October 2010
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“My daughter, Presley, wouldn’t even look at me the first day I came home...”
– Carl Pavano on his daugther’s reaction when he first unveiled the facial hair that would one day be known as the Pavstache.
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Elvis Andrus’ slugging percentage during a year that has seen him hit zero home runs and only 17 total extra base hits in a whopping 656 PA. Aaron Gleeman did some digging and discovered that the last time a player had so many plate appearances with a slugging percentage under .300 was Vince Coleman way back in 1986.
Which to most people would seem to be an insult. But anytime that Vince...
September 2010
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Kirk Gibson II? Justin Morneau May Make It Onto... →
Looks like Justin Morneau has now had four good days in a row, which compared with a normal week in an office, sounds like a dream. But for Morneau it’s a huge and unforseen step forward as he recovers from his concussion.
While it’s doubtful that Ron Gardenhire will activate him in time for the divisonal series, this would be a coup for the Twins if he’s ready for pinch-hitting...
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“As I sit here now, I’d love to just go home and be with the family and kids and...”
– Mark Buerhle talking about retiring after the 2011 season. Which would be a sad sight—there is nothing that feels more like baseball than a pitcher with a less than stellar fastball getting by on impeccable command and a series of breaking balls. All while confounding critics and batters for...
Reporter: Did they tell you that only 4 left handers in the whole history of the franchise have gotten 200 strikeouts?
Jonathan Sanchez: No, I don’t follow stats so I don’t know…
Reporter: Did you know two of the other three are dead?
Jonathan Sanchez: You saying you want me to die?
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“If you go by WAR, Greinke is the fourth best pitcher over the last three...”
– RJ Anderson has a few interesting tidbits about Zack Greinke to pass along. Including the fact that despite Greinke’s ERA being above 4 this year, it’s not time to write him off.
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.871
Pat Burrell’s OPS since coming over to the Giants, a number higher than his career mark of .836. Say what you will about Brian Sabean’s ability to identify good hitters, but the Giants have gotten extremely lucky with the unheralded, but successful trio of Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres.
Burrell hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to supply all the runs the...
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“I’ve got to pay the fans back, man. They deserve it. They’ve been...”
– Matt Kemp after hitting a grand slam during the Dodgers 7-6 victory against the suddenly meek Rockies.
After winning a gold glove and looking like a true breakout star, Kemp has seen his numbers drop across the board and judging by UZR, Kemp has been one of the worst defenders as well. It’s...
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I Had This Great Little Piece Written
About how hard it must be to be a Mariner and how sad Jason Vargas is since his best (luckiest) season is being wasted on a team that cannot score any runs for him after another no decision in the Mariners 6-5 loss to the Rangers.
But then I saw this piece by Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk describing the end of the game:
Tie game, Nelson Cruz of the Rangers at bat. Danny Cortes pitching for...
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Who Loves a Good Jose Canseco Milkshake?
Thanks to, you know, real baseball being played last night, I didn’t have a chance to watch the first segment of Ken Burns’ 10th Inning. In fact, until the playoffs are over I doubt I’ll get a chance.
However, Tom Boswell was on the show last night and said that he once saw a player who has since been inducted into the Hall of Fame drinking a “Jose Canseco...
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How Liriano Became A Staff Ace Again →
The Twins biggest weakness headed into October is their pitching. If they’re going to make any waves, Francisco Liriano will need to be at the head of it.
Alex Eisenberg at The Hardball Times does a great job breaking down the changes in Lirano’s mechanics that has enabled him to return to his pre-Tommy John surgery stuff.
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Scot Shields Likely To Retire →
The 34 year old Shields doesn’t have much left in the tank as evidence by his 5.65 ERA and 1.04 K/BB ratio over the last two seasons, but from 2002-2008 he was one of the best and heavily used relievers in the game.
Shields posted a WAR of 13.1 over those six years, whereas the more famous and well compensated Francisco Rodriguez posted a 17.7 over those seven years. It’s hard...
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“They’re having fun at our expense. It’s not much fun for us.”
– Ron Gardenhire after the Royals decimated the Twins 10-1 for the Twins fifth straight loss.
Despite playing the Royals, this loss wasn’t too surprising. Despite Nick Blackburn’s quality work since being recalled from AAA, that really had more to do with luck balancing out than Blackburn...
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“I told Konerko before the game this could be the last time we are in the lineup...”
– Mark Buehrle (via fuckyeahwhitesox)
Mark Buehrle: Professional killjoy.
Fun Fact: Before opening day Buerhle told the team “Go out there and play your hearts out. Because remember: our bodies will one day fail us and we’ll be nothing but rotting corpses in the middle of some forgotten...
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If you could have one Colorado Rockie To Start...
Would you choose Carlos Gonzalez or Troy Tulowitzki?
Now that the Rockies have wasted that ten game winning streak that put them back in the hunt, I think this is an interesting discussion question.
Keep in mind Gonzalez is younger by a year and has one more season of team control, but Tulowitzki has less extreme home/road splits and plays a more demanding positon.
What’s your choice?
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“Cain is scheduled for one more start this season — this weekend against the San...”
– Albert Lyu over at Fan Graphs has written a wonderful scouting breakdown on Matt Cain’s pitch selection. When Cain makes his start this weekend, chances are quite high that the division could rest on his shoulders.
It will be interesting to take a look at the PitchFX after the game and see...
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“It ain’t part of my game. I just barreled it up and it just took off. I don’t...”
– Jarrod Dyson after hitting his first big league home run in the Royals 10-8 win against the Twins. Dyson, who has hit one minor league home run in 1095 AB, also recorded ten putouts in centerfield to tie a Royals team record.
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Two-out RBI by Matt Holliday, leading all of Major League Baseball. Holliday picked up three more ribbies, one of them with two outs, in the Cardinals 6-4 victory against the Pirates keeping the Reds from officially wrapping up the division for one more day.
If anyone with a subscription to Play Index wants to take a look at how that stacks up against the rest of the league or how that compares...
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You Can't Spell Rzepczynski Without a K
Marc Rzepcynski, who may have the worst fastball for a starting pitcher with a value of -11.2 according to FanGraphs, absolutely baffled the Yankees for nine strikeouts in five innings of work while allowing only two runs. It clearly wasn’t his pitching that stymied the Yanks, so Rzepcynski must either have some hilarious impressions that cracked the Yankees up all day or he has some...
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