Everth Cabrera: franchise shortstop, or beautiful baseball unicorn? | Padres Public

What’s this? Is there really Padres player worth watching?

SB Nation: Arrested Development, MLB, and huge mistakes

I just blue myself.

9) GOB smears Steve Holt (STEVE HOLT!) (Season 2, Ep. 14)

Afraid that George Michael is going to get blown out in the election for class president, Michael hires GOB to produce an attack ad targeting Steve Holt. When Steve Holt’s own campaign video winds up being about growing up without a father and embracing Jesus Christ, GOB realizes his video (which begins with calling Steve Holt a bastard who doesn’t even know who his real father is won’t go over well. This goes ...

HHS: O’Connor: What Nerds Can Learn From Wedgies?

Uhh…avoid The (Bob) Melvin at all cost?

Could Dustin Ackley actually have performed worse because of advanced baseball metrics?  Was he on fangraphs late at night looking at his ground ball percentage and his BABIP and wondering if his successes were flukes or his shortcomings were surmountable?  It’s possible, as Ackley is young and plays in a progressive city and just might hear terms like WAR and wOBA tossed around at home and around the batting cage.

More likely, though, Ackley goes ...

Wrestling, Baseball-Softball and Squash make (Olympic) list

Wrestling, squash and baseball-softball made the IOC short list Wednesday for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics.

Three months after being dropped from the 2020 program, wrestling took a big step toward keeping its Olympic status.

Eight sports were vying for a single opening in the lineup.

Eliminated from contention were five sports — karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

A washout as a traditional sportswriter, Minnetonka man found success as innovative blogger | StarTribune.com

Meet baseball blogger extraordinaire and eligible bachelor Aaron Gleeman.

Mets Defend Ticket Prices For Yankees Families; MLBPA ‘Looking Into It’

~ Munson Family/Spahn Ranch ~

The Mets insist there was no funny business going on when they raised ticket prices for players’ family members ahead of the Subway Series.

The New York Post reported this week that the Yankees were “angered” when their families had to dole out $250 per seat at Citi Field after relatives of the Atlanta Braves were charged $80 apiece for their weekend series at the Mets’ home ballpark.

“The tickets are the same as Mets family members and priced the same ...

NY Times: “Tonight’s Honored Guest on the Mound, a Backflipping Frog”

In a sport that clings to its traditions — from managers wearing uniforms to the playing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch — one time-honored feature at the ballpark has taken an absurd turn, at least for the game’s purists: the ceremonial first pitch.

For decades, the honor was extended only a few times a season to a rarefied group that included presidents, mayors and military veterans. These days, it is regarded as a marketing opportunity, a ...

ESPN: Mariano’s Citi swan song goes wrong

Only, at the end of this night, Rivera would make history of an entirely different kind. He’d appeared in 1,071 regular-season games and saved a record 626 of them, but in his 19 seasons in the bigs, Rivera had never blown a save without recording a single out until he faced that hallowed Mets Murderers Row of Daniel Murphy, David Wright and Lucas Duda.

“It was a great game,” Rivera would say at his locker, “until I got into the game.”

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-29-2013

Washington Times, May 29, 1913:

He’s gone again. Rube Waddell, the eccentric pitcher formerly with big league teams, has disappeared. It is reported that he has been playing with the Virginia (Minn.) team, but no one can locate him.

By this point, Waddell would likely have been in really bad shape with tuberculosis. He was in a sanitarium by November 1913, and died in April 1914.

Indians broadcaster Tom Hamilton is no fan of the Cubans

Bang the Swish symbol slowly…

In the ninth inning of yesterday’s Indians/Reds game, with his team holding a 4-2 lead, Reds closer Aroldis Chapman buzzed a 100-mph heater past Nick Swisher’s head, and Indians radio announcer Tom Hamilton lost it. You can see the pitches and hear Hamilton’s reaction at the video posted here, which includes his statement that, “what you’d love to see Swisher do here is knock it right off the temple of Chapman and see how much fun it is to have a ball ...

Bondy: To Wilpon, Mets a laughing matter

Hey, there are over 8,000 Laughter Clubs worldwide…what’s another one?

And for all of that effort, passion and resilience, it would be nice to think that ownership had their backs.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. Jeff Wilpon showed up at Citi Field Tuesday night, made a rare public appearance and promptly gave up on the season during a pregame ceremony for Rivera, who threw out the first ball, and eventually the last.

“Wish we could see you in the World Series,” Jeff Wilpon ...

LA Times: Mark Walter says he won’t make call on Don Mattingly

The night the unstinkable stank!

“These guys are in charge,” Walter said before the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory over the Angels. “Nobody wants me running this team. If they do, that’s a huge mistake. I’m not qualified to run a baseball team. I hope people know that.”

Walter is chief executive of Guggenheim Partners and one of the partners in Guggenheim Baseball Management, the company that owns the Dodgers.

Is there a point at which Walter will become involved in making baseball decisions?

“I ...

OMNICHATTER for MAY 29, 2013

Everybody Interleague continues.

Neyer: Run differentials tyrannize standings

Really, it’s fairly amazing how quickly the standings and the run differentials line up. You’d think, or at least some people probably think, that the relationship’s not really that strong. That the blowout wins and losses just don’t even out, or might even out eventually but certainly not before the calendar turns from May to June.

Except, look at the standings.

Miles: Going long with Hoyer on walks and OBP

While we’re waiting, let’s do this today. Yesterday, GM Jed Hoyer talked a lot about the Cubs’ lack of walks and the importance of on-base percentage in the OPS equation. We couldn’t get to all of it in the paper, so let’s get to some of it here on the blog.

The Cubs still are last in the National League in walks drawn by their batters, with 116. The Brewers are above them, with 122. In their last four games, however, the Cubs have drawn 15 walks. They’re 12th in the NL in OBP ...

Tampa Bay Rays prospect Josh Sale throws change at stripper, brags about it on Facebook

For most baseball players, a 50-game drug ban would be a career low-point. Most baseball players aren’t Josh Sale.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ minor league prospect showed the world how much of a winner he really is by boasting on Facebook about humiliating a stripper for cheap laughs.

More proof that money can’t buy class, I guess.

Noted sports orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum has died

According to the Los Angeles Angels, Dr, Lewis Yocum, one of the most notable sports medicine practitioners there was, has died.

An orthopedist who followed in the footsteps of Dr. Frank Jobe — the first man to perform Tommy John surgery — Jobe had been the Angels team doctor for many years. In addition, he has performed surgeries and consults for many other teams and players. After Jobe and Dr. James Andrews, Yocum was easily the most commonly-referenced and best known doctor in baseball ...

Gleeman: Eric Wedge blames sabermetrics for Dustin Ackley’s struggles

Ack–Ack…INCOMING!

Dustin Ackley was a college star at North Carolina and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2009 draft, one spot after Stephen Strasburg. He moved quickly through the Mariners’ farm system, had a solid rookie season in 2011 at age 23 … and has hit .221 with a .600 OPS in 198 games since then.

Yesterday the Mariners demoted him to Triple-A and in discussing the move afterward manager Eric Wedge more or less blamed sabermetrics for Ackley’s struggles. Seriously, via Greg ...

Mat Gleason: Baseball Goes Post-Modern in Los Angeles Art World

Cleats, Cleats, Cleats.

This two person exhibition features Pat Riot and L.A. legend Bill Barminski. Who knew that an icon of the L.A. art world, Barminski, was a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan and still considers Pete Rose his favorite baseball player?! The love of sport can reveal more about a man than any exterior pose he might ever take.

Pat Riot veers from slick conceptualist to sarcastic pop collage master in Known Gallery’s main room. His portion of the exhibition has large portraits ...

ESPN: Szymborski: 100 Best Draft Picks Ever (INSIDER)

After getting the WARs for every drafted player going back to 1965, the question becomes how to evaluate the value of that draft slot. You can’t just take the average because even after nearly half a century, we still have a fairly small sample size for each draft pick. The average No. 109 pick, for instance, has provided twice the value in history as the No. 18 pick, but there’s nobody in baseball that would rather pick 109th than 18th. Thanks to Mike Piazza, the pick No. 1,390 would look ...

Wacha will debut Thursday at Busch

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Less than a year removed from his selection in the draft, celebrated prospect Michael Wacha will make his major-league debut Thursday at Busch Stadium against the Kansas City Royals.

While it’s not nearly as easy of debut as it would have once been, this has to be one of the easiest situations they could call him up for with half the pitchers on the team having their arms falling off.

Brett Lawrie: Not everyone has to like me

Taste cannot be controlled by Lawrie.

Here’s the thing about Brett Lawrie, the Toronto Blue Jays speeding ticket at third base.

He’s playing baseball — hell, living life — at full throttle. If you don’t get out of his lane he’ll pass you on the right hand side.

Risky? Sure but he’s not looking for your approval; he’s in a hurry. He might get pulled over here and there, but he certainly doesn’t care — or care to give the impression that he cares — about what you or I ...

Jim Deshaies: Crystal (Cubbie) Blue Persuasion

Hey…at least it ain’t I Think We’re Alone In Last Place Now

So what lies ahead for Starlin Castro? It is decidely so? Outlook not so good? The easy out for the 8-ball would be “reply hazy – try again later.” But I’m going to go with “signs point to yes”. And the sign I’m pointing to is the great Alan Trammell.

Like Castro, Tram came to the big leagues at a very young age. He played 19 games for the Tigers at the age of 19 in ’77. The next season, as a twenty-year-old,  he ...

Royals Review: Jeff Francoeur by the numbers

Carving up Frenchy the clown. There’s enough for everybody!

The General Manager of your baseball team thinks Jeff Francoeur is worthy to don the Royal blue. The manager of your baseball team thinks he’s one of the best nine players at his disposal and dutifully fills out a lineup card with his name on it nearly every day.

I disagree.

Today I present to you the statistical case against Jeff Francoeur. (All numbers are through Sunday. After his 1-4 performance, it’s not like they ...

Dusty Baker: NHL-style fighting should resolve MLB conflicts

It’s not often that someone in another sport says “We ought to handle this issue like the NHL does.” Leave it to contrarian manager Dusty Baker of the Cincinnati Reds.

Baker, following a tiff between the Chicago Cubs and one of his pitchers, suggested that Major League Baseball use hockey’s time-honored tactics when it comes to settling disputes on the field: Let the players fight.

In this case, Matt Garza of the Cubs and Johnny Cueto of the Reds. From C. Trent Rosecrans of Cincinnati.com:

  ...

Nationals Call Up AA Pitcher Nathan Karns

With several starters signed as major league depth struggling at Class AAA, the Nationals chose Karns to replace lefty Ross Detwiler, who is on the disabled list with a slight oblique strain, in the hope his ability can overcome inexperience. Karns, named this winter by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in the Nationals’ farm system, has a 4.60 ERA with 55 strikeouts over 45 innings this year.

Detwiler feels good, just needs a few days’ rest.

Detwiler has progressed well.

Detwiler ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 5-28-2013

Pittsburgh Press, May 28, 1913:

An odd incident in the eighth inning of the Newark-Baltimore fray on Monday gave Mickey Corcoran a homer.

...Corcoran slashed a long hit to right center. Meyers [sic] in the outfield for Newark did not make an effore to go after the pellet, but instead started to run for the clubhouse, apparently thinking that it was the ninth inning. Gagnier ran after the ball from shortstop, but Corcoran easily made the circuit.

That’s so much more embarrassing than forgetting ...

OMNICHATTER for MAY 28, 2013

Gausman makes his second start, Matt Harvey faces the Yankees in a BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF NEW YORK BASEBALL (or something like that, I have a flair for large amounts of exaggeration), and once again Colorado and Houston have the only NL game of the day. Wait… what? Since when? Oh, right.

South Jersey Times: It’s rivalry week in Major League Baseball. How “natural” is your natural rivalry?

So over the next four days, teams in opposite leagues will meet their natural rivals in four-game series — two games in each park.But let’s just say some rivalries are more natural than others. Following are the 15 “natural rivalries” being contested this week in order of how they fit the mold and the distance between the teams’ stadiums.

1. Chicago Cubs-Chicago White Sox, 9.9 miles [...]

15. Colorado Rockies-Houston Astros, 1,021.4 miles

Mets Win (Subway Series) Opener Light on Fans and Runs

The series over the years has been a lopsided one. The Yankees won five out of six games last year and entered Monday’s game holding a 54-36 overall advantage. The two teams were on divergent paths entering the series, as well. The Yankees, fielding a lineup below their normal standard, started the day holding share of first place in their division. The Mets, in fourth place and spiraling, have been desperate for wins.

The crowd at Citi Field was larger and more boisterous than for ...