When did you learn that rumps? Since you are the one usually throwing insults at specific persons, like me. So you have no credibility in crying innocent, rumps.
2013 Official Major League Baseball Thread.
- Thread starter Special K
- Start date
When did you learn that rumps? Since you are the one usually throwing insults at specific persons, like me. So you have no credibility in crying innocent, rumps.
Laffey has had a bad start this year, just like the Blue Jays. He has a career ERA (6 years) of 4.45, which is decent.
Totally agree, some have been bending the rules a bit too much lately, thanks M8 for being the voice of reason, ONCE again!
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Can I ask why Iggy always needs to be bathed, powdered, and kissed by his buds all of the time. How about letting him cover his own ass.
I posted that with a population of 19 million around New York the Yankees couldn't sell out the stadium. The response was New Yorkers have a "billion more things to do". Case CLOSED.
This is illogical nonsense. The Jays just lost, was it three straight, to a very injured band-aid lineup, and the Sox will be sending two unbeaten pitchers to the mound...each with great ERAs. Sure "stuff" happens. But under the above circumstances saying it will shows no baseball aptitude...or interest...at all.
Rumps knows more about baseball and the players than anyone on this board by far, and he's behaved pretty well, especially considering all the pestering every day.
You on the other hand only post to be contrary, cover your pals, and insult. That is not BASEBALL!!!
Red Sox 8 Houston 4:
Unlike Beav who had a massive series of orgasms when the Yanks put up huge bloated stats against lousy Cleveland pitchers, no one is bragging about sweeping Houston. However, I note the benefit of having a very good pitching coach along with a manager who also provides expert pitching insight. Felix Dubront. He didn't just get it together all of a sudden after giving up 4 walks. I've noticed a number of games where the starting pitcher seemed to be headed for a very short stay only to be quickly corrected and turn in several good innings. Dubront barely got out of the first inning then came back firing strikes after a visit from pitching coach Nieves and possibly some solid advice between innings from Farrell too. Except for the now demoted Aceves versus Oakland, no starter has fallen apart yet this year despite some shakiness at times. It looks like the ability to get pitchers in trouble quickly back on track is going to be a big asset this year.
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Merlot
These guys have uncertain job prospects after baseball is over and they might live a long time. I just got through reading Phil Esposito's book and in it he bitches about the amount of his NHL pension and never recouped those expenses. This is because he spent all his life savings to get the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise started. To assume that some of these guys are set for life is laughable because many or most do not know how to manage their money and have little savings left for retirement. I would suggest you read Derek Sanderson's book. He now works as a financial advisor to professional athletes and helps them manage their money better than he did when he was a player.
Exhibit A would be Hideki Matsui. I love him and he's one of my 3 favorite Yankees players of all time (the others being Thurman Munson and Don Mattingly). Hideki could not play the outfield after 2008 due to his knees being shot, yet he managed to hang on with DH jobs to amass the requisite 10 years in order to get an MLB pension:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/matsuhi01.shtml
Does he deserve a pension? Well, he qualified for one. But he would not have played his last 3 or 4 years without the DH rule.
If I bought a dog or cat the 1st choices for names would be Hideki if a male or Matsui if a female.
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Thank heavens for that, since he only made $83,500,000 while playing in the US. There's no easily found record of his Japanese earnings.
My earliest reason for supporting the DH was that many players at that time were seeing their careers come to premature ends due to the damage done to them by playing on Astroturf. Fortunately, Astroturf has just about vanished from MLB.
The other reason for supporting use of the DH is that watching pitchers trying to hit is just plain boring. I was having an debate about this with some friends a few weeks ago, all guy whose sophisticated knowledge of the game is way beyond that of anyone posting in this thread (EB, Merlot, and CCF being the notable exceptions.) They kept citing all the "good hitting pitchers" like Carlton, Gibson, Drysdale and the like. A bit of research showed me that these three all had OPS under .545. The argument that the DH takes strategy away from the game is totally bogus.
The only really good hitting pitcher I can think of is CC Sabathia. CC can swing the bat, career OPS .598. In interleague play he is the only Yankees pitcher who can have even decent at bats.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=404&position=PB
By the ways Hideki Matsui donated 7 figures to the survivors of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia and 2011 Tsunami in Japan.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=404&position=PB
By the ways Hideki Matsui donated 7 figures to the survivors of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia and 2011 Tsunami in Japan.
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Yeah, Laffey's wonderful. So wonderful that he's on the waiver wire for the second time this week. That's once for each of the two runs the light hitting Yankees managed off him. Once for each of the two hits the light hitting Yankees managed off of him.
Just think...give up two runs to the Yankees and, boom, you get released.
The light hitting Yankees are still -4 run differential in games not against the sphincter end of the Cleveland rotations. They're 12-9 record shows (according to BP) that they've been playing in good luck. While the Orioles maintained their good luck throughout the 2012 season, this usually doesn't continue.
Sorry, Beav, .598 is not good hitting. He may be good hitting "for a pitcher," but .598 is still Ben Francisco territory.
Rumps knows more about baseball and the players than anyone on this board by far
Merlot
You may think rumps knows much about baseball and more than anyone, Merlot, but it's not reality. I have been reading his posts. His opinions expressed in his posts are not at the least objective. Your friend uses the word stink too much, and that's why I say he's not knowledgeable about baseball.
Major league baseball is a very difficult and competitive game. Any player that has made it to the big leagues is good. There is probably a sizable differential between the good player and the great player (hall of fame player). And there is even a noticeable differential between a good player and a very good player who has had a lengthy career, but is not a hall of fame caliber player. How many Hall of future famers are playing in MLB right now? Maybe 5 or 6? There have been 208 players inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame during about 140 years of players playing baseball.
Some players who don't make it to the majors can be good. They just were on the wrong team at the position they were playing. Or they may not have been playing at peak when the franchise MLB team needed them. I know of one player who was in the Minor Leagues for 8 years and never got called up, but he was notified 3 times to get ready.
Did you know that for every 50 high school baseball players only 3 makes it into either the College baseball? And 1 out of 200 college players are drafted by MLB. http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/probability.htm
Now there are better teams in any professional league. But to say a team stinks or your Aunt Margaret can play better tells me the person saying negative stuff like that doesn't have appreciation of how difficult the game really is. Plus, all players and teams have streaks and slumps. It's part of the game. There is definitely a psychology aspect to the game. The only way to tell how good a team or player is is to see how they play over time. And you can have 2 really teams in the World Series and the team who is playing the best, not the best team on paper, could very well win the Series.
Baseball, nor any professional sport, is not a black and white scientific experiment. The better teams will most likely make the playoffs. The best playing team usually will win the playoffs. And the same is true for individual players. There have been first round draft picks that have not made it into the big league and late round draft picks that have. It's not black and white. Rumps unfortunately talks baseball like it is. So I disagree with your assessment, Merlot. I hope you don't mind.
I think we have a new Cy Young contender this season in John "Lights Out" Lackey!! What a dominating performance against a hard hitting Houston team today.
In truth, as anybody who has been following baseball for more than two weeks knows, the best team does not always win. The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, my favorite example, had no business being on the same field as the 1960 New York Yankees. They won the World Series. The best teams the Brooklyn Dodgers ever fielded were their 1952 and 1953 entries. Both teams lost to inferior Yankee teams. By 1955, the Dodgers were aging and infirm, while Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford were entering the prime of their careers. They were beaten by the aging Dodgers.
Luck plays a significant factor as well. Bill James created something he called the Pythagorean Record. Basically, a team's record, 90% of the time, will come within 10-15 percentage points of their Runs Allowed vs. Runs Scored differential. If you look at the current standings, there are 5 teams within the range of +14 and +17. Their records range from the Yankees 15-9 to the A's 13-12. When records vary, luck plays a significant role. The Yankees are +2 games in the standings vs. expected, the As -1. Usually, but not in all cases, things balance by the season's. Last year's Orioles, for example, finished the season with 12 more wins then their run differential suggested, due almost exclusively to what one would think of as an unsustainable record in 1-run and extra inning games.
While it's possible that the Yankees run of good luck will continue, it's more than likely that it will balance out. While they've had good pitching, they've shown considerable difficulty scoring runs when facing even average pitching.
There are, of course, factors that no one can measure at this point. The first is injuries down the road. The age of the Yankee team puts them at significant risk. The other factor is mid-season additions. Who will bail and deal off their expiring contracts and who will teams add as the deadline approaches. The Red Sox appear to need nothing at all, with five starters pitching well, the offense clicking on all cylinders, and the shut down bullpen. Naturally, they can't sustain a .720 record and will likely need additions. Their farm system is loaded, so help, most significantly Allen Webster, is at hand, but they also have considerable depth from which to deal.
Theo Epstein once said the season is divided in three parts. In part one, you assess your needs. In part two, you make adjustments to your roster, in part three you hopefully have a team that will get you to the playoffs.
Luck plays a significant factor as well. Bill James created something he called the Pythagorean Record. Basically, a team's record, 90% of the time, will come within 10-15 percentage points of their Runs Allowed vs. Runs Scored differential. If you look at the current standings, there are 5 teams within the range of +14 and +17. Their records range from the Yankees 15-9 to the A's 13-12. When records vary, luck plays a significant role. The Yankees are +2 games in the standings vs. expected, the As -1. Usually, but not in all cases, things balance by the season's. Last year's Orioles, for example, finished the season with 12 more wins then their run differential suggested, due almost exclusively to what one would think of as an unsustainable record in 1-run and extra inning games.
While it's possible that the Yankees run of good luck will continue, it's more than likely that it will balance out. While they've had good pitching, they've shown considerable difficulty scoring runs when facing even average pitching.
There are, of course, factors that no one can measure at this point. The first is injuries down the road. The age of the Yankee team puts them at significant risk. The other factor is mid-season additions. Who will bail and deal off their expiring contracts and who will teams add as the deadline approaches. The Red Sox appear to need nothing at all, with five starters pitching well, the offense clicking on all cylinders, and the shut down bullpen. Naturally, they can't sustain a .720 record and will likely need additions. Their farm system is loaded, so help, most significantly Allen Webster, is at hand, but they also have considerable depth from which to deal.
Theo Epstein once said the season is divided in three parts. In part one, you assess your needs. In part two, you make adjustments to your roster, in part three you hopefully have a team that will get you to the playoffs.
Don't know to what extent you're being facetious here, and don't forget we have at least one compadre here with a sense of humor deficiency, but the fact is that Houston's offense, while far from being hard hitting, is not their problem. In fact, they are right smack in the middle of the pack in runs scored. Their pitching sucks. Whether or not it sucks enough for the light hitting Yankees to take advantage remains to be seen.I think we have a new Cy Young contender this season in John "Lights Out" Lackey!! What a dominating performance against a hard hitting Houston team today.
I have bolded where your objectivity as a baseball critic goes out the window.
1. The Yankees are 4th in the AL in runs scored behind Boston, Oakland, and Baltimore and the Yankees have played 1 less game than Boston and Oakland. The Yankees lead the AL in home runs with 35 with Granderson or Teixeira, their 2 most prolific HR hitters. So how in the world can you claim they have shown difficulty scoring runs? And who says they have faced average pitching. Both Toronto and Tampa Bay have good pitchers. Perhaps, both teams are in a slump, but that will not last long.
Also, the Orioles won so many games last year because of the outstanding play of their bullpen, not luck. Once they had the lead past the 7th inning, their record was 64-0. That record included several 1 inning games. http://padresteve.com/tag/orioles-record-after-7th-inning/ . A win is a win whether you score 10 more runs than the opposing team or 1 run more.
2. With only 25 games played in the season, you have declared that the Red Sox have everything they need. The season is only 25 games long. Toronto and Tampa Bay will get out of their slumps. They both have strong teams. The Red Sox have been playing well, but they are not as good as they have been playing. They have been on a streak. They will have slumps. All teams do. Your statement is not objective.
3. The current average age of the Yankees 25 player team roster is 30.9. The current average age of the Red Sox 25 team roster is 29.5. That's only a 1.4 year difference. When some of the players come off the DL, the number will go up slightly, if at all. Granderson is 32, Cervelli is 27, Jeter is 38, Pineda is 24, Rodriguez is 37, Teixeira is 33, and Nova is 26. Your age argument, which is constant, is false and misleading.
DD, responding to your unanalyzed responses by number.
1. Yes, the Yankees are 4th in the league in scoring, but how? By scoring 23% of their runs in 2 games or 8% of their games, against atrocious pitching. They scored another 5 runs, and 2 wins, on a wild throw and dropped fly ball. They've scored another 79 runs in 22 games, or 3.59 runs per game. Their current record is the result of a) luck and b) pitching. The Toronto and Tampa pitchers are not, as you say, in a slump. The Yankees scored an unimpressive 19 runs in four games against Toronto this weekend, despite the fact that the Jays number two pitcher was scrapped in place of another who made two visits to the waiver wire within the past week.
2. You don't read so good. What you said I said was "you have declared that the Red Sox have everything they need..." There's not a lick of truth in that. What I said was, "The Red Sox appear to have everything they need..." Would you like me to define "appear" for you? Any team with a .720 record would appear to have everything they need. I then clearly suggested that needs will appear. They always do. They always will. If you try watching a few games, maybe you might learn a few things about the game.
3. The Yankees front 3 starters are 38, 40 and 32. Their fourth starter is 26 and they don't at the moment have a fifth. The Sox front three starters are 28, 29 and 35. Their fourth is 24, their fifth 34. That's a huge difference. Yes, the Sox are only 1 year younger than the Yankees. However, the players who make a difference are many years younger. The Yankees front three starters average 36.67 years. The Sox three starters average 30.67. That's a six year difference.
The difference between you and me is that you throw numbers around. I analyze them. That's all the difference in the world.
1. Yes, the Yankees are 4th in the league in scoring, but how? By scoring 23% of their runs in 2 games or 8% of their games, against atrocious pitching. They scored another 5 runs, and 2 wins, on a wild throw and dropped fly ball. They've scored another 79 runs in 22 games, or 3.59 runs per game. Their current record is the result of a) luck and b) pitching. The Toronto and Tampa pitchers are not, as you say, in a slump. The Yankees scored an unimpressive 19 runs in four games against Toronto this weekend, despite the fact that the Jays number two pitcher was scrapped in place of another who made two visits to the waiver wire within the past week.
2. You don't read so good. What you said I said was "you have declared that the Red Sox have everything they need..." There's not a lick of truth in that. What I said was, "The Red Sox appear to have everything they need..." Would you like me to define "appear" for you? Any team with a .720 record would appear to have everything they need. I then clearly suggested that needs will appear. They always do. They always will. If you try watching a few games, maybe you might learn a few things about the game.
3. The Yankees front 3 starters are 38, 40 and 32. Their fourth starter is 26 and they don't at the moment have a fifth. The Sox front three starters are 28, 29 and 35. Their fourth is 24, their fifth 34. That's a huge difference. Yes, the Sox are only 1 year younger than the Yankees. However, the players who make a difference are many years younger. The Yankees front three starters average 36.67 years. The Sox three starters average 30.67. That's a six year difference.
The difference between you and me is that you throw numbers around. I analyze them. That's all the difference in the world.
Can I assume it`s official, if you get my drift, talk about kissing ass.
Hey BOYZ!
Iggy, my post was about you and your board buddies. If you want to call them "Goodgirls" I have no objections.
1. The Yankees are always leading or near the lead in home runs every year. How many World Series has that earned for them after $2.5 billion spent since 2001. If home runs were the deciding factor they would have won every year....NOT!!! :crazy:
2. Some teams have everything they need from the start. The 2007 Red Sox for example. I don't agree with Rumps on this point this year, but so far they are proving me wrong.
You keep counting games when the Sox and Yankees are BOTH at the same point in the year. Yet you laud the Yanks and knock the Sox. So your point is what...to demonstrate for all your extreme favoritism...ie...total lack of objectivity. :amen:
3. Which team has all the injuries...pal. :eyebrows:
One big fault with all your BIAS DD. Great pitching beats great hitting...and the Yanks are hitting home runs, but they aren't a great hitting team overall.
Red Sox 6 Astros 1:
Yeah, it's only the Astros, not much different than the Yanks playing the badly reeling Jays. (anyone seen or heard from Doc. Still, Lackey did his job very well, and if he can keep his ERA under 4.00 it going to be a surprising year.
Through one month, Red Sox with best record in American League
http://www.metro.us/boston/sports/m...-red-sox-with-best-record-in-american-league/
After the disastrous 2012 season there were many holes for the Red Sox to fill on their roster as well as addressing the overall culture within the club. Although they may have overspent for a few players in the offseason, their needs and a new attitude were all addressed.
Many of those players, and a new sense of team unity within the clubhouse have played a major role in the sensational start to the 2013 season. After the first month the Red Sox sit atop the American League standings, and with a 17-7 record going into Sunday, Boston holds the best record in baseball.
“We’ve had a very good offensive approach, even on the nights where we’ve only scored a few runs we’ve done a very good job of chasing the starting pitcher to get into the middle of the bullpen,” said manager John Farrell. “Our starting pitching has been very consistent and I think we’ve played very well defensively. There’s still room to improve in areas, but the fact is we have three areas of the game that are operating pretty well right now.”
The pitching has been outstanding led by Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz (combined 9-0), but also has seen a great start from newly acquired veteran Ryan Dempster. Despite his 1-2 record, he’s pitched well, owning a 3.30 ERA in five starts. Even more surprising has been his strikeout totals. After his 10-strikeout performance Friday night he now ranks second in all of baseball with 43 on the year – pretty impressive considering his fastball barely touches 90 MPH.
“I don’t know, I think maybe fastball command,” said Dempster when asked the reason for his high strikeout total. “When you put your fastball where you want you end up by getting ahead of the count. Strikeouts are overrated; I am just trying to get ahead in the count. I’ll take them however I can get them.”
Offensively, going into Sunday, the team averages 5.08 runs per game, which is in the top three in the American league. The newly acquired players have played a significant role in the production as 42.5 percent of the RBIs (51-of-120) have been from players not on the roster last year.
Mike Napoli has led that charge, leading the majors with 27 RBIs, 18 extra-base hits and 13 doubles. The extra-base hits and doubles are all-time records for the Red Sox in the month of April. Despite being out the past few days with a lower back injury, Shane Victorino has gotten off to a fast start hitting safely in 13 of his first 19 games and hitting .292 with 8 RBIs.
Although other newcomers such as David Ross and Jonny Gomes haven’t put up numbers like Napoli and Victorino, they still play a valuable role with the new team chemistry in place.
“I think guys look forward to coming to the ballpark,” Farrell said. “Not because of what the game might have in store that night, but I think guys genuinely like being around one another here, and want to work along side one another.”
There is no denying the new attitude within the clubhouse has played some role in the first month of the season, coming off a year in which they won just 11 games in April and never spent a day the entire season in first place.
The Red Sox set a new team record with 232 strikeouts in the month of April, and according to WEEI it's a record for any team in April in Baseball history, while closing in on the all-time one month strikeout record.
DAMN Baby...what a difference a year makes.
Cheers, :thumb:
Merlot
Iggy, my post was about you and your board buddies. If you want to call them "Goodgirls" I have no objections.
1. The Yankees are always leading or near the lead in home runs every year. How many World Series has that earned for them after $2.5 billion spent since 2001. If home runs were the deciding factor they would have won every year....NOT!!! :crazy:
2. Some teams have everything they need from the start. The 2007 Red Sox for example. I don't agree with Rumps on this point this year, but so far they are proving me wrong.
You keep counting games when the Sox and Yankees are BOTH at the same point in the year. Yet you laud the Yanks and knock the Sox. So your point is what...to demonstrate for all your extreme favoritism...ie...total lack of objectivity. :amen:
3. Which team has all the injuries...pal. :eyebrows:
One big fault with all your BIAS DD. Great pitching beats great hitting...and the Yanks are hitting home runs, but they aren't a great hitting team overall.
Red Sox 6 Astros 1:
Yeah, it's only the Astros, not much different than the Yanks playing the badly reeling Jays. (anyone seen or heard from Doc
. Still, Lackey did his job very well, and if he can keep his ERA under 4.00 it going to be a surprising year. Through one month, Red Sox with best record in American League
http://www.metro.us/boston/sports/m...-red-sox-with-best-record-in-american-league/
After the disastrous 2012 season there were many holes for the Red Sox to fill on their roster as well as addressing the overall culture within the club. Although they may have overspent for a few players in the offseason, their needs and a new attitude were all addressed.
Many of those players, and a new sense of team unity within the clubhouse have played a major role in the sensational start to the 2013 season. After the first month the Red Sox sit atop the American League standings, and with a 17-7 record going into Sunday, Boston holds the best record in baseball.
“We’ve had a very good offensive approach, even on the nights where we’ve only scored a few runs we’ve done a very good job of chasing the starting pitcher to get into the middle of the bullpen,” said manager John Farrell. “Our starting pitching has been very consistent and I think we’ve played very well defensively. There’s still room to improve in areas, but the fact is we have three areas of the game that are operating pretty well right now.”
The pitching has been outstanding led by Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz (combined 9-0), but also has seen a great start from newly acquired veteran Ryan Dempster. Despite his 1-2 record, he’s pitched well, owning a 3.30 ERA in five starts. Even more surprising has been his strikeout totals. After his 10-strikeout performance Friday night he now ranks second in all of baseball with 43 on the year – pretty impressive considering his fastball barely touches 90 MPH.
“I don’t know, I think maybe fastball command,” said Dempster when asked the reason for his high strikeout total. “When you put your fastball where you want you end up by getting ahead of the count. Strikeouts are overrated; I am just trying to get ahead in the count. I’ll take them however I can get them.”
Offensively, going into Sunday, the team averages 5.08 runs per game, which is in the top three in the American league. The newly acquired players have played a significant role in the production as 42.5 percent of the RBIs (51-of-120) have been from players not on the roster last year.
Mike Napoli has led that charge, leading the majors with 27 RBIs, 18 extra-base hits and 13 doubles. The extra-base hits and doubles are all-time records for the Red Sox in the month of April. Despite being out the past few days with a lower back injury, Shane Victorino has gotten off to a fast start hitting safely in 13 of his first 19 games and hitting .292 with 8 RBIs.
Although other newcomers such as David Ross and Jonny Gomes haven’t put up numbers like Napoli and Victorino, they still play a valuable role with the new team chemistry in place.
“I think guys look forward to coming to the ballpark,” Farrell said. “Not because of what the game might have in store that night, but I think guys genuinely like being around one another here, and want to work along side one another.”
There is no denying the new attitude within the clubhouse has played some role in the first month of the season, coming off a year in which they won just 11 games in April and never spent a day the entire season in first place.
The Red Sox set a new team record with 232 strikeouts in the month of April, and according to WEEI it's a record for any team in April in Baseball history, while closing in on the all-time one month strikeout record.
DAMN Baby...what a difference a year makes.
Cheers, :thumb:
Merlot
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