SB Nation User Blog: Voltaire

Vote for Indians All-Time 9

Voltaire — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:19:23 -0000

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.

A Beautiful Summer Evening

Voltaire — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:16:59 -0000

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

I hadn't looked up the Clippers probables before leaving, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Carlos Carrasco on the mound.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

Matt LaPorta had an off day, going 0-4, and looked magnificent doing so.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

via i264.photobucket.com

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.

LGFT! [pause] F?

Voltaire — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:03:40 -0000

LGFT! [pause] F?

Hey, he counts.

All-Star Ballotting Has Already Started

Voltaire — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:53:18 -0000

All-Star Ballotting Has Already Started

We are roughly 15% done with the pre-All-Star break portion of the season.

Link to larger image Here is an updated version of the season standings chart. New additions...

Voltaire — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:42:47 -0000

Link to larger image

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.

Because I'm sure you all want to see the suckitude of the season so far represented...

Voltaire — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:52:59 -0000

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.

Larger Image

Barfield demoted; Laffey promoted

Voltaire — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:29:32 -0000

Barfield demoted; Laffey promoted

Karma.

Game 2 Overflow Thread: Look, and Despair

Voltaire — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:02:05 -0000

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.

link to larger image Turn to page 76 of your Indians Annual. There you'll see the 2008 AL Central...

Voltaire — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:14:00 -0000

link to larger image

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).

Wood has minor back problem

Voltaire — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:25:35 -0000

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]