Yesterday ought to have been the first day of the baseball season in MLB. But... it wasn't. We are busy running in fear from a virus.
In fear, yes.
As I have been watching the world unravel in response to a virus, I could not help thinking of a tremendous moment from the Greatest Generation. Concerned that having MLB games was out-of-touch, perhaps insensitive to the insanity of Moment of the world, the commissioner of baseball reached out to the President of the United States--then FDR.
Perhaps you, too, have heard of the "Green Light Letter"? It was a letter written by FDR to Judge Landis (it hurts me to write this, because I do not care for much of what either of these two men did--except for this), in which he told his own opinion--baseball should continue.
And it did. Among other things, FDR asked that more day games get moved to nights, so that people helping the cause in the factories would have more opportunity to enjoy seeing what was then the American Game.
While I understand what we are doing, if not exactly why (we have never responded this way to any flu, and the flu kills far more people than this virus will, in the end), I do think that we could use some "diversion." It would be a good thing, in my opinion, to have the NCAA tournament, continued NBA games, MLB beginning. All these things give us some diversion in these crazy days.
Okay, don't have fans at the game. Does that help?
Put those games on television. Let people cheer for their teams. Let people like the University of Dayton compete for a once in a lifetime opportunity of being the best. I am a little biased there, since they are just a half hour from home. Still...
I think our response is exceptionally heavy handed, but I am more happy that I am not the governor of Ohio, or the President of these United States, or any one else who is currently in a position of decision. I do not envy them. No matter what they do, their decisions will be subject to scrutiny--both fair and unfair (the president of the red hat will never be treated well by the press, even if he personally solves cancer). History may, or may not, be fair to their decisions. Frankly, it will be pretty much impossible to identify the what's and how's of the results of this virus--there are far too many variables involved.
But, in short, I'd keep the sports going, even without fans. Let them see it on TV.
That's my 2 cents.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
2019 World Series
It was August, the midst of the kind of summer that tells intelligent travelers to stay away, home owners to stay indoors, and business travelers with no choice... that they are screwed. So, there I was in Houston.
Nobody who was there had been the one (or more) who planned the trip. Those of us who were spineless or stupid enough to not say "Heck no, I'm not going to Houston in August", were there, running around in a warehouse, sweating through our nice clothes, and not having a great time.
Then, we'd go to the office, where the A/C was apparently stuck on Frostbite.
But, with all that going on, one of the other IE's and myself decided that we would go to an Astros game that night. Fortunately, the Astros do not play outdoors.
Cheap tickets. Section 407. Honestly, it was rather nice seating for a veritable nosebleed section. Good visibility.
Oh, here's another great thing about it--it was a bobblehead night!! My buddy and I got to take Josh Reddick bobbleheads home on our flights. It is sitting in my office at home, waiting for Christmas, when I will likely give it to a guy at work who is from Texas, and is an Astros fan.
I went with great anticipation. After all, Justin Verlander, the closest thing to Nolan Ryan of his generation, was pitching during another dominant season. And, even better, he was facing the worst team in baseball--is former team, the Detroit Tiger.
I went believing a no-hitter was a real possibility.
Guess what? He threw a two hitter.
And lost.
It was a tremendous 9 innings of pitching. 99 pitches, if I remember right. A player whose name I didn't even know (Chorizo or something... okay, I'll look it up... hold please...Chirinos. That's it) had hit a home run, a double, and a single so far. He was up to bat in the bottom of the ninth, down 2 to 1, and... he hit a double, got tagged out at third trying to extend it to a triple.
Would have been pretty cool for him to be standing on third with a triple, having completed hitting in the cycle, and leaving the Astros with one more chance.
But, it was crazy fun to have that be the last out.
On to the World Series, though. This World Series, Astros vs Nationals, qualifies as a well-worth-watching World Series.
Why is that, you ask?
Because neither the Dodgers nor the Yankees are infecting it. And that is a beautiful thing. No Yankees, no Dodgers. Life is good.
So, I'll be watching, except for when I'm not. As it turns out, my schedule has 4 meetings and a dinner on 5 of the nights of the World Series. Clearly I didn't do any good scheduling, but there it is. I'll get to see an hour or more of each of those games, I suppose. Time will tell.
The pitching match-ups will be tremendous. Very looking forward to that.
The other day I finished reading a very fun book--The Cardinal Way. Understand, I'm an Indians fan, then a Reds fan... but there are teams that I have a high regard for--like the Oakland A's, the Saint Louis Cardinals, and the Houston Astros. I learned in reading this fun book that the general manager of the Astros "grew up" with the Cardinals. I won't go into it far, but you may already know (if you're slightly more of a fan than myself, who ought to have known about the GM, I suppose). I was kind of hoping, while I was reading, that it would be the Jeff Luhnow World Series--Astros vs Cardinals.
Ah, well.
There are so many players in this series who I really enjoy:
Nobody who was there had been the one (or more) who planned the trip. Those of us who were spineless or stupid enough to not say "Heck no, I'm not going to Houston in August", were there, running around in a warehouse, sweating through our nice clothes, and not having a great time.
Then, we'd go to the office, where the A/C was apparently stuck on Frostbite.
But, with all that going on, one of the other IE's and myself decided that we would go to an Astros game that night. Fortunately, the Astros do not play outdoors.
Cheap tickets. Section 407. Honestly, it was rather nice seating for a veritable nosebleed section. Good visibility.
Oh, here's another great thing about it--it was a bobblehead night!! My buddy and I got to take Josh Reddick bobbleheads home on our flights. It is sitting in my office at home, waiting for Christmas, when I will likely give it to a guy at work who is from Texas, and is an Astros fan.
I went with great anticipation. After all, Justin Verlander, the closest thing to Nolan Ryan of his generation, was pitching during another dominant season. And, even better, he was facing the worst team in baseball--is former team, the Detroit Tiger.
I went believing a no-hitter was a real possibility.
Guess what? He threw a two hitter.
And lost.
It was a tremendous 9 innings of pitching. 99 pitches, if I remember right. A player whose name I didn't even know (Chorizo or something... okay, I'll look it up... hold please...Chirinos. That's it) had hit a home run, a double, and a single so far. He was up to bat in the bottom of the ninth, down 2 to 1, and... he hit a double, got tagged out at third trying to extend it to a triple.
Would have been pretty cool for him to be standing on third with a triple, having completed hitting in the cycle, and leaving the Astros with one more chance.
But, it was crazy fun to have that be the last out.
On to the World Series, though. This World Series, Astros vs Nationals, qualifies as a well-worth-watching World Series.
Why is that, you ask?
Because neither the Dodgers nor the Yankees are infecting it. And that is a beautiful thing. No Yankees, no Dodgers. Life is good.
So, I'll be watching, except for when I'm not. As it turns out, my schedule has 4 meetings and a dinner on 5 of the nights of the World Series. Clearly I didn't do any good scheduling, but there it is. I'll get to see an hour or more of each of those games, I suppose. Time will tell.
The pitching match-ups will be tremendous. Very looking forward to that.
The other day I finished reading a very fun book--The Cardinal Way. Understand, I'm an Indians fan, then a Reds fan... but there are teams that I have a high regard for--like the Oakland A's, the Saint Louis Cardinals, and the Houston Astros. I learned in reading this fun book that the general manager of the Astros "grew up" with the Cardinals. I won't go into it far, but you may already know (if you're slightly more of a fan than myself, who ought to have known about the GM, I suppose). I was kind of hoping, while I was reading, that it would be the Jeff Luhnow World Series--Astros vs Cardinals.
Ah, well.
There are so many players in this series who I really enjoy:
- George Springe - he of lead-off Home Run fame. High energy, fun player.
- Jose Altuve - eventual Hall of Famer, 2nd baseman (which has been my favorite position most of my life), and a doubles hitter. I love doubles.
- Michael Brantley - former Indian, though that is hard to remember since he was always on the DL.
- Carlos Correa - 2nd best shortstop in the AL (Lindor, duh!!)
- One more Astro--my favorite, Alex Bregman - Hoping he ends up with the WS MVP. What a fun player.
- Pitchers Verlander, Cole, and Greinke. That's a nuts line up.
- Then a whole bunch of Nationals players, who will go nameless.
- Maybe I do already know who I'm cheering for... hmm...
- But, really, I think some of their players are fun to watch, too, and not just the guy who will turn 21 on the day of game 3. Let's all hope he hits a HR, making him only the 3rd (or was it 4th?) dude to hit a HR in the World Series on his birthday.
Got your picks? I've said Astros in 5, I've wondered Astros in 6. I have a buddy who says Astros in 5, OR Nationals in 7. If that isn't hedging one's bets, what is it??
Enjoy the World Series.
M
Monday, September 30, 2019
Post Season 2019
Let's start with a little honesty:
It is my hope that the Dodgers and Yankees embarrass themselves so badly in the post-season that the Florida Marlins are considered a good team in their stead, and the American League headquarters offers to re-play the first round, replacing the Yankees with my Cleveland Indians.
There. Also, if the World Series ends up being Dodgers v Yankees--I will refrain from watching the Series for the first time this millennium.
Onward!
I saw an article on ESPN that I figured I'd enjoy, but also that I would play along with. First, that article: THIS.
If you want to take a moment (or three or five) to read it first, have at it. I'll wait.
[insert elevator music here]
Alright, that's enough.
Obviously, if you've read the article, you can see that these writers:
It is my hope that the Dodgers and Yankees embarrass themselves so badly in the post-season that the Florida Marlins are considered a good team in their stead, and the American League headquarters offers to re-play the first round, replacing the Yankees with my Cleveland Indians.
There. Also, if the World Series ends up being Dodgers v Yankees--I will refrain from watching the Series for the first time this millennium.
Onward!
I saw an article on ESPN that I figured I'd enjoy, but also that I would play along with. First, that article: THIS.
If you want to take a moment (or three or five) to read it first, have at it. I'll wait.
[insert elevator music here]
Alright, that's enough.
Obviously, if you've read the article, you can see that these writers:
- Think Houston will win it all
- Know about even minor players
- Get paid to know about even minor players, so there's that.
Equally obviously, I don't... well I do #1, but not #2 of #3.
I'd be good with Houston winning. Actually got to one of their games in the middle of a business trip in Houston. Ticket only cost me 14 bucks, but even the nose-bleed section was a great view.
My loathing of both the Yankees and the Dodgers has already been touched upon. I'd be willing to have the Dodgers get to the World Series, but only if they were demolished there, losing for the third year in a row. That would be awesome.
But, honestly, I'd rather see Atlanta there. Or Milwaukee. Or Saint Louis. Or Washington.
But, if the Dodgers get there, I hope they get blasted by someone not rhyming with Pew Jerk Hankees.
Go Indians!
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
deGrom for NOT Cy Young (and other awards (with 5 days left))
When it comes to baseball awards, I may be running an irregular "Get Off My Lawn" baseball blog here. Haven't posted in quite a while (and just deleted a Post I'd begun writing last September about my Indians, but had never published...), but I have a tendency to come on here and say ugly things about the people who do all the talking and voting.
For example, ESPN talking heads are, once again, selling deGrom for the NL Cy Young.
And, what ESPN sells, they get. They got it last year, and deGrom didn't deserve it.
Yes, I'm "old school", but not completely. While I think there's good value in WAR for position players (although I'd consider the numbers for 1B broken, at least partly), I think WAR for pitchers is severely broken. Any time you take a guy like deGrom and tell me he has a WAR of 9.6, but won only 10 games for a team that was 77-85... you're selling me land in the swamps. That 77-85 record, by the way, is significantly better than the 59-97 team that Steve Carlton pitched for back when he won 27 games for the 1972 Phillies... and deservedly won the Cy Young award.
Now we have the talking heads (the same people who keep talking about how boring baseball is, so how in the heck are they getting paid for covering the greatest game in the history of the world?!?!?!?!?!... [deep breaths]... okay) pushing to give the Cy Young to this guy again. He would have 20 wins... OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS.
Pathetic.
Personally, I would throw out the WAR number for pitchers, and choose someone who makes more sense.
When it comes to the AL, things get far more interesting. The same goobers who keep talking deGrom (because of pitcher WAR) are ignoring two Rangers who have higher pitcher WAR than Cole--Mike Minor and Lance Lynn, the alliterative pitchers of Texas. Cole comes in 4th.
I'd vote Verlander, although I'd be likely to put Cole in a close 2nd.
Rookie of the year seems obvious in both leagues--Alonso in the NL, Alvarez (who has played half a season) in the AL. Maybe I'll dig around on this sometime later. But for now that's what I'd write.
Biggest disappointment: The Indians.
Biggest surprise: The Twins.
Biggest nuisance: The Twins.
Biggest irritation: The Twins.
Biggest pain in my back side: The Twins.
You get the idea.
MVP? Sheesh. This is painful. I am a Mike Trout fan. Enjoyed tracking him on BaseballReference.com all year... until mid-September. SO disappointing. And, since he went for surgery midway through the month, he may lose the MVP which was easily in his grasp. I hear some talking about voting Trout anyway, because he is still the best player in baseball. I can understand that, and almost hope he wins. He should have 4 or 5 by now, but some people thought other players of lesser value were better than him in the last several years (and, with the exception of Betts last year, none were).
I think I'd vote Bregman. It would be easy to argue Trout as the most valuable, and, as of this moment, he still has the higher WAR, but part of value is staying on the field. With that in mind, I think Bregman should win.
In the NL, the same thing could be said to bump the best player in the NL from winning for the second year in a row. I think the award was his until he also went out for the year--Yelich. SUCH a tremendous year... and then he ends up playing in only 130 games. I'd vote for Bellinger, even though he is from the loathsome Dodgers, who I hope lose in 3 straight in the first round. I don't think any other player comes close. And I will never endorse a pitcher, unless he pitches in at least 125 games.
My favorite baseball stat is, and probably always has been, doubles.
This year's leader may still get to 60, which would be awesome. I would love that. I would look for a bobblehead of Castellanos, or at least a baseball card, to put on my shelf if he pulled that off. As it is, he already has the 10th best single season number of doubles in the history of MLB--58. If he hits one more, he ends up tied with 3 other guys for 7th best all time--Todd Helton (loved that guy), Chuck Klein (whatev), and Tris Speaker--who hit his 59 in his age 35 season. What a stud.
Fun stuff--60 doubles. Get 'er done!
Honorable mention goes to the Boston Red Sox--for having 2 guys with 50+ doubles, and two more guys with 40+ doubles!
GO INDIANS!
For example, ESPN talking heads are, once again, selling deGrom for the NL Cy Young.
And, what ESPN sells, they get. They got it last year, and deGrom didn't deserve it.
Yes, I'm "old school", but not completely. While I think there's good value in WAR for position players (although I'd consider the numbers for 1B broken, at least partly), I think WAR for pitchers is severely broken. Any time you take a guy like deGrom and tell me he has a WAR of 9.6, but won only 10 games for a team that was 77-85... you're selling me land in the swamps. That 77-85 record, by the way, is significantly better than the 59-97 team that Steve Carlton pitched for back when he won 27 games for the 1972 Phillies... and deservedly won the Cy Young award.
Now we have the talking heads (the same people who keep talking about how boring baseball is, so how in the heck are they getting paid for covering the greatest game in the history of the world?!?!?!?!?!... [deep breaths]... okay) pushing to give the Cy Young to this guy again. He would have 20 wins... OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS.
Pathetic.
Personally, I would throw out the WAR number for pitchers, and choose someone who makes more sense.
When it comes to the AL, things get far more interesting. The same goobers who keep talking deGrom (because of pitcher WAR) are ignoring two Rangers who have higher pitcher WAR than Cole--Mike Minor and Lance Lynn, the alliterative pitchers of Texas. Cole comes in 4th.
I'd vote Verlander, although I'd be likely to put Cole in a close 2nd.
Rookie of the year seems obvious in both leagues--Alonso in the NL, Alvarez (who has played half a season) in the AL. Maybe I'll dig around on this sometime later. But for now that's what I'd write.
Biggest disappointment: The Indians.
Biggest surprise: The Twins.
Biggest nuisance: The Twins.
Biggest irritation: The Twins.
Biggest pain in my back side: The Twins.
You get the idea.
MVP? Sheesh. This is painful. I am a Mike Trout fan. Enjoyed tracking him on BaseballReference.com all year... until mid-September. SO disappointing. And, since he went for surgery midway through the month, he may lose the MVP which was easily in his grasp. I hear some talking about voting Trout anyway, because he is still the best player in baseball. I can understand that, and almost hope he wins. He should have 4 or 5 by now, but some people thought other players of lesser value were better than him in the last several years (and, with the exception of Betts last year, none were).
I think I'd vote Bregman. It would be easy to argue Trout as the most valuable, and, as of this moment, he still has the higher WAR, but part of value is staying on the field. With that in mind, I think Bregman should win.
In the NL, the same thing could be said to bump the best player in the NL from winning for the second year in a row. I think the award was his until he also went out for the year--Yelich. SUCH a tremendous year... and then he ends up playing in only 130 games. I'd vote for Bellinger, even though he is from the loathsome Dodgers, who I hope lose in 3 straight in the first round. I don't think any other player comes close. And I will never endorse a pitcher, unless he pitches in at least 125 games.
My favorite baseball stat is, and probably always has been, doubles.
This year's leader may still get to 60, which would be awesome. I would love that. I would look for a bobblehead of Castellanos, or at least a baseball card, to put on my shelf if he pulled that off. As it is, he already has the 10th best single season number of doubles in the history of MLB--58. If he hits one more, he ends up tied with 3 other guys for 7th best all time--Todd Helton (loved that guy), Chuck Klein (whatev), and Tris Speaker--who hit his 59 in his age 35 season. What a stud.
Fun stuff--60 doubles. Get 'er done!
Honorable mention goes to the Boston Red Sox--for having 2 guys with 50+ doubles, and two more guys with 40+ doubles!
GO INDIANS!
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Kershaw is great, but enough with the GOAT
Let me get this straight from the start--I really like Kershaw. I admire him. He's a great pitcher. One of the best of today's game.
Now, I'll blast the talking heads. HE ISN'T THE GREATEST EVER.
Here's the thing--historically we've always considered innings eating as one of the essentials of a "best ever" type of pitcher. Clayton pitched 7 innings last night. That's fairly normal for pitchers today, but the Greatest Ever has to go to pitchers who aren't "fairly normal."
Quick look. Bob Gibson in World Series games.
Now, I'll blast the talking heads. HE ISN'T THE GREATEST EVER.
Here's the thing--historically we've always considered innings eating as one of the essentials of a "best ever" type of pitcher. Clayton pitched 7 innings last night. That's fairly normal for pitchers today, but the Greatest Ever has to go to pitchers who aren't "fairly normal."
Quick look. Bob Gibson in World Series games.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Series | Rslt | Opp | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 MVP | 28 | STL | NL | WS | W | NYY | 2 | 1 | .667 | 3.00 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 113 | 1.148 | 7.7 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 10.3 | 3.88 |
| 1967 MVP | 31 | STL | NL | WS | W | BOS | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.00 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 27.0 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 98 | 0.704 | 4.7 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 8.7 | 5.20 |
| 1968 | 32 | STL | NL | WS | L | DET | 2 | 1 | .667 | 1.67 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 27.0 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101 | 0.815 | 6.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.7 | 8.75 |
| 3 Yrs (3 Series) | 7 | 2 | .778 | 1.89 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 81.0 | 55 | 19 | 17 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 92 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 312 | 0.889 | 6.1 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 10.2 | 5.41 | ||||||
| 3 WS | 7 | 2 | .778 | 1.89 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 81.0 | 55 | 19 | 17 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 92 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 312 | 0.889 | 6.1 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 10.2 | 5.41 | ||||||
Note: Bob Gibson, one of the historic monsters of Stare Down pitching, pitched 8 complete games out of 9 starts. All in all, he pitched 9 innings per game.
Bob Gibson is ahead of Clayton Kershaw on the "Best Ever" lists in my opinion.
Tom Seaver averaged more than 7 innings per post season game. Overall ERA for those series was 2.77, 3 W's, 3 L's, 8 starts.
Greg Maddux. 11 W's, 14 L's, 3.27 ERA, 30 post season starts.
Nolan Ryan. 2 W's, 2 L's, 3.07 ERA, 63 K's in 58.2 IP.
Steve Carlton. 6 W's, 6 L's, 3.26 ERA, 14 post season starts.
Randy Johnson. 7 W's, 9 L's, 3.50 ERA, 16 post season starts. 132 K's in 121 IP.
These are all historic great pitchers. All with mediocre post season records.
Now let's look at Curt Schilling, the one cast out by ESPN because they are a purely liberal political organization.
Curt. 11 W's, 2 L's, 19 starts, 19 games pitches, 4 complete games (not a lot compared to the old timers), 2.23 ERA.
Nice!
Now, one to whom Clayton is often compared.
Sandy Koufax. 4 W's, 3 L's. That's fairly normal. 0.95 ERA. I'm going to write that again, to help you see that it wasn't a typo. 0.95 ERA. 0.95 ERA. 8 games started, 4 complete games.
Now, Clayton.
7 W's, 7 L's, 4.21 ERA. What?
18 starts, 22 games overall. 113.1 innings pitched. So... that's an average of just over 5 innings per game pitched.
Not a best ever.
However, Clayton does have the distinction of being the only player in the history of MLB to win the MVP award after having been in only 1/6th of his team's games.
There ya go.
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