ML Baseball 2005 discussion thread (1 Viewer)

[BrettGallman]

Looks like the only thing holding the Braves back from completely running away with the division is the shaky closer spot. Reitsma blew another one the other night, but fortunately the Braves rebounded well tonight. I'd just like to see them string together a 5 or 6 game winning streak to put some more distance between them and the rest of the division. It amazes me how everyone else has already relegated the rest of the east to the Wild Card race. I guess everyone has just learned not to bet against Atlanta.

 

[Patrick_S]

Hay I always bet against Atlanta in the post-season. It's like taking candy from a baby.

 

[Shane Martin]

LOL So true.

 

[SarahG]

The Nats are only a half game out. It's not looking too bad for them. I still can't get over the fact they are a half game out of the wild card and they don't even have a freaking television deal. Ridiculous for fans.

 

[EricW]

holy freakin' crap.

http://www.redreporter.com/story/2005/8/18/121748/328

just a rumour, but Clemens on steroids? i hate the guy personally, but i respect the player. say it ain't so!

 

[Brian Perry]

That would be terrible...Clemens is having one of the greatest years in history -- before yesterday, his ERA was almost 3 runs better than the league average.

 

[EricW]

follow up from CNN-CI.com:

"Major League Baseball officials received at least a dozen phone calls yesterday regarding a rumor MLB was about to announce that Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon had tested positive for steroids, with an announcement coming today. ''Total BS," one official said. MLB and the players' union had released a joint press release last week, vehemently denying that more prominent players had tested positive in the aftermath of Rafael Palmeiro's failed test."
-- Boston Globe

 

[Joseph S]

Jerry Remy almost died during the broadcast tonight after the one and only "J. Peterman" sniffed his hottie wife and proclaimed, "she still has that new wife smell."

Oh, Sox beat the Tigers 9-8.

 

[Patrick Sun]

It was strange to see the Brewers in their throwback jerseys that said "Braves" on the front because they were playing the Braves tonight. It did look like an inter-squad game at times. Ben Sheets had his curve working overtime, too bad he suffered an arm strain in the 8th inning, but got the win, nonetheless after a scary 9th inning by their closer.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Would someone please shoot Terry Francona? He pinch-hit Kevin Millar for Roberto Petagine yesterday afternoon. For those not familiar with these two players, Kevin Millar is a nice guy who is terrible with the bat. He plays first base and occasional outfield, and recently finished up a streak where he went 200 plate appearances without a home run. Petagine, on the other hand, spent the year in Pawtucket destroying AAA pitching after spending five years in Japan destroying NPB pitching. And yet, Francona is letting him rot on the bench in order to play Kevin Millar for the most part.

Watching the bullpen implode again was pretty painful, too, but I can't wait to see Millar gone this October.

 

[Brian Perry]

I heard a crazy stat today, and it partially explains the Cubs woes: they lead the NL in hits, yet are last in BA with runners in scoring position. That almost seems like a mathematical impossibility.

It appears that the lion's share of the blame for this year's failure goes to GM Jim Hendry. Let's look at the moves he made:

Traded Sosa. Sosa has sucked royally this year (and I predict will retire after his latest toenail injury) but the Cubs are paying most of his salary and the trade hampered them in the free agency market.

Didn't resign Alou. Alou was an All-Star this year and the combo of Hollandsworth/Hairston/Murton/Lawton has been disastrous.

Didn't re-sign Clement. Depth in the starting rotation should have been addressed due to the injury histories of Prior and Wood (and the age of Maddux) but Hendry thought Clement wasn't worth the asking price.

Didn't sign a leadoff hitter. The only home-grown position player on the Cubs is Corey Patterson, who is officially a bust. Dusty Baker actually played him at leadoff, even though his OBP was sub-.270. No one with a sub-.270 OBP belongs in the major leagues. Period. The combined OBP for Cub leadoff hitters is .302, dead last.

Didn't sign a closer. Hendry wistfully hoped Borowski would come back from injury, or that LaTroy Hawkins would step in, despite blowing 8 of 9 one-run save opportunities last year. Borowski was DOA and Hawkins was ridden out on a rail.

Traded for Matt Lawton at the deadline. Traded to the Yankees three weeks later. Nice to know you.

Signed Nomar. Thankfully only for one year, but injuries were expected and occurred early and often.

I'm trying to think of one single positive move Hendry made this year or last off-season...maybe Burnitz to replace Sosa, but that's stretching. President Andy MacPhail actually had the nerve to say recently that the Cubs were headed in the right direction. Sure, a combined 38 games out of the division lead over the last two years and a team in freefall -- I'd hate to see the "wrong" direction.

Oh well, only three more years to make it an even century since the last championship.

 

[Joseph S]

Anybody know how the Rangers are signaling the pitches from CF?

The White Sox are making the accusation and considering TX now has former Indian's GM Hart I'm not really surprised this has followed him to TX. Guess it's time for Jerry Remy to do a Sat game of the week in TX to solve the crime again.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

So with the season winding down, what are everybody's surprises and award winners for the year?

I'm surprised at how far the Twins fell this year. I don't know what happened but with Chicago and Cleveland both playing so well I guess it was time for them to fall back.

I'm surprised Atlanta is in first place, given all the injuries, given its 14 years, I mean this run is beyond describable. Yeah, they'll choke come playoff time, but when you know its coming its a little easier to stomach.

Andruw for MVP. I mean I like what Pujols has done, but his supporting cast is miles better than what Andruw was working with a majority of the season. Yeah, I'm a Braves fan and so more than a little bias but he leads the league in HR and RBI.

Wow the NL West is bad, and call me crazy but I really missed Bonds because whether you love him or hate him, he makes for a great discussion topic.

You know Atlanta's won 13 division titles in a row and closing on 14, but the Yankees have a streak of something like 7 going for themselves so I hope Boston can hold them off.

Wow, Baltimore sure did fall off.

Ok, enough ramblings for now.

 

[BobbyPerry]

I was just reading about this the other day and thought it was pretty unbelievable. How can they not show the games down the stretch?

 

[Brian Perry]

I need a favor -- does anyone have a copy of the Bill James Abstract where he listed the expected runs for any given baserunner/outs situation? For example, bases loaded and no outs will typically result in 1.893 runs, whereas no one on base and two outs will yield an expected output of .244 runs for the inning (or something like that).

Of course, if that table has been updated by James or others, that would be fine too.

Thanks

Edit:
Here's one I found, in case anyone is interested (based on 1998-2000 data):

Bases 0 out 1 out 2 outs
empty 0.56 0.30 0.12
1st 0.95 0.58 0.25
2nd 1.20 0.72 0.34
1st, 2nd 1.57 0.99 0.46
3rd 1.46 0.99 0.39
1st, 3rd 1.91 1.24 0.54
2nd, 3rd 2.09 1.48 0.63
loaded 2.41 1.66 0.81

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

ESPN and MLB announced a new TV contract today.

Some of the highlights, is that ESPN will be able to tinker with the Sunday night schedule of games that they televise.

The most disappointing part at least for me is that the Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day games are being dropped. Now what am I supposed to watch those days?

 

[John Alvarez]

And how many World Series or for that Matter how Many N.L. titles?

My freaking Marlins just can't pull away and no help from the Braves. The Phillies are hot right now and we go up against Pettit tonight....

 

[BobbyPerry]

That's great that there will be more games on ESPN. I wonder if next year Nats fans will get to watch the games like they should be able to now.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I hope that the ESPN contract doesn't include Joe Morgan and his equally inept partner John Miller. I can't stand watching games with these two bozos broadcasting. It's somewhat hard for me to believe that Joe Morgan ever played the game with some of the insanely stupid things that he says.

 

[Patrick_S]

While I agree that Morgan is terrible Miller on the other hand is one of the best.