MLB: America’s pastime
Some dedication to the play….
Nice slide dopey ^
Did you know that the great Satchel Paige was in a movie with Robert Mitchum?
The Wonderful Country 1959
^
That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I would hope there would be a scene where he throws something at the villains: Apparently he is a really horrible shot with a gun, which is sort of a running joke through the whole film. At the very end, when he has to take this guy down, he quickly decides to takes the gun off his shoulder, and he throws it at the villain. After it knocks the guy of his horse everyone looks stunned and he says, “Well, I always was better at throwing than shooting.” Everyone laughs and then the movie ends.
Ha ha, that’s pretty funny. I would definitely have to watch that movie ^
Is there any way to find foul balls per game by team?
I want to know if the Sox foul off more when they play poor pitching staffs – that is, staffs with a slower fastball.
If anyone kept track of a stat like that it probably would be this guy;
Well, if Fangraphs doesn’t have it, I don’t know who will.
I just skimmed this, but it looks interesting :
Do foul balls correlate with any of the actual outcome stats? Well, the usual slash stats didn’t correlate well with any of these new metrics. But, some specific outcomes show some rather intriguing patterns. A batter who hits a lot of two-strike foul balls is less likely to strike out (r = -.482) and less likely to walk (r = -.345). Makes sense, since he is more likely to extend his at-bats until (assuming he actually doesn’t end up walking or striking out) he puts the ball in play. And put the ball in play he usually does. Two strike foul balls are moderately associated with an upswing in singles rate (r = .347), but a downturn in HR rate (r = -.215) and HR/FB (r = -.300). This pattern becomes even more pronounced when one looks at overall contact percentage (which we’ve already seen is a pretty good correlate of two-strike foul ball hitting). The correlation with strike outs hits -.875, which makes sense because you can’t strike out if you hit the ball, foul tip into the catcher’s glove notwithstanding. Overall contact is correlated with more singles (r = .549) and fewer HR (r = -.521).
It also says in that article that “Retrosheet has data on the fact that a foul ball was hit”, but I couldn’t find it.
And this one
Ah, the foul ball…
I want to know if the Sox foul off more when they play poor pitching staffs – that is, staffs with a slower fastball.
Well, now I want to know too. I don’t really have enough information (or time) to come to a conclusion though. And although I am pretty sure they exist, I can’t find a chart with the actual stats.
From Plunkeveryone
Total fouls by pitcher, for the 2009 season:
Justin Verlander 731 3330 22.0%
Scott Baker 672 2783 24.1%
Cliff Lee 663 3175 20.9%
Randy Wolf 628 2932 21.4%
Edwin Jackson 588 2974 19.8%
Jon Lester 577 3031 19.0%
C.C. Sabathia 574 3196 18.0%
Roy Halladay 565 2951 19.1%
Johan Santana 561 2575 21.8%
Matt Cain 559 2891 19.3%
Those are all pretty good, fastball throwing pitchers for the most part. So I might suggest that hard throwing, mid-upper tier pitchers have a tendency to get more foul balls because pitches that may have been hit for a ball in play from a lesser pitcher are turned into fouls.
Batters with most fouls in 2009:
Brian Roberts 490 2480 19.8%
Carl Crawford 476 2227 21.4%
Andre Ethier 466 2396 19.4%
Todd Helton 466 2397 19.4%
Pablo Sandoval 455 1869 24.3%
Derek Jeter 445 2402 18.5%
Jose Lopez 439 1969 22.3%
Robinson Cano 437 2042 21.4%
Shin-Soo Choo 436 2395 18.2%
Aaron Hill 435 2190 19.9%
And there all mid-upper tier, which may suggest that good hitters are adept at making contact with pitches that may have been strikes from a lesser hitter. I wonder what the contact rates were overall for those hitters that season.
J&K …upper tier pitchers have a tendency to get more foul balls because pitches that may have been hit for a ball in play from a lesser pitcher are turned into fouls.
Ah – that makes sense, but it is the antithesis of what I am seeing. I see the Sox having a problems with last-place teams and then I notice the pitches are slower than the top teams.
…since he is more likely to extend his at-bats
Yeah, he is getting a better read.
Would you say they’re top hand-side fouls or bottom hand-side fouls? Generally being late on a fastball will send them in one direction, while being earlier on something else will send them in the other.
Jacoby Ellsbury = 5 stolen bases tonight.
Matt Would you say they’re top hand-side fouls or bottom hand-side fouls?
Here’s the thing – you might swing too soon because it is slow but you might swing late because you’re indecisive do to the slowness.
Sox vs Yankees this May 31st weekend !
Right . . . and there’s all kinds of other possibilities—-you might be trying to hit behind a runner, you might be trying to hit into a gap in a particular alignment, you might be overswinging trying to hit for power, etc.
How many more games until the Cubs are officially eliminated?
heh – ‘due to’
Are the Cubs streaky?
Yup. Their last eleven games: six consecutive loses followed immediately by 5 consecutive wins. I think they have at least 3-4 other four-game losing streaks so far this season.
Hang in for 60 more games.
Blast from the Past
I have the ’75 WS on dvd and watching this guy pitch was almost as fun as watching Tiant. If you ever get the chance to watch that series, do so. Tiant was absolutely amazing. And the series was phenomenal!
Except for the fact that the Red Sox lost (or as Carlton Fisk said later, “We won that series 3 games to 4”).
Have you seen the documentary Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey (TV 2006) ?
No, I haven’t. But it’s been in my Netflix queue for about a year now. Maybe I should get to it.
…for a minute there Sox had more runs than hits – Sox 8 Rangers 0 in the second inning – gawd, Dempster could win this!!!!!
After two, Texas pulls their starting pitcher – if the guy isn’t injured, does that make any sense ?
I could see that at a home game but to dig that deep into your bullpen for an away game that is probably lost ?
^ I like how the only Texas pitcher that didn’t give up a run was a position player (Murphy) who pitched the bottom of the 8th. And he’s an ex-Red Sox player, too.
I have been indifferent to these name changes—but I’m starting to think it might not be bad for a change. Is there anyway the teams could change their names while still keeping a Native American motif and be inoffensive? Like The Chiefs of the Blackhawks? or are they controversial too? The university I got to used to be called “The Savages” :
Also, sports pundit Collin Cowherd went here, which actually explains a lot.
Cowherd?
I see what you’re sayin though, it’s the smile on those hats that’s offensive…
J&K must be busy watching that Mariners game against the White Sox. What a crazy game!
I see what you’re sayin though, it’s the smile on those hats that’s offensive…
Yes. If you are going to go with an ethnic logo the character has to look slightly paranoid/constipated, and not a little confused.
Cowherd?
People always accuse him of being racist and annoying and it’s kind of an inside joke amongst us here in these here parts that that’s what happens to you when you go here. We They seriously couldn’t pick a name after abandoning the Savages (controversially, kicking and screaming) so we they were called “The No Names” for about 4 years or something before an official change (seriously? 4 years?) until the controversy died down and then we they defaced an “Indian” totem pole and other things.
@Soybean
Yeah, Kyle Seager hitting that home run was pretty cool! Unfortunately we didn’t win, but at this point it doesn’t matter.
And for the second consecutive year, the Indians tricked all of us fans into thinking they were much better than they actually are. Ah well.
A streak like that can’t go on forever….I’m sure things will turn around after the 4 game series with the Sox.
Matt Parks
My favorite moment of the season thus far: