Gleeman: Mets minor league team is hosting “Seinfeld night”

Commenter: “I hear the Mets are going to have a related promotion at Citi Field where they score about nothing.”

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of “Seinfeld” starting on NBC the Mets’ Single-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League, are hosting a “Seinfeld Night” at the ballpark on July 5.

Darren Rovell of ESPN.com reports that the first 2,500 fans will get a Keith Hernandez bobblehead depicting him from the “Magic Loogie” episode of the show. Some other ...

Daniel Bryan’s ‘YES!’ chant has spread to the Pirates’ dugout

I once started an “Unpredictable! Unpredictable! Unpredictable!” Johnny Rodz chant after Clay Bellinger’s first career HR. Just never caught on.

The Pirates and Reds grappled in an absolute homerfest Monday in Cincinnati, launching an absurdly entertaining 10 long balls before rain halted the game after six innings. A half-dozen of those long balls came courtesy of Pittsburgh batters, leading the Bucs to adopt a new team celebration.

After years of the Dude, Where’s My Car-inspired Zoltan, ...

Astros To Promote George Springer

Good couple of weeks for UConn!

(Astros also demote the hapless Lucas Harrell.)

Top outfield prospect George Springer will join the Astros tomorrow, reports Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter)...

Springer climbed up prospect rating boards after a monster 2013 campaign in which he hit a combined .303/.411/.600, and posted 37 home runs and 45 stolen bases, in 589 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A. Entering the 2014 season, analysts rated Springer between 18th ...

Exposition:The Jonah Keri Mega Q&A

INSTREAM: Going back to the 1969 Staub trade, on Page 27 you talk about how Manager Gene Mauch “Went to meet with the Astros, leveraging contacts he had within the organization.” How difficult do you think it is for a GM or president to trade with other ballclubs in the absence of deep relationships? From 1976 to 1991, the Expos and Cincinnati Reds exchanged a total of 32 players. I know it’s 15 years and there’s a few GMs in there, but that’s a lot of trades.

JONAH KERI: That ...

Nightengale: Pujols nears 500 home runs…and no one seems to care

Could always ask Brad Lidge.

It’s sure getting harder and harder to impress us these days.

Here we are, on the brink of one of the most magnificent milestones in all of sports, and it seems nobody cares.

Just 25 men in Major League Baseball history have ever hit 500 homers in their lifetime, and here’s Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols ready to join them after hitting No. 496 on Monday night.

Yet it’s getting all of the acclaim of an NBA triple-double.

What has happened to us? ...Read More...

Repoz Posted: April 16, 2014 at 10:10 AM | 82 comment(s)
  Beats: angels, history

Verducci: Overuse of young pitchers fueling MLB’s Tommy John surgery problem

On MLB Network, Mitch Williams got so worked up arguing with Verducci over this…they’re still scraping Suavecito pomadesplosion residue off the walls.

What’s going on? Just in recent years, American teenage pitchers significantly have increased the intensity of two of the greatest risk factors for injury: Velocity and volume. And because of the growth in the travel/showcase model, the risks are only growing worse.

First, here is a basic understanding of how the arm works. It is “accepted ...

OMNICHATTER: Wednesday April 16, 2014

TBR, Odorizzi 12:35 PM
@BAL, Gonzalez

CHC, 1:05 PM
@NYY,

CHC, Wood 7:05 PM
@NYY, Pineda

CLE, McAlliste 7:08 PM
@DET, Sanchez

SEA, [bold]Hernandez[/bold] 8:05 PM
@TEX, [bold]Darvish[/bold]

BOS, Buchholz 8:10 PM
@CHW, Danks

KCR, Guthrie 8:10 PM
@HOU, Keuchel

TOR, Dickey 8:10 PM
@MIN, Pelfrey

OAK, Milone 10:05 PM
@LAA, Skaggs

PIT, Liriano 12:35 PM
@CIN, Cueto

STL, Kelly 1:10 PM
@MIL, Peralta

NYM, Gee 3:40 PM
@ARI, McCarthy
...Read More...

Minuteman News Center: Giandurco: This means WAR

If we don’t end WAR, WAR will end us! (trips over imported blunderbuss stand)

I have frequently argued how economic statistics do not always give an accurate appraisal of the current climate. The same happens in sports, at times. I’d like to demonstrate why a currently voguish baseball statistic is vastly misleading, in the hopes of engendering healthy skepticism in fields other than sports.

The statistic called “Wins Above Replacement,” or WAR, is considered the best all-around rating ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-16-2014

Toledo News-Bee, April 16, 1914:

One of [Toledo manager] Topsy Hartsel’s recruits, “Walter Clarkson,” almost put something over on the Mud Hen manager, before the boss started to get wise to his scheme.
...
Shortly after Topsy was appointed manager of the team he received a message from a pitcher, who said his name was Walter Clarkson and that he used to captain Harvard and play with the Yankees. Hartsel, who met Clarkson once with the Yanks, immediately signed him.

When he reported, Hartsel ...

Bud Selig calls replay start ‘remarkable’

Then again…Selig said the same thing about the ‘56 Renault Dauphine.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says the sport’s new replay system is working well despite a few problems during its first two weeks.

While baseball began video review late in the 2008 season, it was limited to potential home runs and boundary calls. The new system that began March 30 vastly expands the types of plays that managers and umpires can ask to be reviewed at a replay center in New York.

Calls by umpires on the ...

Gothamist: Yankee Stadium Is Selling Nachos In A Helmet For $20

As Uncle Junior Kennedy once said…“Go shiit in your helmet!”

We don’t have a $25 cheese-stuffed corn dog but the Yankees are selling something equally expensive, caloric and incredible. Behold the Nacho Helmet, a behemoth portion of chips and florescent “cheese” served inside a plastic bowl shaped like a batter’s helmet. This concoction—which can also be enjoyed with seasoned ground beef, jalapenos, salsa and guacamole—costs $20. God bless America.

As someone with very little regard for ...

Joe Torre: John Farrell Will Be Fined By MLB For His Replay Criticism

Unfair to our rights! The hell with Cask’n Flagon call in Cliven Bundy!

Joe Torre, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, told the New York Daily News on Monday that the Boston Red Sox manager will be fined for comments he made after Sunday’s loss to the New York Yankees.

“I’m not going to suspend him. It will be a fine,” Torre said. “I’m sorry about what he said. What I try to do in whatever I do in this job that the commissioner has imported me to do is ...

NY Post: Davidoff: Why the Yankees are using the shift more than ever

Heading into Monday’s action, according to Baseball Info Solutions, the Yankees were tied with four other clubs — the Astros, Brewers, Cardinals and Athletics — with the major league-leading total of two team shift runs saved. Last year, the Yankees tallied three team shift runs saved for the entire season. [...]

The Yankees used the shift 475 times last year, and they’re already at 88 in 2014, second in the majors behind only Houston (137). If they keep this up, they’ll wind up ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-15-2014

Pittsburgh Gazette Times, April 15, 1914:

A Brooklyn magistrate paroled “Jake” Daubert of the Brooklyn National League club in the Coney Island Police Court [yesterday], so that his team might not be deprived of the services of its captain and first baseman on the opening day of the championship season.

Daubert was in court on a summons to explain why he violated the Sunday law relating to baseball…The magistrate told Daubert he could play with the Brooklyns against Boston [yesterday], but to ...

Kimbrel given night off with soreness in shoulder | braves.com: News

Oh. No!

Jedd Gyorko signs 5-year extension

What a gyood deal!

he San Diego Padres have signed power-hitting second baseman Jedd Gyorko to a five-year extension with a team option for a sixth season, the team announced Monday.

The deal is worth $35 million and includes a $13 million club option that could increase if an escalator clause in the contract vests, a source told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. It replaces a one-year deal agreed to last month and includes a team option for 2020. San Diego essentially buys out one year of free agency ...

Doug Glanville: I Was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway

Its unthinkable that we still find instances of discrimination against former Phillies.

A police officer from West Hartford had pulled up across the street, exited his vehicle, and begun walking in my direction. I noted the strangeness of his being in Hartford—an entirely separate town with its own police force—so I thought he needed help. He approached me with purpose, and then, without any introduction or explanation he asked, “So, you trying to make a few extra bucks, shoveling ...

Cameron: Baseball’s New Strategy: Drop the Ball on Purpose

Setting the stage for a Brant Brown comeback?

This year, in an attempt to clarify the difference between a catch and a transfer on plays around the [second] base bag, MLB informed teams that a clean transfer from glove to hand was now going to be a required element in making a legal catch. No longer could a player argue that the ball was dropped on the exchange between glove and hand in order to retire the lead runner in a double play attempt…

However, this rule isn’t just being applied to ...

OMNICHATTER for April 14, 2014

Woah, almost forgot. Sorry, folks.

Calcaterra: “An embarrassing mishmash of fringe ranting and ill-informed, shrill bomb-throwing”

Thank heavens for BBTF/Primer.

My baseball blog has a comments section and always has. When it was small it was really great, but as it has gotten more popular and well-trafficked It’s become about 80-90% garbage. This used to bother me, but I’ve come to accept that, with comments, ######## are a feature, not a bug. A pretty important feature, actually.

I like having a comments section. For all the jerks, there are still people who will point out my errors in respectful fashion and ...

John Farrell: ‘It’s hard to have any faith in the [replay] system’

I sooo look forward to to every team having a Pelekoudas in the announcers booth explaining ####. #DOOM

“We felt that it was clear that the replay was inconclusive,” Farrell told reporters in New York. “The frustrating part is when this was rolled out and explained to us, particularly on the throw received by the first baseman, we were instructed that when the ball enters the glove, not that it has to hit the back of the glove, is where the out is deemed complete. At the same time, any ...

Brewers win ninth straight game behind dominant Lohse

from the article:  Lohse allowed one run on four singles and no walks, throwing 76 pitches for strikes and leading his team to a 10-2 record (best in baseball) in just two hours and 11 minutes.

really strong defensive work from the brewers this past weekend.  multiple nice plays all over the field both infield and outfield.  Reynolds started a nifty 3-6-3 double play on Friday night and logan Schafer made a beauty of a catch in left on sunday on an alvarez fly ball where logan crashed into ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-14-2014

100 years ago yesterday, the Federal League held its first game as a “major league”.

Washington Times, April 14, 1914:

That the Federal League is going to make good in Baltimore and awaken those old feverish days of the Hanlon era was distinctly shown when the invaders got down to business yesterday. The opening game of the Feds drew 27,692 fans to the new park, and, to make everybody happy, Baltimore defeated Buffalo 3 to 2.
...
“Baltimore has done itself proud,” said [Federal League] ...

Right-hander Joe Blanton retires

Never quite Cy Blanton…

Veteran right-hander Joe Blanton has retired, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Because he was released before retiring, the Angels still owe him the $7.5 million left on his contract.

Blanton, 33, signed a minor league deal with the Athletics after being released by the Halos. He made two starts for their Triple-A affiliate, allowing seven runs in 10 2/3 innings.

In 20 starts and eight relief appearances for the Angels last year, Blanton went ...

Fine for Yankees being considered in tampering case with Mike Trout

Commissioner Bud Selig is considering whether to fine the New York Yankees for tampering, the result of an investigation triggered by Yankees President Randy Levine’s comment last winter that he would offer Angels outfielder Mike Trout a 10-year contract.

The potential fine was disclosed by two people with knowledge of the matter but not authorized to comment about it. The amount of the possible fine was not disclosed.

The Angels were furious Levine dropped Trout’s name into a December ...

Derek Jeter sitting out a second straight game

Tight quad my ass! They’re just trying to protect Jeter’s .3123 career BA and keep him ahead of Manny Ramirez’s .3122!

Jeter is 39 years old and played in only 17 games last season. Girardi’s thinking is pretty understandable.

Also there’s this, from MLB.com Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch …

Girardi: Jeter’s quad got tight on Friday. Had yesterday off. He’s getting today off because of it too. No tests scheduled.

Boras (via Heyman): Drew, Kendrys ‘damaged;’ MLB disagrees but will investigate

Scott Boras, the agent for top remaining free agents Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew, came out swinging against the half dozen or so anonymous team executives and officials who negatively speculated in a recent article on the value of those two players. Boras says those unnamed executives and officials are breaking league rules in a recent article by suggesting low player values, issuing critical comments and ultimately hurting their markets.

Boras… said he intends to pursue a grievance, ...

Murray Chass on Baseball: IT’S BACK — MAYBE

Murray sez: Glory! “Wrong Hole, Buster”

[The use of anonymous quotes is a] highly questionable journalistic practice and is frowned on by reputable news organizations.

This type of article is what has angered Clark and the union. One such example ran on the [ESPN] web site last week with the heading “Execs put a price on Drew, Morales.”

Written by Buster Olney, the site’s lead baseball writer, the piece offers no names of people he quotes but quotes an assortment of people identified ...

Deadspin: Hayhurst: A Major League Pitcher’s Guide To Doctoring A Baseball

When someone like Pineda cheats so obviously that it has to be acknowledged, it’s discussed in terms of a ludicrously weak explanation that all players seem to accept: Loading the ball is not about cheating; it’s about getting a grip.

Since it seems like everyone could stand to get a grip on this form of cheating in the majors, let’s talk some of the ways pitchers go about getting one. This is a strange thing, existing in a sort of no-man’s land. It’s not really illegal, since no one gets ...

Le Batard: It’s difficult for us to understand Puig’s lack of understanding.

I found the anecdotes about the other players particularly interesting.