Saturday, September 28, 2019
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Some of his Home Runs are "home runs."
"Alonso hit it just right -- with a compact swing and without much
follow-through -- with two strikes on him, and with as much power as
anyone right now in Major League Baseball.
'People can’t hit that pitch out,' Braun said.
He paused, then said, 'I know I coached him. But to me, this kid is the most remarkable thing happening in baseball.' "
It's the baseball. In 2019, everybody can hit that pitch out. It happens every day.
It's not just the baseball.
Alonso has more home runs than anybody else, right?
But the SHOCK and AWE of this opposite field line drive check swing slop sailing 440 feet into the back of the bullpen is silly.
Do you know how many players have 30 home runs? 54. If I counted correctly. It's a very large number; I may have made a mistake.
Have you ever heard of Jorge Soler? He has 45 home runs. Call his high school coach! ... Jorge Soler is the most amazing thing happening in baseball right now ... also, he has been more important for his team than Alonso because Alonso is surrounded by more talent, know what I'm saying?
Brett Gardner has a career high 27 home runs. It's a career high for Gardner. Do you know who else has career highs in home runs? Everyone.
Yordan Alvarez also has 27 home runs. It's a career high for him, too, on account of it's the first season of his career. He has 27 home runs in a mere 294 at-bats.
"Another thing Braun told me when we spoke early in August was that he honestly thought Alonso could hit 55 homers this season and break Aaron Judge’s all-time rookie record of 52. The Plant High School coach wasn’t backing off that prediction on Saturday morning."
I don't doubt it.
The rookie home run record which lasted 2 years will be broken again in another year or two.
Unless the commissioner fixes the ball.
"Bellinger is the likely MVP in t"Bellinger is the likely MVP in the National League. He came out of Friday night’s games hitting nearly 40 points higher than Alonso, and has an OPS of 1.038 to Alonso’s .959. His slugging percentage is .630 to Alonso’s .593. But Alonso has five more home runs, five more RBIs, plus less talent surrounding him in New York than Bellinger does on the other coast.he National League. He came out of Friday night’s games hitting nearly 40 points higher than Alonso, and has an OPS of 1.038 to Alonso’s .959. His slugging percentage is .630 to Alonso’s .593. But Alonso has five more home runs, five more RBIs, plus less talent surrounding him in New York than Bellinger does on the other coast."
Yeah, let's not mention his team's 20 fewer wins.
"But no player in baseball, not one, has been more valuable than Alonso has been to the New York Mets."
That's probably easily disprovable B.S., but this whole time, I thought it was Gio Urshela.
'People can’t hit that pitch out,' Braun said.
He paused, then said, 'I know I coached him. But to me, this kid is the most remarkable thing happening in baseball.' "
It's the baseball. In 2019, everybody can hit that pitch out. It happens every day.
It's not just the baseball.
Alonso has more home runs than anybody else, right?
But the SHOCK and AWE of this opposite field line drive check swing slop sailing 440 feet into the back of the bullpen is silly.
Do you know how many players have 30 home runs? 54. If I counted correctly. It's a very large number; I may have made a mistake.
Have you ever heard of Jorge Soler? He has 45 home runs. Call his high school coach! ... Jorge Soler is the most amazing thing happening in baseball right now ... also, he has been more important for his team than Alonso because Alonso is surrounded by more talent, know what I'm saying?
Brett Gardner has a career high 27 home runs. It's a career high for Gardner. Do you know who else has career highs in home runs? Everyone.
Yordan Alvarez also has 27 home runs. It's a career high for him, too, on account of it's the first season of his career. He has 27 home runs in a mere 294 at-bats.
"Another thing Braun told me when we spoke early in August was that he honestly thought Alonso could hit 55 homers this season and break Aaron Judge’s all-time rookie record of 52. The Plant High School coach wasn’t backing off that prediction on Saturday morning."
I don't doubt it.
The rookie home run record which lasted 2 years will be broken again in another year or two.
Unless the commissioner fixes the ball.
"Bellinger is the likely MVP in t"Bellinger is the likely MVP in the National League. He came out of Friday night’s games hitting nearly 40 points higher than Alonso, and has an OPS of 1.038 to Alonso’s .959. His slugging percentage is .630 to Alonso’s .593. But Alonso has five more home runs, five more RBIs, plus less talent surrounding him in New York than Bellinger does on the other coast.he National League. He came out of Friday night’s games hitting nearly 40 points higher than Alonso, and has an OPS of 1.038 to Alonso’s .959. His slugging percentage is .630 to Alonso’s .593. But Alonso has five more home runs, five more RBIs, plus less talent surrounding him in New York than Bellinger does on the other coast."
Yeah, let's not mention his team's 20 fewer wins.
"But no player in baseball, not one, has been more valuable than Alonso has been to the New York Mets."
That's probably easily disprovable B.S., but this whole time, I thought it was Gio Urshela.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Everyone remembers where they were when Gary Sheffield hit his 500th career home run.
I didn't even remember that he played for the Mets.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
It could mean the "world" ... as in "World Series" ... get it?
"But they need homefield throughout the playoffs to give themselves their
best chance. They just do. They need to close that deal. It only might
mean everything in the end, in an ALCS, then in a World Series."
If you didn't know who "they" was, would you be able to tell Lupica was talking about the Yankees?
Can you think of a baseball team ... or a team in any sport ... who wouldn't want homefield advantage?
In baseball, the home team bats second, which has lots of advantages in and of itself.
I could go on, but I wouldn't insult your intelligence like that.
"Start in their own league: As good as they are at home, the Astros are better. And please remember what happened the last time the two teams played in October: The Yankees won the middle three games of the American League Championship Series at the Stadium. The Astros won Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 at Minute Maid Park."
The Astros lost the middle three games of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium?
That's a .000 winning percentage.
Golly, it sounds like the Astros should fight for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs ... it gives them the best chance.
"You know how many of those games Justin Verlander pitched? Two. You know who will get two starts if the thing goes the distance again? Him. The best starting pitcher in the sport and one of the best of his generation."
What if Verlander is back home watching Cleveland vs. Oakland in the ALCS?
"What this really means is that the playoffs have started already for the Yankees. They need to treat the rest of the regular season like a pennant race out of the past, them against the Astros for best record, all the way down the stretch."
They're not going to go full throttle the next two weeks, that's for sure.
They will try to win every game, I suppose.
But they will also play September callups and rest the starting players ... even give Jordan Montgomery a start.
"Because the best record in the league really might mean everything this time. The Yankees need to grind the rest of the way the way the Mets have been grinding since the All-Star Break."
The Mets?
What do the Mets have to do with the ALCS? Why would the Yankees try to emulate the Mets?
Am I missing something? Were the Mets resting their A-Team in the first half of the season because they were resting up for the playoffs?
"Incidentally: Winning the East guarantees the Yankees nothing in the first round. If they do end up with the best record, they have to play either the Rays or the Indians or the A’s, who swept the Yankees in Oakland the last time the two teams played. And please know that the Yankees were 3-4 against the A’s this season, 3-4 against the Astros, 3-4 against the Indians, 4-2 against the Twins. The best they have done against any possible playoff team is the Rays, against whom they are 12-5."
What the hell?
You mean to say the Yankees played various teams throughout the 2019 baseball season and won some of those games while also losing some of those games?
Well, I've never seen such profound baseball analysis in my entire life.
It must have come from Elias.
"Starting Tuesday, the schedule smiles on the Yankees: Three against the Angels, three against the Blue Jays, two against the Rays, finally three against the Texas Rangers. If they are going to win the 11 games in October that Reggie Jackson always talks about, they have to kill it in those 11 games."
Yeah.
I sure hope the Yankees "kill it" in October.
That would be awesome.
Now land the dismount, sport:
"Might make all the difference in the world as in, World Series."
Swish!
What we learned is that homefield advantage might make all the difference and winning the AL East guarantees nothing in the first round.
Just grind it out like the Mets and hope for the best.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Jimmy Connors, and Buck Showalter to us all.
If you didn't know who "they" was, would you be able to tell Lupica was talking about the Yankees?
Can you think of a baseball team ... or a team in any sport ... who wouldn't want homefield advantage?
In baseball, the home team bats second, which has lots of advantages in and of itself.
I could go on, but I wouldn't insult your intelligence like that.
"Start in their own league: As good as they are at home, the Astros are better. And please remember what happened the last time the two teams played in October: The Yankees won the middle three games of the American League Championship Series at the Stadium. The Astros won Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 at Minute Maid Park."
The Astros lost the middle three games of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium?
That's a .000 winning percentage.
Golly, it sounds like the Astros should fight for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs ... it gives them the best chance.
"You know how many of those games Justin Verlander pitched? Two. You know who will get two starts if the thing goes the distance again? Him. The best starting pitcher in the sport and one of the best of his generation."
What if Verlander is back home watching Cleveland vs. Oakland in the ALCS?
"What this really means is that the playoffs have started already for the Yankees. They need to treat the rest of the regular season like a pennant race out of the past, them against the Astros for best record, all the way down the stretch."
They're not going to go full throttle the next two weeks, that's for sure.
They will try to win every game, I suppose.
But they will also play September callups and rest the starting players ... even give Jordan Montgomery a start.
"Because the best record in the league really might mean everything this time. The Yankees need to grind the rest of the way the way the Mets have been grinding since the All-Star Break."
The Mets?
What do the Mets have to do with the ALCS? Why would the Yankees try to emulate the Mets?
Am I missing something? Were the Mets resting their A-Team in the first half of the season because they were resting up for the playoffs?
"Incidentally: Winning the East guarantees the Yankees nothing in the first round. If they do end up with the best record, they have to play either the Rays or the Indians or the A’s, who swept the Yankees in Oakland the last time the two teams played. And please know that the Yankees were 3-4 against the A’s this season, 3-4 against the Astros, 3-4 against the Indians, 4-2 against the Twins. The best they have done against any possible playoff team is the Rays, against whom they are 12-5."
What the hell?
You mean to say the Yankees played various teams throughout the 2019 baseball season and won some of those games while also losing some of those games?
Well, I've never seen such profound baseball analysis in my entire life.
It must have come from Elias.
"Starting Tuesday, the schedule smiles on the Yankees: Three against the Angels, three against the Blue Jays, two against the Rays, finally three against the Texas Rangers. If they are going to win the 11 games in October that Reggie Jackson always talks about, they have to kill it in those 11 games."
Yeah.
I sure hope the Yankees "kill it" in October.
That would be awesome.
Now land the dismount, sport:
"Might make all the difference in the world as in, World Series."
Swish!
What we learned is that homefield advantage might make all the difference and winning the AL East guarantees nothing in the first round.
Just grind it out like the Mets and hope for the best.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Jimmy Connors, and Buck Showalter to us all.
There's another word for "almost wins."
I like to call them "losses."
"You think the Mets would like that 11-10 game with the Nationals back?
I sure would."
Yeah, it was a tough loss at a time when people were actually paying close attention to the Mets.
Who are the Mets chasing for the second wild card? As of this morning, they are chasing the Cubs, Brewers, and Phillies.
So let's give the Mets back The Game they Shoulda Won.
What, Pedro Strop never blew a save this season? The Cubs never left bases loaded in the late innings of a close game? If the Mets get a couple of their Shoulda Wons back, they're still three games behind the Cubs, because the Cubs got their Shoulda Wons back, too. These are the rules I just made up in Imaginary League Baseball.
I'll bet the Phillies would have 115 wins this season if they could get credit for all the games they shoulda won.
Great teams don't always win close games. The Astros lost an impossible walkoff to the Orioles in a game where Verlander started. The difference between the Astros and the Mets is the other 161 games.
"You think the Mets would like that 11-10 game with the Nationals back?
I sure would."
Yeah, it was a tough loss at a time when people were actually paying close attention to the Mets.
Who are the Mets chasing for the second wild card? As of this morning, they are chasing the Cubs, Brewers, and Phillies.
So let's give the Mets back The Game they Shoulda Won.
What, Pedro Strop never blew a save this season? The Cubs never left bases loaded in the late innings of a close game? If the Mets get a couple of their Shoulda Wons back, they're still three games behind the Cubs, because the Cubs got their Shoulda Wons back, too. These are the rules I just made up in Imaginary League Baseball.
I'll bet the Phillies would have 115 wins this season if they could get credit for all the games they shoulda won.
Great teams don't always win close games. The Astros lost an impossible walkoff to the Orioles in a game where Verlander started. The difference between the Astros and the Mets is the other 161 games.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
I think that the way the Yankees have dominated the Red Sox -- and the division -- this season and the way Cashman has the Yanks set up for the immediate future didn’t factor into what just happened to Dombrowski, less than a year from when the Sox won their fourth World Series since 2004.
"And please don’t think that the way the Yankees have dominated the Red Sox -- and the division -- this season and the way Cashman has the Yanks set up for the immediate future didn’t factor into what just happened to Dombrowski, less than a year from when the Sox won their fourth World Series since 2004."
Okay!
Okay!
You changed my mind.
Okay!
Okay!
You changed my mind.
Monday, September 09, 2019
Mike Trout's foot has been bothering him for a month.
Maybe he can get that fixed up soon so he can be a productive player.
Sunday, September 08, 2019
The longest nine-inning game in Mets history.
Sometimes, it feels like good hitting.
This felt like a lot of bad pitching.
This felt like a lot of bad pitching.
Saturday, September 07, 2019
Let's bring up Jimmy Connors and Jacoby Ellsbury.
No, really.
I'm surprised there isn't a Buck Showalter quote in there somewhere:
"In so many ways, not any of them good ones, there has never been a more amazing free agent in the history of New York City baseball than Jacoby Ellsbury."
The history of New York City baseball covers a lot of bad free agent signings.
Would you pay $138 million for 38 HRs? That's what the Mets did with David Wright. Does that technically not count as a free agent signing because it was a contract extension? OK fine.
Or does David Wright evade ridicule because he was a good guy who gave good clubhouse interviews?
Jason Bay, Mike Witt, Steve Kemp ... ummm ... this is actually not fun, so I will stop. It isn't hard to challenge the notion that Ellsbury was the worst free agent signing in NY baseball history.
He ended up being a bust, largely due to injuries that many people correctly predicted, but he was productive for a few years and contributed to winning teams. Not irreplaceable by any means, but a good player.
I'm surprised there isn't a Buck Showalter quote in there somewhere:
"In so many ways, not any of them good ones, there has never been a more amazing free agent in the history of New York City baseball than Jacoby Ellsbury."
The history of New York City baseball covers a lot of bad free agent signings.
Would you pay $138 million for 38 HRs? That's what the Mets did with David Wright. Does that technically not count as a free agent signing because it was a contract extension? OK fine.
Or does David Wright evade ridicule because he was a good guy who gave good clubhouse interviews?
Jason Bay, Mike Witt, Steve Kemp ... ummm ... this is actually not fun, so I will stop. It isn't hard to challenge the notion that Ellsbury was the worst free agent signing in NY baseball history.
He ended up being a bust, largely due to injuries that many people correctly predicted, but he was productive for a few years and contributed to winning teams. Not irreplaceable by any means, but a good player.
"Everybody around seems to have bullpen issues this season, except for the Yankees.
But
Mets fans have a right to look at the various calamities produced by
Diaz and Familia and then imagine what the standings would look like if
both of them hadn’t pitched like tomato cans."
Arguably worse free agent signings than Jacoby Ellsbury right in front of your face.
"And wonder how this season might have played out if they’d signed Zack Britton in the last baseball winter instead of the Yankees."
If.
Yes, the Mets bullpen is bad, but the stats are always misleading.
Using last night's game as an example, Edwin Diaz got the win after he blew the save.
It happens all the time. Teams win games with a blown save or multiple blown saves.
Britton has been pretty good ... but just how many games do you imagine the Mets winning because of the addition of Zack Britton?
90 wins? 95 wins? 100 wins?
The Mets are 4 games over .500 and their victory over Philly last night moved them into a tie for third place in their own division.
The Phillies who didn't give up a walkoff home run; they just walked everybody or hit them with pitches.
Arguably worse free agent signings than Jacoby Ellsbury right in front of your face.
"And wonder how this season might have played out if they’d signed Zack Britton in the last baseball winter instead of the Yankees."
If.
Yes, the Mets bullpen is bad, but the stats are always misleading.
Using last night's game as an example, Edwin Diaz got the win after he blew the save.
It happens all the time. Teams win games with a blown save or multiple blown saves.
Britton has been pretty good ... but just how many games do you imagine the Mets winning because of the addition of Zack Britton?
90 wins? 95 wins? 100 wins?
The Mets are 4 games over .500 and their victory over Philly last night moved them into a tie for third place in their own division.
The Phillies who didn't give up a walkoff home run; they just walked everybody or hit them with pitches.
"Pete Alonso came into the weekend with 45 homers and 105 RBI.
Bryce Harper came into the weekend with 30 homers and 100 RBI."
This merely proves that Harper isn't as bad as you thought.
People grade on a curve.
When Alonso signs his $350 million contract, then 45/120 won't be good enough anymore.
Thursday, September 05, 2019
People think too much.
“Bellinger is a great player, MVP-caliber for sure,
but half their team is,” says New York Mets reliever Seth Lugo. “Same
thing with the Braves – they have so many really good guys. Not to say
the Nationals don’t, but in my opinion, Rendon just stands out more
among those guys than other players among their teammates. To me, that’s
what a real MVP is.
“If the Dodgers lose Bellinger, they got plenty of guys that can cover. If they lose Rendon, they’re in trouble.”
Trout detractors point out his team isn’t good enough.
Bellinger detractors point out his team is too good.
So the MVP should be on a good-enough team, on the playoff cusp, pushed into the playoffs by their star player. Uh huh.
If Rendon is the best player in 2019, then he’s the MVP. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t.
If you think he can’t be replaced in this imaginary
argument, then I challenge the notion by replacing him with Bellinger.
If I do that, then the Nationals might be in first place in their
division. Which would make them too good for an
MVP.
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
Something of an immortal?
"If that conversation seems awfully far away for a pitcher who has yet to win his 64th career game, that’s because it is. deGrom, who debuted a month before his 26th birthday, may have started his Major League career a bit too late to make the Hall of Fame realistic.
A second Cy Young Award would make him something of a baseball immortal, regardless."
I think we all know instantly that this isn't true.
"If deGrom can accomplish the feat, it would have implications on things as distant as his Hall of Fame resume, should he pitch well enough into his mid-30s to make that a consideration. Of the 19 pitchers to win multiple Cy Young Awards, 11 of them are in Cooperstown. A 12th, Roger Clemens, would be if not for PED concerns, while two others, Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, are likely headed to the Hall after they retire."
Which leaves 5 near-immortals who aren't near-immortals.
I phoned the folks at Elias Sports Bureau - they know everything! - and this is the list:
Corey Kluber
Johan Santana
Tim Lincecum (oh, yeah)
Denny McLain (trivia question answer)
Bret Saberhagen
A second Cy Young Award would make him something of a baseball immortal, regardless."
I think we all know instantly that this isn't true.
"If deGrom can accomplish the feat, it would have implications on things as distant as his Hall of Fame resume, should he pitch well enough into his mid-30s to make that a consideration. Of the 19 pitchers to win multiple Cy Young Awards, 11 of them are in Cooperstown. A 12th, Roger Clemens, would be if not for PED concerns, while two others, Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, are likely headed to the Hall after they retire."
Which leaves 5 near-immortals who aren't near-immortals.
I phoned the folks at Elias Sports Bureau - they know everything! - and this is the list:
Corey Kluber
Johan Santana
Tim Lincecum (oh, yeah)
Denny McLain (trivia question answer)
Bret Saberhagen
It just sounds funny
Not to make fun of a flabbergasted Nimmo ... it just came out funny:
"When I came in here, I didn't really know what
happened, it just seemed like a bad dream,” Nimmo said after the
Nationals’ largest ninth-inning rally in their history. “That's hard to
do even in a Little League game. To come back from
(six) runs down against guys throwing 99 mph, I don’t really have words
for that.”
It just sounds funny to me.
The difficulty of Little Leaguers coming back in the ninth inning … against a guy throwing 99 MPH.
What is the distance from the mound to home plate in Little League?
Forty-five feet?
Saturday, August 31, 2019
So you're saying the Yankees won't win the World Series.
Let's talk about things that everybody knows:
"Everybody knows this is a home run time in baseball. Everybody can see it’s another home run season, one in which teams will again hit more home runs in a season that at any other time in history."
Unless we're talking about Pete Alonso.
"The Yankees set the team record last season with 267, and they are likely going to fly past that number in September -- even in a season when Giancarlo Stanton, who once hit 59 in a season for the Marlins, has hit just one because of injuries and Aaron Judge, who has gotten hot lately, had just 18 coming into the weekend because of his own injury issues earlier in the year."
No mention of Encarnacion.
"The Yankees have hit more home runs in August alone (70) than any team has hit in a calendar month. They had 250 for the season heading into their weekend series against the A’s, and guess what? That number wasn't even the most in baseball this season, because the Twins had 261."
Twins hoping to ride home run surge to World Series win.
"I called the Elias Sports Bureau on Thursday -- they know everything! -- because I was curious about the correlation between homers and winning a World Series. This is the list I was given:"
You called the Elias Sports Bureau?
That's 5 minutes of research on the Internet.
"Not only are the 2009 Yankees the last to do it, the Astros in '17 were the last team to finish in the Top 5 in homers and win it all."
2009 was only ten years ago.
2017 was only two years ago.
"Nobody would suggest that the number of homers hit by the Twins and Yankees -- who are going to finish first and second in homers in 2019, unless the Dodgers or Astros have the kind of power surge in September that the Yanks just had in August -- are some kind of disqualifier for actually winning the World Series in a home run world."
Nobody except you.
This entire exercise is suggesting that the number of homers hit by the Twins and Yankees are some kind of disqualifier for actually winning the World Series.
If you're not suggesting that, then why did you call Elias Sports Bureau and provide us with a table correlating regular season home run totals to World Series victories?
If it's just rows and columns of random numbers signifying nothing, then you can call the folks at Purina and ask how much dog food was purchased in the cities of ALCS Champions over the past 20 years. You can even run trending analyses and figure out the standard deviation.
"And they're probably going to hit 300 home runs this season.
It’s a pretty amazing number. So are the numbers in our list of World Series winners."
The numbers that don't suggest anything. They're simultaneously amazing and suggestive of nothing.
Say what you mean, coward.
You're saying the Yankees won't win the World Series because they rely too much on the home run and strike out too much.
You're saying you're unimpressed.
You can't wait for Madison Bumgarner to shut 'em down in October.
Well, if that's what you really think, then don't hedge your bet.
If that's not what you really think, then there is no point to any of this.
It's not even a risky proposition.
Only one team is going to win the World Series. It probably won't be the Yankees or the Twins.
It probably won't be the team that hits the most home runs. It also probably won't be the team who wins the most games in the regular season. It probably won't be the team with the best team ERA.
Boston was 8th in team ERA in 2018 ... Houston was 11th in 2017 ... the Cubs were first in 2016, but that was three years ago! ... KC was 10th in 2015 ... San Francisco was 10th in 2014 ...
Not because any of these are bad things for baseball teams to do, but because ten teams make the playoffs and winning the World Series is hard.
You have to play well at the right time and get lucky.
You'll always be able to explain why the championship team won the championship. The winning team probably out-pitched the competition and, in retrospect, the bullpen had hearts of champions and overcame adversity. The vets came through by providing leadership and two or three unheralded heroes "stepped up."
But you won't find regular season team stats that provide much predictive guidance, nor will you easily be able to predict the winner before the playoffs start.
I figured that out all by myself without calling Elias.
"Everybody knows this is a home run time in baseball. Everybody can see it’s another home run season, one in which teams will again hit more home runs in a season that at any other time in history."
Unless we're talking about Pete Alonso.
"The Yankees set the team record last season with 267, and they are likely going to fly past that number in September -- even in a season when Giancarlo Stanton, who once hit 59 in a season for the Marlins, has hit just one because of injuries and Aaron Judge, who has gotten hot lately, had just 18 coming into the weekend because of his own injury issues earlier in the year."
No mention of Encarnacion.
"The Yankees have hit more home runs in August alone (70) than any team has hit in a calendar month. They had 250 for the season heading into their weekend series against the A’s, and guess what? That number wasn't even the most in baseball this season, because the Twins had 261."
Twins hoping to ride home run surge to World Series win.
"I called the Elias Sports Bureau on Thursday -- they know everything! -- because I was curious about the correlation between homers and winning a World Series. This is the list I was given:"
You called the Elias Sports Bureau?
That's 5 minutes of research on the Internet.
"Not only are the 2009 Yankees the last to do it, the Astros in '17 were the last team to finish in the Top 5 in homers and win it all."
2009 was only ten years ago.
2017 was only two years ago.
"Nobody would suggest that the number of homers hit by the Twins and Yankees -- who are going to finish first and second in homers in 2019, unless the Dodgers or Astros have the kind of power surge in September that the Yanks just had in August -- are some kind of disqualifier for actually winning the World Series in a home run world."
Nobody except you.
This entire exercise is suggesting that the number of homers hit by the Twins and Yankees are some kind of disqualifier for actually winning the World Series.
If you're not suggesting that, then why did you call Elias Sports Bureau and provide us with a table correlating regular season home run totals to World Series victories?
If it's just rows and columns of random numbers signifying nothing, then you can call the folks at Purina and ask how much dog food was purchased in the cities of ALCS Champions over the past 20 years. You can even run trending analyses and figure out the standard deviation.
"And they're probably going to hit 300 home runs this season.
It’s a pretty amazing number. So are the numbers in our list of World Series winners."
The numbers that don't suggest anything. They're simultaneously amazing and suggestive of nothing.
Say what you mean, coward.
You're saying the Yankees won't win the World Series because they rely too much on the home run and strike out too much.
You're saying you're unimpressed.
You can't wait for Madison Bumgarner to shut 'em down in October.
Well, if that's what you really think, then don't hedge your bet.
If that's not what you really think, then there is no point to any of this.
It's not even a risky proposition.
Only one team is going to win the World Series. It probably won't be the Yankees or the Twins.
It probably won't be the team that hits the most home runs. It also probably won't be the team who wins the most games in the regular season. It probably won't be the team with the best team ERA.
Boston was 8th in team ERA in 2018 ... Houston was 11th in 2017 ... the Cubs were first in 2016, but that was three years ago! ... KC was 10th in 2015 ... San Francisco was 10th in 2014 ...
Not because any of these are bad things for baseball teams to do, but because ten teams make the playoffs and winning the World Series is hard.
You have to play well at the right time and get lucky.
You'll always be able to explain why the championship team won the championship. The winning team probably out-pitched the competition and, in retrospect, the bullpen had hearts of champions and overcame adversity. The vets came through by providing leadership and two or three unheralded heroes "stepped up."
But you won't find regular season team stats that provide much predictive guidance, nor will you easily be able to predict the winner before the playoffs start.
I figured that out all by myself without calling Elias.
Aaron Judge is the best player on the Yankees and one of the best players in MLB.
Lupica just capriciously picks players that he's going to debase every chance he gets, regardless of on-field performance:
"Sometimes you wonder if Aaron Judge, who finally started to pull the ball for home runs during the Yankees’ last road trip, might have crossed himself up, and more than somewhat, by falling in love with that Williamsport-like rightfield wall at the new Stadium."
Of all the criticisms of a player I've ever heard ... the ability to hit opposite-field HRs ... the ability to effectively adjust to the home ball park ... sound the most like compliments.
Put it this way: If Judge wants to hit 73 opposite field HRs in 2020, I'm all for it.
How crossed up is Aaron Judge, anyway?
.280/.387/.514.
55 runs, 42 RBIs, 18 HRs, 15 doubles, 50 walks in approximately half a season.
Some slump.
Throw in his baserunning and fielding and guess what? He's the best player on the Yankees.
He strikes out too much and probably always will
If that really qualifies as "crossed up," then he has been crossed up his whole Rookie of the Year near-MVP All Star career.
By the way?
The advantages "Willamsport-like rightfield wall" at Yankee Stadium goes for Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, Brett Gardner ... and, really, every Yankee HR hitter since Babe Ruth
Difference is, Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Yogi, Gamble, Nettles, Winfield, Jeter, Ibanez, Dan Pasqua, and all the others didn't get to play with Steroid Ball.
"Sometimes you wonder if Aaron Judge, who finally started to pull the ball for home runs during the Yankees’ last road trip, might have crossed himself up, and more than somewhat, by falling in love with that Williamsport-like rightfield wall at the new Stadium."
Of all the criticisms of a player I've ever heard ... the ability to hit opposite-field HRs ... the ability to effectively adjust to the home ball park ... sound the most like compliments.
Put it this way: If Judge wants to hit 73 opposite field HRs in 2020, I'm all for it.
How crossed up is Aaron Judge, anyway?
.280/.387/.514.
55 runs, 42 RBIs, 18 HRs, 15 doubles, 50 walks in approximately half a season.
Some slump.
Throw in his baserunning and fielding and guess what? He's the best player on the Yankees.
He strikes out too much and probably always will
If that really qualifies as "crossed up," then he has been crossed up his whole Rookie of the Year near-MVP All Star career.
By the way?
The advantages "Willamsport-like rightfield wall" at Yankee Stadium goes for Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, Brett Gardner ... and, really, every Yankee HR hitter since Babe Ruth
Difference is, Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Yogi, Gamble, Nettles, Winfield, Jeter, Ibanez, Dan Pasqua, and all the others didn't get to play with Steroid Ball.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
I am pleased I underestimated Gio Urshela.
Is he the biggest surprise on the Yankees? I guess so.
German is 17-3 and I didn't even knew who he was before the season started.
Tauchman has an .886 OPS and 45 RBIs in half a season ... and ... who is Mike Tauchman?
Some of offensive numbers I don't know what to make of anymore.
Alonso and Bell and Urshela and Alvarez ... they're all doing well against their peers.
I just don't know if we can process the power numbers of 2019 in any kind of historical context.
No matter.
Urshela proved doubters wrong and I was a doubter.
In fact, I still think Andujar has a higher ceiling.
My gripe is not with the content of the article.
My gripe is the Jinx Factor.
Though it didn't work with Urshela the first time ... let's not forget how Lupica wrote off Aaron Judge two weeks ago.
After which Judge basically hit a HR-per-game.
German is 17-3 and I didn't even knew who he was before the season started.
Tauchman has an .886 OPS and 45 RBIs in half a season ... and ... who is Mike Tauchman?
Some of offensive numbers I don't know what to make of anymore.
Alonso and Bell and Urshela and Alvarez ... they're all doing well against their peers.
I just don't know if we can process the power numbers of 2019 in any kind of historical context.
No matter.
Urshela proved doubters wrong and I was a doubter.
In fact, I still think Andujar has a higher ceiling.
My gripe is not with the content of the article.
My gripe is the Jinx Factor.
Though it didn't work with Urshela the first time ... let's not forget how Lupica wrote off Aaron Judge two weeks ago.
After which Judge basically hit a HR-per-game.
Game-tying run taken off the scoreboard in the ninth inning.
When Tauchman struck out, Boone should have pointed out that the Dodgers never called Time In.
Or at least ask the umps for a Do Over.
Quick, before our parents call us in for dinner … olley olley in come free.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Monday, August 19, 2019
The numbers back up the grouchy old men in this case.
I'm not sure why Bob Nightengale feels a need to disparage the activity which indirectly employs him ... (have you ever thought about the actual job of being the baseball columnist for USA Today? ... it must be like being the crossword puzzle editor for Reader's Digest) ... but it's hard to argue with the facts:
"For the 12th consecutive season, hitters are on pace to break the strikeout record with 42,607 – 1,400 more than last year.
This year, 36% of all plate appearances have resulted in a strikeout, homer, walk or hit-by-pitch.
'We’re seeing all kind of guys who can hit home runs,' Rose said, but they can’t hit.'
Of course, that dovetails with the record home run rate this season. Entering Sunday, the league was on pace for 6,823 homers, more than 700 above the record set in 2017."
I also think the modern-day pitcher needs to be cut some slack.
I don't know how Seaver and Carlton would perform these days.
They'd surely be better than, say, Ivan Nova and his six innings per start.
But I'm almost 100% sure they couldn't sail through these lineups in these ballparks with these juiced up baseballs.
"For the 12th consecutive season, hitters are on pace to break the strikeout record with 42,607 – 1,400 more than last year.
This year, 36% of all plate appearances have resulted in a strikeout, homer, walk or hit-by-pitch.
'We’re seeing all kind of guys who can hit home runs,' Rose said, but they can’t hit.'
Of course, that dovetails with the record home run rate this season. Entering Sunday, the league was on pace for 6,823 homers, more than 700 above the record set in 2017."
I also think the modern-day pitcher needs to be cut some slack.
I don't know how Seaver and Carlton would perform these days.
They'd surely be better than, say, Ivan Nova and his six innings per start.
But I'm almost 100% sure they couldn't sail through these lineups in these ballparks with these juiced up baseballs.
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