Subject: Baseball
Date: Tue Feb 14 11:09:04 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Figgered you'd like that, bucko. Didn't want to throw this other one out there until those interested had had a chance to digest some of it. This other one many will already be aware of --- BUT.......BUT there's an almost overwhelming richness to discover diving deeper into some of the wild and crazy (yes, truly) stories of the old-timers. I almost don't want to make recommendations as to specifics, because "the unknowns" may not be so unknown once one digs in just a smidgen. The link I'm posting is to just one such world that one might not find for a long time. Beyond that, I might append some other ideas below this paragraph. But one can just plug in their favorite (or not) name into the search box and go into rabbit holes untold. Warning: any baseball afficionado can easily spend days herein. There are numerous hyperlinks imbedded within each write-up, so the rabbit holes just keep multiplying.
OK, I can highly recommend these, but not necessarily above any 30 others:
Dick Allen* (*required reading)
Stan Musial
Rob Kanehl (late in life worked as a caddy at the Bel Air Country Club in L.A.!)
Hal Trosky (you DO NOT know as much about him as you should)
Gus Zernial (same as with Trosky)
Lou Skizas (who knew about his academic career?)
Rico Carty (one of 16 kids(!); started as a catcher (who knew?))
Cal Ermer (1-day MLB career, but still a great story)
Maury Wills (did you know one of his banjos is in the Country Music Hall of Fame?)
Richie Hebner (gravedigger in the off-season; very dear friends were his friends in H.S.; maybe a better hockey player)
Jim Mooney (personal friend who allowed me to (briefly) witness the Gas House Gang 'show'; also strong academic career)
Ed Kranepool (amazing and diverse life; not all detailed in this SABR article)
Link: Bo and Dean: A Lifetime Friendship
Date: Tue Feb 14 16:51:11 2023
User: Klepp
Message:No-shift rule portends a .380 batting title, I suspect.
Date: Tue Feb 14 17:17:25 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:That one is even more asinine than the DH. Maybe even way more. "Asterisks all around, please." Kinda unfathomable. Hopefully some teams will adjust by bringing the CF way in and shifting the LF over. Pandering, pandering, pandering.
Date: Sat Feb 18 16:45:00 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Reminiscing with my Pop today, talking about the good old baseball days in Wisconsin: back when 44 was a kid, Spahn was throwing BBs as a 40yo, and Eddie Mathews was still here smashing homers...it caused me to recall an instance back in '07, when I was pulling auto parts on the Forest Home Ave. warehouse for my manager/owner Dad...JOHNNY LOGAN had his own little parts shop, he being a regular purveyor of parts/service to the public, and, he SHOWED UP one day at our warehouse...my Dad says to me "Hey, this is SS Johnny Logan of the champion Braves team."...and I looked and said I was honored to meet a Major Leaguer...he seemed like an extremely friendly, jovial guy...had he been drinking? Who knows? But his response to me was: "Are you a Brewers fan?"
My retort: "From cradle to grave, sir."
He nearly fell over laughing he cackled so hard...made me feel good to spread a little light-heartedness...
He's no longer with us, passed away in '13...
Link: Johnny Logan
Date: Sat Feb 18 16:55:33 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Nice story. Good ol' County Stadium. I assume you've read the SABR article about him from the link I posted above, but juuuust in case.....................
Link: Johnny Logan's story
Date: Sat Feb 18 18:27:06 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Thanks for the link...makes me feel proud to have cracked him up the very very few minutes I joked with him...
Date: Sat Feb 18 18:30:45 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Your mention of County Stadium makes me recall its scent of stale beer, with the echoing of stomped upon beer cups POPPING!! post-game...nothing like that today...
Date: Sat Feb 18 18:38:15 2023
User: Klepp
Message:How is it that only NOW am I bookmarking this fabulous site? (SABR)
Date: Sat Feb 18 18:57:33 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:I have no idea. I provided it above - with a strong warning that one will struggle not to get lost in it, and made some suggested ideas for further exploration.
Date: Tue Feb 21 18:08:24 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Link doesn't work, fyi.
Date: Tue Feb 21 18:58:20 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Did mrbuck, as Asst. GM of the Nats, facilitate this move? Or did he at least approve it?
Date: Fri Feb 24 16:01:41 2023
User: Klepp
Message:"On Wednesday afternoon, the Indianapolis Indians announced that they will be keeping the name they’ve had since 1902 and have entered a partnership with the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana, who encouraged them to keep the name."
An old Ho-Chunk buddy of mine says he always rooted for the Cleveland Indians (while keeping his blood true blue Brew Crew)...
Some indigenous people whine about it, some relish it.
Link: Baseball team refuses to change controversial name
Date: Fri Feb 24 16:04:02 2023
User: Klepp
Message:In fact (I'm pretty sure), American baseball is a mix of (of course) cricket, and an indigenous game played here in North America for centuries!!!
Date: Fri Feb 24 16:51:00 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Well, Hallelujah!! Too bad they're in Indianapolis.
Date: Fri Feb 24 17:17:14 2023
User: mrbuck
Message:Hmmmm, I posted (I thought) on the Luke Voit matter but perhaps I did it wrong or I annoyed the mod here, I'm betting on I did it wrong.
So when Voit became a Nat as a throw in with the Juan Soto trade because Eric Hosmer invoked his no trade clause rather than become a Nat, I was lukewarm (see what I did there) to him joining the Nats. He seemed like a batter who had lost his way. He started out well, then fizzled, then really fizzled and I wasn't surprised when the Nats non tendered him rather than go to arbitration.
He might make the Brewers a semi capable depth piece if they can keep him stashed in the minors.
The nats were the worst team in baseball last year so for them to release him speaks volumes, either about his current skills of the Nats ability to assess talent.
Either way, good luck Klepp.
mrbuck
Date: Fri Feb 24 17:38:57 2023
User: olblue
Message:You'd win that bet, mrbuck!
Date: Fri Feb 24 18:24:27 2023
User: mrbuck
Message:I thought so.
Still,
.anvil olblue
mrbuck
Date: Fri Feb 24 20:00:41 2023
User: Klepp
Message:He's suffered through knee problems...maybe all he needs is the right hitting coach to return to the form he had with NYY...either way, won't cost cash-strapped MIL more than a million or two (very most)...his drive will be the big cash that waits elsewhere, sorta like Hideo Nomo did with the Brewers back in the day ('98, I think)...no pressure in Brewtown.
Date: Mon Feb 27 07:50:06 2023
User: mrbuck
Message:I've watched a lot of baseball games the past five or so years and I can't wait for robo umps.
mrbuck
Date: Mon Feb 27 15:26:47 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Ahhh, televised baseball daily (today NYM/STL) after the winter lay-off...the world seems a tad more normal.
Date: Tue Mar 7 18:36:25 2023
User: MrFixit
Message:So thoughts on the new pitch clock? Man, games go so fast, advertisers are not going to be happy, right? I know they're selling less beer and less concessions. I personally don't mind the increased pace although I kinda enjoyed the pitcher/batter dance before. Scherzer said it's good for pitchers but it seems pretty tough on 'em.
Date: Thu Mar 9 03:30:45 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Very cool to see MIL Brewer Dave Nilsson managing the Aussies.
Link: Dave Nilsson
Date: Sun Mar 12 01:35:53 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:VERY deep and esoteric sabermetrics discussion about when to swing and when to take.
Warning: It's fairly light reading for the first few paragraphs, but after "Hey, batter, batter!.....", things stiffen quickly. It's really about "quantifying swing decisions" - which is sorta stuff we've all 'kinda' thought about all our (baseball) lives, but without the computer capabilities to do that quantification. So it could also maybe be called "The Ted Williams-ification of hitting for those not so innately blessed".
"Baseball is hard", as is often quipped. It's an axiom that hitting a baseball thrown by a major league pitcher may be the hardest thing in sports. One can try and challenge that, and of course so much of that would be definitional......but man, it's up there.
Link: To swing.............or not to swing
Date: Sun Mar 12 10:14:01 2023
User: MrFixit
Message:And I've read about how the hitter has about 100ms to make a decision on a pitch. How, with the pacing of the new pitch clock, will the hitter have time to run the numbers and then factor in the likelihood of infield grounder or popup into his swing decision? I haven't seen Juan Soto since the pitch clock thing. What's he look like?
Date: Sun Mar 12 18:15:23 2023
User: Klepp
Message:I miss watching Vlad G. hit pitches way out of the zone for extra-base hits.
Date: Sun Mar 12 19:40:36 2023
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:Henry Aaron was also known for getting extra base hits on balls out of the strike zone.
Date: Sun Mar 12 20:05:46 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:Vlad was an extreme anomaly - but of course that would apply to Aaron and Williams (in a different way), too - and actually to any hitter who can make a decent living doing that job. Just a question of degree. To hit .275 in the majors is an amazing skill; to hit .310 is truly extraordinary. To hit above that, consistently, is rarefied air indeed, and is the result of some sort of gift.
Date: Sun Mar 12 20:34:03 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Regarding not swinging: maybe it becomes a way bigger deal when automated umps are used to call balls/strikes, since (I'm pretty sure) the zone will almost exclusively *shrink* viz a viz umps' current zones.
Date: Sun Mar 12 20:45:21 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:It will/would be fascinating to revisit these stats after the robots take control of the zone. Great point.
Date: Sat Mar 18 04:04:03 2023
User: Klepp
Message:"Giant Willie McCovey bunted hard down the third base line when the shift was on."--Wiki
Back in the day I thought my Pop wore 44 playing softball in honor of Hammerin' Hank, but no, it was respect for lefty Willie McCovey.
Date: Sat Mar 18 04:16:44 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Is .780 OPS too much to expect from a middle infielder? Hopefully not, considering rule changes...
Date: Thu Mar 23 02:36:37 2023
User: Klepp
Message:First pitch: approx. 180 hrs.
Date: Sun Mar 26 01:28:47 2023
User: Klepp
Message:Approx. 108 hrs. to first pitch.
Date: Sun Mar 26 03:45:59 2023
User: TNmountainman
Message:I would hope most here have read Dave Barry's hilarious account of the exploding whale. Well..........Florence, Oregon has now seen fit to name a "memorial park" at the site, the Exploding Whale State Park, and so I guess this is a promotion tied to that.
Link: The Exploding Whales take the field!
Date: Mon Mar 27 00:47:54 2023
User: Klepp
Message:I'm curious who OK'ed the idea in Florence, Oregon to blow up the unlucky, beached whale...hopefully that person was deposed, or at least never re-elected.
Date: Mon Mar 27 04:14:20 2023
User: Klepp
Message:I once read an in-depth (sort of) ranking of all-time baseball players, and Willie was number one...I believe Ruth and *44* made up two and three...Mike Trout and Dimaggio were in the teens, if I recall...it'll be interesting to see where Ohtani ends up all-time...top thirty, I'd suspect (higher than Judge, let's be honest)...
Link: Willie Mays
Date: Mon Mar 27 04:24:54 2023
User: Klepp
Message:I'm just old enough to remember the '75-'76 REDS, best team I ever saw...some jack-asses say the '98 Yankees, uh-uh, I'd say--fifth or sixth, maybe--after '27 Yankees, Big Red Machine, '72-'74 Athletics, 1908 Cubs, 1918 Black Sox, one or two others...
Link: Big Red Machine
Date: Wed Mar 29 20:09:48 2023
User: Klepp
Message:How about revenge for the Padres' '98 WS?
SD sweeps NYY...Tony would like it...(it could happen).
Link: HOFer Tony Gwynn
Date: Thu Mar 30 05:16:33 2023
User: Klepp
Message:PLAY BALL!
Date: Thu Mar 30 05:57:10 2023
User: Klepp
Message:I habituate fewer than 100 miles NNW of Wrigley Field, where MIL takes on CHC at 1:20 local time...ii is now a mere seventeen degrees...Fahrenheit, not Celsius...forecast clear, and I suspect "wind chills" in the thirties, possibly twenties...
Date: Thu Mar 30 10:21:51 2023
User: MrFixit
Message:I will be watching 2 games today, the Cards at 1:10pm my time, and then LAA at 7:07pm.
Has anybody seen the videos about the "pepper grinder" being a craze in Japan courtesy of Noot and Ohtani? The video below shows some Japanese political figures trying to do the "pepper grinder" and looking pretty lame at it.
Link: Japanese politicians trying to grind the pepper
Date: Fri Mar 31 03:39:59 2023
User: Klepp
Message:"The first Opening Day since 1900 where multiple players got five hits."--Commissioner Manfred got what he wanted, whew!
(George Springer and an Adley Rutschman).
Date: Fri Mar 31 04:05:27 2023
User: Katya
Message:Cards lost a back and forth squeaker to Toronto by 1 run in spite of getting 15 hits. Too bad Waino couldn't have pitched it, but he's on the 15 day disabled list after an injury at the WBC. He did sing the National Anthem for opening day, though. Not a bad rendition, but a little slow.
Date: Fri Mar 31 07:57:50 2023
User: BuzzClik
Message:Maybe we need an anthem clock to move it along.
Date: Fri Mar 31 10:04:48 2023
User: MrFixit
Message:Anthem clock. LOL. I just usually wait for 15 mins after start time to turn on the game. Don't help in person tho.
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