Quick Thursday Recap: Anibal, Carl, Micah, Nolan & “Vogue”
Posted by John Autin on May 27, 2011
Just a quickie to see if this contraption really flies:
-- To review: Ryan Vogelsong began this season in AAA at the age of 33, owner of a career 5.86 ERA in the majors, a place he hadn't pitched since 2006; as his B-R sponsor notes, Vogelsong went 2,412 days between wins as a starter. Tonight, Vogelsong ran his no-earned-run streak to 24 innings before Logan Morrison (get used to that name) nicked him for an RBI single in the 6th. It would be the only run of the game, as Anibal Sanchez tossed a 5-hit shutout -- the 24th CG shutout in the majors this year, 50% more than at this stage of last season. (The other 23 individual shutouts are listed below, in order of Game Score.) The Marlins moved 10 games over .500, 2nd best record in the NL, and stayed 1 GB the Phillies. Vogelsong trimmed his ERA to 1.77 but suffered his first loss of the year.
-- Missed my chance last week to welcome Micah Owings back to the bigs. Tonight, in his 2nd start, Owings earned a win with 5 tidy innings in Colorado, holding the Rox to 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. Sadly, Owings is 0 for 4 so far at the plate. But have faith, fans of two-way baseball. While earning his promotion down in AAA, Owings went 3 for 12 with a triple and a double, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 walks, and an .857 OPS. If he plays, he'll hit.
-- Andy noted earlier that the BoSox had their 2nd straight 14-run barrage. Another repeater was Carl Crawford, who backed up yesterday's 4-3-4-2, 3XBH line with 5-2-4-3 and a pair of triples. In 2 games, Crawford has racked up as many hits as he had in the first 14 games of the season (and far more runs and RBI); he has pumped up his OPS by more than 100 points. Nothing can get back the games Boston lost early on in part due to Crawford's horrific start -- and in fact, Crawford's WPA contributions to the last 2 games have been minimal. But the Red Sox have won 11 of 13 and are 6 games over .500 at the 50-game mark, and they will sleep tonight with a share of 1st place in the AL East. Looks like a brand new day in Beantown.
-- In a battle of '70s dynasties fallen on hard times for, oh, a good little while, Baltimore nipped the Royals in 12 innings tonight. The O's have won 5 straight and pecked their way back to .500; KC has dropped 5 in a row, 10 of 12, and is 10-20 since their 12-7 start. Vlad Guerrero sent home the winning run, seizing his last chance to extend his hitting streak to 11 games; he's hitting .341 in May, though with just 1 HR. The real hitting star was Nolan Reimold, who went 4-2-4-4 with 2 HRs, a double and a walk. Since coming up from AAA, Reimold is 6 for 11 with 3 HRs; his career line includes 21 HRs in 485 AB (most of that in 2009). Are the Orioles really a .500-caliber team? Too soon to be sure; they're 3 games over their pythagorean record, and they're 0-9 combined against the Yankees and Indians, getting outscored almost 3-1 in those games. On the upside, they're 7-6 combined against Boston and Tampa.
That's all for tonight. Sorry if I didn't get to your team, or the big news story, whatever it was. I'm just happy to be here, tryin' to stay within myself; next time out, I'll look for a pitch I can, you know, drive.
Individual shutouts, 2010, by Game Score:
(not including Anibal)
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | GSc ▾ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Shields | 2011-05-22 | TBR | FLA | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 126 | 79 | 93 |
| 2 | Cliff Lee | 2011-04-14 | PHI | WSN | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 99 | 74 | 92 |
| 3 | Ian Kennedy | 2011-04-25 | ARI | PHI | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 114 | 78 | 91 |
| 4 | Dan Haren | 2011-04-12 | LAA | CLE | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 125 | 79 | 91 |
| 5 | Justin Verlander | 2011-05-07 | DET | TOR | W 9-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 108 | 74 | 90 |
| 6 | Jaime Garcia | 2011-05-06 | STL | MIL | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 102 | 66 | 90 |
| 7 | Tim Hudson | 2011-05-04 (2) | ATL | MIL | W 8-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 102 | 74 | 90 |
| 8 | Jake Peavy | 2011-05-18 | CHW | CLE | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 111 | 78 | 89 |
| 9 | Tim Lincecum | 2011-05-21 | SFG | OAK | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 133 | 84 | 87 |
| 10 | Kyle Lohse | 2011-04-21 | STL | WSN | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 111 | 72 | 87 |
| 11 | Ervin Santana | 2011-05-20 | LAA | ATL | W 9-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 103 | 70 | 86 |
| 12 | Jaime Garcia | 2011-04-03 | STL | SDP | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 102 | 65 | 86 |
| 13 | Jason Marquis | 2011-04-29 | WSN | SFG | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 96 | 64 | 84 |
| 14 | James Shields | 2011-04-24 | TBR | TOR | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 95 | 65 | 84 |
| 15 | Colby Lewis | 2011-05-16 | TEX | CHW | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 110 | 74 | 83 |
| 16 | Brad Bergesen | 2011-05-14 | BAL | TBR | W 6-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 103 | 68 | 83 |
| 17 | Francisco Liriano | 2011-05-03 | MIN | CHW | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 123 | 66 | 83 |
| 18 | Yovani Gallardo | 2011-04-05 | MIL | ATL | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 111 | 65 | 83 |
| 19 | Jered Weaver | 2011-04-25 | LAA | OAK | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 114 | 78 | 82 |
| 20 | Jeremy Hellickson | 2011-05-13 | TBR | BAL | W 3-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 120 | 83 | 81 |
| 21 | Alexi Ogando | 2011-05-23 | TEX | CHW | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 115 | 76 | 80 |
| 22 | Charlie Morton | 2011-05-18 | PIT | CIN | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 106 | 69 | 80 |
| 23 | Jhoulys Chacin | 2011-04-15 | COL | CHC | W 5-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 114 | 76 | 80 |
May 27th, 2011 at 1:15 am
I'm surprised not by the fact there's been 24 complete game shutouts so far, but that it's near the end of May and Roy Halladay has none of them.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:20 am
@1
Reading that comment, all I could hear in my head was Jayson Stark's endearing gee-whiz straw-statman tone. "If you woulda said during spring training that Charlie Morton would toss a complete-game shutout before Roy Halladay, congratulations; you have wizard powers."
Also, is John a brand-new addition to the blog lineup? I approve.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:17 am
John, the best hitting pitcher in baseball is Carlos Zambrano, he pitches for the Chicago Cubs #38, and yesterday he went 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Carlos is a great all around baseball player with cat-like quickness. Previously this week he pinch hit late in a game against the Mets and hit a single and drove in 2.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:30 am
Zambrano has been the best hitting pitcher so far this year but over the course of their careers Owings has been significantly better. Based on the numbers they have both put up Owings has hit well enough to be a position player and Zambrano has not.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:37 am
During Milwaukee's current hot streak of 13-3, Rickey Weeks has made only one error.
Errors Committed as 2B
2005 NL 21 (1st)
2006 NL 22 (1st)
2007 NL 13 (3rd)
2008 NL 15 (1st)
2010 NL 15 (3rd)
2011 NL 7 (1st)
May 27th, 2011 at 8:48 am
Disagree Howard - Owings is not much of a pitcher so I doubt he will get the AB's needed to do a fair comparison to Z. "Based on numbers", as you say, neither could be everyday players because everyday players can not strike out hundreds of times while walking only 8 times. Based on ability Carlos is clearly the better hitter. Carlos hits for power from both sides of the plate and is a better all around athlete with cat-like quickness, and could play any position and let's not forget everyday players have to play the field also. Advantage Z!
May 27th, 2011 at 8:57 am
"Everyday players can not strike out hundreds of times while walking only 8 times"
They still let Alfonso Soriano play, don't they?
May 27th, 2011 at 8:59 am
I'm surprised not by the fact there's been 24 complete game shutouts so far, but that it's near the end of May and Roy Halladay has none of them.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:00 am
@7 and Rickey Weeks.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:05 am
"Logan Morrison (get used to that name)"...
I'm still getting used to watching players who were born after I'd graduated college. Sheesh, I'm feeling a little old.
Love these recaps, by the way.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:04 am
@2, Brad -- Yes, John is a brand-new addition. Thanks for the endorsement! 🙂
May 27th, 2011 at 10:09 am
@3, Timmy P -- As a Mets fan, I've been all too aware of Zambrano's bat-wielding feats this week.
The Cubs-Mets series was too disheartening for me to watch much of it. Have Carlos the Cat's infielders gotten over their aversion to diving yet? 🙂
May 27th, 2011 at 10:24 am
@2, "Jayson" -- I think you could have gotten even money on Wilson Valdez throwing a shutout before Charlie Morton.
BTW, individual comebacks, breakouts and "redemption songs" are some of my favorite things about baseball.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:27 am
@12 Well the Cubs have a very good fielding first basemen now that will dive for ground balls, as do the 2 rookies at second and short. I was surprised to see Owings has pinch hit 72 times all ready in his career, impressive. Zambrano doesn't pinch hit as much anymore because he got hurt once on the bases. Let's face it, Zambrano getting hurt while hitting would hurt the Cubs much more than Owings and his club.
May 27th, 2011 at 11:56 am
Owings is a much better hitter than Zambrano. I've posted it before but Owings is the best hitting pitcher since the 30's (Wes Ferrell IIRC) and it's not even close. And while he doesn't have a ton of PAs in the majors, it is not fluky. He has a career 828 OPS in the minors. His OPS in college was over 1000 and he held the national HS record for HRs (since eclipsed IIRC).
What Owings is NOT is a legitimate big league pitcher - Zambrano is.
May 27th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
I expected to see PHI a lot in both columns in that table, but it's only there once each. I guess most of the high number of shutouts they've been involved in so far have been combined affairs.
May 27th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Alright! JA is on the blog!
May 27th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Yes, congrats JA on your first official post! I am very excited to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you on this blog.
May 27th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Timmy P-
How does one measure the cat-like-ness of quickness? Is the scale from housecat on the low end to cheetah on the high end? And how do the braids on one's head impact the catocity of his velocity?
May 27th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Holy Crap, you got Honus Wagner to post on the blog! Back from the Grave!
May 27th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Oh, Andy, there you go again. JA is clearly head and shoulders above you already.
:-p
May 27th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
It SEEMS like extra-inning games are happening very frequently this year. Is that accurate? Not sure how to determine that?
May 27th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
@15 If Carlos Zambrano came up as a 1b, he would still be in the the big leagues.
Last 3 seasons Z and Owings, Z first:
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG
88 155 145 17 36 7 0 6 21 0 0 3 49 .248 .260 .421
70 76 72 9 17 4 1 4 13 0 0 1 28 .236 .253 .486
Owings is good, but I'll take Zwings. Zambrano is a special player, with cat-like quickness, and an intensity unrivaled in sports. Zambrano excelled despite playing for the most overrated manager in baseball, Lou Pinella.
May 27th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
@19, BSK -- I think the Venezuelan-born Zambrano would have to be considered a jaguar or a puma....
May 27th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
To just chime in on one of the games you didn't mention, the Blue Jays again found a way to lose a game in the 9th, last night against the ChiSox. It was the second night in a row and another of many occasions this season (I think Neil L. will echo my view on this).
Yesterday, it was John McDonald committing his first error of the season plus a botched fielding play (pitcher not covering first quick enough on a 2-out Juan Pierre bouncer behind first) that led to two unearned 9th-inning runs and a loss. The Jays have a lot of the right pieces, but don't yet have the consistency/maturity to know how to win close games consistently.
May 27th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
A .260 OBP would not keep Zambrano in the big leagues as a 1B, especially since that figure is actually higher than his career mark. If he wasn't pitching he'd only make it with a club that happened to have a unique need for someone with the remarkable quality of cat-like quickness.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
BSK I would not recommend braids to any ballplayer as it adds weight and cuts down on aero-dynamics. As far as cat-like quickness, admittedly it can be hard to measure. But I think you're thinking of overall speed when you say cheetah, and that misses the point. It's reflexes and an ability to pounce. If you've ever seen Carlos pounce on a bunted ball you know what I'm talking about. It's similar to a house cat pouncing on a mouse, it's artistic really. Now it is true Carlos is from Venezuela, and it is a hot and humid country. But now Carlos is an American citizen. Carlos' only drawback is that when he grows his hair out, he looks very much like Hugo Chavez.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Gold. That's just gold.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
How do braids add weight? It's the same amount of hair, just twisted. And admittedly I've not done much work in wind tunnels, but it seems that something like these could be quite aerodynamic.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nx9KrpL9mRc/SnM5DkXYjnI/AAAAAAAAAEA/QbGb10VJdC8/s320/MickaelCornRows.jpg
May 27th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
They might even function as turbines, thereby generating green energy for the player in question, giving him added endurance!
I questioned Timmy P about the braids before, listing several other players with mounds of head or facial hair. It is my sneaking suspicion that his hatred of braids has something to do with the hue of the players who tend to sport them.
Timmy, where do you stand on corn rows a la Bronson Arroyo?
May 27th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
JA-
I've got a half-deaf, overweight cat. It can barely stand up, let alone pounce. I suppose Adam Dunn could be described as having cat like quickness if we use my cat as the measuring stick.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
BSK, I used the situational records in the game reports to see there have been 178 extra-inning games this season, out of 1486 total: 12.0%
In 2010 there were 440 out of 4860, 9.1%. In 2009, 390, 8.0%.
http://tiny.cc/ovtfp
May 27th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
John Austin: If you are a Mets fan I would like have your opinion of Keith Hernandez as an announcer, thanks.
Carlos Pena for the Cubs has a very unusual swing from the left side, because he appears to fall backwards just a bit, and it disrupts the flow down the creek. Lot of Cubs fans down on Pena, but not me. He is just about right where you'd expect, learning the NL. I love that he takes his walks, and plays a real good first base.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
I think Zambrano was born in the wrong time. He should have played for the 1939-40 Reds.
1B -- Frank "Wildcat" McCormick
2B -- Lonny "Leopard" Frey
SS -- Billy "Jaguar" Myers
3B -- Billy "the Tiger" Werber
P -- Carlos "el Puma" Zambrano
(Would've gotten him into the World Series, too....)
May 27th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
@30 Not liking someone because of the hue of their skin is a very serious allegation. Saying I don't like braids and tattoos on ballplayers is a long way from saying I don't like blacks. I've mentioned my sweetness for Carlos Zambrano and Andre Dawson many times, and their "hue" is very different than mine. I believe when you asked me about Damon's hair with the Sox, I said I liked it when the Yankees made him cut it. Now I have a little fun with Rickey Weeks because I am a Cubs fan and I hate all things Milwaukee. My problem with Weeks is 185 Ks in the leadoff spot. I guarantee you that if Starlin Castro got braids, and hit .345 I would be quiet as a mouse.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
@33, Timmy P. -- On the question of Keith Hernandez as a TV announcer, I'll put it this way: I love the 3-man team of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez. They have great chemistry together, having both a hitter and a pitcher in the booth gives contrasting and complementing views. Evaluating Keith on his own, I would say that he's still growing. Sometimes his commentary runs ahead of his observation; he often corrects himself or changes his mind. On the bright side, he has a strong sense of baseball history; he's thoughtful; and he played Strat-O-Matic. I love it when he mentions S-O-M details on the air.
P.S. No offense taken, but would you just take a moment to get my name right? It's "Autin," with no "s". It's a common error and I almost always ignore it -- but you're a regular commenter, and I believe someone else has made this point to you before, so.... And here's an easy way to remember: Just think, "Autin, you oughtn't have said that!" Thanks. 🙂
May 27th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
@30 I'm also a huge fan of Josh Hamilton, but I hate those stupid fire and motorcycle tattoos he has on his arms. Josh is white, but Prince Fielder is a Brewer so he gets picked on for having neck tattoos. Speaking of Jews in baseball, I watched the Hank Greenberg Story yesterday on Netflix because I don't have a TV. That was a great program and Hank was a great guy, a great American, and great ball player.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
@36 I like listening to Hernandez because I like it when announcers are themselves, and he can be a little arrogant and pompous at times much like Ken "Hawk" Harrelson for the Sox. I always liked Joe Morgan too, and he was one of my favorite players also.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
As far as nicknames go, Puma is all ready taken by Lance Berkman, and Cheetah is all ready taken by Tiger Woods. Maybe Siamese Zambrano? Or Calico Zambrano? El Calico sounds pretty cool.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
I agree w/Timmy about the race issue. That was a cheap shot which was taken, I suspect, without any knowledge of what race Timmy himself is. In that scenario it is BSK, if anyone, who is the racist. I don't believe BSK is actually a racist be he needs to choose what he writes more carefully.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
El Gato.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
@23 - If Zambrano came up as a 1B he would be out of baseball by now. Not sure why you picked the last 3 years (actually more like 2.5) as it omits Zambrano's huge 2008 which would have actually helped his cause. That said, Owings STILL has a higher OPS over the last 2.5 years than Zambrano and of course, it fails to take into consideration his monster 2007 while including Zambrano's huge start to this year.
Oh, and the gulf is probably even wider than it appears since Owings has seen a lot more use as a PH than Zambrano - 47 PA with a 752 OPS over his career while Zambrano has only 30 PA with a 207 OPS (not a typo) over his whole career which is obviously significantly longer than Owings' career. Just hitting as pitchers, Owings has an 871 OPS and Zambrano a 664 OPS.
Now Zambrano has the edge over Owings in all the counting stats (for example, 3.2 WAR to 2.8 WAR since 2007) because, as stated previously, Zambrano is an excellent pitcher while Owings is a 1B with a good arm. That means he has an edge in PAs, but Owings has nearly done as much in his 202 PAs since 2007 as Zambrano has in his 326 PA.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
@ youse guys --
This branch of Sal's Pizzeria just opened for business, and I'd like to keep it going at least until I've paid off the ovens.
I don't think that race and racism should be taboo subjects here. But let's be at least as deliberate in our comments on that as we are in weighing who really deserved the 1989 Cy Young Award.
I confess (as I think most of us would in a candid moment) to sometimes making assumptions about the race, gender, nationality, etc., of various online identities. So I'm glad for Howard Rosen's reminder that we shouldn't be so quick to assume.
I also think that if I were to consistently write that Stan Musial, Al Simmons, Bill Mazeroski and Stan Coveleski were the most overrated players in the HOF, a lot of people would suspect me of harboring anti-Polish feelings.
That's my 2 cents' worth.
(Oh, by the way: The '89 NL Cy Young should have gone to Hershiser, and anyone who disagrees with me is a big wet hen....)
May 27th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Funny you say Polish, I am Irish/Polish. My grandfather was kicked out of the Polish Air Force because he didn't have his own rubber bands.
May 27th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
@35, Timmy P: "My problem with Weeks is 185 Ks in the leadoff spot. I guarantee you that if Starlin Castro got braids, and hit .345 I would be quiet as a mouse."
But what if Castro hit .345 with 185 strikeouts?
Meanwhile ... Remember the first guy who struck out 185+ times as a leadoff hitter? It was Bobby Bonds, 1970. He still managed 200 hits, 77 walks, and 134 runs -- the most runs scored in 21 years.
May 27th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
@46 Great point about Bonds, I never knew that. Don't think Rickey is as good as Bonds though.
May 27th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
FYI, everyone -- I deleted a comment that contained an archaic ethnic slur. Please refresh your screens to get the accurate comment numbers.
May 27th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
@25, Doug -- Yes, that was a very tough loss for Toronto, and a dreadfully sloppy 9th; you didn't even mention the wild pitch, the HBP and the stolen base that also played a big role in that inning.
On a tangent (and where is Neil L.?), what are Toronto fans saying about Juan Rivera batting cleanup? What's the prognosis for Adam Lind?
May 27th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
@48.
John, interesting you mentioned Rivera hitting cleanup, because it brings up the Toronto 8th last night. Score tied, 2 out, runner on first and Bautista batting. On the 2-1 pitch, the runner steals, And, of course, Bautistia immediately gets an IBB. Rivera is then easily retired to end the inning.
Not sure the Sox wouldn't have pitched around Bautista anyway, but taking the bat out of his hand by stealing is just DUMB.
BTW, with Lind out, amazing to me Bautista isn't batting cleanup (where he should be anyways).
May 27th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Doug -- I recently heard of a study that concluded (as I recall) that the best all-around hitter in a lineup should bat 4th -- or at least, not 3rd. Something about the #3 spot being the most likely to come up with nobody on base. I only heard a snippet of it, and I wouldn't even mention it except that I'm hoping someone out there can point me to the source or fill in the outline.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Since I used to live and work in Asia, I am of the understanding that people born in east Asia, that speak English prefer now to be called Asians. Without using the word, when did it become an ethnic slur to refer to someone from China as, well, you know, a "man from China". It's outdated but not a slur. It became an issue because many in North America and South America would call all east Asians this term. In South America the term is still used without offense. Are we allowed to use the term oriental here? BSK called me a racist because I think Rickey Weeks is a bad leadoff man, forgetting all about my love for Juan Pierre, Andre Dawson, and Lou Rawls.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
@51, Timmy P -- I'm not here to give you a cultural history lesson, and what BSK said is irrelevant, as are South American cultural norms. I preferred not to do this publicly, but since you don't accept that the the word you used is widely considered offensive, why don't you Google it and read the definitions and commentary?
I find it hard to believe that you have used that word publicly in the U.S., or among English-speaking Chinese people anywhere, and were not told that it is unacceptable in polite society.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
@25
Doug, I was so disheartened by Toronto's loss last night that I couldn't post on BRef for at least 24 hours.
I totally agree with you about a team needing maturity and player-leadership to "learn" how to win.
John MacDonald committing an error! Mr. Reliable in the field.
Gosh, it hurts to be a fan. JA, with the Mets, you and I in the Jays market.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
@36
JA, you are polite to a fault! I'm alive and well and first pointed out to Timmy P. that your last name did not contain an "s".
Just catching up on all he posts now.
(My son's 24th birthday today so had to take him out for dinner with my wife, his mother!)
May 27th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
@48 @49
Doug N. and JA.
Adam Lind's back is apparently not responding well in minor-league rehab.
There is no huge public outcry about Juan Rivera trying to protect Jose Bautista in the lineup because he is a better option than "pop-up" Hill.
Can anyone pronounce "offensively challenged"? That describes the current Toronto roster, Bautista excluded.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Welcome to the blogging roster, John! I've been enjoying your comments.
Regarding Nolan Reimold's May 26 game (sorry if this is long, but the topic's interested me for a long time):
Let's call an individual batter's game a "cycle-plus" game if it meets all of the following standards: 4 or more hits, 3 or more extra-base hits, 2 or more "triple-plus hits" (3B or HR), and 1 or more home runs. In other words, either
a) the batter hit for the cycle during the game, or
b) you could convert his game into a cycle, if you could magically "shorten" any hits you chose by one or more bases (without needing to add any of those bases onto other hits).
For example, Reimold hit 2 homers, a double and a single (the most common cycle-plus game). Shortening either of Reimold's homers to a triple would produce a cycle.
Reimold's game yesterday is the 1,000th cycle-plus game in the database. Lou Gehrig leads the database with 10 cycle-plus games, followed by Willie Stargell with 7 and a bunch of guys with 6. Vladimir Guerrero and Alex Rodriguez are the active leaders with 5 each. See http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/hOCUC.
(Note: The search used - H≥4, XBH≥3, HR≥1, and 2B<.65*XBH - works perfectly because no major league batter has yet hit more than 5 extra-base hits in a game. For .65, you can substitute any number greater than 3/5 and smaller than 2/3 if you want to.)
May 27th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
I recently heard of a study that concluded (as I recall) that the best all-around hitter in a lineup should bat 4th -- or at least, not 3rd.
The one comprehensive study whose conclusions I remember is from The Book. It recommends putting your three best hitters 1st, 2nd, and 4th. If one of them has more on-base skills, bat him 1st, and if one is more of a slugger, put him 4th. You are right, the #3 hitter tends to come up with bases empty and 2 out, so his PAs are not as well-leveraged as the other spots.
That said, the differences between reasonable lineups are minimal, and if batters seem more comfortable in a particular spot, then leave them be.
With Bautista and the Jays, I'm coming to the same opinion I had of Bonds and the Giants. One amazing hitter surrounded by a lot of weak ones, he's going to be walked in any big spot. I'd say move him up to #2. You might think he will lose RBI opportunities but he's not getting those opps anyway. If he draws a walk, hopefully whoever bats 3-4-5 has a better chance to push him around than whoever bats 5-6-7.
May 27th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
@56
Wow, good post, Matt!
May 27th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
@56, Matt Vandermast -- Thanks, and welcome to you, too. I'm sorry to say that I haven't registered your name before in my mental bank, but you're obviously a sophisticated P-I user, so I look forward to hearing more from you.
Off the top of my head, I'm shocked that Stan the Man doesn't rank higher on that search you did. He had only 2 "cycle-plus" games?!? -- one an actual cycle, the other 3 HRs and a single. That's amazing, in view of his totals in hits and each variety of XBH.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see Al Kaline among the top 20, with 5.
May 27th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
@57
(BTW, JT, I wrote this massive response to you back in the thread about BABIP, hit submit without copying the post and lost my Internet connection just as I submitted. Of course the whole post was gone. I didn't have the dedication to reconstruct it but may pursue the topic with you in another forum.)
"One amazing hitter surrounded by a lot of weak ones, he's going to be walked in any big spot."
JT, absolutely!
The discouraging thing for Bautista fans and fans of the local team is that Jose has started to "press" in his last 5-6 games. He appears to be trying to do too much himself and has abandoned a bit of his (demonstrated) strike zone command.
May 27th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
I've been waiting for that response, Neil! I'll surreptitiously bring up the subject in a future thread to allow you another chance....
Do you have a theory on what has happened to all these other promising Toronto hitters? Is all their mojo super-concentrated in Mr. Bats' bat?
May 27th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
@61
Well, JT, Travis Snider is playing for Las Vegas. No one knows for sure what really happened but the official word is he had a "problem" with his swing that had to be worked out in the minors. Speculation is that he had a falling-out with John Farrell.
Adam Lind caught fire at the plate and then his back gave out without any prior history or warning. The team waited about 6 games before officially disabling him. He is rehabbing in the minors but it is not going well.
Aaron Hill is still getting at bats on the fumes of his 2009 36-HR, 37-2B 0.829 OPS season, although he is good defensively.
Not sure who else you would be referring to. Juan Rivera (the clean-up hitter for cryin' out loud) has to be played as the price of unloading the Vernon Wells contract.
On an aside, Johnny Twisto, aka Curly Gruff, forgive me for being imperceptive in here, but will you admit to a baseball rooting interest 🙂
May 28th, 2011 at 12:22 am
Neil L., I wonder if your BABIP essay touches on Aaron Hill's 2010 season?
I remember looking at his numbers late last year and thinking he had to be the unluckiest hitter of the year. In his 5 years through 2009, Hill had a .307 BABIP, but last year he pulled off a jaw-dropping .196 -- the lowest qualifying BABIP in the live-ball era!
At the time, I wasn't very familiar with other metrics like line-drive rate and fly-ball rate. I just saw his BABIP, the 26 HRs, and the fact that his K rate hadn't gone up much, and I predicted a big rebound this year.
Now that I've looked more closely, I see that his line-drive rate plummeted last year, and his fly-ball rate went up even further over it's already high baseline. So his low BA this year isn't so shocking.
But I still can't believe he hasn't hit a HR yet this year.
May 28th, 2011 at 12:29 am
Thanks for the kind words, Neil and John! I've pretty much been lurking so far, but will try to comment more often when I have something to say.
I agree that Musial's low total is startling. Now, consider that Moises Alou had more cycle-plus games in his worst ever Runs Above Replacement season than Musial had in his career. See http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/0rNT4. Strange things happen in this world...
May 28th, 2011 at 2:55 am
@50 @57.
JA, Neil Paine blogged about this a few weeks ago. If I recall correctly, I think it was related to a NY Times story referencing "The Game".
The point was that you always want to have your best hitters (or, at least, your very best hitter) batting 1st, 2nd or 4th. The rationale is all about extra at bats, specifically the first at bat of the game. In that at bat, the No 3 hitter will almost always be more likely than the No 4 hitter to come up with the bases empty (i.e. first two batters making outs happens more often than first 3 batters making outs).