Maybe it was the Olympics. Maybe it was because the 2-Wild Card format means more teams are “in it”, but this seemed a rather underwhelming trade deadline. While it wasn’t quite as boring as what Glen Perkins was saying it was, it was hardly a call back to some of the great Trade Deadlines of lore. So, let’s take a look at some of the trades that went down today (after the jump):
Ben Sheets first came into the eyes of casual baseball viewers when he stunned the Cubans with a complete game shutout for the Olympic Gold. And, as I stated earlier, he has seemingly resurrected his career this year.
Last night, Sheets got his third win in as many games for the Braves. Upon hearing this, I said (or, rather, tweeted):
It’s an Olympic Year. Ben Sheets does well in those.
— Dan J. Glickman (@DanJGlickman) July 28, 2012
This led me to wonder if it was indeed true, and if, indeed, Ben Sheets does better in Olympic years (AKA Leap Years, AKA Presidential Election Years). If I were a member of SABR, and if SABR gave out a version of the Ig Nobel Prize, I would totally be on my way to getting one. More after the jump.
Last night was a good night for rookies making their MLB debut.
Starling Marte, a well-regarded prospect for the ascendant Pirates, instantly made an impact. By “instantly”, I mean literally the first pitch he saw, which he sent over the fence. He’s the first to do it since Kaz Matsui did it in his North American debut in 2004 (it was, in many ways, all downhill from there for Kaz Matsui).
That was impressive. Also impressive? Matt Harvey. The Mets pitcher, making his debut, struck out 11 and gave up three hits over 5 and 1/3, while going 2 for 2 with a double. That is one of the best debuts in memory for that number of innings pitched.
It has been a good year for rookies: Mike Trout might not simply be Rookie of the Year, he could be MVP. Bryce Harper has brought excitement to every game he’s been in, a madman on the bases who some have compared to Pete Rose for his hustle. Yu Darvish has adjusted very well to MLB, and Ryan Cook of the Athletics has been one of the main pieces of the Athletics bullpen.
It’s hard to remember when so many young players were coming into the league, especially so many rookies who have so much talent. Years from now, 2012 may go down as the year where a new generation of ballplayer began to arrive in the big leagues. Until then, though, it should just be a joy seeing how well these newcomers do.
Baseball is full of lies. One of them is pounded into every Little Leaguer in America: you need to keep your eye on the ball from as soon as it leaves the pitcher’s hand until you are ready to swing the bat.
I was told it. You were told it. Everybody was told it. It also doesn’t help whatsoever. Mainly because, if the ball is going any faster than a beer league softball, you aren’t going to be able to see it for any long span of time, and certainly not all the way to the plate. The ball is just going too fast. This has been known for over half of a century.
So what, exactly, do baseball players who are successful actually do? Well, they basically guess and anticipate where the ball is going based on those split-seconds they have to see the ball. This is why a good change-up so fools a hitter if they’ve been getting lots of fastballs: they are expecting a 90+ MPH pitch, so time their swing based on that assumption.
So, remember kids: don’t keep your eye on the ball. Instead, take a quick glance and then guess where it’s going. I mean, I always kept my eye on the ball, and look at me: I washed out of baseball by the age of 11.
According to a December 22, 1977 article from the AP in the Youngstown Vindicator, there were discussions of a series between an MLB All-Star Team and the Cuban National Team:
It, of course, never happened. It wasn’t until the late 90s that MLB players (the Baltimore Orioles) played the Cuban National Team. The two teams split a home-and-home series.
For those wondering, Cuba’s record against teams in the World Baseball Classic that have had large numbers of MLB players is mixed: they had a 3-2 record in 2006 against teams with large numbers of MLB players (Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic) and had a 2-0 record against Mexico in the 2009 WBC (the rest of their games were against teams that were either made up of predominantly foreign league players, or against mainly minor leaguers).
The Yankees have traded for Ichiro. A few years ago, this would have been earth-shattering news that would have caused large amounts of hair to be pulled out, rioting would have engulfed the Northwest (it still might- they still are justifiably angry about losing the Sonics) and every person with a keyboard would have declared this another sign of the inequity of baseball’s markets.
Now though, it seems almost as if the Yankees are doing this just to remind everyone that, yes, they are the Yankees, and, yes, they are willing to get well-known players who are past their prime in order to aid in the yearly quest for a world title.
This isn’t to say this is a bad deal: Ichiro still definitely has his moments, and has enough talent that he could easily go on a tear for the rest of the season. In addition, the two pitchers they gave up (D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar) don’t seem to be anything special- it’s not like they are trading Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps. It’s just that I don’t this is the big deal that some may make it out to be. Ichiro is a legend, a future HOFer, and still one of the best quotes and most exciting players in baseball on his best day, but this is hardly the deal that will win the Yankees the pennant.
Ben Sheets is now 2-0. The Athletics have beat the Yankees three straight to open their series. Although I can’t be sure, I’m going to have to guess that I’ll be playing a Nintendo Gamecube tomorrow, as soon as I finish the last chapter of the latest Harry Potter book.
Yes, it is true, we have seemingly done a time-warp into the first decade of the 21st century. The Aughts, as they are sometimes called, since saying “The 2000s” is kind of unclear as to whether you are talking about the decade or the century.
The Aughts were good to the Oakland Athletics and to Ben Sheets, but they had fallen on hard times by the 2010s. Now, however, they seem to be turning things around.
Before the internet, or even The Baseball Encyclopedia, stats for previous seasons often were in the form of baseball guides, often from The Sporting News.
Also in there, however, were more strange things. Some of them, for example, had a listing of where the visiting teams stayed. Now, even today you can often figure out where visiting teams stay in town due to ads that might say “Official Hotel of the Boston Red Sox” or something similar, to the point where most baseball players have aliases that they check in with that don’t reveal their fame (although Rickey Henderson, ever the master of disguise, went by the alias of “Richard Pryor”)
Anyway, if you are caught in a time warp and find yourself in the early 40s and want to visit some players, you can find them here, from the 1943 edition of the Baseball Guide and Record Book (found for free on archive.org):
The Playoff Hopes of the Baltimore Orioles passed away last night at the age of 89 games, dying shortly after a 19-7 trouncing at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, who sometimes don’t even seem to score 19 runs during a single month. Although Hopes, who had not been seen this late since 1997, is still technically alive, doctors confirm that the prognosis is extremely grim and that it is only a matter of time before it is overtaken and destroyed by the American League East and the tough competition for the AL Wild Card spots due to a lack of starting pitching.
The Orioles’ Playoff Hopes leaves behind it’s brother, fellow Baltimore native Michael Phelps Olympic Hopes, as well as it’s distant cousin, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Playoff Hopes.
Services are the rest of the season. In lieu of flowers, send quality starting pitchers.
I was in Boston, it was perhaps two or three days after Kevin Youkilis was traded to Chicago, exchanging his red for white. Figuring that Youkilis gear would now be on sale, I went to a Red Sox store on Lansdowne Street with my father. To our surprise, there still was plenty of Youkilis gear, up all around as if he still was set to to start that night at third. When my father asked an employee about that, there came (roughly) this response:
“Guy gave over eight years to this franchise and won two rings, we’re not just going to forget him overnight. He’s the Greek God of Walks, after all.”
He added that they’d probably end up taking them down and/or discounting them after the end of the homestand.
Right about now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the stores in Boston are still selling Youkilis jerseys. Because, as the Red Sox become the most volatile playoff-contending team since the Bronx is Burning Yankees, Youkilis very well may have been elevated to a martyr-esque cult figure. While he’s been producing in Chicago and writing nice notes to Red Sox Nation, manager Bobby Valentine has been quoted as blaming Youkilis for all of the problems the two of them had, saying that Youkilis never wanted to get over a comment Valentine had made in April about how he thought Youkilis wasn’t “into it”.
This is not something that is going to help Bobby Valentine’s reputation in Boston, much less the Red Sox locker room. Not like he will care, as he is seemingly turning the Red Sox around by making all of them have a common enemy: him. They are far behind in the AL East race, but are very much in the Wild Card race.
Here’s another anecdote: when at a Red Sox-Blue Jays game at Fenway, there was a mid-inning montage on the jumbotron of final games by Red Sox greats in Boston uniforms. It finished with Youkilis, and that part drew a big cheer.
I’m going to guess he’ll get a similarly big cheer tonight. The reaction to Bobby Valentine when he goes to the pitcher’s mound will probably be more… mixed.
The Baseball Continuum 