Category Archives: Baseball

Your super-early preview of the 2013 World Baseball Classic Round of 16

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Major League Baseball has released when, who and where the main World Baseball Classic will be. So, as one of the internet’s only sources for WBC news and analysis (based on the large number of hits I get from people searching for World Baseball Classic), I will now give you my early analysis of the pools. Where I have done projections for the teams, I’ll post a link to them.

First off, one thing of note is that the first round will be pool play, but the second round will be double-elimation. After that, it’s single-elimination in the Semis and the Finals.

So… GO AFTER THE JUMP FOR MY EARLY ANALYSIS!

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Great Baseball Lies: The Number of Hits Ty Cobb Had

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On September 11, 1985, Pete Rose got his 4,192nd base hit, passing the immortal Ty Cobb for most hits in MLB history.

Except… he probably had already passed him a few days earlier, on September 8, 1985 at Wrigley Field. You see, earlier in the decade, somebody had found that, at one point, a game Ty Cobb had played in 1910 had been counted twice. However, the marketing machine and narrative about Rose was heating up, and the number of 4191 had such a nice ring to it and had been the established number for decades, so commissioner Bowie Kuhn declared that 4191 would remain the MLB record for hits (until Rose broke it, of course).
However, Baseball Reference says differently, as do most other non-MLB sources. Therefore, I am declaring Ty Cobb’s “4191” hit total one of baseball’s great lies.

Analyzing the “42” Trailer Far Too Closely

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While certainly there is plenty to talk about today, whether it’s the Pirates’ crazy player development “training” or the whole thing about Melky Cabrera, but instead, I’m going to be putting a spotlight on something else: a movie trailer.

The trailer, to be more specific, for 42.  As the title and the fact you are on a baseball blog suggests, it is a movie about Jackie Robinson. It has a good pedigree, written (and directed) by Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland, and with Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey. Emmy nominee Christopher Meloni plays Leo Durocher. Somewhat wisely, Robinson himself will be played an unknown names named Chadwick Boseman, who’s previous roles have been on TV and an appearance as Floyd Little in the Ernie Davis biopic, The Express. A good move, really, as I worry that if a “star” were to be playing Robinson, it would overtake the story of Jackie Robinson. Let me put it another way: If Will Smith were 15-20 years younger and was cast in this movie, people would be watching the movie thinking about Will Smith, not Jackie Robinson. And that would not be a good thing.

Anyway, here’s the trailer. After it (and the jump), my thoughts:

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Random Video of the Undetermined Amount of Time: The Spider-Man Catch

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A few years ago, Masato Akamatsu of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp made one of the greatest catches in baseball history. I recently stumbled across it again, so here it is:

You can see, of course, why it’s been called the “Spider-Man Catch”.

The Joy, Misery and Oddity of the Late-Night Baseball Game

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I, like many Americans, live in the Eastern Time Zone of the country. Games in the east start at seven, give or take. Central games start up at eight. The west coast games get started at ten. While I usually fall asleep by the time the West is done, I’m sometimes able to stay up through all of it if I want to see the game.

Last night was not a night where I was able to, even though I was interested in what would happen with the Orioles-Mariners game. I couldn’t do it though, I fell asleep. Sweet, sweet… sleep.

Until about 2:45 this morning, when my dog woke me up. And so, as I let the sleepless canine out to go to the bathroom, I turned on SportsCenter to find out what had happened in the Orioles-Mariners game… only to find out that it was still going on, heading into what I like to call “deep extras.” “Deep extras” is my term for any extra inning game that goes past 12 innings, at which point the bullpens are starting to become completely and utterly depleted and you start half-hoping the game would just end but also oddly wish it never will. It’s sort of the baseball version of Stockholm Syndrome.  I decided I’d keep watching… but quickly fell back to sleep.

Thankfully (or not), I was awoken by the dog- again- around 3:30. Maybe 3:45. As I sat downstairs waiting for the dog to finish his business, I turned on the game, expecting that the MLB Extra Innings would declare “HAVE A NICE NIGHT!” to indicate the game was over. But, nope, it was still going, and not only that, but the Orioles had taken the lead. By the time the dog was back in, the Orioles had won, 4-2, to pull even with the Yankees for the AL East title for a time.

It was, for lack of a word, surreal. And that’s the thing about late-night baseball games: there is the joy at the fact that there is baseball on, there is misery due to the fact you are up way too late… and it’s just odd when a game goes 18 innings, no matter when it started.

Early Look at the Panama City and Taipei pools of the WBC

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Okay, now the other two qualifying pools for the WBC don’t get started until November (as opposed to the first two, which are coming up THIS VERY WEEK), but I think it’s a good idea to do an early look at them:

The PANAMA CITY pool features Panama, Brazil, Nicaragua and Colombia. This is, by far, the best qualifying group. All four of these countries had at least one MLB player active this season, three of them have professional leagues (although admittedly the Panamanian, Nicaraguan and Colombian leagues are often in a financially fragile position), and the fact the group is in November means MLB players will be able to take part. It is also, in international sports parlance, a “group of death”. A “group of death” is a group that is so talented or evenly-matched that there is almost no margin for error. This is the group that has the best worst team (Brazil, which has produced more minor leaguers than you’d think) and a best team (Panama) that, while the favorite, is definitely beatable. I did projections for Panama earlier this year, so you can look there to get an idea of who they will be sending in. Colombia will likely have the Solano brothers of Donovan (a 2B/Utility with the Marlins this season) and Jhonathan (a catcher with the Nationals, although injuries may sideline him), as well as pitchers like Ernesto Frieri, Jose Quintana, Julio Teheran and perhaps a coming-out-of-retirement-for-his-country Edgar Renteria. Nicaragua could have young Mariners organization pitcher Erasmo Ramirez joined by the Padres’ 25-year-old SS Everth Cabrera and veteran pitchers Wilton Lopez and Vicente Padilla. Even Brazil could have a MLB-experienced player in Yan Gomes, who became the first Brazil-born MLB player earlier this year when he made his debut with the Blue Jays. It should be a highly competitive and entertaining pool, and although I think either Panama or Colombia will emerge from it, there are plenty of question marks around it and I wouldn’t be that surprised if any of the teams involved got through (okay, I would be pretty surprised if Brazil got through, but it wouldn’t be as surprising as, say, France or the Czech Republic getting through).

On the other hand, though, the TAIPEI pool of Taipei, New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines will be the most lopsided of all of the pool. Chinese Taipei (not called Taiwan in international competition due to political considerations) will win this group. Even if New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines were to pool their resources and throw out a combined team against Taipei, Taipei would win. The only reason Taipei is even having to qualify is because in 2009 they had a game against China in which they played their worst game and China played it’s best. However, Taipei shouldn’t have that problem against their pool, even if the other three get substantial help from passport players.

More detailed previews will be in the future.

World Baseball Classic Qualifier Preview: Regensburg (Germany, Canada, Czech Republic, Great Britain)

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As I have previously mentioned, the World Baseball Classic’s qualifying rounds are about to start. I have, of course, done extensive projections for many of the already-qualified teams, but I am also doing overviews for each qualifying pool as rosters are released. This time: the pool in Regensburg, Germany.
Go after the jump. All rosters are from Baseball America.

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World Baseball Classic Qualifier Preview: Jupiter, Florida (Israel, Spain, France and South Africa)

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The World Baseball Classic starts soon! Well, the qualifiers do, anyway. For the first time ever, there are four qualification pools to decide who reaches the Round of 16. Two of those pools- in Panama and Taipei- will be in November. But first there are two pools that start in about a week. One of them is in Jupiter, Florida (mainly because the teams in it don’t exactly have baseball fields in their countries) and the other is in Regensburg, Germany. The Jupiter pool starts slightly before the Germany pool, so I’ll be covering that one first, covering the baseball heritage (or, in some cases, lack thereof) of the the countries and looking at their teams and chances.

So, go after the jump for my preview of the 2012 WBC Qualifier in Jupiter, Florida. All rosters are from Baseball America.

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For Sale: The Boston Red Sox?

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Earlier this season, a rumor came out the the Yankees might for sale. So I decided to come up with a sales pitch for the team. Now, the Red Sox have been rumored to be on sale. They probably aren’t, but, what the heck:
Are you in the market for one of Major League Baseball’s flagship franchises, playing in it’s oldest stadium? Are you ready to take on a fixer-upper job that will require you to banish memories of chicken wings, beer and one of the biggest collapses in sports history from the mind of fans? Do you like hanging out with celebrities like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Stephen King and Doug Flutie? Do you have a few billion dollars on hand?

Then you may be the ideal candidate to own the Boston Red Sox, founded in 1901. Current owner John Henry has been having problems of late juggling his ownership of the team with ventures in the European market and in the South, forcing him to place the club on the market. Included in the deal is Fenway Park (a beautiful example of early-20th century stadium design), large shares of the NESN network, access to Wally the Green Monster, and the contracts to all current Red Sox players and personnel. Yes, even Bobby Valentine. 

To apply, please call Fenway Park. Ask for Papi.

The Best Hitting Pitchers in Baseball

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Davey Johnson has said, possibly jokingly, that Stephen Strasburg might still see game action as a pinch-hitter. It’s not as crazy an idea as you’d think, as Strasburg was hitting .277 with a home run this season, but it does bring the crazy question to mind of who is the best hitting pitcher in baseball right now? Okay, maybe it doesn’t bring that crazy question to your mind, but I bet it is in your mind now. Ha!

One thing about most pitchers in the majors is that they probably aren’t really bad hitters, just bad major league hitters. Many of them probably played in the field during high school and maybe even college, and probably were pretty good hitters. It’s just that once they get to professional ranks they are facing far more difficult pitching and, what’s more, are focusing far more on pitching than they are hitting. Not as much time in the batting cage, not as much time trying to figure out those curve-balls, and not as much time studying game-tape of the next day’s starter. The result is, of course, that the average MLB pitcher is good only for a sac bunt or maybe a lucky single.

However, there are some exceptions:

(JUMP)

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