Edgy MD

This is the offseason where even the Yankee management seems to have gotten behind that sentiment.

I'm watching a 1969-ish Mets highlight show. Around the 6:35 mark, Art Shamsky hits a homer to right. When we see the ball clear the fence in right there seems to be Mets bullpen personnel just hanging out on the warning track in fair territory. There may be a scrim of some sort in front of them, but the shot around the 6:38 mark sure seems to put them in play. Was this sort of practice still going down in the late sixties? [youtube:19byelrm]SbMO7ETcN44[/youtube:19byelrm]

Oh, I know. I sing of it. [youtube:2j5ruv7i]TVrF8yUa9YI[/youtube:2j5ruv7i]

Wilmer Flores overall slash stats in 2014: .251 / .286 / .378 // .664 in 274 plate appearances. Not particularly encouraging. Add that to his 2013 big league numbers and you get: .240 / .275 / .356 // .631 in 375 plate appearances. Not quite what you're looking for from an offense-first (and -second) infielder who you're about to give the starting shortstop job to. But wait. There's more! .262 / .301 / .419 // .720 in 184 plate appearances. That's Wilmer's line from the last 55 games, during which he started 51. Having entered the everyday lineup, it's certainly possible that he found his groove and worked it a little bit. That's still not an ideal line, but it's certainly defensible, and unlikely to sink an otherwise solid team. Not in itself. But wait. There's still more! In 2013 and 2014, Wilmer played a (highly convenient) 162 games for the Las Vegas 51s, during which time he looked a little like this: .321 / .360 / .543 // .903 with 47 doubles, 28 home runs, 143 RBI. Yeah, I know. It's AAA. It's more than AAA. It's AAA in the PCL. It's more than that, even. It's LV in the AAA PCL. But still. Those numbers at that age make it hard to look the other way. So what I mean to ask is... is that for real? Are those last two lines perhaps as indicative or possibly even more indicative than the first two of what we might expect out of him in 2015?

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy MD wrote: I had assumed two or three wives. Not five. Four according to the NYTimes obit. He divorced #s 1, 2, and 4. Outlived #3 #4 died just shortly after he did and it's her estate that's selling the Florida place. Ah, so she followed Diann Shugert. I had understood her to be the last Mrs. Kiner and incorrectly inferred that this one preceded her.

Dear Ralph, Though our lives have gone in different directions, I'll always recall with dearest fondness our one night of abandon. As a token of my deepest esteem, please accept my BUtterfield 8 Academy Award in the hopes that you will always think on me as fondly as I do you. With deepest affection, [fimg=200]http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/9440/img0002nvj.jpg[/fimg]

I had assumed two or three wives. Not five. Not surprised by the wealth, though. Ballplayers of his age made not have made that much scratch, but they made their investments at the right time. A home in Florid bought decades ago = good investment.

Ralph Kiner's Rancho Mirage home hits the market at $789,000.

I count 15 releases from 2014 which I've seen. The Grand Budapest Hotel The Lunch Box Guardians of the Galaxy *** Birdman The Edge of Tomorrow The Lego Movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier The Monuments Men *** St. Vincent A Long Way Down* Noah Chef Snowpiercer* Trust Me* Million Dollar Arm* * I didn't make it all the way through.

I�m Nomar Garciaparra. I went .313 / .361 / .521 // .882 over 6,116 plate appearances, 78% from the shortstop position. Each of these rate stats are decidedly superior to, for instance, Cal Ripken, or for another instance, Robin Yount. I batted .357 in 1999 and followed that up with a .372 in 2000. Inflated era? Maybe, but both those numbers led the rest of the inflated-assed league. In 2002, I hit 56 doubles and 85 extra-base hits. I never quite won an MVP, but I accumulated 1.67 MVP shares. They used to call me a super shortstop. I am about to disappear quietly after one season on the ballot, getting 1.28% of the vote from the BBWAA and 0.00% from the CPFAA.

I see what you be saying. But I would note that (1) he strikes out a lot more fellas than Pelf, and (2) his control is consistent, worryingly so. Pelf since he left the Mets, by the way... 5-16/5.56.

I understand it to be far more useful for pitchers, to the extent that it is useful. Rey Ord��ez had a contact rate second only to Tony Gwynn, but a babip 70 points lower. A person could keep attributing that to luck and expecting it to gravitate toward the mean, but it never happened and was never going to. There's contact and there's contact.

I don't know the process by which Harvey and deGrom make other pitchers better. It could happen, but that's some speculative science. It's notable that Wheels didn't curtail his walks. His strikeouts up-ticked a small amount, but so did his homers allowed. The real change is the batting average against. I think that's too frequently dismissed --- the McCracken thesis has holes and always did --- but it's obviously somewhat more luck-dependent than seeing his homers or walks go down or his strikeouts go up.

.280 / .383 / .546 // .929 Who wouldn't sign up for that line from their first baseman any year? Well, that's Carlos Delgado, over 17 years. But he has one vote.

I already had Schilling in there. A touch less WAR than Moo-See-Nah, but the post-season certainly carries the day for him in that matchup.

Zach Wheeler. He was solid last year for the Mets. But we ain't hoping for solid. For a full season, well, he stayed healthy, and acquitted himself honorably for pitcher of 24 years, walkies included. But it ain't gonna carry a team to the pennant. GIPBFWLW-L%ERAGFCGSHOSVHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPBKWPWHIPSO9BB/9SO/BBHR/9BAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPBAbip32185.337941111.5003.54011016784731479318711091.3279.13.842.37.680.240.326.352.67824520.307 But wait. There's more. GIPBFWLW-L%ERAGFCGSHOSVHRERHRBBIBBSOHBPBKWPWHIPSO9BB/9SO/BBHR/9BAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPBAbip19108.3345858.3853.900110101514774611054071.3578.73.822.28.582.253.333.358.69114312.3231377.0033663.6673.0400006633267332827021.2869.63.862.48.818.223.315.345.6601028.285 That's the season divided into two halves (which aren't halves at all, but a season un-naturally split by the All Star break.) I think we'd all take that second half split over 30 games. So what I mean to ask is... is that for real? Is that perhaps as indicative or possibly even more indicative of what we might expect out of him in 2015?

Yeah, well, you left your undies behind the last time you used my washing machine.

I just went back and checked. I myself voted for Smoltz over Mussina. I am my own enemy! I suspect NL bias and anti-Yankee bias colored my voting. I revoted, tossing Smoltz out and adding Moose, and I would beg you other Smoltz voters to consider these cases closely and perhaps join me in jumping.

Players in his position, unable to score on this contract, are mostly thinking about the next contract. What's going to put me in a position to show my stuff and gets me a payday next winter. At least, that's what the agents are said to advise. So yeah, that's the Phils. It's pretty much what got us John Mayberry. He looked at the Mets' outfield versus that of the Cardinals, and figured the Mets were a better bet to get him the reps to pad his resume. They reportedly got him for $550,000 less than the Cards were offering.

I can live with the McGwire-not-Piazza minority. It's more the Smoltz-not-Mussina majority that concerns me (and I don't think I voted for either).

Late reports suggest he's still being treated as a suspect. http://deadspin.com/starlin-castro-arrested-in-dominican-republic-after-nig-1675596404?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Be interesting to see what X looks like. Right now, Mike Piazza is ahead of Biggio. Sheffield candidacy looks to be the most notable casualty, but Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa are teetering on the edge of oblivion, too. GuyPCTPedro Martinez100.00%Randy Johnson98.72%John Smoltz88.46%Mike Piazza84.62%Craig Biggio79.49%Jeff Bagwell74.36%Tim Raines66.67%Curt Schilling58.97%Barry Bonds50.00%Roger Clemens48.72%Mike Mussina42.31%Edgar Martinez28.21%Alan Trammell23.08%Lee Smith15.38%Fred McGriff12.82%Jeff Kent8.97%Mark McGwire8.97%Sammy Sosa6.41%Larry Walker6.41%Gary Sheffield3.85%Carlos Delgado1.28%Nomar Garciaparra1.28%Don Mattingly1.28%Aaron Boone0.00%Tony Clark0.00%Jermaine Dye0.00%Darin Erstad0.00%Cliff Floyd0.00%Brian Giles0.00%Tom Gordon0.00%Eddie Guardado0.00%Jack Morris0.00%Troy Percival0.00%Jason Schmidt0.00%

Frayed Knot wrote: The update to that link specifically says that Castro was not detained, but that's also coming from within his camp so who knows. Perhaps the more disturbing part is where it mentions that this was the second time this month that Castro was in the vicinity of a shooting. The denials were not part of the story when the link went up. But that was and is the lede. I imagine what constitutes being detained for questioning and voluntarily submitting to questioning is ambiguous.

Starlin Castro detained for questioning in connection to a nightclub shooting in the Dominican Republic. Six injured.

Maybe they want Colon back.