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Netzer

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If only statcast had the technology to measure the launch angle and exit velocity of yankee balls that have been hit off of your chin.

Goo Punch
Goo Punch
Hank Chinaski
Hank Chinaski

Good fucking riddance. 

txhorns

txhorns 2413

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

Just once I'd like to see the outfielder in that situation throw to first, behind the runner, to try and get the batter out if he's not paying attention rounding first.

Why?  It wouldn't matter if he is rounding first.

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txhorns

txhorns 2413

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, gsoda3 said:
6 hours ago, txhorns said:
Why?  It wouldn't matter if he is rounding first.

If the first baseman tags him out after he's rounded first before the runner going home touches home the run doesn't count.

Yes I know but thats not going to happen unless the runner going home is a complete dumbass.

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52568

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, txhorns said:

Yes I know but thats not going to happen unless the runner going home is a complete dumbass.

Not that this refuted your point, but not long ago the rangers almost lost a late inning tying run because a guy was trotting home while the batter got caught trying to get to 2nd. 

Sometimes players make incorrect assumptions. 

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TheFlagship

TheFlagship 436

Posted
Posted

Series to watch this week:

PIT @ COL (3 games)

PHI @ ARI (3 games)

HOU @ SF (2 games)

ATL @ WAS (4 games) - big series for Nats to close ground. Currently 4.5 behind ATL and 6 behind PHI

LAD @ OAK (2 games)

PIT @ SF (4 games) - potential elimination series?

SEA @ HOU (3 games)

MIL @ ATL (3 games)

LAD @ COL (3 games)

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texifornia

texifornia 57075

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, spystud13 said:

Fiers to Oak. 

Good deadline and post-deadline for us. After 2014 the fans are understandably extremely scared of playoff run rentals, but we didn't give up anything major for three guys (Familia, Kelley, Fiers) that should really help us down the stretch.

Also, finally bought my first real on-field jersey - couldn't pass up the awesome Kelly green 50th anniversary alternate, and Matt Chapman seems likely to stick around for a long while.

Edited by texifornia
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Trey3216

Trey3216 15352

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, texifornia said:

Good deadline and post-deadline for us. After 2014 the fans are understandably extremely scared of playoff run rentals, but we didn't give up anything major for three guys (Familia, Kelley, Fiers) that should really help us down the stretch.

Also, finally bought my first real on-field jersey - couldn't pass up the awesome Kelly green 50th anniversary alternate, and Matt Chapman seems likely to stick around for a long while.

He’ll be traded first day of Winter meetings 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54380

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

The record for the most games back is 52 by the ‘98 Marlins. Will the O’s break that this year?

The '62 Mets finished 60.5 out.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1962.shtml

And no one is going to top the Cleveland Spiders:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1899.shtml

 

 

 

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

I think it's time to acknowledge that Dereck Rodriguez is pretty good.

Meh.  He was good but not great in Sacramento earlier this season and he seems to be getting by in SF with an unsustainable HR/FB rate.  Still, he could be a solid BOR starter.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54380

Posted
Posted

Stark:

Quote

July is for trade rumors. August is for history.

For years now, that’s been our motto. We recommend it highly.

You can only overdose on J.A. Happ trade rumors for so long, you know. Then it’s time to take a nap, clear your head and remember something way more important:

There’s a season going on out there. For a few special players in our midst, history is hanging in the balance, and you probably never even noticed.

So join with us now as we hone in on those players through this special August presentation of our History Watch – and give you something to occupy your attention now that you no longer have to devote every waking second to checking Ken Rosenthal’s Twitter feed.

CAN’T CATCH THE TROUT

Apparently, Mike Trout is pretty good at baseball. What the heck, you’ve probably caught on, but it never gets old to remind you of that. Because he’s pretty good at baseball, it’s impossible to do one of these August History Watch columns unless you start with him.

The tough part is that just about everything Trout does in Anaheim at this point is historic, potentially historic or possibly even ridiculously historic. So there are roughly 87 ways to look at what could make this year especially ridiculously historic for him – assuming he can will his sore wrist to heal up ASAP. But how about this:

He’s on a path to lead his league in Wins Above Replacement (baseball-reference version) for the fifth time.

Now perhaps you’re curious about what other position players have led their league in Wins Above Replacement five times.  Not shockingly, it’s a cool list:

Babe Ruth 10
Willie Mays 9
Ted Williams 6
Rogers Hornsby 6
Barry Bonds 6
Mickey Mantle 5
Albert Pujols 5
Alex Rodriguez 5

OK, definitely heard of them. But now here’s the ridiculously historic part. Today is Trout’s 27th birthday. But since it’s August, this is still considered his age-26 season. So how many position players in history have led their league in WAR five times by this age?

None, of course.

Who does that? Only this guy does that. In fact, just four position players have ever even led their league in WAR three times by their age-26 season:

Mantle 4
Mays 3
Hornsby 3
Stan Musial 3

Definitely heard of them, too. So Mike, keep icing that wrist. Us Mike Trout historians need something to do this fall!

NO WAY, JOSÉ

All that Trout-ian history aside, the American League MVP race gets more fascinating by the day. And that brings us to José Ramírez – yet another dude with a chance to do something that would seem impossible for most humans we know:

He could lead the American League in homers…but also extra-base hits…and also stolen bases…all in the same season.

Wait. Seriously? Yep. In real life. Ramírez currently leads the AL outright in extra-base hits (with 65). And he’s tied for the lead in homers (with J.D. Martinez, at 33) and steals (with Dee Gordon, at 26). Want to know how rare this would be? Of course you do.

— Guys who led their league in extra-base hits and steals in the same season (live-ball era): Just Alfonso Soriano in 2002, Stuffy Stirnweiss in 1945 and Chuck Klein in 1932.

— Guys who did that in the dead-ball era: Honus Wagner (four times) and Ty Cobb (twice).

— And, finally, guys who led in homers and steals in the same season (any era): Klein in 1932, Cobb in 1909 and Joltin’ Jimmy Sheckard in 1903.

But now comes the important stuff. When you ask who has led in all three of those exotic departments in the same year, only one of those names is still standing. That would be Klein in ’32. That was 86 years ago, if you’re not subtracting along with us at home.

Ah, but Chuck Klein did it in Philadelphia, for the Baker Bowl Phillies. And José Ramírez works in Cleveland. So…

Who has pulled this off in the history of American League, you ask? Nobody has done that, we reply!

That’s nobody. As in ever. Sure, it helps Ramírez’s stolen-base quest that he isn’t going to have to swipe 50, let alone 100, to lead the league in steals. But Klein (20 SB in 1932) wasn’t exactly Rickey Henderson, either. So the heck with the old-fashioned triple crown. This is the triple crown we should all be watching over the next eight weeks.

A JOB FOR A CARPENTER

It’s always been a stupendous idea to have the home-run champ and a great leadoff hitter on the same team. Just usually, they’re not the same person.

But then Matt Carpenter came along.

The Cardinals’ sweet-swinging No. 1 man surged into a tie with Nolan Arenado for the NL lead in homers over the weekend with 29. And that got us to wondering:

Has any leadoff man in modern history ever won a home-run title?

Guess what? That answer, shockingly, is: Nope!

Rickey Henderson never did it. Alfonso Soriano never did it. Charlie Blackmon never did it. Pete Rose and Ichiro never did it. In fact, almost no one has even come close.

The most games started in the leadoff hole by any home run champ since 1900? That would be a whopping 22 games, by Dwight Evans in 1981, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And Carpenter is going to lead off in well over 100 games if he stays healthy (and at the top of the order).

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for close calls, that won’t take long, either. Once you get past the dead-ball era almost a century ago, exactly one player has even finished second in his league in home runs while leading off in at least half his team’s games. That would be Brady Anderson in 1996, the year he stunned America (and himself) by hitting 50.

But Mark McGwire whomped 52 homers that year. And now we’re especially glad he did, because it means that, unbeknownst to most of civilization, Carpenter has put himself in perfect position to do something no one has ever done. And he’s primed to pull this off.

He leads the National League in homers since May 1, since June 1 and since July 1. So what about this feels fluky?

The correct answer is: None of this. So eat your heart out, Rickey!

JOEY VOTTO, ON-BASE MACHINE

In Cincinnati, some things never change. They still believe Pete Rose was wronged by Bart Giamatti. The Bengals are still trying to figure out how to defend Joe Montana. And Joey Votto just reached base. Again.

We can’t say for sure if Votto was born on base. But let’s just say he doesn’t need a GPS to find his way on base. It’s all he does. Every stinking year.

He’s on pace to reach base 297 times this year. After 324 last year. And 294 the year before that. And 314 the year before that. And, well, you get the idea

If he gets to 300 again this season, it would be the fourth time he’s done that. And did you know that just 11 other men in history can say they’ve gotten on base via hit, walk or HBP 300+ times in four different seasons?

It’s true. You can look it up. Except we already did. Eight of them are Hall of Famers (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Wade Boggs, Stan Musial, Jimmie Foxx, Jeff Bagwell and Rogers Hornsby). Todd Helton hasn’t reached the ballot yet. And the other two are Rose and Barry Bonds, who got detoured on their own road to Cooperstown by stuff we don’t need to get into this week.

But for Joey Votto, this is an every-year phenomenon. If he can stay out of the way of fastballs boring in on his knees and keep reaching base at his current clip, that would make 1,230 times on base over the last four seasons. And the list of hitters who have gotten on base that many times or more over any four-year period is a great one:

PLAYER YEARS TIMES ON BASE
Barry Bonds 2001-04 1365
Ted Williams 1946-49 1354
Lou Gehrig 1934-37 1307
Wade Boggs 1985-88 1301
Babe Ruth 1921-24 1291
Jeff Bagwell 1996-99 1240
Todd Helton 2000-03 1231

(Source: Lee Sinins’ Complete Baseball Encyclopedia)

It feels sometimes as if we take Joey Votto for granted. It’s about time we stopped that. So here at August History Watch World Headquarters, we’re just doing our part.

NOLAN KEEPS ROLLIN’

If Nolan Arenado wins another home run title and another Gold Glove, he’s going to join three luminaries named Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt and Ken Griffey Jr. in the 3+-HR Title/6+-Gold Glove Club. And that’s a beautiful little piece of trivia unto itself.

But that’s not what loyal tweeter Nick Gaetano (@YeahClickClack) wants us to write about this week. He must be one of those old-school tweeters because he wants us to mention that the Rockies’ spectacular third baseman has a shot at driving in 130 runs.

And why is that notable? No, not because somebody is still excited about RBIs, but because if that happens, it would be the fourth consecutive year in which Arenado knocks in 130 or more. So no matter what you think RBIs tell us about him, baseball, life in Colorado or the fate of humankind, that’s still an amazing feat, because he’d join this group:

Ruth 7 (1926-32)
Gehrig 5 (1930-34)
Griffey 4 (1996-99)
Sammy Sosa 4 (1998-2001)
Ryan Howard 4 (2006-09)

That’s all the men in history who have ever done this. And you can dump on RBIs all you want, but A) somebody has to drive in these runs, and B) Arenado owns a .336 career average with runners in scoring position, a figure topped by just Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew over the last 45 seasons, according to Stats LLC.

But now the more realistic news: Arenado would need to drive in 49 runs in the Rockies’ last 50 games to get to 130. And that’s a lot to ask. But let’s say he even gets to 120. Ready for a list of all the men in history with 120+ RBIs and Gold Gloves in four straight seasons?

Ken Griffey Jr.
[You’ve reached the end of this list]

So for all you retro RBI fans out there, this tidbit is for you. But for the rest of the planet, we offer this bit of worldly philosophizing:

Even if we know now that RBIs don’t mean what they used to in this sport, you’d be wrong to conclude they’re meaningless. And that’s especially true when the man driving in the runs is Nolan Arenado, a fellow who continually does his part to keep us August History Watchers in business. What could possibly be more meaningful than that?

 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted (edited)

Mendoza gets talked about constantly because she's a chick. she's fine. she's better than most of the men out there in the booth, but because she's a chick it's like nobody knows how to feel about her. if she gave the exact same performance as a man she'd never be talked about.

Edited by Goo Punch
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