kickass media 2017

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/253726830/byron-buxton-leads-statcast-outs-above-average/

new metric: outs above average. leaderboard here: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/outs_above_average?type=player&year=2017&min=50

Jays fans--this one included--will flinch at Kevin Pillar ranked #102.

that's cool. they have 2016 in there, too (billy hamilton led the league)

xpost

jays ranked last in MLB, too, if you do it by team

Dave Fleming again, not James; looks at Ozzie Smith's MVP case in '87 vs. Andrelton Simmons' this year (specifically, a disconnect between the two).

http://www.billjamesonline.com/ozzie_and_the_mvp/

the plot holes of this season

Why is the best player so short?

Why is the other best player so tall?

Why does Robert Gsellman, a pitcher, have the league's best contact rate at the plate?

Pujols has been the least-valuable player in baseball, by WAR. And he has also been the third most clutch hitter in baseball? Cute conceit, but life doesn't really work that way.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20838192/mlb-season-115-recap-counted-27-head-scratching-plot-holes

One flap down: Remembering Jeffrey Leonard's incredible, unusual 1987 NLCS

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/jeffrey-leonard-1987-nlcs-mvp-one-flap-down-home-runs-video-giants-cardinals/t4ecro50b1e81aq9apfvv8egg

Michael Baumann on why liking the "plucky" Yankees is "an existential threat" to baseball and America. (30:45-37:00) (NSFW)

https://www.theringer.com/2017/10/19/16504990/the-yankees-comeback-the-dodgers-dominance-and-problems-with-playoff-managing

Daniel Marks' All-Coulda-Been Team:

C – Jason Kendall
1B – Hal Trosky
2B – Carlos Baerga
3B – Eric Chavez (but probably just keeping the spot warm for David Wright)
SS – Nomar Garciaparra
LF – Charlie Keller
CF – Pete Reiser
RF – Darryl Strawberry
P – Dwight Gooden

http://www.billjamesonline.com/rising_stars_falling_stars/

ESPN's Sam Miller writes about one of the more serious moral issues facing the game today:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21587602/to-fist-bump-not-fist-bump-do-players-deserve-reward-intentional-walk

ICYMI, great interview with '50s Pirates infielder-pitcher Johnny O'Brien (age 87, remembers everything)

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/effectively-wild-episode-1153-johnny-on-the-spot/

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/tht-annual-2018

wow

fields are shrinkin'

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ballpark-playing-surfaces-are-shrinking-in-a-surprising-way/

dr k

red = curve
blue = fastball
white = perfect alignment (410 in outfield for reference)

look at those release points, incredible pic.twitter.com/1q1opI2pN6

— cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) February 6, 2018

Love that kind of stuff. that Rivera NYMAG video where it had 1000 pitches all synced up was amazing

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-zaidi-fantasy-football-20180223-story.html

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/did-lenny-dykstra-extort-umpires/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/juiced-baseballs/

I saw that Dykstra story and didn't know where to put it. I was sure there was a "player police blotter" but I couldn't find it.