Joe Thornton is a lock for 20+ goals, 60+ assists. Obviously 85-90 point players don't grow on trees. He's 57th (6th for active players) in the NHL for all-time assists. But is Joe really pushing himself to remain an elite center in the NHL? He is captain of a NHL team. He's getting paid well and gets to live in a city with mild winters. Isn't that every Canadian boys dream? Hell, he could very well put up 80's Gretzky numbers and the NHL's marketing department will still be focused on Ovechkin v Crosby as their marketing campaign.

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So DW has been able to find some talent in the late rounds of the draft and Braun has started off his professional career on a good note. It's hard not to get excited about 9 points in 12 games and being tied for 2nd on the team for defensemen scoring. Obviously it's a small sample and he's not going to continue playing as a .75 pts/gm defensemen. So I looked back at some of the other rookie performances from past D-men. To see what has happened to some other San Jose rookie defensemen (was too lazy to find every defenseman so I looked at notable and the top 10 rookie defensemen scorers). (it says career on the 2nd column, but its the career totals minus the rookie season and the "cup of coffee" they may have experienced before that)

Ozolinsh, Ragnarsson, Carle, Williams, Fahey, Pederson, Stuart and Demers averaged more than a .4 pts/gm their rookie seasons. Unfortunately for us, only Ozolinsh was able to continue at that rate for the rest of his career and most of that career was in another uniform. Carle and Ehrhoff appear to have figured it out outside of San Jose. Stuart and Ragnarsson did develop into solid defensive d-men who could chip in on the scoring sheet every now and then. Can Justin Braun and Jason Demers continue to develop into quality offensive 2nd pairing defensemen? Or will their rookie seasons just be a tease of what could be once they put on a non-Sharks sweater?

Links

• Probable pitchers
• GOG Reporting Tool
• Leaderboard
• Don't forget to do your score in the last GOG

 

1. Series outcome? (3 pt)

2. The A’s have averaged 4.0327 runs a game this season. The Indians have averaged 4.0325. Does either team score more than 12 runs this series? (1 pt) guess the number of runs scored by each team +/- a run (2 pts each)

3. Picking the least lousy goat: The Indians and A’s have less than stellar offensives. Pick a hitter for each team that posts the highest single game WPA of the series. (3 pts each, 6 total)

4. In two games against us this season, Carmona is 1-1 and has a line of 14.1 IP, 14 H, 4 R, 7 K, 3 BB. Predict his line for Tuesday’s game: IP, H, BB, K, W/L/ND. (1 pt each, 5 total)

5. Barton and Cust hate getting out. But Kouz excels at it with a .289 OBP. Does he raise his season OBP this series? Guess his GO/AO/GIDP/K (1 pt each, 5 pts total)

6. Michael Brantley was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. If he were on the A’s, two weeks later, he’d probably eventually be diagnosed with Dysentery. Does he make an appearance this series? (1 pt) Brantley was 14 for 41 (.341) and 10 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB in his last 10-games. Guess his PA/H/XBH/BB (1 pt each, 5 total)

7. GO TWINS!!! The A’s are 8.5 games back of the Rangers, do we get closer by the end of Thursday night’s games? [2 points possible]

8. Bailey is back. Guess his appearances/IP/H+BB/K/SV. (1 pt each/5 total)

9. I Choo Choo Choose You. According to Baseball-reference, Shin-Soo Choo in 15 games against the A’s has 15 H, 9 RBI, 2 HR, 16 Ks. Guess his AB/H/RBI/HR/K for the series (2 pts, 10 total)

10. Being Japanese-American (and the fact that my name has been misspelled as Kirt, Curt, Kurk, Kurt) there is a ridiculous desire to purchase a Suzuki jersey. Unfortunately I swear I’ve seen him commit most of his 8 errors this season at the six games I’ve attended this season. Guess the number of PB/E/CS (2 pt each, 6 total)

11. Was all ready to brag about taking three straight against the Rays Saturday night til the middle of the eighth. Then... well not. How many blown saves does each team’s bullpen commit this series. (2 pts each, 4 total)

ANSWERS TALLIED by Paris7

1. Series outcome – A’s, 2-1 [3 points] 3 pts.
2. 4.032 Hits – Yes, a team over 12 R / A’s, 13 R (12-14 OK) / Indians, 4 R (3-5 OK) [1 point, then 2 points each, 5 total] 0s
3. Starz, az far as that goz – Larish (.199) / LaPorta (.264) [3 points each, 6 total] 0s, Wish I’d Guessed Larish, ha!
4. A Carmonian Bargain – 6.2 IP / 9 H / 2 BB / 5 K / Loss [1 point each, 5 total] 1 pt. (Loss)
5. Making Out with Kouz – Yes, Raise OBP from .289 (4 for 8) / 1 GO / 2 AO / 0 GIDP / 1 K [1 point each, 5 total] 2 pts. (OBP, GiDP)
6. Dysenteric Brantley – yes/ 8 PA / 2 H / 0 XBH / 0 BB [1 points each, 5 total] 4 pts. (H, XBH)
7. Who Gave Up On the Pennant? Still No Closer Than 8.5 Games Back [2 points] 2 pts.
8. Bailey is B-A-C-K – DNP [1 point each, 5 total] 1 pt. (H)
9. Choo Choo’s Train – 10 AB / 4 H / 0 RBI / 0 HR / 1 K [2 points each, 10 total] 4 pts. (AB, HR)
10. Zukes’ Dukes – 0 PB / 0 E / 0 CS [2 points each, 6 total] Perfect 6 pts.!
11. Blow the Save, or Blow ‘Em Away – A’s, No BS / Indians, No BS [2 points each, 4 total] Perfect 4 pts.!

Went to the Sharks/Ducks game so this was kind of just slapped together after the game.

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A bit of a rough week for the farm, Worcester went 0-3 this week.

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Always enjoyed the information about prospects shared on AN. So I thought I'd track the stats of some of the Sharks prospects.

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Enjoyed reading everyone elses. So I'll pitch in.

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Stats since being announced as the Western Conference All-Star starting goalie.

 

 

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From an Internet article.

"Lots of people have paid lip service to the diminishing presence of African-Americans in baseball. Now a group of former big-leaguers is committing itself to helping end the trend.

Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, Marquis Grissom and Delino DeShields are putting together a barnstorming tour-dubbed "Oil Can Boyd's Traveling All-Stars"-of exhibition games this spring and summer through America and Canada. They're also in the early stages of trying to put together a new independent league, tentatively called the Urban Baseball League, to start play next year."

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So I decided this year to venture on down to Phoenix and catch some of spring training.  I've never really been dying to go, but I figure as a baseball fan, it would be nice to experience once in my lifetime.

Is there anything I should see while down there?

I really have no clue as to what goes on besides the games.  So i'm open to any suggestions.