- 03:48 PM
- 05/19/12
| Location: | Canada |
|---|---|
| Member since: | February 21, 2002 |
| Last visit: | May 19, 2012 |
grum@work has posted 132 links and 5879 comments to SportsFilter and 15 links and 914 comments to the Locker Room and 1 column.
First of all, a trivia question. What are the 11 different ways for a baseball player to reach 1st base safely? Answer at bottom of page. I'm the saddest fan of them all: Toronto Maple Leafs Buffalo Bills (but not so much since the Holy Trinity retired...Kelly, Thomas, Reed) It could be worse...I could be a Boston or Chicago baseball fan. The most memorable sporting event was a hockey game back in the late 80's (not sure exactly when). A friend of the family got me really nice Leaf tickets during the Xmas holidays. They were playing the Bruins, so I took my friend Joe who was a big Boston fan. After two periods, the Leafs were getting killed, 5-1. My friend was really laying on the taunting thick, and I was contemplating how I could kill him on the way home. Then, to start the 3rd period, Wendel Clark scored a quick goal. Hey, at least they'll make it respectable, is what I figured. And then another goal is scored. And another. Well, lo and behold, the Leafs tie it up and send the game into overtime (the last goal was scored with an extra attacker, by Wendel again). Then, with about a minute left in the overtime, Wendel Clark blows one past the goalie and the place EXPLODES with noise. I must have gone hoarse from the shouting. The stunned/saddened look on Joe's face the entire ride home was like icing on the cake. ... Trivia Answer: 1. Hit 2. Base on balls 3. Hit by pitch 4. Catcher interference 5. Dropped third strike 6. Error 7. Fielder's choice 8. Hitting a baserunner with the batted ball 9. A ball, pitched to the batter or thrown by the pitcher from his position on the pitcher's plate to a base to catch a runner, goes into a stand, or player's bench, or over or through a field fence or backstop, or is touched by a spectator. (Obscure rule 7.05(h)) 10. The third strike becomes lodged in the umpires equipment (not touched by the catcher). (Obscure rule 7.05(i)) 11. Pinch Runner
Jose Molina makes batters very angry.:
A quick article and a collection of (small) animated gifs that show how lots of batter complaints from umps seem to be when Molina is behind the plate. His "framing pitches" is a continuous display of artistry.
posted by grum@work to baseball at 01:31 PM on May 17 - 12 comments
Major League Baseball - Last Man Standing: A link to a quick project I worked on tonight to find the last man standing for each team (or league).
posted by grum@work to at 01:59 AM on May 16 - 5 comments
MLB prediction thread!:
Everybody embarrass themselves and make some wild guesses!
posted by grum@work to fantasy at 02:58 PM on April 03 - 15 comments
923 days and 27 official Tour events later, it finally happened again.:
posted by grum@work to golf at 01:36 AM on March 26 - 3 comments
Joba Chamberlain suffers life-threatening ankle injury on a trampoline.:
What. The. F***.?!
posted by grum@work to baseball at 04:19 PM on March 23 - 66 comments
Of course not, but football seems to be under the gun so to speak much more lately than other dangerous activities. Not just football in general but NFL football in particular. Why?
Because football (not just football in general, but NFL football in particular) is the biggest sport in America right now.
Popular sports get more attention because people want to talk/hear about popular sports.
posted by grum@work at 03:04 PM on May 18
I think the most offensive thing in the article is:
Curt Schilling could once throw a baseball very fast and very well. I believe he is a no-question first ballot Hall of Famer.
No-question first ballot?
posted by grum@work at 11:13 PM on May 17
I think Molina's trick is that he moves the glove BEFORE catching the ball.
So if the ball is outside, his glove is a bit MORE outside when it's coming in, and he sweeps the glove towards the plate. The moment the ball goes "thump" in his glove, he stops moving his hand a fraction of a second later.
I think that confuses the umpire into believing the ball curved/tailed across the plate at the last moment (because Molina had to move his hand IN, not OUT), thus catching the back corner/edge of the strike zone.
Other catchers seem to catch the ball outside (as Howard_T says) and THEN start moving the glove toward the plate.
The report that the article references (about good/bad catchers for framing pitches) was pretty big news last year, and it looks like Tampa Bay took it to heart by signing the aging Molina. They decided to take into account his pitch framing/defense, over his (potentially) declining hitting.
I say that because the day before they signed Molina, they dealt away their younger/cheaper catcher John Jaso (who has an exceptional batting eye and draws many walks).
If someone can objectively measure catcher pitch framing, this might become a huge step in accurately determining catcher defensive value outside of passed-balls/stolen bases. Suddenly, "Catcher ERA" might have some real value...
posted by grum@work at 03:49 PM on May 17
Football is different because of the physical toll it exacts on the players. But set aside the sport itself, and the challenges faced by an ex-football great are the same as those faced by an ex-soccer great or an ex-baseball great. And hard work and dedication would not make the 6-foot-3 me fast and athletic enough for the NFL, college or most high schools.
The biggest difference between football and baseball is the scheduling.
For football, you work/prepare every week for one game. There are only 16 games (usually) in the season.
For baseball, you work/prepare for a game almost every day. There are 162 games (usually) in the season.
The football player might get used to a regulated lifestyle with culmination at the end of the week. The lack of this "payoff" day might make things difficult to handle when the career is done. What's the point of the week if there isn't anything to do at the end of it?
The baseball player might get used to the daily grind of always playing/traveling for 6 straight months. When transitioning to the retired life, they may simply replace one grind (baseball) with another (golf). That might make life easier to move on for baseball players.
posted by grum@work at 02:00 PM on May 17
Re: Harmon, She-Hulk, "sidebar"
That's just awesome. All of it.
posted by grum@work at 10:43 AM on May 17
With such luminary hitters on his resume like Jeff Mathis, Dallas McPherson, and Brandon Wood, I'm surprised that Hatcher hung on as long as he did.
posted by grum@work at 02:21 PM on May 16
Pujols was 3 for 4 last night with 2 RBI. All 3 hits were ground balls that never left the infield, but you gotta start somewhere.
Pujols' numbers BEFORE he hit his first/only home run this season:
.194/.237/.269
Pujols' numbers AFTER he his his first/only home run this season:
.265/.285/.265
He's getting better!
posted by grum@work at 01:21 PM on May 16
I might have been a bit more competitive if I hadn't forgotten both my login id and password after about week 10.
Still, as someone who had no clue about the quality of players/teams, I'm happy to finish "mid-table".
(That's the right phrase, isn't it?)
posted by grum@work at 01:18 PM on May 16
Catcher Deacon McGuire carried the legacy of the Detroit Wolverines for another 24 years, though his final six were a bit cheap.
Take a look at Nick Altrock (last of the Louisville Colonels, but didn't play in their final season), specifically his batting lines. He (technically) played in 5 different decades.
posted by grum@work at 10:57 AM on May 16
So what happened in the 1970s which stopped the regular relocation of teams?
Expansion became a more popular option than relocation.
MLB headed off some relocations (the Giants had threatened to move to Toronto in 1976) by giving those new places an expansion franchise (Blue Jays).
Throw in a couple more expansion years (Colorado, Tampa Bay, Arizona, Florida), and you've pretty much choked off any movement for a while (until Montreal to Washington).
posted by grum@work at 10:52 AM on May 16
How could the last living member of a league not be the last living member of a franchise?
The individually listed teams are only ones that actually existed in the National League or American League.
Some teams (like the New York Mutuals) survived the collapse of their league (National Association) by jumping to the National League (but only hanging on for one more year).
Some teams (like the Keokuk Westerns) didn't survive the collapse of the league. However, a player on that team might have kept playing for years and be one of the last surviving members of the defunct league.
posted by grum@work at 10:49 AM on May 16
This is what happens when I get too much free time on my hands.
posted by grum@work at 02:00 AM on May 16
Well, maybe Pujols can drag his slugging up to Hamilton's level in that time.
*crunches numbers*
Huh. He'd need 355 total bases in 273 at-bats, or 1.3 bases per at-bat. That's more than a home run and a single in 4 at-bats every game for 69 games in a row.
That ain't happening.
posted by grum@work at 03:05 PM on May 14
I just got back from being out of town, so I haven't even had a chance to see the results from tonight's game.
If you'll take my late picks...
Kings in 7
Rangers in 7
posted by grum@work at 12:32 AM on May 14
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
Best. Bobblehead. Ever.