Checked Swing

SNL Baseball update: Devils chase first win

2010-06-05T21:50:00.000+01:00

The Aberdeen Ruffnecks have struggled to find somewhere they can train and play, so they have been unable to participate in the league so far. It is anticipated that they will emerge strong when they eventually do get going. The Cannons and the Diamond Devils, both of Edinburgh, have been playing most weekends and the scores have been very one-sided to date.

After the opening day victory for the Cannons, they kept the momentum in game 2 to beat the Devils 12 to 5. The Devils jumped out to an early lead after 2 innings behind some stellar pitching from Bret Griffin but Valari Weigel of the Cannons proved to be too much as he settled down to strike out 6 for the complete game win. The Devils were only able to muster 3 hits off the crafty lefty. Timely hits from the top of the Cannons order in Mark Donaldson, Martin Zettesten and Jason Derr as they combined for 7 of the Cannons 12 runs.

In game 3 the Cannons blasted a Devils squad that missed half of their regulars. The Devils hung around till the 4th inning before the Cannons proceeded to score 16 run in the final 3 innings. Gilberto Martinez lead the way for the Cannons with 4 hits and Jason Derr baffled the Devils only giving up 4 hits and striking out 8. Hitoshi Kitazawa was the lone bright spot for the Devils collecting 2 hits and David Pearson collected his first hit of the season.

Game 4 continued the pain for the Devils, as they slipped to 0-4 with a 14-3 loss to the Cannons.

With the next game tomorrow as part of Edinburgh's 'Festival of Sport' celebrations, the Devils will have to hope they can turn things around. It will be my first start of the season, so hopefully their 'mid-season call-up' can make all the difference (I should stress that the opposite is more likely!)

(Additional reporting from the Edinburgh Diamond Devils website)

April 25th 2010: Cannons 7 / Devils 3
May 2nd 2010: Cannons 12 / Devils 5
May 16th 2010: Cannons 17 / Devils 0
May 30th 2010: Cannons 14 / Devils 3

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Edinburgh Cannons	4	0	1.000	-	W4
Aberdeen Ruffnecks	0	0	0.000	2	-
Edinburgh Devils	0	4	0.000	4	L4

Where was Jim Joyce's Twix?

2010-06-03T22:04:00.002+01:00

If only Jim Joyce had a Twix with him:

Hat-tip to Tim.

Home Sweet Home

2010-06-03T20:34:00.002+01:00

Earlier in May the Mets strange home and road records were causing comment, even cropping up on the 'Stat of the Day' blog at Baseball Reference. The Mets haven't yet begun their regression to the mean, and are now 19-9 at Citi Field and 8-18 elsewhere. Whilst it's surely good that the Mets are comfortable in their (still new?) home, their inability to string together two wins in a row on the road is either a bizarre statistical anomoly or a sign that Jerry Manuel is not comfortable when his dugout is on the other side. Mets Blog links to Elias Sports Bureau who point out that the Mets haven't won consecutively on the road since last July. That seems unbelieveable. How can the team have such a pronounced Jekyll and Hyde split? To twist the analogy, at home they're big beefy Hydes, swinging for extra-base hits, while put them on the road and they're thin, weak Jekylls, buckling under the intense pressure of a two run deficit. The problem seems to be their pitching on the road. The Runs Scored is lower when travelling, but not by as much as the Runs Allowed jumps (133 / 107 Runs Scored Home/Away and 83 / 143 Runs Allowed Home/Away). This suggests a very obvious area the Mets need to rectify. I wonder if Roy Oswalt would consider New York?

Call 'em like you see 'em

2010-06-03T19:06:00.003+01:00

It's been a little over a month since I stepped back from Checked Swing to try to concentrate on other writing. In that time, there have been three perfect games (two of which will go in the books) and the Mets have been streaky like a five-year old washing a car. I'm not suggesting my lack of blogging is direct attributable for the sterling pitching of the past month, but there's been enough happening to make me believe the baseball gods are taunting me.

Starting with the most recent news, last night's crazy game with Galarraga being denied his shiny membership card with 'No. 021' etched across it was an astonishing spectacle. It drives it home that a perfect game is not just an effort by the pitcher; it isn't sufficient alone for him to be perfect, the entire game has to be perfect. In this instance it was the umpiring that was imperfect, and it's difficult to work out who felt worse last night, Joyce or Galarraga. When Galarraga handed him the lineup card for tonight's game, he was obviously distraught. His punishment for negligence will be having to live with the consequences of being 'the guy that blew the call'. There's a lot of talk about overturning the call, but what's done is done. The toothpaste is out of the tube. If the result is changed now, it might open the floodgates on what calls it's permissable to overturn. A missed call that blows a no-hitter? A missed call that loses a shutout? A missed call that allows the winning run to score in a low-scoring game.

Galarraga's name will not be lost to history. Like Ernie Shore, who retired 27 batters after taking over for Babe Ruth, or Harvey Haddix, who was perfect through 12 innings before an error lost him his perfecto, he will be remembered as the guy who had his perfect game lost on a blown call. He joins an even more exclusive club, one whose membership card reads 'Pitchers who had their perfect game spoiled by the 27th batter'. Galarraga's is number 10.

Springtime for the Mets at last

2010-04-29T10:01:00.000+01:00

I guess that's why they say 'ya gotta believe', and perhaps validates the Mets tagline this season of 'we believe in comebacks'. A week ago they were being written off and now (from the NY Times):

No Mets team has ever had a better 10-game homestand, and the only ones to go 9-1 were the 1969 and 1988 clubs, both of which made the postseason and one of which won the World Series.

Now, one swallow doesn't make a summer, and it's important to keep a cool head - especially when it comes to the Mets - but it's such a good feeling to see things paying off. The promotion of Ike Davis on the 19th, batting Jose Reyes third - Pagan with more than enough speed to lead off - it seems it all started to go right for the Mets. Let's hope they can keep it that way.

It hasn't just been on the field that the Mets have shown signs of spring. The often-dour Mets Police blog has frequently been axknowledging the actions the organisation has taken to improve fan relations. From allowing fans to move forward one rainy night in a mostly empty stadium, to calling off the game against the Dodgers at a reasonable hour saving most fans the hassle of getting to Citi Field only then to see it rained off, to embracing new media and setting up a blog, the Mets sure have worked hard to give their fans something to cheer about.

It would be nice if the Mets did some of these off-field actions off their own bat, rather than waiting until fans are baying for blood. The danger is if they feel that winning ways gives them a carte blanche to return to treating the fanbase like wallets rather than people. If they can maintain the performance on and off the field, the Mets might just give us something to cheer about in 2010. Bring on the Phillies!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

SNL Opening Day Roundup

2010-04-28T22:04:00.003+01:00

Opening Day in the Scottish baseball season was on Sunday, a local derby between the Edinburgh Devils and the Edinburgh Cannons which the Cannons went on to win 8-3. Without anything so elaborate as a boxscore, I'll simply link to the game summary on the Devil's website:

After early lead, Devils drop opener to Cannons

The Edinburgh Diamond Devils opened their season this weekend at their new playing fields in Warriston Park, against their newly formed in-city rivals, the Edinburgh Cannons. After a strong start and an early lead, the Devils defense began to struggle, and the Cannons bounces back to win 8-3.

I wasn't at the game due to work commitments, so I should be able to provide my own summaries for those I do attend as the season goes on.

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Edinburgh Cannons	1	0	1.000	-	W1
Aberdeen Ruffnecks	0	0	0.000	0.5	-
Edinburgh Devils	0	1	0.000	1	L1

Amateur Hour Week 3

2010-04-27T21:39:00.002+01:00

Amateur Hour fantasy roundup is here! Week 3 was a week of close scoring matchups as nobody had a win greater than 6-2. That went to Friday Night Society:

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
Friday Night Society	31	6	31	5	.295	2	3	46	1.10	1.02	6
Black Isle Peelers	30	2	26	5	.262	4	3	52	3.10	1.05	2

Despite the fact that this matchup resulted in the biggest score disparity, the Peelers posted strong numbers, especially in runs and WHIP. They can feel justifiably annoyed to only be taking 2 points from the week, after great pitching from their staff, especially Yovani Gallardo and John Danks. The Society's stunning 1.10 ERA (Zack Greinke's 2.57 ERA was FNS's highest!) and excellent week in the batting categories (Ryan Braun and Bobby Abreu leading the way) ensured they were worthy winners.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
Pandahs	26	10	35	1	.284	2	0	15	3.25	1.05	3
ScoSox	27	5	37	4	.235	2	4	24	3.25	1.36	5

Narrow wins in a number of categories and ties in W and ERA made this a matchup that could have gone either way. The Pandahs' lack of relievers saw them fail to get a save for the second straight week, and picking up some closers and strikeout pitchers should be a priority. In the batting categories, Matt Kemp and Kurt Suzuki had great weeks for the Pandahs, while a solid showing from the whole ScoSox lineup saw them edge runs and RBIs.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
Too Lidge-it to Quit	38	13	43	5	.364	5	2	53	3.26	1.23	6
Boobiesoverhere	20	1	22	10	.256	3	2	29	3.19	1.13	3

Too Lidge-it to Quit put on a hit parade, posting an incredible AVG and leading the league in all batting categories except steals, which the speedy boobiesoverhere lead. The batters making the difference were Kendry Morales, Mark Reynolds and Jason Werth, while it was Nelson Cruz who swiped 5 bags over the week. Boobies will surely be sorry to see him go on the DL. Lidge-it also led the league in wins and Ks, thanks to Jorge De La Rosa, but was narrowly edged out in ERA and WHIP.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
The Batmen	24	7	29	8	.221	2	4	48	6.61	1.55	4
3 Lions Cubs	30	7	22	0	.243	3	2	32	3.00	1.33	5

The closest matchup was my own, and I could only count on Chris Carpenter as my pitching staff got roughed up to the tune of a woeful 6.61 ERA. Fingers crossed they can dial it in in Week 4. The Cubs didn't have much speed, failing to get a single steal, but their batters were good enough to split the batting categories. Coupled with their pitching, they clinched the win. I'm eagerly awaiting the return of Kinsler, Rollins and Ellsbury from the DL.

After two scored weeks it's ScoSox narrowly out in front, leading Too Lidge-it to Quit and boobiesoverhere by half a game. Friday Night Society and Three Lions Cubs are two back, the Pandahs are sixth by 4.5, and the basement is occupied by the Black Isle Peelers and my Batmen, 7 games back and 7.5 games back respectively. Perhaps I should spend less time writing weekly updates and more time managing a winning team!

SNL Baseball update

2010-04-21T19:51:00.003+01:00

Baseball in Scotland is about to get underway with Opening Day seeing the Edinburgh Cannons 'hosting' the Edinburgh Devils at Warriston Park. Since both teams reside at Warriston Park the home advantage might not be as pronounced as it could be. New websites for the teams can be reached through the two links above. I'll post a link for the Aberdeen Ruffnecks' website when they get one live.

Edinburgh Club President/GM/Manager/Coach/Player Jason Derr was interviewed last week by In The Winning Zone, a site for Scottish sports news. He says his long-term goal is to get the Diamond Devils playing in the British League again. I hope this would be in conjunction with a fully-fledged Scottish League, perhaps serving as a feeder league for the national one. Time will tell what lies ahead for Scottish Baseball.

Interview on Baseball Over Here

2010-04-21T19:48:00.003+01:00

Ron Rollins, whose blog is Baseball Over Here was good enough to interview me on everything from the Mets to my baseball background to Scottish baseball. I'm biased, obviously, but go check it out and while you're there have a read of Ron's blog. Nobody covers international baseball better.

Amateur Hour Fantasy Baseball

2010-04-19T17:29:00.003+01:00

As well as the Baseball GB Fantasy League I participate in, I have joined another league with some friends. There's eight players in total, so the pool of players goes a bit further than in the fourteen team league of BaseballGB. Whilst week-by-week analysis of the BaseballGB league is taken care of by Mark George, the Amateur Hour analysis falls to me. Here's the breakdown of Week 2 (week 1 wasn't scored due to a late draft)

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
Friday Night Society	29	8	40	5	.308	3	1	52	3.93	1.44	3
Too Lidge-It to Quit	37	8	24	8	.266	3	3	42	3.35	1.18	5

Too Lidge-It to Quit won a close matchup, helped by a good all-round batting performance, especially from Robinson Cano and Denard Span, and some stellar relief pitching from Broxton and Soria. They led the entire league with 37 runs. Friday Night Society had a great week from Shin-Soo Choo and Ryan Braun but it wasn't enough to take the week, despite a great batting average overall.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
Pandahs	31	8	31	6	.285	3	0	34	3.38	1.10	4
Three Lions Cubs	26	10	42	3	.325	3	1	38	4.15	1.23	5

Another close matchup, which saw Three Lions Cubs beat the Pandahs thanks to a league-best .325 batting average. There were quite a few standout performances, with Pedroia, Lind, Ethier and Brad Hawpe having great weeks for the Cubs, while Kemp and Manny Ramirez did their bit for the Pandahs. Pitching-wise, both teams suffered from having DL-ed players on their roster, but didn't let that stop them chalking up respectable pitching lines for the week.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
ScoSox	33	15	44	1	.291	2	5	30	3.86	1.09	7
Black Isle Peelers	27	6	25	4	.219	3	1	25	3.18	1.38	3

ScoSox led the league in homers and RBIs, thanks to Utley and Cuddyer's hot streaks and smart utilization of the entire roster. The Peelers must have welcomed the return of Jose Reyes, as he stole his first base of the season to help them take that category, while a low ERA (2nd overall in the league) and 3 wins grabbed them 3 points for the week. The Sox' high SV count was despite the loss of Brian Fuentes, who should be back next week.

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Total
The Batmen	24	5	12	2	.231	3	9	42	3.75	1.21	1
boobiesoverthere	26	6	26	10	.245	4	4	54	1.44	0.87	9

Ouch! My team avoided being swept by dominating in SVs, but there was little else to cheer as my batters slumped to worst or second worst overall in the five hitting columns. The Boobies were helped by some great stealing, and a tremendous pitching line that deserved even more wins (great outings from Beckett and Santana but no run support saw them not factor in the decision) but they didn't need it, leading the league overall in all the pitching categories except saves.

Early days yet, but the Boobies have a two game cushion over the ScoSox...

Now on Twitter

2010-04-18T18:24:00.001+01:00

I haven't just succumbed - I've had a personal Twitter account @thomasogilvie for a while. Now I have one to follow all baseball related activities @checkedswing. So go ahead and follow for baseball-related musings of less than 140 characters. I update it more frequently than Checked Swing!

-- Post From My iPhone

All is Wright with the World

2010-04-06T09:36:00.002+01:00

Even though we're talking about the Mets, it's hard not to get caught up in the optimism of Opening Day. A homer from David Wright, already bringing him to a tenth of his total from last year; Santana solid through six, as was the bullpen; Francisco Rodriguez lights-out in a non-save ninth; even Barajas and Matthews looked good. If fact, they all looked good in their throwback pinstripes and blue. If 2010 is the year of the 'Retro-hybrid Uniform' for the Mets, hopefully we'll be seeing them in that a lot more.

Of course, we are talking about the Mets, so a bit of realism is needed. We expect a good outing every five days - that's when Johan takes the mound. And until Wright gets a couple more, I won't be sure he's back to his old self. We won against the Reds last Opening Day, and look how that turned out.

Still, we can enjoy it for the moment...

Mets Uniforms on Uni Watch

2010-04-04T14:10:00.004+01:00

Readers might remember my statistical analysis of the Mets winning percentages last year (Mets Uniforms 4 and the rest...) due its being picked up on by MetsBlog, On The Black, and of course, Mets Police.

It was via Mets Police that I learnt how my work pales into insignificance in comparison to the final word on uniform matters, Uni Watch, whose analysis of uniform-based performance is deep enough to keep the most veracious stat-fiend more than happy. It's required reading.

I'll probably continue to crunch the numbers this year, if for no other reason than to keep myself satisfied. At the end of the season, I hope I'll be able to tell you they've had a .682 winning percentage in 80 games in pinstripes, while winning all four pinstripes games in the World Series...

48 hours to go

2010-04-02T23:23:00.003+01:00

Two days until the Show starts up again, and the suspense is beginning to set in. There's a calm before the storm of Opening Day. Almost everything that can be said has been said and it's simply a case of waiting.

If you're looking for ways to pass the time, you could do a lot worse than checking out MLB.com's '30 in 30' promotion, which was shown on the MLB Network and is now available to view on demand online. Each of the 30 major league teams is covered in shows lasting a little over half an hour (although the other 30 of the title refers to the 30 days of the original schedule, not 30 minute shows). It's great to hear some analysis of each team's lineup and rotation. It's a great introduction to teams which would normally be off my radar, and even listening to the Mets show is rewarding to see how the whole team is fitting together.

The interviews with players and personnel are nice for British fans, sort of a 'whos who' of the various organisations. Especially rewarding are the 'All Time Homegrown Team' segment and the 'Top 9 Franchise Moments'. Both these could be longer - they seem more an afterthought than an integral part of the show - but I suppose the focus is on looking ahead to the new season rather than back on the history of the teams.

Watching the Mets program also drives it home how woeful last season really was, in terms of days and salary lost to injury and where the team ERA falls in terms of Mets history (2nd, after the 1962 season!)

Forty-eight hours to go, and about 20 hours of online video - watch them all and you still plenty of time to sleep and eat...

Hat-tip to Matt Smith at Baseball GB for making 30 in 30 his Web Pick of the Week.

Here we go again...

2010-04-02T00:07:00.002+01:00

It would be nice if 2010 was a turnaround year for the Mets. With the news (on April Fools Day, but no fooling) of Daniel Murphy out for 2 - 6 weeks, joining Reyes and Beltran on the DL, it looks like 2010 is picking up right where 2009 left off. Jon Springer at MBTN has the probable opening day lineup - it doesn't make for pretty reading.

In other news, Venditte did okay switch-pitching against the Braves, and Denard Span managed to hit his mother with a foul-ball. She's okay, he tweeted.

Venditte to pitch in Yankees spring training game

2010-03-30T19:14:00.002+01:00

According to Rob Neyer, Pat Venditte, the switch-pitcher I blogged about last March, is going to pitch sometime after CC Sabathia in today's split-squad game against the Braves. I'm as desperate to find out as Neyer whether Venditte has what it takes to pitch against major-league batters. A chance like this one won't come around very often - especially as Venditte will start the season where he ended 2009, in Class A.

2010 Fantasy Draft

2010-03-20T22:24:00.004Z

Well, it's that time of year for fantasy baseball players to start drafting. In my case the draft was tonight, and I'll once again be participating in the Baseball GB League on Yahoo!.

Last year I managed 7th place out of 14, winning the 'consolation playoffs'. I thought it was a fair result giving my shallowness of knowledge. This year I want to do at least one better, if not six better, and so approached the draft with high hopes.

My team last year was composed mostly of players I knew (at least for the first six rounds), but this time I put my faith to a greater extent in statistical analysis (read: fantasy cheatsheets) and so went for players I certainly wouldn't have gone for last year. My first round pick was Gold-Glove and Silver-Slugger winner Matt Kemp, who I had heard of. Then Kung-Fu Panda, the offensive drive behind the San Fransisco Giants (such as it is), versatile C/1B Victor Martinez. I picked Cliff Lee in Round 4, a misstep given his injury news and 5-game suspension. But when the timer's ticking down it's very hard not to make mistakes. Aramis Ramirez should perform 3B well, and then Round 6 was closer Jonathan Broxton. This might have been too early for a closer, but time will tell. After that I began stabbing into the dark on whims. There were more mistakes - Milton Bradley was never intended to be my last round pick, but my pc rudely kicked me out of the draft room. He's already been traded for Chase Headley.

I gambled on Ben Sheets and Justin Duchscherer, both of whom missed all of last year. They were cheap picks and if only one of them regains his previous form I'll be happy. If they both perform well I'll have a formidable rotation. Of course, it turns out I missed the result of Sheet's last start - 10 runs without an out.

Only Ryan Ludwick stays on my team from last year. He was an 8th round pick last year, but only 11th this time round. I think that hitting behind Pujols and Holliday will help his RBI count, but maybe he'll come to more empty bases. One way or the other, this year won't be last year all over again.

The competition is strong, but I'm confident my team will be able to hold its own. Now I'll test it against reality.

Borders Bats
1. (6) Matt Kemp
2. (23) Pablo Sandoval
3. (34) Víctor Martínez
4. (51) Cliff Lee
5. (62) Aramis Ramírez
6. (79) Jonathan Broxton
7. (90) Asdrubal Cabrera
8. (107) Jered Weaver
9. (118) Carlos Mármol
10. (135) Yunel Escobar
11. (146) Ryan Ludwick
12. (163) Ben Sheets
13. (174) Michael Cuddyer
14. (191) Mark Lowe
15. (202) Ryan Franklin
16. (219) J.D. Drew
17. (230) Clint Barmes
18. (247) Ryan Rowland-Smith
19. (258) Justin Duchscherer
20. (275) Milton Bradley

Corrections on women pro-ball

2010-03-12T21:05:00.004Z

In reply to my post on women in professional baseball, female umpire Perry Barber commented, correcting me on a number of points concerning women's professional baseball, including the other woman trying to break into professional baseball, Tiffany Brooks, who has just signed a contract with the Big Bend Cowboys to become the "first American woman to sign a professional baseball contract in the twenty-first century." Perry Barber's comment is worth reading in full, so here it is:

Thomas, Eri Yoshida will actually be the SECOND woman to sign a pro baseball contract this century if she joins the Chico Outlaws. Tiffany Brooks of Spokane, Washington, beat her to the punch by signing with the Big Bend Cowboys of the independent Continental Baseball League last week. Tiffany is a double threat as an infielder/pitcher who mixes speeds to keep batters off balance, and she switch hits with pop from the right side. Both young women rely more on guile than gas, and it will be instructive and entertaining to watch them as they make their marks on pro ball, each in her own unique way. That's if Eri signs; she's discussing the offer with her parents before making a decision, a wise approach for a teenager to take!

Here's a link to some additional info about Tiffany: http://open.salon.com/blog/umpirepb/2010/03/07/tiffany_brooks_dazzles_on_the_diamond

As for Yanet Moreno, it thrills and saddens me at the same time to learn Cuba is so far ahead of the U.S.A. when it comes to parity on the field. In the entire history of pro ball in this country, so few women have been able to crack open the stained grass window we've been peering through for so long, unable to join in the fun and games on the other side, that other countries are light years ahead of us by comparison. In baseball, change comes sluggishly and incrementally, and when it comes to women, almost always one lawsuit at a time; but if that's the way that stained grass window has to be forced open, so be it. Yanet and Tiffany and Eri are taking up the standard originally borne by Amanda Clement, Bernice Gera, Christine Wren, Pam Postema, Theresa Cox Fairlady, Ria Cortesio, and Shanna Kook in umpiring; and Lizzie Arlington, Alta Weiss, Lizzie Murphy, Jackie Mitchell, Toni Stone, Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, Eleanor Engle, Ila Borders, the Philadelphia Dolly Vardens, and the women of the All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League in playing. Surprised to learn there have been even that many? Don't be: women have been playing and umpiring baseball in this country since the 19th century, our contributions to the game largely ignored or forgotten. The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is leading the way in honoring the women who have served baseball in diverse capacities through its wonderful Women In Baseball exhibit "Diamond Dreams," but in general the pro baseball hierarchy in America is still mired in a kind of passive acceptance of our participation, which in many ways is even worse than outright prejudice or discrimination because intolerance becomes disguised as mere inertia, which is much more difficult to identify as the obstruction to progress it actually is.

Thank you for shining a light on the pathetic paucity of women on the ballfield in this country. Illuminating this issue reveals a huge problem for baseball in this country, one that directly impacts the dwindling appeal the game holds for our kids as they turn to other forms of entertainment that are available at the click of a mouse, the dribble of a basketball, or the app of an i-phone.

When baseball in this country wakes up and realizes women are not a threat or a downgrade but an invaluable asset that can only add to the allure of baseball, we'll all be better off. Until then, Yanet and Tiffany and perhaps Eri will be beacons of hope to those of us who watch, wait, and work towards the day when the sight of a woman player or umpire on the ballfield will excite no more interest than that of any man, and we will have to fight no more NOT to be in a league of our own.

Good job! Perry's website is here. It has a link to her own blog.

Update on women in pro-ball

2010-03-08T22:10:00.004Z

A little under a year ago, I blogged about the young Japanese pitcher Eri Yoshida, who had just become the first woman to play in a professional league in Japan. She made up for her small frame (155cm and 52kg) with a knuckleball pitch which she said had been inspired by watching Tim Wakefield on television in her youth. To mark International Women's Day, I thought I'd check in on her progress.

It's been a fairly good year for Yoshida, in which she went 0-2 for Kobe 9 Cruise in the Kansai Independent League before leaving for the States in December. She pitched in the Arizona Winter League, pitching some good games (and some bad ones), and now she's been offered a contract by the Chico Outlaws of the US independent Golden League. If she accepts, she would be the first woman to play professional 'men's' baseball in the US. Some people aren't so sure that it isn't simply a publicity stunt. Ron Rollins, who runs the Baseball Over Here blog, had this to say about Yoshida:

I hope she does well. Because giving her a chance and letting her fail spectacularly just to put some people in the seats isn't the way to do it. It does a disservice to the league, to Eri Yoshida, to women attempting to play the game, and to baseball in general. Good luck to her.

I'm reminded of the Futurama episode where Leela becomes the first professional female blernsball player, sporting number 7/8 for the New New York Mets (after their return from Mercury, one supposes). She stinks, being merely a novelty act, until she takes coaching from Hank Aaron the XXIV in an attempt to improve her game. Unfortunately for Leela, it doesn't, and the second woman in blernsball, Jackie Anderson, hits a game-winning grand slam. Jackie says Leela was an inspiration because she was so bad she encouraged women to try harder than ever in order to prove that they weren't all as bad as her.

Hopefully Yoshida isn't a novelty signing and working with her childhood hero, which she did in Red Sox training camp last week, improves her game so she can prosper in baseball. ESPN has a video of her pitching in front of Wakefield here.

One woman has been taking a slightly different path to the world of professional baseball. Yanet Moreno of Cuba is the only female umpire in Cuba's top league. So long as she can do a good job, I see no reason why she shouldn't go far. There have been female umpires in the US, but only in the minor leagues or at spring training. (HT- Baseball Over Here, Video at CNN)

It's been a good year so far for breaking the glass ceiling of sport, as Amy Fearn became the first woman referee of an English Football League match last month. But as Alyson Rudd, Times journalist and aspiring referee, put it: "Golly, at this phenomenal rate there could be a female referee in charge of a Premier League match by 2025." There's a long way to go.

Scottish National League update

2010-03-03T16:14:00.003Z

There are currently three baseball clubs in Scotland: Glasgow Baseball Association, the Edinburgh Diamond Devils and a new team in Aberdeen, the Aberdeen Roughnecks (no website yet). With GBA's decision to play in league in the north of England, and Edinburgh able to split into two teams, that leaves three teams in the league for 2010.

Jason Derr, the GM of the Edinburgh club, also fulfils the role of League Commissoner to an extent, and has been working on a tentative schedule. Every two weeks one Edinburgh team plays a double header versus Aberdeen, one at home and once away. On the in-between weeks the Edinburgh teams will play a single 9-inning 'derby'.

In Edinburgh, the good news is that the teams should have a decent field to play on in the form of Warriston Park, in the north of the city, next to the Royal Botanical Gardens. There are plans afoot to build a permanent backstop, and get a clubhouse. This will surely help raise the profile of the sport in the city and beyond.

With the possibilities of exhibition trips to Norway and tournaments in London and elsewhere, it looks like baseball on Scotland is on the rise.

German Catcher with Mets

2010-03-03T14:58:00.003Z

The great Baseball Over Here blog had this nearly two weeks ago, but that's exactly the length of time I was in the States so I've just read this post about the Mets inviting a German catcher, Kai Gronauer, to Spring Training as a non-roster intivee.

As Ron says:

Yeah, a German getting a chance. The reason I like this, is not just because it's a European player, is because he's a catcher. Catching is one of the hardest positions to play if you've grown up with the game, let alone being an import to it.

It's not just catching the ball and returning it to the pitcher. It's calling the game, keeping the pitcher in his rhythm, controlling the running game, calling defenses, etc. Catching isn't easy, and there is a lot of unseen activity involved in it. The fact that Europeans are getting to the point where they have a chance to catch in the big leagues is an indication of much the game is progressing over here.

There might not be much (any!) chance of him making the team, especially with Barajas signed, but it's a big step forward for Europeans. And if Riggans was able to get an at-bat in the first game against the Braves, maybe Gronauer can get a few opportunities to show his worth. Mister Baseball, another good European blog, had the story first, and has a picture of Gronauer in action.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-03-02T00:54:00.003Z

I just noticed that I've been blogging for baseball for exactly one year now. There's been inactivity along the way, but I'm pleased to be sticking at it. Many thanks to anyone who has linked to posts or commented; feedback is very encouraging, and spurs me on to continue this for years to come...

Film Review: The Rookie

2010-03-02T00:12:00.003Z

"There comes a time in every man's life when he realizes he'll never play professional baseball."
So says Josh Lyman in an episode of the West Wing, after criticizing a particularly galling Mets lost. I'm both a delusionist and an optimist, so for me that day has not yet arrived, but Jim Morris in the Rookie, played by Dennis Quaid, could have been forgiven for thinking that for him that day had been and past. In his thirties (35 to be precise), matched with a wife and children, a chemistry teacher and managing a lacklustre high school team, he hardly seemed a likely candidate for pitching in the majors. The only things going in his favour? He once had a minor-league career which was ended by injury, and the fact that he's pitched against a chain-link fence every night for a decade. He doesn't realise it, but he's developed a 98mph fastball.

Then he makes a pact that will change his future. Trying to inspire his high school players, he agrees that if they make the state playoffs, he'll try out for a team. Improbably, they do, so Morris goes along to the tryouts. The organisers recognise him, and think he's brought a prospect. Then he's laughed at by all the 18 year olds he's there to compete against, but he takes it on the chin (being Dennis Quaid, it's a formidable chin) and when he starts pitching, the smiles go away, replaced by bemusement and eventually, respect.

It all that sounds hokey, it might be, if it wasn't for one thing. Jim Morris isn't fictional. The film is based on the real-life exploits of the Texan teacher and pitcher, with his autobiography also called the Rookie.

Within the constraints of, and given, its source material, it's a realistic film. Morris works his way through the minors, enduring long bus journeys and time away from his family. The message is simple: following your dreams in not necessarily the easy option, especially when you've settled down, but it is a rewarding path. The baseball itself is similarly good to watch. Quaid has the look of a real ballplayer despite only ever playing Little League, and it's no stretch of the imagination to think of him as the small-town all-American hero.

If the film has a flaw, it's that it's never surprising. Being a true story, there was only so much that director John Lee Hancock could do. Nevertheless, the audience is given plenty of time to see every plot development coming, and the eventual outcome is never in doubt. This predictability isn't the problem it might be in films of other genres, however. The Rookie is more about Quaid's pursuit of his dreams that the end result. It might have been tempting to take wild liberties with the reality of Morris's life, but the film balances Quaid's success with verite. It isn't as if he pitches the last out in the World Series - that isn't his goal.

From a British perspective, the film is both accessible and entertaining. Literally no prior knowledge of baseball is required, as the film is about Quaid's journey rather than any specific incident in baseball. Knowing it's a true story helps keep the attention - a viewer unfamiliar with the story of Jim Morris might seriously doubt whether or not he will make it to the majors. At the end of the day, it's a Disney film and not a tragic thriller, so we're gently reassured throughout that Morris's journey won't deny us the fairytale ending. For once, that's quite a comfort.

Rob Neyer 'bullish about Mets'

2010-03-02T00:04:00.002Z

Rob Neyer's blog Sweet Spot on ESPN is one I try to follow regularly, as I find his postings frequently insightful. His post on the Mets opposite-field hitting is interesting reading (as is who he thinks might be responsible) but it was the last paragraph that I thought curious:

I'm moderately bullish about the Mets, because they have some excellent players and can afford to outspend some of their mistakes. In the long term, though, I think they'll need different leadership at the top to realize their obvious potential.

Of course, for that to happen, some heads need to roll and the Mets actually need to spend some real money - New York money. Last season can be put down to injuries, more or less, but the team's performance this year will surely dictate what changes come. It took Willie Randolph seventy games in 2008 to get the chop. How many will it take this year?

Kyojingun!

2010-02-22T16:03:00.003Z

While to my west, the Mets shake my confidence daily, to my east, all is right with the world. The Yomiuri Giants, still to date the only baseball team I've seen win a game, are starting their spring training as Japanese Champions. They are rightly compared to the Yankees, with a similar record of dominance and commitment to excellence. The New York Times today looks at their respective history of winning but also at the way in which the boundaries between the NPB and MLB are blurring.

Hideki Matsui, who played for the Giants’ championship team in 2002, became the first Japanese most valuable player of a World Series. And a group of foreigners, including pitchers Dicky Gonzalez and Marc Kroon, and the regular-season M.V.P., Alex Ramirez, led the Giants, who were the last franchise in Japan to sign players with no Japanese heritage, in 1975.

The Mets have capitalised on this talent in the past decade. Of all the teams in the majors, the Mets have signed the most players from Japan. Whilst it hasn't produced results yet, I'm optimistic that the signing of Takahashi and Igarashi will help the Mets pitching in 2010. They're not Yu Darvish, but they'll do for now. The Mets/Japan legacy is thanks to erstwhile manager Bobby Valentine (whose bar, Bobby V's in Stamford, CT, I ate in the other day) and his time in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines is summed up very well by Robert Whiting at the Japan Times (ht: eastwindupchronicle). It's worth reading.

'Another Misstep' anagram of 'Other Mets Pain'

2010-02-21T16:03:00.003Z

A couple of days into my New York trip, and staying with a family of Yankees fans is proving to be challenging, since their favourite greeting seems to be 'Mets suck!' Trouble is, it's hard to argue with. The New York Times yesterday reported the Mets are thinking of batting Reyes third, a move they rejected last year; that the Mets are flip-flopping on who's getting the fifth starter's job (as if it'll make a difference); and Manager Jerry Manuel and GM Omar Minaya contradicting each other on whether Daniel Murphy has more-or-less got the job of starting first baseman.

Maybe it's just the constant barrage of negativity from my Bronx-supporting hosts but I can't help feeling pessimistic when I see the Mickey Mouse amateurism in Tropicana Field. Perhaps the 'yips' will settle down once baseballs are thrown in earnest, but right now I need something, anything, to be able to counter the 'Mets suck' accusation.

New York New York

2010-02-17T00:58:00.004Z

New York, New York! So good, I'm going there again, arriving Thursday for a ten day whirlwind of a trip that unfortunately won't take in Citi Field or much other baseball related activities. If anyone has any ideas what a deprived baseball fan can do in the city that never sleeps during the off-season, suggestions would be welcome!

Posting will likely be light(er than normal), although I'm going to try to get some stuff written on the plane and will no doubt reblog any interesting links I find that haven't been linked to a thousand times already. For now, I direct your attention towards this short roundup from the New York Times. It's too early for the obligatory '2010 predictions', but given some of the moves over the last few months I think 2010 is shaping up to be another great year. The AL West looks like one to watch, with the return to health of Oakland's Sheets and Duchscherer, the improvements made to the Mariners' roster, not to forget the defending division champs the Angels. I predict a close contest!

Photo credit: me!

Visiting the Citi

2010-02-11T07:57:00.003Z

I'm visiting New York later this month, and thought it might me nice to see around the home of the Mets. The only other time I was in the city, in November 2008, Shea and Yankee Stadiums had closed while Citi Field and New Yankee hadn't opened for business. I caught a glimpse of Shea as I drove by from the airport but that hardly counts. This time, I decided, I'd definitely make the effort.

One problem with this plan - no tours. I tried e-mailing the Mets, but they weren't forthcoming on any plans for tours nor willing to let me run wild in the building unsupervised. How hard is it really to have one or two tours a day? New York must be one of the foremost tourist destinations in the world; am I really the only one who'd like to visit a ballpark? The Yankees offer tours, but since there's really only one season of history there I think I'll give it a few more years to develop some legends (this is the seat which A-Rod hit his 600th home run into, etc. etc.)

It's an issue which Shannon was kind enough to raise over at Mets Police. I don't think anything's going to change before my visit, but with luck there'll be something to see next time.

(Image credit: sdettling's flickr)

Film Review: The Natural

2010-02-08T14:36:00.003Z

The difficulty with fiction is the writer often can't get away with the sort of outrageous coincidences that occur in real life all the time. Improbable survivals seem cliched, deus ex machina endings totally improbable. "The world's foremost neurosurgeon just happened to be travelling on the same plane - and they're second cousins!" God, it seems, can get away with plotlines no mortal writer worth his salt would touch.

In sports movies, however, it's easier to get away with seemingly cliched plots, perhaps because the structure of sports lends itself to fictionalization. There's already a drama to sport before you even begin to add layers of personal interest. Take yesterday's Super Bowl, won by the New Orleans Saints just five years after that city's devastation at the hands of Hurricane Katrina. The Saints' phoenix-like rise is summed up very well by Jason Fry on the Faith and Fear in Flushing blog in a post here. The fairytale reversal might have been dismissed as far-fetched had it not been true. Similar inspirational stories of overcoming the odds are abundant in all sports, which is one of the appeals to fans.

Baseball seems to lend itself to cliche more than other sports. Even with two outs in the ninth inning, a team can come back to win. More often than not they don't, but that's what makes the times they do all the more memorable. Walk-off home runs can and do happen, even in the most crucial of games.

Two outs in the bottom of the ninth is exactly the situation that Roy Hobbs finds himself in in The Natural, the 1984 film directed by Barry Levinson. Hobbs, played by Robert Redford, has struck out twice already, is battling an old stomach injury, and his team the New York Knights, are down by two with runners on first and second in a crucial tiebreaker game against the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the pennant.

After breaking his lucky bat, Wonderboy, Hobbs crushes a mighty homer which smashes the stadium lights, showering the field in sparks as Hobbs rounds the bases in slow motion. It's a scene which could be horrendously tacky, but the whole film is infused with such a magic that it seems a fitting conclusion. Set mostly in 1939, with opening scenes in the early twenties, there's a reverent nostalgia throughout the film, both to viewers looking back at baseball's Golden Age and to Hobbs himself looking back at what might have been had events turned out differently:

Hobbs: I coulda been better. I coulda broke every record in the book...And then when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.

The film seamlessly melds a number of themes, from the dangers of the pursuit of fame to celebration of individual talent. It only rarely feels forced, even in moments of heavy-handed allegory such as the moment that Hobbs' father dies and a lightning bolt splits the tree in his yard to yield the stump Hobbs uses to carve Wonderboy.

The flaw with the film is its apparent desire to remove anything that might get in the way of the magic of baseball and the saviour Roy Hobbs. As the film critic Roger Ebert put it in a damning review:

Why did a perfectly good story, filled with interesting people, have to be made into one man's ascension to the godlike, especially when no effort is made to give that ascension meaning?

In the book upon which the film is based, Hobbs doesn't hit the game-winning home run. Instead, he strikes out once again and is confronted, Shoeless Joe Jackson style, by a distraught young fan who asks 'Say it ain't so, Roy.' He breaks down and weeps and here the novel ends. It's a classic morality tale about the loss of innocence, sharply contrasting with the film's triumphalism. Even if the filmmakers were determined to change the ending, I felt that hitting the homer should have killed Hobbs, since that's what his injury seemed to be building to.

All in all, the film's simplicity works. It's about the glory and magic of baseball, not the bitter realities that fame, money and love can lead to. In an age where baseball fans have had their innocence crushed by the 'Steriods Era', such return to simpler times is a welcome change. Finally giving Hobbs the chance to prove himself, the manager, Pop Fisher says to him:

Come on Hobbs, knock the cover off the ball!

So naturally, Hobbs does.

Spring Training has begun

2010-02-04T16:03:00.005Z

Well, for the Edinburgh Diamond Devils it has. The first indoor training session of the year for the Scottish capital's team took place on January 31st at Westwood's Health Club. It was my first foray into organised baseball, so the busy couple of hours spent fielding grounders and short-hops, batting practise and catching fly balls was all new to me.

Baseball has not been a big sport in Scotland for a very long time (if ever), and baseball clubs often struggle with funding and attendance. The 2009 season was thrown into some disarray by the collapse of the 'Strathclyde Falcons', leaving only the Edinburgh Diamond Devils and the Glasgow Baseball Association. This year looks like it will see a new team compete in the northern city of Aberdeen, but on the day of the first training, Glasgow informed the current manager of the Diamond Devils, Jason Derr, that they will be competing in the North of England league this season. The effort to set up a more stable Scottish league continues, and I will hopefully be a part of it in the near future.

Training in Edinburgh will continue throughout the spring. For dates, please visit the Diamond Devils website:
Diamond Devils

Resigned Jason Bay

2010-02-04T15:59:00.002Z

An amusing article on the ever-funny Onion.com from last month, about Jason Bay's signing.

At an introductory press conference at Citi Field Tuesday, Jason Bay donned a blue and orange hat, sighed deeply, and announced that he was, indeed, a New York Met. "Well, here we are," Bay seemed to say to himself...

Thing is, I can just about believe that this isn't satire.

The Rise and Fall of Dwight Gooden

2010-02-04T15:50:00.002Z

There's a great article on the BaseballGB website by Flynn Hagerty about the vicissitudes of the phenomenal Dwight Gooden. It shows the shallowness of my depth of knowledge of Mets history that I had no idea just how good he was in his first two years.

As a 19 year old, he made the All-Star team, turning in a memorable performance at Candlestick Park, striking out Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Alvin Davis in the 5th inning. He ended the season with 17 wins, 9 losses, an ERA of 2.60 and an extraordinary 276 strikeouts in just 218 innings. He finished 2nd in voting for the Cy Young Award. In an era where the strikeout rate was over 20% lower than it is today, Gooden’s strikeouts would have led both leagues in strikeouts in 2009. In one exceptional stretch in September 1984, Gooden pitched 34 innings with an ERA of 0.53, striking out 52 batters while walking 5. He had successive 16 strikeout games versus the Pirates and Expos. The boy was something special.

The next year I was amazed to discover he posted the second-lowest ERA of the live-ball era:

The youngest man ever to win 20 games, he went 24-4 with a 1.53 earned run average, the 2nd lowest ERA of the Live Ball Era (baseball post-1920). Only Bob Gibson’s 1.12 in 1968 was lower, and that was under conditions nearly as hostile to offense as pre-1920 baseball. He struck out 268 batters in 276 innings. He won the Cy Young Award unanimously. He didn’t give up an earned run for the month of September.

The entire article is well worth reading in full, not least for the Sports Illustrated cover of April 15, 1985 (six days before I was born) showing Gooden mid-pitch, arm bent like a supple willow branch.

1969 World Series and the MLB Logo

2010-01-30T23:47:00.005Z

I was just watching Game 5 of the 1969 World Series, when the Mets clinched the championship over the Orioles. The moment when they got the last out was great, as fans swarmed the field down the outfield walls and over the dugout. It was no Chambliss and the 1976 ALCS, but it was the Mets and it was still something you don't see any more with policing so tight. I can't help but wonder when the last 'pitch invasion' in baseball was. Even the energy in the clubhouse was so spontaneous, or at the very least less sanitized than celebrations these days. But waxing nostalgic wasn't the purpose of this post.

I noticed the MLB logo on the sleeves of Jerry Koosman, which seemed strangely early and got me wondering when it was first designed. It turns out that 1969 was the first season it was used. It was designed by Jerry Dior (although that was a matter of some dispute until recently). It's a testament to the durability of the logo that it still seems fresh 42 years later; the red, white and blue of the States, the abstracted silhouette of the batter. As the Wall Street Journal says in an article published in 2008:

He adds that Mr. Dior's trademark works -- and has been widely imitated -- because it captures the sport's dynamic essence. "The Major League Baseball logo was a real breakthrough in sports because it's a very powerful graphic expression," he said. "It has set the tone for many of the brand identities that are being used by sports organizations around the world."

And the figure depicted in the logo? Pure design, says Dior. Not based on Harmon Killebrew or anyone else. That's from the man himself.

Baseball

2010-01-27T21:41:00.004Z

Andy over on the 'Stat of the Day' blog on Baseball Reference made a post entitled simply 'baseball' in which he looks at why people love baseball so much.

Like most fans, there was a point in baseball history that turned me on to the game. It made me fascinated by the complex beauty of the game and ever since, I have loved every moment of Major League Baseball.

For him, it's events that I personally have never heard of or seen, but to read him describe them you can see why they would ignite a passion for the game. He invites readers to post their moments in the comments, and reading them is a pleasure - one of the reasons I first started to follow baseball was to try to understand the quintessentially american sport. It's worth reading through them for the individual stories, especially Comment #35 by 'BalBurgh', which feels like Springsteen should be writing a song about it:

I love the sport and I love my country, and it's darn painful watching them all fall apart.

I also like how many of the comments are about the Mets and 1986. Even before I knew baseball, I knew of Game 6.

Baseball Films

2010-01-25T16:25:00.003Z

I have been using my Love Film account to get my hands on as many baseball films as I can, with a view to reviewing them on a weekly basis perhaps. So far my list includes the following, but I may well have missed some gems. Any suggestions?

Angels in the Outfield (the 1994 version)
The Babe (with John Goodman)
Beer League
The Bad News Bears (both versions)
A League of Their Own
Hard Ball
Rookie of the Year
The Natural
Field of Dreams (I've seen it before, but didn't really follow baseball back then.)
Mr. 3000
The Rookie

Watching Baseball in the UK

2010-01-25T15:39:00.002Z

Since Channel Five stopped showing late night American sports after the 2008 season, there hasn't been much choice for the casual baseball fan based in the UK who wants to catch an MLB game. There's ESPN America, which is subsciption only, and MLB.com, which provides every game archived for those whose bandwidth and computer can handle the load (mine struggled frequently with issues of streaming and buffering, but I'm aware that both problems were rooted in my pc and not MLB's fault.)

The British Baseball hub, BaseballGB, has a good retrospective of the viewing experience of 2009. Now the New York Times has an article looking at the future and at how ESPN is bringing American sports to the European market. It seems that despite the demise of Five's coverage, there has never been a better time to follow US sports:

Before there was North American Sports Network — it began in Europe in 2002 — and especially before there was ESPN America, a fan of football who lived in Europe had almost nowhere to go. Football meant soccer, Inter Milan against Juventus, not the Carolina Panthers against the Chicago Bears.

Now the network reaches 40 countries and 16 million subscribers, and that's just old-fashioned TV viewers. In an age of online media, more people will have the option of watching games online or on the move on smartphones. This is a trend that will continue as broadband cables and mobile networks improve their capability to hand heavy data streams. The article on the Times' website wonders how to avoid the self-promoting advertising that replaces the adverts on live US broadcasts.

One solution is to watch ESPN America’s reruns the day after they are played, when commercials are kept to a handful to fit shorter programs. If the viewer already knows the score, suspense is lost, but so are the interruptions.

Trying to avoid the score becomes more and more difficult in a world where you can have the results of games delivered live to your phone or inbox, but there is another solution. Pay a couple of pundits, lets call them 'Josh' and 'Johnny' for the sake of argument, to use that dead-airtime to provide the sort of commentary which deepens and enriches the European baseball fan's understanding of the game. It makes more sense that watching a blank screen or MLB adverts on MLB.TV, or ESPN adverts on that channel.

Back Once Again

2010-01-08T23:06:00.002Z

Firstly, apologies for the long hiatus between posts. I was never going to pretend to post every day of the off-season, but it's only six weeks before we start all over again, and I thought it's high time to start getting back into the habit of posting. So happy 2010 and congratulations to the Yankees.

Looking Back

It goes without saying that 2009 is one to forget for the Mets, but now that the dust has settled I think the entire 2006 - 2009 stretch will make a good story to tell our grandchildren. "Oh yes, Jimmy, I was there for 'oh-six' to 'oh-nine'. It was terrible! Season collapses the likes of which baseball has never seen before; bad luck and bad management. Those were dark times. Not like the next couple of seasons. Those were the glory days for the Mets. perpetual Division winners, frequent National League champions and of course those unbelieveable three World Series wins in a row. Danny Murphy at first - Mets' first ever league MVP, Bay and Beltran in the outfield, Jose Reyes and David Wright at short and third. Good times, and all in pinstripes after they got rid of the black."

It would surely be nice to be able to tell my grandkids of the unbeatable Mets of the 2010s, but after a season like the last it's hard to find the faith. The Mets finished flat last in home runs over the whole of the majors, by 27 homers(!) That's one hell of a deficiency to ask Bay to fill. For all that, I've always been a bigger fan of the small game than the long game, and the Mets topped the NL for stolen bases. My highlight of the World Series was seeing Johnny Damon stealing two bases on a single play - that's the kind of heads-up playing which wins rings; the sort of playing which allowed Texeira to get home from first on Castillo's dropped pop-up. One hundred and twenty two steals with Jose Reyes only playing 36 games. Think what they can do without injury.

For all my disappointment, I must spare a thought for my brother, a strong Cardinals fan. To see such a strong team balls it up so suddenly was almost as back as the Mets season-long tailspin. At least I had lost any thoughts of the Mets winning the World Series before the All-Star break. He had to nurse those dreams right into October. Looking forward, I see the Mets have odds (on Betfair.com at least) of 25 to 1 of winning it all in 2010. Only, I can't decide whether that's pessimistic or optimistic...

Mets Uniforms 4: Throwback success

2009-08-21T20:51:00.003+01:00

Since I last blogged on the success (or otherwise) of the Mets in their various uniform combinations, the Mets have pleased this fan at least by not wearing the full black uniforms (it's now 14 games since they last wore black; the season high no-black streak is 18, from 27th June to 18th July.) They also set a new season record of most games wearing pinstripes in a row - 2. Pretty dire for what is still officially the main home uniform; the snow-white jerseys are still the 'alternative home jerseys'.

Of course the main uniform news of the past week was the three games that the Mets wore 'throwback' uniforms, emblazoned with large NY across the front, to honour the New York Giants. The received wisdom in the Mets blogosphere is to expect some variation of these as an alternate next year. Best thing is that the Mets went 2-1 wearing them. Here's the updated table:

Uniform	times worn	Record	Win %	runs for	runs against
Road Grays / Hybrid Cap	43	17-26	0.372	4.00	4.91
Black / Black Cap	24	11-13	0.458	4.54	5.67
Home White / Blue Caps	24	15-9	0.625	4.63	3.71
Home White / Hybrid Caps	19	8-11	0.421	4.21	4.58
Pinstripes / Blue Caps	7	2-5	0.286	4.29	6.86
Throwbacks / Blue Caps	3	2-1	0.667	3.33	2.33
Pinstripes / Hybrid Caps	1	1-0	1.000	3.00	2.00
Overall	121	56-65	0.470	4.36	4.79

Photo credit: Ed Betz, AP

New York Times seems prescient

2009-08-17T15:50:00.006+01:00

Last Wednesday, the New York Times had an article about the Rawlings S100, a 'new, safer batting helmet', and how it was being met with resistence from some players. It starts:

Three weeks after absorbing the potentially deadly impact of a 93-mile-per-hour fastball on his batting helmet, Edgar Gonzalez still feels dizzy whenever he lies down.

The S100 can absorb 100mph fastballs, hence its name. That sort of protection doesn't come without a little bulkiness, a bulkiness that some players find ugly. "In the eyes of some major league players, it is just too bulky, too heavy and too geeky-looking." Step up new Met Jeff Francoeur:

“No, I am absolutely not wearing that,” Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur said with a laugh after seeing a prototype, as if he were being asked to put a pumpkin on his head. “I could care less what they say, I’m not wearing it. There’s got to be a way to have a more protective helmet without all that padding. It’s brutal. We’re going to look like a bunch of clowns out there.”

Ha-ha! You already look like an idiot any time you wear those hybrid batting helmets, Jeff. Might as well be safe. Also, it's "I couldn't care less." not "I could care less." That implies you do care about it, and have the capacity to care less than you do right now. Surely there's some player who will choose the sensible option and put his safety first?

“If it provides more protection, then I’m all for it,” said Mets third baseman David Wright, who last week dodged a Brad Thompson fastball traveling on a frightening vector toward his head. “I’m not worried about style or looking good out there. I’m worried about keeping my melon protected.”

There's a man who's using his noggin. Then the Times had another article on Friday about how players in the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic were going to be wearing the S100 (Does the Times have a deal with Rawlings? What's with all the coverage?) Then on Saturday, yet another, about how 'hard-headed athletes resist change'. Why choose the less-safe option?

Tradition, some have said. Play would be compromised, others have argued. Libertarian appeals have been made: Don’t trample our freedom. Aesthetics and vanity, too, have come off the bench: why make us look stupid?

Then, on Sunday, an article entitled 'Mets Don't Hesitate to put David Wright on the Disabled List with a Concussion'.

The Mets placed Wright on the disabled list with postconcussion symptoms Sunday, the day after a 93-mile-an-hour fastball from Giants pitcher Matt Cain hit him with such force that it knocked off his helmet.

Dammit! Wright's one of the good guys. He's started 812 of his first 830 games as a Met. He believes in protecting his 'melon'. Why couldn't Cain have beaned the hubris out of Francoeur instead?

Olympics tells baseball "You're outta here!"

2009-08-13T23:03:00.003+01:00

The Olympics Committee Executive has recommended that rugby 7s and golf be included in the 2016 Olympics, meaning both baseball and softball have failed in their attempts to be reinstated. It isn't a done deal; the IOC Congress in October has to approve the recommendation, but it doesn't seem likely that it will be changed.

'So what?' you might say. Baseball's getting on just fine without being in the Olympics. Among the various selection criteria, says the BBC, is "the potential to develop... it's questionable how much rugby, golf and baseball need Olympic exposure."

Baseball might have deep roots in perhaps half a dozen countries, if that, but there's plenty of opportunity for development in the rest of the world. How much would British Baseball have benefited if the sport had been on the ticket for the London 2012 games? Now, Rugby 7s I can understand - I live in the Scottish Borders, where sevens was born and it's played around the world. It's a competitive team sport involving the need for peak physical condition. But golf? Come on. Next you'll be telling me that beach volleyball, table tennis and synchronized swimming will be made Olympic sports!

Mets Uniforms 3

2009-08-10T21:34:00.002+01:00

Last week I blogged about the Mets' record wearing different uniforms, and it seemed pretty popular (thanks to reblogging it on Mets Police), getting mentions on Mets Blog and On The Black.

Since then there's been some regression to the mean, with the Mets losing two in their snow-white uniforms and winning one in the full black one. I've updated the research to reflect the last seven games, and have added columns for 'runs scored per game' and 'runs conceded per game':

Uniform	times worn	Record	Win %	runs for	runs against
Road Grays / Hybrid Cap	40	16-24	0.400	4.00	4.85
Black / Black Cap	24	11-13	0.458	4.54	5.67
Home White / Blue Caps	23	15-8	0.652	4.78	3.43
Home White / Hybrid Caps	18	8-10	0.444	4.33	4.67
Pinstripes / Blue Caps	5	1-4	0.200	3.80	5.80
Pinstripes / Hybrid Caps	1	1-0	1.000	3.00	2.00
Overall	111	52-59	0.468	4.31	4.59

As can be seen, the Mets score more runs and stop the opponent scoring as many when wearing white and blue. They give up the most (discounting the pinstripes due to small sample size) when playing in Black. Now it could be said that this is no surprise; you'd expect the team to perform better at home than in other ballparks. However, they wear the black both at home and on the road so it shouldn't be worse than the gray uniform, which they only wear on the road.

So to sum up what we've learned so far:

The Mets win games when they wear snow-white jerseys with blue caps
The Mets concede the most runs when they wear the black uniforms

Next week, perhaps, further stats - ERA, Home Runs, SLG...

In the meantime, it's been nearly a month since the Mets wore the home white jerseys with the hybrid cap. Maybe a change of policy there? Maybe I just jinxed that - they'll don them on Thursday against the Giants, no doubt.

Mets Uniforms bits and pieces

2009-08-09T23:37:00.003+01:00

I blogged the Mets Uniform post of last Monday over at Mets Police, and it was mentioned on Mets Blog, which is nice - thanks for that guys.

Via Mets Blog I see that Gregg Girard at Uni Watch has been keeping a close eye on how the uniforms affect the Mets' performance:

In the three Santana in black starts (all on the road), he went 0-3 with a 10.06 ERA.

Ouch!

As to why the Mets prefer the black to the blue, Michael Ceserano at Ultimate Mets Database has the insider knowledge:

Even when the Mets pinstripe home uniform makes a rare appearance, it is often paired with one of the black alternate caps instead of the more traditional all-blue cap. It has been speculated that the reason for the scarcity of appearances of the all-blue cap is that the dugout jacket is black and as such does not go well with the all-blue cap. In order to minimize instances of players wearing the all-blue hat with the black jacket, it is rumored that the Mets try not to wear the all-blue hat in any weather except the hottest of temperatures, since almost no one will be wearing the jacket on an extremely hot day.

Ceserano also has a photo of the 'ice-cream' uniforms of 1997, which I was previously unaware of. It looks like they forgot to colour it in. I *almost* prefer the black. Almost.

Japanese Baseball roundup

2009-08-09T22:27:00.003+01:00

Kamei helps Giants past Swallows
The only professional baseball game I've seen to date was between the Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The Giants are kind of like the Yankees of Japan, having won the most Japan Series and dominating in the past to such an extent that they're sometimes nicknamed 'Japan's Team'. The two Tokyo teams have been playing a series the past couple of days, and it's been a good series for Giants fans as they swept the Swallows in three games; 10-7, 2-1, and 2-0. Koshiyuki Kamei was instrumental in helping the Giants. In game 2 he hit a 'sayonara' home run in the bottom of the tenth, his 3rd of the season. In game 3 he broke up a scoreless pitching duel with a 2-run homer. He also hit a walk-off homer against Hiroshima Carp on Tuesday.

Kobe 9 Cruise shaken by recent events
All is not well in the Kansai Independent League. Gwynar, over on Simcentral Forums, reports that they've held an emergency meeting to discuss the problems that have befallen Kobe 9 Cruise, the team who signed Japan's first female pro-ballplayer Eri Yoshida (who I blogged about back in March.) According to Gwynar:

Ever since the team fired Yoshihiro Nakata on July 29th, nothing good has happened for the Kobe 9 Cruise. First, Eri Yoshida announces that she's taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. Then 4 players boycott a game. And now the fans aren't showing up to the games.

So the future is uncertain for the country's first female player, but she's still in demand. Kobe say they would like the knuckleballer back.

Bits and Pieces

NPB Tracker noticed that in their extra-inning loss to the Yankees the Red Sox used three Japanese pitchers - Junichi Tazawa, Hideki Okajima and Takashi Saito. Another, Ramon Ramirez, has NPB experience. Tazawa gave up the homer to A-Rod which made the difference in fifteen innings.
He might not like it but Shannon Shark, the Mets Police Chief, reckons Bobby Valentine will be managing the Mets in 2010. Perhaps he'll tell Omar Minaya about some of the Japanese talent he's seen in his time with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Taliban baseball team

2009-08-08T20:12:00.002+01:00

The satirical news site News Biscuit (like a British Onion) has previously ripped baseball with their amusing "America still making a big deal about rounders".

Now they've another funny baseball-related article, "Taliban Baseball Team expelled from World Series for 'ungentlemenly conduct'"

the Taliban have also been criticised for ... their wholesale execution of the St. Louis Cardinals for refusing to grow beards. ‘Such aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated,’ said a National League spokesman. ‘We suggest they go back to wherever the hell it is they came from. Either that or take up ice hockey.’"

Solution to Citi Field obstructions

2009-08-08T19:55:00.002+01:00

Over at Mets Police, much is made about the lousy views afforded to fans unfortunate enough to get one of the obstructed seats. Now, I can't really comment on this since I've yet to visit the home of the Mets (though I did once see Shea on the drive from JFK.)

However, when I spotted this on the amusing There, I Fixed It blog, I knew it was the perfect solution. Simply provide these to any fans with obstructed views. Of course, it might cause problems for the fans behind them but that's their problem.

Mets Uniforms 2

2009-08-03T18:15:00.007+01:00

Back in May I blogged about the uniforms the Mets had been wearing, bemoaning the lack of pinstripes. Now since then we've seen (via the Mets Police) that the Mets themselves have been tracking their record with the different uniforms. I've updated my research for the games up to August 2nd:

Uniform	No. of times worn	Record	Winning %
Road Grays with Hybrid Cap	36	15-21	0.417
Black with Black Cap	23	10-13	0.435
Home White with Blue Caps	21	15-6	0.714
Home White with Hybrid Caps	18	8-10	0.444
Pinstripes with Blue Caps	5	1-4	0.200
Pinstripes with Hybrid Caps	1	1-0	1.000

So Pinstripes have been avoided as if they've got leprosy. In fact they were worn twice in April, twice in May (including once with the hybrids), once in June and once in July. Meanwhile the all-black uniform has been worn 23 times, including seven games in a row between the 19th and 26th of July.

If we discount the poor Pinstripes due to small sample size, we can see that the only time the Mets have a winning percentage is with the white jerseys and blue caps. When the Mets won five straight at the end of last month, they won games 3, 4 and 5 of the streak wearing blue caps. Second game of the doubleheader against the Rockies, they don the Black again and Bam! The streak is over.

Even if Charlie Samuels prefers the Black and hates the pinstripes, as has been claimed, the fact that the Mets lose games when you put a black or hybrid cap on them and win games when you put a blue cap on them should convince him otherwise.

Robot Baseball

2009-07-31T20:54:00.003+01:00

Via David Thompson's excellent blog (check out the weekly 'Friday Ephemera'), I present the future of baseball. If these dastardly humans can't be trusted not to use HGHs, let these guys take the field:

Researchers at the University of Tokyo created the robots to demonstrate the capabilities of high-speed industrial robots, and plans are afoot to improve on both the pitching robot and the batting robot. According to the Pink Tentacle:

The robot pitcher consists of a high-speed, three-fingered hand mounted on a mechanical arm. With superb control of nimble fingers that can open and close at a rate of up to 10 times per second, the robot can release the ball with perfect timing. Precise coordination between the fingers, hand and arm allow the robot pitcher to hit the strike zone 90% of the time.

In the demonstration ... the researchers placed the robot pitcher 3.5 meters (11 ft) away from the mechanical batter. The pitcher’s 40-kph (25-mph) sidearm throws posed little challenge to the batter, whose 1000-frame-per-second camera eyes allow it to see the ball in super slow motion as it approaches. The robot batter has a near-perfect batting average when swinging at pitches in the strike zone.

To make future contests more interesting, the researchers plan to increase the robot pitcher’s throwing speed to 150 kph (93 mph) and teach it to throw breaking balls and changeups. In addition, they plan to train the robot batter to repeatedly hit balls to the same target.

It's incredible stuff, but if they had developed a decent robot infielder that 'hit' would've been a easy two-hop ground ball. I look forward to the first robot league games.

Buehrle, perfect truck.

2009-07-29T23:00:00.003+01:00

Via Home Run Derby, I see Mark Buehrle has himself a big truck. I wonder if that elevated ride and feeling of security is what gives you the presence of mind needed to pitch a perfect game and a half.

Mark Buehrle, perfect through 45 batters.

2009-07-29T22:52:00.004+01:00

Mark Buehrle couldn't let his unravelling in the seventh overshadow his achievement, as he retired 45 batters in a row. An incredible achievement.

Via No-No-Hitters, here's Buehrle on Letterman, giving the Top Ten Things that went through his mind:

If you were a player and also in a fantasy league, would it be unethical to have you on your own team?

No-hitter Catchers

2009-07-24T20:34:00.002+01:00

Following on from my question posed two posts ago, "How many Mets have caught a no-hitter either before or after joining the Mets?" I have crunched the numbers using the Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers and the Ultimate Mets Database. There are twelve.

Yogi Berra 3 (51, 51, 56*) Met in 65
Joe Ginsburg (52) Met in 62
Jerry Grote (64) Met from 66-77
JC Martin (67) Met in 68-69
Jerry May (70) Met in 73
Duffy Dyer (76) Met from 68-74
Gary Carter (81) Met from 85-89
Brett Mayne (91) Met in 96
Mike Piazza 2 (95,96) Met from 98-05
Alberto Castillo (99) Met from 95-98
Eli Marrero (01) Met in 06
Ramon Castro (09*) Met from 05-09

* denotes perfect game caught.

After going through the whole list, I see that the excellent Mets Walk-Offs and Minutiae blog has beaten me to the bag. Doh!

People's Republic of Onions

2009-07-24T00:30:00.002+01:00

America's finest news-source, the Onion, has undergone a "change of ownership, and is now owned by the Chinese. Among the myriad amusing articles is this gem:

MILWAUKEE—In an act of selflessness not often seen amongst ego-driven American athletes, who typically look only to further their own personal agendas, hero Milwaukee Brewers player Jason Kendall placed a bunted ball back to the pitcher Tuesday with full knowledge that he himself would be eliminated from scoring contention for the duration of the contest's fifth inning. Receiving upon his return to the dugout a mere smattering of high fives from his ignorant teammates and but one hand-clap from the staff of coaching elders, Kendall was not properly greeted as a hero responsible for the very 90-foot advancement of teammates Mat Gamel and J.J. Hardy to second and third base respectively. Due to his undying devotion to the singular cause of winning, even at the cost of his own personal downfall, Jason Kendall is the greatest player to ever play the game of baseball.鱼

It's got to be...a-woah... perfect

2009-07-23T23:22:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to Buehrle, who joins the exclusive club with only 18 members. Was that Ramon Castro I saw catching it? How many Mets catchers have gone on to catch a no-no or a perfect game, I wonder?

For a little segment we called "Back in Pinstripes."

2009-07-23T22:37:00.005+01:00

The dictionary definition of optimism is " an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome." The trouble is, I think the best possible outcome for these Mets is simply not to embarrass themselves any further. Losing two of three to the Nationals means the odds are slipping on the only race the Mets have a chance in (who takes fourth in the NL East.)

The over-optimistic GM, Omar Minaya reckons they're still in with a shot (via Rob Neyer).

"Right now we do not envision [being a seller]," [Omar] Minaya said. "If we're 6 ½ [back] in the wild card with a couple of teams in front of us, we are still kind of trying to find out how we can improve this team, if we can improve it through trades."

Ah, that's sweet of you to say so. I'm sure it's nothing to do with having to fill a brand-new stadium for the rest of the year. Hey, I've got an idea; what about novelty days, like 'Old Timers Day', or a day where you retire a number, or a day where you open a Mets Hall of Fame/Museum? Or what about a wacky promotion - the record for 'most t-shirts worn at one time' is ripe for breaking. I mean, 228? Think of the new uniform colours you could sell.

Cool Standings reckons the chance of the Mets making the playoffs is 1.3%. Now that's optimism. Remember the good old days when all we had to worry about was whether Johan Santana would ever get any run support? Boy, I miss those discussions. There's a nice graph on the same site which shows a magical day on May 29th when the Mets' chances of making the post-season peaked at 60.6%.

There's a comment on Neyer's post by salsajew which uses a quote from Office Space to sum up the Mets right now:

"Every day of my life gets worse and worse, so whenever you see me, you are actually seeing me in the worst day of my life." Today is the worst day of the Mets season. And tomorrow will be even worse. Looking forward to October 1. Awesome.

It's hard to summon up enough empathy for this Mets team to get as angry as the great Lewis Black probably could. It's just so hard to be optimistic. Still, as Cool Standings reminds us, on August the 19th 1969 the Mets had a 1.7% chance of making the postseason; on August the 8th 1973 they had a 0.2% chance of making it, and look where those teams ended up. What Tug said.

Obama's Pitch: Split-Fingered Curve?

2009-07-16T22:44:00.005+01:00

Channel Five had some cursory coverage of the All-Star game in a news bulletin the day after the game, and I've just caught up with some of the print coverage in the British media. As expected, they ignore the game to concentrate on the ceremonial first pitch, which 'fell short', they reported. It seemed fine to me, but some of the right-leaning American media have been lambasting Obama for his sissy throw, and the accusing the liberal media conspiracy of covering-up how poor it was. So sure, it was no Bush 2001 (see this video of his visit to Yankee Stadium), but I thought he did alright. Hell, I wouldn't want to try to do the same - I hate to think where the ball'd go under all that pressure.

The Times (of London) explains that some commentators read even further into the pitch:

The Chicago Tribune was unimpressed. "As you would expect, President Barack Obama leaned to the left while making the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday's All-Star game in St. Louis," it wrote.

Still, as John Buchel of Examiner.com writes, there was no conspiracy:

Yesterday, there were many stories, not just in the National Review Online, about how the “liberal” media pumped up the President’s puny pitch. But what these conservative commentators forget is the media does that for every President.

True enough. He's paid to lead, not to pitch. Which as probably just as well. Asked if he had a good curve ball as a southpaw, Mr Obama said: “If I did, I wouldn’t have run for President", adding: “If anybody needs a lefty....”

Mets need help

2009-07-15T23:05:00.003+01:00

Following on from the septagenarian women of the Osaka Silver Sisters, it seems the Mets have been offered help from an unlikely source. Says Newsday:

One compelling offer comes from some seasoned Long Island baseball veterans, who are joining to produce a video on the fundamentals of baseball to help their hapless metropolitan team.
With a cumulative total of more than 1,400 years' experience, the Bristal All-Stars, a Long Island senior softball team, will work on basics the Mets have at times had trouble mastering, from touching the bases to catching fly balls, Wednesday morning at Baldwin Park. Then they'll package the highlights and present them to the Mets.

If the Mets are wise, they'll take the advice. Once they start catching pop-ups and touching the bases as they run home, they can stop watching. Seventy-eight year old team captain Harry Schwarzkopf doesn't rate the Mets chances this year, fundamentals or no:

"They really are playing with minor league personnel," Schwarzkopf said. "It's very hard to compete against a major league team like that."

Now, the Mets just need more video advice from a PR firm, a talent scout, a baseball historian...

Baseball on Five again!

2009-07-15T22:14:00.003+01:00

Sorry to get your hopes up, it was just for one news bulletin. The news presenter mentioned Barack Obama's ceremonial first pitch to Pujols in last night's All-Star game. The coverage wasn't quite as good as we've come to expect from Josh and Johnny; she failed to mention it was the All-Star game, saying merely that it was "a baseball game in Missouri." Still, "he just about managed to get it to the catcher!" Personally, I thought it was a pretty decent first pitch.

As if one baseball news item wasn't treat enough, she followed it with an amusing piece about the Osaka Silver Sisters, a japanese baseball team of women in their seventies. Like the film 'League of Their Own', all the players on the team played women's pro-ball fifty years ago and took up the game again four years ago. According to Reuters:

In matching red and white uniforms, 75-year-old captain Mineko "Mimi" Khosaka and her fellow teammates pitch, hit and run with vigor, belying a range of health problems that range from bad backs, wonky knees, a missing kidney and a pacemaker.

They're not allowed to slide head-first or steal base, which is probably just as well. "Nothing can separate me from baseball. I know I'll keep playing till I die and I've already asked my children to send me off in my baseball uniform when the time comes," Mimi said.

Awesome play by Murphy

2009-07-14T14:12:00.003+01:00

I missed this awesome play by Daniel Murphy against the Dodgers during the Mets' 5-4 victory. Who says he can't play first?

See more funny videos and Sports Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Cuban Defection

2009-07-02T21:18:00.003+01:00

The 100mph Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman (or Alberti Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz to give him his full name), the so-called "left-handed Steven Strasburg", has defected from the Cuban national team and is in an 'undisclosed location'. The 21-year-old left his hotel when the Cuban team was in the Netherlands for a tournament.

It's quite exciting when politics and baseball mix. Here is one of the best pitchers outside the major leagues following his dream to get to pitch for an MLB team. It's inspiring stuff. He might not be polished, but there's a gem underneath.

It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

via East Windup Chronicle

(On a side note, one of the comments on an article here analysing Chapman is a gem - it falls foul of every single rule governing good commenting, including the 1 among the multiple exclamation marks. Worth looking at.)

Curveball Optical Illusion

2009-07-02T20:30:00.004+01:00

Here's a great optical illusion which simulates the 'break' of a curveball (click through for the illusion.)

Illusion Contest

via BoingBoing.

Put it with the no-hitter

2009-07-02T20:24:00.002+01:00

Via the excellent Mets Walk-Offs and Minutiae blog, on last weeks 3-2 win against the Cardinals:

In case you were wondering...

My friends at Retrosheet.org tell me that the Mets have NEVER (as in NEVER) won a game via walk-off pickoff.

So close...

I'll be watching for one now.

Guardian confuses their baseball metaphors

2009-07-02T20:12:00.004+01:00

Blogging has been light of late due to other commitments, but I couldn't pass up the chance to laugh at this article I found in the Guardian Newspaper:

Andy Murray at third base as he seeks the great home run

Regretably (or perhaps mercifully) the article steers clear of further baseball metaphors, but the best of luck to Murray as he tries to knock in that homer from third.

Fantasy Update (week 10)

2009-06-15T12:13:00.002+01:00

My tentative adventures into the world of fantasy baseball continue, with a further six weeks elapsing since the last update. My week by week results have been a mixed bag. Week five saw me win 8-4 thanks to Teixeira and Longoria both going deep four times. Pitsburgh pitcher Paul Maholm went deep as well, but unfortunately there isn't a 'help your own cause' column. I also reacquired Juan Pierre, at least until Manny returns from his 'holiday'.

Week six was a drawn 6-6 against the impressive 'The Wright Stuff'. This was thanks to Juan Pierre hitting .407 for the week. At the start of week seven I did some spring cleaning, dropping Dan Wheeler and Mike Aviles, adding Juan Cruz (who was filling in the Royals' closer role while Soria was on the DL) and Akinori Iwamura.

My acquisition of Iwamura was less than a week old when a season-ending injury saw him dropped. Placido Polanco will just have to fill in the 2B spot for now. Week 7 (6-4) and week 8 (8-4) were good weeks, helped by the season debut of David Price. Teixeira continued to show why New Yankee Stadium is broken, hitting five homers in the first week and another 3 in the second.

Despite the result in week 9 (3-9), it was a matter of being outclassed by a better team rather than a particularly poor showing on my part. Week 10 (3-7) has just seen me dip below .500 for the first time. I'm sitting on 55-56-9 record overall, good for ninth place (of of fourteen.)

I'm not giving up hope. I have never lost the HLD category, even if I make up for it by rarely winning ERA. The wheels haven't fallen off the wagon just yet.

Hot streak:
Mark Teixeira (.364 and 13 homers in the past 30 days)
Juan Pierre (.316 with 11 stolen bases in the past 30 days)
AJ Burnett (38 K's, 3 wins)

'Not' streak:
Ryan Ludwick (.174 after returning from injury)
Ramon Ramirez (4.91 ERA on the month and consecutive blown saves)

I'm Keith Hernandez

2009-06-14T01:04:00.005+01:00

Water and Power Films sent me a link to their short film 'I'm Keith Hernandez'. As a huge fan of the should-be Hall-of-Famer, I was intruiged and amused by the film, which chronicles in tongue-in-cheek fashion the rise and rise of Hernandez.

By playing fast and loose with the truth, the film is able to segue through a great snapshot of the eighties, from cocaine use to porno to Magnum PI to the Iran/Contra affair. At the centre is Hernandez and the 1986 season. It chronicles the 'bad boys' of baseball; a Mets team who were interested in winning.

"Other teams tried to push them around. But it was obvious the Mets weren't going to take that shit."

With clips of everything from Seinfeld to Sesame Street and abundant in pinstripes, blue and orange, it's a great film chronicling the awesome power of the mustache. David Wright might be the league leader in batting average right now (by the way, a Met has never been the league leader in average for a season) so imagine what he'd be capable of if the campaign by the Wright Stache is successful. It might be just what the Mets need.

I'm Keith Hernandez from water&power on Vimeo.

Japanese baseball roundup

2009-06-13T18:52:00.002+01:00

Valentine's Day
The Chiba Lotte Marines, managed (for the rest of this season at least) by Bobby Valentine, scored 15 runs in the sixth inning of their 23-2 win over Hiroshima Toyo Carp on Thursday. This broke the previous record of 14. The front office of Lotte have said they're not renewing Valentine's contract for 2010, which has prompted protests and a petition by fans.

Giants Powering Ahead in CL
The Yomiuri Giants, 2008 Central League champions, continue to dominate the CL thanks to the bats of their power hitters. Alex Ramirez is still hitting home runs into the stands of Tokyo Dome at a torrid pace (10 so far this year), while 'Mr Senkindan' Hayato Sakamoto has posted a .348 average in his sophomore year and is only 2 homers behind Ramirez.

Tanaka Eagle-Strikes from the Mound
Masahiro Tanaka, the 20 year old phenom pitcher for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, has been showing incredible form to start the 2009 season. He has an ERA of 1.11 through 9 games, with a 8-1 win record. He was especially good through April, pitching four consecutive complete game wins in his first four starts with a 0.50ERA. After two weeks rest for a shoulder strain, he has returned just as dominant. However, Tanaka's co-star of the WBC-winning team, Yu Darvish, is right there with him in the Pacific League pitching superstar lists, with a 1.32ERA and a 7-2 record in 10 starts.

Boy the Mets blew it tonight, huh?

2009-06-13T18:18:00.003+01:00

I didn't catch the Yankees/Mets game last night. It didn't start until midnight British time and I thought I'd save myself for the 9pm game today. Checking MLB.com this morning for the result, my first reaction was 'I don't believe it.' My second was 'Oh wait, this is the Mets. Yeah that sounds about right.'

I was reminded of the pilot episode of Seinfeld, where Jerry settles down to watch a Mets game he's taped. Kramer comes in while Jerry's on the phone and then as Jerry puts the phone down exclaims "Boy, the Mets blew it tonight, huh?" This was one of those games. Come to think of it, the past three games have been blown by the Mets, all to bitter rivals. The Mets sure can take 'lovable' out of 'lovable losers'.

Even if you lay off Castillo for not bringing up his other hand to secure the ball, forgiving his overconfident one-handed catch, why didn't he throw home instead of to second? They might have had a play on Teixeira if he'd done that. Throwing to second accomplished exactly squat. Given the thousands of fans who will be baying for his blood, part of me wants to say give him a break. But you know what? This isn't a one-off error by a surefire Hall-of-Famer. This is Castillo. Mets Police, as part of a 'Traditions for New Shea', suggested the 'traditional booing of Castillo as he comes up to bat.' I've let that slide the past few weeks. Let the booing commence.

Oh, and you know this wouldn't have happened if they'd been wearing their blue hats.

Randy Johnson wins no. 300

2009-06-05T00:05:00.004+01:00

Randy Johnson won his 300th game in the first game of San Francisco's doubleheader against the Nationals. The coverage of his feat will be all over the place, and I won't go over the nitty-gritty of the win, other than to say that Johnson seemed dominant, showing good control in six innings. After a bases-loaded scare in the eight, Brian Wilson got the last four outs to save the win for Johnson. Washington pitching was also strong, as they retired nineteen straight batters after giving up the two runs in the second.

Randy Johnson's feat sees him join another of baseball's most exclusive clubs. He's already one of the seventeen men to have pitched a perfect game (less people than have orbited the moon, according to the Wikipedia article.) Now he becomes the 24th man to get 300 wins, and only the sixth southpaw.

The feat seems to have been accomplished in bursts - after Nolan Ryan got 300 in 1990, there was a thirteen year gap before Clemens, Maddux and Glavine all passed the mark. Johnson will be the last for a while. The only four active players with 200 wins (Moyer, Pettitte, Martinez and Smoltz) are too old to realistically have a chance of reaching 300. The New York Times had an article looking at the young aces with the potential to make it to 300; Santana, Halladay and CC Sabathia all have a shot.

One of the active pitchers who may be on pace is the Yankees left-hander C. C. Sabathia, who had 117 victories through last season, which began when he was 27. That put him on pace with players like Seaver, who had 116 wins through 27, and Glavine, who had 95 at that age. Although he may be on pace for 300 victories, Sabathia is far from a lock. He would probably have to pitch into his early 40s, which would make it at least 12 years until he hits the milestone.

Another Randy, Johnson's team-mate Randy Winn, said this about the Big Unit:

“He might still be pitching in five years,” Randy Winn, Johnson’s Giants teammate, said. “I definitely wouldn’t put it past him. But whenever he chooses to finish, obviously, he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’ll go down as one of the most feared left-handed pitchers to ever play this game.”

If he pitches into his fifties(!), who knows what total Randy Johnson will finish with. Whatever it is, he's unlikely to join the even more exclusive '400 win club', a club with only 2 members - Walter Johnson (417 wins) and and Cy Young (an unreachable 511 wins.) Even expanding the club to international members only adds one - Masaichi Kaneda (400 wins in Japan.) Congratulations again due to Johnson, one of the greatest.

Mets Collapses 'Historic'

2009-06-02T19:26:00.004+01:00

Joe Gray on BaseballGB has a 'web pick of the month', and this month it's Cool Standings. It allows you to see the predictions of whether or not a team will get into the post-season based on their form to date. The Mets currently stand at 49.4%, which could certainly be better, but it's not all bad. This time last year the Mets had an 18.1% chance of making the post-season. Of course, the year before they had an 86.5% chance of making it. As we all know, they failed to do so on either occasion.

There's a section of the site called 'Top Collapses'. It lists the greatest collapses based on a team's peak chance of playing in October. The 2007 Mets clock in at number 3; at one point they had a 99.5% of making the post-season. The 2008 Mets are a measly number 22; they peaked at 90.4%. I scoured the list for another set of back-to-back collapses and the next worst was the back-to-back collapses by the Seattle Mariners in 2002 and 2003 (84.4% and 96.8% respectively.) A special shout out should go to the Boston Red Sox, whose back-to-back-to-back collapses in 2000, 2001 and 2002 have got to be bitter (86.1%, 87.6& and 89.8%.) Of course, they're the Red Sox - their fans expected that of them back in the early nineties.

The last two years have also been the worst Mets collapses in franchise history. Only the Texas Rangers have back-to-back collapses as the worst in their team's history (in 2004 and 2005.)

What does it all tell us? Well, the records on Cool Standings go right back to at least 1900 so it seems like the 2000s is the decade for collapsing year after year. I can only assume that the Major Leagues are getting more competitive, and it's harder to sew up a division early. Perhaps the wild card is adding extra unpredictability to the statistics. The lesson to take away is that the Mets better not do it again.

Simon Schama still on BBC iPlayer

2009-05-30T14:58:00.002+01:00

The two-part programme by Simon Schama which I have mentioned previously here and here has been repeated on Radio 4, and is thus available on iPlayer, probably for a week or so.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/sport/baseball

Triples all round!

2009-05-25T16:39:00.002+01:00

Via Recondite Baseball, I learn that the Mets had been hitting triples all over the shop at the beginning of the month. Via NESN:

The Mets had 11 triples by 10 different players in a 10-game span (April 19 – 29), becoming the first team since the 1948 Washington Senators to accomplish that feat. So far, 11 different players have tripled. The club record is 18 different players, set in 1963.

Good work to Castillo, Reyes, Delgado, Wright, Murphy, Beltran, Tatis, Santos, Cora, Reed, and Sheffield(!). It was only Sheffield's second in his last 1698 at-bats, dating back to 2004, though he has 26 in his career.

The Balk

2009-05-25T13:56:00.004+01:00

"It seemed almost like I had the yips."

With those words, Mike Pelfrey tried to justify becoming the first pitcher since Al Leiter in 1994 to balk three times in a single game, last Sunday in San Francisco. Three balks is just two shy of the all-time record. Watch the video of him balk three times here. It was only the second time a Met has balked three times, since Don Rowe did it in 1963, back when the Mets were infants. Looking at the video, it's obvious why the first pitch was a balk; Pelfrey lost his footing and had to decide whether to balk or throw really wild. The other two are less obvious; he seems to shuffle around on the mound before the umpire leaps up yelling 'That's a balk!'

The Mets seem to have a history of balks. Roger Craig balked home the first run against the Mets when they played against the Cardinals on April 11, 1962. The picture shows the result of Pedro Feliciano's balk in the sixth inning of the opener in Citi Field as Luis Rodriguez jogs home.

Curious as to what constitutes a balk, I did a little research. The Wikipedia page lists the actions a pitcher is not allowed to do and which will lead to a balk being called. In short, the purpose of the balk rule is to 'prevent the pitcher from deliberately befuddling the base runner'. Even unintentional start-stops like Pelfray's fall foul of the rule. It's come a long way since the 1845 Knickerbocker Rules:

19th: A runner cannot be put out in making one base, when a balk is made on the pitcher.

Pelfrey has four balks so far this season (and his career). If he continues at the same pace (tremendously unlikely), he has a shot of equalling the single-season record of 16 held by Dave Stewart. The reason it's so unlikely is that Stewart set his record in 1988, called the 'Year of the Balk' due to a minor rule change and strict crackdown by umpires. Whilst the balk per game ratio is usually around 0.03, in 1988 it was 0.22. A list of single-season balk leaders on Baseball Reference shows that 11 of the top 13 pitchers with the most balks were in 1988. Pelfrey is at number 200 on the list (so far.)

The cause of the 1988 balk fiasco is highlighted at Recondite Baseball:

the reason for the bump was a change in Rule 8.01(b). The phrase “complete stop” was switched to “single complete and discernible stop, with both feet on the ground.” The origin of the rule change was supposedly the 1987 World Series. St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog vocally complained about Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, vehemently claiming there were up to nineteen uncalled balks in the series. The Twins ultimately won the World Series in seven games.

Despite the spike in balks in 1988, the most in one game happened in 1963, the year of another crackdown, as Bob Shaw balked five times in 4.1 innings. A few other balk records were set or tied that day: most in an inning (3, Bob Shaw); most in a game by a single team (6, Milwaukee Brewers); most in a game by both teams (7, Brewers and Cubs.)

Thankfully, the minor rule change that led to 1988's 'Balkmania' was recinded before the 1989 season, and it's unlikely we'll see totals ever reaching those heights again. That' small comfort for Mike Pelfrey as he works out how to ignore the 'yips'.

Another good summary of the Mets grit

2009-05-25T11:56:00.003+01:00

Yahoo! Sports has a good summary of the Mets road trip, the various injuries that have befallen them, and the fact that they haven't completely sucked in the ten games they've been away.

Are the Mets a better team for what they’ve endured?

“I don’t know if we’re healthy enough to say that one way or the other,” Manuel said. “Our situation right now, with bodies all banged up, sometime tomorrow we’ll know for sure where we are. But I can’t say we’re better.”

But tougher? After two straight Septembers of turning soft, the Mets have more convincing to do. But their steel is starting to show.

Worth reading the whole thing.

Re-blogging the list of Mets Police list of blogs

2009-05-24T22:54:00.003+01:00

Mets Police has a very nice list of Mets Blogs here, and I'm not just calling it nice because Checked Swing is on it! I find it hard enough to keep abreast of all the blogs on my Google Reader anyway, so finding another ten or so that seem very readable will simply add to the monster 'in pile'.

There's a depressing (but fairly accurate) summary of where the Mets are right now by NESN, a Red Sox network. As they conclude:

Despite all their troubles, the Mets are still just 1 1/2 games out of first place. Somehow, the ship has held strong, but with all those leaks and Manuel at the helm, the 2009 Mets look closer to shipwreck than they do landfall.

It should've been nice to see the early Sunday game today, since watching baseball at a reasonable hour is a rarity with a five hour time difference at the best of times, and three in the morning start for the games on the west coast. I tuned in just in time to watch the Mets turn a 5-3 lead into a 12-5 defeat. I think that if I see another Mets pitcher balk I'm going to cry.

Zimmerman's streak over

2009-05-13T23:36:00.003+01:00

The National's third-baseman Ryan Zimmerman caused a brief flurry of attention with his early hitting streak, getting to 30 games. After failing to get a hit in the Nationals' second game he hit in every one after until today's win over San Francisco. My non-baseball playing friends were amazed at my excitement about the streak - they couldn't believe that the best players in the world only get a base hit a third of the time and fail two-thirds of the time (not counting fielder's choices which help the team's cause).

Impressive though Zimmerman's streak is, there is another player who's been hitting superbly of late - the Met's Carlos Beltran. As Stat of the Day highlights, Beltran has hit successfully in 31 out of the first 33 games, only the sixth player since 1954 to do so (Zimmerman is one of them). His streak might only be seven games right now, but Beltran is batting just as hot as Zimmerman.

Fantasy League Update

2009-05-09T16:36:00.004+01:00

The fantasy league I play in is four and a half weeks old now (same length as the baseball season - coincidence that!)

Before the start of the season I dropped Juan Pierre (since the Dodgers signed Manny) and Cardinals reliever Kyle McClellan to improve my pitching, picking up Pirates starter Paul Maholm (who starts against the Mets tonight) and Marlins starter Chris Volstad.

After winning the first week 8-2, in a close matchup, I took the second week 7-4. This was thanks to a fortunate decision to bench Chien Ming Wang on the 18th, when he gave up 8 runs in 1.1 innings to push his ERA to 34.50. Overall I sat in third place (out of fourteen.)

Week three was forgetable. My hitters weren't hitting, and my pitchers were getting batted around for a combined 7.04ERA. I lost the week 10-0. Last week I split 6-6, to bring my overall record to 21-22-5, 7.5 behind the league leader.

I've been lucky with injuries - along with Wang, only Brandon Morrow and Ichiro have spent time on the DL.

Hot streak:
Evan Longoria - .362 AVG and 39RBI
Ryan Theriot - .310 AVG

Struggling:
Geovany Soto - .159 AVG
Mark Teixeira - .192 AVG
AJ Burnett - 5.26ERA

Baseball in Parliament

2009-05-09T16:04:00.003+01:00

Though this happened a month or so ago, I thought I'd bring it to the attention of those who might have missed it. Via BaseballGB and Johnny Gould's blog, it appears that the issue of Five TV dropping free coverage of MLB in the UK was raising in an Early Day Motion in parliament by two MPs who recognise the importance free broadcasting has to the popularity of a sport. It's slightly bizarre to scroll through motions highlighting the situation in Burma or on solar energy policies to discover this (it's number 1276):

That this House welcomes the rise in popularity of baseball in the United Kingdom and wishes continuing success to the Manchester Baseball Club at Mersey Bank Fields in Didsbury, which provides a good sports facility and team environment for young and old; recognises the contribution that televised baseball has made in increasing the popularity of the sport and in particular the contribution of Jonny Gould, Josh Chetwynd and Erik Janssen; expresses disappointment at Five.TV's decision to cease showing Major League Baseball on terrestrial television; expresses concern that the rise in popularity of baseball in Britain may suffer as a result; and therefore calls on Five.TV or another free-to-view channel to show Major League Baseball on television.

I've already shelled out and made the switch to MLB.tv, but Five's coverage was superb. Over at BaseballGB they discuss the idea of a Josh and Johnny podcast. This would be entertaining I'm sure, and might tempt internet surfers to have a closer look at baseball.

Mets uniforms

2009-05-09T15:37:00.005+01:00

No updates for, boy oh boy, nearly a month. The trouble is finding the time between work, life, watching baseball and reading baseball blogs to actually write. I'll have to climb back on the horse.

I took a quick look at the uniforms that the Mets have been wearing in the first month of play. Like the Mets Police and Mets Grrl, I'm not a fan of the black uniforms the Mets have taken to wearing. I bought a pinstripe jersey for myself the other day, and was interested to see how many times the Mets have worn them. The results are as follows:

Road Grays with Black and Blue caps: 10
Home Whites with Black and Blue caps: 8
Black jerseys with Black caps: 5
Home Whites with Blue caps: 3
Pinstripes (with blue caps): 2

Are pinstripes rationed or something? They've had 17 home games to only 14 on the road, but have worn the Full Blacks just as much as they've taken to the field wearing blue caps! Why can't they just have grays for the road, pinstripes (or white) for at home. Sell crazy caps and jerseys in the store, but don't take to the field wearing them.

I'll look at this again later in the season.

World Series rings of the 21st century

2009-04-15T15:30:00.001+01:00

Home Run Derby has photos of the past decade's bling:

http://homerderby.com/archives/4128

Spare a thought for Larry Doby

2009-04-15T13:24:00.004+01:00

Around the majors today every player will don number 42 in honour of Jackie Robinson, on the 62nd anniversary of his debut in the majors. Jackie Robinson's legacy has been huge, from the Jackie Robinson rotunda in Citi Field to the Jackie Robinson Foundation. His number has been retired throughout the major leagues, and rightly so, for he was the first to break the colour barrier.

What of the second man to step through the now broken colour barrier? Larry Doby helped break it down, the first player to play in the American League, eleven weeks after Robinson's debut. He's the ultimate pub quiz question, a pioneer in baseball integration, who went on to become the second black manager in baseball (the White Sox in 1978).

Simply Baseball Notebook's Forgotten in Time has a good biography of Doby:

Larry Doby was born on December 13, 1924 in Camden, SC. Doby's father, a semipro baseball player, died when he was 8. He began his professional career in 1946 with the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League and helped them to a Negoro League World Series title. He began his career as an infielder, but was switched to center field by the Indians and became a star under the guidance of Hall of Famer Tris Speaker. His best season was 1954 when he led the league in HR (32) and RBI (126) while leading the Tribe to 111 victories and the AL pennant. He finished 2nd that year to Yogi Berra in the AL MVP race. He left Cleveland after the 1955 season, playing 2 seasons for the White Sox before returning in 1958. He finished his MLB career as a player in 1959, splitting time with the White Sox amd Tigers. In 1960 he was back in the minors with Montreal of the Pacific Coast League and spent his final year as a professional in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons in 1962.

The grandson of a slave, and only 22 when he'd debuted for the Indians (to Robinson's 28), he struggled in his first season, batting .156. Then in 1948, he hit .301 with 14 HR and 66 RBI in 121 games. That was the year Cleveland won the World Series (their last to date).

So when baseball salutes Jackie Robinson later today, spare a thought for Larry Doby. He was acknowledged by the Hall of Fame in 1998, but his achievements will always be in the shadow of Jackie Robinson.

Reed Johnson catches

2009-04-15T12:43:00.002+01:00

Last April, the highlight of my baseball viewing was a catch by Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson:

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200804252587970&c_id=chc

Now he's done it again with a grand-slam denying catch against the Brewers:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090413&content_id=4246836&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

He's like the Inspector Gadget of fielders.

Mets agree deal with Sheffield

2009-04-03T22:16:00.002+01:00

Further to the New York Post's article earlier today that the Mets and Gary Sheffield were in talks, Sports Illustrated and MLB are confirming that a deal has been reached. Why would the Mets want to go and do a thing like that? A few reasons. Specifically, the pro-rated league minimum number of reasons, which is $400,000. The Tigers will pay him the rest of his $14 million contract. I'm impressed by how quickly the Mets moved on this. That sort of decisiveness is good, since it shows they can recognise a bargain (instead of an old surly outfielder costing $25 million in the form of Manny, they have an old surly outfielder for only 400k.

For that price it doesn't really matter how Sheffield performs, though a source close to him is reported to have said "The Mets told him, 'You deliver, and you'll play,' ''. He's one home run away from 500, a milestone which only 24 other major-leaguers have reached, and he'll hit it in a Mets uniform. For that reason alone, it's good that he'll be a Met. It also means the end of Marlon Anderson's hopes of getting any playing time.

Worst name pun goes to Faith and Fear for 'Sheffield of Dreams', beating such contenders as 'Citi-(Shef)field' and 'Sheff of the Future'.

2009-03-31T00:11:00.005+01:00

Reading the description of C-Field by Caryn on metsgrrl.com, I was struck by one of the goods on display in the shop:

I'm sure I've seen this before. Oh yes, the Conservative Party's catchy environmental slogan:

Perhaps the Tories are Mets fans?

First Female in Japanese pro-ball

2009-03-29T21:28:00.004+01:00

In Japan on Friday, the first female professional baseball player made her debut. Seventeen-year old Eri Yoshida struck out one of the batters she faced in the ninth inning of Kobe 9 Cruise's first game of the season, a 5-0 win over the Osaka Gold Villicanes. She walked the first batter leading off the inning and allowed a stolen base before striking out the next batter swinging at Osaka Dome. She was then replaced after facing just two batters. From ESPN:

"I wasn't thinking about anything other than just going out there and giving it my all," said Yoshida, who is hoping to stick with the Kobe team. "I think this was a bad result but the stadium is great and the fans were really cheering me on. I want to be able to pitch more innings and become a pitcher who can be relied upon."

Yoshida created a stir when she signed a contract in December. Some speculated the move was more of a publicity stunt to generate interest in the new league [Kansai Independent League].
...
Until now, no woman had played against men in Japan. A women's professional baseball federation was established in 1950 but it stopped after two seasons.

Publicity stunt or not, I hope she finds success. If a woman can compete with men, then why not? I frequently play baseball with my sister, and why shouldn't she nurture a pipe-dream of playing in the majors one day? Jackie Robinson surely nurtured similar dreams once.

EDIT: Rob Neyer questions her physical tools:

Hmmm, let's see … five feet and 114 pounds … what happens when the enemy hitters start dropping bunts into that tricky area between the pitcher's mound and the third-base line? Will Yoshida have the quickness and the arm strength to throw anyone out at first base? And speaking of arm strength, what happens when the count is three balls and no strikes? Or what happens when there's a grounder to the first baseman and she has to cover first base and gets run over by some burly first baseman?

And David Pinto at Baseball Musings has always thought the knuckleball would be a path for females pitching. He also has a video of her pitching.

Lego Keith Hernandez

2009-03-29T21:11:00.003+01:00

Exactly as it says on the tin; courtesy of Planet of the Geeks. I would buy this for sure. It's just a shame it isn't in the home pinstripes. I tried to build a ballpark out of Lego a few weeks ago; it's no New Shea.

World Baseball Classic drawing to close

2009-03-23T16:19:00.003Z

So the semi-finals are over and Japan and South Korea will meet for the fifth time in the tournament; the defending WBC champions taking on the defending Olympic champions after winning two games apiece so far. Given the excitement the WBC has already produced the final shouldn't disappoint, but it seems a shame that there wasn't more diversity in the scheduling. It's a point already made by Matt Smith at Baseball GB, who proposes a solution to keep teams playing different opponents:

There really is no need for this. It makes no sense to send both the winner and runner-up from a Round 1 pool into the same Round 2 pool. The winners of Pools A and B should play the runners-up from Pools C and D; the winners of Pools C and D should face the runners-up from Pools A and B. That way, two teams could only meet a maximum of three times during the event.

It's a sensible suggestion, which will hopefully be picked up for the next WBC in 2013.

It might seem a bit premature to list highlights, but the Dutch performance throughout the tournament was certainly one, as was David Wright's dramatic 9th inning hit against Puerto Rico. Also of note was the Cuba performance, who's inability to get to the semi-finals was the first time in over fifty years that they've not been in the final of an international baseball tournament. Final highlight was the great performances of the Mets taking part. Delgado, Beltran, Wright (obviously), and Rodriguez all played superbly, and their proxy spring training bodes well for the approaching season. Now they're all on their way home, and I can start paying attention to the Mets' spring training games again.

Schama flaunted his Red Sox?

2009-03-23T15:58:00.003Z

After enthusing about Simon Schama's two part radio program on BBC Radio 4 entitled Baseball and Me, I hoped that the exposure would increase the chances of Brits taking a look at the sport. Not everyone agrees. Chris Campling, writing for the Times of London, argues that Schama "spent way too much time talking about himself":

On Saturday Simon Schama had the chance to perform a great service for this country. Baseball and Me (Radio 4) could have been the half-hour in which the telegenic historian opened up a wonderful game to his trillions of fans; instead, he spent way too much time talking about himself. We learnt that he has lived in New York for 15 years, but that he had taught at Harvard for 13 years, where he became an habitué of Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox play. We joined him on the journey to Boston. He described the scenery, and discussed his love for the city, because it is surrounded by water apparently, and, coming from Essex, he's into water.
By the time he got to Boston the programme was half over. Just time to discuss how green the outfield is at Fenway Park and for Schama to enjoy a hotdog. They put fennel in the sausage meat and the taste awoke memories in the eminent historian - just like Proust and his madeleines. There's a trend for those small, lemony, buttery cakes to be dragged into proceedings by any broadcaster wanting to add intellectual weight to a programme, and it's getting boring.
He spoke to the groundsman, the lord of the green, who managed to get enough of a word in edgeways to tell us that he had mown the shapes of goblins and jack o' lanterns into the grass at Hallowe'en and had written loads of books - “More than me,” Schama interjected - about baseball ground design.

Apart from the fact that the program was called Baseball and Me, suggesting a more personal look at the game than otherwise, I thought that Schama's vivid descriptions of his experiences made for an engaging program. From the way Campling describes baseball as 'a wonderful game', I'm assuming he's already on board wih the sport, but most potential fans aren't going to want to listen to a dry half an hour of the rules or an impersonal look at the history of the sport. They listen to Schama's passion and want to see why he is so in love with baseball. One hour (in total) isn't a lot of time to sum up America's National Pasttime for a nation who is totally unfamiliar with it. I think Schama did a fantastic job.

Insert David Wright pun here

2009-03-18T14:28:00.003Z

The Met's very own David Wright took the opportunity to dispel claims of 'unclutchiness' by hitting a two-run walk-off hit in the last of the ninth inning for the USA to send them past Puerto Rico. Some guys seem to have a reputation for not being 'clutch' (whatever that means). They're happy enough to pad their numbers in low pressure situations but when the teams down by a run in the bottom of the ninth they choke and strikeout. A-Rod's allegedly the worst offender in this regard, but it's been said about Beltran and his baserunning among others. Mets Merized hopes last night's win will banish Wright's ill-deserved reuptation:

Maybe after last nights game winning walk-off hit by David Wright, some dissenting Mets fans can begin to embrace David Wright as clutch hitter.

To paraphraze Ozymandias, one hit doesn't make a trend, but luckily we don't have to rely on just one hit. At the age of just 25, Wright is already second on the Mets' all time list of walk-off hits, with six. Rusty Staub and Kevin McReynolds, who are tied for first place, only had seven. Kevin Davidoff at Newsday shares a more detailed confirmation that Wright is clutch:

The notion that Wright is "bad in the clutch" is not supported by facts. Well, except one. Yes, one at-bat, last September. Sort of a small sample size.

Finally, I'm bothered by the slippery lexical status of the word clutch. Is it a noun, or an adjective? Is it 'Wright has clutch', or 'Wright is clutch'? If the counterpart is choke, as in 'A-Rod chokes', is it a verb? 'Wright clutches?' These things keep me up at night.

New Stadia for New York

2009-03-17T01:07:00.001Z

It is only a surprise to the most inattentive baseball fans that two new baseball stadia open in New York in less than a month. The Yankees replace Yankee Stadium with New Yankee Stadium, while the Mets replace Shea Stadium with Citi Field (some would say TARP Field no doubt.) When I visited New York for the first time in November of last year, I had the misfortune to time my visit to the city so that for the first time in over a hundred years, there was no visitable major league baseball stadium in New York. Alternatively it was good timing, as there were four that could be espied from the top of 30 Rock, but this was small comfort at the time. At least I will be able to say I saw Shea and Yankee Stadium, even if I didn't visit them.

The replacements are luxurious, filled with modern amenities their predecessors lacked. Some feel redundant; why blanket a stadium with hundreds of HD TVs when fans are surely there to watch the game live? If you want to watch it on TV I can think of cheaper ways of doing it that from one of the sports bars in the stadia. Far cheaper ways - conceived and begun in far different economy conditions, when Citi Group was still a respectable bank and not a by-word for incompetance and bailouts, each stadium is packed with expensive premium seating and boxes. These can quickly escalate beyond the budget of the majority of fans, who are driven to the cheaper seats higher up and further round. When the Village Voice attempted to buy cheap tickets for single games last week they were:

"Unable to secure seats in this Price Level." You can, however, get tickets in the Caesar's Club Platinum section in the second deck — for only $140 a pop. (That's for the Nats; to see, say, the Diamondbacks, it'll run you $210.)

It's the same in Yankee Stadium, with season ticket holders discovering they'll have to fork out extra if they want equivalent tickets in their team's new home. The Wall Street Journal reported that the teams are facing difficulties selling their premium tickets, due to the target market, corporate buyers, not wanting to seem profligate in the recession:

Sports executives acknowledge the current environment has disrupted their marketing plans. "If the economy were certain, these would've sold out in about six seconds," Mr. Trost said recently as he showed off the $500-and-up Legends Club.

"The problem is, people don't want to be seen in a space like this."

It's a problem exacerbated by the reduction in capacity of Citi Field in comparison with Shea, down from 57,000 to 42,000. While this will bring fans closer to the field that before, it limits demand and makes it harder for a family of four to afford tickets to a weekend game. If 'ordinary hard-working American families' are unable to get to games, the sport will suffer from a wound to its heart and soul.

Despite their problems, the new stadiums will be the home to memorable moments just like the ones they replace. In time they will come to be loved just as the old ones were; the retro-styling and the fact that baseball will be played there ensures that. The New Yorker sums it up best in an article worth reading in its entirety:

A stadium is a stage set as sure as anything on Broadway, and it determines the tone of the dramas within. Citi Field suggests a team that wants to be liked, even to the point of claiming some history that isn’t its own. Yankee Stadium, however, reflects an organization that is in the business of being admired, and is built to serve as a backdrop for the image of the Yankees, at once connected to the city and rising grandly above it.

Photo courtesy of wallyg on Flickr

Fantasy Draft

2009-03-16T22:32:00.005Z

So I had my fantasy baseball league live draft on Saturday night, and armed with pages of notes and a beer I settled down to get the best team I could. The competition was fierce; the league is made up of bloggers from Baseball GB and their readers, and the depth of knowledge was very impressive. I wish the same could be said about mine. I started optimistically, and was happy with the first couple of rounds. My first pick was Yankee first baseman Mark Texeira, who ought to help with AVG and RBIs in a stacked Yankee lineup. I managed to pick up both of last year's Rookies of the Year, Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto. Hopefully they'll continue to perform this year. I also got Ichiro, who I'm counting on to be his usual dependable self. Then I added speedy Furcal, who's coming back from injury, and A.J. Burnett, who will hopefully avoid injury. I picked up the Royal's closer Rafael Soria, and after this my knowledge began to get shaky.

The rest of my picks are below. I attempted to get a good balanced team. I'm a little worried that I might be too weak in pitching (there's a 20IP minimum per week), but only time will tell. It was a fun draft, with enough chat to keep things interesting, and it should be a bit more fun than playing against complete strangers. My only regret? Not picking up any Mets. There are at least two other Mets fans in the league so the prime Mets were snapped up early and while my knowledge may be pretty shallow, I know enough not to go for Wagner.

The image above is from the Baseball GB website.

Round	Pick	Player	Position

1.	(12)	Mark Teixeira	1B
2.	(17)	Evan Longoria	3B
3.	(40)	Ichiro Suzuki	CF
4.	(45)	Geovany Soto	C
5.	(68)	Rafael Furcal	SS
6.	(73)	A.J. Burnett	SP
7.	(96)	Joakim Soria	RP
8.	(101)	Ryan Ludwick	CF
9.	(124)	Mike Aviles	2B,SS
10.	(129)	David Price	SP
11.	(152)	Dan Wheeler	RP
12.	(157)	Justin Upton	OF
13.	(180)	Chien-Ming Wang	SP
14.	(185)	Brandon Morrow	SP,RP
15.	(208)	Plácido Polanco	2B
16.	(213)	Ryan Theriot	SS
17.	(236)	Juan Pierre	CF
18.	(241)	Hideki Okajima	RP
19.	(264)	Jason Giambi	1B
20.	(269)	Kyle McClellan	RP

More baseball on British radio

2009-03-14T18:29:00.003Z

Historian Simon Schama returned to the airwaves to talk about baseball for the second and final time today. Looking at the British roots of the sport and its significance to literature, he brings his passion and intellect to a mainstream audience. He hails "the ordinary beauties of baseball that are its stock in trade - the perfectly executed double play, with the ball fired from shortstop to second to first - a thing of such delicate fury it's hard to explain how great it sounds." If I wasn't already enamoured with the game, I'd be sold.

The second episode is available for seven days.

Dominican't Republic

2009-03-11T21:43:00.005Z

"It ain't over til it's over." said Yogi whilst managing the Mets in '73. This was never truer than in the Netherlands' second game against the formidable Domincan Republic yesterday. Giving away the first run of the game on an error in the top of the eleventh inning, things looked bleak for the Dutch side. Then two errors by the Dominican Republic in the bottom of the inning gave the win to the Netherlands. The first error allowed Gene Kingsale to get to third base, who then scored the winning run on the second error by Willy Aybar.

The Dominican Republic seemed jinxed by the Netherlands. In their two loses to the European side, the Dominicans made six errors; they only scored three runs; and perhaps more tellingly, they didn't steal base once. This from a team with Jose Reyes, Willy Taveras and Hanley Ramirez, three of the pre-eminent base stealers in the majors. But to say that the the games were the Dominicans' to lose is to underestimate the achievement of the Netherlands, who played tenaciously and capitalised on every opportunity. They've only scored six runs in their first three games, but it's been enough to catapult them through the tournament favourites to get to round two. Nevertheless, the Dominicans should have turned up with their socks pulled up. Ken Rosenthal for FOX Sports sums up the Dominican performance best:

Once is a fluke, twice is your basic national disgrace.

Coupled with Italy's surprise win to send Canada packing and it's been a great show for European baseball so far. It makes me wish it was the Brits out there in Puerto Rico surprising everyone. We'll just have to wait until 2013. As The View From the UK put it:

It's upsets like these which give hope to all the small baseball nations.

So the Dutch dream continues, and the Dominican players slink back to Spring Training earlier than expected. It should please the Mets Police to see Jose Reyes back in camp (ah, who am I kidding, it pleases me too,) and Jerry Manuel can start to go about the serious business of tinkering with the lineup.

EDIT: I particularly like this David Ortiz quote, from the New York Times:

“These guys, they did it,” David Ortiz said. “They beat us. I tell you, the whole world is shocked now. Even in Japan, they’re like ‘What the heck?’ in Japanese.”

Switch Pitching

2009-03-09T22:21:00.004Z

The concept of switch hitting is not an unusual one, since approximately 13% of batters in the major leagues in 2005 were switch hitters (I don't have more recent numbers.) The advantage they gain from being able to face an opposing pitcher in the most favourable way may be arguable (it could be said that they fall victim to marmiting, i.e. spreading themselves too thinly.) Having said that, being able to neutralise a right-handed pitchers curveball by batting from the left side and vice versa does have it's advantages. So I wondered how common switch pitchers were. After all, how much harder could it be?

It turns out a whole lot harder. According to Wikipedia, there were three pitchers in the nineteenth century who pitched with both hands. In the so-called modern era, there had only been one pitcher (count 'em!) known to pitch with both hands, Greg Harris, and that was only once, in his penultimate game. From Wikipedia:

Greg A. Harris is the only major league pitcher in the modern era to pitch with both his left and his right arm. A natural righty, by 1986 he could throw well enough with his left hand that he felt capable of pitching with either hand in a game. Harris was not allowed to throw lefty in a regular-season game until September 28, 1995, the next-to-last game of his career. Against the Cincinnati Reds, in the ninth inning, Harris (then a member of the Montreal Expos) retired Reggie Sanders pitching right-handed, then switched to his left hand for the next two hitters, Hal Morris and Ed Taubensee, who both batted left-handed. Harris walked Morris but got Taubensee to ground out. He then went back to his right hand to retire Bret Boone to end the inning.

There is one proper switch pitcher working his way up through the minors, Pat Venditte, who is comfortable using either hand to pitch. He has a custom six-fingered glove which he can swap between hands with ease. Drafted by the Yankees and currently playing for the Staten Island Yankees, he even has the privilege of having a new rule just for him, the Pat Venditte Rule. This came in after an incident where he faced a switch hitter in a game against the Brooklyn Cyclones. The New York Times describes the incident:

...Up next was designated hitter Ralph Henriquez, and he and Venditte engaged in a routine more vaudeville than Mudville.
As Henriquez walked to the plate, Venditte, assuming Henriquez would bat left-handed, stood behind the pitching rubber with his glove on his right hand and the ball in his left. Henriquez, looking out at Venditte, then stepped across the batter’s box, determined to hit right-handed and gain a righty-lefty advantage. Seeing this, Venditte quickly switched his custom-made glove to his left hand and put the ball in his right, hoping to gain a righty-on-righty advantage.
Henriquez stepped out and began asking the home-plate umpire, Shaylor Smith, to lay out his options, then summoned his third-base coach. With the matter unresolved, Henriquez again stepped across the batter’s box in an attempt to bat left-handed. Again, Venditte switched glove and ball. The cat-and-mouse game reached full comedic gear when Henriquez again strolled across the batter’s box to hit right-handed, and Venditte responded with the old switcheroo, setting up as a righty.
“My interpretation of the rule is that we each get to switch once,” Venditte said before Friday night’s Yankees game against Hudson Valley at Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Staten Island. “After that, I thought I had the final decision.”
Pat McMahon, the Staten Island manager, and Edgar Alfonzo, the Brooklyn manager, trotted onto the field for a discussion with Smith, setting off a series of separate discussions by confused members of the teams, which are Class A affiliates of the Yankees and the Mets.
In the midst of those discussions, Venditte tossed warm-up pitches — with both arms.
“I don’t think the umpires really knew how to handle it,” Venditte said. “It’s not something you see every day.”
After a seven-minute delay, Smith ordered Henriquez to step into the box as a right-handed batter, and Venditte, now pitching right-handed, proceeded to strike him out, swinging.

Whilst this won't happen again with the new rule in place, it will be interesting to see what happens if and when Venditte makes it to the majors. I find it strange that switch pitching should be so incredibly rare whilst switch hitting is relatively common. Certainly pitching requires an incredible amount of control, but batting in the majors requires great skill as well. I would suspect that switch pitchers might be able to pitch more innings without tiring as fast as single arm pitchers, since they can spread the load. On the other hand, it might put untold stresses on their frames which make it an unviable option in the long term

Baseball on BBC Radio 4

2009-03-07T12:39:00.003Z

It isn't every day that I get to wake up listening to a program about baseball on the BBC's flagship 'talkie' radio station, Radio 4. In fact, I'm reasonably confident that this morning was the first time. The British historian Simon Schama, an academic with close ties to America, had been a Red Sox fan since first seeing a game at Fenway Park in 1981. In the half hour program this morning, entitled 'Baseball and Me', he talks eloquently about the idiosyncracies to be found surrounding baseball and especially at Fenway. Speaking to people who work behind the scenes at Fenway, from the groundskeeper to an assistant in the locker room, from the manual scoreboard operator to the man behind the Fenway Frank hotdog, he gives an personal look at what makes baseball so appealing.

As he speaks to the locker room assistant Jason Varitek walks by, and Schama's tingling enthusiasm is obvious and infectious. Schama has presented fantastic documentaries such as the 'Power of Art' and 'The American Future: A History', and has a great ability to speak about a subject so that both people familiar with the subject and people completely clueless can understand and be entertained. What makes these programs work is that they are obviously a labour of love, which is confirmed by Mark Damazer on the Radio 4 Blog:

Baseball and Me [...] took well over three years to happen. It's in two parts - the second part is in the same slot the following week. It has been a personal passion.

It's great to see baseball getting such exposure to a wider British audience. Perhaps if they begin to understand the culture and folklore behind baseball Brits will begin to stop seeing it as 'isn't baseball just rounders?' The first part is available to listen to for seven days. Part to is at 10.30am next Saturday.

Final Word on the WBC

2009-03-03T23:48:00.003Z

There were two reasons I winced when I read the boxscore of today's Mets game against St Louis. The first was that at 15-4 it would be hard to put up with my thirteen year old brother's gloating. He supports the Redbirds since their 2006 World Series win saw them featured in the demo of MLB: The Show '07. Such tenuous reasons were all he needed to become a fan. Now that the Mets have lost both of their first two Spring Training games against the Cardinals, I'll have to hope the other three aren't so bad. The second reason I winced at the score was that it seemed hard to justify my continued support for the WBC in the face of a Mets team made up of unknowns and second fiddles.

Since my post yesterday, Greg over at Fear and Faith in Flushing outlined why he thinks the WBC is a waste of time (he charitably describes me as " the honorable baseball fan from England.") He says that as a Mets fan, his loyalty and his pledge are to the Mets first and foremost. And so it is with me. If the WBC directly caused the Mets to let another postseason opportunity slip through their grasp, I'd be the first to curse the whole endeavour. You could argue that it might already have done that if it turns out that Johan Santana has over-exerted himself preparing to represent his country. Nevertheless, fans of teams all around the majors have worries about their team's players being injured or losing training time with the team. It isn't a problem unique to the Mets (though I wonder how many other teams are losing 15 players?)

If the purpose of Spring Training is to get players in game shape, what's the problem with having them playing games for their country instead of their club? If the purpose is to develop team-bonding, the two weeks that most of the called-up players will spend away from their teams becomes a bigger problem. If the purpose is to allow the manager to try new tactics without risking the result of games that count (like leading off with Castillo) then the interference of the WBC with Spring Training seems unacceptable.

When else could it be held? Some, like Mets Police, wonder whether November would prove a better bet. However, Greg (not the same one I don't think) at Mets Merized Online rightly points out that after 162 regular season games players are going to be tired and in an injury-prone condition. No fan is going to like that option any better. Greg moots the All-Star break as an alternative, and I think that has potential. Simply put there is no ideal time, but once every four years isn't much to ask.

The final consideration that I think must be paid to the WBC is the financial investment clubs have in players. If a player is seriously injured through playing in the WBC, his club will have to pay the price. Without some sort of compensation this, more than the absence during Spring Training, will prove the sticking point for the WBC.

For now, it should be enough to wish all the players a successful and healthy tournament. I will be rooting, thanks to the lack of GB team, for 'Europe', in the form of Holland and Italy.

The World Baseball Classic

2009-03-02T23:16:00.002Z

Earlier today, Mets Police blogged that, with the loss of 15 players to the World Baseball Classic, the Mets Spring Training is effectively over until they return on or around March the 23rd, finishing by saying:

I don't get it. Nobody cares about this thing, why have it?

I felt compelled to respond, and my comment was put into a subsequent post:

To say that *nobody* cares about this thing is not quite true. As a baseball fan from the UK, I find that the first thing people say when you bring up the sport is 'oh, that's an American thing. Why would you care about that?' It's as if you are betraying cricket or something!

Matt Smith writes for the Baseball GB Blog and summarizes quite well why the WBC is important internationally:
http://www.baseballgb.co.uk/?p=1825
What is good for baseball around the world will in the long run be good for MLB (since all players of any quality gravitate to the States.)

Take the two players signed by the Pirates last year from India:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090220&content_id=3854160&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
With over a billion people, promoting baseball in India could see more new talent make its way to the majors. I think the WBC is integral to that effort, especially now that baseball is no longer an Olympic sport.

I agree that it could be held at a better time than during spring training, but that still wouldn't resolve the problems of franchise fans worrying about the potential injuries their players could sustain playing for their country. Nevertheless, I think the benefits of the WBC outway the disadvantages.

There's no ideal time to have a World Baseball Classic. There isn't even an ideal format. It would be nice to address a common British criticism of the World Series, that it isn't really a World Series while it's limited to the States, by having a Worldwide competition between clubs. The difficulty would be that the standard in MLB far surpasses NPB or any of the other national leagues so such a tournament would be unbalanced. A tournament of national teams is more level given the high standard of players from countries like Japan, Dominican Republic and Cuba. Better to raise the international level of baseball by having some tournament, however flawed, than huge pools of potential talent lost due to a wasted opportunity.

The Checked Swing

2009-03-02T22:30:00.000Z

The Checked Swing, which this blog is named after, refers to the action of a batter beginning to swing at a pitch but holding up and drawing back as he sees it's going to be a ball or not worth hitting.

It's a slippery call for the umpire, as the rules are remarkably flexible on the matter. Basically, there's no clear definition as to what constitutes a checked swing. There are a variety of ways an umpire can establish whether a batter held up in time; if the bat went past the plate or the batter's body, whether or not the wrists 'broke' as he swung. It's basically the umpire's call, or more typically the first-base or third-base umpire's call, since they have a better view.

I chose this title for the blog because lots of the more common baseball jargon terms were taken. Well that, and also because it seemed to be a good cover for what could prove to be amateurish ramblings.

Photo credit: bk1bennett

First Post

2009-03-02T21:56:00.000Z

As a Brit, baseball never factored during my childhood. The closest I ever came to it was reading Peanuts cartoons which I barely understood. During school I shared a room with an American, but he was more interested in NHL and so it wasn't until university that I had my first exposure to the game. Now I'm making up for lost time as I immerse myself in the sport as much as I can, forcing my thirteen-year-old twin brother and sister to play and staying up late to watch late night games.

With this Blog I'm aiming to squeeze the sponge of the past few years, and see if what I've picked up has been of any us at all. Whilst I might have picked up the basics, and even know a few of the more unusual plays, there are probably major gaps in my knowledge which someone who has grown up with the game will be amazed at. For example, until a few months ago I didn't know a baserunner had to tag up when a fly-ball was caught before running. Hopefully these moments of shameful ignorance will be overlooked and instead I will be able to offer a new perspective to long-time fans on the other side of the Atlantic, whilst providing an introduction to those on this side who are discovering the game just as I did.

Finally, let it be know that I support the New York Mets, the Yomiuri Giants (whose game against the Yakult Swallows in 2007 was my first and - to date only - baseball game) and the Edinburgh Diamond Devils.