We’re $550 Short of the Mountain Top, Help Us to the Top

Since we uploaded the kickstarter, we’ve been overwhelmed by the response.  Adam, the PhD candidate at University of Virginia, and I have seen $1,957 raised so far and we’re closing in on our goal.

 

Naturally, Adam and I have gotten it into our heads that we’re amazing and we’re going to reach our goal and thus we’ve started getting ideas for what to do if we go over our goal.

Our main idea is expanding the data to include non-broadcasting items.  This includes print media and talk radio, although holy shit who wants to listen to Jim Rome for four hours every day.  We want more data and we want more coverage.  If we had an infinite supply of money, I think we’d keep this study going on forever.

 

With that, let’s focus on raising past our goal.  Let’s focus on a new goal: $3,000.

If you’ve been thinking about donating, do it now.  If you’ve donated already, donate another five bucks and we’ll get to our goal by the end of today. If you don’t have the funds to donate–and trust me, I know that feeling–spread the word.  Let other people know about this.  Post it on Facebook.  Tell your friends.  I’ve had a few people donate to the cause as a birthday present–those were especially sweet.

Let’s keep it going.  Full speed ahead.

Introducing: Scorekeeping: The Official Scientific Study (AND WE NEED YOUR HELP)

This is the big news I’ve wanted to announce for about six months.  Are you ready for this?

We’re taking Scorekeeping to the scientific realm.

That’s right, we’re making The Subtle Racism Project an official scientific study, complete with a lit review, reference variables, and a whole bunch of scientific IAT shit I barely understand.  Dingers reader and grad student Adam chimed in to help a couple of months ago and helped to create the model.

For now, we’re raising the money to get 30 people to watch 30 telecasts of baseball–basically from the beginning of September to the end of the season, if we’re lucky.  Click here to see the Kickstarter page.  Once we reach our goal, we’re all set.

But we need your help.  Forward this to friends; to family; to neighbors; to baseball fans world wide.  Let’s get this thing underway.

In the meantime, if you’d like to submit random, unscientific samples to the original Scorekeeping thread, click here.  I have about 50 minor examples so far this year.

Martin Prado Achieves Rare 0-for-9, Almost Does Unthinkable

There was a controversial call last night in the Pirates-Braves game.  It was a brutal 19-inning game that ended with a bad call, but a few things flew under the radar.

First, there’s this.  I will never not love Scott Proctor for that.

Second, lost in the shuffle was that Martin Prado went 0-for-9 on the night without a sacrifice or a walk.  That’s a solid nine times he was at the plate and made an out.

Just to give you a sense of reference, only 86 times has a player gone 0-for-8 in 8 plate appearances.  Only 22 times has a player gone 0-for-9 in at-bats (without a sacrifice) or worse. The last player to do so was Trot Nixon in 2006. Before that, Rafael Palmeiro in 1991.

Of those 22, only six times has a player gone 0-for-10 in ABs and 10 PAs, and only once in recorded history has a player gone 0-for-11 and he did it in 11 PAs (we’re looking at you, 1920 Charlie Pick of the Boston Braves).  If you want to include sacrifices and walks, 29 have gone 0-for-9, 10 have gone o-for-10 and, again, only Charlie Pick has gone 0-for-11.

The best part?  Martin Prado was on deck after Proctor. He would’ve been the first player since John Shelby in 1989 to go 0-for-10 in 10 PAs.

I love this game.

Chad Billingsley Talks About Pitch Sequencing Part II

Here’s part I of the interview, let’s jump right into this one.

 

A Quick Thing About Your Prospect and Errors in the Minors.

A few things about errors in the minor leagues and why they happen so often:

1.  Some times it’s because the player is learning a new position and has some glaring fault that he repeats.  Sometimes this can be a throwing error to first on a repeated basis; other times it can be more serious like inability to field balls cleanly within range.  Both can be worked on with time, so long as the player takes the time to adjust.  But trust your club’s judgment (and the judgment of scouts) on whether or not he should stick there.

1a. Some times it can be because the player is learning a different part of fielding his position and boots a ball now and again learning to adjust.  This can include going for balls outside of his comfort range, working on glove-to-throwing hand transfers, moving his feet faster, working on fielding the ball a DIFFERENT way, etc.  Same with 1, trust the club’s and scouts’ judgment.

2.  Some times it’s because the player is a fish out of water.  Changing leagues and facing harder competition can cause a learning curve for position players.

3.  Some times it’s because the player isn’t fit for the position and the team wants to try and prepare him for the position anyway.

Three examples:

1.  The Orioles’ Josh Bell.  While there was talk of moving him off third base when he was traded from the Dodgers (he put up 38 errors in 2007), he worked hard to make his defense at 3B average and later above-average.  His bat on the other hand is not so good.

1a.  The Dodgers’ Dee Gordon has had 30+ errors almost every year in his minors career, but because he has superior range and worked on fielding the ball smoother, he was a major league short stop.

2.  I got nothing.

3.  The Pirates’ Pedro Alvarez.  Similar to Bell, there was talk of moving him off first, but because he lacked the range and was called “lazy”.  The Pirates decided to keep him at 3B though for whatever reason.

Looking at stats in the minors is an OK way to get to know your team’s prospects, but expectations have to be tempered when looking at stats.

Who’s Gonna Buy Me This?

 

lol.

 

If you’re reading this in the distant future, today is the day Frank McCourt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  It was a big middle finger to Bud Selig, who was basically about to take over the team, the local media (he reported it to the New York Times first) and to the fans of the LA Dodgers, who now have to wait at least until the end of the season for a new owner, since he now has a $150 million loan from MLB because of the bankruptcy.

It’s been real, Frank.

For My Father, a Year and a Half After He Passed

following Ken Arneson

My whole family is in New York right now–mom, brother and sister, their spouses and my niece.  I’m at my sister’s house, taking care of her dogs.  It’s a bit lonely here, but not having a dad is kind of liberating today. I have nowhere to be except by his graveside. I have what feels like all the time in the world to reflect on his life and our mutual love of baseball.

He was a great man. He was beloved by many and he had an ability to draw people close–to get them to trust him. He never took advantage of that. He loved to talk to people, but felt most comfortable with the ones he loved. He loved his mother and struggled at times with the guilt he felt caring for her. He loved the finer things in life. He loved golf too much. He lost his brother, business partner and best friend, Billy, in the mid-90s and struggled with that for years. He had a huge collection of wines, some of which he told me to save for my wedding (when I was 15) and my sister’s unborn daughter’s wedding. He loved telling people what they should and shouldn’t do.

He also had some hard luck. After he retired, he went to get his knee repaired and then found out he needed heart surgery. Just months after getting heart surgery, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 60. He died 14 months later.

His greatest love, besides family, was baseball.

His father had taught him the game and he taught each of us–my brother, my sister and myself. He preached the beauty of the game. We watched the Dodgers for years. His father had season tickets and passed them down to him. Now they’re split between the three of us and our mom.

Of all the times to die, he died the day before the 2009 NLCS began. The four of us (myself, my mom, my sister and my brother) went to game 1 the next night and it felt like the Dodgers needed to win. They needed to win for us. They owed us. They owed us that moment that I never got to have with him; that transcendental victory and happiness. They owed dad.

—

Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it invert thee, deaden thee; as for the time it did me. There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness.

Chad Billingsley Talks About Pitch Sequencing

I got to sit down with Chad Billingsley today and speak to him about pitch sequencing. This is the best conversation I’ve had about it yet and special thanks to Chad for being so open in discussing this.

This is the second or third pitcher or pitching coach I’ve spoken to about sequencing, please click the “pitch sequencing” tag to find the other ones.

Let’s start with the basic: tell me what you know about pitch sequencing.

Well, first, there’s a lot of luck involved. The hitter knows what you have, as far as the pitches and what your tendencies are.

We’re gonna want to remember this one for a while.

Matt Kemp blasted a shot OUT of Coors Field on Saturday. Link is here.

Dylan O. Hernandez on Twitter:

Heard that Kemp’s HR ball last night hit the concourse and one-hopped out of the stadium. Landed in the parking lot.

And the distance it would have gone approximately, thanks to Google Earth:

Yes, 490 feet is approximately how far it went. Even in a bad season, it’s pretty good to be a Dodger fan.

Why Does Joe Buck Do This For A Living

It sounds like he’s being tortured.

As the kids get closer to finals, posts are going to be harder to make, but I’m going to keep trying. Expect things to pick up in a couple of weeks.

Regardless, we’ll have a few more posts this week.