How are ya darlin'? Will Miss Cleo be the next "physicist" on the Dodgers' payroll? Call 'meh noowww to find ooout.
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Archive for the ‘Baseball Media Watch’ Category
World renowned physicists
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 by I Love Nerd York City(more…)
Hyperbole and Lollipops
Saturday, June 19th, 2010 by I Love Nerd York CityWatching the Red Sox vs. Dodgers game…Manny just hit a solo home run in the 6th inning to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 3-2.
Tim McCarver’s instant reaction:
And we’ll never know the answer to this, but you have to ask yourself the question: was that the most satisfying home run he ever hit? Maybe…
And McCarver just doesn’t quit…while I was typing this post, David Ortiz took a strike on a very slow curveball, leading to the following exchange:
Joe Buck: Ortiz trying not to smile after this lollipop dropped in for strike one.
Tim McCarver: Reminded me of that song, “Lollipop, lollipop…Oh lolli-lollipop…From the late ’50s.
JB: Here’s a 2-1 pitch grounded foul outside of first.
TM: Don’t ask me the group who sang it but…(trails off)*
* From Wikipedia:”Lollipop” is a pop song written by Julius Dixson and Beverly Ross in 1958 for the duo Ronald and Ruby, which was covered most successfully by The Chordettes.
Drawing a line in the sand
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 by I Love Nerd York CityJohn Gonzales from the Philadelphia Inquirer published a full article today about a guy who used to love the Phillies, but now doesn’t anymore. Sounds like just a slow sports day article, right?
Wrong. The article is amazing, in an absurd, mind-boggling kind of way. I’ve posted some highlights below:
It’s been an amazing ride for Phillies fans over the last few years, but not for Mike Cybularz. He got off a few stops back when the road was still bumpy and marked with potholes, and the final destination – a championship and a long-overdue parade – was still off in the distance….The 28-year-old East Norriton native grew up backing all the Philly teams, but he was most smitten with the Phils. His dad took him and his two little brothers to games when they were kids. He remembers watching a lot of bad baseball at the Vet, but he was young and confident his favorite team would become a winner, or at least a contender.
At this point the story sounds like it could be about the childhoods of about 20 different fan bases. But don’t worry, the table is just being set.
In 2004, when he was older and had some money in his pocket, Cybularz and friends bought partial season tickets for the Phils…During the ’04 campaign, as the Phils fought to find their form, Cybularz vowed that if the Fightin’s didn’t make the postseason, he’d be done with the team forever since that would mark a decade of waiting for the club to make the playoffs.
The Phillies finished 86 – 76 in 2004. No playoffs. No more Phillies for Mike. Oh, and guess what? if my dinner isn’t ready in the next five minutes, I vow to never eat dinner again.
…Cybularz hasn’t supported the Fightin’s since. Not when the Phils went on an improbable run to steal the NL East from the Mets in ’07. Not when they did it again in ’08 and then tore through the National League and the Tampa Bay Rays to secure the city’s first championship in 25 frustrating years. Not when the Fightin’s caravanned down Broad Street and Cybularz’s loved ones left him behind and joined countless other Phillies fans in celebrating the long-awaited title.”I would have loved to go to the parade,” he said, “but I didn’t – to prove a point.”
I love this. Mr. Gonzales’s only failing in writing this article was his failure to ask the follow-up question, “What, exactly, is that point?” This story reminds me of a kid I knew in elementary school. In order to convince his mother to buy him a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt, he promised that he would “like the ninja turtles FOREVER!!!!” If he had the resolve of Mike Cybularz, he would still be wearing that shirt. Totally tubular.
…his brother Kevin [asked] Mike to be his best man and organize a bachelor party involving a Phillies game, followed by a trip to Atlantic City for the entire crew…Instead of seeing the Phillies and then heading to A.C., Mike planned a different getaway to an even less-exciting city.
“We’re going to Baltimore,” Mike said, “to watch the Orioles play the Indians. What a terrible game.”
I think this is where we cross over from “personality quirk” to “mental disorder.”
Kudos, Mr. Gonzales, on a job well done.
Highlight of the night…
Sunday, February 7th, 2010 by I Love Nerd York CityI just turned on SportsCenter and immediately heard the following gem from Chris Berman:
(Highlight of a guy on the Saints getting tackled)
“…and David Thomas english-muffins his way to the four yard line!!!”
Gotta love any time a breakfast item is used as a verb to describe a football player getting tackled.
“Unquestionably” the best?
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 by Nerdicus FinchI like Jayson Stark and I really like Roy Halladay (I’ve spent many first round fantasy picks on Halladay over the past several years), but I think Stark really went overboard in his latest ESPN.com column.
In the column, which discusses the recent trade of Halladay to the Phillies, Stark had this to say about the former Cy Young winner:
He has been, unquestionably, the best starting pitcher in baseball for the last eight seasons.
I don’t necessarily disagree with Stark about Halladay, but to say that he’s been “unquestionably” the best is grossly overstating the case. When I read this, the first name I thought of was Johan Santana. Here are their numbers from 2002-2009:
Halladay: 130-59, 3.13 ERA, 1260 K, 1710 IP, 1.131 WHIP, 4.10 K/BB, 144 ERA+
Santana: 119-57, 2.89 ERA, 1641 K, 1580 IP, 1.064 WHIP, 4.07 K/BB, 153 ERA+
At first glance, it looks like Santana’s been the better pitcher, although it’s very close and Halladay’s extra 130 innings may be enough to put him ahead. Either way, I think it’s pretty obvious that Halladay is not “unquestionably” the best starting pitcher* of the last eight years.
*It may be possible that Stark is getting cute here, since Santana spent parts of the 2002 and 2003 seasons in the bullpen.
Not nerds, not baseball…but great sports writing.
Thursday, November 19th, 2009 by I Love Nerd York CityZack Greinke is Awesome…and Nerdy
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 by Nerdicus FinchFrom Rob Neyer, a blog post on freshly-minted Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke’s interest in nerdy statistics.
The key quote from the New York Times, in which Greinke discusses the ultra-nerdy Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP):
“That’s pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as possible,” Greinke said.”
Awesome.
Shame on You, Steve Kornacki!
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 by Nerdicus FinchI was very happy to read this afternoon that Zack Greinke had won the AL Cy Young Award, which means, at least for one year, that the baseball writers voted for the best pitcher in the league, rather than the one with the most wins and/or the one on a winning team. They should be commended for making the right choice. Well, not all of them. Not Steve Kornacki of Booth Newspapers in Michigan.
Rather than voting for Greinke or Felix Hernandez (which would have been the wrong choice, but a defensible one), this clown voted for Justin Verlander and, in doing so, added himself to the list of embarassing “homer” voters that have marred the major award voting over the years.
Here are Greinke’s (25 first place votes) numbers: 16-8, 229.1 IP, 2.16 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 242 K, 6 CG, and a .230 BAA. Kansas City did not make the postseason.
Here are Hernandez’s (2 first place votes) numbers: 19-5, 238.2 IP, 2.49 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 217 K, 2 CG, and a .227 BAA. Seattle did not make the postseason.
Here are Verlander’s (Kornacki’s first place vote) numbers: 19-9, 240 IP, 3.45 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 269 K, 3 CG, and a .243 BAA. Detroit did not make the postseason.
If this were Highlights for Children, we’d ask, “Which of these doesn’t belong?”
By the way, Greinke’s ERA was the lowest in the AL since 2000, when Pedro Martinez posted a 1.74 mind-bender. But that doesn’t impress Kornacki. You know what does? Three more wins and 27 more strikeouts. Oh, and playing for his hometown Tigers.
I guess Kornacki thought that Verlander’s additional strikeouts and wins were a dealbreaker, despite the fact that he allowed 1.29 more earned runs per nine innings than Greinke.
Kornacki should be ashamed of himself and he should never be allowed to vote for another major MLB award again. Also, he should apologize to Greinke.
UPDATE:
Kornacki has posted a feeble defense of his first place vote for Verlander. Here’s the key quote:
“Verlander received my first-place vote because nobody was tougher on the mound with the season on the line for his team.”
It’s really strange. I checked Verlander’s player page on Baseball-Reference and I didn’t see a stat category for toughness. It must be one of those newfangled sabermetric things.
Also, over Verlander’s final five starts (Sept. 14 – Oct. 4), when the Tigers were battling the Twins for the division crown, Verlander, despite going 3-1 over these starts, posted a 4.62 ERA and .280 BAA, which suggests that he was actually much worse when the team’s season was “on the line.” If Kornacki had spent five minutes looking at what actually happened, he would have realized how untenable his position was.
Kornacki also cites the fact that Verlander had more strikeouts this year than any AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2000. He doesn’t mention ERA, though. I guess striking guys out is more valuable than preventing runs.
(4.74 out of 5)