OTP 2018 Apr 2: This Opening Day, keep baseball pure—and keep the politics out of it

In a year when American culture seems to be dissolving before our very eyes in the shadow of a political discourse that often seems as turbid as it is abhorrent, there’s always baseball.

I grew up the daughter of a man who loved baseball; over the years my Mom learned to enjoy it just as much. My dad played it, listened to it, watched it, collected cards of players he admired. I can’t even pinpoint my first baseball experience, such is the way the entirety of the game enveloped around and ...

Papke: Twins angry after Orioles bunt against shift in 9th

It’s never too early in the season for the “unwritten rules” to rear its ugly head…

We already knew that bunting for a hit with a no-hitter in progress is against baseball’s so-called “unwritten rules.” This, however, was only a one-hitter.

What’s more, the Twins were putting their shift in action against Sisco, meaning they clearly still saw merit in going out of their way defensively to prevent the catcher from getting on base. If Minnesota feels justified in doing that, why is Sisco ...

Shohei Ohtani picks up victory for Angels in his mound debut | OC Register

OAKLAND — Just like Shohei Ohtani and the Angels had been saying all along, spring training means nothing.

A rough spring had prompted plenty of questions about the Japanese superstar’s readiness for the majors, but his performance in his first outing as a big league pitcher no doubt eased many concerns from outside the organization.

Ohtani pitched six innings in the Angels’ 7-4 victory over the Oakland A’s on Sunday afternoon, completing his historic season-opening series.

A New Chapter At Sports Reference

Along the way, the only consideration has been what would work best for the user. That’s why, after months of extensive research, I’m very pleased to announce:

We’re Pivoting to Video.

Gabe Kapler’s alarming error adds to rough start as Phillies manager

If there was a reset button in the Philadelphia Phillies dugout, new manager Gabe Kapler would have pressed it several times by now.

His first three games have been an out-of-control roller coaster at best, a disaster at worst, with Saturday’s 15-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves providing a low point that the Phillies have to hope will never be duplicated.

OMNICHATTER for the weekend of March 31-April 1, 2018

OMNICHATTER? I hardly knew’er! for March 30, 2018

FSN ‘regrets’ plan to replace Circle Me Bert with Fight Me Gregg - Twinkie Town

Huh?

Official attendance likely to plummet this season for Marlins | Miami Herald

It remains to be seen whether fewer fans show up this season at Marlins Park if the team struggles, as most expect.

But, whether that proves to be the case, official crowd figures announced by the team are expected to plummet significantly — or at least come closer to reality.

The reason: a Marlins spokesman said Thursday that the Marlins will only count actual tickets sold in their attendance calculations.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-30-2018

Washington Times, March 30, 1918:

Four cities have been granted franchises in the new International League, it became known today. They are Baltimore, Toronto, Jersey City and Syracuse. Buffalo, Newark, Rochester, Richmond, and several other cities bidding for franchises will have until next Wednesday morning to qualify. President McCaffery, of the Toronto club, said today that the season will probably be opened May 1.

The other four cities that made up the league were Buffalo, Newark, ...

MLB salaries 2018: A 1% raise for major leaguers, but clouds ahead

Bob Nightengale breaks down the dollars.

Giancarlo Stanton homers in 1st Yankees at-bat | MLB.com

What a start!

MLB’s stat-crunchingest video game predicts a World Series win for L.A. - Polygon

OOTP recently released version 19. Although I’ve bought a few versions I haven’t played it much. The options are pretty daunting. Is there an easy way to import rosters managed somewhere else? (I’d like to sim out a league I play in Dynasty League Baseball.)

I’m also curious about online league play. Is there a way for people to play head-to-head live? I see a broadcast to the web option but it seems this is something for GM only leagues where the Commissioner sims the games.

I know a few ...

Top 26 Prospects: Philadelphia Phillies | FanGraphs Baseball

Fangraph’s prospect gurus really dropped the ball this year. The season has started and only 14 teams are done. They either have to get all teams done or just focus on the top 300 or so prospects. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge task. They need to involve more people if the goal is to be an alternative to Baseball America and MLB.com.

Kudos to Keith Law for doing such a great job by himself.

Texas Rangers: To bunt, or not to bunt? Against an extra Astro in the outfield, Joey Gallo may not want to change anything | SportsDay

Say it ain’t so Joey.

Rusty Staub, beloved Mets icon, dead at 73 | NYDN

In every way, Rusty Staub, the beloved Mets’ hitting icon, who passed away early Thursday morning at age 73, was bigger than life — a bigger-than-life baseball personality, humanitarian, gourmet chef, wine connoisseur, friend-to-all and, to the fans of Montreal, quite simply, “Le Grand Orange.”

Staub died at 12:30 a.m. Thursday at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach due to multiple organ failure. He was initially admitted with pneumonia, dehydration and an infection and had ...

Greg Holland to sign deal with Cardinals

Finally.

Free-agent closer Greg Holland has agreed to a deal with the Cardinals pending a physical, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told MLB.com. MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, who was first to report the sides were close, said the one-year deal is for a reported $14 million.

OMNICHATTER for OPENING DAY!, March 29, 2018

An Opening Day Quiz for Baseball Fans | Washington Post

“There’ll be two buses leaving the hotel for the park tomorrow. The 2 o’clock bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at 5 o’clock.” — Dave Bristol, Milwaukee Brewers manager, 1972

I hit .487 on this but I suspect most Primates will do considerably better. Also, copy-editing fun: I spotted two misspelled player names. How many can *you* find!

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-29-2018

Bridgeport Times, March 29, 1918:

The International League disbanded yesterday, after being in existence for 26 years. The meeting at which this action was taken was held behind locked doors and according to all the noises and occasional volleys of conversation which wafted through the transom there was a wide variance of opinion about what should be done.
...
The league disbanded by a vote of 6 to 2…The two votes, in favor of continuing, were cast by Richmond and Newark.

Toledo News-Bee, March ...

MLB 2018 Opening Day Games and Schedule Guide | MLB.com

It’s here! I had to take the day off as a religious holiday. Today it’s baseball, baseball, and more baseball. (OK, just about every day is baseball, baseball, and more baseball but I’m sure you get what I mean.)

Help! I married my dreaded baseball rival (a love story)

“You don’t mess with The Sluss”

At a gala on the eve of the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City, I spotted the retired Frank Thomas at the bar and introduced myself. (Tepid reaction.) I told him we’d recently enjoyed some of his Big Hurt Beer. (Tepid reaction.) And then I told him I’m married to Susan Slusser.

“Your wife is the best,” the 6-foot-5, 240-pounder said, more forcefully than I expected.

Yeah, well, you know, she loves the job and …

“THE BEST,” the Big Hurt said, ...

Joey Gallo, Josh Donaldson are the hitters of the modern era | SI.com

Embracing Ted Williams.

Update: Read this. Great piece by Tom Verducci.

C.J.: Baseball fans get their rankings in the paperback “In Pursuit of Pennants” - StarTribune.com

Dan should have stormed out of the interview when he was asked this question!!

Q: Do you ever find baseball games boring?

A: I have a 20-game season ticket to the Twins and I really enjoy going, but certainly I would say that these 3-2 counts start to get a little bit tedious. It’s nice to see the ball get put in play once in a while. I love watching games but games where there are a lot of strikeouts and walks get tedious. The pitcher-batter matchup has become much more the focus of ...

Daniel Vogelbach caps spring with home run

Will this spring’s Cinderella story turn into a pumpkin tomorrow?

Rays’ Nathan Eovaldi out with elbow injury

Who had March 28th in the pool?

Ringolsby: Collusion Or Common Sense?

The Cowboy’s take.

Smelly liquid floods area of field at Dodger Stadium, ending the Angels-Dodgers game

If Vin Scully had only waited a couple of more years to retire…  hearing him describe this would have been priceless.

2018 MLB Prediction thread!

With opening day tomorrow (FINALLY) it’s time to put your pride on the line! Who’s going to win? Who’s going to tank? Who will come closest to matching Mike Trout’s stratospheric WAR?  Link goes to the 538 projections, which take into account elo as well as the Davenport, Fangraphs, and PECOTA projection systems.  The Indians are tipped to win 99 games, which… I’ll take the under, thanks.

A’s top prospect A.J. Puk needs Tommy John Surgery