June 2011
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Vocal Exercises
Say this five times fast:
“Rubby de la Rosa rubs the rosin bag”
Remember that the next time you’re envious of Vin Scully.
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May 2011
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Marlins President Scared of Logan Morrison's...
David Samson on LoMo, and I’m assuming, the not-really-connected Mr. Dimples:
“I’m not a dinosaur. But I’m not thrilled. It’s very scary to me. I’ve told Logan, `People are waiting for you to make a mistake. They’re going to bait you on Twitter to say something inappropriate that you can never take back.’
On one hand, David Samson is being every bit the killjoy that one expects...
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Jake Peavy is Positively Cliff Lee-ian
As Jake Peavy worked his way back from the DL, it was anyone’s guess as to what he’d have left in his arm. Unlike Tommy John surgery which is almost a guarantee for success at this point, there hasn’t been a lot of detached latissimus dorsi muscles in the sport. Worry no longer.
Peavy won his second game of the year while pitching seven shutout innings against the Red Sox while...
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13.41 Seconds
After a deep fly ball to right center that narrowly missed leaving the park, Jack Cust was left with no other option but to kick it up a notch. Thanks to some healthy bounces and a burst of speed, Cust cruised into third base with a triple in 13.41 seconds. It was the first triple for Cust since way back in 2007 when he was posting a .912 OPS, a far cry from the .691 he had coming into...
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Tony Campana Loves Portal 2
I can’t imagine how there is any other way that Campana, the 4’3” bundle of scrap that the Cubs are currently playing on a regular basis, stole four bases in the Cubs 12-7 loss to the Astros than by using portals to jump from base to base. Sure, he’s fast, but is he really that fast? Is JR Towles that bad at stopping the running game? Runners were 18/21 running on Towles...
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Bartolo Colon Throws First Shutout Since 2006
(Photo by Keith Allison)
Yes, it was only against the Oakland Athletics, but they’ve got some professional hitters in that lineup with the likes of Josh Willingham and Hideki Matsui and David DeJesus. Sure, none of them are hitting even .270, but the fact of the matter is that the Yankees failed to throw a complete game shutout last year and Colon has given them one in 2011. Thank heavens...
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What Sound Does a Chicken Make?
“Balk.”
Conversely titled, Mike Pelfrey Lays an Egg.
(via Notgraphs)
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Mind-Blowing Trivia
I’m going to give you a batting line from the last two days and you try to identify who it belongs to. Ready?
12 AB, 9 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 6 R.
Reasonable guesses:
Jose Bautista
Joey Votto
Albert Pujols
Alex Rodriguez
Less reasonable guesses:
Miguel Cairo
Craig Counsell
Micah Owings
And you would still be wrong. Nope, this particular hot streak belongs to the one, the only,...
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The Fantastic Voyage: 5/29/11
And so, two months into the season, the Fantastic Voyage has come to a close. This will allow me to devote more attention to superbly interesting baseball topics rather than cover every “Jeff Francis has gone 5 innings and given up three runs in a normal and boring way” type game.
Don’t worry though, the rest of the site will remain exactly the same. There will still be plenty...
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Wins, What Are You Good For?
A common theme this weekend has been the value of pitcher wins, but we’ve yet to even consider reliever wins. It’s a good time to talk about them as on the day that Arizona Diamondbacks took control of first place, take a gander at Aaron Heilman’s season: 4-0, 8.10 ERA, 16.2 IP, 27 H, 4 HR, 19/4 K/BB.
Sure, most of Heilman’s ERA damage comes courtesy of his...
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“If we can get him to replicate his swing three days in a row, Jose Bautista...”
– Via Keith Olbermann comes an earth-shattering quote from Jeff Manto on Jose Bautista in the year 2007. Seriously, this is like if someone circa 1865 said, “You know, we always had our eye on that John Wilkes character. Dangerous fellow.”
I don’t know what Jeff Manto’s...
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Clint "Violet Beauregarde" Hurdle
After Garrett Jones was called out at second base during yesterday’s Pirates-Cubs game, Clint Hurdle came out to argue. This was the shade of his face:
For those thinking it was maybe a camera or broadcast problem, here is a shot, only moments before, featuring Garrett Jones with a nice, fleshy, human color:
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that maybe Hurdle should take it...
nlinde asked: Hey guys--
nlinde from FuckYeahBraves here. Doing a liveblog of the Reds/Braves game tonight...and of course, garnering a lot of attention from baseball fans in the bar right now. A HEATED discussion is breaking out on who we think the most underrated catcher in the MLB is right now. Kurt Suzuki was brought up. What do you guys think? (Getting a lot of Carlos Ruiz as well..)
nlinde from FuckYeahBraves here. Doing a liveblog of the Reds/Braves game tonight...and of course, garnering a lot of attention from baseball fans in the bar right now. A HEATED discussion is breaking out on who we think the most underrated catcher in the MLB is right now. Kurt Suzuki was brought up. What do you guys think? (Getting a lot of Carlos Ruiz as well..)
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It's a long season.: Adam Dunn Warns 'Words With... →
It was Adam Dunn, who recently returned to the game after being disillusioned playing a former teammate who was clearly cheating (how could Dunn tell? “Because this guy is, no other way to put it, dumb”)…
“I was up at 3 a.m., racking my brain trying to figure out a play, and I hit a huge…
This is the real Black Sox scandal.
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“I could smell that smoke and I was like, ‘That ain’t a hot-dog...”
– Chris Coghlan on the fire that broke out in Dodger Stadium’s upper deck last night.
I don’t know why, but I can’t stop laughing at this quote. Mostly because I imaginine that Chris Coghlan delivered it in his best Redd Foxx impression.
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I Think Sean O'Sullivan Needs a Hug
(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey thanks to BlueCatsRedSox’s Photo Day info page)
Against the Rangers earlier today, O’Sullivan went 5.2 innings while getting battered for 15 hits, 10 runs, and five homers.
That’s not a typo, Sean O’Sullivan gave up five home runs with three of them coming in the second inning. But when your team blows through seven pitchers in 14 innings the...
themightyjoeyoung asked: Here are the top pitches (rated as most effective at preventing runs, a pitcher with a great changeup will have a more effective fastball even if it's not as good on its own) from fangraphs for 2009-11.
Fastball:
1. Ted Lilly (i think it's hilarious that a mid to high 80's fastball has prevented the most runs in the past 3 years)
2. Matt Cain
3....
Fastball:
1. Ted Lilly (i think it's hilarious that a mid to high 80's fastball has prevented the most runs in the past 3 years)
2. Matt Cain
3....
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Anonymous asked: bautista's a hgh fueled anomaly. canada's an hgh factory, no wonder he exploded when he moved to toronto. just sayin'
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Jose Bautista's Personal WAR
I just put this on Twitter, but felt it was worthy of double posting.
Jose Bautista, who posted a 6.9 WAR last season, is already at 4.6 this year. That puts him on pace to roughly post a 14.6 WAR this season, and that’s not even counting his three-run home run and double from the White Sox-Blue Jays game that is currently in progress.
The last person to post a WAR over 10? Barry Bonds...
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Hall of Fame Pitches
Recently, the still living curator of the fantastic Obit Of the Day sent me a message that I thought was too good to keep to myself.
That message reads as follows:
On Tuesday I was listening to the Detroit Tigers radio broadcast, and they brought up Mariano Rivera’s cutter. One guy said they “should put that pitch in the Hall of Fame.” Which got me to thinking, what pitches...
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David Price Is Unbreakable
Remember that Bruce Willis movie, Unbreakable, where he survived a train wreck because he was a superhero or something? It’s the forgotten M. Night Shyamalan movie, living in that mediocre realm where movies go to die, neither good or bad enough to be remembered.
Well, David Price is like that.
First, he destroyed Cleveland, who are all of a sudden cooling down and have lost three in a...
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Kevin Correia Leads the League In Wins With Seven
I’ll let that sink in for a minute. He’s also struck out the fewest batters per nine in the National League at 3.98. Take that xFIP! Computers don’t know how to play baseball!
Or we could just chalk this up to Memorial Day still residing a few days away. Still, for a guy who struggled so mightily after losing his brother last season, I think we can let Correia have the small...
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Watchmightyflynn:
Gopher baseball. You betcha.
withatonguelikeanightmare
I was totally waiting for someone to be put through a woodchipper at the end of this video.
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Minor League Mania
You know, just your every day 3-2-6-1-5-3-4-6-8 double play. Yawn.
(via Big League Stew, Deadspin)
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David Cone is Just Like You and Me
And by that I mean a baseball-obsessed supernerd. In an interview with New York Magazine, Cone says:
“I love Fangraphs and the mountains of data you can get there, especially with hitters’ tendencies and what percentage of pitches they chase outside the strike zone. Across the board, when balls are put in play — you know exactly which guys are groundball hitters, certain tendencies....
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Derek Lowe's DUI Dropped
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“DUI and reckless-driving charges were dropped Thursday against Braves pitcher Derek Lowe, his attorney confirmed. City of Atlanta Solicitor Raines Carter agreed to dismiss the charges for lack of evidence.”
Sure, this could be a case of a professional athlete being given preferential treatment or it could be the truth. Just as Lowe could...
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Hannibal Sanchez
You can call him that because he devours hitters. Or something. I don’t know, you try coming up with headlines that accurately reflect his last four starts:
5/8 vs WSH: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K
5/14 @ WSH: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
5/20 vs TB: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
5/26 @ SF: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
TOTAL: 31 IP, 16 H, 3 ER, 5...
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Juan Pierre is A Wiffle Ball Champ
With the game tied at 1 in the top of the ninth and Juan Pierre at the plate with two men on, two outs and two strikes to his name, Pierre did what he does best. Namely, hitting choppers. Only this time, his potent combination of a softly hit groundball, some speed, and a dash of stirrup socks allowed Pierre to burn down the line and induce the error that pushed across the winning runs as Chicago...
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The Fantastic Voyage: 5/26/11
Orioles 6, Royals 5 (12 innings) - Nolan Reimold, baby!
Red Sox 14, Tigers 1 (8 innings) - The news reports will claim that this game was called early because of rain. But the players know it’s because the Tigers couldn’t take it anymore. The bottom four of the Red Sox order went 10-for-20 with 8 RBI. Alfredo Aceves is also the anti-Jo-Jo Reyes, getting the win in his last 12...
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Ian Snell's Back
(Photo by Chris Creamer)
And he’s been scooped up by the Dodgers. They should be so lucky.
Of course, this renders my heartfelt and teary goodbye null and void, so don’t be surprised when I end up re-posting it with only a few minor changes when Snell gets fed up and retires again.