“ How many major-league players have stood less than six feet tall and weighed (or rather, been listed at) more than 250 pounds? Five. Fielder, plus pitcher Bartolo Colon, Garland Buckeye, Rich ‘El Guapo’ Garces, and first baseman Tommy Everidge, who got into 24 games with the A’s in 2009.”
— Rob Neyer on forecasting
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Posts tagged with baseball
Pedro Takes Himself Out of the Game
Pedro Martinez is going to have a party and announce his retirement.
The greatest starter of all-time by ERA+. Some favorite memories:
9/10/1999 17 strikeouts against the Yankees in which the only base-runners allowed were a hit by pitch (Chuck Knoblauch) and a second inning home run by Chili Davis.
Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS. I still get chills thinking about a battered Pedro walking out of the bullpen to pitch 6 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts against Cleveland — a team that scored over 1000 runs in the regular season.
8/29/2000 Beans Martinez Bros. nemesis Gerald Williams and then throws 8 perfect innings, finally giving up a single hit in the ninth to finish with a 1-hit shutout and 13 strikeouts.
Mini-Me. The man brought a levity to the game. He was a fierce competitor and an artist on the mound but a clubhouse jester. Fans believing that a serious demeanor indicates requisite focus and commitment should reconsider. The game is more fun with Pedro and Tony Plush.
Game 3 of the 2004 World Series. 7 innings, 6 strikeouts, 0 runs. Often overlooked.
Medium, Squatty Build
On Jeremy Brown from MLB.com (Draft Day 2002):
Medium, squatty build. Unloads ball quick. Swings bat very aggressively. Shows long ball power. Handles pitchers well. Comes to beat you. Gets dirty.
A non-sequiter I know.
“ Theo Epstein is one of the best general managers in the game, and he’s going to put the Cubs in position to get back to, and win, the World Series. He surrounds himself with talented people, he is open to both sides of player evaluation — scouting and statistical analysis — and he’s always willing to improve his own processes. For all the chaos the Red Sox have descended into this month, Epstein spent nine years making that organization a model one, aided by a good owner and a slew of talented assistants. All of that is replicable in Chicago. This move will go down as one of the best in Chicago baseball history, and it will eventually produce a long-elusive World Series championship banner for the Cubs.”
— Joe Sheehan
“ This is not actually just a baseball story. It is a story of rapid change in the business world and how there will always be people who resist change because it threatens them.”
— Keith Law on Moneyball
“ For three hours, baseball reminded us that no matter what we think we know, we just don’t know anything — and we love the game for it.”
— Joe Sheehan on the conclusion to the 2011 season
“ It’s baseball, I guess.”
— Theo Epstein after game 162 of 2011
“ I really do think baseball has been dramatically altered by [the save] a statistic invented by a perturbed sportswriter. Let’s end this thing with one more thought about Rivera. He is the best relief pitcher who ever lived. But he’s also a failed starter. Baseball is such a fickle game. When I think of Rivera setting the save record, I think about how PERFECTLY he fits his era, his space, his team, his role. There are so few people who are ideal for their moment of time. John Wayne was, I think. Johnny Carson. Elvis. Lucille Ball. John Unitas. Michael Jackson. Senfield.. Oprah. Michael Jordan. If they had come around in another era, in different circumstances, there’s no telling how they might have expressed their talents, but it seems likely that they would not have inspired a generation.”
— Joe Posnanski (via Rob Neyer)
Mike is My Favorite Lowell
I found this graphic as an old Keynote slide while going through old files prepping for the fall semester.
I would have made a fortune selling these t-shirts.
Or maybe not. My kerning is horrible. What was I thinking?
When Social Media Reveals too Much
Sharon Van Etten, good news/bad news edition:
Go Yankees! Me and VE fam. Couple of buds ans sausages! Of yeah!
Good News
- Sharon Van Etten likes baseball.
Bad News
- Sharon Van Etten is a MFY fan.
Sigh.
