This Week In Baseball

[Mik 0]

Double post.

[Mik 0]

Atlanta beats Washington 2-1, thanks to Guzman throwing the ball into the braves dugout in the 9th. The offense is still really struggling, but the starting pitching has been superb.

I don't hate Reitsma that much anymore.

 

If the Braves could score runs, they'd be unbeatable

Yet they don't even have the best pitching staff in their division.

 

And to this point, it's not even been close.

[bob_barron 0]

I don't see the Marlins keeping that pace up.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Jon Lieber once again bails the Phillies out of a losing streak and goes to 4-0 as the Phils beat the Rockies, 6-3. Lieber and Brett Myers have basically carried the rotation in the first couple weeks.

[The Czech Republic 0]

This is one of those losses where I feel physically ill. I know that sounds extreme, but it's not even so much that they lost. It's that the decisions that were made during the game made the Cubs and their manager look like hapless jackasses who don't deserve to be contenders.

I think it really is time for Hendry and MacPhail to break out the "We want to take the team in a different direction" line and send Dusty packing, with his loyal man-slave Jose Macias carrying his luggage.

[sfaJack 0]

Bring back Bruce Kimm!

 

Or Jim Essian!

[mike546 0]

Lieber wins again.

 

Fuck you Chris Benson, and a huge fuck you to the Mets.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Bring back Bruce Kimm!

 

Or Jim Essian!

What's Riggleman doing these days? Still coaching in LA?

[sfaJack 0]

I don't see Riggleman listed on their staff anywhere, so I guess not.

 

But fuck it. Let's get Jimmy Frey back. 1984 was a special season.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Riggleman did well in '98 as well, and would hopefully not be such a dumbass like Dusty. Wasn't he dismissed for having trouble with Sammy?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Os are getting a good game out of Lopez (only run allowed unearned, still in the game) but the bats have just gone completely DEAD.

 

1-0 Sox in the 7th.

 

It should be 1-1, but Raffy was called out when he was obviously safe at home.

[sfaJack 0]

Riggleman did well in '98 as well, and would hopefully not be such a dumbass like Dusty. Wasn't he dismissed for having trouble with Sammy?

I always figured it was because he only had one real good season out of five, with the death blow being when they fell apart in '99. I thought Sammy was still a loveable guy during that time but who knows? He might have been pushing buttons behind the scenes to get rid of Riggleman.

 

In defense of them ditching Riggleman, I'll say that he deserved to be fired for two reasons:

 

1) Leaving Kevin Tapani on the mound against the Braves in game 2 in '98 when he was clearly gassed, thus sparking the Braves' comeback win.

 

2) Throwing an injured Kerry Wood out there for no real reason in game 3, thus blowing his elbow out and costing him a season and a half.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Average winning % of the top 5 teams in productive outs last year: .455. None of them made the playoffs, and only the Giants came close.

 

Maybe that's why ESPN isn't tracking it so far this year. What a laughably bad statistic.

 

I ran some correlation studies last year on run scoring. I don't have it handy, but I can give some rough numbers. For those of you unfamiliar with correlation, the scale runs from -1 to 1. 0 is no correlation whatseover. A figure of 0.3 indicates that some noticeable correlation exists between two strings.

 

Batting average comes in at 0.75. OBP and slugging percentage, the twin towers of batting prowess, scored at 0.98 and 0.99 respectively, making them incredibly accurate statistics for estimating run production (OPS scores even higher). Productive outs scored slightly negative, but do not measure as a significant correlation. Interestingly, there was also no correlation between team STRIKEOUTS and runs scored.

 

For those of you who'd rather skip the math, OBP and slugging percentage are good, while productive outs and strikeouts are negligable.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Riggleman did well in '98 as well, and would hopefully not be such a dumbass like Dusty. Wasn't he dismissed for having trouble with Sammy?

I always figured it was because he only had one real good season out of five, with the death blow being when they fell apart in '99. I thought Sammy was still a loveable guy during that time but who knows? He might have been pushing buttons behind the scenes to get rid of Riggleman.

 

In defense of them ditching Riggleman, I'll say that he deserved to be fired for two reasons:

 

1) Leaving Kevin Tapani on the mound against the Braves in game 2 in '98 when he was clearly gassed, thus sparking the Braves' comeback win.

 

2) Throwing an injured Kerry Wood out there for no real reason in game 3, thus blowing his elbow out and costing him a season and a half.

That could be true. I don't know the whole deal.

[treble 0]

This is fucking annoying. Everytime Alex Rios comes to bat, whatever channel the game's on, whoever the announcers are, they ALWAYS have to mention that he's only hit 1 homer in his career. I'm not quite sure why it matters, but they have to bring it up every fucking time.

 

Exciting game tonight, even if the outcome wasn't what I would have liked. Always have to get my hopes up a little bit at the end.

[mike546 0]

Tino saves the game for the Yankees, making an awesome diving catch on a popup in the infield.

[treble 0]

That was funny. Seeing them all stand there and all of a sudden they all realize that the ball's going to drop in, so Martinez dives for it.

[Brett Favre 0]

Bullpen finally does well. 3 2/3 innings, no runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 k's. Moose with his first win of the year.

[mike546 0]

I swear somethings up with Moose. Hes tired real quick in his last two starts, and is getting beat up in the 5th and 6th innings.

[Brett Favre 0]

This is one of his few performances where he doesn't either get rocked or pitches a masterpiece. Finally an inbetween performance.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Riggleman is still a coach with the Dodgers. And I'm almost positive that Sosa and he were at odds by time he made his exit.

[Bored 0]

Rich Harden throws seven shutout innings tonight. Now pitched 20 1/3 innings and has allowed one run for a 0.44 ERA.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Why does Dusty Baker still have a job? His team seems to lack any plate discipline, he's batting his hottest hitter sixth and he constantly makes boneheaded pitching decisions.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Why does Dusty Baker still have a job? His team seems to lack any plate discipline, he's batting his hottest hitter sixth and he constantly makes boneheaded pitching decisions.

Oh how to say this...

 

 

Because he can play on hot sunny days.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Hahaha, Grant Roberts sucks. I wonder if there are pictures of him taking steroids and on pot at the same time. Thank God the Mets released him last week.

 

CBS Sportsline: Nine minor-leaguers suspended for violating steroids policy

 

And if you don't remember this:

 

[Vern Gagne 0]

What a waste of talent.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I saw J.J. Jurries play last week, for three games. He hit a home run the first night, but didn't really impress otherwise.

[mike546 0]

Yankee fans don't forget, I'll say that. There booing Brown already.

[Brett Favre 0]

Brown is pitching like a piece of shit. 4 runs in the 1st. He wasn't this horrible last year.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Goodness. Seems like only weeks ago that analysts were touting the Yankees' rotation as the best in the National League. If this were the 1880s and teams carried three pitchers all year, they'd be in good shape.