2010 MLB Catch-All Thread

[witesoxfan]

Bumgarner's ERA & WHIP is lower than his anyway. It is surprising, but its not like the rest of their staff are a bunch of slouches either.

 

Oh I knew that, I just figured someone would bring up the fact that he's only pitched in 10 games and used it as reasoning for why he's not better.

[Balta1701]

Couldn't help but think about an opponent on the Twins roster while reading this.

A peer-reviewed paper to be published Wednesday in a leading journal of neuropathology, however, suggests that the demise of athletes like Gehrig and soldiers given a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — might have been catalyzed by injuries only now becoming understood: concussions and other brain trauma.

 

Although the paper does not discuss Gehrig specifically, its authors in interviews acknowledged the clear implication: Lou Gehrig might not have had Lou Gehrig’s disease.

 

Doctors at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bedford, Mass., and the Boston University School of Medicine, the primary researchers of brain damage among deceased National Football League players, said that markings in the spinal cords of two players and one boxer who also received a diagnosis of A.L.S. indicate that those men did not have A.L.S. at all. They had a different fatal disease, doctors said, caused by concussionlike trauma, that erodes the central nervous system in similar ways.

 

The finding could prompt a redirection in the study of motor degeneration in athletes and military veterans being given diagnoses of A.L.S. at rates considerably higher than normal, said several experts in A.L.S. who had seen early versions of the paper. Patients with significant histories of brain trauma could be considered for different types of treatment in the future, perhaps leading toward new pathways for a cure.

 

“Most A.L.S. patients don’t go to autopsy — there’s no need to look at your brain and spinal cord,” said Dr. Brian Crum, an assistant professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “But a disease can look like A.L.S., it can look like Alzheimer’s, and it’s not when you look at the actual tissue. This is something that needs to be paid attention to.”

 

The finding’s relevance to Gehrig is less clear. But the Yankee legend had a well-documented history of significant concussions on the baseball field, and perhaps others sustained as a battering-ram football halfback in high school and at Columbia University. Given that, it’s possible that Gehrig’s renowned commitment to playing through injuries like concussions, which resulted in his legendary streak of playing in 2,130 consecutive games over 14 years, could have led to his condition.

 

“Here he is, the face of his disease, and he may have had a different disease as a result of his athletic experience,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the neuropathology laboratory for the New England Veterans Administration Medical Centers, and the lead neuropathologist on the study.

[Balta1701]

Former Major Leaguer Bobby Thomson has died.

 

You likely know 1 of his at bats.

 

[Balta1701]

Utley's back.

[iamshack]

Utley's back.

Just in time for my fantasy playoffs...

 

 

[Jordan4life_2007]

Is Aroldis Chapman dead?

[smalls2598]

Per Rotoworld, Derrek Lee appears headed to the Braves:

 

According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, Derrek Lee is "apparently willing" to accept a trade to the Braves.

A baseball source tells Crasnick that the two parties are "way along in the process" on a trade, so the only question is who the Cubs will receive in return. The Braves aren't expected to give up any of their top prospects, however. A deal could be completed as soon as today. Aug. 18 - 11:42 am et

[Balta1701]

Something interesting on defensive metrics.

* Cleveland Indians (-37.2, +66, +7). This is what got me thinking about this. The other day, plus-minus mastermind John Dewan tweeted: "Did you know the Indians lead MLB with 58 Defensive Runs Saved?" That floored me, and apparently it would floor the other metrics, too. By UZR, Cleveland is second from last in MLB, just two and a half runs ahead of the Orioles. And then by Total Zone, fittingly, they're smack in the middle, at 15th of 30. So are they great, awful, or average? Who can say? For whatever it's worth, the biggest differences seem to be on Trevor Crowe and Asdrubal Cabrera (who looks to the observer a lot more like a +4 than a -4 out there, but that's neither here nor there).

 

It's worth noting that it's become clear as I've gone through this that there is still a lot of general correlation among the various systems; if a player has a high UZR, he likely has a pretty high DRS and TZ, too. But what can we do with all this when three systems approach a problem more or less the same way and come up with answers that can be up to 15 runs apart (in an area where 15 runs saved in a year is usually enough to lead the league at most positions)?

 

I think that until someone gets a better handle on this, you'd better just keep looking at all three. Before drawing a conclusion based on your favorite metric, you'd better make sure it's not wildly out of line with the others (or with past years', in some cases). Put differently, while I don't think I agree with all of the conclusion from Marchman's article, this line seems to get it just about right: "the point is to take these measures as a flashlight in a dark room. There isn't enough light in the room to tell if an object is seven or nine feet high, but there is enough to tell it's tall."

[Balta1701]

Is Aroldis Chapman dead?

It sounds like he'll be up in Sept. as a reliever.

[qwerty]

[BigSqwert]

Wtf

[qwerty]

[witesoxfan]

That's a spitball at its finest

[Jordan4life_2007]

Buster Posey is god.

[chw42]

 

He wasn't caught for that?

[Brian]

Buster Posey is god.

 

I'm doing a youth movement in my keeper league with mu buddies. Easily keeping Posey and Stanton.

[chimpy2121]

Buster Posey is god.

 

I'm so glad I got to see him play two seasons of collegiate ball.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I'm doing a youth movement in my keeper league with mu buddies. Easily keeping Posey and Stanton.

 

 

I'm so glad I got to see him play two seasons of collegiate ball.

 

.368/.426/.589/1.015 since July 1. And that doesn't include tonight's 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI. I thought Heyward was a mortal lock for the ROY with the way he started. But the award is Posey's to lose at this point. I'm so f***ing pissed I dropped him in favor of Carlos Santana in two of my fantasy leagues. But in my defense, couldn't foresee Santana getting hurt.

[Balta1701]

He wasn't caught for that?

I think if you're away from the rubber it might actually be allowed.

[G&T]

That's a spitball at its finest

 

Spitballs use snot. I don't know what that guy was doing.

[Balta1701]

Spitballs use snot. I don't know what that guy was doing.

Baseballs dry your hands out.

[southsider2k5]

He wasn't caught for that?

 

You can go to the mouth as long as you aren't on the rubber.

[Kyyle23]

You can go to the mouth as long as you aren't on the rubber.

 

that sounds dirty

[justBLAZE]

that sounds dirty

[G&T]

Baseballs dry your hands out.

 

Usually pitchers don't have to scrape their tongues.