Bored

West Virginia definently appears to be this year's Iowa as a team that is overrated after pulling off an upset in a big bowl game.

Because first base was open and there was no one out so they wanted to set up a force play everywhere. Also Ray Durham was on deck who has a sub-.300 OBP and sub-.400 SLG. Really it made all the sense in the world. Plus Bonds isn't nearly as helpless as people make him out to be. Beyond the low batting average he's still having a decent year, and with Moises Alou hurt, is by far the Giants biggest threat. I agree he's walked too much but the situation in the 10th was the ideal intentional walk scenerio.

Again punching A.J. Pierzynski is defensible under any circumstance. Play at he plate? Punch him in the face. Force out at 2nd? Punch him in the face. Strikes out swining? Punch him in the face. Scratching his balls? Punch him in the face. Watching t.v. at home? Punch him in the face. Michael Barrett should not be suspended. Michael Barret is an American hero.

We're pretty close to it. I don't think we have any Rockies or Devil Rays fans. We used to have a Royals fan in Rob E Dangerously but don't think he posts here anymore. Of course there are a lot who are fans of certain teams that don't post regularly in the baseball threads.

Really fans make no sense. The same thing happened in Philadelphia. They boo the guy when he comes up and when he homers they cheer. Make up you minds.

FUCK...Bonds hits #714 against the A's. And they give him a curtain call. Good lord.

I'll just throw this in from the A's/Giants game.

There isn't a player in baseball that deserves a punch in the face more than A.J. How about a knee in the balls next time?

From the 2006 Bill James Handbook here's the players with the best chances to reach some milestones. 500 Homeruns 1t. Gary Sheffield 96% 1t. Manny Ramirez 96% 3. Alex Rodriguez 95% 4. Jim Thome 92% 5. Andruw Jones 86% 6. Albert Pujols 72% 7. Carlos Delgado 67% 8. Vladimir Guerrero 61% 9. Adam Dunn 49% 10. Frank Thomas 41% 600 Homeruns 1. Ken Griffey Jr. 93% 2. Alex Rodriguez 89% 3. Manny Ramriez 67% 4. Andruw Jones 46% 5. Albert Pujols 42% 700 Homeruns 1. Alex Rodriguez 55% 2t. Manny Ramirez 23% 2t. Albert Pujols 23% 4. Andruw Jones 22% 756 Homeruns 1. Alex Rodriguez 37% 2. Barry Bonds 28% 800 Homeruns 1. Alex Rodriguez 27% 3000 Hits 1. Craig Biggio 71% 2. Alex Rodriguez 59% 3. Derek Jeter 48% 4. Johnny Damon 36% 5. Albert Pujols 33% 2000 RBI 1. Manny Ramirez 52% 2. Alex Rodriguez 51%

YES! Street gets Bonds swinging to end it. A's win 1-0.

One way to measure a player's value can be their ability to stay healthy. Obviously if a player can give at least average production for their position and stay in the line-up everyday their value might be higher than their statistics may indicate especially if their team lacks a suitable replacement. This can come up when considering someone for MVP. Some seasons there maybe a player who's peripheral numbers were superior to other candidates but they missed 30-40 games due to injury thus their value for that season decreased and the other candidates may have been more valuable simply because they stayed healthy all season. That brings me to the 1980 A.L. MVP which was won by George Brett and he won it rather easily. Of course what is most remembered about Brett's 1980 season is that he had a .390 batting average, the closest a player had come to hitting .400 since Ted Williams had a pulled off the feat 39 years earlier. What many people don't remember is that Brett only played in 117 games that year due to injuries. In fact he barely qualified for the batting title as a player needed 502 plate appearances to qualify and Brett finished with 515. Now Brett didn't simply just have a high batting average, he also had a .454 OBP and a .664 SLG, both tops in the league. Although I typically discard RBI's his total was worth mentioning as he had 118 RBI in those 117 games. Even with his phenomenal numbers could he possibly be the run away MVP winner while missing 45 games? The other candidates who received a lot of support were led by Reggie Jackson. At age 34 he had one of the best years of his career hitting .300 with 41 homeruns and playing on a Yankees team that won 103 games but he was a distant second to Brett. His teammate Goose Gossage finished 3rd and closers don't deserve the MVP, blah blah blah. Willie Wilson, Cecil Cooper, and Eddie Murray were the only other players to receive over 100 voting points. One very odd first place vote went to Yankees catcher Rick Cerone and just a hunch he was probably the heart of the team or some crap like that. Anyways he had a good year, especially for him, but no where near an MVP calibar season. Actual Results 1) George Brett 2) Reggie Jackson 3) Goose Gossage 4) Willie Wilson 5) Cecil Cooper 6) Eddie Murray 7) Rick Cerone 8) Dan Quisenberry 9) Steve Stone 10) Rickey Henderson 11) Al Oliver 12) Tony Armas 13t) Al Bumbry 13t) Ben Ogilvie 15t) Mike Norris 15t) Willie Randolph 17) Robin Young 18t) Buddy Bell 18t) Mickey Rivers 20) Alan Trammell 21) Ken Singleton 22t) Miguel Dilone 22t) Tony Perez 24t) Fred Lynn 24t) John Wathan #10 148 ERA+, 2.17 K/BB, 1.05 WHIP, 84.1 VORP, 25 Win Shares #9 .326/.357/.421, 105 RC, 112 OPS+, .290 EQA, 49.4 VORP, 31 Win Shares #8 .304/.397/.485, 113 RC, 142 OPS+, .313 EQA, 49.6 VORP, 27 Win Shares #7 .304/.362/.562, 121 RC, 153 OPS+, .313 EQA, 52.9 VORP, 27 Win Shares #6 .352/.387/.539, 131 RC, 155 OPS+, .321 EQA, 71.4 VORP, 27 Win Shares #5 .318/.392/.433, 109 RC, 128 OPS+, .303 EQA, 58.4 VORP, 33 Win Shares #4 .294/.427/.407, 89 RC, 133 OPS+, .316 EQA, 63.8 VORP, 31 Win Shares #3 .303/.420/.399, 99 RC, 134 OPS+, .315 EQA, 54.0 VORP, 34 Win Shares #2 .300/.398/.597, 122 RC, 172 OPS+, .335 EQA, 64.7 VORP, 31 Win Shares #1 .390/.454/.664, 137 RC, 202 OPS+, .368 EQA, 92.7 VORP, 36 Win Shares See I don't always just do redos to point out horrible choices by the writers. Okay the royally screwed Mike Norris out of the Cy Young but that's another redo. Amazingly as it seems even though he only played 117 games Brett was the deserving choice and there's simply no one else to consider. As you can see it wasn't like there was a weak group of candidates but Brett out classed them all with one of the most incredible seasons of all-time.

Tries to fake getting hit by a pitch and then gets ejected. Great stuff.

Podsednik violated Kirby Puckett's grave. It's true.

Great not only is Bonds going to possibly hit 714 and 715 in Oakland I just noticed Saturday's game is on FOX. Gee you think they'll talk about Bonds much during the game?

Green, does have a high average but only has ten extra base hits. Shelton, was up for consideration but only has six Win Shares. Would have cracked the Top 15 if I extended it that far. Podsednik, not a chance. Holliday, the Coors factor definently hurts him and his OBP is nothing special.

***shameless plug**** Bored's College Pick 'Em III: The Search for Money...COMING SOON!!! Who knows if he'll be any good but hopefully Flutie will be replacing Aaron Taylor in the studio. Edit: Hey I looked it up and indeed Taylor is gone, yay. Here's other scheduled ESPN and ABC games so far. In October ESPN is going to have three Sunday Night games. Boston College/Miami will be the Thanksgiving game this year. I think I may have to breakdown and pay the extra money to get ESPNU and CSTV this year. I need more MAC and Conference USA games! August 31 Boston College at Central Michigan, ESPN2 Northwestern at Miami of Ohio, ESPNU South Carolina at Mississippi State, ESPN September 1 Nevada at Fresno State, ESPN2 September 2 Stanford at Oregon, ABC September 4 Florida State at Miami, ESPN September 7 Oregon State at Boise State, ESPN September 8 Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, ESPN2 September 9 Oregon at Fresno State, ESPN2 Georgia at South Carolina, ESPN Stanford at San Jose State, ESPNU September 14 Maryland at West Virginia, ESPN September 15 Kansas at Toledo, ESPN2 September 16 Oklahoma at Oregon, ABC Texas at Rice, ESPN2 Texas A&M vs. Army, ESPN2 September 21 Virginia at Georgia Tech, ESPN September 22 Northwestern at Nevada, ESPN2 September 23 West Virginia at East Carolina, ESPN2 September 26 Southern Miss at Central Florida, ESPN2 September 28 Auburn at South Carolina, ESPN September 29 Rutgers at South Florida, ESPN2 September 30 Tennessee at Memphis, ESPN2 October 3 Southern Miss at Tulsa, ESPN2 October 4 Central Florida at Marshall, ESPN2 October 5 Florida State at N.C. State, ESPN October 6 Louisville at Middle Tennessee State, ESPN2 October 7 Michigan State at Michigan, ABC October 12 Virginia Tech at Boston College, ESPN October 13 Pittsburgh at Central Florida, ESPN October 15 Boise State at New Mexico State, ESPN October 18 UL Lafayette at Florida Atlantic, ESPN2 October 19 North Carolina at Virginia, ESPN Bowling Green at Central Michigan, ESPNU October 20 West Virginia at Connecticut, ESPN October 22 South Florida at Cincinnati, ESPN October 26 Clemson at Virginia Tech, ESPN October 27 UTEP at Tulsa, ESPN2 October 29 Connecticut at Rutgers, ESPN October 31 UAB at SMU, ESPN2 November 1 Fresno State at Boise State, ESPN2 November 2 West Virginia at Louisville, ESPN November 3 Air Force at Army, ESPN2 November 7 Toledo at Northern Illinois, ESPN2 November 9 Buffalo at Akron, ESPNU Louisville at Rutgers, ESPN November 10 UTEP at UAB, ESPN2 Western Michigan at Central Michigan, ESPNU November 14 Ball State at Toledo, ESPN2 November 15 Miami of Ohio at Bowling Green, ESPN2 November 16 West Virginia at Pittsburgh, ESPN Akron at Ohio, ESPNU November 17 Central Michigan at Northern Illinois, ESPNU November 21 Bowling Green at Toledo, ESPN2 November 23 Boston College at Miami, ESPN November 24 Fresno State at Louisiana Tech, ESPN2 November 25 Boise State at Nevada, ESPN2 Purdue at Hawaii, ESPN December 2 USC at UCLA, ABC Decmeber 3 Connecticut at Louisville, ESPN or 2 Rutgers at West Virginia, ESPN or 2

It was a tough hop but he Buckner'd it pretty good. Hernandez has been awful though even if he should have been out of the inning as he gave up the granny to Melhuse. Swisher took him deep last inning for his 13th. 10-1 now after a two rbi single by Kendall. Hernandez is pulled.

Only has 6 Win Shares mainly due to his awful defense.

I've been "pumping" Brian Kinney before all of you.

Oh goodie, he's going to do it in Oakland. That will be interesting.

It's Christmas time for stat geeks as Hardball Times has released the first Win Shares of the 2006 season and thus I can now I start tracking the MVP candidates for the season. Of coursing being that we are just a little over six weeks into the season this can all be taken with a grain of salt but hey I need excuses for entries. So every Tuesday now I'll have an updated Top 10 list for each league. I'll start with the National League as let's face it, the race is alredy over. Barring injury everyone is running for second place behind Albert Pujols this season. He just completely blows away the field and didn't give a thought to anyone else at the top spot. What you will notice is the high placement of a couple of pitchers which didn't surprise me as with the small sample of games the more impact an individual starting pitcher can have. Those two pitchers are the least likely candidates to still be in the Top 10 come September. #10 Chase Utley, Phillies .302/.372/.547, 25 RC, .277 EQA, 14.8 VORP, 8 Win Shares #9 Bobby Abreu, Phillies .257/.437/.459, 27 RC, .288 EQA, 7.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares #8 Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks 167 ERA+, 5.71 K/BB, 1.18 WHIP, 22.1 VORP, 7 Win Shares #7 Morgan Ensberg, Astros .281/.401/.619, 30 RC, .291 EQA, 15.1 VORP, 8 Win Shares #6 Carlos Delgado, Mets .298/.394/.610, 34 RC, .291 EQA, 15.9 VORP, 7 Win Shares #5 Carlos Lee, Brewers .296/.392/.655, 34 RC, .296 EQA, 20.1 VORP, 8 Win Shares #4 Bronson Arroyo, Reds 221 ERA+, 3.58 K/BB, 1.01 WHIP, 23.1 VORP, 7 Win Shares #3 Lance Berkman, Astros .319/.384/.652, 37 RC, .293 EQA, 18.0 VORP, 10 Win Shares #2 Tom Glavine, Mets 189 ERA+, 2.64 K/BB, 1.03 WHIP, 20.2 VORP, 8 Win Shares #1 .333/.469/.833, 49 RC, .327 EQA, 33.1 VORP, 14 Win Shares Now for the American League which could be a wide open race all year. As of right now DH's (or DH types) are dominating the field with the likes of Giambi, Thome, Hafner, and Gomes. Ramon Hernandez, Alexis Rios, and Jose Contreras all won't be there at the end and Contreras' stock will drop dramtically pretty soon with him on the DL. The two big candidates from last year, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, are both off to relatively slow starts but figure both will make a push at some point. #10 Ramon Hernandez, Orioles .315/.385/.488, 29 RC, .280 EQA, 11.0 VORP, 8 Win Shares #9 Nick Swisher, A's .305/.405/.664, 28 RC, .294 EQA, 18.4 VORP, 7 Win Shares #8 Alexis Rios, Blue Jays .367/.386/.692, 30 RC, .294 EQA, 17.2 VORP, 7 Win Shares #7 Vernon Wells, Blue Jays .358/.407/.642, 33 RC, .294 EQA, 24.7 VORP, 7 Win Shares #6 Travis Hafner, Indians .314/.430/.628, 37 RC, .303 EQA, 21.6 VORP, 7 Win Shares #5 Miguel Tejada, Orioles .361/.402/.613, 30 RC, .295 EQA, 25.7 VORP, 7 Win Shares #4 Jonny Gomes, Devil Rays .288/.421/.648, 32 RC, .295 EQA, 18.7 VORP, 10 Win Shares #3 Jason Giambi, Yankees .269/.480/.654, 38 RC, .311 EQA, 19.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares #2 Jose Contreras, White Sox 335 ERA+, 1.91 K/BB, 0.87 WHIP, 24.3 VORP, 8 Win Shares #1 .290/.438/.694, 43 RC, .304 EQA, 23.0 VORP, 11 Win Shares I'm personally not sold that Thome will keep this up all year but you never know.

The great teams don't always end up winning championships of course. That Indians' starting line-up was a modern day Murder's Row.

In place of the actual starting pitchers I pick out random names from the past. Yes I know this will only amuse me. Monday White Sox (LaMarr Hoyt) at Twins (Pat Mahomes) Marlins (Pat Rapp) at Braves (Rick Mahler) Red Sox (Oil Can Boyd) at Orioles (Jeff Ballard) ESPN - No drunk Sutcliffe Royals (Mark Gubicza) at Indians (Scott Bailes) Rangers (Roger Pavlik) at Yankees (Andy Hawkins) Giants (Mike LaCoss) at Astros (Bob Knepper) Dodgers (Burt Hooten) at Rockies (Marvin Freeman) Padres (Eric Show) at Diamondbacks (Omar Daal) Tuesday Reds (Tom Browning) at Pirates (Neal Heaton) Red Sox (Al Nipper) at Orioles (Storm Davis) Rangers (Jose Guzman) at Yankees (Dennis Rasmussen) Royals (Charlie Liebrandt) at Indians (Ken Schrom) Twins (Les Straker) at Tigers (Jeff Robinson) White Sox (Melido Perez) at Devil Rays (Rolando Arrojo) Marlins (Jack Armstrong) at Braves (Pete Smith) Phillies (Tommy Greene) at Brewres (Pete Vukovich) Nationals (Steve Rogers) at Cubs (Steve Trout) Giants (Atlee Hammaker) at Astros (Jim Deshaies) Mets (Anthony Young) at Cardinals (Danny Cox) Dodgers (Tim Leary) at Rockies (Kevin Ritz) Padres (Ed Whitson) at Diamondbacks (Amaury Telemaco) Blue Jays (Jim Clancy) at Angels (Ron Romanick) Mariners (Scott Bankhead) at A's (Kirk Dressendorfer) Interleague, Friday-Sunday Cubs/White Sox Pirates/Indians Orioles/Nationals Reds/Tigers Red Sox/Phillies Yankees/Mets Marlins/Devil Rays Twins/Brewers Rangers/Astros Cardinals/Royals Baby Killers/A's Padres/Mariners Angels/Dodgers Blue Jays/Rockies

After starting to run thin on good subjects to redo MVP's for the next natural progression would be to move on to Cy Youngs. Now Culloden/Vern suggested 1969 & 1983 A.L. Cy Young's to me and then I decided I'd throw the 1982 A.L. Cy Young in there. But as I started doing them I realized that there was a common theme with the '82 and '83 redos and that was the underrated greatness of Dave Stieb. So I've expanded I decied to do four redos in one, examining the period from 1982 to 1985 when Steib was the most consistent and best overall pitcher in the game. 1982 The 1982 A.L. Cy Young is as good a place as any to start when it comes to Cy Young redos as it featured quite possibly the worst pitcher ever to win a Cy Young in the Brewers' Pete Vukovich. In '82 Vukovich benefitted from two things, playing in a pitcher's park and being supported by the far the best offense in the league. He finished the season with an 18-6 record and an unimpressive 3.34 ERA, the highest among all pitcher's who received votes. He was lucky to have such an ERA beyond playing a pitcher's park he had an atrocious K/BB ratio as he only struck out three more batters than he walked (105 to 102). He also posted an awful 1.50 WHIP, which I didn't bother to check but I'd be very surprised if any Cy Young award winner had one worse than that. But there was no 20 game winner in the A.L. and only one pitcher, Rick Sutcliffe, posted an ERA under 3 so with no standout pitcher the writer's made this incredibly bad choice. Now the writers were fairly split on the voting as four other pitchers received first place votes but Vukovich received 14 total. Stieb received five first place votes but only finished in 4th place as the poor hitting Blue Jays only helped him to a 17-14 record. In fact it's kinda surprising he received that much support as writers usually can't look past the win/loss record. This would be a good time to point out that I give zero consideration to win/loss record as a pitcher's single season win/loss record is much too deceiving. Actual Results 1) Pete Vukovich 2) Jim Palmer 3) Dan Quisenberry 4) Dave Stieb 5) Rick Sutcliffe 6) Geoff Zahn 7t) Bill Caudill 7t) Bob Stanley 9) Dan Petry #3 129 ERA+, 1.63 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 53.9 VORP, 20 Win Shares #2 159 ERA+, 3.83 K/BB, 1.01 WHIP, 38.6 VORP, 22 Win Shares #1 138 ERA+, 1.88 K/BB, 1.20 WHIP, 65.0 VORP, 25 Win Shares Now Stieb's numbers don't blow you away in '82 but in a weak year for candidates he was the best choice. I'm kind of surprised the writers didn't give Palmer a lifetime achievement Cy Young here but he only had 15 wins. Would have at least been a better choice than Vukovich. As you see with Quisenberry, unlike with the MVP I do believe closers can be viable candidates to win a Cy Young in certain years. 1983 This year features another not so glamerous Cy Young pick in the White Sox LaMarr Hoyt. Better known for his cocaine problems now, Hoyt holds the distinction of having the highest ERA ever for a Cy Young winner at 3.66. Now in fairness to Hoyt is peripheral numbers weren't bad, unlike with Vukovich, but he was definently a pitcher who won simply because of his win total as he won 24 games largely due to having the top offense in the league supporting him. Again though it was another year with a lot of strong candidates. Hoyt's main competition was Dan Quisenberry who received nine first place votes as he had then single season record of 45 saves with a 1.94 ERA. He was though just as dominant as those numbers indicate and did it 139 innings pitched. Steib actually had a better record (17-12) and ERA (3.04) than the previous year but this time around he didn't receive a single vote which I'd attribute to having four 20 game winners instead of zero the previous year. Actual Results 1) LaMarr Hoyt 2) Dan Quisenberry 3) Jack Morris 4) Richard Dotson 5) Ron Guidry 6) Scott McGregor #3 117 ERA+, 2.80 K/BB, 1.16 WHIP, 61.4 VORP, 20 Win Shares #2 142 ERA+, 2.01 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 68.9 VORP, 24 Win Shares #1 210 ERA+, 4.36 K/BB, 0.93 WHIP, 48.5 VORP, 28 Win Shares Quis was never Mr. Photogenic. Even though he had a better season than '82, I couldn't pass on the dominance of Quisenberry this time around. 1984 Only going over this one briefly as I already kind of touched on it in the 1984 A.L. MVP Redo and if you remember I already gave the answer away to this one. Willie Hernandez won the award in a tight vote over Quisenberry. Would have been quite interesting if Herandez won the MVP but didn't win the Cy Young. Bert Blyleven and Mike Boddicker also received solid support. Steib went 16-8 with a 2.83 ERA but garnered only one 3rd place vote. Actual Results 1) Willie Hernandez 2) Dan Quisenberry 3) Bert Blyleven 4) Mike Boddicker 5) Dan Petry 6) Frank Viola 7t) Jack Morris 7t) Dave Stieb #3 132 ERA+, 2.36 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 60.6 VORP, 23 Win Shares #2 204 ERA+, 3.11 K/BB, 0.94 WHIP, 52.3 VORP, 24 Win Shares #1 145 ERA+, 2.25 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 75.4 VORP, 25 Win Shares This was Steib's best year and the year he most deserved to win the award yet he receives almost no support. 3rd place was tough as I gave considertion to Quisenberry, Boddicker, and Blyleven. 1985 Out of these four years this one was certainly the least controversial and in fact I don't think it's ever been disputed. Bret Saberhagen, in just in second season, went 20-6 with a 2.87 ERA with a near sweep of the first place votes. I wouldn't have even given this one a look if it weren't to see if possible that Steib a 3rd Cy Young redo. Ron Guidry was only the other pitcher to receive any real support as he won 22 games. Steib had to be the hard luck pitcher of all-time with this season as he won the ERA title with a 2.48 ERA and played on a team that won 99 games with a good offense. Despite that he finsihed with only a 14-13 record so to no surprise he received little support. One interesting vote was Bert Blyleven receiving a first place vote with a 17-16 record which is shocking but kudos to one writer in 1985 thinking outside the box even though it wasn't the right choice. Actual Results 1) Bret Saberhagen 2) Ron Guidry 3t) Bert Blyleven 3t) Dan Quisenberry 5) Charlie Liebrandt 6) Doyle Alexander 7t) Britt Burns 7t) Donnie Moore 7t) Dave Stieb 10) Mike Moore #3 135 ERA+, 2.75 K/BB, 1.15 WHIP, 64.9 VORP, 23 Win Shares #2 171 ERA+, 1.74 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 78.1 VORP, 24 Win Shares #1 145 ERA+, 4.16 K/BB, 1.06 WHIP, 68.2 VORP, 24 Win Shares It was close but I give Saberhagen the nod here. Hey baseball writers congrats on being right 25% of the time! So there you have it for a four year period Stieb was the 1st or 2nd best pitcher in the league and it's a crime that he didn't come away with at least one Cy Young. Injuries shortened his career and possible bid for the Hall of Fame although even then due his bad luck his low win total would kept him out. People who try to argue Jack Morris for the Hall always try to proclaim him as the 80's Pitcher of the Decade but that honor belongs to Stieb.

The A's offense has a habit of making pitchers look good when you don't expect it.