In a .338 Lifetime Average, Every Day Counted

I was a teenager when I first interviewed Gwynn, working for a small magazine I published from home. This was not Sports Illustrated or ESPN. He had no special reason to be nice. But every time the Padres came to town, Gwynn would greet me warmly.

He noticed things others would not. One time we spoke, I was wearing a Vanderbilt golf shirt. Gwynn noticed the logo and asked if I went there. When I said yes, he lit up. The Padres beat writer Buster Olney, of The San Diego Union-Tribune, also went ...

WaPo: U.S. patent office cancels Redskins trademark registration, says name is disparaging

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team’s name “disparaging to Native Americans.”

Could this mean Chief Wahoo’s days are numbered?

Jaffe: Untimely Ryan Braun plunking backfires against Diamondbacks

Welcome Mr. Marshall! (disastrous plan)

The Unwritten Rules blew up in the Diamondbacks’ faces on Tuesday night in grand fashion.

Quite simply, Arizona picked a particularly poor time to Make A Statement about what’s acceptable on the diamond. In the seventh inning of their game against the Brewers, the Diamondbacks were clinging to a 4-3 lead with runners on second and third and one out. Reliever Evan Marshall then proceeded to hit Ryan Braun with a pitch that was almost certainly ...

Kalaf: No One Can Find Raul Ibanez’s Foul Ball

This ain’t like finding a batted ball in a haystack.

aul Ibanez hit a foul ball in today’s Angels-Indians game. That’s not odd. The odd part is that no one found it.

Ibanez’s foul ball went into the empty upper deck of Progressive Field. One fan ran up to try and get it. He did not. More people walked up to comb the sections. Their efforts were fruitless. There is no happy ending to this video. No one found Raul Ibanez’s foul ball.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-18-2014

Pittsburgh Press, June 18, 1914:

...George Sisler, southpaw pitcher of the University of Michigan team, who in 1912 signed a Pittsburg [sic] contract, will never be able to pitch another game of ball. Sisler has thrown his arm out for Michigan, and is unable at present to even hurl the horsehide 50 feet.
...
Next year Sisler will try to play in the outfield for Michigan, but it is doubtful whether his arm will stand the strain of the long heaving. The probabilities are that he never will report ...

Marmol leaves Reds to take ‘mental break,’ is uncertain of return date

“He just wants to take a mental break,” Kinzer wrote. “Physically he is fine. He was still throwing in the mid ‘90s.”

Get well soon Carlos!  You are always an exciting guy to have around as long as you are on someone else’s team.

Rangers sign Carlos Pena

At age 36 he looks just about done, posting a combined .678 OPS in 249 games since 2012–but if nothing else Pena can still draw plenty of walks and smack some homers.

Put me down for .150/.300/.350

A’s pitcher Drew Pomeranz breaks hand punching wooden chair after rough start

Pomeranz gave up seven earned runs in 3 2/3 innings in Oakland’s 14-8 loss, making his ERA jump up to 2.91. That’s not the worst part, though. Pomeranz fractured his hand in a fit of rage afterward.

It’s his non pitching hand.  Still, the A’s bought someone named Brad Mills from the Brewers to give them some depth.

Red Sox designate OF Sizemore for assignment

Sizemore hit .333 in spring training and started in center field on opening day when he homered in Boston’s 2-1 loss at Baltimore. But in 52 games, he hit .216 with two homers and 15 RBIs.

He lasted a lot longer than I expected.

Royals win 9th straight to take over 1st place

Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas homered as part of a seven-run second inning, and the Royals displaced the Detroit Tigers atop the AL Central on Tuesday night with an 11-4 victory, their ninth in a row.

Sure they laughed when the Royals launched their 30 year plan to return to the playoffs after a disappointing flameout in ‘86.  But who’s laughing now that it’s coming home a few years early.

Robert in Manhattan Beach Posted: June 18, 2014 at 03:48 AM | 90 comment(s)
  Beats: hell freezing over, royals

The Magnus Effect and the World Cup Match Ball

Why balls do what they do.

OMNICHATTER 6-18-2014

The God-Help-Us-The-Royals-Are-In-First-Place OMNICHATTER

Brewers Catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s Anti-Cardinals All-Star Ad Is Perfect

Best Attack Ads in Baseball

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s making a push to get voted into this season’s All-Star Game, and his anti-Yadier Molina, anti-Cardinals message features the kind of mudslinging one could only find in a local political ad.

I voted 150 times for Lucroy when I heard the sound of a baby crying over footage of Molina.

Giancarlo Stanton opposite-field home run challenges laws of physics

“I’ve never seen a home run like that. That thing took two seconds to get out of the ballpark. I thought it would be a foul ball and hit the base of the wall or something.

“It was a line drive — I just didn’t think it had 400 feet of carry on it. He’s a strong boy.”

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-17-2014

Pittsburgh Press, June 17, 1914:

Of course we have all been hep to the fact that baseball is one of the best real tonics there is—both for the player and for the spectator. Not many have bothered about why it is—they know it is, and that has been sufficient.
...
[Professor G.T.W. Patrick of the University of Iowa says] “During untold periods of the life history of our race, survival has come to him who could throw the straightest, run the swiftest, and strike the hardest…Anyone who has ever held ...

Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel trade talks well underway - Chicago Sun-Times

The Cubs are angling for the #1 overall pick in the 2015 draft.

Contextualizing The Jon Singleton Extension – MLB Trade Rumors

Here’s a great look at the Singleton extension.

If anything, perhaps, the Singleton extension really marks the latest instance of a general trend away from formulaic contractual models. His deal opens new doors, especially, for players who did not have the opportunity to capture downside protection at their point of entry into the professional ranks, at which time they immediately become subject to the limitations of the reserve clause (as expressed in the collectively bargained Basic ...

In flurry of moves, Marlins recall top prospect Andrew Heaney; outfielder Christian Yelich placed on DL | marlins.com: News

The Andrew Heaney era has begun.

Orioles’ Matt Wieters to undergo Tommy John surgery on right elbow Tuesday - baltimoresun.com

If only his manager did a better job watching his pitch counts.

Chad Billingsley of Los Angeles Dodgers to miss rest of season - ESPN Los Angeles

Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a partially torn flexor tendon in his right elbow.

Tom Friend: Tony Gwynn used fear as motivation

In late April, I surprised him at the hospital. He was in a wheelchair. His hair was fully gray. He couldn’t open his right eye. He could only halfway open his mouth. He was on oxygen. The purest hitter of our generation was dying.

You can’t prepare yourself for that. Not when you knew him like I did. I was a rookie Padres beat writer in 1985; he’d won his first batting title in 1984. I knew him when his vision was 20-10, when he considered 1-for-4 a bad day at the office, when he used ...

OMNICHATTER 6-17-14

The 5.5 Hole OMNICHATTER

WSJ: At Least the Mets Are Good at One Thing… Bullpen Somehow Excels in Preventing Inherited Runners to Score

You can’t call the Mets “good for nothings.” They’re actually great at something. Entering Sunday, they ranked second-best ever at preventing inherited runners from scoring.

Only 20 of 109 inherited runners have scored against the Mets, a rate of 18.3%. Since Stats LLC began tracking the statistic in 1974, just one team has been better—the 1995 Cleveland Indians (17.7%). The 1988 Mets are third-best at 18.8%.

Too bad they’re 7th of 30 this season in games the relief pitcher pitched in more ...

The Gwynn men: A son’s love, a father’s fight | Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia

Reports all over Twitter that HOF Tony Gwynn has passed away.

OMNICHATTER 6-16-2014

OMNICHATTER for today is… here.

Jim Bunning: Cubs’ sale at odds with MLB antitrust exemption

Jim Bunning: “You can’t fool the people that long.” Sweet fuctwa! Bunning’s been winning elections since 1977!

If anyone in the U.S. House or Senate decides to bring another challenge to Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption, the Cubs’ sale to the Ricketts family could become part of the case, former lawmaker Jim Bunning said.

Bunning, the baseball Hall of Famer who later led multiple threats and challenges to MLB’s exemption as a seven-term congressman and two-term senator, ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-16-2014

Pittsburgh Press, June 16, 1914:

Ray Chapman was to have cavorted in the shortfield in yesterday’s Washington-Nap game, but Dr. M.H. Castle, club physician, crossed Manager Birmingham at the last minute. He does not think Chappie will be ready for another week.

In the meantime Ray will spend most of his practice time running backwards. A half dozen players who dropped out of their team lineup because of fractured ankle bones got themselves back in trim by running backwards.

“A player favors an ...

It was 50 years ago today Cards got Lou Brock from Cubs

As my old Cubs pal Ellsworthless Dick used to say: “You can’t spell I Go Boner Rile! without Ernie Broglio!”

On June 15, 1964, with his team enjoying an off day, Cubs second baseman Joey Amalfitano heard a knock on the door of his apartment.

Old pal Ernie Broglio was there with a suitcase and a smile, which baffled Amalfitano because his former minor league roommate pitched for the Cardinals and the Phillies were next on the Cubs’ schedule.

“I said, ‘What in the world are you doing ...

Celebrating 60: Boog Powell was big part of Orioles’ dominance in 1960s, 1970s

The 1971 season was Powell’s last All-Star season. He played three more for the Orioles and then after the 1974 season, he was traded to Cleveland in a deal that brought Dave Duncan to Baltimore.

“I felt awful, disappointed,’’ Powell says. “I had deep roots in Baltimore.’‘

Powell had injury issues with his shoulder in his final seasons in Baltimore, but in 1975, he was healthy, leading to 27 home runs with 86 RBIs for the Indians. The Orioles won 90 games, but finished second in the AL East ...

BLS: Jimmy Rollins’ and Mike Schmidt’s career batting averages leave Ruben Amaro confused

The Amaro Variation: Monster-Error-of-the-Week.

In said appearance, Amaro did not seem to fully grasp the basic differences between a plate appearance and at-bat and how they effect stats such as batting average and on base percentage. The confusion stemmed from Philadelphia’s broadcast team noting that Jimmy Rollins was approaching Michael Schmidt’s team record for career hits — which he ultimately surpassed in a very cool moment on Saturday — to which Amaro replied.

  “Yeah, we were ...