NASA baseball crossover
When the Spirit team saw the Mars study site from space, they they nicknamed it “Home Plate” because it resembled the baseball plate.
“We arrived at Home Plate and we decided to use a baseball theme for the targets that we were studying,” Ruff said. “It’s a way to actually help remember things more easily than alphanumeric.”
The scientists chose obscure rather than common baseball references. Ruff said naming conventions are often used to honor people and places in the Earth’s history.
For example, the study subjects “Elizabeth Mahon” and “Norma Luker” were named for two Kenosha Comets players and are featured in the findings of Ruff and Jack D. Farmer, published in the Nov. 17 edition of Nature Communications.
Ruff provided a list of player, team and ballpark names from the Negro leagues and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (from “A League Of Their Own” fame) that have been or will be used to identify subjects on Mars. We have linked biographical information for each one....
http://science.kjzz.org/content/414047/mars-site-nasa-scientists-used-obscure-baseball-history-cover-their-bases
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 5 January 2017 18:02 (seven years ago) link
p good Lindbergh interview w/ Dan Haren, especially re facing Bonds, Sheffield, Vlad, Manny
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=30959
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 January 2017 12:38 (seven years ago) link
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/u/images/padreschoose1.png
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=31070
― mookieproof, Monday, 30 January 2017 20:04 (seven years ago) link
Scientists looked at 20 years of data to determine the effect of jet lag on baseball performance. They found that speed skills suffer the most, which results in a decrease in doubles, triples, and stolen bases.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/jet-lag-puts-baseball-players-their-game?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=jetball-10792
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 05:26 (seven years ago) link
$12,000 a year: A minor leaguer takes his fight for fair pay public
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/01/minor-league-baseball-pay-fair-labor-standards-act-minimum-wage-lawsuit-kyle-johnson
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 31 January 2017 17:11 (seven years ago) link
https://theringer.com/baseball-mlb-npb-ham-fighters-shohei-otani-takuya-nakashima-6a0e7d22d39f#.aab2586yt
― na (NA), Wednesday, 15 February 2017 17:55 (seven years ago) link
yeah, that guy
not playin' in the WBC tho?
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 15 February 2017 18:16 (seven years ago) link
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-10-facebook-comments-tell-the-story-of-dexter-fowler-the-cardinals-and-america-in-2017-171623704.html
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 15:06 (seven years ago) link
amazing baseball testimony
http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/3/1/14782586/jose-abreu-ate-fake-passport-cuba-usa-white-sox
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Friday, 3 March 2017 15:45 (seven years ago) link
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/the-surprising-places-mlb-teams-get-their-information-from-in-the-post-moneyball-era
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 8 March 2017 00:16 (seven years ago) link
i think it was a Kinatrax guy i saw do a pres at SABR maybe 3 years ago
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 8 March 2017 02:02 (seven years ago) link
having all this data is neat
it's also taylorism on a level i wouldn't likely support anywhere else
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 8 March 2017 02:17 (seven years ago) link
Rob Manfred Doesn't LoseThe MLB commissioner got the job because he’s a ruthless negotiator, and both veterans and minor leaguers are now paying the price
― mookieproof, Thursday, 9 March 2017 16:30 (seven years ago) link
http://deadspin.com/how-to-get-into-the-kbo-the-wildest-most-outlandish-b-1793523523a good overview of all the teams in the KBO
― na (NA), Tuesday, 28 March 2017 15:57 (seven years ago) link
the new frontier in scouting
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/baseballs-next-moneyball-concept-turning-internet-writers-into-prospect-scouts/
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 March 2017 11:43 (seven years ago) link
Brisbee looks at game length; perhaps best for the Harry Caray quotes
http://www.sbnation.com/a/mlb-2017-season-preview/game-length
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 1 April 2017 00:44 (seven years ago) link
Russell Carleton on The Shift's efficacy (I think this article is free):
"The idea that The Shift is having a profound effect on the game, at least statistically, is over-played. The evidence we have available is that—compared to what that hitter and pitcher would have done otherwise—we’re seeing mostly the same outcomes.
"I don’t think The Shift is unsalvageable from a strategic standpoint. For example, there’s probably nothing about the fact that there are three infielders on the right side that increases line-drive rate. The active ingredient there could be the way in which a pitcher changes his approach when pitching in front of The Shift. Maybe that’s also the reason for the increase in called balls. Maybe there’s a way to work with pitchers to neutralize some of that."
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=31512
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 4 April 2017 17:01 (seven years ago) link
Any ESPN baseball writers other than Stark get laid off?
(Obviously the layoffs are not media of the ass-kicking variety.)
― Andy K, Wednesday, 26 April 2017 18:11 (seven years ago) link
@richarddeitschFrom multiple sources: Do not be surprised if ESPN uses some of MLB Network's studio programming heading forward. Details? Do not know yet.
Can they just take HR and Intentional Talk?
― Andy K, Wednesday, 26 April 2017 18:45 (seven years ago) link
http://deadspin.com/a-running-list-of-espn-layoffs-1794664091
― Andy K, Wednesday, 26 April 2017 20:37 (seven years ago) link
sports and/or sport writing
discussing a bit over here
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 26 April 2017 20:38 (seven years ago) link
Jayson Stark will be hired by MLB Network within a week. they won't let the opportunity go by unless he wants to do something else.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 27 April 2017 01:59 (seven years ago) link
i see Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney survived.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 27 April 2017 02:00 (seven years ago) link
ESPN's baseball coverage sucks. MLB's handwringing (at least in some media stories) over not having 'stars' is a big reason because ESPN really does such a terrible job covering the sport. Not that Olney or Kurkjian are bad, it's more in amount of time the sport is covered. They got actual sport to talk about and spend too much dead time covering off the field football and basketball nonsense.
― earlnash, Thursday, 27 April 2017 04:12 (seven years ago) link
http://deadspin.com/a-conversation-with-gift-ngoepe-your-new-favorite-base-1794721065
― mookieproof, Friday, 28 April 2017 00:15 (seven years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-play-with-new-defensive-data/
early results of new statcast data
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 2 May 2017 01:34 (seven years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/eric-thames-and-the-transformative-power-of-boredom
― mookieproof, Thursday, 11 May 2017 15:48 (seven years ago) link
weird/fun: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19522870/major-league-litter-strategic-bat-toss-turn-trash-treasure
odd that he didn't mention russell martin hitting shin-soo choo's bat in that magical playoff inning tho
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 21:49 (six years ago) link
http://www.hardballtimes.com/wade-boggs-rickey-henderson-and-the-fly-ball-that-disappeared/
― Karl Malone, Monday, 12 June 2017 19:06 (six years ago) link
The Juiced Ball Is Back
Mitchel Lichtman, my coauthor on this article, is a former consultant to MLB teams, the creator of ultimate zone rating, and the coauthor of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Late last year, Lichtman commissioned independent ball-testing in an effort to confirm or refute the altered-ball hypothesis. First, he purchased 36 game-used MLB balls from eBay, each of which was authenticated for a particular game with an official MLB collector’s holographic sticker. Seventeen of the balls were used in games played prior to the 2015 All-Star break, ranging from May 2014 to July 2015. Nine were used in games in either August or September 2015, and the remaining 10 were used in May, June, or July 2016. The balls seemed to be in good condition, and the three groups were indistinguishable from each other by outward appearance and feel.
Lichtman sent the balls to one of the few facilities capable of rigorous testing, the Sports Science Lab at Washington State University. There, the balls’ CORs were tested by firing them at 120 mph into a steel cylinder, six times each, which is considered the closest approximation of in-game collisions that wouldn’t destroy the ball. The lab also measured the circumference and weight of the balls, the height of their seams, and their dynamic stiffness (a more sciency way to say “hardness”). Before testing, all of the balls were stored for two weeks in a humidor with constant temperature and humidity to ensure consistent conditions, and randomly coded so that no one at the lab knew which balls came from each lot. (Lichtman kept the key that matched codes to baseballs.)
The testing revealed significant differences in balls used after the 2015 All-Star break in each of the components that could affect the flight of the ball, in the directions we would have expected based on the massive hike in home run rate. While none of these attributes in isolation could explain the increase in home runs that we saw in the summer of 2015, in combination, they can....
https://theringer.com/amp/p/155cd21108bc?gi=a8b1a0e13653
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 June 2017 16:51 (six years ago) link
In 2017, Latinos represent over one in four players in MLB and have shaped America's pastime as much as it has shaped them. We asked prospects, starters and future Hall of Famers to share their stories and perspectives. What is it like to learn a new language, crack the game's code of unwritten rules and deal with political turmoil in the United States and back home? Here is their béisbol experience.
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19625385/beisbol-experience-mlb-50-man-interview
― Andy K, Monday, 19 June 2017 14:50 (six years ago) link
good but kind of depressing. mlb/milb really still has that little supportive infrastructure for latino players?
― na (NA), Monday, 19 June 2017 18:49 (six years ago) link
I really used to enjoy reading Cliff Corcoran's monthly awards round-up in Sports Illustrated--didn't realize he was let go last August.
http://cliffcorcoran.com/2016/08/31/farewell-to-si-com/
― clemenza, Saturday, 24 June 2017 13:23 (six years ago) link
If you care, he's writing regularly at Sports on Earth now--but he seems to have dropped the Awards Watch column.
― clemenza, Saturday, 24 June 2017 13:46 (six years ago) link
Exhaustive post-season walk-off roundup:
http://www.billjamesonline.com/postseason_pendulums_-_part_2_-_the_walk_offs/
― clemenza, Sunday, 25 June 2017 17:15 (six years ago) link
Which makes me wonder: is Bautista's bat-flip HR the most famous non-walk-off post-season HR ever? There must be something more famous.
― clemenza, Sunday, 25 June 2017 17:18 (six years ago) link
Reggie Jackson's third homer in that World Series game probably takes the cake
― black covfefe in bed (voodoo chili), Sunday, 25 June 2017 17:39 (six years ago) link
That's a good one. I'd call those two about even (hard to compare pre-internet fame with post-).
― clemenza, Sunday, 25 June 2017 18:04 (six years ago) link
Ruth's called shot, even though it exists, if it all, in the ether.
Bernie Carbo's game-tying HR in the Fisk game looms large if you saw it, otherwise probably forgotten.
― clemenza, Sunday, 25 June 2017 19:05 (six years ago) link
a vote for the pujols homer that broke brad lidge
― mookieproof, Sunday, 25 June 2017 19:19 (six years ago) link
The piece makes mention that Bobby Thomson's HR isn't counted as post-season. Otherwise, I think you could reasonably argue that the two most famous post-season HR--one a walk-off, the other not--came in tiebreak games: Thomson and Bucky Dent.
― clemenza, Monday, 26 June 2017 02:59 (six years ago) link
Mazeroski prob most meaningful outside the BOS-NY corridor, at least pre-expansion
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Monday, 26 June 2017 14:51 (six years ago) link
Almost nobody noticed it, but a major league team changed its name prior to the 2016 season. Slipped into a team style sheet was a detail almost nobody noticed until this June: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim dropped the “of Anaheim” label and returned to the name “Los Angeles Angels” for the first time since the club moved away from Dodger Stadium in 1965.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/the-absurd-history-of-the-los-angeles-angels-of-anaheim/
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 22 July 2017 16:50 (six years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mid-season-park-factor-update/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 3 August 2017 21:17 (six years ago) link
http://ken.arneson.name/2017/08/sonny-gray-and-the-collective-bargaining-agreement/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 6 August 2017 09:30 (six years ago) link
Very enlightening and funny interview with Fernando Perez, who you may remember scored the winning walk-off run for Tampa Bay in 2008 ALCS Game 2. (also the first Latino Ivy Leaguer in MLB) Topics include the utility of batting practice.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/effectively-wild-episode-1093-live-at-the-bell-house-with-fernando-perez/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 16:36 (six years ago) link
he is awesome
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 18:26 (six years ago) link
He is! Needs a regular TV job.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 19:26 (six years ago) link
there's a great Grantland joke in that podcast pace Ben Lindbergh
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 9 August 2017 02:13 (six years ago) link
Feel bad for traveling beat writers who have to record post-game videos from hotel rooms.
― Andy K, Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:47 (six years ago) link
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20294816/skunk-outfield-how-most-epic-trick-play-history-broke-baseball
― mookieproof, Thursday, 17 August 2017 14:32 (six years ago) link
I like this piece a lot as an illustration of the idea that a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Not everyone will.
http://www.billjamesonline.com/of_war_walhalla_and_the_right_to_think/
1. Lou Whitaker was a better player than Lou Brock.2. Lou Brock is a better Hall of Famer than Lou Whitaker.
― clemenza, Friday, 1 September 2017 15:38 (six years ago) link
1. those are not opposed ideas2. if, after that tweet, you call james a first-rate intelligence about anything other than baseball i am going fly to toronto and put a dead mouse in your two-four
― mookieproof, Friday, 1 September 2017 16:05 (six years ago) link
James didn't write that. (And yes, I exclude politics--and music--from James's domain of first-rate intelligence.)
― clemenza, Friday, 1 September 2017 16:22 (six years ago) link
(I do think many people would see those two statements as incompatible.)
― clemenza, Friday, 1 September 2017 16:23 (six years ago) link
spoonerized names2, via brisbee
― mookieproof, Saturday, 2 September 2017 01:16 (six years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/protecting-players-against-big-data
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 September 2017 01:45 (six years ago) link
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=32646
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 September 2017 23:31 (six years ago) link
Alex Wood and the evolving starter/reliever dynamic
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20604315/why-every-starting-pitcher-turning-alex-wood
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 10 September 2017 16:08 (six years ago) link
Royals star Amos Otis to reunite with boys (now men) he aided during ’77 Plaza flood
Forty years to the day that Amos Otis came to the aid of eight boys stranded by the historic Sept. 12, 1977 “Plaza flood,” the former Royals Gold Glove outfielder will for the first time meet some of those boys again face-to-face.Those boys, of course, are now men in their 50s and include now 54-year-old Missouri state Rep. Richard Brown. At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday Brown is set to hand Otis a framed proclamation that honors him as a Good Samaritan for an act of kindness that deeply affected Brown.Prior to becoming a state legislator, Brown had been a teacher in the Kansas City public schools for 24 years. He said that Otis’ assistance on the day that 25 people in the Kansas City area lost their lives set a pattern for him to help children as if they were his own.
Those boys, of course, are now men in their 50s and include now 54-year-old Missouri state Rep. Richard Brown. At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday Brown is set to hand Otis a framed proclamation that honors him as a Good Samaritan for an act of kindness that deeply affected Brown.
Prior to becoming a state legislator, Brown had been a teacher in the Kansas City public schools for 24 years. He said that Otis’ assistance on the day that 25 people in the Kansas City area lost their lives set a pattern for him to help children as if they were his own.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article172635626.html
― Andy K, Tuesday, 12 September 2017 01:41 (six years ago) link
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
― k3vin k., Thursday, 14 September 2017 23:51 (six years ago) link
Jays fans--this one included--will flinch at Kevin Pillar ranked #102.
― clemenza, Friday, 15 September 2017 00:11 (six years ago) link
that's cool. they have 2016 in there, too (billy hamilton led the league)
― Karl Malone, Friday, 15 September 2017 00:28 (six years ago) link
xpost
jays ranked last in MLB, too, if you do it by team
― Karl Malone, Friday, 15 September 2017 00:29 (six years ago) link
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/
― clemenza, Sunday, 17 September 2017 14:21 (six years ago) link
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
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 28 September 2017 15:26 (six years ago) link
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
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 19:57 (six years ago) link
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
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 October 2017 11:41 (six years ago) link
Daniel Marks' All-Coulda-Been Team:
C – Jason Kendall1B – Hal Trosky2B – Carlos Baerga3B – Eric Chavez (but probably just keeping the spot warm for David Wright)SS – Nomar GarciaparraLF – Charlie KellerCF – Pete ReiserRF – Darryl StrawberryP – Dwight Gooden
http://www.billjamesonline.com/rising_stars_falling_stars/
― clemenza, Friday, 10 November 2017 21:51 (six years ago) link
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
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 1 December 2017 06:07 (six years ago) link
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/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 26 December 2017 15:20 (six years ago) link
https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/tht-annual-2018
― mookieproof, Thursday, 25 January 2018 20:36 (six years ago) link
wow
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 25 January 2018 20:58 (six years ago) link
fields are shrinkin'
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ballpark-playing-surfaces-are-shrinking-in-a-surprising-way/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 30 January 2018 17:10 (six years ago) link
dr k
red = curveblue = fastball white = perfect alignment (410 in outfield for reference)look at those release points, incredible pic.twitter.com/1q1opI2pN6— cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) February 6, 2018
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 6 February 2018 21:20 (six years ago) link
Love that kind of stuff. that Rivera NYMAG video where it had 1000 pitches all synced up was amazing
― YouTube_-_funy_cats.flv (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 7 February 2018 06:06 (six years ago) link
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-zaidi-fantasy-football-20180223-story.html
― mookieproof, Friday, 23 February 2018 20:14 (six years ago) link
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/did-lenny-dykstra-extort-umpires/
― i remember the corned beef of my childhood (Karl Malone), Saturday, 24 February 2018 01:00 (six years ago) link
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/juiced-baseballs/
― omar little, Thursday, 1 March 2018 17:58 (six years ago) link
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.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 1 March 2018 19:23 (six years ago) link