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Thursday, August 28, 2008

ESPN: Stark - Rumblings & Grumblings - One month… and 10 key questions

We’ve been asking everyone this week to name the one September baseball story that most rivets them. Nearly all of them answered … the Rays.

Hey, good answer. If this team—with a lower payroll than the left side of the Yankees’ infield—wins the AL East, it will be a story people talk about for decades. But if the Rays supersede that and finish with the best record in baseball—after 10 straight 90-loss seasons—we’ll announce this now:

This would then, officially, become the most miraculous turnaround ever.

Think about this. According to Rays public relations genius Rick Vaughn, 261 teams in baseball history have lost 95 games or more in a season. (Tampa Bay lost 96 last year.) Only one of them (before this team) ever made it to 30 games over .500 at any point in the next season—the 1999 Diamondbacks.

Even more incredibly, if the Rays wind up with the best record in the whole sport, they would be the first team to finish with the worst record in baseball one year and the best record the next since Farmer Weaver’s 1890 Louisville Colonels. That probably explains why we hear so many people in baseball saying, “If our team doesn’t win it, I hope the Rays do.” This is turning into one of the most spectacular underdog tales of our lifetime.

NTNgod Posted: August 28, 2008 at 11:56 PM | 21 comment(s)
Related News: General, Atlanta, Boston, Chi Cubs, Chi White Sox, Cleveland, Colorado, LA Dodgers, Milwaukee, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Philadelphia, St Louis, Tampa Bay, Toronto

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1. Hey, it's what Johan uses (Matt) Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:00 AM (#2921198)

The Rick Vaughn?

2. Bhaakon Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:02 AM (#2921200)

Is Stairs the most underpaid player of our era? A career 118 OPS+ in 4920 ABs and "only" 14M to show for it. Some fairly reasonable BBRef comps (Phil Nevin, Cliff Floyd, Brian Jordan) all earned ~40-50M. Granted, they were better defenders (or, in Nevin's case, a bad defender at a more difficult position), but still.

3. rembini06 Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:15 AM (#2921206)

The Rays have stolen the A's mantle of being the team with the highest ratio of non-paying to paying fans.

4. I can out-debate Joe Biden; Nieporent said so Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:33 AM (#2921217)

If my team doesn't win it, then that means the Rays beat them in the Series.

Pardon my french, but #### them.

:)

5. s.zielinski Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:39 AM (#2921222)

Yes, the Pirates need more dirtballs. We had McClatchy, but he's moved on. It's now clear that the team has a dirtball deficit. This is a much more serious problem than the talent deficit. Worse, still, is that there are just too many talented players relative to the dirtballs on this team.

Fire Huntington now!

6. You can't lose with Randy Winn, says Flynn Posted: August 29, 2008 at 02:18 AM (#2921260)

Is Stairs the most underpaid player of our era?

I don't know, but he's a DH-type (though he's played in the field more than DHing) who is meh against lefties and good but not brilliant against righties. He seems like the guy who ends up on bad teams most of the time.

You have to give him credit for just being around though, because it's a friggen miracle he made the major leagues from New Brunswick. People have said for years how hard it is to get good hitters out of New England, particularly northern New England, because the varsity ball team can't even start until late April. So just double that and that's how hard it must be to get one from New Brunswick.

He got to play for both Canadian teams and the Red Sox (his boyhood team) in his career. He's had fun.

7. Baseballing powerhouse Crispix Attacks Posted: August 29, 2008 at 03:07 AM (#2921273)

Flynn makes a very good point. According to BB-ref, only 15 players in MLB history were born in New Brunswick, and 11 of those ended their careers before 1925.

The other 4 - Rheal Cormier, Matt Stairs, a guy with 8 2/3 career innings, and a guy who played part of one year during WWII.

Also, not only did he play for both Canadian teams in MLB, but two Canadian teams in AAA too. He's a free agent this year, he should sign with one of those Canadian teams in the Golden Baseball League. They could even name themselves after him. The Kamloops Stairs.

8. Russlan is an overhyped Met BTFer Posted: August 29, 2008 at 03:23 AM (#2921277)

Stairs is not a free agent. He is signed for 2009 for only one million.

9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: August 29, 2008 at 09:46 AM (#2921330)

I thought the "dirt ball" thing was ridiculous too, Steve.

Matt Stairs can play for my team any day.

10. winnipegwhip Posted: August 29, 2008 at 10:11 AM (#2921346)

Shouldn't the Rays have to play some games in San Juan in September and only be allowed to keep 25 players on the roster in September? Isn't that the rule when fans fail to support their team?

-disgruntled Expos fan from 2003. (Remember "Believer Fever")

11. The Jerry Royster Experience Posted: August 29, 2008 at 10:15 AM (#2921349)

WILL BOTH CHICAGO TEAMS MAKE IT?

Ugh. I hope not.

I'd almost rather see the White Sox miss the playoffs than play the Cubs in the World Series. This city will melt down if that happens.

12. Tropical Storm Davis, aka Quilvio "Ebola" Veras Posted: August 29, 2008 at 10:39 AM (#2921362)

According to Rays public relations genius Rick Vaughn, 261 teams in baseball history have lost 95 games or more in a season.

must've got a correspondence degree while in the California Penal League.

13. Paul D Posted: August 29, 2008 at 11:15 AM (#2921381)

Bill James had an article, which I think was on Pos's blog, where he says Stairs is a "What If" Hall of famer - that is, what if Stairs had stayed at second base? Then his numbers become borderline hall of fame numbers.

14. McCoy Posted: August 29, 2008 at 11:20 AM (#2921388)

What if Matt Staris had stayed at second base?

Then his team better have been an extreme flyball team, and I mean extreme.

15. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:34 PM (#2921513)

Wow, an article mentioning both grit and killer instinct. All that's missing is pitching to the score.

16. TerpNats Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:45 PM (#2921535)

Shouldn't the Rays have to play some games in San Juan in September and only be allowed to keep 25 players on the roster in September? Isn't that the rule when fans fail to support their team?

No, just move them to Washington -- bring major league baseball back to D.C.

17. Greg Franklin Posted: August 29, 2008 at 12:47 PM (#2921540)

Wow, an article mentioning both grit and killer instinct. All that's missing is pitching to the score.

You forgot to mention the epic NL "batting race", by which he means the batting-average race. Who can forget Pujols' winning the 2003 batting title? Or Paul O'Neill edging out Albert Belle in 1994? Everyone else has, but Stark hasn't!

The way he dubs the Rays turnaround a miracle is almost Catholic in its lack of insight into strange phenomena. (Perhaps it is Catholic.) So much for "analysis" of "key questions."

18. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: August 29, 2008 at 01:42 PM (#2921621)

Or Paul O'Neill edging out Albert Belle in 1994? Everyone else has, but Stark hasn't!

My favorite part of that was the implication that that particular epic struggle went on in September. Methinks he merely checked the leader boards and the years without thinking about the circumstances.

19. seeking a clever screen name since 1999 Posted: August 29, 2008 at 01:57 PM (#2921639)

The way he dubs the Rays turnaround a miracle is almost Catholic in its lack of insight into strange phenomena.

Not to derail a potentially fascinating philosophical discussion, but isn't "miracle" pretty much just a synonym for "strange phenomenon" in the common vernacular?

20. Padraic Posted: August 29, 2008 at 02:00 PM (#2921642)

#17,

Catholics were and are actually quite rigorous in their investigative methods and analysis. You may disagree with certain assumptions and starting points, but the intellectual process by which Catholic doctrine, and its social and ethical positions, is decided is more scrutinized and subject to more review than about 95% of academia and 100% of popular works on these questions.

21. Cooperstown Schtick Posted: August 29, 2008 at 02:13 PM (#2921656)

Catholics were and are actually quite rigorous in their investigative methods and analysis. You may disagree with certain assumptions and starting points, but the intellectual process by which Catholic doctrine, and its social and ethical positions, is decided is more scrutinized and subject to more review than about 95% of academia and 100% of popular works on these questions.

Just ask Galileo.

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ESPN: Stark - Rumblings & Grumblings - One month… and 10 key questions

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