nationals.com reports the team wore its patriotic navy blue uniforms, which are usually reserved for Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Miller High Life deliveryman Windell Middlebrooks was on hand as part of a program allowing veterans to deliver the lineup card and throw out the first pitch. The promotion is called "Give a Veteran a Piece of the High Life"

But surely some fans want to give MLB a piece of their minds.

[Machado]

Steinberg, one of the nation's top sports bloggers, then spoke with MLB spokesman Pat Courtney, who explained the decision.

"We reserve hats for national tributes, where every club is wearing them on the same day," Courtney said. "But we're happy to work with clubs on alternatives."
***********************************************

More proof that Bud is "out of order". The man is ruining the game with his decisions that are only based on $$$

Bud basically said, "fuck you Nats"!!!

[killeverything]

For a team that's completely built on pitching this is really gonna suck.

The San Francisco Giants placed closer Brian Wilson, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 15, on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with an inflamed right elbow.

"We put him on the DL so we did not have the urge to push him," manager Bruce Bochy said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "Or to have Willie go out there when he's not right. He wanted to try to get through it. Long term, it's the best thing for his career."

Giants trainer Dave Groeschner told the Mercury News that the team hopes to have a timetable for Wilson's return by Tuesday.

"We definitely expect him to come back, but not until we're sure he's feeling good," Groeschner told the newspaper. "He wants to pitch. That's awesome. But we've got to make sure he's feeling good."

[WOLF]

For a team that's completely built on pitching this is really gonna suck.

The San Francisco Giants placed closer Brian Wilson, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 15, on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with an inflamed right elbow.

"We put him on the DL so we did not have the urge to push him," manager Bruce Bochy said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "Or to have Willie go out there when he's not right. He wanted to try to get through it. Long term, it's the best thing for his career."

Giants trainer Dave Groeschner told the Mercury News that the team hopes to have a timetable for Wilson's return by Tuesday.

"We definitely expect him to come back, but not until we're sure he's feeling good," Groeschner told the newspaper. "He wants to pitch. That's awesome. But we've got to make sure he's feeling good."

Giants hung in their for a while, and even looked good, but with Posey and Freddy Sanchez out pretty much all year, guys who had career years last year no longer producing, and injuries to Jonathan Sanchez, Zito, Romo, and Brian Wilson, they are pretty much done. Valiant effort, but you need to be able to hit in the clutch somewhat and you can only find so many Vogelsongs.

[killeverything]

For a team that's completely built on pitching this is really gonna suck.

The San Francisco Giants placed closer Brian Wilson, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 15, on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with an inflamed right elbow.

"We put him on the DL so we did not have the urge to push him," manager Bruce Bochy said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "Or to have Willie go out there when he's not right. He wanted to try to get through it. Long term, it's the best thing for his career."

Giants trainer Dave Groeschner told the Mercury News that the team hopes to have a timetable for Wilson's return by Tuesday.

"We definitely expect him to come back, but not until we're sure he's feeling good," Groeschner told the newspaper. "He wants to pitch. That's awesome. But we've got to make sure he's feeling good."

Giants hung in their for a while, and even looked good, but with Posey and Freddy Sanchez out pretty much all year, guys who had career years last year no longer producing, and injuries to Jonathan Sanchez, Zito, Romo, and Brian Wilson, they are pretty much done. Valiant effort, but you need to be able to hit in the clutch somewhat and you can only find so many Vogelsongs.

I didn't think they'd repeat. I was thinking that Colorado was going to be the underdog feel good story. I was thinking Arizona was going to make an impression for the past couple. This season I was certain the West was going to belong to the Rockies. AZ's at the top.....

what the fuck do I know?

[WOLF]

/\

I'm a Giants fan and had the Rockies winning the division and the D-backs not in the picture at all. Even if the Giants come back to win the West, they'd match up against the Phillies, and they ain't touching them this year, short of Lincecum and Cain throwing no-hitters, on the road, to open the series.

Philly/Milwaukee in the NLCS would be great. Halladay/Lee/Hamels or Oswalt vs Greinke/Marcum/Gallardo, not to mention an array of good hitters on each team.

[killeverything]

/\

I'm a Giants fan and had the Rockies winning the division and the D-backs not in the picture at all. Even if the Giants come back to win the West, they'd match up against the Phillies, and they ain't touching them this year, short of Lincecum and Cain throwing no-hitters, on the road, to open the series.

Philly/Milwaukee in the NLCS would be great. Halladay/Lee/Hamels or Oswalt vs Greinke/Marcum/Gallardo, not to mention an array of good hitters on each team.

No shit. That would be a good one.

[tin00can]

Angels sign Weaver to a 5-year $85 million extension. Fuck yeah. It's been a great baseball weekend for Angels fans. Bourjos is really starting to click at the top of the lineup, Mathis is finally riding the pine (although I'm sure he'll get a start Tuesday), Trout is up again and Wells is getting reduced playing time...fuck yeah.

[johnk5150]

Albert Pujols has 52 home runs versus the Cubs.

[SkyDog112046]

Albert Pujols has 52 home runs versus the Cubs.

That's not surprising. It wouldn't be shocking if you said Pujols hit 52 HRs in a 3-game series versus the Cubs.

[bane]

Somebody just picked up Wandy Rodriguez off waivers. Wow. He's got a monster contract for a relatively mediocre pitcher. Somebody must be really desperate for pitching.

Edited: Looks like Colorado.

[johnk5150]

Steve Stone doing a great eulogy on Mike Flanigan right now.

http://www.670thescore.com

[WOLF]

Steve Stone doing a great eulogy on Mike Flanigan right now.

http://www.670thescore.com

He apparantly offed himself due to financial difficulties. Fuck!

[killeverything]

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week

First Baseman Scoops

August 22, 2011

Time and time again, announcers refer to a first baseman's ability to save errant throws by scooping them out of the dirt, but the baseball community has had no way of objectively confirming commentators' observations.

Bill James devised an answer to this problem and related questions with the Good Fielding Plays and Defensive Misplays systems. Baseball Info Solutions' video scouts track 28 categories of Good Fielding Plays (GFP) and 54 categories of Defensive Misplays & Errors (DME), including GFP #7 “Handling Difficult Throw”, which includes traditional first baseman scoops, and GFP #8 “Catches Wild Throw” which saves an overthrow but pulls the fielder off the base. Combining GFP #7 and #8, here are the leaders in Scoops GFP:

Scoops Leaders (2011)
Player, Team Scoops
Carlos Pena, ChC 52
Freddie Freeman, Atl 37
Adam Lind, Tor 28
Mark Teixeira, NYY 27
Eric Hosmer, KC 27
Daric Barton, Oak 27
Adrian Gonzalez, Bos 27

The Cubs' Carlos Pena has saved more bad throws than any other fielder this year, followed by rookie Freddie Freeman of the Braves. However, an observant Cubs fan would point out that Pena is working with the sensational, but erratic 21-year-old shortstop, Starlin Castro. Castro has made 21 errors this year, 12 on errant throws. While Pena has scooped a lot of bad throws from Castro, should he have scooped more, or is his performance truly above average for a first baseman?

Fortunately, BIS's video scouts also track DME #14 “Failing to Catch the Throw”, for when the first baseman (or any fielder, for that matter) can't come up with the catch. Pena, for example, has mishandled nine throws from fellow infielders--the third most in baseball. The average first baseman scoops about 4.5 throws for every mishandled throw, which translates to a “Scoop Percentage” of 82 percent.

Mishandled Throws Leaders (2011)
Player, Team Scoops Mishandled Throws Scoop Percentage
Prince Fielder, Mil 26 11 70%
Joey Votto, Cin 24 10 71%
Carlos Pena, ChC 52 9 85%
Lyle Overbay, Pit/Ari 19 8 70%
Derrek Lee, Bal/Pit 23 7 77%
Mark Trumbo, LAA 15 7 68%
Pena has an 85% Scoop Percentage. That's above average, but not among the elite first basemen in 2011. Baseball Info Solutions' R&D team has translated this scoops data, along with other Good Fielding Plays and Defensive Misplays into the common currency of Runs Saved. Not only can we evaluate the best “pickers” at first base, but we can measure their impact on the team's defense compared to the league average. Aubrey Huff, despite his struggles at the plate this year, has a near-perfect Scoop Percentage of 96% and has saved Giants pitchers about two runs so far this year by saving errant throws that other first basemen might have missed.

Scoop Runs Saved Leaders (2011)
Player, Team Scoops Mishandled Throws Scoop Percentage Scoop Runs Saved

Aubrey Huff, SF 24 1 96% 2.1
Casey Kotchman, TB 26 2 93% 2.1
Adrian Gonzalez, Bos 27 2 93% 1.7
Gaby Sanchez, Fla 25 2 93% 1.4
Daric Barton, Oak 27 3 90% 1.4

It should come as no surprise any kind of research about defensive excellence is going to have Teixiera at the top of the list. Don't get me wrong I love having an Adrian Gonzalez on the team. I'm just curious if this kind of study was done last seasonk when Youkilis manned first. He set an MLB record for most errorless games.

Stomping around of fangraphs ( the info I couldn't yet find ) I was looking for the kids Seattle has been rotating at first. Mike Carp and Justin Smoak ( currently on the DL with a broken nose ) both of which had a reputation in AAA for being good defensively. Unfortunately the information isn't out there to support the claims.


Which leads me to my third point. Justin Verlander just won his 20th game of the season today with a 6-4 win over the Twins. As the AL plays out and speculation widens about the AL MVP ( Gonzalez, Cabrera, etc ). If Verlander gets to 22-23 wins, do you think he could walk away with the MVP?

Yonkel doesn't believe a pitcher should be eligible since they have the Cy Young. I tend to disagree ( Pedro Martinez in 1999 being the most glaring example ). Thoughts?

[madmaxfan]

John Dewan's Stat Of The Week


Which leads me to my third point. Justin Verlander just won his 20th game of the season today with a 6-4 win over the Twins. As the AL plays out and speculation widens about the AL MVP ( Gonzalez, Cabrera, etc ). If Verlander gets to 22-23 wins, do you think he could walk away with the MVP?

Yonkel doesn't believe a pitcher should be eligible since they have the Cy Young. I tend to disagree ( Pedro Martinez in 1999 being the most glaring example ). Thoughts?

He should absolutly be considered for MVP. If the Tigers didn't have him we would probably be a sub 500 team right now. At best maybe a game or two over 500. I know alot of people think that an everyday player should be MVP but when you are that dominating as a pitcher you should win the award.