This is the last one before colin is back.  He has agreed to grade both the last one and this one.

Links

• Probable pitchers

GOG #19 :: Whose Crab is the real Crab (36 points possible)

Three game series vs Baltimore Orioles -- June 5-7

1. Series outcome [3 points]
2. Rich Hill is alive.  Predict his IP/BB/K [2 points each]
3. Sliced Bread Is Actually The Best Thing Since Matt Wieters.  How many extra base hits for Wieters? [3 points]
   
4. Speed vs. Hawaii: Predict Baltimore's stolen bases and Suzuki's caught stealing.  [2 points each]
   
5. Mazzaro, Illusion or Reality?  Does Vin end the series with a better or worse ERA than Braden? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong]
6. Matt Holliday likes baseball after all.  Predict his H/HR/K. [2 points each]
7. No fanny pack?  No problem.  Do any Athletics leave a game with an injury?  [+1 if right, -1 if wrong]
8. Senior surprise.  Is Adam Jones still slugging over .600 at the end of the series? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong]
9. Bobby Crosby: your Oakland triples champion.  How many extra base hits for Bobby? [3 points]
10. Ace-in-training.  Predict Cahill's IP/ER/K/BB [2 points each]

Correct Answers

1. 3-0 OAK
2. Hill = 0.2 IP, 4 BB, 0 K
3. Wieters had 0 XBH
4. 0 SB, 0 CS
5. Mazzaro finishes the series with a 0.00 ERA, so that's better than Braden
6. Holliday = 4 H, 1 HR, 0 K
7. no Athletics leave with an injury
8. Adam Jones finishes the series with a .595 SLG
9. no XBH for Crosby (he only starts in one game)
10. Cahill = 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB

Stats

*mean = 8.20000 points
*standard deviation = 3.37741 points
*mode = 7 points

histogram can be found at:
http://cfcp.uchicago.edu/~colin/gog/gog2009_19.png

Emergency fill-in time.  Call me Gio.

Links

• Probable pitchers

GOG #18 :: The White Sox Play In Chicago (35 points possible)

Four game series @ Chicago White Sox -- June 1-4

1. Series outcome [3 points]
2. Fat Man vs. Little Boy: Do the A's score more than 4 runs off of Colon?  Does Cahill turn in a quality start (>= 6 IP, <= 3 ER)? [each is +1 if right, -1 if wrong]
3. To be announced.  The A's appear to be pitching Cahill, TBA, Anderson, and Outman. Predict TBA's IP/ER/K [2 points each]
4. Real Power Hitters: Who has more home runs, the A's or Thome and Dye? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong]
5. How many innings does Andrew Bailey pitch in the series? [3 points]
6. Which bullpen records more stikeouts? Which bullpen has a better K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings)? [each +1 if right, -1 if wrong]
7. Mark Buehrle can't get no respect.  Is it his odd last name? Predict his IP/ER/BB/K [2 points each]
8. Is unicorn-power unique to Ellis, or does it infect all second basemen?  Predict Kennedy's total bases (i.e. a walk/single/stolen base is 1, a double is 2, etc.) [3 points]
9. How many bases are stolen in the series by both teams combined? [3 points]
10. Burnout: Predict the Oakland bullpen's IP/ER? [2 points each]

Correct Answers

1. Series outcome = 3-1 OAK
2. A's do score 4+ runs off of Colon (5 R, but only 2 ER) Cahill does not get the quality start (2 ER, but only 5.2 IP)
3. TBA = Mazzaro! 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 K
4. Oakland hits 7 HR, Thome and Dye combine for only 2
5. Bailey throws 1.2 innings
6. White Sox bullpen gets more Ks: 10 to 9 White Sox bullpen has a slightly better K/9: 0.990 to 0.989 (that's 10 Ks in 10.1 innings vs 9 Ks in 9.1 innings)
7. Buehrle = 8 IP, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
8. Kennedy was seriously lacking in unicorn power as he gets only 3 total bases for the series: 2 walks and 1 stolen base. Plus he was caught stealing once, but I didn't subtract a base for that.
9. Six stolen bases in the series (both teams combined)
10. Oakland bullpen throws 9.1 innings, picks up 4 ER

Stats

*mean = 3.38095 points
*standard deviation = 4.23646 points
*mode = 5 points

you can find a histogram of the scores at: http://cfcp.uchicago.edu/~colin/gog/gog2009_18.png

Obviously it isn't anything like the quality you'd need to say... well... much of anything, but I think it would be really cool to compare this to modern mechanics.

On first blush, it looks like a relatively similar motion but a lot looser and longer.  Is this something that has been disfavored over time, or just something we have moved away from?  It seems like modern pitchers keep things significantly shorter (especially the way he reaches almost straight down at the low point of his windup).

I just finished watching the East Coast USA vs. China game (so I assume it'll be shown on the West Coast in a couple hours).  I found myself outraged by the Chinese team's behavior, and I'm wondering if others agree with my take on Baseball's unwritten rules.

The Events (my interpretation)

1. Chinese pitchers rack up 7 HBP over the course of the game (I didn't see these, but the announcers were convinced all but one were unintentional)
2. Matt LaPorta collides with the Chinese Catcher (who had the ball).  The catcher hyper extended his knee and was taken out.
   
3. One of the HBP comes to the next batter (Fastball to the leg, looked pretty clearly intentional to me)
4. Later, one of the USA players gets on base through another of the HPB, when he scores, he goes out of his way to run over China's backup catcher when the ball is still coming in.  (China's manager is ejected arguing the call).
   
5. The next time LaPorta gets up, the Chinese pitcher tries to put a fastball in his ear.  Fortunately the pitcher's aim was off, and the ball glanced off LaPorta's shoulder first.  (The pitcher is ejected, LaPorta is in a hospital with a mild concussion)

My Bias

In the interest of full disclosure, my nationalistic xenophobia has come out to play in these games.  Not only am I rooting for all the Americans (as I always do), I actively root against the Chinese teams.  This is partially for medal count purposes, and partially because I have a lot of problems with China's conduct in the world.

And now, the point

My feeling on Baseball Ethics is as follows:

In a meaningful game - such as this one - it is completely unobjectionable to run through the catcher when he has the ball and you're trying to score (as LaPorta did).  In fact, the base runner SHOULD do this.  There is no reason to get upset when there's a legitimate play at the plate.

Also, when you hit a lot of batters (it was 6 before our guy ran over their second catcher) it doesn't really matter if you meant to.  There's a point at which a response has to be made.  I also think the first time they hit Donald (right after LaPorta's play) was intentional.

However, sportsmanship is more important in the Olympics than it is in professional play, so I agree with the US pitchers not throwing at any of their hitters to "protect our guys."  You also don't charge the mound.  If a MLB team hit 6 A's - even unintentionally - I'd be furious if there were no reprisals.  I also disagree with the guy who ran over China's second catcher.  He shouldn't have done it, and it's the wrong response to pitchers with control issues.

That said, China had no right to retaliate since it was their many HBP that pissed off our guy (who, himself, had been hit twice).  They certainly had no right to throw a fastball at LaPorta's ear.  There is no circumstance to justify such behavior, and I hope that the guy who threw that pitch is suspended from China's team.  Inexcusable doesn't even begin to describe his behavior.

In sum, and in my opinion, the US did not quite behave perfectly.  Running over the second catcher was unjustified (and disproportionate).  China, however, profoundly embarrassed themselves.  Their pitchers' lack of control (most of the HBP) is just sad at an Olympic level.  Their decision to throw at Donald after LaPorta's play at home was wrong.  Their decision to throw at LaPorta's ear was by far the worst violation of baseball ethics, and makes them look like bitter, vindictive, incompetents.

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear from other people.

Important Note: This has nothing to do with Harden.  Please leave discussion of that to one of the 35 applicable FanPosts. (Editor's note: There are actually only 23 Harden trade fAnPoSts (and 2 front page stories). Sheesh.)

Last night, some tickets to the Nats/D'Backs game fell into my lap.  As I'd never been to Nationals Park before, I was thrilled by the opportunity even before I noticed that Dan Haren was starting.  A's hat in tow, I headed out to the stadium and watched a pretty exciting game but what really struck me is how good it is to be an A's Fan.

Nationals Park is nice (and has no corporate name)

Before I get to those positives, though, I have to admit that I was impressed by Nationals park.  It isn't trying to be retro (and certainly doesn't have any "Tal's Hill" type gimmicks), but  when you get off the metro you can actually see into the stadium and it feels like you've already arrived.  I thought it was a very cool effect. Also, I'm told its jumbotron-replacement is the world's biggest HDTV.  I don't know if that's true, but it's big and HD, and it shows replays.

All told, it blows Al Davis's Coliseum out of the water but isn't going to challenge Pac Bell for top honors.

Dan Haren was absolutely dominant

About the only thing he didn't do was tease us with a no-hitter.  He gave up a hit to Guzman in the first inning, but gave the Nats nothing from then until the top of the ninth.  I'd forgotten what it's like to see his starts in person, but he sucked so much life out of the crowd that when he hit in the top of the Ninth (with 1 out and runners on 2nd and 3rd), fans started streaming towards the exits. He was clearly done in the 9th, but watching him through 8 I was sure there was a CG SHO coming.

It's a bit sad to see him in another uniform, but that trade we can all get behind and I just felt privileged to have followed him at all.  It's good to be an A's fan because we get to have pitchers of Haren's caliber come through our (revolving) doors pretty regularly.

Arizona has absolutely atrocious defense

The obvious example was Mark Reynolds' desperate desire to give away the ballgame.  He made three errors on the night.  Two were in the bottom of the 9th, and they were the only reason the Nats were able to tie the game.  The other was a throwing error in the 2nd that cost nothing but a few more Haren pitches.  He let ground balls eat him up all night, and generally looked like he didn't belong.

The worst play of the night, however, belongs to Stephen Drew.  In the bottom of the 10th, with the D'Backs up by two and runners on first and second, Austin Kearns hit a solid double to deep left.  Stephen Drew took the relay and - in an attempt to prevent the tying run from scoring - threw home.  The problem is that the runner beat his throw easily, and Kearns advanced to third on the throw.  If Drew eats the ball, there's a runner on second with one out.  Although the Nats decided a 5-2 groundout was more fun that game winning sac fly, you can't let the winning run get to third for a 0-5% shot at the place.

It's good to be an A's fan because we have the best defense in baseball just about every year.  Bad defense stinks to watch, and (Cust excepted) we don't have to.

The play is on the list available on gameday here.

The Nats have an awful lineup

We whine constantly about our lack of hitting, but  check out the lineup they trotted out there:

1. Felipe Lopez (.625 OPS/284 AB)
2. Kory Castro (.663/58)
3. Cristian Guzman (.767/392)
4. Austin Kearns (.578/156)
5. Dimitri Young (.800/149)
6. Jesus Flores (.752/171)
7. Wily Mo Pena (.520/191)
8. Roger Bernadina (.250/40) (special note: his BA, OBP, and SLG are all .125)
   

Not only is Bernadina's line ugly, but when he had an at bat with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded, they didn't have a pinch hitter.  You've gotta love a team whose cleanup hitter is struggling for a .600 OPS.

It's good to be an A's fan because even though we rarely have top shelf offensive talent (and struggle some to score runs), we almost never give significant playing time to completely undeserving players.

In Conclusion

I didn't expect that seeing a Haren start would make me feel better about the A's, but it did.  I figured given the hyperventilation that's been going on recently (and, I acknowledge, the people that took a deep breath and are still unhappy) I figured it was worth sharing.

Cliff Lee Is going to start the All Star Game even though he trails one Justin Duchscherererererererer's ERA.

Comparative stats

Lee

111.7 IP, 2.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 93 K, 17 BB, 5 HR

Duke

92 IP, 1.96 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 59 K, 21 BB, 5 HR

I'm sad.  Obviously Lee has the better K/BB ratio, and he was the story at the beginning of the year, but he's been slightly less consistent (3 starts giving up more than 3 ER vs. only one for Duke) and is coming off a (relatively) rough month of June.  Cliff's ERA was a 3.41 whereas Duke posted a 1.45.

Obviously they're both great pitchers, but I really thought Duke'd get this one.  I think he's the guy who deserves it.

First off, since people are complaining about the AN ads:

If you're using Firefox (and, honestly, if you're not you should be) you need two plugins.

Adblock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10
It blocks ads.  Lots of them.  Which is nice.

Customize Google: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/743
It cleans up the Google interface, mostly targeted towards the search results screen.

These'll fix your "seeing boobies" problem.  Which must be hard for you.

Also, while we're on the subject, my absolute favorite Firefox add-on is here (no longer in production, but works for now): http://mozilla.code65536.com/sdag/

Second, as much as I do love me some "DFA Brown" posts, our "friend" Emil is absolutely raking over his last two starts.  I know what they say about sample size, but I refuse to believe that this is not a guy who can continue to go 3/5 with 2BB, 1HR, and 5RBI every two games.  There is absolutely no reason to believe he's really a platoon player with no power.  (Vs. Lefties: .308/.341/.359, which makes for a super-sexy .700 OPS).

What the hell, let him have his roster spot until he goes 0-fer again.  He does, after all, still have the most RBIs on the team.

While we're on the baseball subject, maybe the next trade rumor should be Jimmy Rollins.  I assume he'd be interested.

Also, Zook 0, Victorino 1 which is about the only negative from last night.

Finally, because I can't resist:  Resisted