What a way to take the L.
Scott Baker of the Twins pitched an 8-inning, complete-game 1-0 loss yesterday against the Tigers, giving up a solo home run in the 8th by Marcus Thames. Other than that, he allowed just two hits and one walk.
And he did all that throwing just 79 pitches. That's less than 10 pitches per inning.
Unbelievable.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
The Midsummer Classic(s)
I noticed something curious about the following paragraph pulled from an article on MLB.com:
So, you're telling me they played more than one Midsummer Classic in a year, more than once?
Exactly.
According to Wikipedia,
"The 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco, to be played on Tuesday, July 10, will be the 78th 'Midsummer Classic.' The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played in 1933 at Chicago's Comiskey Park; it was the first event of its kind in professional sports."How is it possible that they played 77 All-Star games between 1933 and 2007? If there is one per year, then shouldn't the 78th All-Star game occur in 2010...?
So, you're telling me they played more than one Midsummer Classic in a year, more than once?
Exactly.
According to Wikipedia,
"There were two All-Star Games played each season from 1959 to 1962. The second game was added to raise money for the players' pension funds, as well as other causes."Pretty neat, eh? I learned something today.
OPS, BA/RISP
Quick definitions:
OBP = ( H + BB + HBP ) / (AB + BB + HBP + SF)
SLG = TB / AB
OPS = OBP + SLG
OPS (on-base plus slugging) is a stupid stat. A discussion with a friend has led me to believe this. They weigh equally OBP and SLG even though, SLG to a certain extent encapsulates OBP (except BBs and HBPs). But then again, no one ever said OPS was a good statistic.
That led into the discussion of the single best statistic determining a player's overall offensive value. I believe that BA w/ RISP (batting average with runners in scoring position) is among those most important stats because it captures both hitting and clutch hitting. Since it's a percentage, it's also scaled to those who don't necessarily have as many RISP opportunities (i.e. leadoff hitters), but of course it does not take into account hitting for power. Personally, I do believe that hitting for power is important, but not as important as consistent hitting for contact.
Harrison then posed the following question: in terms of offensive value, who would I pick: Kevin Youkilis or Aramis Ramirez?
K. Youkilis: AVG .331 | HR 8 | RBI 36 | R 45 | OBP .413 | SLG .502 | OPS .915
A. Ramirez: AVG .300 | HR 14 | RBI 41 | R 29 | OBP .354 | SLG .547 | OPS .901
* Stats as of June 24, 2007
Even though their OPSs are nearly identical, there are a couple key differences between Youk and Aramis. For one, Youk is more a leadoff man, a solid contact hitter, who was once known as the "Greek God of Walks". He has some pop in his bat but he isn't going to hit 30 HRs in a season. Aramis, on the other hand, bats 4th or 5th, and has hit 30+ HRs and 90+ RBIs in each of the last 3 seasons.
Here's something to chew on:
K. Youkilis: BA/RISP .343
A. Ramirez: BA/RISP .277
Now the choice seems more clear.
Sources:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/
OBP = ( H + BB + HBP ) / (AB + BB + HBP + SF)
SLG = TB / AB
OPS = OBP + SLG
OPS (on-base plus slugging) is a stupid stat. A discussion with a friend has led me to believe this. They weigh equally OBP and SLG even though, SLG to a certain extent encapsulates OBP (except BBs and HBPs). But then again, no one ever said OPS was a good statistic.
That led into the discussion of the single best statistic determining a player's overall offensive value. I believe that BA w/ RISP (batting average with runners in scoring position) is among those most important stats because it captures both hitting and clutch hitting. Since it's a percentage, it's also scaled to those who don't necessarily have as many RISP opportunities (i.e. leadoff hitters), but of course it does not take into account hitting for power. Personally, I do believe that hitting for power is important, but not as important as consistent hitting for contact.
Harrison then posed the following question: in terms of offensive value, who would I pick: Kevin Youkilis or Aramis Ramirez?
K. Youkilis: AVG .331 | HR 8 | RBI 36 | R 45 | OBP .413 | SLG .502 | OPS .915
A. Ramirez: AVG .300 | HR 14 | RBI 41 | R 29 | OBP .354 | SLG .547 | OPS .901
* Stats as of June 24, 2007
Even though their OPSs are nearly identical, there are a couple key differences between Youk and Aramis. For one, Youk is more a leadoff man, a solid contact hitter, who was once known as the "Greek God of Walks". He has some pop in his bat but he isn't going to hit 30 HRs in a season. Aramis, on the other hand, bats 4th or 5th, and has hit 30+ HRs and 90+ RBIs in each of the last 3 seasons.
Here's something to chew on:
K. Youkilis: BA/RISP .343
A. Ramirez: BA/RISP .277
Now the choice seems more clear.
Sources:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/
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