SB Nation User Blog: lonestarJon

Further proof that soccer is stupid

lonestarJon — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:14:21 -0000

Further proof that soccer is stupid

I know, I know... every sport has it's share of idiots. But really... the refs are allowing this?

The "H" Team

lonestarJon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:36:22 -0000

The "H" Team

A little something I came up with, inspired by AJM's poll on the four H's, and my love of a certain 80's TV classic. Enjoy.

A "minor review" of the Texas Rangers

lonestarJon — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:59:30 -0000

A "minor review" of the Texas Rangers

Mark Hulet over at Fangraphs with a few quick comments on Chris Davis, Tommy Hunter, Eric Hurley, Joe Weiland and Taylor Teagarden.

ALCS Game 5 overflow thread

lonestarJon — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:40:05 -0000

The "oh shit it's a tie game in the 9th" thread. Go Rays.

Dirkatron is going to hang Gabe Gross by his toes.

dirkatron is going to hang Gabe Gross by his toes.

dirkatron is going to hang Gabe Gross by his toes...

...and I will help him.

Seriously... does ESPN not realize how creepy this sounds? Link to full-size image

lonestarJon — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:17:41 -0000

Seriously... does ESPN not realize how creepy this sounds?

Link to full-size image

New 9/19 GDT

lonestarJon — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:11:42 -0000

I'll delete this if Z shows up and gives us a new GDT, but the old one is over 500 comments and full of images and GIF's.

Edit: since Z put it up on the front page instead, I thought I'd make it more worthwhile by posting the Rangers portion of the box score instead of my filler:

Texas	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Arias, J, 2B	6	2	2	0	0	0	1	.283
Young, SS	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	.279
a-Duran, PH-SS	4	1	2	2	0	1	1	.225
Hamilton, CF	5	1	4	0	0	0	1	.307
Bradley, DH	5	1	0	0	0	4	4	.320
Byrd, LF	4	1	2	0	1	2	2	.298
Blalock, 1B	5	1	1	2	0	0	3	.258
Cruz, RF	5	2	3	3	0	2	0	.346
Laird, C	5	2	1	0	0	1	1	.280
Davis, C, 3B	5	1	2	3	0	2	1	.280
Totals	46	13	19	11	1	12	14

a-Singled for Young in the 3rd.

BATTING
2B: Blalock (13, Garland), Hamilton (34, Jepsen).
3B: Arias, J (2, Garland), Duran (1, Jepsen).
HR: Davis, C (16, 3rd inning off Garland, 2 on, 1 out), Cruz (5, 9th inning off Shields, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Arias, J 4; Young 2; Duran 4; Hamilton 5; Byrd 2; Blalock 2; Cruz 6; Laird; Davis, C 5.
RBI: Young (77), Blalock 2 (25), Cruz 3 (21), Davis, C 3 (52), Duran 2 (14).
2-out RBI: Duran 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Byrd; Bradley; Blalock.
GIDP: Blalock.
Team LOB: 7.

FIELDING
E: Davis, C (3, throw), Loe (1, throw).
DP: 3 (Arias, J-Duran-Blalock, Young-Arias, J-Blalock, Laird-Arias, J).

Texas	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Harrison, M	3.0	9	7	7	2	1	3	5.68
Wright (L, 7-7)	1.0	6	5	5	1	0	0	5.29
Loe	2.0	3	2	1	0	0	0	3.23
Madrigal	1.2	3	1	1	0	2	0	5.08
Francisco	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.28
Littleton	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	7.71

Pitches-strikes: Harrison, M 65-38, Wright 33-16, Loe 22-13, Madrigal 37-22, Francisco 3-3, Littleton 10-8.

Groundouts-flyouts: Harrison, M 4-4, Wright 3-0, Loe 2-4, Madrigal 2-0, Francisco 0-1, Littleton 0-1.

Batters faced: Harrison, M 19, Wright 9, Loe 9, Madrigal 7, Francisco 1, Littleton 4.

Inherited runners-scored: Loe 3-3, Madrigal 1-1, Francisco 1-0.

Yet more evidence Red Sox fans are stupid

lonestarJon — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:34:01 -0000

Yet more evidence Red Sox fans are stupid

Just click it.

Evan Grant wants you to call him a dummy

lonestarJon — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:50:04 -0000

Evan Grant wants you to call him a dummy

And then ask him a question.

Rangers shut down Diamond

lonestarJon — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:37:51 -0000

Okay, I was completely absent from LSB yesterday, so I have no idea if this has been posted previously or not, but the Rangers have shut down Thomas Diamond for the season, per TR.

Apparently he's finally going to have that surgery to remove the bone spurs from his ankle that he's been trying to pitch though this summer. As a result his performance had clearly been suffering of late, so I'm actually glad to see this happening - I just hope his procrastination hasn't set him back too far.

Maybe he and and CJ can rehab together, no?

Frankie Francisco vs. CJ Wilson

lonestarJon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:10:18 -0000

As I mentioned in my latest blog entry today, looking at the stats I think it's high time that Frankie Francisco should at least start splitting time with CJ Wilson in the closer's role. The last 14 games Frankie has been lights out, putting up a 1.29 ERA, a .160 BAA and 16 strikeouts to 4 walks. CJ on the other hand has put up a 6.08 ERA, a .316 BAA and 10 walks to 16 K’s in his last 14 games, and really hasn't been reliable at all this season.

Some other comparisons of their season stats reval the following:

ERA:
Frankie: 3.40
CJ: 4.89

WHIP
Frankie: 1.387.
CJ: 1.559

ERA+
Frankie: 122
CJ: 85

K/9
Frankie: 10.89
CJ: 7.87
BB/9
Frankie: 4.84
CJ: 5.10

BAA
Frankie: .238
CJ: .260

About the only category I can find where CJ actually holds an edge on Frankie is BABIP (Frankie is at .327 while CJ is at .304).

I don't necessarily propose taking CJ out of the closer's role completely, but I do think we should let Frankie take a few cracks at it, and see how he does. Because as abysmal as CJ has been this year, he's going to start blowing saves if he keeps allowing baserunners and runs at his current clips - and since he hasn't seemed to ever really improve his game for any kind of sustained period this year, I think we need to look at some other options. So what does LSB think?

Poll

Should the Rangers start giving Frank Francisco save opportunities?

Yes, he should be our closer

16 votes

Yes, but he and CJ should split time

26 votes

No, I'll live with CJ's suckage as long as he doesn't blow saves

78 votes

120 votes | Poll has closed