2017 MLB Facts, Lies, Propaganda, Opinions, & Pictures

[JSngry]

Bob Cerv, Three-Time Yankee and One-Time All-Star, Dies at 91

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/sports/baseball/bob-cerv-dead-slugger-for-yankees-and-athletics.html?_r=0

For a month, he played with his jaw wired shut after it was broken in a collision at home plate with Detroit Tigers catcher Red Wilson. Cerv ate a liquid diet and occasionally needed oxygen during games because of his difficulty breathing.

Playing well — and playing injured — made him so popular on the moribund A’s that he was honored that July at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City with a ceremony attended by former President Harry S. Truman, with whom he became friendly.

 

[JSngry]

Thoughts, prayers, and good vibrations in general for Lou Brock: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2703600-mlb-hall-of-famer-lou-brock-diagnosed-with-multiple-myeloma-cancer?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

[JSngry]

Heartened to hear of Mitch Moreland's early triumphs in Boston. He was a constant favorite of mine while here. He will get cold, he will get hurt, and he does have his holes. But his glove is true, and his attitude sweet.

[ghost of miles]

Yankees' game a real pleasure to watch last night, with Severino finally getting a win under his belt (and setting a career record for Ks in the process), Betances getting out of a self-created jam, and Chapman using a wicked slider as well as his triple-digit heat to put away the Rays in the 9th for the sweep. And Aaron Hicks! Seems he hasn't let Aaron Judge's beating him out for the RF spot have a negative effect on his attitude. Greg Bird's timing at the plate still seems a bit off--hoping he can soon regain his spring-training form. 153 games to go... Spring/summer/early autumn sweetness!

[ghost of miles]

Yankees went 8-17 in April last year... as of today they're 8-4 so far for April 2017.  I'm diggin' it. 

[jazztrain]

Looks like it's time for a 0-13 streak!  

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, jazztrain said:

Looks like it's time for a 0-13 streak!  

"You know, I'd buy you a parachute if I knew it wouldn't open." 

[jazztrain]

Abscess makes the heart grow fonder.

[ghost of miles]

"You try to cross over there a chicken and you'll find out why a duck."

[jazztrain]

You can have any kind of home you want. You can even get stucco. Oh can you get stucco. 

[JSngry]

From the New York Times' world-renowned sports section, another performance metric being used for financial leverage.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/sports/baseball/baseballs-data-revolution-is-elevating-defensive-dynamos.html?emc=edit_th_20170418&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25913738&_r=0

When the Tampa Bay Rays gave outfielder Kevin Kiermaier a six-year, $53.5 million contract extension last month, they were not rewarding him so much for his prowess at the plate. He is a career .258 hitter who hits few home runs.

What most compelled the Rays to hang on to Kiermaier was his ability to field his position. Kiermaier, hardly a household name in professional sports, represents the new order in baseball, a sport that has been reshaped in staggering ways in recent years by a convergence of statistical analysis and camera technology.

There’s a newfound appreciation for players who do their best work with their gloves, not their bats.

“We’re looking at it in terms of one of our core players, and what he means to us,” said Chaim Bloom, the Rays’ senior vice president for baseball operations. “But we do see around the league, more and more, teams are taking note of a variety of skills, and trying to evaluate all the things players bring to the table as accurately as they can.”

...............

Statcast, Major League Baseball Advanced Media’s proprietary combination of radar and optical tracking technologies, has been heralded as a data revolution. Statcast’s cameras have captured volumes of hitting, pitching and baserunning data in ballparks throughout the major leagues since 2015.

Last season, the technology expanded to measure outfielders’ defensive aptitude, including a defender’s arm strength, first step, route efficiency and reaction time.

Daren Willman, the director of baseball research and development for Major League Baseball Advanced Media, known as BAM, said last year that he was confident about Statcast’s data and its potential effect on players’ values.

“Where it’s really going to end up is, players are going to start getting paid a ton more money because they play great defense and everybody realizes it,” Willman said in an interview with The New York Times Magazine.

[Dave Garrett]

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

Daren Willman, the director of baseball research and development for Major League Baseball Advanced Media, known as BAM, said last year that he was confident about Statcast’s data and its potential effect on players’ values.

“Where it’s really going to end up is, players are going to start getting paid a ton more money because they play great defense and everybody realizes it,” Willman said in an interview with The New York Times Magazine.

Willman has a pretty interesting backstory. He was basically a programmer/stathead that started up the Baseball Savant site as a hobby, and wound up parlaying it into his current position with MLB (the Savant site moved under the mlb.com umbrella when he was hired there).

This is from a couple of years ago, when he was still in hobbyist mode: The Savant of Spray Charts: Meet the New Star of Baseball Analytics

[ghost of miles]

That Aaron Judge sure can smack a baseball--here's the 448-foot moonshot he launched off the White Sox' Dylan Covey just a little while ago:

Judge's monster home run

Edited April 20, 2017 by ghost of miles

[Soulstation1]

Rangers release Josh Hamilton 

[GA Russell]

It's been so many decades that I've watched a full nine innings that I suppose my opinion counts for nothing.  

Nevertheless, I'll say that when I was a boy, the best outfielders didn't make the spectacular plays because they were already standing where the ball was hit.

[Soulstation1]

Did anyone see the Blue Jays player leap over the catcher to touch homeplate last night ??

?

[Dave Garrett]

11 hours ago, Soulstation1 said:

Did anyone see the Blue Jays player leap over the catcher to touch homeplate last night ??

?

 

[Soulstation1]

Play of the year 

[ghost of miles]

Great start from Severino last night against the Red Sox--he really seems to have found his confidence so far this season.  Wouldn't be surprised if Chris Sale takes the Yanks to town tonight, though... curious to see how Tanaka fares.  He's had a really rough spring to date.

[paul secor]

Sale pitched well, but Tanaka pitched a complete game gem.

[ghost of miles]

14 hours ago, paul secor said:

Sale pitched well, but Tanaka pitched a complete game gem.

Yes, that was a pitching duel for the ages, as they say.  Fantastic to win one against Sale at Fenway! 

[paul secor]

HUGE comeback by the Yankees last night.

[ghost of miles]

3 hours ago, paul secor said:

HUGE comeback by the Yankees last night.

Paul Secor, from pitching duel to slugfest! I was watching on my phone in happy disbelief last night as NY kept hitting one dramatic home run after another... Fantastic win! Good to see Didi back in the lineup as well. Outside of Gary Sanchez's injury and Greg Bird's struggles, this has been an amazing April.

[ghost of miles]

Aaron freakin' Judge!!! #99 leading the American League in home runs now with ten--and, barring a complete meltdown by the NY bullpen in the last two innings today, the Yankees will finish April either tied for or in sole possession of first place in the AL East. I did not see that coming, even on the heels of a good spring training.

Edited April 29, 2017 by ghost of miles

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Aaron freakin' Judge!!! #99 leading the American League in home runs now with ten--and, barring a complete meltdown by the NY bullpen in the last two innings today, the Yankees will finish April either tied for or in sole possession of first place in the AL East. I did not see that coming, even on the heels of a good spring training.

Pretty amazing indeed ....