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Around SBN: Worst-To-First: Which NFL Team Can Make The Jump In 2012?

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ARock

May 08, 2009 May 15, 2012 11 820

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Lookout Landing Lookout Landing 2012 (bigger) Dance pool

Pool Number: 250

Password: felix <------------ Here is the password!

Name: Lookout Landing 2012 Dance pool


I have created a pool for the (bigger) dance for lookout landing.

Link to the site for the dance brackets:

http://thedance.seainternet.com/

Go to Interact -> Join an office pool and search for Lookout Landing to join.




Lets see how we all do this year!
Last year I placed 9th and won a TV. Maybe one of us will win it all this time!

Feel free to share thoughts on who will win in this thread. Maybe it will help someone out.

21 comments  | 

Lookout Landing (Bigger) Dance LL pool

Is anyone interested in a Lookout Landing pool for KJR's The Dance brackets?

We did one for the NCAA tournament and it was fun (even though I got killed). 

 

I created a Lookout Landing pool:

Pool #: 1019

Password: mariners

 

Go here to join: http://thedance.seainternet.com/pooljoin.aspx

You just need to register at the site and fill out a bracket.  (I don't know if you can join the pool before finishing your bracket or not).

 

Hopefully some people will join, maybe one of us will finish in the prizes.

34 comments  | 

Field Gulls NFC West Playoff Flowchart (before week 16)

Here is the NFC West playoff flowchart (as created by me in MS Paint).

Nfcwest_medium

via img33.imageshack.us

If the Rams beat the 49ers this week, then the Seahawks game against the Bucs doesnt matter.  The winner of Rams vs Seahawks makes the playoffs.

If the 49ers beat the Rams this week, but lose to the Cardinals next week, then the winner of Rams vs Seahawks makes the playoffs.

If the 49ers beat the Rams this week AND the Cardinals next week, its more complicated.  Here, the 49ers make the playoffs automatically if the Seahawks lost to the Bucs week 16.  But if the Hawks won week 16, then the Seahawks make it if they beat the Rams week 17, and the 49ers make it if the Rams win.

The outcome of Seahawks versus Bucs only matters if the 49ers beat the Rams AND the 49ers beat the Cardinals.  Otherwise it is irrelevant.

Note: If a game results in a tie then that could change things.  I am assuming no ties here.

I have verified the accuracy of these scenarios using NFL Playoff Machine:  

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

32 comments  |  9 recs | 

Lookout Landing Ichiro's deal with the Devil (The Secret History of Ichiro and the Mariners, 2001-future)

Note: No one take this seriously, its for fun.  I'm an Ichiro fan.  Parts of this are intended to be ironic.

 

Ichiro.  The little magician.  A man of mystery, of enigmatic quotes.  But few know the dark truth behind the mask, the source of his power.

The year was 2000, and Japanese baseball great Ichiro Suzuki, unsatisfied with his accomplishments in Japanese baseball, impressive though they were, yearned for more.  And thus, like Faust before him, Ichiro made a deal with the Devil.  While Faust had sought knowledge, and had sold his soul for 12 years of power, pleasure, and knowledge of all things, Ichiro looked for something different.  Baseball Prowess, Agelessness, and above all, 200 hit seasons.

And thus was the deal made.  Ichiro would come to play in the Major Leagues, where he would have unparalleled success in his most cherished statistical category.  He would never age, a fact which he would be forced to explain away with a rigorous exercise schedule.  He would have 12 years of power.  12 years and baseball immortality, for the price of his own immortality.

 

2001:

It started out like a dream.  Agreeing to a contract with the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro helped lead his team to a record 116 victories in their first year.  He was awarded the rookie of the year, and collected the first of his many 200 hit seasons, with 242.  Everyone adored him.  The Seattle fans.  All of Japan.  Anyone trying to play MLB hitting streak games.  But the dream could not last forever, as deals with the Devil are never as they seem. (And Ichiro had been unable to read the fine print on his contract, written in a mixture of English, Latin, and even some Pig Latin thrown in for good measure).

For while Ichiro would have his 12 seasons of 200+ hits, his team would also be cursed.  They would forever perform well in odd numbered years, playing above their talent, but poorly in even numbered years.  This was but one of the curses that Ichiro would now face, that would be revealed in time.

 

2002:

While the team was cursed, it was still quite talented, and the Devil was angered.  The Devil is powerful, of course, but he is not All Powerful.  His curse was proving ineffective, and Ichiro's team, the Mariners, looked poised to reach the playoffs.

The Devil, diabolical as he is, came up with a scheme to both satisfy his curse and net him another soul in the process.  And thus he tempted Billy Beane, GM of the Oakland As, with knowledge and power.  Beane took the bait, and sold his soul to the Devil as well.  Oakland won its next 20 games, taking Seattle out of the playoff picture.  Ichiro's team was crushed.  Beane's curse would later be revealed as well.  His shit would not work in the playoffs.  (Meaning both that his team would lose playoff series, and also in another way). 

 

2003:

Ichiro, in testing the boundaries of his new, Devil-given powers, now discovered that he in fact had gained the power to hit Home runs at will.  Not only that, but he had the ability to pitch incredibly well too, and could have been an ace pitcher. 

But he also discovered that these powers were merely a temptation for him to suffer, a trick played on him by the Devil.  He could use them, but if he did, his power to collect hits would vanish.  If he used his powers to pitch or to hit more than about 10 home runs a year, his dream of 12 200+ hit seasons would vanish and his agelessness would be lost. 

Ichiro cursed the Devil for this temptation but made his choice.  He would stick with his beloved singles, and forego the other powers offered to him.  Still he could not help but let it slip that if he willed, he could hit homers whenever he liked, or strike out any batter in the league, and thus did his legend grow.

 

2004:

The even numbered year curse yet again in effect, the collapse now begun for Ichiro's team.  Talented players like Mike Cameron had been let go in the off-season, and the team became a shell of its former self. 

Seeing this, Ichiro approached the Devil again, to ask what was up.  The Devil explained to him that there was a cost for his hits, and that the more successful he was at getting his singles, the more his team would suffer.  The Devil offered him a choice: He could break the record for hits in a year, but his team would suffer horribly, or he could give up his dream of 200+ hit seasons, and his team would make a miraculous turnaround.

But Ichiro's heart was selfish, and he longed for the season hits record.  Casting aside thoughts of his team's success, he chose to hit as many singles as possible, and thus brought doom upon the Mariners, who collapsed into a 63-99 season. 

As fans gradually learned of this, some of them, those who were the most knowledgeable and insightful, made the connection between Ichiro's hits and their team’s demise, and thus realized how much this selfish Ichiro was hurting their team.  They called for him to use his powers, to hit his Home runs at will, to bring their team glory, but instead Ichiro chose to hurt his team with his singles.

 

2005:

Ichiro's 2005 team was a wreck, and even the positive odd numbered year could only help them to 6 more wins than in 2004.  The Devil had approached Mariners GM Bill Bavasi and offered him great intelligence and playoff success in return for his soul, but Bavasi (described by all who knew him as an extremely nice person), refused the offer.

You might think that the Devil then cursed him for this insult, but in truth the Devil has no power over those not under his control.  And thus the Devil left Bavasi to bungle things up all on his own.  Bavasi saved his soul, though he would be eternally cursed by fans for not taking the deal. 

 

2006:

By now, Ichiro had become well versed in English, yet he continued to hide behind translators in interviews.  Little did they guess the true reason, he was attempting to keep them from learning of his deal with the Devil, and used every tool he could, including the fake language barrier, to this end.

Meanwhile, the Devil got his revenge on Bavasi, by tricking him into trading for Jose Vidro and offering a contract extension, as a fulfillment of his deal for Vidro’s soul to get him a good job even though he had begun to suck).

 

2007:

The Mariners had become okay again, with just enough talent to compete for the division title with the help of the positive odd numbered year luck.

It was this year that Ichiro's secret was first discovered.  His manager, Mike Hargrove, was the one to discover his secret, and pressured Ichiro to use his powers to hit more home runs, to bat for power, and to work for the betterment of his team.  But Ichiro's 200 hit seasons continued, and he was growing close to the major league record.  He was loathe to give up his dream now, and sacrifice his chance at the record for consecutive 200 hit seasons.

Hargrove attempted to force Ichiro into this path by batting him 3rd, and Ichiro approached the Devil to complain.  The Devil, pleased that Ichiro was sacrificing his teammates success in his pursuit of 200+ hit seasons, sent shadowy figures to approach Hargrove and offered him two choices: To either retire, or to 'be retired'.  Hargrove chose his left and quit the team suddenly, a move that would mystify fans and media members who had no notion of the Devil's interference. 

(The Devil, clever as always, had a second motive for removing Hargrove as well.  For he was in the process of trying to tempt Dave Cameron to sell him his soul, and offered up the removal of Hargrove as a proof of his power).

 

2008:

It was an even numbered year, and the Devil worked his evil by poisoning the Mariner's clubhouse Chemistry, a factor which proved decisive in sending them tumbling to a 101 loss season.  The Devil did this by allowing the truth about Ichiro to be revealed to Carlos Silva, a member of the 'In-N-Out Burger Crusaders for the Light', a secret society of Christians who work to bring down those individuals who had made deals with the Devil.  (Their Burger joints are a front and also provide useful meeting places).

Silva, learning the truth about Ichiro, discovered that he was sacrificing his team's success in pursuit of his 200 hit seasons, hurting the team by only caring about piling up hits, sought to attack him in the clubhouse.  Ultimately he was foiled in his attack, but the damage to the team's chemistry was done.

Finally, as the year approached its end, the Devil was again approached by Billy Beane.  Beane, ever scheming to hurt a division opponent, explained to the Devil that his curse of the Mariners this year was actually going to benefit them, as they would obtain the #1 draft pick and thus get Stephen Strasburg, a once in a generation pitching talent.  Beane and the Devil agreed to cause the Mariners to sweep Oakland during the final series of the year in order to deny them the #1 pick.

 

2009:

Ichiro was by this point frustrated with the Devil, as he wasn’t getting much out of the deal other than his stats, but he was too close to breaking the league record to complain.  To get even with the devil, he decided to use his powers in the 2009 WBC in order to aid his Japanese national team.  While he succeeded in helping his team win the contest, the Devil fired back by cursing him with a Bleeding Ulcer.  However, the use of his powers in non-MLB games had not broken his contract, and thus even though he missed games to begin the 2009 season, the Devil allowed Ichiro to reach his desired 200 hit total.

Meanwhile, the Devil had succeeded in tempting the soul of Dave Cameron, and took his soul in return for the firing of Bavasi, the hiring of an intelligent GM and front office that would pay attention to sabermetrics, internet fame, and a paying job writing about baseball for Fangraphs.  As part of his deal, Cameron would be forced to assign the Devil's number '6' to the Mariners in his Fangraphs organizational rankings next year.   

(Cameron's blogging partner, Derek Zumsteg, found out about the deal and left their mutual baseball blog as a result, but did not reveal Cameron's secret to the fans, claiming personal reasons for leaving instead.  Another Mariner's blogger, Jeff Sullivan of Lookout Landing, did not fare quite so well in his negotiations with the Devil, managing only to secure as a price for his soul a lifetime supply of Beer).

Ichiro's team was back on its path to respectability, and 2009 being an odd numbered year, the team would be relatively successful.  While you might expect otherwise, new Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik did not sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for all his 2009 off-season moves being amazing.  Rather, the Devil had decided to enhance the Mariners numbered-years curse and blessing, because it amused him, and thus he caused all free agent signings that Zduriencik made in 2009 to work incredibly well (Branyan, etc), while all signings he would make in even numbered years (Figgins, Byrnes, etc), would fail completely.  (Mariner's fans would be shocked by the 2011 team later on, as Miguel Olivo went on to win the year's MVP award).

The observant reader might note that not all of Jack’s 2010 off-season moves worked out horribly, citing the Cliff Lee trade.  However, the Devil allowed this to happen, as it was a part of another of his schemes.  The Devil had offered Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, to get Roy Halladay in exchange for his soul. Amaro accepted, but hadn’t read the fine print which forced him to trade away Cliff Lee as part of the deal.  (And thus, the 3 team trade occurred that send Halladay to the Phillies, Lee to the Mariners for prospects, prospects from the Phillies to the Blue Jays and Brandon Morrow to the Jays for Brandon League.  For some reason, the fact that the Brandon swap was part of the deal was kept secret, and we haven’t been able to figure out why, beyond the fact that someone selling their soul to the devil was involved somehow.  Like it apparently is in EVERYTHING). 

 

2010:

During the season, the Mariner's even year curse struck once again, and this time the Devil was especially angry.  For the Devil had approached Ken Griffey Jr. during the off-season and offered him the chance to go out in a blaze of Glory in exchange for his soul.  But Griffey, who had refused steroids earlier in his career that would have enabled him to overcome his injuries and gain the all time Home run title, also refused the Devil's offer.  The Devil set upon Griffey with his fury.  He cursed him to never hit another home run again (which had the side benefit of frustrating many Mariners fans on the internet who had entered

into an unwise 'Griffey challege'), and he caused him to become lethargic, and unable to remain awake at critical moments. 

Thus did the Devil bring about Griffey's downfall, as his curse caused him to fall asleep during games, and to play as if he was asleep during the times he was awake.  Ichiro, ever an admirer of Griffey's was dismayed at the Devil's works, and yet was forced to stay silent, rather than jeopardize his 200 hit season. 

With the Fall of Griffey, the Mariner's team chemistry was destroyed again, causing them to tumble to another 99 loss season. 

 

The Future:

Two years remain on Ichiro's contract with the Devil, until the Mariners will finally be free again of the Devil's meddling influence.  After 2012, with Ichiro's 12 years of power up, he would finally age again, and his hitting ability vanish.  (Fortunately for the Mariners, executives Armstrong and Lincoln, who had close contacts with the Devil, were aware of this fact and their contract with Ichiro would end before he fell off a cliff). 

2013 would be a year of disappointment for Ichiro.  The Mariners execs, aware of his situation, would not resign him, and he would end up with few suitors.  Eventually he would settle for a 2 year deal with the Kansas City Royals.  (Royals GM Dayton Moore had also sold his soul to the Devil.  He gained the power to control Royal's owner David Glass' mind, to be able to force him to keep him as GM for all time.  But the fine print in his contract was that the Devil could force him to sign and overpay any washed up former Mariners' players.  For example, Willie Bloomquist had sold his soul to the Devil for the ability to control Mike Hargrove's mind and make him think he was the greatest player ever.  When the Devil removed Hargrove, he broke his contract with Willie, and renegotiated with him that he would force Dayton Moore to give him $3M instead).

In his first year with the Royals, Ichiro fell apart, his body finally showing signs of age, and for the first time he failed to reach 200 hits, ending his streak at 12.  It looked as if he was washed up, but our story does not end there.

 

The Redemption:

It turns out, that the Devil had broken some cosmic rules in his cursing of Griffey.  For the Devil was not allowed to interfere in this way with the lives of those whose souls he does not control.  And for this Griffey was able to get some recompense. 

(The fans who had suffered from the ‘Griffey Challenge’ got recompense too: they were allowed to share in Jeff Sullivan’s lifetime of free beer, at which point that deal was finally declared to have been ‘worth it’). 

Griffey was allowed to free any one soul that had been pledged to the Devil, and earn his salvation, and Griffey chose to save Ichiro, as a thanks to his friendship during their time playing together.

Ichiro was saved, but his baseball career still appeared over.  As part of his salvation, he had to agree to give up his pride, and would never again reach 200 hits.

But Ichiro was a hard worker.  His training workouts and exercise programs paid off.  Unable to ever again be a top hitter, he retrained his body to pitch, and from 2014 on he threw forkballs for the Royals.  His career revived, he resigned with his beloved Mariners eager to make up for all the years in which he had sabotaged them with his huge numbers of singles.  His career lasted until the age of 48, when he became the oldest player to throw a shutout, surpassing his former teammate Jamie Moyer

And it happened in the decisive game of the 2022 world series, in which the Mariners finally were able to win their first pennant, and breaking their stigma as the only team in Baseball never to make the World Series.  (The Nationals having won several times in the late 2010s during Strasburg's peak, to Mariners fans dismay).

Ichiro, in his redemption, gained ever more baseball Immortality than he did while his soul was forfeit, he became the reverse of Babe Ruth - a great hitter who transformed into a greater pitcher!

 

 

 

 

25 comments  |  30 recs | 

Lookout Landing Was Charlie Brown the worst player in baseball history? A Sabermetric view.

While player-manager Charlie Brown is widely considered to be the worst player in Baseball history, is this depiction fair?  With the advent of Sabermetrics and defense independent pitching statistics (DIPS), we know that pitchers often take the blame for poor luck or poor defense by their teammates. 

(Charlie Brown’s team employed one of its players as a Statistician.  Though their metrics would be seen as old-fashioned by modern standards, distrust of stat geeks was as strong as ever): 

Cb5-sml2_medium

via www.wezen-ball.com

 

By traditional standards, Brown’s worst season, 1960, with an 0-20 record in 20 starts and ERA of 137 rank as by far the worst in baseball history.  (Charlie gave up 2740 earned runs and 300 unearned runs).   Clearly part of the cause of his 0-20 record is due to the number of runs he allowed, but Brown also played on a terrible offensive ballclub, receiving an average of only .3 run per game in run support that year.  (6 runs in 20 games).  At that level of support, any pitcher’s win/loss record would look terrible, which just goes to show that wins and losses are a terrible measure of pitching ability.

Viewed in the lens of modern statistics however, the picture is significantly better.  In his worst season, Brown averaged 1K, 20BB, and 10HR per 9 innings.  Not a good showing, by any means.  However, owing to terrible outfield defense, roughly half of these HR were inside the park homers.  Counting only the homers that went outside the field of play yields a FIP of 16.87.

 FIP = (13*5(HR) + 3*20(BB) – 2*1(K)) / 9  + 3.2 = 16.87.

Clearly, Brown is a much better pitcher than his traditional metrics would indicate (though still terrible by any reasonable standards).

 

By far the greatest contributor to Brown’s bad reputation is his team’s horrendous defense behind him.  The team’s middle infield was solid, with Linus (2B) sporting a UZR/150 of +10 over his career, and Snoopy (the team’s best player and the only player on the team with a positive WAR), with a UZR/150 of +15. 

Lrg-cb65b_medium

via www.wezen-ball.com

Sadly, Snoopy was dogged for his entire career by allegations of cheating, the most common allegation being that he was not, in fact, human.  About the only thing his critics can agree on is that he definitely agree on was not a user of Human Growth Hormone.  He was once accused on betting on a game with a teammate ‘Rerun’, resulting in a huge scandal and the team forfeiture of a victory, though the amount of the bet was only 5 cents. 

Snoopy, a power hitter who also possessed great speed, was once one Home Run away from breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, but in his final at bat of the season, Charlie Brown was picked off of first to end the game.  He was also famous for reaching base on a single, followed by stealing second, third, and home. 

 

Aside from the middle infield however, the team’s defense was by far the worst on record.  Yielding an average of 152 runs per game, the team faced almost 200 batters per game, over four times the league average.  As a result, over 1500 balls would be hit to right field per 150 games played.   The team’s right fielder, Lucy, featured the worst UZR in history, making one out and one error on those balls hit to her zone of play.   Her resulting UZR/150 is around -1000.  (For those worried about sample size, Lucy averaged almost -1000 UZR/150 over her entire career, consisting of more than three years worth of defensive data). 

Those looking at Lucy from a more traditional lens might note the one error she made throughout an entire season, (the ball bounced off her head), and believe that she was a good fielder.  However, Lucy showed absolutely no range, catching only one ball.  If you don’t have the range to reach a ball, you can’t make an error on it!

Lrg-cb64_medium

via www.wezen-ball.com

 

As a whole, the team’s outfield defense totaled to a UZR/150 of more than -2000, and was by far the biggest cause of the team’s no-win season.  While Brown takes all the blame, we now can see through the use of modern fielding independent statistics, that he wasn’t nearly as bad as previously believed.  (In fact, all the outfielders on his team actually have a more negative WAR!)

While Charlie Brown is certainly the worst pitcher in baseball history, to say that he is the worst player overall is unfair.  Three regular position players on his own team were worse, ‘Lucy’ in right field, ‘Frieda’ in center, and ‘Patty’ in left.  Incredibly, the team’s fourth outfielder, ‘Violet’, also managed to accumulate a higher negative WAR than Brown, even without regular playing time! 

But a modern analysis still shows us that Brown was terrible in his own right.  With a decent offense behind him and more reasonable run support, he may have managed a couple wins instead of a 0-20 season.  Yet he was still far below replacement level.  The fact that he was managing the team and got to decide who to pencil into every game is the only reason that he managed to remain in the league at all!

 

18 comments  |  32 recs | 

Lookout Landing A benefit of "Chemistry"? Gutierrez quote on his signing...

From Baker's blog post on the Gutierrez signing:

"He said the money, while important for his family's security, was somewhat secondary and that he loves the feeling of "family'' he got with last year's squad."

This reads, to me, like he willingly took some amount of a discount in order to ensure that he would play on a Mariner's team that he enjoyed.  Or possibly, that it caused him to be willing to sign the extension at all, instead of simply waiting for free agency.  Did we just end up gaining millions of dollars in value in this discounted Gutierrez contract due to good chemistry?  I think so.

While the effect of 'Good Chemistry' is certianly unquantifyable, it is clear to me that it does exist.   (Maybe not in terms of on-field wins once the season has begun, but it definitely appears to matter during the offseason).  Players see the good work environment and want to be a part of it. 

Chone Figgins is another example, he chose the Mariners in large part because of the good chemistry he observed when playing against us last year.  Getting a player that you want, to choose your team from among multiple equivalent offers is a benefit.

If we end up signing Felix to an extension this offseason, I think we can count that as another benefit of good chemistry.  If the club can keep Milton Bradley happy, allowing us to utilize him as an undervalued asset, then that is a benefit.  (Undervalued in that we acquired him at much less than the price of his baseball skills, due to his off-field problems).

 

How much of this chemistry benefit should we attribute to Griffey and Sweeney?  How much to simply winning?  How much to Wakamatsu?  I have no idea.  (I believe that Griffey paid for his contract due to Chemistry benefits and ticket/merchandise sales, but I cannot prove this).

Chemistry: Hard to quantify the effect, hard to predict, hard to determine how much credit for it should be given to any given person, but it clearly has benefit to the team in the long run.  I see this as an interesting area for Sabermetric research in the future, since at present we really have no idea how to measure it.  Not being able to measure it or predict it doesnt mean it doesnt exist. 

23 comments  | 

Lookout Landing Mitchel Lichtman's aging study

http://www.tangotiger.net/mgl/aging.pdf

20 page report on aging curves, very interesting, especially the graphs.

 

Some interesting things I learned:

* In more recent times (1980 on), the peak age is more like 28, not 27, and players are aging slower.  This shows the effectiveness of modern medicine and training programs!  Also, players arent experiencing nearly as great a total decline from their peak now, as they did in the past.

* The area around the peak is more of a plateau, everything from 27-30 or so if very close together.

* In the early 30s, players dont decline as much as I would have expected.  Subtracting .5 win per year for a player as they age is probably too much, until the late 30s.

4 comments  | 

Lookout Landing wOBA: Tony Blengino's new stat of the week

This week's episode is great as well.  (Unfortunately no LL mentions this time).

Fun discussion with Zduriencik, followed by Tony Blengino with a great explanation of wOBA, both why the other stats like OPS are lacking, why wOBA is an 'uberstat', and even giving the formula on air, with all the decimals!


One little thing he left out.  When he explained the values (of the linear weights) for wOBA, he said they were the run values of the events.  Really they are the run values compared to the value of an out (which is around -.3 run).  So a walk isn't worth .72 run, its really .42 run plus its not an out which wouldve been -.3.  But probably that wouldve just been even more confusing to the listeners.


He also mentioned when discussing OBP versus SLG, that OBP was 'at least twice as valuable' as SLG.  My understanding of this from Tom Tango's posts is that OBP is around 1.8 * SLG.  Not sure why Tony would say over twice, but I wouldn't argue that much about it.  Who knows, maybe they know something?  I think his words were that 'over a certain point, OBP is over twice at valuable as SLG'.  Is there soemthing interesting here, that they have learned?

47 comments  | 

Lookout Landing Tony Blengino mentions tRA, Graham, LL On Air


This weeks interview with Tony Blengino on Shannon Drayer's 'Hot Stove League' program was awesome.

 

For the 'Stat of the Week', he explained FIP, including explaining the formula for calculating it.  After that he discussed how there are now 'even more advanced pitching stats out there, which break down the results of the at bat further, by batted ball type' (grounders, fly balls, line drives), and gave some stats on what was the BABIP on different batted ball types.  Then he menioned tRA, invented by Graham at LL.  Awesome!  It seemed like he was almost going to start rattling off the formula on the air, but then he stopped himself. :)

I just love that our teams Assistant GM is a huge stat nerd.  And the fact that they have a research department who is continuing to develop new stats, to use to help give the Mariners an advantage over other teams, is incredible.




59 comments  |  21 recs | 

Lookout Landing Tony Blengino interview on 710 AM ESPN Seattle's Hot Stove League

I started listening to the Hot Stove league show tonight on KIRO-710 ESPN, just barely soon enough to hear the very end of the interview with Tony Blengino.  It was awesome...and now I'm desperate to hear the rest of it!

Does anyone know if there is a way to listen to a recording of the program? Does 710 AM post recordings of their broadcasts or interviews anywhere?  Thanks!

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the interview?

15 comments  | 

Lookout Landing The Sabermetrics of Cats

My cat 'Baxter' is the Franklin Gutierrez of cats. 

And not just in that he is good looking.  He is very athleticic and can do some incredible jumps and backflips. 

Truly, he is Death to Flying Things, with extreme bird-catching ability.  I would estimate him to be a +20 Birdcatcher, possibly even the greatest Birdcatcher in the league.  His defensive value alone is worth 2 Birdcatching Wins (10 Bird Catches per Birdcatching Win).  On the MLB free agent payscale of 4.5 million per win in 2009, I thus estimate him to be worth around $8-9 Million per year. 

If you are a major league General Manager and are interested in discussing the acquisition this incredible talent, just let me know!

163 comments  |  11 recs |