SB Nation User Blog: buckeye22fox

Memorial Day and Baseball

buckeye22fox — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:22:50 -0000

Fans of baseball should be well acquainted with each story of Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. They left the primes of their careers to serve in WWII. The statistics that would have been compiled are mind numbing to think about. All of these players lost out on 3+ seasons to support their country. Here are their stats if interested: Bob Feller , Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. Ted Williams also participated in the Korean War as well. A brief rundown of Ted Williams combat experience: commissioned officer and pilot in the United States Marine Corps, wingman for Senator John Glenn, shot down once, and awarded the air medal. Imagine the totals he would have put up without missing 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1952, and 1953... Yeah thought about it, um, wow.

FDR did a great thing in allowing Major League Baseball to continue for the 1942-1945 seasons. The game was essential to the morale of the country at the time. I only named the most famous of the ball players who contributed to the war effort, but there were many baseball players who gave up their playing careers to help their country. Lesser know major leaguers lost their lives and gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country. Elmer Gedeon and Harry O'Neill lost their lives during WWII.

The Cincinnati Reds own Eddie Grant died in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918 in The Great War. He was a lawyer, a graduate of Harvard, a pro baseball player, and a Captain in an Infantry Division.

Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and a slew of other players contributed stateside to the efforts of The Great War. Players were combat veterans of the Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, and Korea. Many MLBers also participated on weekends in the National Guard in support of the Vietnam War. I can't think of or find anyone in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, or Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Some NY Times Keppinger Love

buckeye22fox — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:11:58 -0000

Some NY Times Keppinger Love

A bit of national exposure.

Team and Market Performance

buckeye22fox — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:12:18 -0000

Grading the markets

I wanted to take a look at individual baseball markets and see how efficient they perform. I wanted to find a way to correlate Market Population, Attendance, and Wins as a way to grade team markets. Teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and Mets ranked lower because of the percentage of population that attend games. I felt the need to put more emphasis on the ratio of attendance to market population than on correlating wins and markets. So I created a win coefficient as a motivator to attend/not attend games. The one major flaw is that there are capacities for teams in markets that could sell 200,000 tickets if they were able to but cannot do so. So, if the Yankees were able to stuff 120,000 people per game, it would make their ratio of attendance and population more comparable to smaller markets. So in essence, the purpose is to rank the specific market's ability to put people in the ballpark based on population and wins. Basically I needed something to do while bored at work and conjured up this to occupy my time. I'm sure if anybody had time to waste like me that they could come up with a better formula. For the most part the information analyzes which small market teams are the most efficient.

I took into consideration Market Population, MC-Market Coefficient (Market population/MLB Market average population), Att/G-Home Attendance per game, AMA-Adjusted Market Attendance (Home Attendance per game * Market Coefficient), WC-Win Coefficient (Team Wins2 / League Avg Wins2) and T&MP-Team and Market Performance (Adjusted Market Attendance * Win Coefficient). Market Population, Wins, and Home Attendance per game were the statistics that I did not make up. All statistics were used from the 2007 season.

T&MP=(1/MC)(Att/G)(Wins^2/League Avg Wins^2)

T&MP Rankings

Here is the complete data table.

My creation of the Team and Market Performance (T&MP) ranked Milwaukee the best because they have 16% of average market population yet have the 13th highest attendance ranking and fans have more motivation to go to the games because they have a positive winning coefficient.

Our beloved Reds finished 9th on my list. If the Reds would win an optimistic 90 games this coming year and would average 30,000 in attendance, then they would move up to 3rd in T&MP rankings if everyone else performed the same as in 2007.

Feel free to criticize my conjured up statistics and rationale.

Divisional foes make moves

buckeye22fox — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:15:22 -0000

Kosuke Fukudome and the Chicago Cubs agreed on a 4-year $48 million contract pending a physical. That's quite a sum of money for an untested Major League player. I know the Japanese league has thrown over some quality players, but that is also the league that Cecil Fielder, Kevin Mitchell, and others went to further their careers. The quality of the league is debatable, but I figure it to be a little better than AAA. The guy is already 30 years old and may be on his downside of his career.

Also, the Astros traded for the 31-year old Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for 5 players. The Orioles will get outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo. The Orioles really look to start the rebuilding immediately with prospects and maybe get more prospects with a deal for Bedard.

It appears that the Cubs are not risking as much with Fukudome that the Astros are with Tejada. The Cubs have the money but will Fukudome be any good here? The Astros really look like they are trying to play for 2008 and they are unloading the farm system to prove it. Maybe the Astros could be very good this year, but it is quite doubtful with their lack of talent. I really hope this means that the Astros will be bad for years to come with deals like this.

The Mitchell Report comes out tomorrow at 2:00 et and I hope his name is on it. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bagwell's name on it either if it targets former players. These moves seem to be way worse than the amount of money the Reds spent on Cordero.

2008 NL Central Starting Pitching

buckeye22fox — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:18:40 -0000

Astros
Roy Oswalt-$13 million
Woody Williams-$6.25 million
Wandy Rodriguez(--)
Chris Sampson(--)
Matt Albers(--)
Jason Jennings()
Brandon Backe(#)
Brian Moehler()
Chan Ho Park()

Brewers
Ben Sheets-$11 million
Jeff Suppan-$8 million
Claudio Vargas(#)
Chris Capuano(#)
David Bush(#)
Yovani Gallardo(--)

Cardinals
Chris Carpenter-$10.5 million
Mark Mulder-$6.5 million
Braden Looper-$5.5 million
Joel Piniero-$4 million mutual option
Kip Wells()
Adam Wainwright(--)
Anthony Reyes(--)
Brad Thompson(--)
Mike Maroth(#)
Todd Wellemeyer(#)

Cubs
Ted Lilly-$7 million
Carlos Zambrano-$15 million
Jason Marquis-$6.375 million
Steve Trachsel-$4.75 million club option
Jeff Samardzija-$2 million
Rich Hill(--)
Sean Marshall(--)
Mark Prior(#)

Pirates
Matt Morris-$9.5 million
Tony Armas-$5 million mutual option
Tom Gorzelanny(--)
Ian Snell(--)
Zach Duke(--)
Paul Maholm(--)
John Van Benschoten(--)

Reds
Aaron Harang-$6.75 million
Bronson Arroyo-$3.95 million + $2.5 million bonus
Matt Belisle(#)
Bobby Livingston(--)
Homer Bailey(--)
Eric Milton()
Phil Dumatrait(--)
Tom Shearn(--)

() Free Agent
(#) Arbitration Eligible
(--) Pre-Arbitration
Highlighted players because I don't know how the hell to de-highlight them

There is tendering and arbitration a plenty to happen this off-season. However, the Cubs have already invested the most in Starting Pitching at ~$35 million for the upcoming year. They will probably have the best staff once again in 2008. Mark Prior will probably be offered arbitration to round out the staff with the Lilly, Zambrano, Hill, Marquis core of 2007. Marshall and Prior will probably duke it out for the 5 spot. Marshall posted a 3.91 ERA and a WHIP slightly under 1.40 and will be ready if/when Prior goes down.

St. Louis is interesting because of the question marks that are Carpenter and Mulder. Can they rebound to be a shell of what they once were, or will they be sub .500 has-been pitchers. Looper, Reyes, Wainwright and Thompson may be middle to bottom of the rotation guys for the next couple of years.

If you consider the faint possibility that the Pirates pick up Armas' option, that means the Reds have the least amount of money invested in Starting Pitching. However, with a small budget and pre-arbitration youngsters the Pirates will probably end up with the smallest payroll and have the least amount of money invested in the starting staff. The Pirates will probably have Gorzelanny, Duke, Morris, Snell, and Maholm as their staff. These guys will get no support but should be the second best staff in the NL Central.

The Brewers will have quite a questionable staff once again but Sheets and Suppan should be their #1-2 punch. Just like Carpenter and Mulder, how will Sheets rebound? The bottom of the rotation guys will strangle the team once again with Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, and Claudio Vargas.

Houston has Oswalt and that's about it. Woody Williams is under contract and will be on the staff. Rodriguez, Sampson and Albers will be tendered. The Astros have to bring in a pitcher or two from Free Agency, but it's going to be a thin market. They just might ride out that trio but they are not really that good so I doubt it.

Our beloved Reds have Harang and Arroyo, but the rest are question marks. Just an assumption that Bailey will be in the rotation. With the Free Agency market I would guess that Belisle will be offered arbitration. Anybody else as a 36 game starter scares the hell out of me. Wayne Krivsky has to get an Arroyo caliber pitcher to be slightly competitive on the starting pitching front.

I got all the above info from http://www.mlb4u.com/ and http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/ so I hope it's all correct.

2008 Pre-Offseason Starting Pitching Rankings

Cubs
Pirates
Cardinals
Reds
Brewers
Astros

Game 2

buckeye22fox — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:29:58 -0000

Bronson Brandon Arroyo has looked good lately and so has Paul Maholm though. Put this squad in Pete.

Adam Dunn will redeem his late inning strikeout and act like Malholm is Bob Wickman. Nice to see Gonzalez back even if he struck out. My best friend is a
Pirates' fan and I could not stand to see a doubleheader victory for the Pirates.

Publicly Most Ignored Players

buckeye22fox — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:17:21 -0000

Just my opinion based on some stats and how I think the public has perceived the players. Granted my perception is a whopping 24 years, so I may not have the proper merit to opine. Forty or 50 somethings probably would have better perception than my age group and the older, more senile age group of 60 and older. Four Hall of Famers are listed below, but most don't know that they existed or do not draw proper comparisons to other time period players.

Todd Helton (career .330/.429/.583 but at Coors Field .367/.464/.664 or would be higher)
Mike Mussina (247 Wins, 15 straight double digit win years, .633 winning %)
Adam Dunn (#5 all-time HR per AB, #21 active OBP, career .248/.379/.519)
Chuck Klein (career .320/.379/.543 300 HR)
Edgar Martinez (career .312/.418/.515 would be higher but the DH is kinda like cheating)
Larry Doby (Should be mentioned with Jackie Robinson in all discussions)
Lefty O' Doul (Rick Ankiel type comeback career.349/.413/.542)
George Foster (348 HR 1239 RBI)
Harry Heilmann (career .342/.410/.520 OPS .930)
Johnny Mize (career .312/.397/.562/ OPS .9591 359 HR)

For quelling of arguments against this opinion, I do not think Adam Dunn is better than Todd Helton over career numbers. It is just that Adam Dunn is incredibly publicly omitted compared to Helton's semi-well noted career. Even Dunn opponents can agree that there has never been a formidable power hitter as publicly ignored as Dunn.

Johnny who? Mize had a better OPS than Willie Mays, Mel Ott, Ken Griffey, and other more famed players. Unbelievable career and nobody seems to mention him anymore.

More personal opinion, but it was hard to find ignored pitchers. A couple to ponder: Antonio Alfonseca, John Franco, Troy Percival, Dan Quisenberry, and Bob Welch.

This was a production due to boredom at work.

Lazy Sunday Game Diary

buckeye22fox — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:13:51 -0000

Keppinger goes deep after a Freel single. Go Reds!

Reds Winning Streak (sort of)

buckeye22fox — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:30:13 -0000

The Cincinnati Reds have finished in last place since 1983. Since then, every other major league team has finished in last place at least once. Yes, even the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals have even placed last in their own divisions since the Reds have (They have also won World Series championships since then as well).

Moral victories are all we have right now and I just wanted to point one out. Hopefully we can pick up the pace and chase the Pirates and capture the awesome fifth place in the NL Central.

ESPN Player Ratings

buckeye22fox — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:50:44 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playerRating?type=batting&team=cin&position=all

The Worldwide Leader has decided to come up with a way to rate everybody on an even plane. However, they think that David Ross and Juan Castro are having a better season than Edwin Encarnacion, Scott Hatteberg, and others.

I like the idea of coming up with a way to rate everyone, but it is a difficult task. I think Slyde would do a better job of creating a system to rate everyone than ESPN did.