Six Links

by Geoff Young on Sep 26, 2001 (0) Comments

More goodies…

Phillies Relievers

by Geoff Young on Sep 24, 2001 (0) Comments

A few items of interest:

  • ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield makes a compelling case for Freddy Garcia for AL Cy Young: Stroll through the Stats: Clemens vs. Garcia
  • Tuffy Rhodes ties Sadahuru Oh’s Japanese single-season homer mark
  • This past off-season, a current playoff contender signed two relievers for what generally was regarded as way too much money. Here’s what those two did last year:
    IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
    68.1 74 35 7 17 43 4.61
    80.2 89 48 11 41 84 5.36
    149.0 163 83 18 58 127 5.01

    Fast foward to 2001:

    IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
    50.1 46 22 4 17 36 3.93
    64.0 60 18 4 19 55 2.53
    114.1 106 40 8 36 91 3.15

    Who could have predicted this kind of performance from Rheal Cormier and especially Jose Mesa, who hadn’t done anything useful in a baseball uniform since 1997?

    As for the Phillies, who looked like anything but playoff contenders coming into the season, just imagine how well they’d be doing if they hadn’t given up this guy:

    IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
    52.1 42 22 7 24 39 3.78

    to get these guys:

    IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
    7.2 13 4 2 2 4 4.70
    15.2 21 13 4 12 15 7.47
    23.1 34 17 6 14 19 6.56

    The top line is what Bruce Chen has done since joining the Mets; the bottom two are those of Dennis Cook and Turk Wendell as members of the Phillies.

    Some of the best trades are the ones you don’t make…

How Are Hampton and Neagle Doing at Coors Field?

by Geoff Young on Sep 20, 2001 (0) Comments

First off, congrats to Tony Gwynn on being named the SDSU Aztecs baseball coach.

Second, I’m going to throw out some stat lines for you. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hangin’ till tomorrow like I usually do. ;-)

Here are the first two:

  IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
Player A 190.2 217 122 107 29 81 112 5.05
Player B 155.0 168 90 86 26 55 125 4.99

Clearly, neither of these guys is having a terrific season. Here’s what they did last year:

  IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
Player A 217.2 194 89 76 10 99 151 3.14
Player B 209.0 210 109 105 31 81 146 4.52

Okay, Player A is Mike Hampton and Player B is Denny Neagle. Both signed with the Rockies in the off-season, and almost universally Hampton was expected to succeed at Coors, while Neagle was expected to fail miserably. And for a while, it looked like that would be the case. Here are their numbers through May:



Now here is what they’ve done since then:






 
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
ERA






Hampton
77.1
77
29
23
4
24
46
2.68




Neagle
66.0
63
35
33
9
23
56
4.50






One last set of splits for you:



Home



 
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
ERA






Hampton
87.2
101
59
53
15
46
48
5.44




Neagle
74.1
81
45
42
13
29
60
5.09







Away



 
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
ERA






Hampton
103.2
116
63
54
14
35
64
4.72




Neagle
80.2
87
45
44
13
26
65
4.91






Interestingly, and once again indicating that the value of a single run is less at Coors than in the real world, Hampton is 8-5 at home and 6-6 on the road; Neagle’s won-loss splits are 6-2 and 3-5, respectively.


No surprise that both pitchers have performed better on the road than at Coors. What I find interesting is that so many (myself included) could have been so wrong about their assessments of these two free-agent signings. I wish I had a good theory for why this happened but I don’t. If anyone has thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them. I’m sure Dan O’Dowd would like to hear them, too; somehow I can’t imagine this is what he had in mind when he dropped all that money on Hampton.

    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
Muslim in America, MST3K




by Geoff Young on Sep 19, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
No time to talk; just a couple quick links for you. First is to an article by Baseball Prospectus’ Rany Jazayerli on being a Muslim in America right now. Second is to a great MST3K site (I’m an unabashed fan of the show), which, among other things, gives detailed instructions on how to build the robots.


I’ll try to sort through my notes on Jason Middlebrook’s debut but I probably won’t get around to posting my report till the weekend. Very busy around here lately, and it’s only going to get worse.

    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
California League Playoffs, High Desert vs Lake Elsinore




by Geoff Young on Sep 18, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
I’ll talk about Jason Middlebrook’s big-league debut tomorrow, but first some unfinished business: Game Two of the High Desert/Lake Elsinore series.


In what turned out to be the final game at The Diamond in Elsinore, Storm power lefty Eric Cyr matched up against sidewinder Jim Lynch. On paper, this looked like a mismatch, as Cyr came in with a 1.61 season ERA over 100.2 innings, while Lynch owned a 6.64 ERA in 85.1 innings. But, as we all know, baseball is not played on paper.


The Mavs struck in the top of the first inning, only to be answered by Vince Faison’s leadoff homer down the left-field line in the bottom half of the frame. Cyr, working with a low-90s heater and an inconsistent breaking pitch, allowed three runs in the top of the third. He worked from behind in the count most of the night, and although his final line (6.1, 8, 4, 4, 1, 7) doesn’t look too bad, Cyr really was not very sharp.


Heading into the bottom of the fifth trailing 4-1, the Storm started chipping away at the lead, scoring a single run in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. Relievers Andy Bausher, Bryan Gaal, and Andy Shibilo held High Desert in check, and heading to the bottom of the ninth, the contest was knotted.


Then came Faison. Already 3-for-4 on the night, with a triple, homer, and stolen base under his belt, the young left-handed hitter yanked Roberto Giron’s second pitch high and deep over the 38-foot wall in right. The Storm had come from behind to take a 2-0 advantage in the Southern Division series of the Cal League playoffs.


The Lake Elsinore squad completed the sweep the following night at High Desert with an 8-2 thrashing and prepared to play the winner of the San Jose/Bakersfield series. Unfortunately, due to the horrible events that followed, the Northern Division series was not completed. San Jose, which led the series, 2-1, and the Storm were named co-champions.


Congrats to both clubs on their championship, and to the Storm on posting the best record in all of Minor League Baseball in 2001.


As an afterthought, keep an eye on Faison next year. He finished the regular season very strong and was unstoppable during the playoffs. Here is his line from the series against the Mavericks:






AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
BA
OBP
SLG






11
5
6
0
1
2
3
2
1
1
0
.545
.615
1.273






Tiny sample, to be sure, but the guy just didn’t have a bad at-bat. He’s definitely high on my list of prospects to surprise in 2002.

    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
Church of Baseball Reopens




by Geoff Young on Sep 17, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
The Church of Baseball reopens today. Jason Middlebrook makes his long-delayed big-league debut tonight in Los Angeles. I’ll be worshipping in front of the television, cold beer in my left hand, scorebook in my right.


I won’t be covering the tragic events of last week here any longer; this is a place for baseball. However, I won’t forget what happened, either. The page honoring the victims and their families that has occupied this space these past several days will remain on this domain at geoffreynyoung.com/memorial for as long as the domain exists.


Play ball!

    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
Downtime to Honor Victims of Terrorist Attack




by Geoff Young on Sep 13, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
Here are some links to additional resources and/or information regarding the terrorist attack and its repercussions. To honor the victims and their families, this site will be offline starting tomorrow and won’t return to normal operation until sometime early next week.


God bless.


    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
Start the Healing Process




by Geoff Young on Sep 13, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
Cal League playoffs cancelled. Lake Elsinore and San Jose have been named co-champions. It’s not really fair but who cares.


Over in Japan, Tuffy Rhodes needs one homer in the final 12 games to break Sadahuru Oh’s single-season record of 55, set back in 1964.


Back home, and having nothing to do with baseball, I strongly urge anyone reading this to give blood or money to the American Red Cross. Visit their web site at www.redcross.org to find out more. Regardless of where you are, every bit helps. Even if your contribution doesn’t directly make it to New York or Washington, it will free up other resources to be used in the relief effort.


We, as citizens of the world, cannot help but feel outrage, disbelief, and a certain sense of despair in the wake of Tuesday’s tragedy. One way — the most practical way for most of us — to start the healing process is by doing something constructive and proactive. Giving real support to relief workers and survivors not only helps to mend bodies, but also helps to mend the spirit.


Forgive the tangent, but the events of Tuesday are not something I’ll soon forget. And I hope nobody else will either. This is devastating beyond all words. Please do what you can to help. It’s all most of us can do.

    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
Neyer Talks about Oswalt




by Geoff Young on Sep 12, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
Rob Neyer has an interesting piece on Roy Oswalt.

    
	
  

 




    
  

 
      
 
A Dark Day for Every American




by Geoff Young on Sep 11, 2001 
     (0) Comments





	
A dark day for every American. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by this horrific act of violence against humanity.


Baseball doesn’t seem to matter much right now. Then again, it helps me keep my sanity (such as it may be) and is a heckuva lot cheaper than getting piss drunk. I’ve posted my report on the first playoff game between High Desert and Lake Elsinore.