The chapter on the Marlins in the BP annual calls their ownership a "doof junta."
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 6 February 2014 16:45 (ten years ago) link
J. Corey Stackhouse is a normal man with one extraordinary ambition: to own every baseball card ever printed for Tim Wallach. Not one of each card. Every single one of every single one of them.
― mookieproof, Thursday, 6 February 2014 18:03 (ten years ago) link
"Doof junta" line courtesy of David Roth of The Classical, a cool frood who really knows where his towel is.
― @GracieLoPan #fyi (Display Name (this cannot be changed):), Thursday, 6 February 2014 20:47 (ten years ago) link
can a mod please change this to 'david roth 2014'
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/2/6/5387330/ralph-kiner-new-york-mets-in-memoriam-pittsburgh-pirates
― mookieproof, Friday, 7 February 2014 06:12 (ten years ago) link
http://www.700wlw.com/onair/lance-36474/did-you-miss-joey-votto-on-12009654/
Joey Votto is just the man.
― earlnash, Friday, 7 February 2014 06:15 (ten years ago) link
This is the other interview that I was going to post.
http://www.espn1530.com/onair/lance-mcalister-7818/did-you-miss-joey-votto-on-sports-talk-12035797/
― earlnash, Friday, 7 February 2014 21:13 (ten years ago) link
http://grantland.com/features/jonah-keri-art-stealing-bases/
― polyphonic, Friday, 7 February 2014 22:48 (ten years ago) link
not 2014, but: THE LAST DAYS OF TY COBB
at least he didn't take steroids tho
― mookieproof, Saturday, 8 February 2014 04:26 (ten years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/not/playoff-odds-as-distance-from-rome-circa-200-ad
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 11 February 2014 21:26 (ten years ago) link
Phillies' location chosen with Mordy's input
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 February 2014 21:37 (ten years ago) link
oh offseason boredom!
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 11 February 2014 23:05 (ten years ago) link
it's not the offseason anymore! they're doin' playoff odds!
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 01:58 (ten years ago) link
Joey Votto - part 3.
http://www.700wlw.com/onair/lance-36474/podcast-joey-votto-on-sports-talk-round-3-12053496/
― earlnash, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 04:35 (ten years ago) link
How Paying Established Closers Saves Teams Money
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 18:48 (ten years ago) link
That is a great article.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 22:01 (ten years ago) link
maybe i'm missing something - but the point was that by paying for an over-priced, "established closer" - teams could save a couple million by not giving the closer role (at least not for a bit) to the superior reliever who will only get the salary of a set-up man through arbitration?! this seems crazy to me. spending good money on an ok guy with saves under his belt in order to keep the role from a younger, cheaper guy who, usually, is the superior pitcher? i feel like some part of this must have gone over my head.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 22:38 (ten years ago) link
$7m is not a couple of million. By saving that money in arbitration you are defraying the cost of a good but otherwise overpriced established closer.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 23:49 (ten years ago) link
Basically the whole thing ensures that Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle are as cheap as possible for as long as possible until such point as they either aren't and can either be let go as free agents or traded. And by getting an established closer you are ensuring that the person being put in the save situations has a reasonable chance of succeeding (you can do the same thing by getting some other teams quality but slightly cheaper middle-reliever too and save even more money but that requires one of those dudes to be around).
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 23:54 (ten years ago) link
How Philadelphia lost the Athletics
― mookieproof, Thursday, 20 February 2014 20:38 (ten years ago) link
http://www.hardballtimes.com/tht-live/expanded-2013-infield-shift-data
ryan howard 2013: .312 babip against shifted infield, .533 babip against unshifted infield
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 25 February 2014 16:22 (ten years ago) link
MLB Hall of Fame Voting Trajectories
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 26 February 2014 21:06 (ten years ago) link
@MrBrianKennyTracking data about to become available to teams, fans. Angle, distance, speed constantly tracked. MLBAM #SSAC14
@MrBrianKenny Route efficiency for the runner. Oh my..
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhqF9yHIUAALltO.jpg
― Andy K, Saturday, 1 March 2014 17:30 (ten years ago) link
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhqGky2IQAAwdur.jpg
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhqFrlgIUAACcBv.jpg
― Andy K, Saturday, 1 March 2014 17:32 (ten years ago) link
Google autocomplete describes lineups position by position (NL East coming soon).
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/2/25/5446374/mlb-starting-lineups-rotations-depth-charts
Have just skimmed so far, but a favorite is "Hunter Pence lives with parents."
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 4 March 2014 17:50 (ten years ago) link
NYY & Bos results do not disappoint
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 4 March 2014 18:04 (ten years ago) link
BP ranks teams 1-30 on age 25-and-under talent; Yankees & Phillies 28th and 29th
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22944
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 4 March 2014 21:48 (ten years ago) link
on adding a new pitch
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 11 March 2014 15:46 (ten years ago) link
on mastering the sinkerball
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 11 March 2014 19:26 (ten years ago) link
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bj0gICJCMAAln7k.png
hott lefty-on-lefty action
― mookieproof, Friday, 28 March 2014 14:58 (ten years ago) link
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/70418126/los-angeles-dodgers-yasiel-puig-subject-of-negative-media-reports
― Andy K, Monday, 31 March 2014 12:50 (ten years ago) link
sporting news is doing a fun series/ranking on every team's tv broadcasters
― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Sunday, 13 April 2014 19:42 (ten years ago) link
did we ever do a poll? i guess i don't have enough experience with a lot of the teams' broadcasters. sporting news otm on the nats' team, tho
― mookieproof, Sunday, 13 April 2014 19:50 (ten years ago) link
link to the a's team is at the bottom (they passed), impossible to find anywhere else cause lol sportingnews
― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Sunday, 13 April 2014 20:00 (ten years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/24/upshot/facebook-baseball-map.html?_r=2&smid=fb-share#10,41.736,-72.959
― k3vin k., Thursday, 24 April 2014 17:05 (ten years ago) link
on how pitchers pitch to good hitters
― mookieproof, Friday, 25 April 2014 17:34 (ten years ago) link
http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/April-2014/Baseballs-Metropolis-How-the-Cubs-and-Cardinals-Conquered-the-Midwest/
― mookieproof, Friday, 25 April 2014 20:00 (ten years ago) link
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-most-disciplined-mlb-batters/
Thought this was interesting. Obviously, "swing at" ≠ "make contact with"
― Alvarius B. Goode (WilliamC), Saturday, 26 April 2014 12:43 (nine years ago) link
Dirk Hayhurst on player-media dynamics, and discussing his video game featuring PEDs and Baseball Annies:
Until that day, I was afraid to talk to players—even ones I’d played with previously—beyond softball questions. After Arencibia called me out, I marched into that clubhouse, which stopped what it was doing and watched me go right to Arencibia, and asked, “What’s your problem?”
I didn’t die. I didn’t get cut off from the rest of the team, and I didn’t get thrown out. Neither will you. Spend enough time covering baseball, and you’ll rub someone the wrong way. Confrontation is going to happen, but if you project fear, you’ll be embarrassed or stood up.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2040076-inside-look-into-both-sides-of-mlbs-delicate-writer-player-relationship
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23463
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 May 2014 12:11 (nine years ago) link
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/5/8/5683262/baseball-manager-ejections-mlb
― mookieproof, Thursday, 8 May 2014 14:44 (nine years ago) link
Predicting Batter Breakouts with PITCHf/x
It’s interesting to see how much more rapidly teams become aware of changes in player skill than the baseball-watching public. I don’t think many tabbed (Chris) Davis as a breakout candidate prior to the 2013 season, even though he finished 2012 strong (Russell Carleton found that such a late-season surge is more often than not a mirage). Yet PITCHf/x suggests that pitchers were aware of Davis’ newfound strength as early as midseason 2012.
There are at least two direct ways in which teams may gather and employ information to which we don’t have access. The first is via the scouting report, which involves lots of careful observation of a hitter: tendencies, quirks, holes in their swing, and so on. That kind of assiduous study could certainly reveal weaknesses in a hitter before the general public catches on (or the results catch up). A well-trained scout could notice that Chris Davis is suddenly showing an improved mentality at the plate and relay that to the pitcher, resulting in the pitcher avoiding the zone marginally more.
The second way this change could happen is in-game. Besides scouts, both the pitcher and catcher are meticulously watching the hitter for any sign of unexpected weakness or strength. Imagine the following scenario: a pitcher takes aim at the outside edge of the plate and misses towards the middle, and the hitter punishes the mistake with a towering homer. The pitcher or catcher will take note and be a little less likely to challenge the hitter inside the zone in the following at bat.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23550
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Monday, 12 May 2014 15:02 (nine years ago) link
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2033160-how-a-line-drive-forever-changed-and-nearly-ended-my-life
― Andy K, Wednesday, 14 May 2014 02:57 (nine years ago) link
http://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2014/05/non-pitchers-search-option-added-to-pitching-game-finder-baseball-reference-com
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 21 May 2014 20:37 (nine years ago) link
50-minute interview with Dodger head trainer Stan Conte on industry issues / study of the pitcher injury epidemic
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23644
― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 22 May 2014 11:35 (nine years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mike-trouts-struggles-graphed/
this is cool
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 28 May 2014 19:40 (nine years ago) link
on roberto clemente's arm: http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Roberto_Clemente%27s_%27Toolbox%27_%E2%80%93_The_Arm
― mookieproof, Thursday, 12 June 2014 15:01 (nine years ago) link
Not exactly kickass, but some spirited debate between @keithlaw and @DCameronFG that started last night, I think, and has continued today.
http://twitter.com/DCameronFG/with_replies
― Andy K, Monday, 16 June 2014 21:07 (nine years ago) link
Maybe all of it is here:
https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/478346750063702016
― Andy K, Monday, 16 June 2014 21:08 (nine years ago) link
kind of makes me hate them both and want to stop following baseball tbh
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 17 June 2014 01:20 (nine years ago) link
on Stanton's optical-illusion HR:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23916
― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 18 June 2014 04:11 (nine years ago) link
http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4631875/EVchart.png
Effective Velocity is made up of six tenets, some of which are commonsense and already utilized by successful pitchers at the game's highest levels, others so complex that even major league coaches have difficulty grasping them. It starts with the idea that all pitches are not equal — even those that appear to be identical on the radar gun.
It hinges on response time. Husband's model is based on the arc of hitters' swings, and the understanding that bats must move farther to reach pitches on the inner part of the plate than on the outside edge. Put another way, a batter can hit an outside fastball as it crosses the plate, but to make solid contact with an inside fastball, he must reach it much sooner — up to 2 feet in front of the plate — which requires the hitter to move the bat a greater distance in less time. With this detail in mind, it makes sense to build an approach based not on a pitch's radar speed, but how quickly the man standing in the batter's box can react to it.
This is the basis for the "effective" portion of Effective Velocity.
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2014/6/18/5818380/effective-velocity-pitching-theory-profile-perry-husband
― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 June 2014 15:06 (nine years ago) link
http://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/dfa7a9141776c6ef2d76168dedbda49e/tumblr_n7w7o8cI4x1qzniimo2_500.png
― mookieproof, Saturday, 28 June 2014 23:22 (nine years ago) link
"Wild Child, do the ball fit in the hole?"
― Andy K, Sunday, 29 June 2014 00:49 (nine years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/expected-run-differentials-2-0/
― k3vin k., Sunday, 29 June 2014 13:44 (nine years ago) link
found this interesting
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=24118
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 10 July 2014 14:44 (nine years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-imagine-a-baseball-playing-lebron-james/
― Bringing the mosh (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, 11 July 2014 13:39 (nine years ago) link
a nice exercise in showing how baseball and basketball are two entirely different sports that can't really be compared like that
― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Saturday, 12 July 2014 20:57 (nine years ago) link
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/7/16/5904697/mile-high-baseball-consuming-legal-marijuana-enjoying-americas
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:10 (nine years ago) link
haven't read this yet but i'll go out on a limb and say it's kickass
The Passion of Roger Angell: The best baseball writer in America is also a fan
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 23 July 2014 18:35 (nine years ago) link
Same thing--I assume this is as fascinating as it looks:
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/7/15/5883593/the-many-crimes-of-mel-hall
I don't think I've ever read anything so long off the internet without printing it out...mammoth.
― clemenza, Thursday, 24 July 2014 18:58 (nine years ago) link
I was trying to remember where I knew Hall from...I had him confused with Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith at first, the two Cubs who finished 1-2 in the '89 ROY voting. It was his involvement in the Joe Carter-Rick Sutcliffe trade, though.
― clemenza, Thursday, 24 July 2014 19:08 (nine years ago) link
Hall story deeply unsettling.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Friday, 25 July 2014 14:17 (nine years ago) link
Not exactly kickass, but:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28484536
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/76525000/jpg/_76525269_76521971.jpg
― Andy K, Friday, 25 July 2014 16:24 (nine years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/javier-baez-and-the-anomalous-dinger
― mookieproof, Friday, 8 August 2014 21:28 (nine years ago) link
The best beer in baseball:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/sports/best-beer-in-baseball/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
No surprise that Toronto is near the bottom, in fact, I think we ranked #12 in "uniqueness" only because we offer Canadian beers (and not the best ones or anything close to it) that aren't available at other parks. That might have saved us from being ranked dead last overall.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Sunday, 10 August 2014 07:42 (nine years ago) link
A little surprised the Giants are so middle of the road.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Sunday, 10 August 2014 15:25 (nine years ago) link
giants clearly doesn't account for public house which is attached to the stadium but i guess isn't a 'vendor'. but you can take the beers in and they're cheaper than anything sold inside. had an alpine duet and russian river blind pig last time i was there...
― wmlynch, Sunday, 10 August 2014 17:35 (nine years ago) link
Even without that I guess I'm surprised. Been a while since I've been though... but I always got the impression that they had better than Bud/Miller/Coors fare.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Sunday, 10 August 2014 20:39 (nine years ago) link
They do, but only a few kiosks and the lines are huge
― polyphonic, Sunday, 10 August 2014 20:42 (nine years ago) link
idea stolen from jon bois, but still funny
http://www.fangraphs.com/not/dangerous-experiment-a-roster-of-25-adam-dunns
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 13 August 2014 16:55 (nine years ago) link
http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-23/mlb-team-values.html
― polyphonic, Tuesday, 19 August 2014 20:04 (nine years ago) link
Interesting:
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/why-mike-trout-and-the-rest-of-the-league-is-having-trouble-with-the-high-stuff-082914
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 2 September 2014 14:09 (nine years ago) link
some new dude @ fangraphs, secrete ilxor?
12:34 Comment From DanielThe Royals, Mariners, and Tigers are fighting for two playoff spots. Who do you think gets them? 12:34 Kiley McDaniel: Probably CORPORATE AMERICA AMIRITE
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 4 September 2014 12:33 (nine years ago) link
http://www.robrains.com/CARDINALSBASEBALL/tabid/91/entryid/2009/whatever-happened-to-former-cardinals-infielder-khalil-greene.aspx
“I have nothing but fond memories of playing with him and knowing him,” Loretta said. “He was very quiet, an introverted sort of guy that took baseball very seriously. I tell a story pretty often about how he would be in the weight room maybe a half hour before a game. He had these mats set up and he would be diving and sliding, pretending that he was making great plays.
“I asked him what he was doing, and he said, ‘if you are going to make these kinds of plays you’ve got to practice them.’ I had never seen that before and have never seen it since.”
― bnw, Thursday, 18 September 2014 18:33 (nine years ago) link
Mark DeRosa is already the best analyst on MLB Network.
― polyphonic, Friday, 3 October 2014 04:16 (nine years ago) link
xpost
didn't see the khalil greene article until just now - thanks for posting it bnw. khalil's social anxiety was sometimes mentioned obliquely by the cards' announcers but i didn't really understand the extent of his problems.
“It was unfortunate to see the way baseball can kind of weigh on you. Mentally it was very tough on him.”Wainwright, and Schumaker, both saw Greene attempt to hurt himself on the field when he thought he had failed or made a mistake.“He had some things he would do on and off the field,” Wainwright said. “On the field he would scrape his hands real hard on the clay and scratch himself. He would scratch his arms real bad with his fingernails. You could tell he was just battling so hard. He was really grinding mentally with the expectation to go out and get a hit every time. That can weigh on you.“We didn’t know how to help Khalil. All you could do was try to be a good friend and good teammate and hope he would come around.”That was all Schumaker and the rest of the Cardinals could do as well.“I think music was more of his passion than baseball,” Schumaker said. “He really cared about baseball and really wanted to perform well, and when it didn’t happen he didn’t know what else to do except hurt himself. It was sad to watch and witness. “He would just get really frustrated and not know how to react or show it without hurting himself a little bit.”
Wainwright, and Schumaker, both saw Greene attempt to hurt himself on the field when he thought he had failed or made a mistake.
“He had some things he would do on and off the field,” Wainwright said. “On the field he would scrape his hands real hard on the clay and scratch himself. He would scratch his arms real bad with his fingernails. You could tell he was just battling so hard. He was really grinding mentally with the expectation to go out and get a hit every time. That can weigh on you.
“We didn’t know how to help Khalil. All you could do was try to be a good friend and good teammate and hope he would come around.”
That was all Schumaker and the rest of the Cardinals could do as well.
“I think music was more of his passion than baseball,” Schumaker said. “He really cared about baseball and really wanted to perform well, and when it didn’t happen he didn’t know what else to do except hurt himself. It was sad to watch and witness.
“He would just get really frustrated and not know how to react or show it without hurting himself a little bit.”
:-/
― Karl Malone, Friday, 3 October 2014 04:47 (nine years ago) link
^^^
― mookieproof, Friday, 3 October 2014 15:49 (nine years ago) link
So this BP podcast is a 3-way discussion of what the postseason is supposed to "do," sort of inspired by the fact that the 2 or 3 best teams from the regular season have been sent home by "crappy" teams.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=24820
The highlight is this bit by Sam Miller which is sort of Bart Giamatti + Kierkegaard:
The point of this entire enterprise is to entertain us with baseball games. The point of it is not to decide who is the best team. The illusion that that is what we're doing has long been a powerful draw to sports. But, it is ultimately not the point. There is no scenario where the universe will care or remember who the best team was out of this collection of collections. It only matters inasmuch as we create this illusion that it matters.
If you lose even the illusion, then it becomes problematic. But the point is not to have the illusion, the point is to entertain people, and make them forget that we are all dying right in front of each other. That this is just this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis. That we are going to lose everybody we know, we are going to lose everything we have and the only way to distract ourselves is by separating our day into distractions.
― this horrible, rotten slog to rigor mortis (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 9 October 2014 03:40 (nine years ago) link
http://imgur.com/aHSUHpB
― polyphonic, Thursday, 9 October 2014 18:39 (nine years ago) link
Haven't read this, but it looks like it could be really good:
http://www.si.com/longform/donnie-moore/
― clemenza, Thursday, 9 October 2014 22:11 (nine years ago) link
how Hank Conger, Michael Cuddyer and Gabe Kapler explain baseball right now
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/hank-conger-michael-cuddyer-gabe-kapler-mets-dodgers-astros-111814
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 18 November 2014 20:04 (nine years ago) link
i know framing really is important but i'm tired of hearing about
― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Tuesday, 18 November 2014 23:38 (nine years ago) link
it
http://wheatleyschaller.com/dev/trade_trees/Dodgers.png
http://grantland.com/features/mlb-transaction-trees
― mookieproof, Thursday, 20 November 2014 17:52 (nine years ago) link