Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
The latest on the baseball video scene? Tony Oliva playing baseball on the Nintendo Wii with his grandson.
It looks like Gramps still has it. The look on his grandson says it all when Tony O hits a double and a homer back to back.
just like the old days…
(via Home Run Derby)
In light of the upcoming MVP awards to be announced this week, Scott McCoy who covers the Texas Rangers for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has come out with his list of Baseball’s Top 5 worst MVPs.
In typical Texas Ranger fashion, the author seems to focus on hitting (particularly power) for his baseline and doesn’t consider context when making his choices.
Seven of his ten choices (he had five honorable mentions) were middle infielders and in most cases (1944 Marty Marion, 1959 Nellie Fox, 1995 Barry Larkin) were excellent with the glove.
Some while not exhibiting great stats by today’s measures, were playing in hitting-depressed eras (again Fox and Marion). Others yet displayed leadership beyond the statistics (1931 Frankie Frisch, 1925 Roger Peckinpaugh) or played a good part in leading their team to championships (Fox once more, Frisch).
Would I have made those same MVP choices given the chance? I’m not sure. But “Worst MVPs” seems a bit harsh.
I couldn’t let that one go.
Looks like the Mariners who lost 101 games in 2008, are planning to focus more on statistical analysis.
It was about a year ago that the Pittsburgh Pirates’ newly hired smartypants GM Neal Huntington was talking sabermetric smack at a press conference. One would have thought that have meant they were approaching the game in a different fashion. So different that they finished… last again.
Must have been in the implementation.
The Mariners meanwhile, are creating a whole department devoted to the topic.
The department will fall under the auspices of Tony Blengino, a longtime baseball stats analyst and a special assistant to new Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik. Details of the department’s mandate and size are still to be worked out, but the move could vault the Mariners from their perceived Stone Age approach to stats to one in which they’re seen as one of the game’s more progressive franchises.
hehe, Stone Age. Good one.
The Mariners plan to take all the statistical data they accumulate and combine it with their scouting info.
Looks like the Yankees might want a piece of Peavy.
Angels, too?
Things got just a little more complicated for the Cubs if they still want him. At this point, that’s a big if.
It seem that every team has backed out of the Jake Peavy hunt save the Braves and the Cubs.
Now word comes out that Atlanta has gone as high as they can/will:
“We felt that we offered a strong package of players, and if we couldnât get a deal done with the players offered we would move on to pursue other players,” the Braves general manager said Friday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
That means we get ‘im, right?
Not so fast.
Apparently, the Cubs original offer doesn’t wow Pads GM Kevin Towers. IF Peavy gets traded, the Cubs are still in the mix but right now, Ryan Dempster is probably a higher priority.
Seeing that there’s no deadline set on any potential deal, this might be something that gets put on the backburner.
According to Paul Sullivan from the Tribune, the Cubs are probably good for just one “big-ticket item” this off-season. Ok, I’m not a GM but if I were Hendry, I’d sign Dempster for what he’s worth and spend that big-ticket money on a leadoff hitter. Preferably one that hits from the left side.
Breaking up is hard to do
Speaking of Hendry and such, it sounds like Kerry Wood never really wanted to leave the Cubs after all. At least, that’s the press’ take on what Wood had to say:
“It’s bittersweet. Obviously this is my first choice. I wanted to stay here and the best choice for me and my family. … But that’s part of baseball right now,” Wood said in a conference call Friday.
These just may be polite words, there may be an element of truth to it, or quite possibly, he really means it.
The big acquisition before the 2008 season for the White Sox was Nick Swisher, now one year later Swisher was dealt to the Yankees. As a White Sox fan, how do I feel about all this?
I was excited when the Sox landed Buckeye Nick. He seemed to be just what the doctor ordered, a switch-hitter, with a good eye, good power, and a batting average that would go up coming to hitter friendly US Cellular Field. The plan was for Swisher to play LF with speedy Jerry Owens patrolling centerfield. An injury to Owens changed those plans, moving Nick to CF, opening a LF opportunity for Carlos Quentin. Quentin tore it up! Ozzie Guillen tried high onbase Swisher as the club’s leadoff batter. So he was trying two things he’d never done before, a leadoff hitting centerfielder. Things didn’t workout too well on either front. Pitchers threw strikes to Swisher, putting him in a hole, and while he did an adequate in the field, alot of balls fell in.
After Swisher was moved out of the leadoff spot in favor of Orlando Cabrera, he seemed to find his bat. But then late in the year Nick succumbed once again to his early season bat woes, often times taking pitches right down the pipe, while swinging at pitches in the dirt, arguing with umpires about called strikes. Late in the year he was benched in favor of Dewayne Wise & Brian Anderson, so I guess the writing was on the wall.
It’s kind of weird Swisher & Cabrera were brought in last year to wipe out the losing of 2007. Things worked out well with the team winning the AL Central Division, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Rays of Tampa. Now both are gone.
So how does it all shake out? Last year we dealt corner outfielder Ryan Sweeney (batted .286 in 115 games for Oakland), lefthanded starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (1-4, 7.68 ERA, in 34 innings for the A’s), and Fautino De Los Santos (2-2, 5.87 ERA, 23 IP, for Stockton high A). The numbers don’t tell the whole story as Gonzalez was the key to the deal and should be a successful starting pitcher for years to come.
Now let’s look at this year’s trade sending Swisher out of town. Relief pitcher Kanekoa Texeira (0.93 ERA, 38″ IP, high A & 2.01 ERA, 22′ IP, AA) was also traded to New York. The White Sox received switch hitting infielder Wilson Betemit (.260 lifetime average, 42 homers in 1098 at bats), starting pitcher Jeff Marquez (43-40, 3.60 ERA, 560″ IP, minor league totals), & recently converted reliever Jhonny Nunez (1.50 ERA, 27′ IP, AA).
The Swisher trades comes down to this, Sweeney, Gonzalez, De Los Santos, & Texeira for Betemit, Marquez & Nunez. Wilson Betemit should see some action for the White Sox at thirdbase for the White Sox in 2009, with possibly Dayan Viciedo waiting in the wings, then Betemit would become a quality bat off the bench and utility infielder.
There’s a little bit more to Nick Swisher in Chicago. I manage the Chicago Champions of the Illowa APBA League a diceball APBA League, where I traded outfielder Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Rising Bammbeanos for Swisher, after Nick was traded to the Southside. Bammbeanos skipper John Brandeberry has been a Dodgers fan since the Brooklyn days of yesteryear (more on this trade from an APBA standpoint can be found on APBABLOG.COM). Also if anybody’s interested in a pre-worn Nick Swisher White Sox teeshirt, lemme know.
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about the Illini. But yesterday, news came out that six Illinois players have signed letters of intent.
As of now, the 2009 class includes
Christian Cummins of Harrisburg, Ill., Davis Hendrickson, of Macomb, Ill., Brandon Hohl, of Mokena, Ill., Kevin Johnson, of Midlothian, Ill., Matt Milroy, of Batavia, Ill., and Seth Schwindenhammer of Bartonville, Ill.
Schwindenhammer, that’s a name that’s made for baseball.
The Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano won the Silver slugger award.
I wrote earlier this year comparing pitchers’ hitting and it wasn’t close. The rbis tightened up but Big Z is the clear leader.
Cnt Player BA PA Year Age
+----+-----------------+-----+---+----+---+
1 Carlos Zambrano .337 85 2008 27
2 Micah Owings .304 62 2008 25
3 Brandon Backe .277 56 2008 30
4 Adam Wainwright .267 65 2008 26
5 Jake Peavy .265 58 2008 27
6 Mark Hendrickson .257 37 2008 34
7 Braden Looper .254 80 2008 33
8 C.C. Sabathia .235 53 2008 27
9 Aaron Cook .233 78 2008 29
10 Manny Parra .226 58 2008 25
Cnt Player RBI Year Age
+----+-----------------+---+----+---+
1 Carlos Zambrano 14 2008 27
2 Brandon Webb 11 2008 29
3 Jason Marquis 10 2008 29
4 C.C. Sabathia 7 2008 27
5 Manny Parra 6 2008 25
6 Danny Haren 6 2008 27
7 Jorge de la Rosa 6 2008 27
8 Bronson Arroyo 6 2008 31
9 Micah Owings 6 2008 25
10 Adam Wainwright 6 2008 26
Followup: Some trivia… Only two teams had more than one pitcher hit a homerun for them in 2008. The San Diego Padres’ Cha Seung Baek and Chris Young both hit one each. For the Chicago Cubs, Zambrano contributed four dingers while teammate Jason Marquis hit out two. Here’s the complete list for 2008:
Cnt Player HR PA Year Age
+----+-----------------+--+---+----+---+
1 Carlos Zambrano 4 85 2008 27
2 Brandon Backe 2 56 2008 30
3 C.C. Sabathia 2 53 2008 27
4 Jason Marquis 2 66 2008 29
5 Matt Cain 2 72 2008 23
6 Micah Owings 1 62 2008 25
7 Bronson Arroyo 1 74 2008 31
8 Cha Seung Baek 1 38 2008 28
9 Chris Young 1 36 2008 29
10 Adam Wainwright 1 65 2008 26
“Seems to me that letting Kerry Wood leave without making an offer is like shooting Ole Yeller. I must be getting too sentimental for this game”
-a text message from my friend DonS
Today the Chicago Cubs acquired Kevin Gregg in a trade with the Florida Marlins. In return, the Fish received pitching prospect Jose Ceda.
In case there was any doubt to Kerry Wood’s future with the Cubs, Cubs’ GM Jim Hendry put them to rest.
âWe felt it was time Kerry goes out and does what is best for him and his family and get a huge multiyear deal, if possible,â Hendry said. âThis is really the right thing to do. Weâve had some really honest conversations in the last week. We donât have to get into how much I think of him, but at the same time I donât think we could do for him right now what he deserves and what I think heâll get going elsewhere.â
No doubt, that was hard for Hendry to say. He and Wood have been pretty tight even through Wood’s lean years.
Wood was the longest standing member of the Chicago Cubs. A member since 1998, the playoff year and year he won the Rookie of the Year Award. And yes, he did have those lean years but he was always a Cub in the truest sense of the word.
And now Gregg.
A 6’6″ righthander who will turn 31 next year, Kevin Gregg has turned two solid if not spectacular seasons with Florida in 2007-08. With ERAs of 3.54 and 3.41 respectively, he collected 61 saves in those two seasons.
I say this just once (and will probably deny it mid-2009 when we are in the middle of a playoff race). I’m not particularly fond of the notion of Gregg as our closer. Maybe Hendry has some grand scheme which includes Carlos Marmol in the closing role but I doubt it. If Kevin Gregg is the man who we depend on when the game is on the line in the 9th inning, I have my doubts. Let’s face it, the Cubs are still contenders in 2009. And I don’t see Kevin Gregg as “contender” material.
Perhaps I too am too sentimental for this game.
We can only hope that other clubs see it the same way.
âWe have been listening to fans, friends, and family about the challenges they are facing in light of the current adverse economic conditions,â said Larry Lucchino, Red Sox President/CEO in a press release this morning. âWe are also grateful for the unwavering faith and support our fans have shown us year after year and we hope our ownershipâs decision to hold prices for the upcoming season will in some way help ease the burden on Red Sox Nation.â