Category Archives: Baseball

UPDATE!

Aside

I contacted Ben Blatt, who wrote the subject of yesterday’s post, and it turns out they are going to try and update it.

Huzzah!

The “Slate” tool to find out the connections between Athletes is WRONG!

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You’ve probably seen this page pop up on your Twitter feed today. It’s a cool thing from Slate in which you can find how sports players are connected. For example, they use the example that Tom Brady and Kevin Garnett are within six degrees of each other, due to playing with people who had played with multi-sport athletes.

However, it is far from perfect. For example, it treats Jim Thorpe as two people (a baseball player and a football player), a grave error considering that he is one of the greatest athletes of all time. For another, there is an outright false statement that is seemingly also built into the tool. And I quote:

Hockey is the opposite, as there has never been a pro hockey player who also played top-level basketball, football, or baseball. As a result, hockey is a closed system. But once you get off the ice, it’s possible to link every pro baseball, basketball, and football star.

This is, of course, completely wrong, as there has actually been one player who played both baseball and hockey on the highest level. In fact, I wrote about him at one point: his name was Jim Riley.

Sadly, as of this writing, author Ben Blatt and Slate have yet to fix this. But, I can’t blame them, can I? I mean, Jim Riley is very obscure, and if not for the fact that he is the one person to play in both MLB and NHL, he would have been completely forgotten.

Still, I hope that they fix it. After all, I want to see how all of the ProStars connect together.

In which I sum up the retirement of Jim Leyland in one tweet:

Aside

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 20, 2013

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Baseball-related headlines from the Newseum:

Story: Red Sox win Game 6, advance to World Series

Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT): A GRAND VICTORY

Honolulu Star-Advertiser: VICTORINO GRAND SLAM SENDS BOSTON TO THE WORLD SERIES

Boston Globe: The improbable dream team soars into World Series

Boston Herald: VICTORINO LAP!

Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): WE’RE BACK, BABY

Metro West Daily News (Framingham, Mass.): AIN’T IT GRAND

Cape Cod Times: GRAND FINALE

Detroit Free Press: SLAMMED SHUT

La Prensa (Managua, Nicarauga): Del sótano a la Serie Mundial (Roughly “From the basement to the World Series”)

(There were also plenty of other front page headlines, including some from Mexico, Venezuela and Asian countries, but they were all either rather generic or in a script that I can’t put into a Google translator. Oh, there was also some headline from Mexico that seemed to be about how a government official was in Boston watching the playoffs, but I wasn’t sure enough to include it.)

My Votes in Baseball Prospectus’ “2013 Internet Baseball Awards”

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Baseball Prospectus runs the Internet Baseball Awards, the oldest such internet-voted awards in baseball, open to anyone with any type of account at Prospectus. Amazingly though, this is the first year I’m actually voting in them. I have no idea why. I think it may be because I never got around to getting one of the free accounts at BP. I am ashamed.

Anyway, here’s how I voted this year (using a combination of statistics, my own eyes, and a bit of my gut), and keep in mind that you too can vote:

AL MVP (in order): Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Josh Donaldson, Chris Davis, Robinson Cano, Max Scherzer, Evan Longoria, Manny Machado, Felix Hernandez, Ben Zobrist.

I pick Cabrera over Trout, Donaldson and Davis due to his importance to the team, despite the fact that under advanced statistics Trout and Donaldson both had better years, WAR-wise. In addition, I have to wonder how well Cabrera might have been if he was healthy all season instead of completely hobbled in the final weeks. Also, it’s what my gut says. And my gut is stupid like this.

NL MVP (in order): Andrew McCutchen, Paul Goldschmidt, Carlos Gomez, Matt Carpenter, Clayton Kershaw, Joey Votto, Yadier Molina, Jose Fernandez, Cliff Lee, Andrelton Simmons

This is far less based on gut and far more based on statistics. Andrelton Simmons’ place in 10th is more because of his great fielding play, by the way.

AL Cy Young (in order): Max Scherzer, Felix Hernandez, Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Anibal Sanchez

Not that much I have to justify here. Note: Iwakuma would have won the “Cy Underrated” award, if such a thing existed.

NL Cy Young (in order): Clayton Kershaw, Jose Fernandez, Cliff Lee, Adam Wainwright, Matt Harvey

Like the AL Cy Young, there isn’t much I have to justify here, especially at the very top. I was originally thinking of having Fernandez be four or five and perhaps Wainwright be two or three, but I’m feeling confident in this ordering and the stats more-or-less back me up. More-or-less.

AL Rookie of the Year (in order): Wil Myers, Jose Iglesias, Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, David Lough

The AL batch of newcomers this year was sort of “meh”, especially when compared to the National League.

NL Rookie of the Year (in order): Jose Fernandez, Yasiel Puig, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Gerrit Cole, Julio Teheran

Michael Wacha would probably be on this list if I included the postseason.

AL Manager of the Year (in order): John Farrell, Joe Girardi, Terry Francona

NL Manager of the Year (in order): Clint Hurdle, Don Mattingly, Mike Matheny

Manager voting is more-or-less based entirely on gut and impressions… so, uh, this is what my impression of how these guys did and what my gut tells me.

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 19, 2013)

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Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers are easy to pick: Shane Victorino, who hit the Grand Slam that ultimately gave the Red Sox their ticket to the Fall Classic, and Koji Uehara, who again shut down the opponent and won the ALCS MVP award.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Koji Uehara– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

PP Shane Victorino– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP David Ortiz– 8

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli– 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Jon Lester– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 18, 2013)

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This is easy: Michael Wacha and Carlos Beltran, as they led the Cardinals to another World Series in last night’s blowout win over the Dodgers.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

P Koji Uehara– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP David Ortiz– 8

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP Shane Victorino– 6

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli- 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Jon Lester– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 17, 2013)

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Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers both come from the Red Sox: Mike Napoli, who went 3-4 with a HR, and Koji Uehara for his 5-out save with two Ks.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

P Justin Verlander– 14

PP Carlos Beltran– 11

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

P Koji Uehara– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP David Ortiz– 8

P Michael Wacha– 8

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP Shane Victorino– 6

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli- 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Jon Lester– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 16, 2013)

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Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers:

In Dodgers-Cardinals, the Mr. Octobers were Adrian Gonzalez (two HRs) and Zack Greinke (7 IP, 2 ER), as they forced a Game 6.

Meanwhile, in the Tigers-Red Sox game, the Mr. Octobers were Austin Jackson, who broke out of a slump that dropped him to 8th in the order with two hits, two walks, and two RBIs, and Doug Fister, who struck out seven in six innings on the mound.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

P Justin Verlander– 14

PP Carlos Beltran– 11

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP David Ortiz– 8

P Michael Wacha– 8

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

P Koji Uehara– 6

PP Shane Victorino– 6

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson- 5

P Doug Fister- 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Jon Lester– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 15, 2013)

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Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers:

In the Red Sox-Tigers game, we must again give out two pitching awards, as both starters, John Lackey and Justin Verlander, were superb. It’s bogus that Verlander got the loss in yesterday’s game, but that’s just part of the problem with the Win and Loss stat, as Brian Kenny would no doubt agree.

As for the NLCS game between the Cardinals and Dodgers, the Mr. Octobers are Matt Holliday (who had a big 2-run HR), and Carlos Martinez, who threw two good innings of relief.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

P Justin Verlander– 14

PP Carlos Beltran– 11

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP David Ortiz– 8

P Michael Wacha– 8

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

P Koji Uehara– 6

PP Shane Victorino– 6

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Zack Greinke– 5

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez- 5

P John Lackey- 5

P Sonny Gray-3

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Jon Lester– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1