Friday, April 19, 2013
Todd Frazier Goes Yard On Request From Bat Boy Teddy Kremer
(www.sportsgrid.com)
The Reds’ honorary bat boy last night was Teddy Kremer, who has Down syndrome and a wealth of enthusiasm for the team. He asked Frazier to hit a home run for him before the third baseman stepped to the plate in the sixth, the Reds already up on the Marlins 9-1. So Frazier did. Simple, right?
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1 2 3 >The rest I'm less sure of;
AL East - New York
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Texas
Wild Cards - Boston, Tampa Bay
AL Champ - Detroit
MVP - Adrian Gonzalez
Cy Young - Felix Hernandez
NL East - Philadelphia
NL Central - Milwaukee
NL West - San Francisco
Wild Cards - Atlanta, Cincinnati
NL Champ - Philadelphia
MVP - Andrew McCutchen
Cy Young - Matt Cain
WS Champ - Philadelphia
AL Central - Kansas City
AL West - Los Angeles
Wild cards - New York, Texas
AL Champ - Texas
MVP - Evan Longoria
Cy Young - Jered Weaver
NL East - Miami
NL Central - Cincinnati
NL West - San Francisco
NL Wild Cards - Philadelphia, Arizona
NL Champ - Miami
MVP - Joey Votto
Cy Young - Matt Cain
WS Champ - Miami
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Los Angeles
AL WC - Boston
AL WC - New York
NL East - Atlanta
NL Central - Cincinnati
NL West - Arizona
NL WC - Miami
NL WC - San Francisco
Boston over New York
Tampa Bay over Boston
Los Angeles over Detroit
Los Angeles over Tampa Bay
Miami over San Francisco
Atlanta over Miami
Cincinnati over Arizona
Atlanta over Cincinnati
Atlanta over Los Angeles
AL MVP: Evan Longoria, TBR
NL MVP: Justin Upton, ARI
AL Cy: David Price, TBR
NL Cy: Zack Grienke, MIL
AL ROY: Jesus Montero, SEA
NL ROY: Bryce Harper, WAS
- no perfect games, but 2 no-hitters
- another PED scandal
- a SP gets a sub-2.00 ERA
- the world series is a sweep
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Los Angeles
AL Wild Cards - New York, Texas
NL East - Philadelphia
NL Central - Cincinnati
NL West - San Francisco
NL Wild Cards - Miami, St. Louis
World Series - San Francisco over Detroit
Al MVP - Jose Bautista
AL Cy Young - David Price
NL MVP - Buster Posey
NL Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Angels
WC - Red Sox, Rays
ROY - Montero
MVP - Cabrera
CYA - CC
NL East - Marlins
NL Central - Reds
NL West - Dodgers
WC - Phillies, Giants
ROY - Harper
MVP - Tulowitzki
CYA - Halladay
WS - Yankees over Giants
AL Central - Tigers
AL West - Rangers
AL WC - TB
AL WC - Angels
NL East - Marlins
NL Central - Reds
NL West - Diamondbacks
NL WC - Phillies
NL WC - Brewers
AL champ - Tigers
NL champ - Brewers
WS - Brewers
AL MVP: M Cabrera
NL MVP: J Upton
AL Cy: Price
NL Cy: Grienke
AL Central - Tigers
AL West - Angels
AL WC - TB, Texas
NL East - Phillies
NL Central - Reds
NL West - Diamondbacks
NL WC - Marlins
NL WC - Braves
AL champ - Yankees
NL champ - Marlins
WS - Yankees
Anyone who predicts differently is selling something.
Thanks Clubber
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - LA
Wild Cards - Texas, Tampa Bay
AL Champ - New York
MVP - Albert Pujols
Cy Young - CC Sabathia
NL East - Philadelphia
NL Central - Cincinnati
NL West - San Francisco
Wild Cards - Atlanta, Miami
NL Champ - Atlanta
MVP - Jose Reyes
Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw
WS Champ - Yankees
AL Central: Detroit
AL West: Texas
Wild cards: L.A. Angels, N.Y. Yankees
AL champ: Texas
MVP: Napoli
Cy Young: Verlander
NL East: Philadelphia
NL Central: Milwaukee
NL West: Arizona
Wild cards: Atlanta, Washington
NL champ: Milwaukee
MVP: Kemp
Cy Young: Zimmermann
WS champ: Texas
AL Central: Minnesota
AL West: Seattle
AL WC: Kansas City
AL WC: Oakland
NL East: New York
NL Central: Houston
NL West: San Diego
NL WC: Pittsburgh
NL WC: Chicago
AL Champ: Seattle
NL Champ: Houston
WS: Houston
AL MVP: Bill Hall, NYY
NL MVP: Matt Diaz, ATL
AL Cy: Oliver Perez, SEA
NL Cy: Barry Zito, SFG
AL ROY: Dane De La Rosa, TB
NL ROY: Lars Anderson, SDP
WS MVP: Carlos Corporan, HOU
AL Central: Minnesota
AL West: Seattle
AL WC: Kansas City
AL WC: Oakland
NL East: New York
NL Central: Houston
NL West: San Diego
NL WC: Pittsburgh
NL WC: Chicago
I predict at least one of these will be correct.
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Angels
AL WC: Rays vs Red Sox -> Rays
Rays over Angels
Yankees over Tigers
Yankees over Rays
NL East: Marlins
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Giants
NL WC: Phillies vs Braves -> Braves
Marlins over Brewers
Giants over Braves
Giants over Marlins
Giants over Yankees
AL MVP: Longoria
AL CY: Sabathia
AL ROY: Montero
NL MVP: Reyes
NL CY: Johnson
NL ROY: Harper
...that one of Matt Downs, Brent Morel, or Todd Frazier will hit 30 home runs.
...that one of Felipe Paulino, Cory Lueke, or Chris Capuano will accumulate 5 WAR.
...that the Dodgers will make the playoffs.
...that the Royals will win more games than the Diamondbacks.
...that the Tigers will win fewer than 88 games.
ALC: Tigers
ALW: Angels
ALWCs: Rays and Rangers (Rays win)
NLE: Phils
NLC: Reds
NLW: D-Backs
NLWCs: Giants and Marlins (Giants win)
Phillies beat Tigers in WS.
AL CY: Verlander.
AL MVP: Pujols.
AL RoY: Darvish.
NL CY: Doc Halladay
NL MVP: Kemp.
NL RoY: Yonder Alonso
AL Central: Detroit
AL West: Texas
Wild cards: Boston, Tampa Bay
AL champ: New York
MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
NL East: Washington
NL Central: St. Louis
NL West: San Francisco
Wild cards: Milwaukee, Miami
NL champ: San Francisco
MVP: Jose Reyes
Cy Young: Zack Greinke
WS champ: San Francisco
AL Central: White Sox (it's boring to go with the overwhelming favorite)
AL West: Texas
Wild Cards: Anaheim, Detroit
AL Champ: Texas
NL East: Philly
NL Central: Cincy
NL West: LA
Wild Cards: Washington, Milwaukee
NL Champ: Philly
WS Champ: Texas
the Mayan civilization will not survive past 2012.
Ryan Braun will not become the promotional spokesperson for Frigidaire.
Craig Biggio will be elected to the HoF.
Mets fanboys will give me grief when Ike Davis has a 140 OPS+ through May 15.
Justin Verlander will be torn apart by the competing gravitational pulls of Cabrera and Fielder.
the Cubs will repeat 1977.
Now, let's see
Yanks, Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Rangers
Phillies, Braves, Reds, Cards, an 84-win NL West team
Because God hates me ... Yanks over either Reds/Cards
NL MVP: Ian Stewart
AL MVP: Prince Fielder (Ryan Howard impersonation)
NL CYA: ohhh ... let's go Kershaw
AL CYA: Justin Verlander
* some predictions may be for humorous intent ... like there is no way an NL West team will win as many as 84 games
ALCentral: Tigers
AL West: Rangers
Wild-card winner: Angels
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Reds
NL West: Giants
Wild-card winner: Nats
World Series winner: Phillies
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Rangers
AL Wildcards: Yankees, Rays
AL CY: Verlander
AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
AL ROY: Darvish
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Giants
NL WCs: Atlanta, Washington
NL CY: Strasburg
NL MVP: Matt Kemp
NL ROY: Harper
WS Champ: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Rangers
AL Wildcards: Angels, Red Sox
AL CY: Jered Weaver
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
AL ROY: Matt Moore
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Giants
NL WCs: Diamondbacks, Braves
NL CY: Grienke
NL MVP: Pablo Sandoval (.340 Avg)
NL ROY: Paul Goldschmidt (35 HR's)
WS Champ: Braves over Angels (Jason Heyward 3 Hrs, Pujols hits .350 but rest of lineup stinks in series)
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Rangers
Wild Cards: Angels and Rays
NL East: Marlins
NL Central: Reds
NL West: Dodgers
Wild Cards: Phillies and Cardinals
I think the Yankees will have the best record, so I'll go for them to win the World Series.
I'll also take the sucker's bet, that the Astros will lose more than 110 games. (Last team to do that: The 2004 Diamondbacks.)
AL Central: DET
AL West: LAA
AL wild-card teams: BOS over TEX
ALDS: NYY over BOS; LAA over DET
ALCS: NYY over LAA
NL East: PHI
NL Central: STL
NL West: SFG
NL wild-card teams: MIL over CHC
NLDS: PHI over MIL; SFG over STL
NLCS: PHI over SFG
World Series: NYY over PHI
Yes, that's the Cubs in the NL wild-card game. My system may be deeply cynical, but over time it beats any other I've ever seen.
AL Central - DET
AL West - TEX
WC - NYY and LAA
MVP - Pujols
CYA - Matt Moore
NL East - ATL
NL Central - MIL
NL West - Giants
WC - MIA and LAD
MVP - Giancarlo Stanton
CYA - Josh Johnson
AL Champ - TBR
NL Champ - MIA
WS Champ - TBR
Bonus prediction - No more than 5 of my predictions (including this one) will be correct
Beats me.
AL Central - Tigers
AL West - Rangers
Wild cards - Rays beat Angels
ALDS - Rays beat Tigers, Rangers beat Red Sox
ALCS - Rangers beat Rays
MVP - Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young - Jon Lester
NL East - Braves
NL Central - Reds
NL West - D-Backs
Wild Cards - Phillies beat Cardinals
NLDS - Reds beat Phillies, Braves beat D-Backs
NLCS - Reds beat Braves
MVP - Justin Upton
Cy Young - Roy Halladay
World Series Champ - Texas Rangers (finally)
Boston 94 Detroit 94 Texas 92
New York 93 Kansas City 81 Los Angeles 88
Tampa Bay 88 Minnesota 79 Oakland 71
Toronto 81 Cleveland 78 Seattle 71
Baltimore 67 Chicago 70
Phila. 91 Cincinnati 89 Arizona 88
Miami 85 Milwaukee 86 San Fran. 87
Atlanta 84 St. Louis 84 Los Angeles 85
Wash. 81 Pittsburgh 74 Colorado 81
New York 69 Chicago 69 San Diego 71
Houston 59
AL
WC play-in: Angels over Rays (12th inning Pujols walk-off HR)
WC: Yankees over Angels
DS: Red Sox over Rangers in 5
Yankees over Tigers in 4
CS: Red Sox over Yankees in 5
NL
WC: Brewers over Giants
DS: Phillies over Brewers in 3
Reds over D-Backs in 4
CS: Reds over Phillies in 7
WS: Red Sox over Reds in 6
AL MVP Adrian Gonzalez
AL CY Felix Hernandez
AL ROY Yu Darvish
NL MVP Matt Kemp
NL CY Roy Halladay
NL ROY Ryce Harper
That's the season. No reason to play the games. Have fun with your whole 'watching the games' nonsense.
Just to elaborate on this, all time great players who change careers while still in their prime usually step it up a notch, and as often as not win a major award. Bonds, Frank Robinson, Maddux, Randy Johnson, Clemens, and Carlton all won MVP or CYA their first year with a new team. Rickey Henderson, Tom Seaver, A Rod, and Joe Morgan did not, but all were decent candidates. Ricky and Joe led their leagues in WAR. Seaver went 16-3 with a 169 ERA+ after the trade. A Rod didn't deserve the award, but could have won with a .318/52/135 triple crown line had the Rangers done better.
Going further down the career WAR list, Fergie Jenkins won 25 games and was a close second in CYA for Texas after the trade. Griffey was a "disappointing" .271/40/118. Reggie Jackson led the league in OPS+ but didn't get much MVP love. Pedro Martinez was a distant second in CYA to Clemens' triple crown season. Jim Thome won his only HR title his first year in Philly.
That's every modern player above 70 career WAR who changed teams for the first time while still in their primes. I think Pujols will have a terrific year.
edit: and though he wasn't a recent player, that Ruth guy did pretty well also, though he didn't win an award.
He's a notch (or two or three) below all of the guys you mention, but Vlad Guerrero won an MVP award in his first season with the Angels.
EAST-BOSTON
CENTRAL-DETROIT
WEST-LOS ANGELES
WCS--NEW YORK AND TEXAS
NL:
EAST-PHILADELPHIA
CENTRAL-CINCINNATI
WEST-SAN FRANCISCO
WCS--MILWAUKEE AND MIAMI
Ruth - Yes, would have won MVP had it existed
Tris Speaker - ditto
Eddie Collins - no, but a terrific (10.1 WAR) season
Hornsby - 3rd in MVP but probably deserved it. led the league in WAR
Pete Alexander - went to the western front. N/A
Nap Lajoie - led league in everything but triples and walks. Would have been unanimous MVP.
Jimmie Foxx - a disappointment like Griffey was, Good year but below personal standards.
Lefty Grove - very poor season. The only stinker in the bunch. But then again, he was 34. Probably not fair to count that as in prime.
Gaylord Perry - missed him above. Won (and deserved) CYA.
Blyleven - Missed him as well. So-so year. Pitched well, but missed a bunch of starts and had a losing record.
That's every 20th century player with over 80 career WAR.
And now back to your regularly scheduled prognostications....btw, the Rangers are winning it all. Just so you know.
The Royals will not win 80 games.
The Phillies will not win 90 games.
Trevor Bauer will win the NL ROY.
The Twins will finish 2nd in the AL Central.
Giancarlo Stanton will have a coming out party, win the Home Run Derby and drive in the GW RBI in the AS game. The Marlins will finish 3rd in the NL East.
The Phillies have terrific pitching, but their offense has a good chance to be abysmal.
AL Central - Tigers
AL East - Yankees
Wild Cards - Rangers/Jays
NL West - Rockies
NL Central - Cardinals
NL East - Nationals
Wild Cards - Marlins/Giants
AL Playoffs
Rangers over Jays
Yankees over Rangers
Angels over Tigers
Yankees over Angels
NL Playoffs
Giants over Marlins
Cardinals over Giants
Nationals over Rockies
Cardinals over Nationals
World Series
Yankees over Cardinals
(historically, the most conservative of all possible WS predictions)
Awards
NL MVP - Troy Tulowitzki
(dark horse - Giancarlo Stanton)
AL MVP - Albert Pujols
(dark horse - Carlos Santana)
NL Cy - Stephen Strasburg
AL Cy - CC Sabathia
NL RoY - Trevor Bauer
AL RoY - Jesus Montero
All 30 teams finish 81-81. The post-season gets canceled. No awards are given.
They are replacing Gregg Dobbs with Jose Reyes. That's got to be good for 4 wins.
Hanley Ramirez was terrible last year. If he returns to career norms, that's another 4 wins.
Mike Stanton could easily improve by another win or 2.
Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson replace 2 replacement level guys in the rotation. That's another 8-9 wins.
Zambrano is a wild card. He could be great, he could be crap. Let's just say he replaces Vasquez' production (32 starts, 106 ERA+).
That's 88-90 wins and in the WC hunt.
Yeah, that's a lot that has to go right, and I wouldn't put money on it. But in a no-risk prediction exercise like this, that's where I put my internet bucks. I await your scorn.
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Los Angeles Angels
AL WC - Yankees over Kansas City
MVP - Pujols
Cy Young - CC
ROY - Moore
NL East - Philadelphia
NL Central - Milwaukee
NL West - Colorado
NL Wild card - Atlanta over Washington
MVP - LWJ
Cy Young - Hamels
ROY - Arenado
AL Champs - LAA
NL Champs - Atlanta
WS - LAA
Larry Walker Jr.?
Mike Stanton posted a 140+ as a 21 year old. Expecting *more* out of him is just silly. +0
Buehrle (3.7 WAR in 2010) is actually replacing Javy Vazquez (2.5 WAR in 2010.) It's a win advantage at most. I'll give you an extra 4 wins for a healthy, rebounded Johnson. +5 on the rotation. Throw in another +1 for Zambrano over Brad Hand and hell, throw in another +1 for Heath Bell while you're at it.
+4+3+0+1+4+1+1 = +14
The Marlins finished 30 games out last year, and 13 behind Atlanta.
So, 14 is more than 13, right? Sure, but now you have to apply the everything goes right calcs to the Braves.
+3 from Prado. +3 from Heyward. +2 from Bourn (over McLouth, etc.) +1 for replacing Derek Lowe. Now the Marlins are not so good again.
Just seems a little silly to me. They got better.
They were *really, really bad.*
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