SAY WHAT!?

Oh yes I just used that line. For those of you unaccustomed to the phrase, you have to tilt your head at a 45 degree and say “say” at .5 octaves higher than normal and the say “what” at 2.5 octaves higher than normal tone. 

Oh right! BASEBALL….again, (this dude is boring me)

Well I have news for you, I…don’t….. care!  Give me the breakdown B

One and one player only in the outfield causes me to go into a rage for this all-star rant. Josh “Mother Flipping” Hamilton! He is now my goto for why fans shouldn’t vote in All-stars. I’m not even going to really go into it, BUT, here are his and 5 other outfielders in the AL who are not starters at the all-star game, all of these men made the game, but Hamilton is a starter. BREAKITONDOWN!

Josh Hamilton       Avg 240 OBP 290 HR 6 RBI 24 Runs 20 Sb 3  GP 32 Vs 

Carl Crawford         Avg 318 OBP 376 HR 8 RBI 38 Runs 56 Sb 41  GP 82

Curtis Granderson Avg 255 OBP 339 HR 18 RBI 43 Runs 51 Sb 15  GP 81

Torii Hunter           Avg 307 OBP 382 HR 17 RBI 65 Runs 56 Sb 13  GP 76 *My Pick

Adam Jones           Avg 305 OBP 361 HR 12 RBI 46 Runs 52 Sb 6  GP 75

Ben Zobrist             Avg 290 OBP 400 HR 16 RBI 46 Runs 43 Sb 8  GP 75

Did you read all that? Good! Do you see what I am seeing. I even had to add one more stat to the lineup, Games Played. Hamilton has got to be the least deserving player in the history of baseball to go to the big game. He bats under 250, I will use a Johnny Mac analogy again. You remember that year when Johnny Mac Played over 100 games? Well if you do you will remember that he hit .251! WHAT?! The old time utility player hits better average than an all-star?! 

Case Closed!

By the way I chose Torii Hunter as my starter from that group but ultimately I would have put Lind out there as he, despite being primarily a DH has the same if not better stats than that group. When it all comes down to it, if he doesn’t make the team, I blame Josh Hamilton AND the voters who shouldn’t exist. 

Jomo Out!

The results are in for the all-star game save 2 players to be selected in the final vote. 

Who would have predicted the end result. Last time we were together I was complaining that Aaron Hill would almost certainly not make the AL sqaud, but he did, and the countering Ian Kinsler did not. I can’t say I understand how Kinsler didn’t make it. He had SO many votes, but apparently Pedroia (2008 My Verybad Player [2008 MVP]) won the starter spot at 2b even though he is having at best a good year (not great.. good) I will stat breakdown the 3 players because, well, I like doing it.

Pedroia  Avg 290 OBP 368 RBI 36 Runs 59 HR 3 Sb 14

Hill         Avg 299 OBP 339 RBI 59 Runs 50 HR 20 Sb 3

Kinsler   Avg 253 OBP 332 RBI 51 Runs 59 HR 19 Sb 16

I look these stats over and I see once again Kinsler and Hill as equals, Hill hits better average but Kinsler steals bases. Pedroia although having a good season, has hit only 3 home runs (Johnny MacDonald has hit 1 this year), and doesn’t bring home as many runners (RBI’s). The other thing is Runs is kind of a dumb statistic as it relies on other people bringing you across the plate, more than anything it is a luck stat that Pedroia is taking advantage of, I am still trying to figure out how he was MVP last year.

So overall I am very happy that Aaron Hill has made the squad, he deserves it. If he keeps up his pace he should be the league MVP. Going by what the last AL MVP did, I would say a 40 home run 90-100 rbi season with a .300 avg should do it, but let us wait and talk about that in 82 games.

Final Vote is on at MLB.com for the final player in each league (AL/NL). Adam Lind is on the ballot and is at this point edging out Ian Kinsler and Carlos Pena.

More like All-Star Goats! (probably not very funny at all)

Voting for “All-Stars” in baseball is kind of like voting on who won the 100m sprint. It really doesn’t make any sense. Anybody who watches baseball understands that it is one of the few sports where statistics say EVERYTHING. A pitcher is the product of his ERA, WHIP, K’s, and win-loss record. A batter is the product of his; batting avg, RBI, Runs, Home runs, On Base percentage, and stolen bases. 

There is a simple way to determine what player is the “better one”. Take this example.

BS_More = Avg. .275 OBP.320 HR 6 RBI 25 Runs 20 SB 5  VS

JMan = Avg .325 OBP .400 HR 3 RBI 22 Runs 40 SB 20

We can easily see that although they are different players, that JMan has the ability to create more runs by getting on base and stealing, than BS has by hitting the ball over the fence double the amount of times.

Right now in the American League there are some of these situations in All-Star Ballot leaders vs. everyone else. My prime agitation is Ian Kinsler vs. Aaron Hill.

Stat Breakdown:

Kinsler: Avg .272 OBP .347 HR 18 RBI 50 Runs 53 SB 16

Hill: Avg .305 OBP .345 HR 17 RBI 54 Runs 46 SB 3

So if we really look at this closely we can say, The SB and avg cancel each other out. So what we are left with is the exact same player. Why is it then that Kinsler is one million votes ahead of Hill? The answer, voters! Hill and Kinsler should both be All-Stars this year, Kinsler WILL BE, and Hill, (unless selected as a replacement) will be forced to watch the game from home. What a shame, for a player putting in a career year.

So I guess what I am saying is. GET OFF YOUR BUTTS AND VOTE FOR HILL. And if you get a chance, Adam Lind should probably be at the game too.

Jomo Out!

In 2006 the Toronto Blue Jays signed Left-Handed Closer BJ Ryan to a monster deal (47 million over 5 years). At the time it appeared the then 31 year old deserved every penny of it due to recent performance. Over the two seasons prior to signing with the Jays he struck out 222 batters walked only 61, while holding an ERA below 2.50. BJ put in one good season with the Blue Jays before getting injured and sitting out almost all of 2007. 2008 was a good year for Ryan again but he was injured late in the season and has clearly not returned to form for the 2009 campaign. 

Now according to the Fan590’s Radio Jockey Brian Douchey-Bignose. BJ Ryan only ever threw at a velocity of 91 MPH, he really relied on his quirky technique and excellent command. As a Blue Jays viewer I whole heartedly disagree with him . Last season BJ Ryan constantly hit 93 MPH and was rarely near the strike zone with his ridiculous looking slider, this season BJ has maxed out at 88 MPH but has mostly thrown 87MPH. Now as I listened to the radio show Brian informed me that his velocity is not an issue because its only a a difference of 2MPH. WAIT! WHAT?! 91-87=2? and if you use what he actually used to throw 93-87=2? man this guys numbers rock! The reality is BJ has lost a good 5-6MPH which may not seem like much, but it can be the difference between a foul ball and a crushing home run hit by Michael Young.

Now onto what this post is really about, BJ Ryan getting thrown down to the minors at minimum. BJ is a two pitch pitcher who now throws an 87 MPH “Fastball” and an 84 MPH Slide type thing. He has almost no change in speed and his slider has the most obvious looping action in the Bigs. The Blue Jays are an organization chalked full of young pitching that can come in and fill in a missing spot. Now I am not saying the Blue Jays bring up Wolfe or Bullington to be the Closer, BUT you could bring up one of those guys to fill out the bullpen while lets say Scott Downs or Jason Frasor takes over spot as closer, OR even better yet bring Jeremy Accardo back up tomorrow and let him do the job again. At least Accardo hasn’t blown a save in less than 5 opportunities this year, mind you it is at AAA Las Vegas, but with closers it’s not about where you are pitching but how you are pitching and let me tell you Accardo is getting the job done. And before everyone gets on me about being a “Frasor-Lover” just watch the guy pitch this year, he is 100% the best there is in the Blue Jays bullpen right now since he added the Change-up to his pitching repertoire. 

After last nights ball game it was announced that BJ has been moved to the disabled list. The official injury as quoted by Cito Gaston is, “BJ sucks so much right now and he is making me look bad, plus he is a big white guy from the south, I don’t like him, never had, and I think he and Lyle Overbay should make terribly ugly kids together.” The actual reason is an upper shoulder strain, it is pretty vague and no one, not even BJ is buying into it.

I will leave you with this. BJ Ryan successfully blew his second save of the season and it all started by walking the number 8 hitter for Texas, don’t be like BJ, walking is never and option.

Welcome to Baseball Central(ish). 

This is the hottest spot on the site for our huge viewing crowd (5). 

Growing up in Peterborough, Ontario I should have been huge on four things in life; Hockey, Lacrosse, Women, and either pot or beer. So 2 for 4 ain’t bad right (no I don’t like men or fruity cocktails[unless they rock!]). I played baseball from tee-ball straight up to the present, with a brief stop at softball. Now why can I give the insider information that you won’t find anywhere else? Well I didn’t say I could so I am not answering that question. You will find however that I know almost nothing about hockey in terms of actual info (See Sports section in The Brett-O-File) and even less about football. Baseball is my glory of all knowing information and I can prove it. I knew everyone that was on steroids was on steroids. See there I proved it, now read my section it is actually full of info you are probably maybe even possibly wanting to discuss, and as always walking a batter is never an option.

Batter Stats

PA - Plate Appearance, Any time a batter has finished an at-bat (via out, hit, walk, error, sacrifice hit)

AB - At Bats, A finished at-bat but Does not include walks or sacrifice hits 

H - Hits, When a batter contacts the ball and makes it to at least first base safely

2b - Doubles, a hit resulting in the batter getting to second

3b - Triples, a hit resulting in the batter getting to third

HR - Home Runs, a hit resulting in the batter scoring

R - Runs, When the batter has crossed home plated for a run

RBI - Runs Batted in, When teammates have crossed home plate for a run due to a hit or walk by the batter

TB - Total bases,  the total amount of bases achieved by the batter (1b=1, 2b=2, 3b=3, HR=4)

BB - Bases on balls, “Walks”, the batter has taken 4 “balls” to get to first base without a hit

SO - Strike out,  the batter has allowed 3 strikes to get him out

SB - Stolen bases,  the runner moves one base up during a pitch without a passed ball, wild pitch, walk, or ball coming into play.

CS - CS,  the runner has been caught trying to “Steal a base”

SH - Sacrifice hit, With less than 2 outs, a batter intentionally gets himself out to allow the base runner to get to the next base 

OBP - On Base Percentage, the number of walks plus hits divided by the number of plate appearances (AB does not include walks or sacrifice hits)

SLG - Slugging Percent, The players total number of bases divided by his amount of at-bats

AVG - Average (Batting Average), The number of hits the player has divided by his amount of at-bats

Pitching Stats

W - Wins,  the pitcher has produced a win by either finishing the game or leaving with a lead.

L - Losses,  pitcher has produced a loss by either finishing the game or leaving with a deficit

S - Saves, A pitcher has, by coming into a game with a 3 or less run lead and pitching the equivalent number of outs or more to run lead to finish a game (3 runs = 3 or more outs recorded 1 run = 1 or more out recorded to achieve a save)

SVO - Save Opportunities, When a pitcher had the opportunity to achieve a save in a game

HLD - Holds, the pitcher comes into the game with a 3 or less run lead and produces at least one out and does not cause his team to lose the lead. If a pitcher leaves the game but has allowed a runner on base, that runner is still his responsibility despite being out of the game.

GS - Games Started, A pitcher is the starting pitcher (yay)

CG - Complete Games, A pitcher has started and finished a game regardless of the amount of innings the game may take (less or more)

SHO - Shut outs, A complete game PLUS the pitcher has not allowed a run

IP - Innings pitched, The amount of innings the pitcher has pitched. Innings are counted by outs so 1.1 = 1 and 1/3 of and inning, 1.2 = 1 and 2/3 of an inning

H - Hits allowed, When a pitcher allows a batter to get on base via a “hit”

R - Runs allowed, the number of batters the pitcher has allowed to score

ER - Earned Runs, the number of batters the pitcher has allowed to score. Earned runs only count when there is no error involved for the player scoring

HR - Home Runs allowed, The amount of “home runs” the pitcher has given up

HBP - Hit By Pitch, When a pitcher hits the batter with a pitch and the batter does not swing at the ball

BB - Bases on balls, When a pitcher throws 4 balls to a batter

K or SO - Strike Out, When a pitcher throws 3 strikes to a batter and the batter does not make contact

WHIP - Walks and Hits per innings pitched, Add BB to H and divide it by innings pitched ( A good WHIP is around 1.00)

ERA - Earned Run Average, ER divided by IP 

Pitchers have stats for everything that hitters have as well. For instance doubles given up, slugging percentage against, on base percentage against. These however are the main ones.