SB Nation User Blog: Chiburb

Bert Blyleven's HOF Case (yes, again!)...

Chiburb — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:31:36 -0000

Bert Blyleven's HOF Case (yes, again!)...

Even though folks like WU and Mick10 are in "good" company (LaRussa, Billy Martin, as the article spells out) in not recognizing BB as a dominant pitcher, hopefully those of you who never saw him will accept this argument that he belongs in the HOF. Big Hall, small Hall, don't matter.

Facebook Users: Beware New Privacy Changes

Chiburb — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:48:48 -0000

Facebook Users: Beware New Privacy Changes

On Wednesday morning, users began seeing a message offering a new, simplified privacy settings page and the ability to set specific options for every post made to Facebook.

The changes, first announced this summer, again promised last week, and available today, give users much tighter control of who sees what, down to the individual reader, if desired.

Especially important is the new "everyone" setting that determines whether a Facebook post will be seen on other services, such as in Google search results.

Grady SIZEmore!

Chiburb — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:25:51 -0000

Grady SIZEmore!

But what will we tell the children?!?

Jim's Off-Season Sox Schedule...

Chiburb — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:27:17 -0000

Jim's Off-Season Sox Schedule...

Nov. 9 – General managers meetings, Chicago.

Nov. 1o-11 – General managers meetings are moved to Rio de Janeiro.

Nov. 15 – Joe Cowley reports that the White Sox have interest in trading for Chone Figgins.

Nov. 29 – The White Sox front office ponders whether or not to offer arbitration to Octavio Dotel.

Nov. 30 – Scott Linebrink wakes up from yet another undeservedly good night of sleep.

December – Questionable Latin American alleged crime period.

(More at the link)

Denver Post beat writers told to stop making game predictions

Chiburb — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:23:52 -0000

Denver Post beat writers told to stop making game predictions

For as long as most of us can remember, beat writers at the Denver Post have been allowed to make game predictions about teams they cover -- but no more, because of a decision by the paper's editor, Greg Moore.

What was the real motivations for eliminating predictions? And did readers upset that none of the writers had confidence in the Broncos have any impact? Not according to Moore, corresponding by e-mail, who says, "It is an ethical move. Sports writers are no different than other news-beat reporters. We would not have political reporters picking sides in a political contest.

Satchel Paige vs. Babe Ruth

Chiburb — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:34:40 -0000

Satchel Paige vs. Babe Ruth

Integrating Major League Baseball retroactively with Strat-o-Matic cards.

It's the bottom of the ninth in the Bronx. The Yankees are tied 5-5 with the Dodgers, and Babe Ruth is coming to the plate with two men on and two out. Future Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston is on first base. Tony Lazzeri is on third. And on the mound for Brooklyn is Martin Dihigo, the greatest Cuban pitcher of all time.

This showdown never took place in real life. It couldn't have. Charleston, an African-American, and Dihigo, a black Cuban, were never allowed to play in the major leagues.

Instead, this historic game was happening in Strat-O-Matic on the kitchen table of Scott Simkus, an amateur baseball historian from the suburbs of Chicago. Simkus has been playing the dice-and-cards baseball simulation since he was a boy. Strat-O-Matic has always been a great vehicle for answering what-ifs like How would Ty Cobb have hit against Sandy Koufax? or Would the 1962 New York Mets have lost to the 2003 Detroit Tigers?

Lillibridge In Rare Company...

Chiburb — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:13:38 -0000

Lillibridge In Rare Company...

Going into the last games, our own Little Bridge has a chance to make history. Click through to see how!

No Wonder Rios Can't Hit

Chiburb — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:38:43 -0000

No Wonder Rios Can't Hit

Former MLB pitcher Dave Baldwin (Sox, 1973) explains the brain's functioning during the 4/10 of a second between release and contact.
Snip:
The batter needs to begin collecting pitch information as soon as possible. To prepare for this "quick read," the batter’s conscious mind concentrates on an imaginary "box" where he expects the pitcher’s release point to be. Thus, his cerebral cortex is thoroughly occupied and doesn’t hinder the unconscious mind. If he has guessed correctly and the ball is released from that box, he can begin to evaluate the pitch as it leaves the pitcher’s hand. Otherwise, the batter must spend precious milliseconds searching for the ball.

How Swisher Got His Groove Back

Chiburb — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:01:43 -0000

How Swisher Got His Groove Back

What the heck do the Yankees want with a guy who had just hit .219?

As somebody who asked the very same thing, I thought about the trade on Tuesday night as I watched Swisher wipe the remnants of a pie from his face, planted there in celebration of his walk-off homer to beat the Rays 3-2.

A year ago, Swisher was one of the unluckiest players in baseball.

His line drive rate in 2008 was a career-high 20.9 percent. Based on that figure, his expected batting average for balls in play was .329, which would have been a just reward for hitting the ball hard. But instead, even though he pounded the baseball, Swisher's BABIP was a criminally low .251, a number that can be attributed to lots of terrible luck.

Flash forward to Tuesday night. After swatting a pair of homers against the Rays, Swisher is hitting .254/.378/.506, defying even the most optimistic projections. His 26 homers are the second highest total of his career.

What's changed? Well, scenery, for one. Swisher is having a lot more fun contributing to a winning team in New York than he did languishing for a winning team in Chicago. That's to be expected.

But the real answer lies in Swisher's luck.

(Goes on to explain BABIP, Line Drive %, wOBP, and other unexpected stats by a newspaper reporter. Cowley could learn from this.)

Foreign Talent Loads the Bases in Minor Leagues

Chiburb — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:00:01 -0000

Foreign Talent Loads the Bases in Minor Leagues

Recent changes in U.S. immigration law and growing competition in baseball for raw talent have allowed the minor-league farm system to flourish with imported players. It has been a home run for globalization, but bad news for U.S.-born players, who suddenly have much more competition. Across the minor and major leagues, the total number of foreign-born players is growing fast, to almost 3,500 of the 8,532 players under contract this summer, from 2,964 three years ago.

The surge of young foreign players into the U.S. minor leagues began in 2007, a few months after then-president and former major-league team owner George W. Bush signed the Creating Opportunities for Minor League Professionals, Entertainers and Teams Act, known as the Compete Act. It freed the farm systems of major-league teams from having to compete with all U.S. employers seeking H2B work visas for foreign employees, the supply of which usually was exhausted each year by February. Now, teams can import as many prospects as they want.

"There is no longer a limit on work visas," explains Oneri Fleita, the Florida-born director of minor-league development for the Cubs. "So, yeah, you might see more foreign players getting an opportunity."