this appears to have triggered an existential crisis of some sort in my city.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:36 (fourteen years ago) link
haha really
i haven't noticed anything yet but i'm expecting some entertaining panic when we're still 5 out in september
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:44 (fourteen years ago) link
on 98-5 THE SPORTS HUB they were taking it as a huge screw you to the team/fans/city. on the sox board i read they're fully in defensive "he's a pussy/doesn't want to play for a winner" mode.
it's been great, really.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:47 (fourteen years ago) link
let's be clear: johnny damon is a complete dumbass, he's actually stupider than the average ballplayer. but he's a harmless dumbass and i take him at face value when he basically says hurt feelings are why he won't play here.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:49 (fourteen years ago) link
what's kind of strange is that i'm still excited for the playoffs even if the sox aren't in them. it's looking like there may be as many as 5 'small market' teams making it this year which is pretty cool.
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:51 (fourteen years ago) link
though i guess minnesota and texas are more 'mid-market' now but still
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:52 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah just gotta off the yanks
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 22:55 (fourteen years ago) link
Who else but Shaughnessy:
Think about it: For the next five weeks, you could live in downtown Boston and your wife could shop on Newbury Street. Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets. Is this really a tough call?Really. Why wouldn’t Damon come back to Boston?
Really. Why wouldn’t Damon come back to Boston?
Damon was worth every penny the Yankees paid him from 2006-09. He played hard and he played well for the full four years. In his final year of the contract, he hit .282 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs. Think Boston could have used that? It’s better than the sorry numbers posted by J.D. ($14 million per year) Drew.
Drew's Boston numbers: 498 games, 70 HR, 254 RBI, .273 AVG
Damon's NY numbers: 576 games, 77 HR, 296 RBI, .285 AVG
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/08/25/damon_must_have_his_reasons_but_what_are_they/
...
― Andy K, Thursday, 26 August 2010 03:20 (fourteen years ago) link
JD "Sorry Numbers" Drew's OBP and SLG, btw: both higher than Damon's.
― Andy K, Thursday, 26 August 2010 03:23 (fourteen years ago) link
JD also can throw a baseball from the outfield to home plate and has more range
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 August 2010 03:35 (fourteen years ago) link
no need to ruin this thread by posting/responding to shaughnessey d00ds
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 August 2010 03:49 (fourteen years ago) link
i love how shaughnessey is acting like damon chose to live in uganda or something
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 26 August 2010 04:04 (fourteen years ago) link
apparently detroit is currently a post-apocalyptic wasteland
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 August 2010 04:08 (fourteen years ago) link
― a cross between lily allen and fetal alcohol syndrome (milo z), Thursday, 26 August 2010 04:33 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, but their opening day payroll was like 55M so they're doing things the small-market way successfully. doesn't really matter to me what city they're in, just that they're getting results from a business model that would be sustainable by any of the 30 teams.
they'll probably be able to raise it up towards 100M next year though like the twins did this year
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 August 2010 04:37 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm amazed that shaughnessy still gets paid to write for a living. he's not just wrong on facts, he's mean-spirited. he stirs the pot, fantasizing about clubhouse rifts that don't exist. fuck dan shaughnessy forever.
― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 26 August 2010 12:26 (fourteen years ago) link
what is the DEAL with beckett? it's the same pattern every time. lights out for five or six innings then total implosion.
i'm starting to wonder if his greenies wear off then.
out of shape
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 August 2010 12:37 (fourteen years ago) link
pitchers are too stubborn to take themselves out of the game when they're out of gas
beckett's k/bb ratio is still quite good and that's one of the better predictors of pitching success. he's gonna end up with ugly numbers for this year but he should be ok going forward imo.
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 August 2010 13:23 (fourteen years ago) link
well it's the manager's call and fancona has pretty obviously been trying to steal innings with the starters because middle relief has sucked so hard.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 August 2010 13:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets.
apparently detroit is currently a post-apocalyptic wasteland― ciderpress, Thursday, August 26, 2010 12:08 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark
― ciderpress, Thursday, August 26, 2010 12:08 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark
i love this hack writer intimating that Damon lives in a nice condo amongst razed blocks and packs of wild dogs roaming in the streets. wonder if he believes his own bluster.
― sanskrit, Thursday, 26 August 2010 14:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I've actually been putting money lately on the 6th being the highest scoring inning, so often do either our or our opponents' pitchers give up a big inning in that frame.
― Mark C, Thursday, 26 August 2010 16:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Other than the first inning the sixth inning is the highest scoring inning, I believe.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, 26 August 2010 16:51 (fourteen years ago) link
first inning should be the highest scoring since its guaranteed to have the top of the order come up. unless the teams in question are mismanaged into having shitty-hitting speedsters at the top of the order.
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 August 2010 16:58 (fourteen years ago) link
huh. i would think middle innings would be highest scoring. you got either tiring starter they've seen a few times or bad middle reliever.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 August 2010 17:09 (fourteen years ago) link
No its first inning by far.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, 26 August 2010 17:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Has anyone ever done a breakdown of runs-per-inning by each spot in the order as the leadoff hitter?
Hard to phrase that.
― Andy K, Thursday, 26 August 2010 18:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Runs per inning in which the number-one hitter leads off:Runs per inning in which the number-two hitter leads off:
etc...
― Andy K, Thursday, 26 August 2010 18:15 (fourteen years ago) link
not sure how to do that, but the way lineups are generally constructed i'd expect the highest to be either 1 or 2, since most teams have their best hitters in 3 and 4
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 August 2010 18:45 (fourteen years ago) link
sportsguy33 I'm going to be 45 years old by the time Jon Lackey's contract ends. Just shoot me in the forehead.24 minutes ago via UberTwitter
― J0rdan S., Monday, 30 August 2010 02:31 (fourteen years ago) link
lackey almost stepped up today, but then he didn't
― call all destroyer, Monday, 30 August 2010 02:34 (fourteen years ago) link
gross
― ciderpress, Monday, 30 August 2010 02:51 (fourteen years ago) link
hot stove begins now
― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Monday, 30 August 2010 11:51 (fourteen years ago) link
tbh could probably send the exact same team out next year and win 95, this was just a down year, not a badly constructed team
― ciderpress, Monday, 30 August 2010 13:16 (fourteen years ago) link
― Andy K, Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:14 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark
There's a section in Thorn and Palmer's "The Hidden Game of Baseball" where they simulated a team's runs scored for various permutations of the batting order. IIRC, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 wasn't much better than 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, and the optimal order was some strange random thing. Anyway, that book is 25 years old, I'm sure others have studied this since then.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 30 August 2010 13:20 (fourteen years ago) link
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 wasn't much better than 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Maybe this wasn't clear ... they took a team's everyday players and instead of batting them 1-through-9, they batted 9-through-1, and they simulated the # of RS when they batted in that order for the entire season.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 30 August 2010 13:22 (fourteen years ago) link
i think if you do all the math & simulations out the optimal order isn't much different than the traditional batting order. the only weird thing i remember reading about it is that it's slightly more optimal to have your best two hitters at 2 and 4 instead of 3 and 4
― ciderpress, Monday, 30 August 2010 13:27 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, obv this depends on what type of hitters you have and how balanced the lineup is and all that. The case study in their book was probably really simplistic.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 30 August 2010 13:31 (fourteen years ago) link
i just noticed beltre is the only decent 3B free agent this offseason...not a fan of the idea of paying for 3-4 more years of him when he's not likely to hit this well ever again, but i dunno who else they're gonna find to play there
― ciderpress, Monday, 30 August 2010 17:21 (fourteen years ago) link
in fact, this year's free agent class is pretty weak overall. the only guys who are worth multi-year deals are crawford, lee, beltre, werth. almost everyone else is either bad, well into their 30s, an injury risk, or a relief pitcher
― ciderpress, Monday, 30 August 2010 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
There's a site that will run the order calculations for you by inputting OBP and SLG (obv imperfect)
IIRC, it usually comes down to:best leadoff man 1stbest overall hitter secondanother high OBP/low GIDP guy 3rdbest overall slugger 4th
worst hitter bats eighth
― a cross between lily allen and fetal alcohol syndrome (milo z), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 01:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Manny Delcarmen traded to the Rockies for some dude
― mayor jingleberries, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 20:14 (fourteen years ago) link
this dude
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Chris-Balcom-Miller.shtml
― mayor jingleberries, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 20:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Balcom-Miller, 21, has a 3.31 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and 1.6 BB/9 with three home runs allowed in 108.6 innings for the Rockies' Low A affiliate. Heading into the season Baseball America ranked him 16th among Rockies prospects, saying he "has the ceiling of a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter."
fine pickup for a reliever imo
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 20:25 (fourteen years ago) link
The Rockies are really going for it now.
― Andy K, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 20:33 (fourteen years ago) link
A lot more Rockies fans are distraught at this deal than pleased. Manny could be a decent reclamation project for the pitching staff which has repeatedly proved itself with players like Jorge De La Rosa, Jason Hammel, Matt Belisle among others. However, CB-M was playing well and projected solidly, and only the relative depth of pitching prospects on our affiliates softens the blow. Personally, from what little I know, I think it's a shrewd pick-up by Boston and a good reading of the Rockies farm.
― Mark C, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 20:52 (fourteen years ago) link
I read that he only throws in the upper 80s/mid 90s. Hes also a little bit old for A-ball. If I were a Rockies fan I wouldnt get bent out of shape. Still feel like the WC is going to be either Phillies or SF.
― mayor jingleberries, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 22:59 (fourteen years ago) link
by mid 90s I mean low 90s.
― mayor jingleberries, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 23:00 (fourteen years ago) link
yay manny d. is off our hands!
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 02:42 (fourteen years ago) link
MDC occasionally looked really dominant with that changeup, if someone can fix him to be like that all the time then you've probably got a good closer
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 03:51 (fourteen years ago) link