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Monday, 11 July 2011
Browns in depth: Will Colt McCoy help spark resurgence?
The NFL lockout has dampened the usual offseason analysis of each team's comings and goings. But, lockout or not, the league will still be moving ...
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/zYW0G1WSVfw/1
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Sunday, 10 July 2011
Team Offense, Colorado Rockies
Brad HawpePhoto: Icon SMI The series on team offense continues with the Colorado Rockies. I plug the probable lineup from CBSSportsLine into the Lineup Analysis Tool, and fill in the numbers with Marcel the Monkey projections. For pitchers, I...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031380.php
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Cardinals win, finish half tied for first in Central
Jaime Garcia won for the sixth time at home and David Freese homered for the first time since April 12, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Sunday for a four-game split heading into the All-Star break.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310710124&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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A-Rod to have surgery, miss 4 to 6 weeks (AP)
Alex Rodriguez is going to have surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his right knee, and is expected to miss four to six weeks. The Yankees say the slugging third baseman will be operated on Monday by Dr. Lee Kaplan at the University of Miami. Rodriguez will likely be back in time for the final month or so of the season, when the Yankees expect to be in a race with Tampa Bay and Boston for the AL...
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Source: Weaver will be starting pitcher for AL
Angels right-hander Jered Weaver has been selected to start Tuesday's All-Star Game for the American League, according to league sources.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6754658&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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A-Rod has tear in knee, could miss month (AP)
Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has a slight tear in his right knee, a probable cause of his sudden power loss, and the 14-time All-Star was expected to soon decide on the best course of action. New York manager Joe Girardi revealed the injury before Saturday's game against Tampa Bay and said Rodriguez was out of the lineup.
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Saturday, 9 July 2011
BREAKING DEREK JETER ALMOST-NEWS! [Milestones] (Deadspin)
In the first inning of today's game against Tampa Bay, New York Yankee Derek Jeter grounded a single through the left side of the infield for his 2,999th career hit. He'll become the 28th player in baseball history to reach the milestone with his next hit. [ ESPN ] More �
Source : Deadspin
Explore : Baseball Players, Derek Jeter, Sports, Sports Blogs
Source: http://wik.io/info/US/276450444
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Derek Jeter gets 3,000th hit with home run
Derek Jeter made history with style as he belted a home run to left field for career hit No. 3,000 at Yankee Stadium.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/uRlqqlodHNg/1
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Cubs RHP Mateo (forearm) likely out 4-5 weeks
The Cubs' Marcos Mateo will likely miss four or five weeks with a strained forearm. Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6750571&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Dodgers fire Garvey from front-office position
The Los Angeles Dodgers have fired former first baseman Steve Garvey from their marketing and community-relations department, Garvey confirmed to 710 ESPN Radio on Friday.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6750866&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Evaluating catchers: Framing pitches - part 3
Max tries to further improve his estimate on runs saved by virtue of framing pitches
Click the title to read more.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Click the title to read more.
Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.
Source: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/evaluating-catchers-framing-pitches-part-3/
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MLB: Jeter, A-Rod, Victorino skip all-star game (Denver Post)
Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Shane Victorino became the latest all-star scratches, further threatening to turn baseball's big show into the all-scar game.
Source : Denver Post
Explore : Alex Rodriguez, Baseball Players, Derek Jeter, Shane Victorino, Sports
Source: http://wik.io/info/US/276384689
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Derek Jeter stays at 2,998 hits as Yankees and Rays rained out
Derek Jeter's quest for 3,000 career hits is on hold after the Yankees' game against the Rays was rained out Friday night.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/_HS-AsbZ_Aw/1
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Friday, 8 July 2011
Hamilton in lineup one day after fan's death
Josh Hamilton was in the Rangers lineup Friday, one day after a fan fell trying to catch a ball he was throwing and died.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6750212&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Killer swing, generous heart
Harmon Killebrew?s passing brought to a close a life filled with honor on and off the field
Museum News
The Hall of Fame Remembers Harmon Killebrew
Video Tribute to Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew's Induction Speech Video
Harmon Killebrew's Induction Speech Text
Photo Gallery of Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew was one of the most feared sluggers of his or any generation, and when he retired after the 1975 season, he had accumulated more home runs than any right-handed batter in the history of the American League.
He wasn't called "Killer" for nothing.
"If I was a pitcher, I would have been scared," said Killebrew's Twins teammate Tony Oliva. "Because whenever he was up, there was a chance the ball would disappear."
Off the field, however, the gentle giant was the antithesis of his nickname ? known around the globe for his kindness and charity.
Killebrew died Tuesday at the age of 74 in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a battle with esophageal cancer.
Born June 29, 1936 in the small town of Payette, Idaho, it was there, on the high school ball fields, that he was discovered by the Washington Senators. He was given a large signing bonus, and the "Bonus Baby" rule of the time required the 17-year-old to be kept with the major league team for at least two years, or the Senators would risk losing him to another club. It was because of this rule that Killebrew saw limited action, but once the Senators were able to send Killebrew to the minors in 1956, his growth as a player accelerated.
When Killebrew returned to the big leagues full time in 1959 at age 23, he had a breakout year as Washington's third baseman, cracking 42 home runs and knocking in 105 runs. Orioles manager Paul Richards marveled at his immense power and prestigious blasts, saying: "Killebrew can knock the ball out of any park, including Yellowstone."
From 1959- 1971, "Killer" put together eight- 40 home run and nine- 100 RBI seasons, was named to 13 All-Star teams (including two each in 1959 and 1961) and won the American League MVP Award (1969). Longtime Senators and Twins owner Calvin Griffith remarked "He hit home runs like few people can in the category of height and distance... Harmon didn't hit many line drive home runs. He would hit the ball so blooming high in the sky, they were like a rocket ship going up in the air.",
Teammate Bob Allison said of Killebrew: "Harmon has that graceful, fast swing, he swings up at the ball just a little bit and hits those high homers."
Griffith called him "The meal ticket for our franchise for all those years in Washington and Minnesota." Killebrew left the Twins at the conclusion of the 1974 campaign and on his first trip back to the Twin Cities in 1975, with his new team the Kansas City Royals, the Twins retired their beloved slugger's No. 3.
In 1984 Harmon Killebrew became the first member of the Minnesota Twins inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Upon receiving the honor he called it "the greatest thrill I've had in baseball."
Killebrew finished his 22-year big league career with 573 home runs and 1,584 RBI and was named an All-Star in 11 of his major league seasons. He finished in the top four of the American League Most Valuable Player voting six times and led the Twins to the postseason in three seasons. He led the AL in home runs six times, RBI three times and walks four times.
"Killer," however, was a reserved, kind and quiet man off the field. Once, when asked what he liked to do for fun, he replied "Well, I like to wash dishes, I guess."
Longtime Twins public relations representative Tom Mee once said of Harmon: "He is one of the finest individuals in the major leagues... to know Harmon Killebrew is to be a Killebrew fan."
Rich Reese called him former Twins teammate "One of the classiest people I've ever met in my life... He treated people with respect, even with the stature he had."
Of life, Harmon Killebrew said: "Life is precious and time is a key element. Let's make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own."
The Killebrew Family would like to thank fans for their generous outpouring of support and prayers for the late legend Harmon Killebrew. At this time, in lieu of flowers, the Killebrew family is urging fans to send donations to the Harmon Killebrew Foundation "Legacy Program" at P.O. Box 14550 Scottsdale, AZ 85267 or by visiting www.HarmonKillebrewFoundation.org.
The Harmon Killebrew Foundation is a nonprofit 501c3 dedicated to enriching the quality of life by promoting positive and healthful participation in sports, specifically baseball, by partnering with other 501c3 organizations to raise funds for their missions of promoting mental and physical health, education, self-sufficiency and community service.
Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Source: http://baseballhall.org/news/museum-news/killer-swing-generous-heart
Jeter moves to within two hits of 3,000
Jeter moves to within two hits of 3,000
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Jackson dealing with sore left wrist
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Judge denies Dodgers' attempt to get MLB docs
A Delaware judge on Thursday denied a request by the Los Angeles Dodgers to order Major League Baseball to turn over a vast array of documents in the team's bankruptcy case.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6745974&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Team Offense, Arizona Diamondbacks
Chris YoungPhoto: Icon SMI The series on team offense continues with the Arizona Diamondbacks. I plug the probable lineup from CBSSportsLine into the Lineup Analysis Tool, and fill in the numbers with Marcel the Monkey projections. For pitchers, I...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031390.php
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Thursday, 7 July 2011
Dick Williams, managed Red Sox, A's, Padres to World Series, dies at 82
Dick Williams, inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame as one of seven managers to win pennants in both leagues, died Thursday at 82 at his Las ...
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/BBGQBX0CVvQ/1
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Royals' Kendall needs more shoulder surgery
Jason Kendall, one of five players in major league history to catch 2,000 games, has re-torn rotator cuff muscles in his throwing shoulder and will require a second surgery that will sideline him at least through 2012.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6747077&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Looking for Breakout Players Based on Spring Training Stats
How many analysts, writers, and fans predicted Jose Bautista's breakout season last year? Well, I know of one. That's right, John Dewan, the owner of Baseball Info Solutions, cited Bautista as the No. 1 potential breakout player based on his 2010 spring training slugging percentage near .900, which was almost .500 higher than his career norm.
How did Bautista, who sported a career line of .238/.329/.400 with 59 HR in 2038 plate appearances prior to last season, hit in 2010? Try .260/.378/.617 while leading the majors in home runs with 54 and total bases with 351.
While Dewan admits that a player's spring stats, for the most part, are "not predictive of regular season success," a study he performed a few years ago found that "extremely good spring training numbers often indicated that a breakout season was on the way. In the study, about two-thirds of hitters who had spring slugging percentages at least .200 higher than their career total went on to best their career average that season."
Who could follow in Bautista's footsteps in 2011? My guess is that nobody will come close to matching what he did last year. Nonetheless, if you're looking for a relative unknown to break out this year, you might consider the following ten candidates based on their spring training slugging percentages.
Note: Used with permission from John Dewan's Stat of the Week®, www.statoftheweek.com.
Jake Fox leads all players with nine homers this spring, including six in his last 28 at-bats. The 28-year-old has jacked 18 HR in a three-year career covering 467 plate appearances. His outstanding spring has likely earned him a spot on the Baltimore Orioles roster as the primary backup to catcher Matt Wieters and first baseman Derrek Lee.
Patrick Sullivan covered Kila Ka'aihue for Baseball Analysts last month. Ka'aihue, who turns 27 on Tuesday, has hit .429 and gone yard five times this spring. He hit .319/.463/.598 in Triple-A last year prior to being called up to the Kansas City Royals. He struggled in August but finished strongly by hitting .274/.361/.548 with six HR in 84 AB in September. He is slated to alternate with Billy Butler at first base and DH this season.
Center fielders Coco Crisp, Rajai Davis, and Carlos Gomez, and shortstop Alcides Escobar are more known for their speed and defense than their slugging. However, it should be pointed out that Crisp hit 15 HR in 2004 and 16 in 2005 when he was an up and coming star for the Cleveland Indians. After four disappointing seasons in which Crisp managed to hit just 24 HR, the switch hitter found his power stroke again last year when he produced eight four baggers in 75 games for the Oakland A's.
Chris Davis, Travis Buck, George Kottaras, and Melky Cabrera have all been highly regarded prospects at one time or another. Davis slugged a combined 38 homers in 736 plate appearances as a 22-year-old rookie and 23-year-old sophomore in 2008 and 2009. The lefthanded power hitter slumped badly for the Texas Rangers at the outset of the 2010 season and was sent to Oklahoma City (Triple-A) where he generated a line of .327/.383/.520 with 31 doubles and 14 home runs in fewer than 400 AB.
Buck was selected by the A's with the 36th overall pick in the 2005 draft and proceeded to hit .288/.377/.474 during his rookie season in 2007. However, the 27-year-old outfielder never came close to duplicating those results in 2008-2010 and was non-tendered last December. He signed a minor-league deal with the Indians with an invitation to spring training and has made the most of it by hitting .420/.453/.760 with five doubles and four home runs in 50 at-bats.
Kottaras has bounced around from the San Diego Padres organization (2003-2006) to the Boston Red Sox (2006-2009) to the Milwaukee Brewers (2010). He received more playing time than ever last year and cranked nine homers in 250 plate appearances. Kottaras and Wil Nieves are in a battle to serve as catcher Jonathan Lucroy's primary backup.
While it seems as if Cabrera has been around forever, he is only 26 years old despite amassing more than 2,600 plate appearances over the past five seasons. He reportedly dropped 15 pounds during the offseason and the six-footer is now down to 200. The slim and trim center fielder has raked to the tune of .490 with five doubles and two home runs in 51 at-bats this spring.
Source: http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2011/03/looking_for_bre.php
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Harmon Killebrew and ?Versatility?
The recent death of Harmon Killebrew prompted many touching reminiscences about a man with seemingly no enemies, despite carrying around the nickname of ?Killer? for most of his life. (He did not really need a nickname; both his first and last names are unique in major league history.) By all accounts, he was a gentle and loving person, who also happened to hit home runs more frequently than anyone of his time. He hit 45 or more round trippers six times in the 1960s, while no other American League batter did it more than once. For baseball fans of a certain age, no player will ever better personify the word ?slugger.?
Another interesting thing about Killebrew, perhaps unique among Hall of Fame players: he was repeatedly shifted between three defensive positions throughout his career, getting 44% of his starts at first base, 33% at third base, and 22% in left field. While many players shift positions along the defensive spectrum as they age, moving from shortstop to third base, or from left field to first base, Killebrew?s managers shifted their star hitter, nearly to the end of his career, depending mainly on the other players on the team. (It would be as if Tony LaRussa started playing Albert Pujols at third base. Oh, wait ?)
Let?s review:
1954-58. Forced to start his big-league career early because of the bonus rule, Killebrew spent parts of five seasons as a little-used infielder for the Washington Senators.
1959. Having traded Eddie Yost, manager Cookie Lavagetto gave Killebrew the third base job. Harmon responded with a league-leading 42 home runs, and started his first All-Star game.
1960. Harmon remained at third until mid-season, when Lavagetto decided he needed to get Reno Bertoia into the lineup (or Julio Becquer out of it) and shifted Killebrew across the diamond to first base.
1961. With the franchise now in Minnesota, Killebrew spent the first half of the 1961 season splitting time between first and third, until Sam Mele became the skipper in mid-season and kept Killebrew at first. (I am not going to recite lots of offensive statistics, so just go ahead and assume that Killebrew hit 45 home runs and batted .260 with a bunch of walks, since he did that every year.)
1962. Just prior to the start of the 1962 season, the Twins acquired Vic Power, a great defensive first baseman, and moved Killebrew to left field for the first time.
1963. Left field.
1964. Left field. Tony Oliva took over in right field in 1964, and Power was discarded early in the season, creating a perfect opportunity to get Killebrew back to first base. Instead Mele shifted Bob Allison and left Killebrew in the outfield.
1965. Killebrew moved to first base (and Allison to left), but Harmon began shifting to third often by mid-season so that the team could play Don Mincher against right-handed pitchers. In early August Killebrew hurt his arm during a collision (while playing first base), but returned in September and played all seven games?at third?in the World Series.
1966. He played all 162 games, moving between third base, first base, and left field depending on who else Mele wanted to play. The Twins also had Cesar Tovar playing all over the field, leaving Mele about seven million possible defensive alignments. Tovar played this role for several years.
1967. Mincher was traded to the Angels, allowing Killebrew to play a full season at first base (160 games) for the first time in his career.
1968. A full-time first baseman again, Killebrew ruptured his hamstring in the All-Star game stretching for a throw on Houston?s AstroTurf (which was blamed at the time for the injury). When he returned in September Rich Reese had taken over at first, so manager Cal Ermer put Harmon (recovering from a severe injury) back at third base to play out the season.
1969. New manager Billy Martin took one look at the 33-year-old slugger coming off major surgery, and decided to return Killebrew to the 3B-1B role, allowing Martin options at the other corner spot. Harmon started all 162 games (96 at third base, 66 at first), drove in 140 runs, and won the MVP award, while the Twins nabbed the inaugural AL West title.
1970. Martin was replaced as skipper by Bill Rigney, who made Reese more of a full-time player. Killebrew started 129 games at third, but still managed 26 back at first.
1971. Killebrew again played both corner spots, though Reese?s poor season (.219) gave Killebrew several long stretches at first, where he started 82 times.
1972. For the first time since 1958 (when he played just nine games in the field), Killebrew played just one defensive position, first base. He was 36 and had slowed down quite a bit, though he could still rake (138 OPS+).
1973-75. With the advent of the designated hitter, the elderly Killebrew seemed to have a ready-made role. Unfortunately, the Twins also had a hobbled Tony Oliva, who needed the role even more. Killebrew eventually made it to DH, but spent his final three seasons fighting injuries and ineffectiveness.
OK, so the question is: how much defensive value did Harmon Killebrew have? According to bWAR, Killebrew?s cumulative defensive value was -7.6 wins, meaning that his place on the field cost his teams nearly 8 games on defense when compared with a replacement level player. Killebrew was a big guy, not fast, and no one ever accused him of being a good glove man. On the other hand, one wonders whether he could have been better on defense had he been allowed to play one position (preferably first base) for 15 years.
More importantly, did Killebrew?s ability to play multiple positions, often day-to-day, provide additional value to his team? In 1969 Martin played Harmon at third base 2/3 of the time so that Rich Reese could play first base. In an otherwise undistinguished career, Reese hit .322 with 18 home runs (good for a 139 OPS+), Killebrew had his best year, and the Twins led the league in runs. According to bWAR, Harmon?s (mostly) third base play cost the team 1.3 games on defense. This might be true, and Harmon?s isolated value might have been better had he just played first base all season and let Frank Quillici or someone play third. In order to get Reese?s bat in the lineup (or Mincher?s, Power?s, or Bertoia?s), Killebrew was asked to play a position he could not play particularly well.
It seems to me that Killebrew?s ?value? to the Twins might have been greater than his statistical record might show.
Another player shifted around the diamond throughout his career was Pete Rose. Unlike Killebrew, Rose did not move day-to-day?he stayed in one place for several years before moving on. Also unlike Killebrew, Rose was an outstanding defensive player for part of his career, before being asked to move again. Rose came up as a second baseman in 1963, then moved to left field (1967), right field (1968), left field (1972), third base (1975), and first base (1979). Let?s examine his move to third base.
Rose won two Gold Gloves in right field, where he had good range though only a fair arm. He was moved to left field in 1972 largely in deference to Cesar Geronimo, a great defensive player with a cannon. In left field, Rose was outstanding. How outstanding? According to the defensive runs metric used on baseball-reference.com, here are the best outfielders in baseball over the years 1972-74, in aggregate.
??Pete Rose 52
?Paul Blair 52
Cesar Geronimo 34?
Bill North 30?
Bobby Bonds 26??
Other than Rose, these are all center fielders. As a hitter, Rose trailed only Willie Stargell, Cesar Cedeno and Reggie Jackson in batting runs among outfielders, making him every bit as valuable as he was famous.
Nonetheless, in May 1975 Sparky Anderson moved Rose to third base. The effect on the Reds was to replace third baseman John Vukovich, hitting .211 with zero home runs, with left fielder George Foster, who would hit .300 with 23 home runs. Rose continued to hit as well as ever, and the team won 108 games and the World Series.
Over the 1975 and 1976 seasons combined, Rose had the sixth highest total of batting runs in the major leagues, but rather than being worth two wins per season on defense (as he had been in left field) he was now worse than replacement level. Meanwhile, George Foster became a star and the Reds won two championships. Anderson could have moved Foster to third base, but he thought Rose could handle it. Given what happened to the Reds, I am forced to conclude that Anderson knew what he was talking about.
So, what am I saying? I am not saying that there should a new statistic to measure flexibility, nor am I suggesting that the WAR values we have become familiar with are wrong, or should be adjusted. I am saying: assessing ?value? is complicated.
Mark Armour is a baseball writer living in Corvallis, Oregon, and the director of SABR?s Baseball Biography Project. His book Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball was published in 2010 by the University of Nebraska Press. He and Dan Levitt are working on a sequel to their 2003 book Paths to Glory.
Source: http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2011/06/harmon_killebre_1.php
Johan to get back on hill for third 'pen session
Johan to get back on hill for third 'pen session
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New RSS Feed
If you read Baseball Musings via RSS, with the move to WordPress there is a new feed. Please change your readers to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Baseballmusingscom....
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031392.php
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Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Hip to Play
Mike Lowell and Chase Utley are both recovering well from their hip surgeries. Lowell played Friday night, hit a home run and started a double play in the field. Chase Utley played in a minor league intrasquad game. So far,...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031382.php
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Pujols to start as Cards go for sweep of Reds
Pujols to start as Cards go for sweep of Reds
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Wells, Gorzelanny trying to end personal slides
Wells, Gorzelanny trying to end personal slides
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Nats, first lady team up for 'Joining Forces'
Nats, first lady team up for 'Joining Forces'
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Major trip for minor leaguers
Phillies Triple-A team, led by manager Ryne Sandberg, visits Hall of Fame
Museum News
COOPERTSOWN, N.Y. ? Led by a member of the national pastime's most exclusive fraternity, almost two dozen Lehigh Valley IronPigs could be found roaming the corridors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Wednesday afternoon, awed by their historic surroundings.
Arriving via bus from their home in Allentown, Pa., members of the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies spent an off-day, on their way to a game in Pawtucket, R.I., gazing at exhibits, checking out the artifacts, and overall just enjoying the experience of visiting the game's most hallowed grounds. And at the forefront was the squad's skipper, Ryne Sandberg, whose bronze image the players made sure to find in the Plaque Gallery.
"This was a generous opportunity presented by the Philadelphia Phillies, who as an organization are going to bring one of their affiliates to Cooperstown each of the next five years," a casually dressed Sandberg said midway through his visit. "So we're the first team to do that, and for me to be their guide today, with a great bunch of guys that I already like, I just felt like they'd take right to this.
"Some have been here before and really enjoyed it, but for those who hadn't I thought it would be a treat that would last a lifetime. Not only will it affect them today but probably for the rest of their lives."
Sandberg, elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005, originally drafted by the Phillies and in his first season managing the IronPigs after having spent the previous four years as a skipper in the Chicago Cubs' minor league system, said he still enjoys every opportunity he gets to visit the Museum.
"It's still mind-boggling to me to think this game has been going on for so long," Sandberg said. "For me, I like to picture back to the person who was wearing a certain glove - what was their life like, what did they do on a daily basis, what kind of work did they do in the off-season, where did they live, what were the conditions? I put myself back in history that way the best I can, trying to picture myself back then. It's all about the history for me and going back in time."
A 10-time All-Star second baseman, Sandberg won nine Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slugger Awards during a 16-year big league career spent mainly with the Cubs. At the time of his retirement, his 277 home runs as a second baseman were a big league record.
"I've been doing this since I was 18 years old. When I signed my name to that first professional baseball contract I became a professional baseball player," Sandberg said. "To spend all those years in the game, I have an appreciation for what this game stands for. Going into the Hall of Fame in 2005 really was a time of reflection for me that year, thinking of all the people that helped me and all the trials and tribulations that I went through to have a career.
"And now I have a feeling of wanting to help younger players and any player get to the major leagues. I know the benefits from it, not only financial but just the experience of being part of a team and being part of history in this country."
Having walked amongst the fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and grandmothers and grandfathers who visited the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Sandberg talked about the ability that the game of baseball has in connecting generations.
"It is a sport that you can enjoy with a simple game of catch," he said. "You can go to a baseball game and the game hasn't changed over the years. It's still the same dimensions on a baseball field. And just the fact that it's been a constant through so many years and generations.
"I think that people connecting with the game through generations has helped it become America's pastime."
Bill Francis is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Source: http://baseballhall.org/news/museum-news/major-trip-minor-leaguers
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Yankees again without closer Rivera (Seattle Times)
New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will miss his second straight game because of a sore right arm muscle.
Source : Seattle Times
Explore : Baseball Players, Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Sports
Source: http://wik.io/info/US/275723753
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Does the Ump Care How Long the Game Is?
During this weekend's Boston-Minnesota series there was another Joe West kerfuffle and the play-by-play guys brought up Joe West's history with Boston. They mentioned West's comments last year that he did not like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee style of play, particularly those teams' long games. Setting aside one's own opinion game length and how appropriate it is for an umpire to criticize particular teams, I am sure that umpires — like everyone else — notice when games drag on. But unlike everyone else they are in a unique position to do something about it. So based on West's comments I wondered whether umpires expand the strike zone during long games to speed things along.
To look at this I used the, conveniently time-stamped, pitchf/x data. I collected all pitches made in the sixth through eighth innings and the looked at how long into the game each was made. For example, the average pitch in the sixth inning was made 1 hour and 48 minutes after the start of the game. Then I formed two subsets of these pitches, those in the top 5% of length for their half inning, and those in the bottom 5% of length for their half inning. For example the 'long' group included pitches from the bottom of the eighth inning that were thrown 3 hours and 14 minutes or more after the game started. Pitches from the bottom of the eighth inning were included in the 'short' group if they were thrown before 2 hours and 1 minute since the game started. And similarly for other half innings. The top and bottom of the inning were done separately so that pitches from the top of innings didn't over represent in the 'short' group and bottom of the inning pitches in the 'long' group.
So these pitches come from situations where the game has already gone on for a very long or short time when they were thrown. Now we are interested in how the strike zone was called on these two groups. Unfortunately there might already be a sampling bias in the data. 'Long' games might have umps with smaller strike zones, that being why the game has gone on so long. So a more clever WOWY approach would be preferential, but I couldn't come up with one.
With that limitation in mind let's see how the strike zones of the two groups compared. To first see how the top and bottom of the zone were called I considered taken pitches that were clearly in the zone horizontally ( -0.5 > px < 0.5), and looked at their called strike rate by normalized pitch height.
Effectively no difference. The top and bottom of the zone were called at close to the same spot for both samples of pitches (and very close to sz_bot and sz_top, showing that the stringers do a pretty good job with these values).
Turning to the horizontal zone I similarly looked at pitches that were clearly in the zone vertically (pz in the middle half of the interval between sz_top and
Again there is almost no difference. And if anything there is a very slight difference on the right edge of the zone (from the umpire's perspective), with the 'long' zone slightly smaller. The opposite effect if the umpire was trying speed the game up. Although the difference is tiny.
So overall, at least by this methodology, there is no difference in how the zone is called in long versus short games. If the umpires are annoyed by having to call a game going into its third hour in the seventh inning they don't seem to let it affect their strike zone. Score one for the boys in blue.
Source: http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2011/05/does_the_ump_ca.php
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Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Three-run first all Detwiler, Nats need
Three-run first all Detwiler, Nats need
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Clemens' defense to push blackmail theory
Roger Clemens' defense team will argue that his former trainer came up with a plan to blackmail him with manufactured evidence in 2001, long before either become embroiled in the sporting world's ongoing steroid scandal.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6739091&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Bucs' bats provide fireworks in July 4th win
Bucs' bats provide fireworks in July 4th win
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Lastings Impression
Chico Harlan presents Lastings Milledge in his own words. Milledge is talking about the Mets here: You know, there's always a thing where, Oh, rookies have to be here 2-1/2 or three hours before stretch. No. I'm not gonna be...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031389.php
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More mature, relaxed Creamer takes aim at another Open
As Paula Creamer recovered last year from reconstructive surgery on her left thumb of course the cast was pink, her favorite color she popped ...
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Monday, 4 July 2011
Rockies sit Gonzalez (bruised wrist) vs. Braves
The Colorado Rockies have recalled outfielder Cole Garner from Triple-A Colorado Springs to provide depth after Carlos Gonzalez injured his right wrist.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6737719&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Padres chase Lincecum after 5, win 5-3 (AP)
Will Venable hit his second home run of the season and the San Diego Padres pounced on Tim Lincecum in a 5-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday. Chase Headley, Orlando Hudson and Ryan Ludwick each had an RBI off Lincecum (6-7) to chase the Giants' ace after five innings. Nick Hundley added an RBI single in the eighth and Venable's solo shot came in the ninth.
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Sizing up the Sharks-Wild, Predators-Maple Leafs trades
Analyzing the two major trades that happened July 3:
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Brewers' Braun shelved again with injured calf
Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun is out of the starting lineup again for Monday's game with the Arizona Diamondbacks.Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6737215&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
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Long Term Lester
The Red Sox just emailed that Jon Lester signed a five-year deal. This was reported a while ago, but the contract was just finialized. Here's the story from the Boston Herald....
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031387.php
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Team Offense, Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates have not reached .500 since Barry Bonds departed for free agency.Photo: Icon SMI The series on team offense continues with the Pittsburgh Pirates. I plug the probable lineup from CBSSportsLine into the Lineup Analysis Tool, and fill...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031383.php
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McCarthy returns to the hill to face Mariners in opener
McCarthy returns to the hill to face Mariners in opener
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Sunday, 3 July 2011
Pledge Drive Update
The Baseball Musings Pledge Drive is up to $2245 through the first thirteen days of donations. With 17 days to go, continuing that pace would make this the best pledge drive in the history of Baseball Musings. Peter Gammons donated...
Source: http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/031384.php
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Bautista tops all to earn starting All-Star nod
Bautista tops all to earn starting All-Star nod
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