Emma Span wonders about Derek Jeter’s mansion: Jeter won’t talk about this – the mansion, not the definition of a boat lift – which is understandable, but I’m genuinely curious as to what his thinking was here. The house is rather symmetrical, leading me to believe it’s two houses in one. Derek’s parents are likely […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:43 pm | Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 28, 2011
Beckett Beaned
Earlier today I noticed that Josh Beckett was hit in the head by a batted ball, but the reports at the time indicated he was okay. Now it seems he has a headache and a chance of a concussion.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:45 pm | Injuries, Pitchers, Uncategorized | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Braden’s Fastball
At Baseball Analytics, I examine how more consistent movement on Dallas Braden‘s fastball helped him improve in 2010.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:12 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Hart Hurt
Tragedy strikes the tragic poet of MTV. Corey Hart will miss at least two weeks with a strained abdominal muscle. As always, better two weeks now that during the regular season.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:10 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Five-Year PMR, Leftfielders
The five year look at PMR using an objective probabilistic model of range continues with leftfielders. Here is the data for the teams in left over the five year span: Team leftfielder PMR, 2006-2010, four parameter objective model built on visiting team data. Team In Play Actual Outs Predicted Outs Actual DER Predicted DER Index […]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:29 pm | Defense, Probabilistic Model of Range | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Towers’s Power
Kevin Towers suffered due to the many changes of CEO in San Diego. He likes his position in Arizona as the GM the owners wanted: Here, Towers is the chosen one, the general manager who reports to the same people who hired him. In San Diego, he had become a holdover inherited by a dizzying […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:43 pm | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 28, 2011
New Bench in Town
Off the Bench is a new baseball blog covering the major leagues. Stop by and say hi.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:12 pm | Blogs | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Lean to the Left
Baseball Bob revives a post noting that Duke Snider was helped by teams seldom throwing left-handed pitchers against the Dodgers.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:09 pm | All-Time Greats | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Goold on Bill James
Derrick Goold writes an excellent profile of Bill James for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: In the past 20 years, it’s become clear that James cannot be taken out of baseball either. From the scoreboards that feature an alphabet soup of stats to the Cy Young Award voting, James’ influence and the rise of sabermetrics are […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:05 pm | Statistics | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Commercial Flying
FanHouse posts a great new Rockies commercial.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:31 am | Advertising | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Buchholz and BABIP
Peter Abraham continues to be a writer who is not afraid to talk about advance statistics in his articles. His latest on Clay Buchholz brings up how the pitcher’s low BABIP in 2010 helped his ERA.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:59 am | Pitchers | Permalink | 2 Comments
February 28, 2011
Ozzie Down the Middle
Ozzie Guillen tried to decide if he should bat Adam Dunn or Alex Rios third, and yesterday he decided on Dunn. The Lineup Analysis Tool took yesterday’s lineup (substituting Mark Teahen at third) and used Marcel projections to see how it would do. Ozzie came out on the high side, with his lineup projected to […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:14 am | Uncategorized | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2011
Wild Perez
One poor spring training start should not matter that much. Oliver Perez, however, needs to show he changed: In allowing four earned runs in two innings, while striking out three, walking three and throwing just 25 of 44 pitches for strikes, Perez did not appear ready to contribute to a major league team. Technically, he […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:48 am | Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 28, 2011
Gray Day
Flip Flop Fly Ballin’ posts video of Pete Gray, the one-armed outfielder.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:32 am | History, Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 28, 2011
Visualizing Gamescores
Kevin Dame presents some nice graphs at The Hardball Times showing a pitcher’s season in game scores.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:28 am | Statistics | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2011
Robinson in the Great White North
Jackie Robinson’s apartment in Montreal received a commemorative plaque.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:32 pm | All-Time Greats | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2011
Behind Ahead
At Baseball Analytics, I look at Yuniesky Betancourt‘s poor hitting ahead in the count.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:09 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2011
Prospect Day
Sam Borden notes a young battery did well for the Yankees today.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:17 pm | Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 27, 2011
Mediation
Terry Francona took care of the war of words between Bobby Jenks and Ozzie Guillen: Jenks, entering his first season with Boston, has been in a back-and-forth exchange with his former White Sox manager since signing with the Red Sox as a free agent. Francona said on Sunday that he has reached out to Guillen […]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:58 pm | Management | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 27, 2011
Snider Passes
Duke Snider died: Duke Snider, one of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Boys of Summer and one of three outstanding New York center fielders in the 1950s, died Sunday. He was 84. Snider died at the Valle Vista Convalescent Hospital in Escondido, the Dodgers announced. No cause was given. In 18 seasons, Snider posted a .295/.380/.540 slash […]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:38 pm | All-Time Greats, Deaths | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 27, 2011
Humidor Talk
Joe Torre doesn’t buy into conspiracies. I really like this statement on monitoring the humidor at Coors Field: Torre said if numerous teams complain, he would have to investigate, but he doesn’t foresee that being the case. And for one specific reason: It’s baseball, and people talk. “Too many players change teams, so this stuff […]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:25 pm | Equipment | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 27, 2011
Tender Utley
The Phillies held out Chase Utley due to patellar tendonitis. He can hit, but it hurts to make sharp turns in the field. At the moment, this seems to be a minor injury.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:35 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2011
Analytics Hub
The Boston Globe runs a story on the sports analytics boom in the Boston area. Jessica Gelman and Daryl Morey, co-chairs of the MIT-Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, are featured prominently. Gleman is VP of the Patriots while Morey runs the Houston Rockets, and used to work for the Celtics. I will be attending the conference […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:46 am | Statistics | Permalink | 2 Comments
February 27, 2011
Out of Context Comparison
In an article about David Ortiz‘s future with the Red Sox, Nick Cafardo makes this comparison: It’s interesting that Ortiz’s 32-102 numbers were almost identical to Gonzalez’s 31-101 last season. Gonzalez had a slightly better OPS (.904-.899), but this is where the perception of Ortiz gets a little fuzzy — that he’s a player on […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:12 am | Players | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 27, 2011
Unhip
Justin Duchscherer’s hip is bothering him again. Asked about his level of frustration, Duchscherer replied, “Ten out of 10. I hope I wasn’t rude yesterday. I just wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. It’s been a long road. It’s certainly difficult. “I know what it’s supposed to feel like, and I know the […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:51 am | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2011
Torre and Robinson
Murray Chass rips Bud Selig over the hiring of Joe Torre while passing over Frank Robinson. Chass also claims that Selig is not the driving force for diversity in baseball: But taking a closer look at Selig’s contribution to diversity developments, he doesn’t deserve as much credit as he has received. Not that he’ll talk […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:51 am | Commissioner | Permalink | No Comments
February 26, 2011
The Wang Way
Chien-Ming Wang is ahead of schedule: Wang has seemingly recaptured the sinking action on his fastball that once helped him win 19 games in consecutive seasons for the New York Yankees. During his live batting practice session today – watched by front office assistant Bob Boone, pitching coach Steve McCatty, Manager Jim Riggleman and Rizzo […]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:30 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 3 Comments
February 26, 2011
Xoom Photo
Phoebe the schnoodle.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:56 pm | Uncategorized | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 26, 2011
Big Shoulders
I just saw Job a Chamberlain pitch the third inning for the Yankees. He does not look fat. All the new weight appears to be in his shoulders. He hit 94 on the radar gun, striking out one as he retired the side in order.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:08 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 26, 2011
Kinsler to the Top
Ron Washington confirmed that Ian Kinsler will lead off. I looked at the Rangers lineup when the rumor was first floated.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:51 pm | Management, Offense, Strategy | Permalink | No Comments