4/26 Venting, Cheering, Huff's Ding Dongs, Sandsapalooza³

[wrveres]

Okay not a real Sandsaplaooza, i just want to know if you picked him up .. Looks like he is starting to heat up.

Should I feel sorry for Dodger fans? Not a chance in hell!!

SI.com:Jon Heyman spoke to a person close to the team that said it was the IRS, not MLB's takeover that sent the Dodgers' office into a panic. The McCourts managed to take $100MM from the team but didn't pay taxes for seven years.

Passan: Barring a bountiful summer, MLB is going to bleed fans for the fourth consecutive year. Through 320 games this season, attendance is down 506 tickets per game. Over 2,430 games, it would add up to 1,229,580 fewer tickets, which would drop MLB to levels unseen since the early 2000s, just when commissioner Bud Selig was beginning to throw around his Golden Era talking point.

Power Rankings, done right?

Beyond the box score: Power Rankings: Behind the scenes, we delve further than just runs scored and allowed, to the run distributions, more readily available advanced stats like wOBA, wRC, FIP, xFIP, DRS, UZR, etc., as well as a Base Runs systems adjusted for BABIP and HR/FB%. Plus our guts and a dartboard, for that one team that you think we got horribly, horribly wrong

wise advice

Andy Behrens: There probably isn't an outfielder in your league's free agent pool who offers 30-HR potential without being a severe liability in any category. Don't make a move here just because you're anxious. Maybe you're feeling foolish for paying an expectant price for (Jay) Bruce, but don't compound the error by kicking him to the curb. Following Monday's match-up with lefty Chris Narveson, Cincinnati is scheduled to face five straight right-handers, so it would hardly be a surprise if this were the beginning of the turnaround for Bruce. And even if it's not, you still shouldn't make a desperation move.

Great Trade Tips

As we approach May 1st, trading will start to become a bigger part of league activity. A month isn’t necessarily enough time to assess your team’s strengths and flaws, but injuries and more than anything else, impatience often fuel trade talks. With that in mind, I wanted to offer up some tips to hopefully improve your trading experience whether you start firing up talks in a week or in mid-June

This seemed popular...

Hardball Times:
Day-versaries:
* 1,000 days since Tigers traded Ivan Rodriguez to Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth. I don't care what their ages were, that doesn't sound like an even trade at all.
* 4,000 days since WPA's favorite Ken Griffey Jr. game: 1.011 WPA. He went 3-for-4 with a double and two homer runs, scored three runs, drove in four, plus stole a base and got hit by a pitch in Cincinnati's 8-7 win over Houston.
* 4,000 days since the Mets released Rickey Henderson.
* 4,000 days since Mike Trombley of the Orioles allowed three homers without recording a single out. It's only the fourth time since 1920 that happened (and probably only the fourth time overall).
Anniversaries:
* 1931 Lou Gehrig loses a home run in odd fashion. He hits the ball out of park, it bounces back to outfielder Sam Rice, and the Yankee runner on base thinks it's caught so he goes to the dugout instead of scoring. Ultimately, Gehrig is credited with an outside-the-park triple
* 1941 Wrigley Field becomes first ballpark with an organ. Cubs lose, 6-2
* 1997 Roberto Alomar thrice homers in one game. In all, he's 4-for-4 with 6 RBIs and a sac fly.
* 2005 Alex Rodriguez hits three home runs in one game and gets 10 RBIs. That's the most RBIs in a game by a third baseman since at least 1920, probably ever. He's 4-for-5 on the day

One for the nerds.
I suggest some of you stand in front of the mirror, and practice these lines at least 20 minutes a day.

Fan Graphs; How to Speak Sabermetrics to a Mainstream Audience:there are ways to use a statistic without delving into the specifics: “Mauer has a high walk rate, walking as often as he strikes out, which helps him reach base in 40% of his plate appearances.” That’s a lot easier to reach than, “Mauer has a career 12.1% BB%, which is higher than his career 11.4% K%, and his career OBP is a robust .406.”...“And when you look at his peripheral statistics, Cliff Lee was 38 percent better than average at things pitchers have the most control over”? ...there are ways to use a statistic without delving into the specifics: “Mauer has a high walk rate, walking as often as he strikes out, which helps him reach base in 40% of his plate appearances.” That’s a lot easier to reach than, “Mauer has a career 12.1% BB%, which is higher than his career 11.4% K%, and his career OBP is a robust .406.”

Hardball Times:The Supreme Court of Fantasy Judgment evaluates a proposed fantasy baseball trade and gives its impartial opinion as to whether the trade is fair and should be approved

Greys greatest hits:

Kosuke Fukudome – 5-for-5, hitting .478 on the year. He’s always been an April hitter. That gives you four more days before the clock strikes crap

Just some player news that interests me, and maybe you, but mostly me.

Ryan Ludwick homered in the third and 13th innings to propel the Padres to a 5-3 win over the Braves on Monday

Jered Weaver went the distance for win No. 6 tonight, throwing 114 pitches in a shutout of the A's

Jose Bautista continued to be impossible to retire against the Rangers on Monday night, going 1-for-2 with a home run and two walks in a 6-4 Blue Jays victory. Bautista's homer was his fourth in four games

Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters that Phil Hughes' Monday bullpen session did not go well

First baseman Carlos Pena has a career .217 average in the first month of the season, so his slow start is not unusual.

Fukudome leads all active players (minimum 300 plate appearances) with a lifetime April average of .339 (92-for-271).

Matt Holliday is hitting .373 (19-for-51) since coming back from an appendectomy, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports. Holliday said he is far more comfortable in his second season of his long-term deal than he was in the first season. He said he felt he had to prove his worth a bit during the first year.

The 'ol "Unnamed Separate Observer" writers trick rears its ugly head.

Bruce Bochy acknowledged that SP Madison Bumgarner needs to make mental and mechanical adjustments to his game. Bochy thinks Bumgarner may be pressing too much not to allow runs. "He's in a mode where, if things start to go a little awry, he's got to learn to control it a bit," Bochy said. A separate observer thinks Bumgarner needs to keep his hand at the proper upward angle to stay on top of his pitches while attacking hitters with a low three-quarters delivery. If he doesn't, his breaking ball stays flat and is a "hit me" pitch. He will start again against the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday, April 27.

You should probably add Mayberry to your watch lists as this kid has stupid, stupid power. He just needs a full time gig.

Raul Ibanez could lose playing time to OF John Mayberry Jr. against left-handed hitters. Charlie Manuel said he will consider sitting Ibanez more often if it benefits the offensive production. "More than likely, he's in there (tonight)," Manuel said. "You try to put guys in the field who can help us win that day. I think Raul, from a mental standpoint, needed a day off."

From the SicX-files.

Josh M. Johnson attributes his success this season to the fact that he has been throwing more offspeed pitches early in games. "In the past, it was locate your fastball first and then start going to your other stuff," Johnson said. "Since I started throwing (the changeup and curveball), my slider has been getting locked in. It's been helping my fastball and everything else. That's been huge for me."

From Twitter:

David Price: Is it bad that when I went to the Mall of America the amount of rides I rode surpassed the amount of stores I went into?!?! Im a child

From my bench.

Ian Kennedy halted the Phillies' five-game winning streak in dominating fashion on Monday night, striking out 10 as he hurled a three-hit shutout in a 4-0 Diamondbacks victory

[wrveres]

todays games - todays weather - bullpen report

Royals (12-10) @ Indians (13-8), 7:05pm
  KCR: Luke Hochevar (27, RHP, 2-2, 5.12)
  CLE: Justin Masterson (26, RHP, 4-0, 1.71)

WhiteSox (9-14) @ Yankees (12-7), 7:05pm
  CHW: Gavin Floyd (28, RHP, 2-1, 4.00)
  NYY: Ivan Nova (24, RHP, 1-2, 7.63)

RedSox (10-11) @ Orioles (8-12), 7:05pm
  BOS: Clay Buchholz (26, RHP, 1-2, 5.31)
  BAL: (2011, RHP, 0-0, undef)

Mariners (8-15) @ Tigers (12-10), 7:05pm
  SEA: Felix Hernandez (25, RHP, 2-2, 3.38)
  DET: Phil Coke (28, LHP, 1-3, 2.75)

Blue Jays (10-12) @ Rangers (14-8), 8:05pm
  TOR: Jesse Litsch (26, RHP, 1-1, 3.63)
  TEX: Matt Harrison (25, LHP, 3-1, 1.88)

Rays (11-11) @ Twins (9-12), 8:10pm
  TBR: Wade Davis (25, RHP, 2-2, 2.73)
  MIN: Francisco Liriano (27, LHP, 1-3, 7.40)

Athletics (11-12) @ Angels (13-10), 10:05pm
  OAK: Brandon McCarthy (27, RHP, 1-1, 2.10)
  LAA: (2011, RHP, 0-0, undef)

Giants (10-11) @ Pirates (10-12), 7:05pm
  SFG: Matt Cain (26, RHP, 2-1, 3.42)
  PIT: Charlie Morton (27, RHP, 2-1, 3.33)

Mets (9-13) @ Nationals (10-11), 7:05pm
  NYM: Chris Young (32, RHP, 1-0, 1.46)
  WSN: Jordan Zimmermann (25, RHP, 1-3, 3.70)

Dodgers (12-12) @ Marlins (14-7), 7:10pm
  LAD: Clayton Kershaw (23, LHP, 2-2, 3.00)
  FLA: Chris Volstad (24, RHP, 1-1, 6.60)

Cardinals (12-10) @ Astros (8-14), 8:05pm
  STL: Jaime Garcia (24, LHP, 3-0, 1.44)
  HOU: Bud Norris (26, RHP, 1-1, 4.91)

Rockies (15-7) @ Cubs (10-12), 8:05pm
  COL: Jorge de la Rosa (30, LHP, 3-0, 3.00)
  CHC: James Russell (25, LHP, 1-2, 8.00)

Reds (12-11) @ Brewers (11-11), 8:10pm
  CIN: Mike Leake (23, RHP, 3-0, 4.94)
  MIL: Marco Estrada (27, RHP, 1-0, 3.21)

Phillies (15-7) @ D'backs (9-12), 9:40pm
  PHI: Roy Oswalt (33, RHP, 3-0, 1.88)
  ARI: Daniel Hudson (24, RHP, 0-4, 5.92)

Braves (11-13) @ Padres (9-14), 10:05pm
  ATL: Jair Jurrjens (25, RHP, 1-0, 0.69)
  SDP: Aaron Harang (33, RHP, 4-0, 1.88)

I gots lots of pitchers on the pill today. heres hoping all their infielders are beaned up too.

Starting:
Hernandez .. He's the King. its a no brainer.
Both Hudson and Oswalt in this beauty .. i'd probably sit Hudson if it was an inings capped roto league, but its H2H, so he gets the call too.
Zimmerman(n) .. Yes!. I love this kid. So underrated. That'll change this year. Straus who? Um 'scuse me .. thats two N's. one N is on third.
Harang .. You betcha. 5-0????
McCarthy .. this is the new and improved Brandon McCarthy. He has like 5 excellent starts lined up in a row. i plan on capitalizing on that. He gonna get me a bat. a good one too.
DeLaRosa .. H2H so he goesfor the K's.

Sitting:
Gavin Floyd. Even in H2H

[AussieDodger]

Two teams already 6.5 back, Seattle (NOT surprising) and the San Diego Super Padres
Seattle have Brendan Ryan and the rotting corpse of Jack Cust as starters. Over/under 60 wins?

Red Sox 8-2 over their last 10 with an allegedly fixed Beckett and DiceK. Look out AL.

Starting: Jaime Garica, Jorge De La Rosa x2
Sitting: Gavin Floyd @NYY

[bigh0rt]

Liriano vs TB and Oswalt @ Ari, to try and rectify the fact that I sat Arroyo yesterday who outscored both the SP I actually started...

[Grounded Polo]

At this point, I'll keep starting Liriano. My H2HWS team is an absolute disaster. Hanley, Liriano, Bumgarner, Alvarez, Lind, Choo, Dempster, Snider, just horrendous everywhere. At least my other 4 teams are good.

[bigken117]

* 1997 Roberto Alomar thrice homers in one game. In all, he's 4-for-4 with 6 RBIs and a sac fly.

Tried to sneak one in past us?


Sitting Liriano in a roto league with an innings cap, starting him in my H2H
Benching Hudson in my H2H

[wrveres]

* 1997 Roberto Alomar thrice homers in one game. In all, he's 4-for-4 with 6 RBIs and a sac fly.

Tried to sneak one in past us?

? ya lost me ?

Chris Young: From 2004 to 2011, Facing current players for Washington Nationals .. 77 plate appearances .145 obp

[bigken117]

you tried to say Alomar once hit 3 HR in one game? That's a well known fact that it's impossible.

[Dan Lambskin]

Okay not a real Sandsaplaooza, i just want to know if you picked him up .. Looks like he is starting to heat up.

of course he is since i just dropped him for Pat Burrell

[wrveres]

you tried to say Alomar once hit 3 HR in one game? That's a well known fact that it's impossible.

ah. well. technically, i didn't type anything. i just hit '"ctrl c" "ctrl v" . .. i'd look it up if i wasn't so lazy. i'll assume the guy who did write it did his homework, and well, thats good enough for me. if this is in regards to the original authors horrible use of the word, twrice, well then, im sorry. it is what it is. or so they say. cookie crumbles, and all that jazz.