Mlb

In the National League, the elongated double switch shows again why pitching statistics are quite poorly attributed.  A traditional double switch involves the manager inserting a position player into the game  for the current pitcher and a new pitcher for a position player--typically one who just made an out, so that the new pitcher won't be batting for nearly a full trip through the lineup.

Continue reading "More Thoughts on MLB Pitching Statistics"

Here'e another quirky entry into the "Win" category:  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4318608.  If we used Team pitching statistics, that win would simply go to the Nationals pitching staff, which clearly it should have.

Continue reading "Another Reason Why MLB Needs Team ..."

As the Brewers wrap up a series against the Cardinals and Tony LaRussa's peculiar lineup strategy, I thought it might be worth thinking about what would make certain lineups advantageous.  LaRussa has been hitting the pitcher in the 8th spot, with a position player hitting behind him in the 9th slot, for several years now.  Why?

Continue reading "The Merits of the Pitcher Hitting 8th"

I got into a discussion with Sean yesterday about the post I made a couple of weeks ago concerning when a runner has officially taken possession of a base.  We consulted the rule book (online at baseball-almanac.com, a great site) and found no specific details about the situation.  (Though, admittedly, I did not carefully pore over every bit of it research-style, since we were simply having an entertaining discussion.)  While shifting through various alternative scenarios to try to tease out the answer, this fun one came up:

Continue reading "More Baseball Rules Discussion"

This game typifies why the open base need not always be filled.  Particularly with the winning run on third base, you are asking quite a lot of your pitcher to confine him to the box created by bases loaded.  The Brewers should have gone after Soto--a player coming in cold off the bench--with runners on second and third and 2 outs.  Instead, they blatantly pitched around him for 3 pitches, then intentionally put him on with the fourth pitch to set the stage for the walk-off walk.

Continue reading "Brewers - Cubs and Walk-off Walks"

Continue reading "Team Pitching Statistics in MLB"

When you play fantasy football, you play (almost exclusively) in a head-to-head, points-based system.  When you play fantasy baseball, you play (almost exclusively) in either a rotisserie or head-to-head, categories-based system.  When you play fantasy hockey, you play (almost exclusively) in some form of salary cap, everyone-can-have-player-X-on-the-team sysatem.

Continue reading "Why is there "standardization" fantasy sports?"

I thought it would be fitting for my first post to discuss a rules question I've thought about for baseball for quite a long time. Here's the situation: Runner on first, less than 2 outs.  The pitcher accidentally goes into the windup, and the runner takes off for second.  (Or the runner takes off, then the pitcher goes into the windup.)  There is a strange combination of blazing speed in the runner and very slow motion in the pitcher's windup.  The runner reaches second base before the pitch reaches the plate.  The batter hits a lazy fly to the outfield.

Continue reading "Rules of the game (MLB)"

I am the last person on earth to say that the world series should have been decided by a rain-shortened game, but the turn of events that have lead to a 3.5 inning shootout to determine the winner of game five on Wednesday night is a bit weird to say the least.

Continue reading "World Series Game 5.5: Just Plain Weird"

The tune of “Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head” must have been going through Cole Hamels mind in the top of the sixth inning of game five of the World Series on Monday night. 

With the rain beating down and puddles filling up all over the in field, Hamels and the other Phillies had to be wondering why they were still on the field.  Why wouldn’t the officials call it?  Were they trying to give the Rays a chance to tie it up, so they wouldn’t have a World Series game shortened by rain? 

Continue reading "World Series Game Five Rainout Is a Bit Strange"

Cub fans, please say thank you to any Milwaukee Brewers fans you may know. Their team is struggling just as much as the Cubs right now. It could have been disastrous if Milwaukee would have gone on a winning streak this week as the Cubs were skidding against the Phillies and Astros. The Cubs still have a cushion in the NL Central, but they need to try to get Zambrano and Harden healthy before they make this final playoff push. Don't panic, the Cubs will be fine. They have a solid line-up all the way through the batting order, and even if they are sluggish, they will get enough wins to enter the 08 playoffs. Sorry this post is short and I haven't posted in a while, but I have been working on numerous websites. I will try to put the Cubs blog first from now on, and trust me, I will be much more talkative once these Cubbies get closer to the playoffs. 

Continue reading "Thanks Milwaukee"

What a day for Alfonso Soriano. He came up with a huge 3-run home run in the 7th inning with 2 on and 2 out to put the Cubs up 10 to 7 over the Astros. Soriano also had a single and a double to give him 4 RBI on the day. He touched home twice. 

Continue reading "If He Stays Hot..."

Tribune Co. is selling the Chicago Cubs franchise, along with Wrigley Field, and part of Comcast SportsNet. The Cubs, as well as Wrigley Field, would be the perfect investment for any billionaire; Cubs fans are not going to simply walk away from their favorite team no matter how long it takes for them to win the World Series. True Cubs fans are fans for life....they will continue to fill the seats every single year no matter the outcome of previous seasons. Call it stupid, some critics do, and I don't want to get into all of that right now, especially since I'm one of those "stupid" people that watches the Cubs every day. Anyway, all I'm saying is that Cubs fans are very loyal fans that will provide continually increasing revenue for the new owner.

Continue reading "CUBan bids how much?!"

Someone forgot to tell the NL West they were supposed to be the worst division in baseball last year.  Out of nowhere this division became arguably the best division in the league and had one of the most fantastic finishes in recent memory.  That play-in game was a game I will be talking about for years and I will never forget the Rockies historic run to the World Series.  This year promises to be another great race in this division.

Continue reading "Part III: NL West"

In spite of the Mitchell Report and the hearing with Roger Clemens, I refuse to give up on Major League Baseball. Sure, there were some bad apples. Think about it – every profession has its share of them! For me, I am looking forward to the new season for a few reasons.

Continue reading "5 Reasons to Look Forward to Baseball"

Call me a traitor to women everywhere, but I don’t want chocolates, flowers, or lingerie. Please don’t expect me to get excited about dinner and a movie. Don’t be surprised when I scoff at the notion of taking a limousine ride to some “romantic location”. Seriously, I won’t even get mad if you completely forget that it is Valentine’s Day. Chances are, I’ll forget myself until the day is almost over and I look at the date.

Continue reading "5 Things I Want for Valentine’s Day"

As we near the last – sniff – weekend of the NFL season to decide who is going to the Super Bowl, I realize that empty feeling is coming back. You dedicated fans know what I am talking about! It’s that feeling you get when your beloved jersey gets ripped, your lucky hat disappears, or the store is out of your favorite beer. Yep – that vacant, lonely feeling that begins to creep in this same time every year. Sure, we savor this last weekend and then spend two weeks planning for the big day. Afterward, we are numb and feign interest in the Pro Bowl, just kidding ourselves that it is an actual game.

Continue reading "It’s almost over!!!!"

Growing up in Los Angeles, the only team that anyone ever talked about when it came to the NBA was the Los Angeles Lakers. I remember the whole city being completely obsessed when it came to Lakers basketball. Billboards, commercials, and fast-food promotions further shoved the team into the forefront of everyone’s mind. Popular bands wrote songs about them and select celebrities lined the courtside seats.

Continue reading "Lakers? Clippers?"

While attending college at the University of Tampa, I noticed the awesome fact that the area is rich in professional sports! The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are relatively close to each other and easily accessible. The closest NBA was the Orlando Magic, but I got to catch a pre-season game at the Ice Palace one year. I felt really spoiled since I grew up in a place where everything was much more spread out and harder to get tickets for. To make things even better – there was plenty of golf and tennis around. I only wish the USF Bulls were as good as they are now when I was there. I didn’t complain though, I was able to go to the games free since my school didn’t have football. (They did at one time; John Matuszak is a U Tampa alum!)

Continue reading "Something's wrong with Tropicana Field?"

Surprise! Surprise! Guess what everyone; professional baseball players are using performance-enhancing drugs. Oh, the horror! Who’da thunk it?

Alright, before you all get on your high horse, let’s take a step back here and examine this closely. What everyone needs to realize is while San Fransicso Giants slugger Barry Bonds may have taken steroids to increase his power, these drugs do not manufacture hand-eye coordination. Remember that he was a more than adequate player beforehand that could already hit home runs – just not as frequently.

Continue reading "The Devil's Advocate..."