Calcaterra: Frank Thomas thinks the balls are juiced this year

The Big Feller has spoken.

Lets make sure this is Real!!! The Baseballs don’t fly like this in April!! Trust Me the Balls are Doctored!! Enough Said!!

Someone had better tell that to the Royals. They’ve yet to hit a homer in seven games.

Someone had also better ask Frank Thomas what was up in 1994, when he hit eight homers in the month of April. Or in 1996, when he hit nine homers in March and April.

Stuff happens. And yes, at times in history, baseball has messed with the baseball. But ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-9-2014

Toledo News-Bee, April 9, 1914:

Hi Jasper, White Sox recruit twirler, carries a bar of soap in his pocket and lathers his spitballs, instead of using the time honored saliva, it was learned when the Comiskey men drew in [to Kansas City] for an exhibition game on Thursday. Baseball reporters uncovered Jasper’s shampoo treatment while huddled around a stove in Topeka, where cold weather prevented Wednesday’s game.

Somebody tell Bubbles Hargrave, Chick Lathers, and Cookie Lava-Getto.

Matt Moore hurt in Rays’ loss to Royals.

Manager Joe Maddon acknowledged after the 4-2 loss that they wouldn’t know for sure until getting the MRI results. But he said head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield, after talking with the Royals doctor who did an initial exam at the stadium, told him he considered the injury less severe than last year’s, when Moore was sidelined for more than a month due to soreness.

Moore, 24, said he felt only the soreness — and no pop or sharp pain — while throwing his changeup during the fifth ...

Vin Scully tells a story about Torii Hunter’s dad and a crack pipe (Video)

You could give the same background information about a player to 10 different broadcasters, and Scully would just be able to make it sound so much better than the others. And even when he’s telling a story about crack pipes, he still makes it sound great.

During the Los Angeles Dodgers-Detroit Tigers game on Tuesday, Scully was talking about Torii Hunter and told a story about Hunter’s father being a crack addict. The story went that Hunter’s father wore his son’s jacket and left a ...

OMNICHATTER for APRIL 9, 2014

Link is to the MLB.com scoreboard. And remember: Don’t run on the field, otherwise Adam Jones will see to it that the cops tase you.

The Toolsiest Player of Them All

The table shows the correlation coefficient for each tool against projected WAR/600:

Average Power Speed Arm Fielding
0.53 0.53 0.13 0.43 0.43

Something I’ve kind of wondered is whether speed and arm get encompassed within fielding since they’re part of fielding.

Ortiz: With too many retired numbers, Astros should reintroduce numbers

Take Umbricht people, take Umbricht.

Larry Dierker also points out that the Astros standards weren’t very high when deciding which numbers to retire, so one must wonder if it’s time to reintroduce some of those numbers.

As far as Dierker is concerned, Oswalt and Berkman did enough during their Astros tenure to surpass the franchise’s previous standards for having their jerseys retired. As candid as ever, however, Dierker admits that the previous standard hadn’t been very high.

Some ...

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones vocal about fans running onto the field

Don’t tase me br"O”!

As two fans who ran onto to the field interrupting Tuesday’s Orioles game against the New York Yankees were escorted off through the outfield fence at Yankee Stadium, Orioles center fielder Adam Jones had some choice words for them.

And after the game, Jones was just as vocal in expressing his disdain for fans who run onto the field, saying that they should be subject to harsher penalties.

“I think it’s idiotic for people to run on the field, and I think the ...

ESPN: Le Batard: Let’s cut Yasiel Puig some slack

In terms of style, Vladimir Guerrero’s most closely resembled Puig’s. Reckless. Raw. But so overwhelmingly skilled. Guerrero was Puig before Puig, albeit soaked in fear instead of defiance, but he got to make his mistakes pre-Internet, and more quietly in Canada. Guerrero drank from puddles as a child. He had a fifth-grade education because his mother had to put him to work in the fields.

Guerrero’s mother lived with him as a major leaguer because he was so scared of everything new and ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-8-2014

Milwaukee Sentinel, April 8, 1914:

A bizarre collection of occupations is found to take up the offseason time of the Pirates, according to a list just made up. Gibson, Cooper, Harmon and Duffy are the farmers on the team. Manager Clarke also can be ranked as a farmer. Joe Conzelman, Ollie McArthur and Joe Leonard are students. There are three salesmen, two plumbers and five clerks. Hyatt is so used to butchering stock that he butchers the ball horsehide on the diamond. Bob Coleman is a stage ...

Hank Aaron: Modern bigots ‘wear starched shirts and neckties’

Guess he hasn’t seen John Rocker wearing his WND-breaker.

Baseball legend Hank Aaron, 80, acknowledged race relations have changed since his threat-filled days chasing Babe Ruth’s home run record — but said modern tormenters still exist wearing suits and ties instead of KKK hoods.

“We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the ...

Crash Course in Finance Explains Why Cubs Will Suck Until 2020; But Not Tom Ricketts Dishonesty

Ballgame over! Cubs lose! Theeeeeee Cubs lose!

The Cubs suck.  Sad, but true.  Even worse, there is a reason for it that has no cure until the 2020 season, and it has nothing to do with profiteering by the Ricketts.  Whether you prefer to be pissed off by it, or tolerate it, the Cubs being noncompetitive is not going to change.

My process with understanding sports management operates in the following order – dissatisfaction, impatience, outrage, education, and finally acceptance.  It might ...

Orioles’ Chris Davis says Hank Aaron is HR king

Had no idea Crayola’s Dry Erase Flash Cards: Numbers & Counting set had gone national.

The question caught Chris Davis off guard, a bit like the avalanche of publicity that engulfed the Baltimore Orioles slugger last season when he said he thought the real single-season home run record was Roger Maris’ 61, not Barry Bonds’ 73.

Given that, does Davis consider Hank Aaron’s 755 home runs the real career record, over Bonds’ 762?

Davis hadn’t pondered the notion, but he’s exceedingly cooperative ...

OMNICHATTER for April 8, 2014

I’d write the big list and bold particularly notable pitchers, but Mark Buerhle is pitching today, so in honor of him, I’m going to be quick.

Tigers pitcher Evan Reed investigated for sexual assault in Detroit

My Fox Detroit reports that Detroit Tigers right-hander Evan Reed is being investigated by police for involvement in a sexual assault March 30, the day before the team opened the 2014 season at Comerica Park. Detroit police confirmed that a complaint has been made and they’re in the process of interviewing the alleged victim. A full investigation is expected to take perhaps two weeks.

The Tigers released a statement calling the allegation “very serious” and “concerning,” but would not add a ...

Steinberg: Braves announcers on Bryce Harper

Announcers think Harper is kicky!

If my math is correct, the Braves and Nats have played three times this season. And in all three of the Atlanta broadcasts on Fox Sports South, the Braves announcers managed to take cracks at Bryce Harper.

I didn’t watch the entire Atlanta broadcasts — just segments, after fans highlighted individual cracks. I can’t promise this is a comprehensive cataloging.

...First, Caray and Joe Simpson discussed Harper’s offseason during an early-game at-bat, ...

Bill James Mailbag - 4/4/14 - 4/7/14

But Eckstein was a clubhouse lawyer...

The issue with the fielding is mostly tied to the spread that the system will estimate. For example, the 114 fielders in 2013 with at least 1000 innings, and including the “positional adjustment”, Fangraphs has those players with one standard deviation = 10.7 runs. http://tinyurl.com/fangraphsFLD2013 I presume that Win Shares is going to be less, probably half of that. So, if Fangraphs has [Manny] Machado at +34 runs, [Andrelton] Simmons at +32 and [Carlos] ...

Team exec thinks shortening games to seven innings is what baseball needs

Better idea: How about we actually enforce the rule where it’s automatically a ball if the pitcher hasn’t thrown it in whatever-amount-of-time-it-is?

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-7-2014

Pittsburgh Gazette Times, April 7, 1914:

Armando Marsans, the Cuban outfielder, who was ordered out of a game with Louisville last week by Manager Herzog, of the Cincinnati team, and who refused to play in games since then, had a long conference with Herzog [yesterday] and will rejoin the team [today] if a game can be played.

Marsans had been quoted as saying that he would jump to the Federal League or return to Havana.

As I mentioned last week, Marsans was a second-tier star at this point. In ...

Weisman: Where are the Matt Kemp doubters tonight?

The Ghost of Matt Kemp…no more. He looks lively!

The tweets and comments you would see ridiculing Matt Kemp over the past year and a half were predictable, given the wave of negativity that can flourish online, but still plenty vexing.

Kemp would get torched for not being productive enough, regardless of how healthy he was. He would get torched for struggling to stay healthy at all.

His track record, seemingly, was worth nothing. The “What have you done for me lately?” gang never had it ...

Jeffrey Maier: How Catching a Derek Jeter ‘Home Run’ Changed My Life Forever

NOTE: Insert GIF of Jeffrey Maier, 2.0 dude.

As I write this, Derek Jeter is about to embark on his 18th season in the big leagues.  He has won five world championships, amassed over 3,300 hits and has created a legacy that all young players strive towards.  In addition, his attention to raising money and awareness through his Turn2 Foundation has impacted the lives of thousands of children.

While the shortstop position will be filled and someone new will stand between second and third base ...

Perrotto: Taillon to undergo Tommy John surgery

One of the ball-of-fire Pirate announcers said that…“30% of pitchers today get Tommy John surgery and in the future all pitchers will have it done.”

Jameson Taillon won’t be joining the Pirates as a midseason reinforcement to their starting rotation.

In fact, the organization’s top pitching prospect won’t even be in the Pirates’ rotation at the start of next season.

The 22-year-old right-hander will undergo Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery that will force him to miss the ...

OMNICHATTER for APRIL 7, 2014

Today’s games are….

Orioles (Jimenez) at Yankees (Kuroda)
Angels (CJ Wilson) at Astros (Cosart)
A’s (Kazmir) at Twins (Correia)
Reds (Cingrani) at Cardinals (Wacha)
Padres (Erlin) at Indians (Kluber)
Rangers (Scheppers) at Red Sox (Lackey)
Rays (Moore) at Royals (Vargas)
White Sox (Paulino) at Rockies (Lyles)

Reagan Library Opens Baseball Exhibit

You have 5 months to enjoy exceptionally rare baseball artifacts in Unseemly Valley, California. The article makes it sound enticing.

First Reviews Confirm Replay as a Strategy, Not a Cure-All - NYTimes.com

Watching a manager come out and just stand around with an umpire is very irritating. Baseball already had a problem with pace. This just makes it worse.

On close plays, managers have gone out to talk to the umpires, essentially stalling as team video technicians studied the play. Coaches have then signaled to the manager about whether to formally challenge. Yet of the first 20 reviews, only eight were overturned.

40% of challenged plays have been overturned? I’d say La Russa’s comments are ...

Gregg Zaun isn’t afraid of ruffling a few feathers - The Globe and Mail

Ouch!

As far as the team not always playing the game the way it should be played, can you give an example of the Jays playing the wrong way?
The fact that a guy like Anthony Gose can’t [use his speed to hit] .300 speaks volumes to me about what’s going on in the minor leagues. The fact that he doesn’t spend an hour a day in the batting cage with a coach, whether it’s by his design or whether they have to grab him by his shirt collar. The Jays don’t draft well and they don’t develop ...

ESPN: Jeter Passes Molitor For 8th On All-Time Hit List

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter gained sole possession of eighth place on baseball’s all-time hit list with two hits in the first four innings Sunday against the Blue Jays, giving him 3,320 career hits and moving him one ahead of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

That also makes Jeter the leader for career hits by a right-handed American League hitter.

FiveThirtyEight: The Historic Rarity of a Double Bracket-Buster NCAA Championship Game

“Connecticut and Kentucky entered the NCAA tournament as No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. Participants in the ESPN Tournament Challenge weren’t wild about the Wildcats or the Huskies. Just 2.1 percent of them picked Kentucky to make it to the finals and just 0.4 percent had Connecticut. Tomorrow, these two teams will compete for the national championship. Just how unlikely is this bracket-busting matchup?

The question is a little trickier to answer than you might think….”

Newsday: Ike Davis could be answer for Yankees

Commenter: “they should have drafted a lot more mat harvey’s”

The Yankees and Mets haven’t made a trade since 2004 (Mike Stanton to the Yankees, Felix Heredia to the Mets).

But this is one that would make sense for both teams: Ike Davis to the Yankees. Dellin Betances to the Mets.

That’s just an idea for starters. It doesn’t have to be Betances. But he’s the hard-throwing young bullpen arm the Mets desperately need. The Yankees need a first baseman after the increasingly brittle Mark Teixeira ...

TBT: Rays sign Yunel Escobar to two-year extension

Though Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said a driving force of the offseason plans was keeping the infield intact, extending SS Yunel Escobar wasn’t on his radar.

As much as the Rays love Escobar, he was under contract through 2015 (a favorable $5 million club option). But Escobar, 31, approached Friedman a few weeks into spring training and made clear his “strong desire” to stay longer.

...

Friedman said the team took a “calculated risk” on Escobar, who was suspended for three games in ...