SB Nation User Blog: boteman

One Night In Tinseltown

boteman — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:36:46 -0000

2009.05.16 MIAMI, FL — Tinseltown came to Miami tonight. The Marlins defeated the Dodgers 6 to 3 and that's a Good Thing as it ended their 5-game losing streak.

I attended this game at the last minute and I must advise you against going to games with poorly thought-out promotional giveaways. The geniuses in the Marlins' promotions office thought it would be a good idea to hand out poorly made tinsel pom-poms to fans coming to the game.

Except that these pom-poms were so cheap that they disintegrated faster than a 5-run lead handed over to Kevin Gregg. I noted the problem in the 3rd inning when I had to dislodge a couple strands of tinsel from the sole of my shoe. Then i noticed tinsel all over the floor where I was sitting.

As I looked around nearby sections I noticed tinsel in fans' hair, on their shoulders, and draped over the seat backs.

By the 6th inning it was raining tinsel. Fans in the upper deck would take turns showering tinsel down on those below as if doing their duty forming The Wave as it passed their section. Fans in the left field corner were shoveling huge clumps of tinsel onto the playing field between the 6th and 7th innings as 3 members of the grounds crew tried desperately to pick it up; they were hopelessly ovewhelmed.

Mind you, there was a stiff breeze blowing in from the east, roughly from the right field corner toward the left field corner, up in the open air. But down on the field the superstructure of the stadium caused it to swirl back around and blow from behind 3rd base onto the field. This led to a nearly continuous shower of tinsel onto left field, the left side of the infield, and onto the net behind home plate. At a couple points during the game play was held up while large clumps of tinsel wafted between the pitcher and batter. Thank sweet baby geezus that this game was not televised.

Note to David Sampson: don't give out tinsel pom-poms again. K?

As for the Marlins and the action on the field, it was something of a see-saw game early, with the Fish overcoming a 2-1 deficit for good on a most gracious bases-loaded walk from Eric Milton ("this being Milt") to none other than Dan Uggla, who also got a decent hit later in the game.. Amezaga hit the ball with authority, but right to the left fielder. Of course, Johnny Bakes hit the ball hard and the one time it wasn't caught was because a fan in the Fish Tank caught it for a 2 run home run. That guy just seems to get the timely hits.

Juan Pierre tormented his old teammates by stealing bases like a pro, aided by some crappy throws from that same John Baker. He giveth and he taketh away.

Along about the 8th inning one of the many popcorn showers brewing over the Atlantic passed overhead, sending a surprising number of Dodgers fans for the exits. This gave me the perfect seat vacated behind home plate, although in the meantime the crowds clambering up the steps to leave blocked my view of Amezaga's FC non-hit that made it 6-3 with runners advancing ahead of him. F@cking tourists! Can't take a little heavy mist? This is south Florida fer chrissakes!

Oh, and Matt Lindstrom really can pitch! No, he really can!

The cautionary note on Amezaga is that he tweaked his knee rounding 3rd base, but nobody in-the-know thinks it serious. Pencil him in as day-to-day.

So the Marlins win, snap a losing streak, and even celebrate with BANG! ZOOM! fireworks and a concert by Stevie B. afterwards. It was a mess, but it was our mess and it was enjoyable to witness.

2003 World Series on MLBN 17:30

boteman — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:33:56 -0000

2003 World Series on MLBN 17:30

MLB Network showing the 2003 World Series recap show Saturday at 5:30 PM

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

boteman — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:32:47 -0000

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

Vote early, vote often for L-Millz. Show the Nats what they're made of (AAA players).

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

boteman — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:28:58 -0000

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

Vote early, vote often for the Nationals' AAA CF L-Millz.

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

boteman — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:25:42 -0000

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

Vote L-Millz into the All Star Game to show the Nats what a AAA team they really are. This is too good an opportunity to pass up. Doubtful that any Marlins outfielders will make it anyway, so you won't be hurting their chances. Enjoy!

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

boteman — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:23:28 -0000

Lastings Milledge an ALL STAR!

Vote early, vote often for L-Millz and only L-Millz in the outfield

The Lindstrom Experiment

boteman — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:39:48 -0000

Fredi Gonzalez left Matt Lindstrom in the game to sink or swim on his own last night, as a test. Clearly, he failed. Now what?

As I sat in my new favorite local sports bar, I watched Lindstrom self-destruct in 5 batters. As I watched the Marlins' lead fizzle before my eyes, it became clear to me that Fredi was watching Lindstrom intently to see how he would react under this pressure.

Walking in a run in the 9th inning with a lead is bad enough. Giving up the lead and a grand salami to a guy whom you know is quite capable of it was the real test. Could Lindstrom put behind him the "harmless" walk while the Marlins still held the lead? Could his pitches actually fool this key hitter?

Mitch Williams on MLBN stated flat out last night: "Lindstrom has no movement on his pitches. It's one thing to throw a fastball in the high 90s, but if it's flat, its hittable."

How true. Oh how painfully true.

I must, therefore, conclude that Fredi saw this and decided to give Lindstrom enough rope to hang himself, which he did brilliantly.

Now the question is what to do with the hanging corpse.

Discuss.

Marlins Reality Check: 1983 Orioles

boteman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:58:18 -0000

How do the 2009 Florida Marlins stack up to other teams that had magical seasons? Are the Comeback Kids for real? Here's my take, feel free to pick a team whose memory is rekindled by watching the contemporary Marlins and post your own analysis.

I personally followed Orioles "magic" through the 1983 season. It was my baptism by fire into baseball as I worked during my college years at Alaska Stands in Ocean City, Maryland. The guys who worked there did two things: surf and baseball. It was a tough life, but somebody had to do it.

I did not pay much attention to statistics back then (and still don't pay as much attention as I should), but I do recall that the Os led the league in home runs in 1983. For a time, it seemed that not even that grand accomplishment would carry them into the post-season.

But, the Orioles simply would not go quietly into that good night. They would come back even when their starting pitching wasn't on point. They would come back from impossible deficits. They would come back even when the bats had fallen silent earlier in the game. The public relations people called it "Oriole magic" and even commissioned a song to go along with it.

Even though we are only 12 games into this young 2009 season, the Marlins remind me of the 1983 Orioles because they never say die. Both teams came back from deficits by finding a way to win, typically through the long ball, but also with smart base stealing and timely hitting with runners in scoring position. And, gosh darn it, these Marlins are at least as fun to watch as were the Os.

So I spent some time comparing and contrasting numbers from Baseball Reference, the indispensible source of data about everything baseball. I present numbers for the offense in this installment. Assuming there is interest I will examine the pitching numbers in part 2.

(I spent some time making the following table look pretty, but sbnation stripped out all my work. Well, here it is anyway.)

	Orioles	Marlins
	1983	2009

	as of	2009.04.19

	Counting Stats
		through	annualized
		game	season
		12	totals
Runs scored	799	77	1040
Runs allowed	652	45	608
Plate app.	6272	455	6143
At bats	5546	428	5778
Hits	1492	117	1580
Doubles	283	21	284
Triples	27	4	54
HR	168	15	203
RBI	761	74	999
SB	61	9	122
CS	33	2	27
BB	601	48	648
IBB	48	3	41
SO	800	107	1445
TB	2333	191	2579


	Percentage Stats
BA	0.269	0.273
OBP	0.340	0.352
SLG	0.421	0.446
OPS	0.761	0.798

Analysis

First of all, look down there at the strikeout total. HOLY CRAP! In fewer relative plate appearances the Marlins are looking mighty impatient at the plate, to say the least.

More walks are nice, twice the number of triples is a treat, and a lot more home runs help win ballagames. I'm putting a mental asterisk next to that modern HR total as today's boys of Summer might still enjoy a little help from their friends. Also, let's not forget that they faced the hapless Washington Nationals in half of these first 12 games.

I like the improved ratio of runs scored to runs allowed over the Orioles, that is exactly how ballgames are won.

The stolen base/caught stealing ratio works out to a healthy %82 and with guys like Hanley and Bonifacio making smart choices about when to steal, their speed makes it no contest.

I don't expect Boney to stick around all season as he has already reverted to his personal mean, and it's pretty mean, folks. The knock on him by the Nationals was that he can't hit and can't field; if he can't get on base, his speed is worthless. Let's hope they can at least teach him selectivity and patience at the plate so that he can continue to disturb opposing pitchers. I'm not sure how many runs they will watch him allow at the hot corner before they sit him for a more competent third bagger, though.

Conclusion

The rest of the stats don't jump out at me with any force, especially since the Marlins' projected counting totals are based on an unsustainable run. Still, it is the manner in which the Marlins win games that is infectious and has grabbed the attention of national sports commentators. This, after many had written off the team during Spring Training.

Even when the inevitable losing streak sets in, I think these 2009 Marlins are going to be a fun team to watch. When that happens, take heart Marlins fans, they will find a way to come back. I have seen it before, and I'm confident that we will see it again.

Brad Wilkerson Retires

boteman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:05:56 -0000

Brad Wilkerson Retires

Brad Wilkerson hangs 'em up. An original who came from les Expos to the Nats.

Harry Kalas radio interview 2008

boteman — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:27:00 -0000

Harry Kalas radio interview 2008

Harry Kalas 1 hour radio interview from before the 2008 season. Interesting anecdotes told in his own voice (when the host shut his mouth).