Baxter: Ranking baseball’s best and worst fans

Standing ‘O’

Team (average home attendance); comment

1. Boston (37,666) Red Sox Nation not only fills Fenway, where there have been 690 consecutive sellouts, but the team’s fans travel, too.

2. St. Louis (38,023) Downtown is a sea of Cardinals red on game days. The fans understand and respect the game, politely cheering good plays by the opposition.

3. New York Yankees (44,739) Old Yankee Stadium drew more than 4 million fans in each of its last four years. The crowds are large, loud and ...

Yahoo: Diamondbacks sign Overbay, put Nady on 15-day DL

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed free agent infielder Lyle Overbay and placed infielder Xavier Nady on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured left hand.

Arizona designated pitcher Juan Jaime for assignment.

Nady was injured Friday night when he was hit by a second-inning pitch from the New York Mets’ Dillon Gee.

The 34-year-old Overbay was released Tuesday by Pittsburgh after hitting .227 with eight homers and 37 RBIs in 103 games. Overbay was drafted by Arizona in 1999 and played ...

Brochu: We may dream, but time has passed the Expos by

Where even the Montreal Brochure gets cut short…

MLB would have difficulty justifying the location of a franchise in a city that would require revenue sharing subsidies from the beginning. A new franchise would need to be a contributor to revenue-sharing, not a recipient. Given our levels of disposable income and wealth in Montreal, and the knowledge that the Toronto Blue Jays receive significant revenue-sharing support, the bar would be set very high for potential Montreal investors looking ...

BtB: World Series Win Probability Added Leaders

Knowing that everyone would dig some Jeter-free WS WPA while Tim McCarver…

Look at all the Yankees! Yes, there are quite a few Yankees. This does have to do with the Yankees being in a lot of World Series. But some of the all time lowest scores are also Yankees. The Yankees have been given more opportunities to succeed, which would bump their WPA up. They also have many opportunities to fail, which would drag it down. There are also opportunities to do both, which would keep it around zero. ...

Hardball Talk: MiLB.com launches free “Triple-A” app

Using an interface modeled after the MLB At Bat 2011 app, minorleaguebaseball.com is now offering the free Milb.com Triple-A app, providing scoreboard and pitch-tracker information for every Triple-A game over the rest of the season.

The app also features a customizable home screen that can be set up with one’s favorite affiliate, archived box scores from the 2011 season, roster information and schedules.
.

Kevin Millar: ‘Kevin Youkilis is an MVP candidate’

“violent in the show ~ violent in the show”

However, it was Kevin Youkilis who Millar called an “MVP candidate.”

“What I’m saying now is I wasn’t into the guy taking 2-0 and 3-1,” Millar said of his initial impression of Youkilis’ overly-patient batting style. “You work to get those counts in the show. Those are your moneymaker counts in the show, 2-0 and 3-1. By god, and you’re taking those counts.

“And Youk, the first time we saw him, you know, we heard about “The ...

Angry Aramis Ramirez fires back at Todd Hollandsworth

Aramissile lands!

Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez took exception to former teammate Todd Hollandsworth calling him out publicly Friday for lack of ­effort and for failing to be a positive influence on younger players, and he took his own shot in response.

...Ramirez, who has done some behind-the-scenes work with Castro in particular, was not happy.

‘‘One thing I got to say is I’ve never seen him in the clubhouse, so I don’t know how he comes up with that,’’ Ramirez said. ...

Joe Sports Fan: Finally, video of the infamous Mike Laga foul ball…

We’ve been over this before: Mike Laga is a legend.

In addition to having one of the most prolific baseball cards in Cardinals history, he hit a ball out of Busch Stadium.  Out of Busch Stadium.  Now, a few weeks ago, we postulated that this notorious event never happened; since footage seemed nonexistent and details of the feat are always presented as folklore.

Today, we eliminate that doubt.  While the Cardinals may have trashed their archives, the Mets (the opposition that night), ...

Cashman on A.J. Burnett: ‘Smoke the objective pipe’

And he’ll still deserve an early hookah!

In the eyes of many, Burnett (8-9, 4.60 ERA) hasn’t pitched well enough to keep his spot in the rotation. But Cashman sees things a bit differently. He thinks everything has been overblown.

“I encourage everybody to just break it down,” Cashman said. “Break it down. Compare him to other people. Look at his start-by-start. Look at his run support. If you smoke the objective pipe, I think the coverage on him would be a little smoother, more accurate.”

...

Chicago Tribune: Big Z ejected in 10-4 loss, cleans out locker

Carlos Zambrano had a rough night, serving up five home runs and trailing 8-1 in the fifth before being ejected by plate umpire Tim Timmons for allegedly throwing at Chipper Jones. The Cubs lost 10-4.

After the game, Zambrano’s locker was already cleaned out and the pitcher told a team trainer that he had retired.

Cubs manager Mike Quade says Zambrano “walked out” on the team. Quade said he is “really disappointed” in Zambrano and said “he’s talking about retiring.” Said Quade: “I can’t have ...

ATL Journal-Constitution blog: Legendary Braves broadcaster [Ernie] Johnson dies

A day meant to celebrate Bobby Cox’s induction into the Braves Hall of Fame, turned bittersweet on Friday evening when word came that legendary Braves broadcaster and fellow Braves Hall of Famer Ernie Johnson Sr. died. He was 87.

His son Ernie Johnson Jr, also a sports broadcaster for Turner Sports, confirmed the news to Braves broadcasters Joe Simpson and Chip Caray, who began spreading the word during Friday’s broadcast of the Braves-Cubs games.

The gentle-voiced and kind-hearted ...

Dodgers challenge lawsuit filed by family of beaten fan

The team also challenged the relevance of “all allegations relating to gang activity at Dodger Stadium and purportedly rough neighborhoods surrounding the stadium.” The Stows, in their lawsuit, claim that security officers and stadium managers knew about the threat and neglected to take steps to protect innocent people like Stow, including not hiring a security chief for six weeks before Opening Day.

Posnanski: Why Hitting Streaks Matter (Sort Of)

Yeah, just to give Waldling another chance to say…“Who’s Heinie Manush?”

Which brings us to: Hit streaks. Obviously hit streaks are on the mind these days because Dan Uggla is doing something so utterly unlikely that we can’t help but be drawn to it (or repelled by it, I suppose). Uggla was well on his way to the lowest batting average in the history of the National League when he began this hitting streak. And the streak is at 31 games now, more than halfway to the magic number, 25 games ...

Yahoo: Phillies sign Cust to minor-league deal

The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a minor-league deal with Jack Cust.

Cust, a left-handed hitting outfielder, was released by Seattle earlier this month after hitting .213 with three homers and 23 RBIs in 225 at-bats. He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
...
Cust is a career .242 hitter with 105 homers and 323 RBIs in 10 seasons with six teams.

Hollandsworth rips Ramirez for lack of effort

I believe it was French tragedian turned Chicago tragedian, Juan Pierre Corneille, that said…“The greater the baseball effort, the greater the baseball glory.”

Todd Hollandsworth, who played in two seasons (2004-05) with the Cubs as part of a 12-year major-league career, serves as a Cubs studio analyst for Comcast SportsNet. Despite Ramirez’s improving statistics (.287 average, 21 homers, 71 RBIs), Hollandsworth took the veteran third baseman to task Friday for failing to be a positive ...

CStB: Cosloy: Mushnick Accuses ESPN, MLB Of Exploiting 9/11 (Less Successfully Than The NFL)

Conflict records!

For the New York Post’s sports media critic Phil Mushnick, few social issues have raised his ire over the years nearly as much as sporting events being played in prime time, particularly those that might actually end after 10pm eastern time.  With only the deepest concern for the ticket holders and viewers in their 80?s teens, Mushnick once again attempts to flog this particular dead horse, except this time he can do so against the backdrop of the 10th anniversary of ...

Grantland: The Architecture of Disaster

I’m still holding out hope the next wave of baseball stadiums - Five Hour Energy Drink Park in Oakland, Godaddy.com Stadium in Miami, and Mountain Dew Field in Tampa - will emphasize beauty over revenue.

My guess is that in the rest of the world, when someone decides to commit billions of municipal bucks to building a stadium for their city their first thoughts generally go immediately to the architecture….

So what did the New York/New Jersey big-sports collective give the world in a ...

College World Series gets OK for instant replay

The NCAA has given final approval for the use of instant replay to review certain calls at the 2012 College World Series.

Reviewable plays would be limited to deciding if an apparent home run is fair or foul, whether a batted ball left the playing field for a home run or a ground-rule double, or whether there is fan interference on apparent home runs.

The NCAA Baseball Rules Committee proposed the rule, and it was approved Thursday by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel.

Instant replay won’t ...

International Baseball Update (August 12, 2011)

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC:

Contradictory reports from Japan on the quest by the NPB and it’s players to get more money from the WBC. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that negotiations will continue in the US. But another report says that the demands have been outright rejected. The Japanese have reportedly said they wouldn’t take part if some sort of deal isn’t reached. The primary point of contention seems to be around the money that the Japanese team gets from sponsorships and merchandising. The ...

Schoenfield: Who delivers from the cleanup spot?

There’s another major flaw with using this method of evaluation—it doesn’t account for walks. Take Cabrera, for example. According to this statistic, he’s only the 97th-best “RBI guy” in the majors. Here’s the thing though: He’s hitting .373 with runners in scoring position and .348 with men on base. But pitchers will pitch around him whenever possible. With runners in scoring position, Cabrera has had just 102 at-bats, but 31 walks (giving him a .507 on-base percentage), meaning he draws a ...

Daugherty: Blame Baseball if Votto leaves

Break out the gravitational beam emitter if he dares to pull away!

He’ll be 28 in a month. He’s in his prime. He’s the Reds best player. And they will have to consider trading him over the winter.

There is something fundamentally messed up about a sport which doesn’t allow all its teams to keep their best players. Joey Votto will make $17 million two years from now. It says more about baseball economics than about snarky sportswriters that trading Votto is a conversation topic ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-12-2011

Providence Evening Tribune, August 12, 1911:

Philadelphia, Aug. 12—Because he “knew” Ty Cobb, Raymond Cobb, who was arrested with 39 alleged “hoboes” in a raid along the waterfront, was allowed by Magistrate Carey to go free yesterday.

...

[Raymond Cobb] stated that he hailed from Detroit.  “Are you related to Ty Cobb?” asked Magistrated Carey.

“No, but I know him well,” answered Raymond.

“Discharged,” said the Magistrate.

He’s lucky he didn’t have to face Magistrate Morris. ...Read More...

Yahoo.com: How Jose Bautista Went From Baseball Vagabond To The Game’s Best Slugger

In his free time, Bautista reads books on exceptionality. “I’m trying to understand why mediocre people become good at what they do,” he says, “and why good people become the best.” So he mixes other players’ post-career musings on success with real mental protein. He’s gotten into Malcolm Gladwell. He recently finished “Outliers.”

The Baltimore Orioles selected him as a Rule 5 pick in December 2003 and replaced him in late May with 27-year-old Jose Leon, who had 66 at-bats that year and ...

Brazil: The A’s tipping point

Can’t…get…past…The Stinkiness Factor chapter.

In the year 2000, author Malcolm Gladwell wrote a bestseller titled “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”.  While the book explores compelling observations of sociological behavior, it’s main emphasis is the phenomena of how epidemics begin.  Specifically, the one tangible which can be retrospectively credited as the beginning of mass change.  In other words, the tipping point.

This is exactly what the Oakland ...

Curt Flood

Here’s a brilliant post, or rather essay, celebrating Curt Flood’s heroism and his legacy.

The author concludes with a rousing endorsement for Flood’s selection to Cooperstown.  All I can say is “Here, Here!!!”

It’s worth the read.

Royals Review: Kyle Davies Has Not Had a Good Week

Kyle Davies’ mugshot is historically awful.

Fired by the Royals and popped with a drunken & disorderly within 24 hours. Not a banner week for now former Royal Kyle Davies.

If the veritable Florida Arrests website is to be believed, Davies was arrested for “disorderly intoxication” at 3 AM on August 9… He was officially released by the Royals the next day.

Two schools of thought on this one: 1) he found out he was going to be released and had himself a night 2) he had himself a night and earned ...

NY Times: The Struggles of [Mariano] Rivera Cast a Pall Over a Win

On a normal day, a late tie-breaking grand slam by Robinson Cano, another big home run from Curtis Granderson and a record-tying save by Mariano Rivera would leave Yankees fans with feelings of joy and satisfaction.

But this was no normal day, and although the Yankees came away with an important 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday thanks to a critical mistake by the Angels and Cano’s ability to capitalize, Rivera did nothing to allay fears about his recent slump.

Rivera ...

ESPN: Tigers end 13-game losing streak in Cleveland

Justin Verlander gave Detroit exactly what it needed, becoming baseball’s first 17-game winner as the division-leading Tigers avoided being swept by Cleveland and opened a three-game lead in the AL Central with a 4-3 win over the second-place Indians on Thursday night.

Verlander (17-5) allowed three hits and struck out 10 in seven dominant innings to earn career win No. 100 as the Tigers ended a 13-game losing streak in Cleveland. He was also on the mound for Detroit’s previous win at ...

STL Post-Dispatch: Cards land veteran lefty Rhodes

Veteran leftthander Arthur Rhodes, 41, has elected to sign with the Cardinals and will be activated Friday for the opener of the series against Colorado at Busch Stadiuim.

Rhodes’ agent, Dan Horwits, said this afternoon that the lefty had accepted the Cardinals offer. And general manager John Mozeliak a few moments afterward confirmed that Rhodes had been added as a second lefthander in the bullpen, to go with Marc Rzepczynski, recently acquired from Toronto.

“Given our bullpen, I think it ...

LAT - Do not adjust your Internet: Mike Marshall and Tony Phillips fight

(Mike) Marshall, the former Dodgers outfielder now managing the Chico Outlaws of the independent North American Baseball League, was suspended three games for fighting Monday with Tony Phillips.

Yep, that Tony Phillips, the one who played in the major leagues for 18 seasons. And is still playing for the independent Yuma Scorpions—managed by Jose Canseco.

Don’t worry if it feels a tad surreal. It should.