SB Nation User Blog: philkid3

How many infield hits will Chris Davis have and are you going to miss Hank Blalock?

philkid3 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:35:33 -0000

Chris Davis, though I've never clocked him, seems like a really slow dude. He also doesn't make much contact and hits the ball in the air a lot. So do you think he'll have any infield hits this coming season? I think that might be the most interesting part of 2010.

I remember back when I was sure Hank Blalock was going to be incredible. His +/- in 2004 was something like +18, he was an awesome hitter, and he was in his early 20s. I know he had a skill set that isn't always reliable, but still. Damn. Biggest disappointment of my life as a baseball fan.

Don't rec this.

Sorry if someone posted this already. I just saw it. Best commercial ever.

philkid3 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:03:09 -0000

Sorry if someone posted this already. I just saw it. Best commercial ever.

I’m also a follower, since Brian Bannister’s on our team, of sabermetric stuff and going into det...

philkid3 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:55:16 -0000

I’m also a follower, since Brian Bannister’s on our team, of sabermetric stuff and going into details of stats about what you can control.

Zack Greinke and Brian Bannister discuss how Grink's greatness comes, in part, from his understanding of sabermetrics such as FIP and Zone Rating.

'Our infield sucks. It's the worst in the game. I'm not lying about that,' said Pedroia, who blamed...

philkid3 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:32:09 -0000

'Our infield sucks. It's the worst in the game. I'm not lying about that,' said Pedroia, who blamed the grounds crew. 'That stuff upsets me. My job's to take 1,000 ground balls a day and the others guys' jobs are to get the field perfect so we can play baseball.'

Dustin Pedroia Takes His Douchieness to New Levels

This is from the great DShepp of Lone Star Ball. Linking it here because this amazing video must be...

philkid3 — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:04:56 -0000

Neftali Feliz - Be Happy from Drew Sheppard on Vimeo.

This is from the great DShepp of Lone Star Ball. Linking it here because this amazing video must be recognized.

Fangraphs on Scott Feldman and his Magical Cutter

philkid3 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:36:44 -0000

Fangraphs on Scott Feldman and his Magical Cutter

Good read, even if it's something most of us probably know.

I was almost there for this.

philkid3 — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:09:21 -0000

I was almost there for this.

Wieters Day FanShot Round Up

philkid3 — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:08:41 -0000

While you were chatting, I looked over some of the best FanShots from the last week and put them here for you. Good times!

via www.ianolandwaydesign.com

Eric Seidman at FanGraphs put together an article on when certain rate stats become statistically significant. You have an idea of swing rate at 50 PA, but it takes 500 more than that to get a significant look at isolated power. Sky gave a few more examples from a Hardball Times article in the comments section. Pretty good look, and there's a break down of the methodology included.

Jay Jaffee says that for all the Rangers' defensive improvements, the pitching still deserves credit. Because of ERA and Quality Starts. And then I canceled by Baseball Prospectus subscription. (For now.)

Slate.com looks at the book Death at the Ballpark: A Comprehensive Study of Game-Related Fatalities, revealing the national pastime to be a bit more lethal than you may realize.

Probably an old meme, but the All-Star Game may just be a celebration of all things Brewer.

Over at Purple Row, they take a look at Todd Helton's early success. Spoiler Alert: he's doing it with a very rare lack of patience.

MLB.com has a nifty video of the top prospects from the upcoming draft. And in other draft-related news, there's a really nifty Q&A session at The Baseball Analysts with Baseball America's Jim Callis.

Purple Row looked at the historical spending value of the Rockies franchise.

And, finally, something really cool: Google Earth 3D tours of baseball stadiums!

And one more note. Sky announced that Sports Media Challenge named Beyond the Boxscore the #10 MLB blog on the web. He highlighted that it achieved this spot in part due to a great community, and I completely agree with that. And the FanShots area is where a lot of our community interaction goes down. I say this a lot, but I really want to continue to encourage everyone to keep posting all the cool baseball stories they come across, all the nifty statistical analysis they find, and all the links to their own work they want to share. And, most of all, keep commenting and sharing ideas and feed back. It's my job to keep that section up to the standards of the 10th best baseball blog (or hopefully better) out there, but (especially when work is keeping me busier than usual) I'm not a community, just one person. For those of you who contribute, thank you, and for those of you who want to, please do.

Alright, everyone enjoy the Orioles game!

Rich Lederer Q&A with Jim Callis

philkid3 — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:47:27 -0000

Rich Lederer Q&A with Jim Callis

Rich Lederer at The Baseball Analysts talks to Jim Callis from Baseball America about the upcoming draft. Callis talks about the underrating of the talent in this pool, what it will take to sign Strasburg, some of the better names out there and the names that will be getting more unique contracts.

A lot of juicy name dropping in there, and I think it's especially good for people who aren't too familiar with the draft. Have at!

Today is the first day of the rest of baseball's life.

philkid3 — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:28:57 -0000

Today is the first day of the rest of baseball's life.