Random Collection of Thoughts re April 14 in the MLB

After six innings of play, the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates combined for TEN homeruns.  That is more homeruns than the Baltimore Orioles (9), San Diego Padres (7), Texas Rangers (5), and Kansas City Royals have hit the ENTIRE SEASON. 


When doing research for the above stat I stumbled upon the following - - 16 of 30 teams were hitting under .250 (1 of 4) going into the evening's slate of games.  Last season finished with 13 teams under a .250 team batting average, 12 in 2012, 11 in 2011, 9 in 2010.  Furthermore not since 2008 has the MLB has averaged more than 9 hits per game.  Moral of the stat story, with so much glamor given to the homerun, if nobody is on base, it's just one run. 




A nifty stat was posted by the Oakland Athletics gameday Twitter account: "(Yoenis) Cespedes is 8-for-24 (.333) with runners on compared to 3-for-23 (.130) with the bases empty"  They posted this in the 9th inning trailing the Anaheim Angels by one with a man on first.  Cespedes would fly out but pinch hitter John Jaso would hit a 2 run homerun to give the A's the lead and the win.  Sooner or later the problematic pairing of "sabremetrics" and "moneyball" will fail.  I keep choosing sooner and it keeps becoming later.




16 games, about 1/10 of the season is over for the Arizona Diamondbacks.  A 7-3 loss to the New York Mets keeps the D'Backs at 4 wins on the season.  I feel sorry for the anxiety that must be running through the Kirk Gibson family in regards to his job security and will stop writing about it out of respect for a man with the most memorable homerun trot of my life.


The Colorado Rockies found an improbable way to lose to the San Diego Padres Monday night.  After WALKING THE BASES LOADED, a wild pitch would score the game tying run and an errant throw back to the plate would score the game winning run.  Wow, just wow!

As a wrestling fan I feel obliged to share this link,

 Pirates adopt wrestling champ Daniel Bryan's 'YES!' chant

Random Collection of Thoughts re April 13 in the MLB

Sweeps and their ramifications will be the subject of the day.


The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks making it a 5-0 regular season start against the NL West Kirk Gibson led foe.  The D'Backs currently sit at 4-11 two days away from Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday April 15th.  I mentioned in an earlier post that if going into Jackie Robinson Day the Diamondbacks were still counting wins with only one hand that Manager Kirk Gibson likely does not make it through the month of May with his job.  A 3 game series with the New York Mets may just be what the doctor ordered.  Then again, it may be the iceberg that sank the Titanic.


Speaking of baseball managers doubling as crew members of the Titanic, Kansas City manager Ned Yost must be feeling sea sick after being outscored 21-6 whilst being swept by the Minnesota Twins.  The Royals now have lowest scoring offense in the American League 0.02 less runs per game than the Houston Astros.  The Astros happen to be their next opponent before an opportunity for redemption when the Twins visit Kauffman Stadium next weekend.  For a trendy pick to win the division, the Royals are doing it wrong!!


Speaking of trendy picks to win the division, the Washington Nationals just got swept by the Atlanta Braves, the team they would have to overcome to win the NL East.  The Braves scored 23 runs during the series doubling their season long production at the plate.  Another Nats sweep of the Miami Marlins would likely keep them neck and neck with the Braves for 1st place but an abysmal showing in their 4 game set with the St. Louis Cardinals next weekend will help solidify their "pretender not contender" status.


Speaking of the Miami Marlins, anybody remember when they were 5-1?  After being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies, the Marlins now sit at 5-8.  I never thought they would keep pace with the Nationals and Braves but third place in the NL East is feasible.  The Marlins will have to win these games back from the Phillies when they visit Miami May 20-22.


I ran out of "speaking of" tie-ins.  The Milwaukee Brewers extended their winning streak to 9 games by sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Now the real fun begins as they host the St. Louis Cardinals then fly to Pittsburgh for a three game re-match.  The Cardinals were the gold standard last season beating the Brewers in the pennant race by 23 games.  Can a full year of Ryan Braun and tweaked starting rotation really close that gap?

Random Collection of Thoughts re April 12 in the MLB

Instant replay rules need limits! 

In today's Red Sox/Yankees game, karma itself is trying to tell the MLB to keep the reviews to homeruns, home plate calls and diving catches in the outfield.  The MLB has already released their statement saying the umpires should have overturned the call on the field when Dean Anna sliding into second had his foot leave the bag momentarily while the Red Sox shortstop held a tag on him.   How long before they start reviewing throws over to first base too?  All the other leagues have limits with their replays, the NFL doesn't review every pass interference call (those yards are just as important as an extra base in baseball), the NHL doesn't review every goal (they learned their lesson the hard way with this Stanley Cup winning goal which during the regular season would have been disallowed), etcetera etcetra.  As much as the MLB is trying its best to remove the human element from decisions being made in-game STOP IT! 


Being from Alberta, the highest level of baseball is the Western Major Baseball League.  Here's some love to two "graduates" off to a good start in 2014.  Cleveland Indians relief pitcher John Axford pitched a perfect inning today dropping his ERA to 1.69 in 6 appearances this season.  Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Jim Henderson kept his ERA at 0.00 today despite giving up two hits which doubled the amount of hits he had giving up in his previous 5 outings.

Two teams losing the pennant in April, the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds.

Being outscored 17-2 in two games against the Minnesota Twins is not changing my mind about the Detroit Tigers winning the AL Central but is making me wonder about the Royals earning the wildcard spot.  Meanwhile in Cincy, the Reds need to win on Sunday to avoid a sweep.  If they avoid the sweep, it will be the fourth consecutive series the Reds have lost 2-1.  Last I checked, a .333 winning percentage will not get you into the playoffs.


After Brock Lesnar'ing Paul Goldschmidt's on base streak with a simple mention in this blog, let's see if I can "Brock Lesnar" the Milwaukee Brewers 8 game winning streak going into Sunday's matinee with the Pirates. 

Random Collection of Thoughts re April 11 in MLB

First off, an apology to Mr. Paul Goldschmidt.  I tried to latch onto him for MLB Beat the Streak contest.  A logical choice because he was on a 31 game on base streak, and now it's over.  I'm sorry I was your Brock Lesnar to your streak.

By gawd, did the baseball lords not read the script going into Friday nights games? 

The Minnesota Twins annihilated the Kansas City Royals - - script says the Royals are suppose to challenge the Tigers for the Division Title.  Those Detroit Tigers got shut out by the San Diego Padres!  The Padres scored 6 runs which translates into 1/3 of the offense they had put up the entire season! 


The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings.  The Cards needed a job losing effort from now former Cubs closer Jose Veras just to send it into extra innings.  The script clearly reads that the Cards are the class of the NL Central while the Cubs are there to bring up the rear.


With a loss last night, the Cincinnati Reds fell into sole possession of last place in the NL Central while with a win, the Milwaukee Brewers sit alone atop of the NL Central.  Anybody who tells you they saw this coming likely has a pet unicorn and has people read the script to them!


The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies.  That's fine and dandy.  The win was based in large part to a grand slam BY THE PITCHER!! Some people say baseball is boring, but you can't make this stuff up folks!

Let's see if normalcy returns to the MLB on Saturday.

Random Collection of Thoughts re: April 9 in the MLB

Three "first's" happened today that not many people would not have expected to wait over a week to see (or in the last example, expected at all).  The Kansas City Royals hit their 1st homerun of the season and the Cincinnati Reds speed demon Billy Hamilton stole his first two bases of the season.  Toronto Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro stole his first base since 2009.


Many people likely expected Ervin Santana to have some rust in his pitching debut for the Atlanta Braves.  8 innings played, 0 runs allowed, 3 hits against, no walks allowed, 6 strikeouts.  It doesn't matter that it's against the 4th lowest scoring team in the NL because coming in, Atlanta themselves are the lowest scoring team.  That's the real surprise, Atlanta is barely averaging 2 runs per game heading into Santana's debut.


Baltimore Oriole starter Miguel Gonzalez is set to earn $529,000 this season.  New York Yankee starter Masahiro Tanaka just commenced a seven years, $155M contract.  Both have almost identical lines from their meeting against each other, biggest difference, Tanaka was plus 7 in the strikeout category!  The Orioles would win the game in the 9th with Tanaka out of the game and no option to put in Mariano Rivera or his "replacement" David Robertson for the Yankees.


Game of the night honors goes to the Miami Marlins/Washington Nationals!  Marlins surge out to a 5-0 lead after two innings.  After marching back to take a 6-5 lead in the 6th, the Nats leave the bases drunk which naturally means the Marlins tie it the first chance they get.  The tying run came via the first uncontested homerun (first two were reviewed) of the game in the top of the 7th.  Marlins would take the lead in the top of the 8th on an umpire reviewed home plate play.  At this rate of reviews before reacting to anything on the field, you may want a minute or so.


I have professed my affinity for fantasy baseball in previous articles and through that affinity, I have learned that the last adjective to describe relief pitcher Carlos Marmol is reliable.  Now pitching for the Marlins, the game of the night would effectively end when the Nats were able to load the bases against him in the bottom of the 8th and Jayson Werth would empty the bases with a (un-reviewed) grand slam.

Random Collection of Ideas re: April 7 in MLB

According to an article from ESPN's Buster Olney, a MLB executive is floating the idea of 7 inning games instead of 9.  Here's a link to the free part of the article.  While we are it, lets make hockey three 15 minute periods instead of 20 minutes and condense the NBA into three quarters instead of four quarters.  Dear Mr. MLB Exec, if you want to protect the athletes like your starting pitchers, vote to cut 62 games off of the schedule, that translates to approximately 12 less starts.  Oh wait, that would dip into your bottom line wouldn't it?  I'm sure if the games were reduced 22% to seven innings, ticket prices would be reduced 22%, right?  My idea to ban defensive shifts doesn't seem so absurd anymore does it?


Texas Ranger Prince Fielder went 0-4 tonight dropping his average to .143.  This batting average will double by season's end.  J.P. Arencibia went 0-3 tonight dropping his average .125.  This batting average will NOT double by season's end.


With today's loss to the Anaheim Angels, the Houston Astros drop under .500 by one game.  Official prediction, the Astros will not reach the .500 mark again this season.  Guess I'm cheering quite hard for the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night.


Speaking of the Angels, they fly to Seattle Tuesday to face James Paxton for the second time in a week.  In college baseball, the third time round the order is usually the most nerve wracking as the batters now have seen most of what the pitcher has to offer.  This is the first time in Paxton's 6 six start career that he is facing a team for the second time. Paxton shut the Angels out over seven inning facing everybody minus the bottom of the order three times.  Smells like boom or bust for the Halo's.


Kansas City Royal starting pitcher Jason Vargas has pitched 15 total innings in his two starts this season giving up only two runs.  Both runs coming against him were solo homeruns by second baseman (Detriot's Ian Kinsler and Tampa's Ben Zobrist).  Vargas' next scheduled start is against the Minnesota Twins, so if you play fantasy baseball, Brian Dozier is a must have on your roster this weekend.

Baseball Blog Entry for the Casual Baseball Fan

Headline from MLB.com "(Grady) Sizemore passing all tests, could win starting job".  Even if you are a Yankees fan, this news from Boston should put a smile on your face.  Two years removed from the game to possible opening day Red Sox center fielder, I wonder what size Cinderella slipper Mr. Sizemore wears?


Cris Carter, the Houston Astro and MLB league leader in strikeouts last season (212), has been given some sound advice by manager Bo Porter: " Swing at more pitches he can hit, and swing at fewer he can't." My official guess for 2013, based on 145 games, 190 strikeouts.


Staying with the theme of  making an "official guess" here come two more!  1) The Miami Marlins, who stroked out 19 hits in one game versus the Mets, will require three full regular season games versus the Rockies to get 19 hits.  2) The 2013 NL West last place Colorado Rockies will finish over .500 in 2014.


C.J. Wilson of the LA Angels: “I need to learn to be more efficient. Today was a good example of that. I didn’t walk anybody, so I was popping apple-cider ginger ale in the dugout for that one.” Yup, that's making the "Words to Live By" column!  Quote provided by Alden Gonzalez blog.


Having watched the Marlins/Red Sox situation go from disrespecting each other to having one of the hottest trade rumours around, I'm waiting to see the trade rumour that comes from the "Twitter Battle" going on between the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, and Cleveland Indians mascots.

Scuffs on the Baseball

 The "Sweet Tweet" column now includes a tweet from Rawlings Sports promoting their gloves but the attention grabber is the shirt worn by Washington Nationals Outfielder Bryce Fielder - - > "PED FREE"




The original tweet was retweeted by "Bleacher Report" where I would find another gem - - Blue Jays Closer Casey Janssen Pulls off Perfect Proposal After Going Skydiving  Bleacher Report writer Kyle Newport just gained a fan.




Speaking of gaining fans, Kansas City Royals Rookie Pitcher Kyle Zimmer has already been taught the words "old guys", won't win him any fans.  The video is more funny than the story but it won't let me send you directly to video.




Staying with the KC Royals, they along with the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres, are the only MLB teams to not have their "MLBlog"-ger on the front page of their website.  Just something I noticed as I went through the teams sites looking for some inside information from almost 3000 KM away.




The two most interesting finds from the "MLBlog"-ers came from Seattle's "Mariners Musings by Greg Johns."  The question to new M's skip was regarding Dustin Ackley playing centerfield. 

"“I doubt it. He’ll probably be in left field the majority of time.”

Why is he best suited for left field?

“Because that’s where I want him,” said McClendon."



Len being Len about Baseball

This morning Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista tweets "...fans are the most important part of baseball..." which got me to thinking - - aside from the typical "fan clubs" and "promotion nights" (which fans have been lucky enough to become almost become bored of) what are some of the niftier things baseball clubs are doing to reach out to their fans. 




The following is my top four finds:




1) Milwaukee Brewers Create a Commercial Contest
Contest closes on February 28th and is exactly what it sounds like, you get to make a freakin commercial to be aired during their games.




2) Baltimore Orioles - Orioles Magic Moments
A monthly contest where you send in videos of some of the "magic moments" of Oriole History.  This month it's Cal Ripken Jr setting the "iron man streak".




3) Detroit Tigers - Kids Opening Day Contest
"How do you and your child pledge to live a healthy lifestyle this summer?"  Parents write an essay on behalf of their kids and 21 winners will have the chance to a part of the production of the game. Example, Announce the Starting Line-Ups on the Comerica Park Public Address (two children)




4) Kansas City Royals/Texas Rangers/Los Angeles Dodgers
All three baseball clubs run "Rewards Play and Win" program where by registering to play, the fan collects points by visiting specified sections of their respective teams website and social media.



Blog Update:




a) I have added a "Sweet Tweets" side column to keep together some of the better finds throughout the season.  Today I added a tweet from the Medicine Hat Mavericks, a team in the WMBL




b) I have also added a "Words to Live By" side column to keep together some of the better quotes throughout the season.  Today I added a quote from Toronto Blue Jay GM Alex Anthopoulos