MLB '10
 

Okay, I know opening day is still 109 days away, but as GD said last year, "...following off season moves is half the fun."

The Dodgers didn't do much during the Winter meetings, except most notably sending Pierre to the White Sox for a couple of minor league pitchers. If indeed one of the pitchers is John Ely, he looks to be a strong candidate to maybe shore up the struggling starting rotation.

I just worry about how serious things can be with the McCourts doing their battles in the courts. I am afraid that money is going to be too locked up while those two do battle over control of the Dodgers.

In other news, at least the Nationals don't have a losing record yet!

You're behind on your news.

The Dodgers have picked up veteran 2nd (sometines 3rd) baseman Jamey Carroll for the relatively low price of $3.85M (plus incentives). And they've got their eye on Aaron Harang, currently under a pricey contract with the Reds, and a couple free agents that would fill the #4 slot nicely (including possibly buying Padilla back off the market if the sides can get past the multi-year contract sticking point).

I don't think the McCourts' issues are going to be a big deal. I'm sure it's not a picnic to deal with, but Colletti is the one that handles the wheeling and dealing. And I'm not worried about the slow pace this year. It's his M.O. I've come to trust Colletti, he doesn't make dumb expensive moves just because they look good and make headlines. He seems to know how tto get bang for the buck.

While Colletti spends money wisely, my concern is that the money will be too wrapped up by the divorce. Colletti is spending the McCourt's money.

I'm with you on this!



Any rising stars from the farm system? The Dodgers usually do a good job grooming from within.

Yeah, well we got some hot shot pitcher dude who's name I forget at the moment and who I'm too lazy to Google.

So take that you other franchises! We're coming for you this year. Feel the fear.

Hmm, all the Nats news is about Pudge Rodriguez, so not sure who the pitcher is.

Dodgers prospects, these are the minor leaguers they've given spring training invites to: first baseman John Lindsey, outfielder Prentice Redman and pitchers Justin Miller, Francisco Felix, Juan Perez, Josh Towers and Luis Ayala. As well as Doug Mentkiewicz and Angel Berroa, both of whom have spent time on the Dodgers.

Oh, a draftee? hahaha.

I mean, congrats.

I think the Ms got some guy they think is hot stuff, judging from the P-I headlines, but I have no idea who or what or how misguided the hopes are.

By "Ms" do you mean the Mets? If so, they signed reliever Ryota Igarashi from Japan yesterday.

Yeah, laugh it up fuzzball. But you'll be singing a diffrent tune when your mighty Manny has to sit back down after getting smoked by our boy.

Sometime after the all-star break when he makes it to the majors. Next season at the latest.

Ms=Mariners. Cliff Lee.

The Giants ... um ... plan to play 162 games next season!

I got nothin.

If recent history is any indication I'll next pay attention to the A's in early April, say "hey, who are all these people."

Then by May 15 I'll no longer be paying attention to the A's.

Well, at least you can say you did better than the Nats last year!

Damn you coward Dodgers!

You are deliberately coming here early in the season so you won't have to face our new phenom pitcher. Fear the what's his name! We're gonna break 40% for sure this year.

You can celebrate today that you are undefeated in the 2010 season!

And tomorrow, plus the day after that too. Then by Monday I'll be in no shape to care one way or another....

I made Theo promise not to spoil the game for me today until I get a chance to watch on TiVo.

What spoiler? The Nat's lost.

I said game, not scrimmage.

Well, if the season ended after the first inning, you'd be going to the playoffs!

Yeesh.

I wonder how opening day performance historically correlates to season performance. I hope not well.

Not particularly. If my math is correct then of the last 64 teams to make the playoffs (2002-2009) only 49.2% won their first game.

Of the last 16 teams to reach the World Series only 5 won their first game and only 2 of those went on to win.

Ah good, I see you correctly decoded "I wonder" to "I can't wait until Alex complies the numbers and determines".

You'd probably also want to know if those 49.2% were playing on the road or at home.

Ok, I had a calculation error in my first number:

How many of the last 64 playoff teams won their first game of the season: 48.43%

How many of the last 64 playoff teams won their first game of the season if it was played at home (33 games): 48.48%

How many of the last 64 playoff teams won their first game of the season if it was played away (31 games): 48.39%

How many of the last 64 playoff teams won their home opener regardless of when that happened: 60.94%

How many of the last 64 playoff teams won their home opener when it was the first game of the season (33 games): 48.48%

How many of the last 64 playoff teams won their home opener when it was not the first game of the season (31 games): 74.19%

To really make any claim to the value of these numbers it'd be best to compare them to the total league result in the same categories but I'm not doing that.

So based on that entirely superficial data, the Dodgers are in great shape, as long as they win their home opener.

And from what I hear Padilla is not exactly your #1 stud muffin pitcher. So I expect the future is bright and don't forget, you play the Nats early on so you can count on a standings boost there.

We don't really have a standout #1 yet, so time will tell who that will be. From what Torre said, it was a coin toss as to who was going to pitch opening day.Its hard to pick on your Nats when my team doesn't fair any better on opening day :(

Really Blake DeWitt? You BEG for a chance to play 2B, and that's the result?

You owe my son an apology. The first Dodger game of his LIFE that he watched, and that's what he had to witness. For shame.

Since the A's are currently 1.5 games ahead in the division and since that is an obviously insurmountable lead I suggest we end the season now and proceed directly to the playoffs.

The Dodgers had 5 of their opening day position players on the bench yesterday (Manny, Martin, DeTwitt, Blake, Ethier). They scored 10 runs. That's not a bad backup squad.

Surprised that it hasn't been mentioned yet, but for those who may have missed it, Jason Heyward (Atlanta Braves) hit a home run not only at his first major league at bat, but off the first major league pitch he was ever thrown! And that was after catching the ceremonial first pitch off of none other than Hank Aaron.

I actually feel a little sorry for him; the expectations from him may be a wee bit high from here on out.

First pitch might be a little rare, but first at-bat home runs are surprisingly not all that rare. He becomes #104.

It was the first pitch thing that caught my attention.

He's the 13th.

ETA: I take that back. 13th in the NL. 25th overall.

We are in last place, a game behind. I don't see it getting any better than that. So sure.

What's amusing to me is that nearly 20% of the people who hit a home run in their first at bat never hit a second one (though one of those still made the Hall of Fame).

Wow - I am surprised there are that many. Do you have a link for the list? No biggie if not, I am just curious.

You are only one game below .500 AND you have a better record than Houston.

It's all in how you look at it!

Here you go. All the first at bat home runs, the ones bolded are first pitch.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats5.shtml

Thanks Alex - I just don't have the free time I used to to find this kind of stuff.

This'll sound snarkier than I intend it to be but it was the second link returned searching "home run in first at bat." The first result answered too but I didn't want to use a Wikipedia link.

Or, in the parlance offered recently, here.

Alex, I'm so sorry, but your link is set up wrong. This is what you were attempting to do.

Is there a "Let Me 'Let Me Google That For You' For You"?

Hmm...I wonder how that happened. You have to cut us old people some slack when it comes to the new technologies you whippersnappers come up with.

Perhaps you were subconsciously trying to make my dream of an infinite "let me google that for you" loop come true.

When did they change the rules to allow starting pitchers to pitch more than 5 innings?

The tables have turned. For a while the Dodgers' winning formula was to just keep things close and wear the opposing starting pitcher down until it became a battle of the 'pens. But for the first time in a LONG time their bullpen is proving to be ****e. Yeesh.

On the plus side, they've got a ton of depth everywhere else (except maybe catcher).

Strange incident last night, where the umps reversed their call. I've never seen that happen before, where a team had to retake the field, after a third out had been called. Apparently, Dusty Baker had never seen it before either, and he's seen a few more games than I have.

Granted, we ended up creaming the Reds, but I'm still shaking my head over what I saw.

Yeah, that was really weird.

Watching it at full speed a few times, I was positive the ball dropped. Watching in slow-mo, I wasn't so sure. No doubt that if there were instant replay in baseball (*shudder*) this would have been a call that would have remained as-called on the field, no conclusive evidence in the replay (though why Fox had only 1 camera angle on it is a mystery).

I'm still pretty sure the ball hit grass, not the tip of Ethier's glove. And thus I think the right call was eventually made on the field. It's not common for umpires to reverse their call after consulting, but it happens. The only thing unique about this situation is that I've never seen them reverse a call in a situation where, having made the wrong call initially, the result of the play is affected. Namely, had it not been ruled an out initially, the Reds would have had some chance at scoring 2 runs (though no guarantee with Ethier's arm). And I suppose even that is not all that unprecedented, there are plenty of situations (interference, ball going out of the field of play) that happen fairly commonly where umps are required to make a judgment call as to how likely it is that a runner would have advanced.

I'll have to look up the details.

My officiating highlight so far this season was an early game double play by the Mariners against the Athletics. The only issue was that nobody had actually been put out on the play and while there was half an argument for one of them being out anyway (he thought he'd been tagged, not seeing it was by an empty glove and so took a step towards the dugout before realizing and advancing to second), the other definitely never was.

I really hate to admit this, but the Nationals have had a better record than the Dodgers the last couple of days - I am surprised Moonie hasn't been lording that over!

For the record, as of the end of the day yesterday, the Nats were 8-7 (.533) and the Dodgers were 7-7 (.500).

Maybe he knows it won't last.

Yeah. "Lord" it over you right before the Dodgers come to town.

I might be reckless, but I ain't delusional.

The A's have had at least a share of the division lead for 15 consecutive days. Party like it's 2005.

It likely won't last but a significant improvement over last year when the only time they had at least a share of the division lead was through the first 8 innings of game 1.

I'm trying to be happy with the consolation prize of the rare opportunity of seeing the Dodgers put up a lot of runs on a consistent basis, even as the trade off is giving up a lot of runs and losing games.

Trying.

You and me both. Very frustrated right now.

The only hope is that they ride the sluggers through to the trade deadline and McCourt decides (assuming his hand's not forced by any divorce rulings in the meantime) to give Colletti the leeway to work his magic once again to make a run at the wildcard. Beyond that it'll be all about next season and how much of this power lineup they can maintain while fixing pitching.

Ouch. Not for the squeemish.

Based on the local recent example of a high school pitcher put into a coma similarly, I expect there'll now be demands that MLB outlaw aluminum bats.

But that would take away from the sanctity of the game!

17 days later the A's are still 1.5 games in the lead.

Why are we wasting everybody's time by continuing the season?

What are you talking about? This is still spring training, right?

Slightly related note: There's Major League Softball, and they play in our area. I was interested in possibly seeing a game (as MLB games are out of our reach for a while yet) until I saw the team names.

"Low Expectations"
"We Got the Runs"
"Beer Today Gone Tomorrow"

I thought maybe the upper level, men only section would be a little more serious. Then I saw this team name:

"Sofa King Good"

Yeah, I think I'll skip this.

Way to go Dodgers! Lose 3 games in 24 hours!

I think Matt Kemp pawned his gold glove to pay for hitting lessons. A calculated gamble on his part, trying to turn himself into a top-level power hitter, but it definitely seems to have cost him a step fielding. Don't know if it's a result of just different physical training, or different focus, but yikes.

After that video, then seeing Blake DeWitt take a bullet to the leg, I foresee a not too distant future with pitchers wearing SOME form of head protection. Even if it's not much more than a super-padded cap,

I'm sure everybody's seen this but I had missed it all day.

Absolutely appalling. And I don't mean the boy.

Had not seen that. Fvcking hell how did the taser threshold drop so low?

I am not watching, just came into get an update via Game Day Live. Only to discover that Haeger couldn't even get an out before being yanked. Ouch.

Hmm, so you're saying I should NOT throw the game on the TiVo and ruin the rest of my birthday. Done.

Well, if it is any consolation the Dodgers have only given up runs in 3 innings so far. The other five have been stellar.

Nope, not much consolation at all.

This morning I woke up Lani and said "hey, let's go to the A's game today."

She said "no, I have a lot of shopping to do today and went back to sleep."

Then I decided I'd go alone and as I was about to walk out the door to walk to the BART station I checked the weather report and it said there was a good chance of afternoon showers and so I decided it wasn't worth sitting in the cold all by myself.

God got her revenge on me for not believing in him.

But had you gone, it wouldn't have happened.

baseball and perfect game do not fit in the same sentence.

Hey now, if the trash talking of other people's preferred sports is ever going to end someone has to take the high road and stop first. And I nominate you since your preferred sport is the stupidest.

Gabe Kapler has now been the final out in two perfect games. That sounds like a future trivia question answer.

Also in looking at the list of perfect games I'm amazed to see that Addie Ross in 1908 threw one against the White Sox with only 74 pitches. I hope he bought all of them a beer afterward as a thanks for the assist.

Bruce Bochy would have taken him out after 73.

And, it's "Joss." Addie Joss is also the answer to the trivia question, "Who is the only player in the Hall of Fame who played less than ten seasons?"

Your just jeaolus because my balls are bigger than yours. Nanny nanny boo boo.

But mine aren't orange.

But his don't get hit with a bat on a regular basis.

But they do get regularly palmed by 6 1/2 foot tall sweaty men.

As are Alex's....in fact, at least 30 men are playing with his before every game.

Nor get bounced on the ground many hundreds of times per game.

And, just to establish without a doubt the superiority of my balls, they get rubbed with mud before every game. You know how much that would cost in Napa County?

Yours are far too fragile to be surperior. They constantly get scuffed up and required replacement.

Not to mention that putting any sort of lubricant on them is specifically prohibitted by rule.

Though when at rest players rarely hold my balls in their sweaty armpits.

And I think we've taken this about as far as we can go considering it all started with the ridiculous notion that having balls 9.4 inches in diameter is somehow a desirable thing.

I would never doubt the capability nor capacity of the LoT community to go in this direction endlessly. Similar things happen in almost every thread.

I don't get it...

Aren't the Dodgers worried someone in the MLB front office is going to catch on? Starting pitchers going more than 5 innings, catching balls in the air instead of letting them bounce first, scoring more runs than the guys in the different jerseys. How long do they think they can get away with flaunting the rules like this?

Well, it looks like the unexpectedly hopeful start to the season is coming to an end.

5 game losing streak, but more importantly over those five games the A's have scored just 5 runs -- 3 of them in a single game. They have not had a 3-run inning since May 4. It's just not a team that is going to get many runs and the pitching isn't compensating.

Now, if we could just keep a key player from going on the DL seemingly every week. The loss of Ethier's bat in the lineup is not going to be helpful.

Still, gotta love a sweep, especially against the Padres!

Giants and Rays in the World Series. Giants win.

2 of the wins without Ethier. The Dodgers are riding a wave of swagger right now, and rightfully so with a nice string of quality starts and an offense to be reckoned with. But it's only a matter of time before one of those two pieces breaks (and with Ethier's injury, it might improbably end up being offense before pitching) and I have no faith that they'll ride out that slump and come back strong. But hey, if a sweep of SD in SD is ends up being the season high point, I'll take it.

I'm imagining you both with your hair moussed, your teeth capped, wearing a loud suit with a tiny knotted tie, speaking really loudly and being filmed from below to make you look like gods.

In San Diego!!!

This coming from the man who has insane fantasies:

Do you know of any job listings?

Amusing footnote...the very next night another guy ran onto the field. Bravo says I, putting aside my usual contempt for the idiots who run on the field in favor of the spirit of "fvck tasers as intimidation tools."

The amusing comes in when we learn that this genius ran onto the field...with weed in his pocket and got busted on marijuana possession. Hah.

Yeah, it is important to recognize that while they shouldn't be tasered, the people who run on the field are generally idiots (whether natural or chemically induced).

Though I must admit that if tasing becomes the norm, I'd be tempted to run out on the field. I'm kind of curious what it is like to be tasered.

I knew the Padres were going to be a bit vengeful when they came into town.

Also made my night to hear that Manny hurt his foot. Good health is certainly not one of the team's strong points right now.

Eh, a loss with Ramon Ortiz on the mound doesn't strike me as something to worry about. Tonight will be the telling game.

You know, there may have been more truth in this quip than I realized.

Considering that on April 29 they were 6 games under .500 and 6 games out of first place, only to swing to 7 games over .500 and a tie for first place today.

Power outage at Wrigley, and I'm not talking about Carlos Lee.

Yeah, that was weird.

I'm just glad things are getting corrected: the Dodgers are in contention for the NL West lead and the Nats are in the cellar (granted, a position they currently share with the Mets and the Marlins)

It was mentioned earlier in the broadcast that last night was only the 458th night game at Wrigley. It didn't have lights until 1988, and even then they have an agreement with the neighborhood to limit the number of night games. Guess they're still working some of the kinks out of the system.

You still laughing? Well not for long. Looks like this "draftee" is the real deal.

His Baseball card is going for over $10,000

And his record in Triple-A ain't to shabby.

Wow, never been two perfect games in the same season, let alone the same month.

ETA: Sports Center just corrected me, there has been a season with 2 perfect games...1880.

From Keith Olbermann's baseball blog:

Then there's today's non-walkoff walkoff grand slam.

Yeah, I wonder if we've seen the last of those stupid home-plate celebrations due to that. I hope so.

Anyone see the line drive hit by A Rod go off the that pitcher's head? Ouch. That thing bounced a LONG way.

I know one guy who didn't see it, or he would have ducked faster.

It was reminiscent of when the Phoenix Cardinals All Star kicker (name escapes me) was celebrating after a game winning field goal and tore his ACL. Oops.

Balk off.

My favorite X-off moment was a few years ago to the A's advantage over the Angels when they won on a "Walk Off Flubbed Return Throw."

Bottom of the ninth, tie game. Francisco Rodriguez doesn't like the ball call on the pitch he'd just thrown and is stomping around a little bit and only makes a half-hearted backhanded stab at catching the return throw from the catcher. It bounces off his glove and gets far enough away that the guy on third scored and game over.

Heh, I remember that one, amusing.

I liked this one because a game or two before, Casey Blake seemingly got himself to the brink of being tossed out of the game for trying to talk the first base ump into a balk call. Now here he is a day or two later doing the same thing and it wins the game.

Ouch.

And what the hell's up with the pitching? The end of the steroid era can't be responsible for no-hitters.

Ouch indeed

And the pitching comment is further corroborated by the 14 inning one run game victory over the D-Backs today

And they won 1-0 in 10 yesterday. Today is actually the 5th game so far this season to go into extra frames without no runs, including an April game between the Mets and Cardinals that was scoreless after 18 innings. Then they both scored one run in the 19th.

Don't know if that is an unusual number of scoreless games, though.

More liberal strike zone from the umps?

Hmm, signs are pointing to the commissioner overturning the call and ruling it a perfect game.

Don't know how I feel about that.

I am mixed.

They change hits to errors and errors to hits post event regularly. But this is officially changing a call of an umpire.....certainly a much more radical step.

I think it more preferable, rather than changing the call, is to make some form of NFL like replay challengable calls that can be dealt with at the time. The NBA has it for time expiration calls and three point checks. Why not have it in MLB?

I'm of the opinion that MLB is ultra-resistant to replay because it seems inevitable that it would lead to opening ball and strike calls to replay. The idea of the ball and strike calls from the ump being unquestionable is sacrosanct in the game, and opening that to replay would be a pretty radical change in what the game is to a lot of people.

I'm ok with it since the error was so completely clear and the change has only statistical significance.

The winner is not changed. Nobody else is deprived of any meaningful achievement, etc. The net result officially is:

Picture allowed one less hit, appeared for one less plate appearance, and three (?) fewer pitches.

Batter achieved one less hit (which even he acknowledges was a mistake)

Following batter loses one plate appearance.


===

Now, what I find interesting is how we perceive the relative importance. If the blown call had been in the first inning but otherwise everything else was identical, how much outrage would there be? One-hitters happen all the time but we only seem to care about that hit when it come in the ninth inning.

I'm not a fan of replay in baseball but I'd be ok with a limited number of manager challenges for use in entirely unambiguous situations (that is, not only can you determine what the correct call should have been but you can say with certainty what the outcome of a correct call would have been; that second part is missing in most situations). Just to allow for the few times of extremely heightened importance to have recourse. I'd also be fine with umpires having discretion to ask for review help in unambiguous situations (though that might not have helped here since Joyce was absolutely certain of his call until he saw the replay).

But I think widespread use of replay would fundamentally change the experience of watching baseball and actually increase the number of incorrect initial calls. The impact of error for a call is frequently asymmetrical. That is, in a given situation Call A instead of B may be more ambiguous than B instead of A, so the pressure would be to call B and let replay settle it, regardless of whether A was more obviously correct.

Example:
Line drive right over the first base bag and it hooks into the outfield corner. Stand up double for the batter but the guy on first is thrown out at home plate.

Except umpire slipped a bit getting in position to make the fair/foul call and was a little bit late getting his eyes on it. He's 90% sure it just barely missed the chalk and was foul. But if he calls foul and is wrong, what do you do? You can't know that the batter wouldn't have tried for a triple, that the man on base would have been thrown out at home. You don't know that the batter wouldn't have slipped rounding first and have ended up with just a single.

So better to call fair, let the play happen and then go to the replay booth because resetting to the correct foul call is easy.

Regarding this specific case...I think I'm okay with it being overturned. The ump admitted afterwards he was wrong, the call was clearly and verifiably wrong, and overturning it would be a clean deal, not affecting any game outcomes or getting into any situation where you can't just assume everything afterwards would have happened the same if the right call had been made. Overturn the call, game ends then, the next at bat is wiped off the record, voila, balance restored.

But I'm pretty sure that overturning it will be basically an admission that yes, instant replay for calls beyond homerun calls will be coming to baseball.

I agree, it is inevitable. I'm just not sure I'll like the result (I'm a mixed traditionalist, I abhor interleague play but love the wild card and designated hitter).

I'd have no problem if remains used for only unambiguous (as defined by me above) situations but I doubt it would, because unambuous will be something that changes from moment to moment (a ball call on what would have been strike two is ambiguous, a ball call on what would have been strike three is not) and most of the time it is the ambiguous situations that are more significant and therefore the argument would be that it is more important that they be correct even if you can't correct them with certainty.

==

On Griffey retiring. I came to baseball late when I got to college and was given a sports obsessed roommate. I'd never even watched a game before then (and have still never actually played a game of baseball/softball in my life). Being introduced to the sport via the Seattle Mariners in 1992-1996 was a pretty good time to do it.

Ken Griffey Jr.
Randy Johnson
Alex Rodriguez
Edgar Martinez

3.5 Hall of Famers all on one overlooked team. Me leaving Seattle was about the same time that group imploded but I'm glad I got to see them. It was sad to see how quickly injuries overtook Griffey but also good to be reminded of the more natural arc of aging for baseball players.

It's weird to look at a guy who's #5 on the all time homer list and close to 3000 hits and think, "Man, so disappointing. I feel sorry for the guy." It really is astounding to ponder what he might have done had his body cooperated.

But kudos to him for being a class act through what must have been an epic amount of frustration.

I don't see how a sport that still allows double plays to be turned by middle infielders in the vicinity of second base can introduce instant reply. Plus, as Alex has alluded to, unlike with football or tennis, there are things that can be happening with other base runners that can be affected by the blown call. It sounds like a big headache to puzzle out the situations in which it could be used from the situations in which it couldn't.

I would hate to see instant reply used on balls and strikes. Unlike with football or tennis, the authority of the umpire is a big part of the culture. However, if it turns out that balls and strikes can be challenged, the umpires have only themselves to blame with guys like Eric Gregg saying, "Hey, you know what my strike zone is."

Kudos to him for (apparently) not juicing, but didn't he leave Seattle out of concern that the new ballpark would shrink his home run output?

I've always hated the lame excuse of, "it's for the safety of the fielder."

Regarding ambiguous post-replay-overturn situations, in some way baseball already has a mechanism for that built in. There are several situations (ball goes out of play or defensive interference are a couple examples) where awarding a runner a base advancement comes down to an umpire's judgment call as to how far the baserunner might have made it without the situation occurring.

e.g. with a runner on first going on the pitch, there's a ground ball fielded b the shortstop, whose throw to first sails into the stands. If that runner from first base had rounded 2nd and was heading toward third, it's the umpires' discretion whether to say he was at 2nd and award him 3rd on the overthrow, or that he would have reasonably gotten to third base even on a good throw, and therefore award him home.

So it's not THAT much of a stretch to allow for some ambiguity in instant replay instances. Though it still personally doesn't sit well with me. Currently those situations are uncommon and as such people accept them as necessary edge cases that add to the idiosyncratic charm of baseball. If replay increases the frequency too much, the charm disappears.

Maybe that was part of it, but there was no statistical evidence of it. He hit about half his home runs in 1999 in Safeco Field.

But it wasn't like he left for the Yankees or something, he specifically wanted to go to Cincinnati where he'd grown up and deep roots with the team (it was where he grew up and his father played there through most of the '70s).

Griffey's version is that a) he wanted to be closer to his family, but also that b) the management of the team came to him and said "we can keep you or A-Rod, who should it be?" His view was that if it they weren't sure they wanted him they should just trade him and please make it Cincinnati.

I may be getting the history muddled a bit, but thinking back I think it was Alex Rodriguez that faced the charge he left because of the ballpark. His Safeco stats in 2000 were significantly lower than his road game stats.

Griffey's half season in Safeco in 1999 didn't show much difference from the first half.

Wow.

It's an exciting time over here in Nationals Land.

Last years #1 Draft Pick Stephen Strasburg has his major league debut tonight against the Pirates.

Last night we picked up Bryce Harper the 2010 #1 draft pick.

Good times I tell ya, good times. We might even finish above 50%..... Hey it could happen, a guy can dream!




(And no Kevy, I'm not thinking about how bad we were to earn back-to-back #1 picks....)

I hope him well, but I'd have thunk the baseball punditocracy would have learned to stop over-hyping 21 year old pitchers.

I assume that at some point the Nats will have to let him pitch more than 5 innings at a go.

I was thumbing through a slideshow of the last 25 #1 draft picks. The most recent handful remain to be seen, but I was surprised to see that I recognize most of the names. They're of course not all franchise superstars, but the great majority seem to have gone on to have productive careers.

Then there's Danny Goodwin who was the #1 pick twice and still only played in 250 games over 7 seasons.

Of course the Nat's front office is hyping the hell out it this. They have the first sell out since the stadium opener so that's be be expected but I do share you concern about the pundits.

The last time they were this jacked up about anything was when the Capitols were headed into the first round the the Stanley Cup playoff's as the #1 seed only to be eliminated in the first round by the 499th seed.

I can't decide if it is impressive that in 45 years only 3 of the #1 picks never made it to the bigs (2 more are still active in the minors and probably will) or scary that three times the best eyes in baseball failed to pick as the best prospect someone who wasn't even good enough for a bench seat in the bigs.

Poor Steve Chilcott who toiled in the minors for 6 years before retiring. Yes, apparently the Mets thought he was better than the #2 pick, Reggie Jackson.

Matt Bush is still in A ball after 7 years of trying.

I'll give the scouts a pass on Brien Taylor since he was blowing through the minors before tearing his shoulder to pieces in a fistfight.

Makes me wonder how that record compares to other sports'.

Probably unfavorably. Do any other leagues have the same minor league system where you're owned by the majors even as you toil in a development league?

For football or basketball anyway, you're pretty much guaranteed a roster spot once drafted #1 unless you refuse to sign or hurt yourself immediately.

Yeah, it's harder to quantify since there isn't that easy, "Made it to the bigs" hurdle that's a convenient at-a-glance measure of success. One would have to delve into stats/playing time/games started, etc. to make a decent comparison.

But in terms of career production I wonder how they all compare.

Looking at NBA #1 picks,

Last years #1 pick (Blake Griffin) hasn't yet played because he broke his foot before the start of the season. He's expected to return next season however.

Before that the last #1 pick to never play in the NBA was Gene Melchiorre in 1951. He never played because he admitted to participating in a college point shaving scandal (after the draft) and the NBA banned all people involved in that scandal.

Other than that Clifton McNeeley in 1947 because instead of taking the pro job he instead took a high school coaching job.

I believe we concluded a while ago that winning Minor League Player of the Year was a better predictor of success than winning the Heisman Trophy.

Well duh! The Heisman is for FOOTBALL. Of course a baseball award would be a better predictor of success in the majors.....

Baseball Reference has "Hall of Fame" scores for everybody in which you earn points for various playing achievements. The average Hall of Famers has a score of 100. So far the MLB draft has only produced three surefire Hall of Famers in the #1 pick (Griffey-235 points, Rodriguez-349 points, Chipper Jones-162 points) and one borderline case (Harold Baines-66 points).

Excluding the three sure things, the rest of the group picked through 1997 (to allow time for an actual career) averages a Hall of Fame score of 13.2.

Unfortunately I don't see anything similar for basketball on their site. However, a somewhat random sample of modern major leaguers produces and average of 2.57. So they're definitely pretty good at making sure that the #1 pick is better than average.

When Craig Biggio makes the Hall of Fame, my campaign for Harold Baines will begin in ernest.

Not a bad start for the kid. 14 X's in seven innings for the win.

I also like the rapid-fire pitch cadence he has. It keeps the game moving right along.


Note: 14 Strike outs ties the record for most in the majors so far this season.

Did they have a ceremony after the game to give him the Cy Young award or are they doing that before his next start?

I don't know about that, but I have heard the term "The Sermon on the mound" tossed about....

He should get his ass kicked back down to the minors for that stroll to first in the 3rd.

And what the F? He LOST a game. It's definitely time to send this guys back to the minors.

I was prepared to actually question the existence of a beneficent god but I see he didn't get the loss, just a no decision.

A crack has appeared but my faith in the world remains intact.

Well, that was an ugly game yesterday. Hey Loney, when the tying run is at third, throw to the damn plate rather than worrying about the out at first. Thank you.

I cringe every time a closer is brought in for a non-save situation.

You know what, fvck Angels fans. WTF is up with booing to Dodgers during introductions? W-T-F!? STOP TRYING TO CREATE A RIVALRY, THERE IS NO RIVALRY BETWEEN THE DODGERS AND THE ANGELS. I'm a Dodger fan, and I enjoy following and rooting for the Angels. As a matter of fact, when I go to games, I seem to be more vested in the Angels winning than the majority of the crowd. I have nothing against the Angels.




But now I have something against Angel fans.

So I as biking home yesterday on the Santa Ana River Trail. At ~5:36 I started to pass under the 22 freeway, I hear a loud roar, that was clearly too loud to be freeway noise. It quickly dawned on me that it must have been the pre-game jet flyover. By the time I made it out from under the freeway, the jets were long gone. Had I been just 30 seconds earlier, I would have had the PERFECT view of it. Damn.

Indeed. Why should there be discord between the consumers of family entertainment options?

I have a thing against booing players of rival teams anyway, especially at an All Star game. I personally find it possible to enjoy a rivalry without personalizing it and booing individual players, particularly in a venue that celebrates the skill and entertainment of the game. I'll boo a mention of a team that's a rival (e.g. Giants), but I'll only boo a player if that player has done something individually worthy of booing (e.g. a pitcher that throws at a hitter).

That said, I at least get WHY people boo players from rival teams, even if I don't join in. However, booing players because of a totally baseless manufactured rivalry? Get over yourselves. Dodgers and Giants have a reason to foment a rivalry. Angels and Dodgers? Hardly.

Ha! Fear the Nats (next season perhaps). Apparently we signed some guy that actually knows how to hit a baseball. It's quite the novel concept for this team.

Well, at least there is something to be happy about right now:

Vin Scully and baseball: He loves it too much to leave it
The broadcaster announces he will return for his 62nd season with the Dodgers. 'I found when push came to shove, I just did not want to leave,' the 82-year-old Hall of Famer says.

The rest of the story.

As an indicator of how bad the season is, Susan just sent me this IM:

Huh? What season?

If Torii Hunter gets in trouble for wagering that Hideki Matsui wouldn't hit a triple this season, shouldn't MLB follow through and invalidate all of the performance bonus clauses in players' contracts?

FYI:

No surprise there. Mattingly was ready to walk away from the Dodgers before this season to take a manager job, when he stayed I figured it could only mean that Torre had promised him he'd hand the team over after this season.

Bummer for Torre to end on this stinker of a season.

Considering the miraculous work Mattingly has done with our hitters this season, I'm sure he'll be just spiffy as a manager (with no experience.) Meanwhile, as an added bonus, we'll probably lose Tim Wallach just like we lost Scioscia.

I did quite enjoy hearing that Peter O'Malley came out of the woodwork to rip the McCourts a new one today in the press. I miss him.

We had been doing so well, especially after the Fox nightmare.

Matthew and I got to say hello to Tommy Lasorda at the game last night. We were waiting for an elevator and, when the door opened, he was standing right in front of me. Flustered, I managed to spit out "Hi Tommy!" and he smiled and said hi to both of us, then was quickly on his way. Turned out, he was headed to the field to be honored in a ceremony.

Absolutely the highlight of an otherwise forgettable season.

Very cool! I saw some of the game last night. It looked like you and Tommy pretty much had the place to yourselves.

Yep. :)

Susan will have the TV on when she is working around the house and will sometimes put the Dodger game on.

The IM I just received from her pretty much sums up what our season has been like:

"The Dodgers aren't losing yet"

Followed up a couple of minutes later with:

"OK, now they're losing"

It's good to stick with classic material.

Wow: I completely forgot about that.

Roy Halladay = first ballot HOF.

So far, so good.

By coincidence I'm actually going to be in the Philadelphia area next weekend when the Giants-Phillies series starts. I could use the opportunity to go root against the Giants on the road but so far it looks like that would cost me at $200, which is more than I'm willing to pay fro that privilege.

Giants and Ra . . .

cough, cough. Excuse me. Frog in my throat.

Giants and Rangers in the World Series. Giants win.

From bankruptcy and being sold off at auction to playing in the World Series all in the same year. That has to be some kind of record.

Looks like Nolan Ryan made a hell of a deal.

I wonder if Fox will jump off the Golden Gate Bridge in despair if it is Rangers-Giants. They could provide a bus so all 15 people watching the games outside of those cities can see.

Nonsense. This series is pure culture war. San Francisco's ragtag bunch of Gay Jews, poets and unemployed sous chefs like Cody Ross and Brian Wilson vs. a bunch of secessionist Rednecks like Vlad Guerrero.

LOL - interesting take on it Strangler.

I find myself in a strange position, rooting perhaps for the first time for an American League team in the series. I think the Giants are the only team that could ever cause me to set aside my principles like that.

To the extent I care (I'm not among the 15 non Giants/Rangers fans that will be watching) I'm rooting

a) For Ron Washington, since I liked him when he was a coach with the As.
b) Against the Giants because visiting AT&T Park and asking where the trophy room is will be less fun if they have a trophy.

Imagine if it had been Yankees vs. Giants. Then I would have to figure out how to root for both teams to lose.

My friend just posted this on FB:
:D

Oh like it's our fault Canada sucks.

So much for a pitching dual tonight

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I don't have to tell you how disappointing a season it was. So when the playoffs began, I decided that, since I now reside in San Diego, I might as well root for the Padres. They lost. Then I thought it would be cool if Bobby Cox got one more ring so I cheered for the Braves. They lost. Couldn't root for the despised Giants so my loyalties went to the City of Brotherly Love. They lost. Finally, with nowhere else to turn, I thought certainly Texas can beat the Giants, after what they did to the Yanks. And here we are.

Worst. season. ever.

I've endured more losses than any fan ever should, and yet, I still feel sadness that there is no more baseball this year.

I don't get why people have been getting so worked up about these early spring training games.

Much joy in Mudville tonight. Much yelling, honking and screaming, doubt if I will get much sleep tonight.

City Hall, Coit Tower all look beautiful lit up for the Giants.

Wish my Dad were here for this, he'd be ecstatic.

Mazel Tov!

Are you F'n kidding me?

Seriously?

THIS is what all those braided necklaces the MLB players are wearing are?


Good grief! I thought they were for some charity like the NFL's pink shoes.

Wait, the pink shoes are for breast cancer awareness and not because their pink spectral wavelengths resonate in opposition to the green harmonics of the field causing players to run faster and jump higher right?

Wow, Moonie. I didn't know that. I also thought it was a charity or at least a tribute.

I just thought it was a fad.

Guess I was right. A really stupid fad. Lani mentioned you could buy them on MLB.com (though I don't know how they're described) for something like $60.

• • Worn by players on field as part of the MLB Authentic Collection
  • This necklace features Phiten's Phild processed Aqua-Titanium, which has the ability to regulate the body's natural electric currents through cell ionization
  • Promotes muscle relaxation, pain and stress relief, fatigue reduction, blood circulation improvement thus helping prevent injury
  • 22 inches in length

Yes, you're right, it was exciting to watch a post-season where great pitching, solid defense and just enough timely hitting ground down supposedly more explosive teams.

Three cheers for our merry band of poets and collectivist bakery owners!

Went to part of the parade just because it was only two blocks away. Lots of excitement and really miss working for Wells where I'd have been able to watch it from my cube (with an openable window even).

Had a noon meeting I couldn't miss so I got to see the Front Office staff go by but had to leave before any players were seen.

Was it sponsored by Just For Men?

No (I'm sure that's a joke I'm not getting). But it did seem to be sponsored by UPS (their delivery trucks were pulling all the floats).

Brian Wilson seems to spend most of his off-field time bathing his beard in the stuff.

Ah. I heard someone on TV say he uses show polish and thought they were serious.

The parade route started just the other side of Alcoa plaza, I walked over to the Safeway for cat food before the parade. On the way back on ground level I was at the right spot at the right time, just before Edgar Renteria got on the mock cable car, he was shaking hands. So I got about 2 seconds of his time. kinda fun. I think I caught his attention as I was the only person on the street not in orange and black.

A most excellent skewering of the "Health Bands" we discussed earlier by The Bad Astronomer.

Including a de-bunk of the balance test.

In the Holy **** category....

I'm visiting my dad, and he gave me a bit a Baseball memorabilia. A three page hand written letter from Ty Cobb.



I guess I'm not checking my bag on the way home.

Was that letter written TO your Dad? Cool either way, just even cooler if it is.

It's not a tweet from Ocho Cinco, but I guess it's something.

You should get a picture of it being held by Tommy Lee Jones (who, sadly, will forever be my mental image of Ty Cobb).

No, it's written to Danny Goodman

Try this:

No, that guys Tommy Lee Jones impression is horrible.