SB Nation User Blog: S.F. Giangst

OT: Best.Cover.Ever.

S.F. Giangst — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:13:03 -0000

No, not your security blanket (although it can get chilliy in Mom's basement). This is a music thread and I hope you'll /cough/ rush /cough/ to add your comments...

What do you think is the best cover version of a song you ever heard? Live or recorded, the best performance of a previously recorded song other than by the original artist-composer.

Being a fan of Louis Armstrong... I'm going to give the nod to The Ramones cover of "What A Wonderful World". Honorable mentions later in the thread.

-75-

HOF & Historical WAR II

S.F. Giangst — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:19:53 -0000

WAR, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker. WAR, friend only to the... sabremetrician or at least the statistically inclined. As a follow-up to my wildly unpopular post of last week, here's another pass at ranking players of the "Retrosheet Era" (1955-2008), this time trying to quantify "dominance", for want of a better term.

The method to arrive at the table below:

For each season, determine the average WAR for all players and the Standard Deviation of WAR produced (using StDevP in Excel as it deals with a whole population rather than a sample).
For each player season, determine how many standard deviations above or below the mean each player was. (PlayerWAR - AvgWAR) / StDevP is the formula used. As an example, Joe Blow creates 5.5 WAR in a season where the average player produces .5 and the StDevP is 2.5 = a score of 2.0 for Joe.
Sum the score of standard deviations for each player.

To repeat: As always with WAR the dataset is limited to 1955 and later seasons. Some players obviously got jobbed by this. I have not refined it by restricting the dataset to only players debuting in 1955 or later.

99 players in the list which includes all players with a score of 24 or more. Please pardon me for not marking it up for who's eligible for the Hall of Fame and who is not. Lou Whitaker and Bobby Grich absolutely belong in the HOF by this method.

Orlando Cepeda and Brett Butler scored 23.8, again Johnnie LeMaster was the worst position player at -9.4 (same score as Kirk Rueter) and the ultimate destroyer of batting & fielding value was Greg Maddux (-18.5). If you want the score from any other player, speak up.

Comments on the methodology are also encouraged.

Bonds, Barry         93.5
Mays, Willie         78.1
Aaron, Hank          76.3
Henderson, Rickey    60.4
Schmidt, Mike        57.5
Robinson, Frank      57.0
Morgan, Joe          55.1
Mantle, Mickey       54.3
Rodriguez, Alex      50.0
Yastrzemski, Carl    48.8
Boggs, Wade          48.7
Kaline, Al           47.6
Ripken, Cal          46.6
Brett, George        45.2
Clemente, Roberto    45.1
Mathews, Eddie       44.5
Rose, Pete           42.5
Carew, Rod           41.6
Bagwell, Jeff        41.5
Griffey, Ken         41.2
Thomas, Frank        39.4
Molitor, Paul        38.7
Yount, Robin         38.3
Jones, Chipper       38.2
Pujols, Albert       36.8
Jackson, Reggie      36.7
Whitaker, Lou        36.3
Bench, Johnny        35.2
Grich, Bobby         35.2
Robinson, Brooks     35.1
Santo, Ron           34.9
Gwynn, Tony          34.7
Murray, Eddie        34.5
Larkin, Barry        34.2
Walker, Larry        34.0
Palmeiro, Rafael     33.9
Raines, Tim          33.9
Edmonds, Jim         33.7
Martinez, Edgar      33.7
Lofton, Kenny        33.6
Smith, Ozzie         33.1
McCovey, Willie      32.9
Rodriguez, Ivan      32.9
Smith, Reggie        32.8
Thome, Jim           32.8
Trammell, Alan       32.7
Allen, Dick          32.7
Ramirez, Manny       32.2
Williams, Billy      31.8
Fisk, Carlton        31.8
Carter, Gary         31.7
Alomar, Roberto      31.7
Hernandez, Keith     31.6
Biggio, Craig        31.4
McGwire, Mark        31.2
Evans, Dwight        31.0
Jeter, Derek         31.0
Bell, Buddy          30.8
Randolph, Willie     30.7
Banks, Ernie         30.5
Nettles, Graig       30.3
Davis, Willie        30.0
Sandberg, Ryne       29.9
Sheffield, Gary      29.8
Bando, Sal           29.7
Clark, Will          29.7
Boyer, Ken           29.7
Killebrew, Harmon    29.7
Wynn, Jimmy          29.2
Bonds, Bobby         29.2
Guerrero, Vladimir   29.1
Jones, Andruw        28.7
Rolen, Scott         28.6
Piazza, Mike         28.3
Evans, Darrell       28.1
Kent, Jeff           28.1
Winfield, Dave       28.0
Abreu, Bobby         27.8
Ventura, Robin       27.8
Stargell, Willie     27.8
Olerud, John         27.6
Torre, Joe           27.4
Sosa, Sammy          27.3
Cash, Norm           27.2
Helton, Todd         26.7
Giambi, Jason        26.3
Dawson, Andre        25.9
Beltran, Carlos      25.4
Aparicio, Luis       25.0
Clark, Jack          25.0
Cruz, Jose           24.9
Suzuki, Ichiro       24.7
Cedeno, Cesar        24.5
Pinson, Vada         24.3
Cey, Ron             24.2
Lemon, Chet          24.1
McGriff, Fred        24.1
Puckett, Kirby       24.1
Williams, Bernie     24.1

HOF & Historical WAR

S.F. Giangst — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:12:08 -0000

WAR, there's got to be a better way... And indeed there is, at least when it comes to guestimating the chances of active players entering the Hall Of Fame. Or at least trying to get them into some sort of historical perspective. Historical WAR gives us tools to do that.

My method to arrive at the table below is fairly simple:

Sort all the players by year (combining stints for players who were traded), then by WAR in descending order.
Determine in a most Excel-ent fashion who were the top 5% in WAR for each given season.
Count the number of times each player's performance placed him in the top 5%.

Then I just present the data to you for your consideration and wait for your accolades and underpants.

As always with WAR the dataset is limited to 1955 and later seasons. Some players obviously got jobbed by this. I have not refined it by restricting the dataset to only players debuting in 1955 or later. It's a first draft...

Also please keep in mind that when seeking a cutoff point for the elite 5%, it is invariably just a matter of .1 WAR that includes or excludes a player from elite status. Some players may have numerous seasons where they were in or out by the skin of their teeth. I'm thinkin' on other ways to do that.

The cutoff of 5% is arbitrary. For recent seasons it typically yields a list of 35-40 players per season. Likewise the decision to cut off the report at 7 appearances in the top 5% is arbitrary. But that yields approximately 1.5 (or slightly higher with the pre-1955 debut players removed) players for consideration in each season in the dataset; being a "kinda small Hall" proponent I'm happy with that when it comes to evaluating non-pitchers.

Enjoy, and I look forward to your comments and suggestions on the methodology and the results.

Aaron, Hank          18
Bonds, Barry         18
Mays, Willie         16
Robinson, Frank      15
Henderson, Rickey    14
Schmidt, Mike        14
Rodriguez, Alex      12
Brett, George        11
Kaline, Al           11
Mathews, Eddie       11
Rose, Pete           11
Bagwell, Jeff        10
Boggs, Wade          10
Clemente, Roberto    10
Griffey, Ken (Jr.)   10
Martinez, Edgar      10
Molitor, Paul        10
Morgan, Joe          10
Ripken, Cal          10
Smith, Reggie        10
Yastrzemski, Carl    10
Carter, Gary          9
Grich, Bobby          9
Jackson, Reggie       9
Jones, Chipper        9
Larkin, Barry         9
Mantle, Mickey        9
Murray, Eddie         9
Robinson, Brooks      9
Thomas, Frank         9
Whitaker, Lou         9
Abreu, Bobby          8
Bando, Sal            8
Bench, Johnny         8
Bonds, Bobby          8
Boyer, Ken            8
Carew, Rod            8
Edmonds, Jim          8
Guerrero, Vladimir    8
Hernandez, Keith      8
Jones, Andruw         8
Lofton, Kenny         8
McGwire, Mark         8
Pujols, Albert        8
Raines, Tim           8
Santo, Ron            8
Thome, Jim            8
Trammell, Alan        8
Wynn, Jimmy           8
Allen, Dick           7
Banks, Ernie          7
Cey, Ron              7
Gwynn, Tony           7
Helton, Todd          7
Jeter, Derek          7
Killebrew, Harmon     7
McCovey, Willie       7
Nettles, Graig        7
Palmeiro, Rafael      7
Phillips, Tony        7
Piazza, Mike          7
Randolph, Willie      7
Rolen, Scott          7
Sandberg, Ryne        7
Sheffield, Gary       7
Smith, Ozzie          7
Sosa, Sammy           7
Suzuki, Ichiro        7
Tenace, Gene          7
Ventura, Robin        7
Walker, Larry         7
Williams, Bernie      7
Williams, Billy       7
Yount, Robin          7

JuggerNot? MRI for Schierholtz

S.F. Giangst — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:01:43 -0000

JuggerNot? MRI for Schierholtz

Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz was examined by a specialist Monday and is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam to determine the cause of spasms in his lower back.

Schierholtz already has missed time because of a sore hamstring that probably is related to the back issue. He said he had never experienced any problems with his back until now.
---
It has been a rough spring for Schierholtz, who had an emergency root canal a week ago. The problem stemmed from a chipped tooth he sustained in that famous collision with Chinese catcher Yang Yang while playing for the Bronze-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in Beijing last summer.

The price of Freedom Stains is eternal vigilance, or at least a bit of novocaine.
---
Plus other Baggsarific items.

109% OT - Name Node 3 "Serenity"

S.F. Giangst — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:09:18 -0000

This will cure cancer and unite all mankind in brotherhood. Nah... But it would be kewl if we can pull it off...

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html

Help us to name another important addition to the station - Node 3 and its cupola!
Vote using the poll on the right.

Voting will be open until March 20th, 2009. NASA will announce the winning name in April 2009.

Choices are:

Earthrise (lame hippie shit)
Legacy (boring)
Serenity (you know this is the right answer unless you suck)
Venture (steaming pile of...)
Write-In (no, you aren't that smart)

Semi-OT: The name you didn't use

S.F. Giangst — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:46:57 -0000

Everybody who posts here has picked a user name, and many have at one time or another had a blog or at least throught of starting one. So what names have you thought of using but didn't? Obviously if you post it, you risk somebody else using it, so maybe just stick with the ones that really aren't relevant anymore.

Who should go first? Me? Oh, okay...

I've toyed with the idea of doing a Giants blog on and off. It's hard to write every day -- at least it is for me -- what with waiting for inspiration and, well, talent... But I did get as far as picking out the name.

On the topic of blog names they do seem to tend towards either the club name. a geographical location, a play on the name of the home ballpark or one of its features, or a player name.

Way back when it was relevant (dinosaurs roamed the Earth or about 2.07 years) I had the notion to fire up a blog called "The Ort Cloud" as an homage to Dangerous Dan Ortmeier and his cohorts. (If you dont know what the Oort Cloud is, click here.)

The rationale was that Ortmeier was about the average talent level of the offense making him kind of a symbolic figure on whom one might pin some hopes. Boofesque in one ugly word.

The Oort cloud is remote; as remote as the Giants hopes of the playoffs. The Oort cloud is thin; so were the Giants hitting options until shiny shiny Pablo Sandoval and others began to make some favorable impressions. Etc and so on...

Good luck in Colorado, Dan, and if any Rockies fan wants to use the name, you have my blessings.

Catchers share insight on Big Unit

S.F. Giangst — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:22:50 -0000

Catchers share insight on Big Unit

There's no reason not to trust Dan Wilson, it is there?

Scapegoat: The Barry Bonds Story

S.F. Giangst — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:05:31 -0000

Testimony of Santiago and Bonds were similar

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=li-santiago021809

Benito Santiago and Barry Bonds gave similar testimony to a federal grand jury in 2003, yet only Bonds was charged with perjury. And Santiago was shown evidence against him before he testified, while Bonds was denied the same opportunity, sources said.

More than any other of the 30-odd athletes who testified before the grand jury in the long-running BALCO case, Santiago’s testimony suggests that the government engaged in selective prosecution by filing charges against Bonds...

Santiago, like several other ballplayers who testified, responded to prosecutor Jeff Nedrow’s questions by indicating Anderson didn’t identify the Clear or other drugs, such as testosterone, as steroids.

Screw the Feds. I'm not naive enough to pretend Barry didn't use, but it's becoming increasingly more clear (pun not intended) he's being singled out. Enough is enough.

OT - They're Made out of Meat

S.F. Giangst — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:10:21 -0000

OT - They're Made out of Meat

Just something which, once you've read it, makes Krukow sound that much stranger.

'Optimistic' Giants open Spring Training

S.F. Giangst — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:01:25 -0000

'Optimistic' Giants open Spring Training

Optimists, huh? Somewhere the Rotarians are planning a counter offensive...