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Vote for Indians All-Time 9
Look, something to distract us from the end of this horrid season!
The Indians are holding a competition on their website to choose the "All-Time 9" - which in this case means the nine best-hitting single seasons by position.
3 months ago
Voltaire
21 comments
0 recs
A Beautiful Summer Evening
by Voltaire on Aug 17, 2009 12:05 AM EDT
75 comments
Note: this post is picture-intensive
This afternoon, I made the trip down to Columbus to watch the Clippers. The game began at 5, early enough to remain light, but late enough for the sun to set behind the park and shade the seating bowl. It was a beautiful, if hot, evening for baseball.
Upon parking a block away from the stadium, I was first greeted by the train derailment at Neil Ave.
The train created a convenient metaphor for the 2009 Indians season. Above, we see Mark Shapiro, after putting on a few pounds consoling himself with ice cream, mourning over the team's fate. Below, Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee's future years with the Tribe spill away into the abyss.
I hadn't looked up the Clippers probables before leaving, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Carlos Carrasco on the mound.
He was his projectable self, pitching well into the 8th. He allowed only seven baserunners and struck out six. According to the stadium radar gun, he hit 95 MPH in that final inning. Yes, we should be more excited about this guy.
Matt LaPorta had an off day, going 0-4, and looked magnificent doing so.
Josh Barfield played a mean left field and went 2-3 with two doubles and a run. Most importantly, he had a sac bunt.
After the second inning, I popped over to introduce myself to BuckeyeBrad. Happy birthday, dude, since I forgot to tell you in person. To the rest of you LGTers in attendence, I'm sorry I missed you.
Lou Marson went 2-3 with two runs and a BB. It was fantastic to watch him catch Carrasco and know that same battery will be in Cleveland next year.
One of the highlights of the game was minor-league journeyman Robert Tanois Taggert "Uncle Tagg" Bozied, seen here rounding third. His RBI single in the 4th inning, and subsequent run scored, were loudly cheered by his five-year old niece, sitting several rows behind me. Cheered just as loud were his three other, less fruitful, plate appearances.
I learned that there is a Sugerdale Hot Dog Derby in Columbus, too. These hot dogs are not nearly as anthopormophized, and sprint only down the right field foul line. None of them displayed the talent needed to make it to the bigs, but they were competitive nonetheless.
When it became apparent that Carrasco would not throw the complete game that I had been cheering for, I switched my desire to witnessing the magic that is R.J. Swindle. Instead, I was treated to Greg Aquino, which was actually rather enjoyable. He picked up his 13th save on the year for the Clippers.
The Clippers won the game, 4-2. I savored everything I saw - from the hero of the game, Stephen Head, of whom I took nary a picture, to Joe Charboneau*, whom I glimpsed for a few fleeting seconds leaving the Fantasy Camp game before the real game began. Huntington Park was a wonder to behold. Even if the team had no LaPortas or Carrascos or Rondons or Brantleys to offer, the stadium itself will make a trip worthwhile. I defer to the recent Fan Shots on the park for explanation - my own pictures of the stadium cannot hold a candle to them.
Returning to my car after the game, I saw a rare sight indeed - a flying hopper car. I leave it to you to determine the metaphorical significance of Cliff Lee (or Victor Martinez) being lifted away from the rails by crane.
All told, it was one of the most peaceful and enjoyable evenings I have had all summer. It was baseball, and it was beautiful.
* I sat on his lap during an autograph session at a mall when I was three. Now you feel old.
75 comments | 4 recs
LGFT! [pause] F?
Hey, he counts.
7 months ago
Voltaire
6 comments
0 recs
All-Star Ballotting Has Already Started
We are roughly 15% done with the pre-All-Star break portion of the season.
7 months ago
Voltaire
9 comments
0 recs
Here is an updated version of the season standings chart. New additions include the proper scale for a full season and 20-game increments on the Y-axis. The gray lines along the x-axis indicate the first of each month.
This is current as of this moment - it includes today's Indians game but nothing else (as no-one else in the Central has played yet today).
I am open to suggestions on improvement and/or additional features y'all would like to see.
8 months ago
Voltaire
13 comments
0 recs
Because I'm sure you all want to see the suckitude of the season so far represented graphically.
Y-Axis is games over/under .500.
8 months ago
Voltaire
24 comments
0 recs
8 months ago
Voltaire
34 comments
0 recs
Game 2 Overflow Thread: Look, and Despair
by Voltaire on Apr 8, 2009 10:02 PM EDT
657 comments
This is simply ugly. Feel free to use this as an intentional over-reactions thread as well.
This is simply ugly. Feel free to use this as an intentional over-reactions thread as well.
This is simply ugly. Feel free to use this as an intentional over-reactions thread as well.
This is simply ugly. Feel free to use this as an intentional over-reactions thread as well.
This is simply ugly. Feel free to use this as an intentional over-reactions thread as well.
657 comments | 0 recs
Turn to page 76 of your Indians Annual. There you'll see the 2008 AL Central Pennant Race feature. I was delighted when I saw this in the Annual - and then crushed. I'm a fan of baseball graphs myself and was elated to see their inclusion, but the two styles shown are vastly inferior to what I present here.
The reasons are thus: the "Winning Percentage" graph is crazy and meaningless near the start of the season - note that the graph doesn't even begin until April 30 - and the rest of the season is "compressed" together, as more games played means the more resistant the percentage is to change.
The "Cumulative Wins" graph is just five lines with minutely different slopes. I think the weaknesses of this format speak for themselves.
Shown above is the 2008 AL Central presented in the "Games Over/Under .500" format. It looks like a pennant race. Everyone starts out at the same spot - zero. A win will change your position on the graph just as much in September as it will in April. The teams diverge noticeably, and it's easy to tell why one team changes places with another in the standings. Why did Detroit pass Cleveland for third place in June? It wasn't an Indians collapse (yet); Detroit was just red-hot.
Some notes about the graph: the x-axis is rendered in days, not games played. Double-headers are compressed into the day played. This unfortunately means splitting a double-header looks the same as a day off. I could fix this if I wanted to be precise.
Full disclosure: the above is my personal summary of a chapter from John Davenport's fantastic (out-of-print book) Baseball Graphics (1979).
9 months ago
Voltaire
6 comments
0 recs
Wood has minor back problem
Wedge stresses the issue is minor. Many hands are wrung.
UPDATE: Per Castro again, Wood had a full workout today and expects to throw a full bullpen session tomorrow. [Jay]
9 months ago
Voltaire
28 comments
0 recs
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