OMNICHATTER 6-28-2014

Tanaka! Darvish! Greinke! Samardzija! Sale! Gray! Scherzer! Hughes!

Hughes?

Sorry, still not used to that.

Mike Trout belts 489-foot home run

Mike Trout set team and stadium records for home run distance Friday, belting a 489-foot tape-measure solo shot to center field in the first inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ game against the Kansas City Royals.

Ben Reiter: Astro-Matic Baseball

A must read…

Other criticisms have surfaced more recently. In an article published in the Houston Chronicle on May 25—the day, as it turned out, the Astros began a seven-game winning streak—beat writer Evan Drellich detailed the ways in which, as the headline read, radical ways paint astros as ‘outcast.’ “They are definitely the outcast of major league baseball right now, and it’s kind of frustrating for everyone else to have to watch it,” Norris, who was traded to the Orioles ...

Chris Young is Twice as Likely to be Benched After a Good Game Than an Oh-Fer: Why Terry Collins is the Worst

Then, I looked to see what happened after each of those games, at whether Young started or was benched for the next team game.  The results are… perplexing. For the last month, from May 29th to the present, Young has had 8 “good games” and 7 “bad games” where the Mets had a game the next day.

After the “bad games”, he was started 57% of the time and benched 42% of the time.

However after the “good games”, he was started 25% of the time and benched 75% of the time.

  ...Read More...

Castrovince: Beltre’s numbers could be enough for Cooperstown

Here’s a look at Beltre by the numbers, both standard and advanced:

11: The number of Hall of Famers from the Major Leagues in the modern era who spent a majority of their time at third base: Home Run Baker, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Jimmy Collins, George Kell, Freddie Lindstrom, Eddie Mathews, Brooks Robinson, Ron Santo, Mike Schmidt and Pie Traynor. (Paul Molitor is listed by the Hall as a third baseman, but he spent significantly more games at designated hitter).

5: The number of those ...

Tidewater News: James D. Howell: Baseball and booze

I have this narrowed down to who this is but…

My brother was much older than me; we were separated by much more than age. He attended high school in Franklin and excelled at baseball. When WWII came, he and my oldest brother found jobs at the Newport News shipbuilding yards. Both my brothers learned trades that would provide them with a livelihood during their later, peacetime lives.

Baseball remained a part of my brother’s life; he played for teams made up to provide recreation for the ...

Mushnick: Keith Hernandez goes from insightful to bully in one inning

The FB BULLY Project has 642,873 likes, so let’s keep at it!

But in the next half inning, he went from enlightened analyst to schoolyard bully Nelson “Ha-Ha!” Muntz. SNY presented a photo of Padres pitcher Alex Torres from the night before, wearing a cap that bulged at its sides from a protective liner.

Yes, Torres looked odd. Yet, clearly, if he were determined to diminish the chances of a fractured skull or brain injury from a line drive to the side of his head, his head, if not his ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-27-2014

Milwaukee Journal, June 27, 1914:

Charlie Meara, the sensational batter, who was bought by Frank Chance from the Perth Amboy club, has explained his ability to hit. He made 24 hits in forty-two times at bat—5 homers, 4 triplets [sic] and 1 double.

“It’s a funny story,” says Meara. “When I was 5 years old my parents moved to New Jersey. The mosquitoes down there were bad, and it was my job to keep them out of the cottage when any one opened the door. After four years of practice I got so I ...

OMNICHATTER 6-27-2014

The “Let’s See if Verlander Is Really Back To Normal” OMNICHATTER

Rick Cerone: “Robinson Cano . . . what a fool!”

You can’t spell Encore Rick (that’s what we used to yell to him after his 1980 outlier season) without Rick Cerone.

Former Yankees catcher Rick Cerone was on SiriusXM’s Fantasy Sports Radio channel with hosts Scott Engel and Adam Ronis today, and he had some pretty strong opinions about Robinson Cano signing with the Mariners:

  Host/Scott Engel:  “Robinson Cano in Seattle, why is he not hitting for power?”

  Rick Cerone:  “Big ballpark.  Big mistake.  No backup.  No protection ...

Schoenfeld: Mike Trout’s Hall of Fame Timeline

Only if Trout can replicate and not be an old fart at play.

One of the largest debates in Hall of Fame discussion is that of peak vs. longevity. We know neither Trout’s peak numbers, nor his longevity. His body is not one that alludes to an enduring career, and while pessimistic, it’s not far-fetched to think that Trout may already have reached his ceiling. Before we get into hypotheticals, let’s look at where his case stands as of today.

He has produced 24.7 rWAR, and is on pace to end the ...

Schoenfield: Lincecum still has it, at least against Padres

To be honest, I’m not sure if this says more about Tim Lincecum or the struggling, offensively inept San Diego Padres.

I mean, if you were to grade each no-hitter on a degree of difficulty scale from 1 to 10, factoring in the strength of the opponent, the ballpark and the weather, a no-hitter against the Padres at AT&T Park on a gray, hazy day would have to be a 1.

Still ... a no-hitter is a no-hitter, they’re always fun and there’s always a good story behind each one. Retiring 27 ...

Calcaterra: Happy 40th Birthday, Derek Jeter!

Happy Birthday, Paul Molitor with an interlocking NY thingamajigisup!

Today is Derek Jeter‘s 40th birthday. I have not done a ton of research into the matter, but based on the columns and tributes I’ve seen coming out of New York, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Jeter is the first Major League Baseball player in history to turn 40-years-old. That’s a pretty great accomplishment and we should all talk about how classy and winning a strategy turning 40-years-old really is.

...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-26-2014

Milwaukee Journal, June 26, 1914:

The baseball fans of Washington will probably hereafter enjoy a supply of cool drinking water, furnished by spigots throughout the local ball park, thanks to a bill introduced by Representative Howard of Georgia…
...
Mr. Howard is himself a baseball fan, but has no taste for soda pop. For a time he was able to get drinking water from one hydrant at the Washington ball park, but finally the soft drink interests broke the handle off the faucet.

In other words, the ...

Twitter: Mitchell Lichtman

I seriously can't believe that anyone with a baseball IQ over 50 would defend a claim that Lincecum is still a good pitcher.

— Mitchel Lichtman (@mitchellichtman) June 26, 2014

Going back to old stance paying dividends for Jackie Bradley Jr.

He has to do something.

Bradley has changed the position of his front foot from a straight-on approach to more of an open stance — a noticeable change when the team arrived in Oakland. It’s seemed to work, as the outfielder is 6-for-20 on the trip.
What Bradley has done is essentially go back to the stance he employed until his first exposure to the major leagues in 2013. Bradley’s struggles at the big-league level at the beginning of last season — he went 3-for-31 to start his career ...

Vanderbilt wins College World Series

Party at David Price’s house. Don’t forget to bring some kibble for Astro.

OMNICHATTER 6-26-2014

We have gone [0] days since the last time Tim Lincecum no-hit the Padres.

Purdy: Why Tim Lincecum Is Our Elvis

The Bay Area needs no new summer theme park thrill rides. It still has Tim Lincecum.

The Giants’ pitcher, who has been spectacularly up and down in terms of success over the past few seasons, was at the very peak of his freaky-geeky powers Wednesday at AT&T Park.

His fastball worked. His off-speed stuff worked. His hipster-hurler mojo worked, like, totally. And after nine innings of all that, Lincecum had thrown a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres – his second no-hitter against ...

Price Fielder poses nude for ESPN the magazine

Twenty-two athletes will be featured in the ESPN The Magazine Body Issue, which will hit newsstands on July 11.

The keystone to the issue is the “Bodies We Want” section, where athletes will be featured in tasteful nude poses.

“Insert punch line”

A’s finalize 10 year lease extension for O.co

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig issued the following statement today regarding the lease extension of the Oakland Athletics:

“I commend the Oakland Athletics and the JPA for their efforts in reaching an extension for a lease at O.co Coliseum. The agreement on this extension is a crucial first step towards keeping Major League Baseball in Oakland.
“I continue to believe that the Athletics need a new facility and am fully supportive of the club’s view that the best site in ...

Adrian Beltre raps 2,500th career hit

Beltre is the sixth player who played the majority of his career at third base to reach the 2,500-hit level. The others are George Brett (3,154), Wade Boggs (3,010), Brooks Robinson (2,848), Chipper Jones (2,726) and Buddy Bell (2,514)

I feel like Beltre is going to have a really interesting HOF case in a few years, especially if he keeps up what he’s been doing for the next couple years. He’ll also make the trivia question of “Who are the four active players in the MLB with 2500 hits” a ...

Rays’ David Price in ‘bad mood’

“I mean, obviously I think about it,” Price told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s why I’ve been in a bad mood the last week and a half. I think about it. You guys know that. And it’s nothing I really want to talk about.
“I don’t have an answer for you guys. I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t know when I’m going. So there’s nothing I can really comment on.”

So much for standard cliches about not letting it affect him.

MLB tweaks wording on force plays (at home plate)

Major League Baseball took a formal step Tuesday to clarify a portion of the new rule governing unnecessary collisions between baserunners and catchers at home plate.

In a statement sent to the baseball operations departments for all 30 teams, MLB said umpires have been instructed not to apply Rule 7.13 to force plays at home plate. The directive came several days after Joe Torre, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, said the rules were interpreted incorrectly to overturn an ...

Native American group planning 9 billion lawsuit against Cleveland Indians

A Native American group is planning to file a $9 billion federal lawsuit against the Cleveland Indians and their “offensive” Chief Wahoo logo, according to CBS Cleveland. The suit is expected to be filed next month

WaPo: Ryan Zimmerman’s homer in 16th inning against Brewers caps longest game in Nationals’ history

A true deathmatch.  Personally, I’m disappointed: if the game had gone only one more inning, Adam LaRoche would have made his Major League pitching debut for the Washington Nationals.

MILWAUKEE — More than five hours after Tuesday’s game began, Miller Park nearly empty and only a handful of souls left to watch, Ryan Zimmerman’s monstrous swing mercifully put an end to the longest game in Washington Nationals history. Zimmerman’s two-run shot off reliever Mike Fiers in the top of the 16th ...

Davidoff: This is no time for Derek Jeter to be showing his age

Forget Sergeants..No Time for Captains!

Back on Feb. 27 at Steinbrenner Field, Derek Jeter stood in front of his locker and vowed to be relevant until the imminent end of his glorious career.

“If I ever felt that I wasn’t important,” the Yankees’ captain declared, “then I would have left a long time ago.”

Well, he’s still important, all right — maybe even more important than he has been in a few years, given the paucity of production around him. And because he’s so ...

OMNICHATTER 6-25-2014

The “Sorry-About-The-Last-Few-Days” OMNICHATTER

Weigel: Who Does Bill James Think Will Win the College World Series?

BEHOLD!

Bill James, the father of sabermetrics, created the 10 Commandments of Baseball, which are listed below. These serve as a guide for teams on how to best play the odds and are not an exhaustive list of proper strategy nor are these principles true all of the time, but as general rules of thumb, following these rules can help a team win a lot of baseball games.

6. Thou Shalt Not Count to the Credit of the Pitcher That Which Is Done by His Fielders or by His Hitters, nor Charge Him with ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-25-2014

Pittsburgh Press, June 25, 1914:

A jury in [Springfield, MA] Superior court awarded a verdict of $14,000 to Edward Collins in his suit against the Holyoke Street Railway Co. Collins, who is aged 10, lost his right leg as a result of a collision between trolley cars in June, 1912. The railway company admitted liability, but argued that artificial legs have been so perfected that the loss of a leg is no longer a serious handicap.

Attorney William P. Hayes, for the plaintiff, called attention to ...