This Week In Baseball 7/16 - 7/22

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

As for Matt Bush, Verlander was the consensus number one overall that year but the Padres went with the local kid they knew they could sign.

 

Wasn't Stephen Drew the highest rated player of that draft?

[CanadianChris 0]

Tim McCarver during today's Mets/Dodgers game:

 

 

"Folks, we don't want to throw a lot of numbers at you, but this year, 39% of leadoff walks have scored. That's about 40% of the time."

Whoa, whoa, back up a second. My brain can't handle so much information.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Tim McCarver during today's Mets/Dodgers game:

 

 

"Folks, we don't want to throw a lot of numbers at you, but this year, 39% of leadoff walks have scored. That's about 40% of the time."

David Smith of Retrosheet.org wrote a wonderful piece in this year's Baseball Research Journal. In response to a similar comment by Tim McCarver in the playoffs, Smith looked at play-by-play from 1974-2002. Historically 43.4% of leadoff walks lead to a run-scoring inning. Leadoff singles? 43.3%. It makes no difference whether the hitter reaches by walk or safe hit (except for extra base hits).

[MFer 0]

As for Matt Bush, Verlander was the consensus number one overall that year but the Padres went with the local kid they knew they could sign.

 

Wasn't Stephen Drew the highest rated player of that draft?

Well either way, it looks like they passed on the best player in that draft.

 

And it was 2004, not 2003.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Kyle Drabek is having Tommy John surgery.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Angels back-up catcher Jose Molina has been traded to the Yankees for AA pitcher Jeff Kennard. Good pick-up for the Yankees. He can't hit anything, but he's a good defender and a more capable replacement than Nieves. Kennard isn't really a prospect, but then again LAA has a history of turning these guys into useful parts.

 

On the Boston front, Schilling was supposedly great in his Pawtucket start tonight, throwing mostly strikes and dialing it up to 94 MPH. I'd assume he makes it back after his next start and Julian goes to the DL.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Went to see the Lexington Legends (Astros Single A affiliate tonight) and you guys on the board were right, they sure do suck. They lost 6-1 to the Lake County Captains or something like that and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn for much of the game. Coupled with giving way too many walks to the other team and the screaming kids sitting a row behind me this game was absolutley awful. Nothing good to report on at all.

[Longdogger_Pete 0]

Is MLB.TV in some kind of free preview? I clicked on a half-inning while reading a box score and was surprised to see the video actually coming up instead of giving me ads to subscribe.

 

for the record, it was the Red Sox game. Maybe because it was a Fox game MLB allows free viewing? *shrug*

 

Edited July 22, 2007 by Longdogger_Pete

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think it's safe to say Ryan Howard is back. Less than two weeks after the All-Star game, he leads Prince Fielder in OBP, slugging, RBIs, OPS, and is just three behind in home runs. This is why we shouldn't pick All Stars based on half a season.

[Longdogger_Pete 0]

We don't. All-Star Voting this year began only a month into the season. That's insufficient sample time to be able to vote *anybody.* Smart fans should be voting based on accomplishments from the previous season as well as time served so far in the current one.

 

And if you believe otherwise, maybe the All-Star game needs to be held during the offseason.

 

[MFer 0]

I'm fine with the way the All-Star game is constructed today. Maybe they should do like the NFL and NBA and have an all-MLB team at the end of the season.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

I'm fine with the way the All-Star game is constructed today. Maybe they should do like the NFL and NBA and have an all-MLB team at the end of the season.

 

The Sporting News does that, its not an officialy official MLB award, they reconize it but it is not something that is considered official, but it is considered as close as you will get to the All-NBA squads and the All-Pro (not to be confused with the actual Pro Bowl) squads of the NFL

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

We don't. All-Star Voting this year began only a month into the season. That's insufficient sample time to be able to vote *anybody.* Smart fans should be voting based on accomplishments from the previous season as well as time served so far in the current one.

 

And if you believe otherwise, maybe the All-Star game needs to be held during the offseason.

 

If that was the case Howard would have won in a landslide though. Seems like the Brewers went into hyperdrive mode to get Fielder in. No clue why Howard was chosen over say Aaron Rowand if LaRussa wanted a Phillie on the bench. I mean he ended up with two bench 1Bmen anyway so why not.

[Failed Bridge 0]

The Julian Tavarez as a starter era has ended. Jon Lester was called up and will start tommorow against Cleveland with Tavarez headed back to the pen. Tavarez was giving them 3 great innings out there before getting schallacked in the middle innings so he should do better this year out of the pen then he did last year. This just makes it all the more curious as to whom gets kicked out of the rotation when Schilling is ready. Beckett and Dice-K are locks in the rotation, they said when they did decide to bring Lester back up it would be for good, Gabbard has been throwing lights out, and Wakefield hates pitching out of relief.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't understand the move. Lester just isn't ready. I would have rather seen Hansack or Buchholz if they absolutely decided that Tavarez couldn't start anymore. Maybe he's being packaged in a trade and they needed someone until Schilling was ready to return.

[Bored 0]

Surprsied no mention of this yet. Scott Olsen is lucky the cops didn't shoot his dumbass.

 

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/marlins/conte...olsen_0722.html

Five days after being suspended for scuffling with his teammates, Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen was arrested early Saturday after failing to pull his car over and then fighting with police officers, police said.

 

Olsen, who pitched the Marlins to a 10-2 victory on Friday night, was booked into the Miami-Dade county jail several hours later on charges of driving under the influence, resisting an officer with violence and fleeing and eluding a police officer.

 

....

 

"The officer made every attempt to stop Mr. Olsen (using) lights, sirens. He refused to stop and ran an additional stop sign in an attempt to elude the officer,'' Frieder said.

 

Olsen, 23, continued to drive until he stopped at his Aventura home. He then "exited his vehicle and walked straight towards the officer. Mr. Olsen was given numerous verbal commands to halt and show his hands, which he had concealed behind his back at that time. Mr. Olsen was told to stop moving forward and to get down on the ground. Mr. Olsen did not comply with these commands and then walked towards the plastic chair in front of his residence and sat down.''

 

After backup officers arrived, they tried to take Olsen into custody, Frieder said. "He resisted. Mr. Olsen continued to fight officers' attempts to place him into custody by kicking at the officers.''

 

Officers used a stun gun to subdue the 6-foot-5 pitcher. He refused to take a Breathalyzer test and failed a field sobriety test.

[Mik 0]

He's a fucking idiot. It takes me two hands to rattle off all the marlins teammates he has gotten into fistfights with.

 

I think Drew and Verlander were pretty equally rated going into that draft talent wise, but I believe there were some signability issues with Drew, which proved to be true when he almost held out the entire year.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

ARod is two HRs now shy of 500. No matter when he does it this season he will be the youngest ever, edging out Jimmie Foxx's mark of 32 years, 337 days.

 

For anyone still compelled to argue that Derek Jeter is a better player, consider that Jeter needs just 10 more home runs to clear 200. Sure homers aren't everything of course, but it is hard to argue with that disparity when in other areas of the game the two seem to be equals.

 

Take for example hits, Jeter actually leads 2,281 to 2,178. That really should be a fun race a few years from now as they make their respective charges for 3,000

 

BTW, while its because he's been often injured, Noooooooooomah is well off their paces with 1,629 hits. He does have more homers than Jeter does with 214.

[World's Worst Man 0]

At this point, I don't even think there's any argument at all that Jeter is a better player than Rodriguez. ARod's career OPS is .112 higher than Jeter, and Jeter doesn't exactly make up for it with the glove, or with base-stealing.

[Guest Smues]

At this point, I don't even think there's any argument at all that Jeter is a better player than Rodriguez. ARod's career OPS is .112 higher than Jeter, and Jeter doesn't exactly make up for it with the glove, or with base-stealing.

But Jeter has more intangibles. And he's captain clutch. His clutchness rating is .92181 higher than A-rod, and in my intangibles fantasy league he's worth 5 times as much as A-rod.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Shit, how could I forget? Let's just say I made a typo, and that I was really trying to say there was no argument that ARod is better than Jeter. Jeter clutches ARod's numbers and eats them for breakfast.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

Heh! Don't laugh, there really are still Yankee fans who cringe whenever you tell them that the best SS in the game is currently at 3B

[CanadianChris 0]

My favourite team won a baseball game (and a series), and my favourite player threw a shutout. Nice going, Roy.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't think there's anyone, even the most homerest of Yankees fans, that think Jeter is a better player than A-Rod. They may like him a hell of a lot better, but no sane person would actually attempt to argue that point of view.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

So Joel Piniero has been DFA. That was certainly a waste of $4 million. I guess that's what you get when you take roster advice from the guy who used to run the Kansas City Royals.

 

Then again, I am happy with the way Boston's bullpen has turned out this year. Theo went out and threw a bunch of shit at the wall, and some of it actually stuck this time. Still wouldn't kill them to go after one more arm at the deadline.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Alex has looked like a Gold Glover at third so far this year. It's been 4 years now, I think he's officially a third baseman now. Enough already with the shortstop nonsense.

 

In other news, get your tickets punched for the Shelley Duncan bandwagon because it's filling up quickly.

[Steve J. Rogers 0]

Alex has looked like a Gold Glover at third so far this year. It's been 4 years now, I think he's officially a third baseman now. Enough already with the shortstop nonsense.

 

In other news, get your tickets punched for the Shelley Duncan bandwagon because it's filling up quickly.

 

Okay but he is still top 2 all time at that position, 3 if you want Ernie Banks and Honus Wagner in the conversation

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

You could arguabley throw in 1980's-early '90's Ripken as well.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Honus Wagner is unquestionably #1. His .542 slugging percentage in 1908 would be very good in today's era. When you consider the entire league slugged .318, it makes it every bit as dominant a performance as Babe Ruth 15 years later. No shortstop ever led the league in as many batting categories as Wagner, even A-Rod if you give him credit for his years at third base.

[Mecca 0]

You want a reason why you don't want Boras players........check this out, it's not about money either.

 

http://hackswithhaggs.com/2007/07/19/so-th...aig-hansen.aspx

 

Scary read that's all I can say.