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Throwing it around

April 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Happy Friday! Celebrate how you may, but we’ll celebrate with a dive-bar that has some baseball on where we hopefully see the Reds win streak extended into the weekend. Until the games get underway in a few hours for yet another weekend of baseball in the life of us all; here’s some links you may have missed:

-A.J. Burnett threw a gem last night. [Fack Youk]
-Looking at the star-studded 1B class of 2011. [Jayson Stark - ESPN]
-Cliff Lee returning to the Mariners highlights what to watch this weekend. [USA Today Daily Pitch]
-Calcaterra wonders: Are there just some players who can’t hack it in NY? [Hardball Talk]
-Choo has a big future in Cleveland. [USA Today]
-A guy who was live at the park to see Aroldis Chapman pitch. [MLB Fanhouse]
-Home video of a Reds/Cardinals game at Busch Stadium from 1970. Cool for sure. [OMGReds]
-Thanks to Derek Jeter last night, my streak is now active at 4 games. Read up on all things streak. [Beat the Streak]
-Pete Rose on the Howard Stern Show. Lord help us all. [Whack Reds]

Filed Under: Throwing it around
April 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment
What he Left Behind Just an awesome post for anyone who has been a baseball fan, collected memoribilia (especially baseball cards), and can relate to this storytelling. Just the other day my mother wanted to give away my 1990 Topps Reds set of the World Series team at a silent auction as a throw-in to some club seats. I said emphatically ‘hell no’ and when she balked at my response and asked why I wanted to hang onto those, I didn’t have a reason. I guess for the same reason I want to hang onto my Larry Andersen autographed baseball, mom. [Faith and Fear in Flushing]
Filed Under: Memoribilia, short hops

Reds slay the Dragon that is Roy Oswalt

April 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Roy Oswalt is now 23-2 lifetime against the Reds
The Reds hadn’t beaten Roy Oswalt since 2006 when Brandon Claussen was the opposing pitcher. Last night in the first few innings they looked like they were trying to slay a dragon. Guys weren’t getting good hacks and we stranded six runners through three innings. But the Reds did what confident, veteran, successful ball clubs do. They waited Oswalt out and battled until he had to come out of the game. They built a 3-0 lead on the strength of a Joey Votto home run; which by the way, was the display of perfect hitting on an outside fastball after getting pounded inside all night. Votto hit one into the top of the Crawford boxes for home run #4 on the season.
Owners of a winning streak
At the beginning of the week we tweeted that you were going to see the Reds play some good baseball. Not only is the new lineup better, but the Reds were due to face a string of right handed starters that favored them in matchups. Guys with good fastballs and not a lot of breaking stuff. There was a method to our madness in predicting some Reds success. Since Dusty Baker held the closed door meeting and that horrible 5-0 loss last Saturday, the Reds have won four straight. It’s just enough to get everyone excited and bring us back to .500 and 2nd place in the division. Last time we had a mini-run and headed to St. Louis for a clash for the division, things didn’t go well (last year). We’ll see how the Reds fare this weekend, we’ll learn a lot about them.
Jay Bruce
Bruce hit his 4th home run of the season against Tim Byrdak in the 7th inning. He also added a double to the gap off Oswalt. He needs to keep it going, but as Dusty Baker said about him, if he can make a move before he has 150 and 200 at-bats on the year, you set yourself up for a nice season. It might appear that Jay is making his move. He’s now had multi-hit games in 3 of his last 4. Just keep it going, Jay. He’s really a huge factor in this lineup when he’s swinging like he has been.
Bunny Arroyo
Bunny got his first win of the season last night, and he pitched well. He worked quickly and despite getting into a little trouble in the bottom of the 7th, he gave the Reds exactly what they needed; a guy who could take the ball and match Roy Oswalt pitch for pitch long enough to give us a chance. A huge start by Arroyo. Makes you realize when this guy is on, we have a formidable rotation.

Heading to St. Louis

The Reds have three games in St. Louis with the division leaders starting today with Brad Penny opposing Johnny Cueto. I was thinking on my drive into work; how nice is it in theory to send a guy out to the mound every night that gives us a chance to win? In past years we’d have 2 or maybe 3 guys you felt like that at most. Right now, we’ve got guys who should keep us in the ballgame each and every night and we could win if the offense does their job. The Reds face three right-handers this weekend in Penny, Kyle Lohse and Chris Carpenter on Sunday. You have to hope for 2 out of 3. And until it’s over, you have to hope to keep this win streak going as long as possible. It seems like it’s been so long since the Reds have had a week in which they didn’t lose a game. Win tonight, and you have a winning month of April.

Filed Under: Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds, F--k the Astros, Houston Astros, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Oswalt, sweeps, winning streaks

Throwing it around

April 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Thursday is a good night to go out have a few adult pops because with Friday being the last day of the work week, you can get through one day of absolutely anything. No matter how hung over you are, no matter how tired you are; 8-10 hours you can go home and pass out. Plus there’s always a fair amount of good baseball on heading into a weekend slate with every team in action. Here’s some links to keep you interested for the day.

-The Rays have set a record for their best April after a great night from James Shields [Rays Index]
-Talking trade values of prospects within the Braves system. [Capital Avenue Club]
-Miguel Olivo passed a kidney stone then went out and caught the 9th. [Big League Stew]
-All-Star Game rosters have been expanded. Read about the changes. [ESPN SweetSpot]
-Lots of good Reds hodgepodge, but the only time we beat Roy Oswalt was four years ago. [Lance McAlister]
-Why did Ned Colletti verbally go after Matt Kemp? [The Hardball Times]
-Most hated teams in MLB? The results are surprising to a degree. [ESPN]
-Hard luck thus far for Zack Greinke. [Joe Posnanski]
-Remember our old buddy Zack Hample, aka the baseball guy? Here’s an update. [The Baseball Collector]

Filed Under: Throwing it around

Reds top Astros 6-4

April 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Mike Leake goes to 2-0
Mike Leake has another quality start, and Reds starting pitchers have back to back victories for the first time since last September 28th and 29th. Leake worked seven innings allowing only one earned on five hits, while striking out five and walking two. His ERA goes down to 3.25, and last night you see a little bit about why he was compared to Greg Maddux in some of the pitches that he throws. A lot of tailing action on some 89-90 MPH fastballs on the outer half to RH hitters. The guy looks good, and at this point you don’t want to miss a Mike Leake start. People are going to start going ga-ga for this kid if he can continue this run of success. He throws a lot of strikes and works quickly. That’s what we like about him.
Three in a row
While some might feel like we’re beating up on a B-squad, this Houston team was 7-1 in their previous 8 games until we came to town. A win is a win. It’s officially a winning streak now and we need it to last as long as possible. So do whatever superstition you’ve done during this winning streak to make it possible. Don’t let down your guard because tonight we face Roy Oswalt, who is lifetime 23-1 against the Reds with a 2.58 ERA in 30 games started. He’s also amassed 165 strikeouts in 206 innings of work. That’s dominance.
Stubbs’ nubs
Drew Stubbs might be coming out of his slump. He added two hits from the leadoff spot and scored two runs while also making good contact in at least one other plate appearance. He also stole his 5th bag of the year.
Dentist Pence’s error
Hunter Pence butchered a root canal out in right field that allowed the Reds to empty the bases and build a 6-0 lead. This was a Brandon Phillips fly ball that Bourne lost track of, and it should have ended the inning. Scott Rolen and Joey Votto added run scoring extra-base hits for the only other Reds runs driven in.
Quick ballgame
This game was played in full in 2 hours, 32 minutes. If not for a shaky 9th inning that saw it necessary for Francisco Cordero to enter the game and lock down another win (non-save), it would have been just slightly over two hours. There wasn’t a lot of action in this game from innings one to nine.
Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Drew Stubbs, F--k the Astros, Houston Astros, Hunter Pence, Joey Votto, Mike Leake, Scott Rolen, winning streaks

Sammy Gervacio shitshow pitching theatre

April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

So in case you missed this guy last night in during his 8th inning mop-up duty, no worries. Diamond Hoggers never misses anything. And we’ve got him captured here forever for your enjoyment.

We were watching the game with our buddy Gump, who raised an interesting question: what the fuck is this guy doing? This kind of shit will have you on a bus back to the minor leagues pretty quickly if you’re not good. Gervacio didn’t hit a spot all night. He was generally all over the strike zone and balked in a runner.

He reminds us a little bit of Carlos Perez with his animations on the mound, only full-retard.

Filed Under: bullpen pitching, Clusterfucks, Diamond Hoggers Video Select, Houston Astros, what in the fuck

Some Phillips Food for Thought

April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Here’s a couple comments about Brandon Phillips I’ve read today that got me thinking about our slumping second baseman:
Last night was a microcosm of Brandon Phillips. He works a walk and then proceeded to get picked off first base because he is lazily walking away from the bag. But he can go out and play top notch defense.
My patience is wearing thin with BP. He used to be a great base runner. His first season with the Reds he was caught stealing 2 times all year long. This season he has 1-4 and picked off at least twice. He is being thrown out by a mile when he steals. He is hacktastic at the plate and swings for the fences too much. It has been pretty clearly stated that he is best when he hits the ball to the RC gap. Problem is he pulls off the ball too much trying to hit it 500 feet.
If I am Dusty Phillips is sitting for tonight’s game and maybe Thursday’s. Mental lapses at the rate Phillips is having them is unacceptable. If I am Walt I am looking for a trading partner right away. I have a bad feeling that Phillips is going to become an expensive headache over the next few years.

And the second comment:
IIRC, Brandon’s contract calls for $11 million in 2011 and a $12 million option for 2012 (club).
He’s a fixture. You do nothing. You live with him and try to work out the kinks. If someone calls about him, you listen. And in 2012 say hello to Mr. Frazier.
My general feeling on Phillips is while I’m not real keen on seeing his pinyata swings day in and day out in the two hole; we’ve seen him go through some similar struggles before. Phillips disappears for a few weeks, only to re-emerge and start carrying the lineup for a few weeks. At the end of the year you’ve got a guy who basically ends up where he always ends up.
He’s not going to reach the superstar numbers of a few years back, and he’s not really the threat on the basepaths he once was.
His golden years are possibly gone. The fact that we won’t get in return the value that Phillips brings to the table means we’re just in a holding pattern with Brandon Phillips for the forseeable future and need to hope that the move to the 2-hole in the lineup kick-starts his bat at the plate.
He is a great defender. It comes easy to him. But if he could start contributing it would really change the shape of this entire offense. He’s frustrating Reds fans because they saw a glimpse of a superstar and now it’s faded. But if he can do .270, 20, and 80 once again; you can’t really complain about that from a gold-glove second baseman. That won’t get you beat.
I like Brandon Phillips. I always have. He is a fixture and a main component on a lesser-known ballclub. I feel in general, he’s one of the last carry overs from the Griffey/Dunn regime and they’re doing what they like to do. They’re eating their young. They’re pointing the finger at the last man standing. Is he the perfect ballplayer? No, and he never will be. But is he good enough to be part of the solution until Todd Frazier is truly ready should that day ever come? I think he is.
Plus any day now he’s going to hit two out and steal two bags and Reds fans won’t want to admit they want him dealt out of town. Not if they have any sense anyways.
Filed Under: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds

Reds beat Stros 6-2 on strength of Hanigan & HARANG?

April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
[Box Score]
Aaron Harang
Alright so I admit, I had the obligitory ‘Aaron Harang is fucking done’ post in the draft kitty fired up and ready to go. This was especially after he gave up another run in the first inning (whether it was scored earned or not). But as I noticed the night wore on, Harang had a little bit of giddy-up in his fastball. He was humping 92-93 MPH and he finished strong. Look, I’m not a believer that we need this guy to win like Dusty Baker said. He’s won 2 games now in his last 24 starts. They’re going to trot him out there as long as possible because they’re paying him a boatload of money. Any night that he doesn’t get hit lit like a menorah is a bonus to us all. Last night, he showed he’s got a little bit left on nights in which he can face shit lineups like Houston. He’s not the Aaron Harang of old and he is never going back to that form. That form was buried forever, Opening Day 2008. But sure, on a given night he can beat the lowly Astros.
Ryan Hanigan
How about this guy? He got two more hits and drove in three more runs to bring some totals to .483 and 10 RBI on the season. He plays less then roughly half of the time. He also is gunning out runners and really handling the pitching staff well. Anyone out there who has time to do some statwork for us: what is the ERA for pitchers when Hanigan is in the game and the ERA for pitchers when Ramon Hernandez is in the game?

We think Hanigan should be starting. He’s quickly growing into one of our favorite Reds players. Tough, quietly does his job, hits in the clutch. A singles machine. He’ll work the count to 3-2 and when it gets full the pitcher doesn’t want to walk the 8-hole guy, so they give Hanigan a fastball to do stuff with. He calmly singles a line drive into the outifield almost every time. Love how he moves the ball and turns the lineup over day after day.
Jay Bruce
Bruce is starting to have some success. The only difference is his line drives (now at 21.2% LD rate) are finding grass. That’s the only difference with all you bitching fans who were begging to send the kid down back a few weeks ago. If it weren’t for his 1 for 19 bull shit, bad luck start; he’d have All-Star numbers on the year and we’d be hearing from all you know-it-all Monday Morning QB sofa fans about how he’s the next superstar. Too many of you guys fly by the seat of your pants on guys, especially in Cincinnati. Look, Bruce is somewhere in between Larry Walker and a guy who should be sent down. He’s a really solid young player who’s finding his way. He’s the least of our worries. Pencil him in the lineup every single day, LH or RH and in the 5th spot and see what happens. He’s a ballplayer. In every sense of the word.
And how about another Gold Glove play out in right field last night? He is the best Right Fielder in the National League already, it’s a matter of time until the baseball writers of America start to rally on that point.
Two more hits, four more great at-bats, and two more runs. Keep it going Jay.
The batting order
It went Stubbs, Phillips, Votto, Rolen, Bruce, Cabrera, Gomes, Hanigan, Pitcher.
Now, that’s an improvement. It didn’t take a fucking genius to know that putting Votto and Rolen back to back in the lineup would product more runs. But why Stubbs and Phillips 1-2? Doesn’t make sense. Why is Gomes in there against a RH at .210ish with Dickerson on the bench? Why is Laynce Nix coming in late in the game to play LF defense and not C-Dick? Why isn’t Bruce hitting 2nd where he’d see more fastballs?
Why do we ask? It’s Dusty. He’ll never, ever change. He’ll always make head scratching moves.
About to go on a run
Look. I know this isn’t a world-beating team. But they’re going to have to have some spells where they play well this season. This is going to be one of them. They’ve won two in a row. They face righties the next two days. Granted, Roy Oswalt goes on Thursday so it’s less than likely that we win that game. But we also go into St. Louis where we face a few more righties; none of which are Carpenter or Wainwright I don’t believe (unless Carpenter goes on Sunday).
I think the Reds win 4 of the next 5 ballgames, making an overall run of 6 of 7. I think they come home and win two of three from the Mets. I think they go 8-2 over the next ten with a shot at 7-3 and suddenly everyone gets quiet again and from there what Dusty Baker does determines his extension he wants and determines what really happens in this season.
Any time the Reds are facing a RH pitcher, and I’m not talking an upper-tier right handed guy like a Carpenter or a Wainwright; but a RH who only brings average stuff to the park or just a hard fastball to the park; they usually get to that guy. Like this Paulino guy in Houston they face tonight, they should shit on him unless they get themselves out. Or like a Kyle Lohse. They usually shit on Kyle Lohse. If it’s not a lefty (and we mean any damn lefty) and it’s not an elite RH pitcher, the Reds usually get to the guy. That’s the rule of thumb with these Reds.
Filed Under: Aaron Harang, Cincinnati Reds, F--k the Astros, Houston Astros, Jay Bruce, Ryan Hanigan

Throwing it around

April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Love those weeknights in which almost every team in baseball is in play. Beats the shit out of having getaway day when there’s like 4 games. So last night was one of those nights. And here’s the reads on a Wednesday in the wake of that action:

-Stephen Strasburg threw five no-hit innings last night. [Fire Jim Bowden]
-Lights Out Liriano is back baby. [Aaron Gleeman]
-The Yanks ‘Core Four’ grace the latest Sports Illustrated cover. [Bronx Baseball Daily]
-David Ortiz wants to play ‘two to three’ more years. [Full Count WEEI]
-Bobby Cox says Pujols is worth $50 million per season. Uhhhh? [Sports Illustrated]
-Mets won two in a double-header against the Dodgers yesterday. [Faith & Fear in Flushing]
-An interview by Rosenthal with Tony Bernazard, the former (and fired) VP of Player Development with the Mets. [Fox Sports]
-Aroldis Chapman is pitching tonight. [The Reds Report]

Filed Under: Throwing it around

A Masshole will always be a Masshole

April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Way back when, we did a post out of sheer hope that Dustin Pedroia wouldn’t win the AL MVP award in 2008.

Off to a sparkling 10-11 start with how big of a payroll? Red Sox fans aparently have nothing better to do then patrol the interwebs in for stuff buried deep within the archives of blogs like this one to defend one of their bunch and show a little ‘Sawks’ pride.

And this commenter served it up on a tee:
fuck everyone that said this a good post…pedroia deserved the mvp and thats why he got it…awww poor faggots he rubbed u the wrong way get the fuck over it u pussys…HES THE SHIT

Masshole, Red Sox fans have been well documented on other blogs. People know how they are. That right to entitlement. That brash cockiness. Copious amounts of usage of words like ‘faggot’ and ‘pussy’ to attempt to make a point.

And now it’s our job to tell Masshole Boston fan how it really is.

What’s the matter, Masshole? You still mad that John Kerry got shit on in the election all those years back? No? You’re probably just a little salty that your team with a $160 million dollar payroll has been outscored by 17 runs so far.

Maybe you’re just upset that your boys got ousted in three games by the Angels in last year’s ALDS? I mean afterall that team got their asses handed to them by the Yankees. So then you go out as part of your solution to be able to get out of the ALDS and you sign John Lackey (past his prime) to a big ass contract, and thus far the gamer has been getting hit like a snare drum–5.07 ERA. Hey, what’d your boy Pedroia hit in that ALDS last year in which your Beantown boys got swept? Oh, he hit .167? Did that rub you the wrong way? No?

Red Sox nation is such an imposing force. That’s why the 2010 Rays, a better team then Boston has had in their history went out and collectively crapped down your necks in a four game series in Boston. That’s right. They squatted, and took a shit right in the middle of the finish line of your Boston marathon and did it with a smile. Then they used a Theo Epstein shirt to wipe their asses.

How about your boy JD Drew? He’s hitting all of .191 this year. Sparkling OPS of .620, you guys sure could use a new corner outfielder next year huh? How about Carl Crawford? I mean fuck you guys just buy everything in sight to try and win; God forbid you have to develop a player because Lord knows you guys can’t develop a player for shit–that happens twice a decade and you’ve met your quota by a guy or two. Oh Crawford is going to sign with the Yankees because your city is full of smelly English fuckshots? Yeah that’s what I heard too.

Red Sox fan better just spend their time worrying about fending off the Blue Jays because we think you’re the fourth best team in your division this year. $160 million dollar team and the cupboard is bare. How the fuck does that happen? Boy, that Theo Epstein sure is a goddamn genius!

Hell, if it weren’t for the Red Sox getting to play the fucking AAA Orioles 20 times this season you’d really be fucked. You’d be a 74 win team. How acceptable is that Red Sox nation?

At least you have a couple of aces to lean on when times get rough like Jon Lester and Josh Beckett. Ok, I admit I’m holding back laughter now. Their ERA’s of 6.23 and 7.22 are nice numbers to sit back and admire.

LOL Lackey and Wakefield. Leading hitter Adrian Beltre (still zero home runs). Fucking fail, Boston. How did you possibly think this team was anything other then an expensive lump of shit? We knew it. You’re just too blinded by your chowder-mushed brain to see out of the forest from the trees.
Filed Under: massholes, Red Sox

Commenter offers his/her thoughts on Grady Sizemore

April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Remember when Grady Sizemore had the coffee-cup genitals bit? Well that’s been swept under the rug and has given way to the 2010 season, which has seen Grady start 13 for 68 (.191) with 0 HR and 7 RBI. People in Cleveland are seriously concerned about Sizemore on the field. Some people, like this commenter; believes he’s done:

If you only new what a lying, cheating piece of shit he really is. He cheated on binger the whole time they were together in ohio and arizona. Even passed girls back and forth with his own brother. Hes a lame excuse for a man and his career is done.Any dude tellin his girl hes goin to bed at 9pm to go sneak out and get random pussy is just that ,a pussy. Ans probably a walking std. Hes been caught,i cant believe she would show her face at a game of his..Hes a loser and always will be. respect yourself binger cause he definitly does not.

Personally we think he’ll regain form eventually. But aparently Mr. Squeaky clean has a blemish or two on the old image behind closed doors. Ah well, it happens. The bright lights and fast women have probably caught young Grady off guard and just like learning to lay off a breaking ball in the dirt; he’s probably learned his lesson in that department as well.

It’s all part of an education of being a big leaguer.
Filed Under: Cleveland Indians, commenters give gems, Sizemore

Are we Sabermetricians or not?

April 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
I read a post this morning in one of my favorite forums that really got me thinking. Have a look at it first:
I have been a baseball fan my entire life, starting with my childhood hobby of collecting baseball cards. I memorized the stats of every player, batting average, home runs, RBI, ERA, wins, strikeouts, etc. When most kids my age were listening to the latest rock songs on the radio, I was listening to Marty and Joe, falling asleep to the sounds of late night west coast road trips.
I watched every baseball game that would be televised, the Cubs and White Sox on WGN, the Braves on TBS, the Reds on WLWT, every game shown by ESPN…I considered myself a diehard baseball fan, never simply just a casual fan. When Redszone started, I was one of the most prolific posters.Not long after, on base percentage and slugging percentage were the most popular stats used to rank the talent level of hitters, along with the combined OPS stat. I accepted it, and figured it out.
Then more stats appeared, like isolated power, batting average on balls in play, WHIP, and many others. I think there are stats used to determine the effectiveness of warm up pitches and time it takes a hitter to get from the on deck circle to the batter’s box. Our eyes and observations don’t have any bearing on the game anymore, it’s all about numbers, some of which have formulas so obviously complex you have to have a doctorate to even begin to understand how they are calculated.
I’m going to be honest, I don’t get all of these stats. I don’t know what half of them mean or how you arrive at them. I’m 33 years old, probably the median age of Redszone posters. I’m in tORG because I was grandfathered in. I don’t post nearly as much as I used to, because tORG posters demand a high level of Reds baseball discussion, which apparently means that EVERY thread we have anymore is filled with these complex stats and formulas that only calculator toting SABR fans can grasp. I’m not hating on those of you who love these stats and understand them, and I don’t think I’m any less a baseball fan for not getting them, though the tone of many threads leave me thinking that I might be. I never liked math, and I never will. I do love baseball though. I like watching games and cheering on my favorite team.
I don’t know if this is discussion worthy or not, but it’s been on my mind for a while, and I just thought that if I was thinking it, maybe there are other posters out there who feel the same way I do.
I remember back to the days this fan refers to pretty well. Back before a day in which FanGraphs (God love them) and Walk Like a Sabermetrician existed.
I have always felt that I could tell if a guy could play or not by watching a run of games; not looking at his statistics. Statistics do help support a deeper understanding of what your eyes are seeing, but the thing I do not like about them is that they can be given or used to support any viewpoint if you look hard enough for the right stat.
I took statistics in college. It’s the class I hated most. I thought I’d enjoy it because growing up I loved calculating my batting average on my mom’s desktop calculator after every game I played in the summer and writing it on a yellow notepad that we kept in the drawer. Little did I know that the dreadful class would have a little more to it.
I was shocked to find out my professor was a die hard baseball fan; but it wasn’t because he loved the sport. It was because the little man who otherwise reminded me of a martian from a different planet loved calculating statistics. That was back in 2005. That little son of a gun was a sabermetrician in the making. He’d love this shit.
And I have to admit, when talking baseball in the forum that I pulled the post above from; I feel like I know as much baseball as anyone in the forum (and there are some SERIOUS die hard fans which is why I love it there). However, I feel the added pressure to try and back up a post with stats now; or feel like my posts lack substance if I don’t have some type of slash stats or weird breakdown in the post supporting my point. I don’t like that. The forum is filled with sabermetricians! That’s where the game has evolved from a statiscal standpoint.
So while I enjoy what these little stat-heads bring to the table at times; I’m not one of them. I feel the same way as the guy above, he just stated his point in a much clearer manner than I have realized that I probably ever would have.
While I will admit, I enjoy looking at BABIP and a player’s Line Drive rate, I don’t necessarily understand every stat; especially ISOP (Isolated Power) and this by that divided by this over that stat that exists out there.
That said, saber freaks have their place but I’m just not one of them.
Filed Under: Statistics

"If you hit a ball and it leaves the yard, it’s a homer."

April 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Cincinnati Reds welcome Joe Morgan to the organization. I welcome more statements like some of these gems he’s gifted us with over the years:
–”I’ve always said that the purpose of a minor league system is to help the big league club.”
–”You know, I’ve always said the best way to steal second base is to get a nice lead and outrun the throw by the catcher.”
–”A plate of spaghetti back then was $1.50, and it was very good food, that’s why it lasted”
–”Asian ballplayers don’t argue with umps.”
–”Sometimes homeruns are rally killers.”
–”I may be the only one that feels this way, but I still believe the weather has had an adverse affect on some of the best hitters in the game”
–”When it’s cold, your muscles tighten and you’re not the same you.”
–”You can make any pitch, at any time, if you execute it properly.”
–”You can’t beat a team that doesn’t lose”
–”As long as (Aroldis) Chapman lives up to expectations and his contract, he will be worth it.”
–”Chapman has looked good in Spring Training. If he looks this good during the season then he will be successful”
–”Oliver Perez’s problem is he will go a few shutout innings and then have four guys on base.”
–”No, I don’t want you to draw any conclusion. I want you to listen to what I just said.”
I love him. I absolutely love em. This guy is an angel.
Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Joe Morgan, Morgan-isms
April 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
As someone tweeted to us this weekend, we slurp Jay Bruce. Therefore there’s some new stuff out about his baseball camp: CINCINNATI, OHIO – Cincinnati Reds star outfielder Jay Bruce will be hosting his inaugural Jay Bruce Baseball Camp presented by CBTS and Fifth Third Bank in partnership with the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. This three-day event will be held Monday, July 19th through Wednesday, July 21st at the state of the art facility Prasco Park in Mason, OH from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Campers are encouraged to register soon as there are less than 100 spots available for camp. Additional information and registration is available at www.JayBruceCamp.com or call 513-793-CAMP. [Red Hot Mama]
Filed Under: baseball camp, Cincinnati Reds, Jay Bruce, slurping a player
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