EVIL~! alkeiper

Good news for Moneyball fans, as Jeremy Brown is headed for Oakland. Brown has hit .333 so far in Sacramento this season. Also, Gary Sheffield is DL bound and Melky Cabrera is coming back up. Cabrera's crushing the ball at AAA Columbus, hitting .385 thus far. After Cabrera's awful MLB stint last year many prospect analysts wrote him off. Baseball America made him the 15th best prospect in the organization. It's early, but reports of his demise were premature.

I am not Anglesault but yes my response was pure sarcasm. Leena you are a very smart woman. Do yourself a favor and stay away from sarcasm. It doesn't work.

Delmon Young has been suspended 50 games for the bat toss.

Essentially an overlooked player just lacks name value. An underrated player is one who fans and others know, but specifically miss their value.

I agree with those guys except Eckstein. When you have a guy who plays a key defensive position and posts a .350 OBP, it's a huge help. For Eckstein, OBP is the ONLY stat that matters. He just needs to be on base when Pujols and company come up.

The problem with Gold Glove voting is the same with the over/underrated poll. Guys win gold gloves on pluralities. For all we know, Jeter got 15-20% of the vote. It is certainly not condusive to an accurate result. And no, there is no way that Abreu deserved that gold glove. I was just going to mention Billy. The guy is the ultimate utility starter...he can play basically any infield position (3B, 2B, and SS mostly), and can play centerfield. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he could catch if he had to. Right now he has a .305 batting average with 7 home runs and 15 RBIs on the year, and that's just with 85 ABs. The guy is a constant offensive threat, and that's why Ned Yost makes sure he plays as much as possible. Hall certainly, but again he's a guy I might throw in the overlooked pile. He's usually praised. One guy I forgot. Craig Wilson.

The N.L. average for OBP last season was .330. No one's been helpful enough to come up with the league average batting leadoff, but ESPN.com's sortable stats gives us a list of players batting leadoff (min. 200 plate appearances). Of the 36 players, Furcal ranked 22nd last year. Yeah, that's low. But keep in mind what OBP is. The difference between a .348 OBP and a .368 OBP is two hits in every hundred plate appearances. That's just 12 times extra reaching base in an entire season. It might be sub-optimal for a leadoff hitter, but it is not Jose Reyes either. Jason Bay is overlooked, but probably not underrated. If you ask someone to comment on Jason Bay he'll be universally praised. Capuano I'm not sold on yet. He had one very good season, but that does not necessarily make a good player. He walked almost four guys an inning last season. He's off to a good start this year though, and if he keeps this up through 2006 he should be solid. Placido Polanco is the intangibles player that everyone pictures Jeter as. Polanco is possibly the smartest player I've ever seen. The one-year wonders at least. Todd Jones, Dan Kolb, etc. I can't emphasize this enough. Do not evaluate relief pitchers based on one season.

Who is overrating him though? Gordon's been abysmal in the postseason, and I think that is a combination of poor luck and stamina. Gordon's second half stats are traditionally worse, with the caveat that his best month is August. His performance is nearly identical with RISP and bases empty, the sole difference being that his opponents' OBP is higher with runners on thanks to the 50 intentional walks his managers ordered. Last year, during a stretch run I think he can all agree was very close, Gordon allowed five runs the last two months of the season, a 1.61 ERA during that span. He features perhaps the best curveball in baseball. Overall, I think he's rated fairly.

Mariano Rivera also threw out number one into center field, gave up a double down the line to Tony Womack, and hit a batter. It was Schilling and Johnson though, because Brenly did his best to actively piss away that series in games four and five.

How come? Furcal's one of those players who contributes at all facets of the game. He hits for a decent average, draws walks, has pop, steals bases at a high percentage, and plays very good defense. There's no stat to hang your hat on like a .331 batting average, but he's every bit as valuable as the Jeter's and Tejada's.

The big problem with discussing fielding is that people can make broad statements about defense and there is no way to knock them down. Show them the stats and they will say that stats do not matter. In the new book, The Fielding Bible, the authors look at various ways to analyze fielding, and every single measure indicates Jeter is one of the worst fielders in the majors. Baseball Info Solutions watched every single game last year, and recorded where outs were made and where hits were made. Doing nothing more than counting, they found that Jeter allowed more hits past him that a normal fielder would have gotten to than any shortstop in baseball, except Michael Young. I have become convinced that the problem with Yankee fans is that they watch Jeter and then they close their eyes and go "la la la," whenever anyone else plays shortstop, and thus they have never seen a real shortstop play defense. Ok. Tom Gordon wasn't on those teams. Ryan Howard was on for half a year, And when were they supposed to dethrone the Braves? Playboy picked them to finish last in 2003. Do you have any reasons or are you just stirring shit. And for the record, there are 25 roster spots in the majors, not 26. You just stated the Phillies were overrated because they haven't won. Michael Young has played on one team that saw .500. Young has hit .322 at home over the course of his career. On the road, that batting average drops to .273 with a .314 OBP. As noted before, his defense is atrocious, and you can see that by the amount of runs the Rangers allow on an annual basis. And for the record, Teixiera hit 144 RBIs. Young had 91. The answer Vampiro, he's overrated because he makes every single underrated list. One analyst said he's due for his "breakout" season, like adding 28 points to his batting average wasn't that breakout.

I'll address Michael Young in the next response. Adam Dunn is what he is, and that is one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. He strikes out a lot, but he makes less groundball and flyball outs than nearly any other hitter in the game. The sacrifice fly comment is interesting. In 2005, Dunn hit two sacrifice flies all season. He came to the plate 32 times with a runner on third, less than two outs. Nine times he walked, leaving 23 at bats. He went 5 for 23 in those appearances, with one double and two home runs. 16 RBIs though. Maybe he needs to cut down on his swing in those situations. He's certainly getting pitched around unless the bases are loaded. In any case, that's a minor part of the game. Dunn's OPS+ would rank among the top 20 active players if he qualified, yet he's only been to one All-Star game. That shows me people are fully aware of his flaws, and perhaps underestimating his abilities if that. Batting average doesn't mean much compared to OBP. Dunn produces.

Recently Sports Illustrated ran a poll regarding the most overrated and underrated players in baseball. Of course when Jeter was chosen as the most overrated player, there was much outrage from sportswriters, fans, and all other forms of Jeter worshipers. It probably illustrated the point perfectly. The big problem with running a poll like this is that if everyone thinks a player is over or underrated, is he really? Kerry Wood can not be overrated unless someone thinks he is good, and I have not seen that person lately. The problem with the underrated list is that they are by and large players we already know. Michael Young went to the All Star game the last two seasons and he's the reigning A.L. batting champion. If anything, he is overrated. Bill James in his abstract created a list of what makes a player over or underrated. Batting average tends to be overrated while secondary skills are underrated. Players who do one thing well are rated higher than those who contribute across the board. RBI guys are overrated while leadoff hitters are underrated. Big market players, players on championship teams, etc. Players whose careers are split in some way tend to get less credit than a player who stays on one team. Rather than get bogged down, here's my personal overrated and underrated lists. Now keep in mind that just because a player is overrated does not mean he is not good. Overrated Derek Jeter - Great, professional hitter. Phenominal baserunner, intelligent player. He's overrated based on "clutch" performance and his fielding. Jeter's not a very good shortstop at all. If he couldn't hit, he wouldn't hold a job based on his fielding like Adam Everett could. David Ortiz - Terrific clutch performances. Anyone notice that despite being the most feared hitter in the American League, he finished seventh in intentional walks last year, his only year in the top ten? He gets pitched to because Manny hits behind him. No other player in baseball has as much lineup protection. The kicker is that analysts frequently say that Albert Pujols is the best hitter, but Ortiz is the best clutch hitter. Given that Pujols is a .336 hitter in the postseason, that's asinine. Michael Young - People will assume you are scrappy if you are white. Young hit .331 last year. He also plays in the best hitters' park in the league and he is about as bad a fielder, if not worse, than Derek Jeter. He has all the range of a traffic cone. Paul Lo Duca - The worst second half player in baseball. He has posted slugging percentages worse than .400 two of the last three seasons. Johnny Damon - A good player and the Red Sox will miss him. His contributions however are not as irreplaceable as people think. Oakland let him go and managed to improve their win total. Underrated Jonny Gomes - His early returns are for real. He ranks among the better sluggers in the A.L., but is often overlooked. Chone Figgins - Posted win shares of 24 and 20 the last two years, but has yet to make the All Star team. Rafael Furcal - Hits, steals, plays excellent defense. He's the best shortstop in the National League, has little competition, and has only been in one All-Star game. He's better than Jimmy Rollins who will likely win the fan vote again. Mark Buehrle - Five consecutive years of 220+ innings, 128 ERA+, .616 winning percentage. Andruw Jones - Jones' defense, in my opinion, was the real "Mazzone effect."

I'm going to start a new topic for the over/underrated players shortly, as I have more to say on the subject. The stupid thing about the SI poll complaints is that Jeter got 9%. It is not like there is this massive group of people who thought he was overrated. It's a very small plurality.

I didn't see the article but I believe Abreu was on the underrated list. It's funny how sometimes these lists are 2-3 years behind, as Abreu generally gets his due.

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/index.php Here's a neat home run related site.

You know what would happen if you made only left turns? YOU WOULD END UP EXACTLY WHERE YOU STARTED. Idiots.

Yeah, I'm started to get worried. We've only won seven games this week.

Holy crap Bonds tagged that one.

Just eight teams left in the mock tournament. In this round, the field is split into two double elimination tournaments. One team advances from each field to play in the finals. I will provide actual details on the games from here on. FIELD ONE 1929 Athletics @ 1906 Cubs 1962 Giants @ 1939 Yankees '29 Athletics 5, '06 Cubs 4, 12 Innings Mule Haas's RBI single in the twelve inning drove in Jimmy Dykes for the go ahead run, and Carroll Yerkes pitched a 1-2-3 inning for the save. Howard Ehmke collected the win for the A's and Orval Overall picked up the loss. Joe Tinker, who hit just 31 home runs his entire career, hit a two run shot in the second. '62 Giants 9, '39 Yankees 8 The Giants survived a thriller at Yankee Stadium. The Giants rallied in the eighth inning, scoring three runs on Charlie Keller's dropped fly ball in right field. The Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs with Joe Gordon's two run shot tying the game. Willie Mays hit a go ahead home run in the ninth, and the Giants added another run. The Yankees scored a run in the bottom of the inning, and nearly scored the tying run before Red Rolfe was thrown out at home plate. Don Larsen picked up the win for the Giants, Oral Hildebrand got the loss and Bobby Bolin earned the save. 1906 Cubs @ 1939 Yankees 1962 Giants @ 1929 Athletics '39 Yankees 7, '06 Cubs 1 Joe Gordon's three run double put the Yankees up 4-1, and they coasted to an easy victory. Three Finger Brown started a day early and surrendered five runs in six innings. Bump Hadley picked up the win. Brown got the loss, finishing the tournament with a 2-1 record. Joe Gordon finished the game with four RBIs. The Cubs are eliminated from the tournament. '62 Giants 8, '29 Athletics 7, 10 Innings Orlando Cepeda, Willie Mays and Felipe Alou connected for three straight solo home runs in the top of the ninth with two outs to tie the game. The A's had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth but Al Simmons grounded into a bases loaded double play. The Giants' Jose Pagan knocked in the go ahead run in the top of the tenth against a depleated A's bullpen. Stu Miller (2-0) collected the win while Carroll Yerkes (1-1) got the loss. The A's go on to face the '39 Yankees, with the winner advancing to a rematch with the Giants. '39 Yankees 13, '29 Athletics 3 George Earnshaw surrendered eight runs in two and a third innings of work, and the Yankees cruised to victory. Charlie Keller went 3 for 4 with a home run, 4 RBIs and 2 walks. Pitcher Atley Donald went 3 for 5 at the plate. Donald picked up the win and improved to 2-0. Earnshaw collected the loss, falling to 2-1. '39 Yankees 4, '62 Giants 3, 11 Innings Joe Dimaggio tied the game with a two run home run in the top of the ninth off Don Larsen, and scored the go-ahead run in the 11th on Joe Gordon's sacrifice fly. Steve Sundra (1-0) earned the win, while Gaylord Perry (0-1) took the loss. '39 Yankees 13, '62 Giants 3 Frankie Crosetti hit a home run and two triples, and Lefty Gomez pitched a complete game as the Yankees crushed the Giants. Gomez improves to 2-0, while the Giants' losing pitcher Billy O'Dell falls to 1-1. The 1939 Yankees advance to the tournament finals. FIELD TWO 1980 Royals @ 1977 Yankees 1995 Indians @ 1988 Athletics '77 Yankees 11, '80 Royals 5 Bucky F'n Dent hit a two run home run to cap a sixth inning, five run rally, and the Yankees cruised to victory. Reggie Jackson added his fourth home run of the tournament. Mike Torrez picked up the win to improve to 2-0. Rich Gale (1-1) got the loss. Ken Clay pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the save. '95 Indians 8, '88 Athletics 3, 12 Innings Eddie Murray hit a two run home run in the top of the twelveth to break a 3-3 tie, and the Indians tacked on three runs, thanks in part to Glenn Hubbard's two out error. Mark McGwire hit two home runs and a double. The Indians' bullpen held the A's to one run the final six innings. Jose Mesa (1-0) picked up the save, while Gene Nelson (1-1) got the loss. The Indians now play the Yankees in the winners' bracket while the A's play the Royals in the losers' bracket. '95 Indians 8, '77 Yankees 5 Albert Belle hit two home runs and collected five RBIs to lead the Tribe to an 8-5 victory. A Chris Chambliss error with two in the eighth opened the door for the second home run, which broke a 5-5 tie. Paul Assenmacher (2-0) got the win while Sparky Lyle (0-1) got the loss. '80 Royals 6, '88 Athletics 5 George Brett hit a two run double in the ninth, and Dan Quisenberry pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. The A's are eliminated, and the Royals proceed to a rematch with the Yankees. Winner of that reaches the regional final against Cleveland. '77 Yankees 3, '80 Royals 2 Roy White's two out, RBI double in the eighth drove in the go ahead run and Sparky Lyle pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save. Ron Guidry gave up just two runs over eight innings to improve his record to 2-1. Dan Quisenberry took the loss, falling to 1-1. The Yankees advance to the final against the Indians. The Indians need to win one while the Yanks have to win twice. '95 Indians 7, '77 Yankees 1 Eddie Murray's three run home run capped a five run third as the Indians crushed the Yankees. Orel Hershiser (1-1) picked up the win while Ed Figueroa (1-1) got the loss. Chad Ogea earned his second save by pitching three scoreless innings. The 1995 Indians advance to the final, where they will face the 1939 Yankees in a three game series.

Nice to see ESPN could ignore that double play so Peter Gammons could talk about Barry Bonds.

Work actually. Sundays are bad days. I will try and make Friday's Hamels appearance however.

Hell of a game to miss in Scranton today. Cole Hamels pitches seven innings, gives up five hits and a run, and strikes out ten. Dusty Wathan hits a two out home run in the bottom of the tenth to win the game.

I believe Schu played in organized baseball during that period. I assume you're referencing the Baseball Cube site, and their data is often incomplete. In 1995, Rick Schu and ten others walked out of Rangers' Spring Training to protest plans to use them as replacement players.