2007 Major League Baseball Topic

[gtaluva 3]

Ever since the brewers got no hit by Verlander they have been close to unstoppable. It's amazing that even through the time that they were playing terrible they still kept such a large lead in the NL Central. Glad to see there back to there winning ways this year.

[darthYENIK 8,766]

 

Been watching Baseball quite a bit here in England (it's on at 1/2am, but I rarely sleep much anyway), however I'm a bit lost when it comes to stats, when a player comes out;

 

It shows HR (Home Runs I assume) .RBI (What's that? Runs By Innings?) and AVG (Which again I assume is average, but how is an average calculated? Just like in Cricket?). Appreciate any help to further my understanding of the sport.

 

Oh and is the All Star Game worth staying up for and watching in a week?

HR is indeed HomeRun

 

RBI means Run Batted In. Which basically means, a player has crossed home plate, because a player's batting. (Example: player A is on third base, and the batter up, gets a base hit, allowing player A to cross home plate. This gives the batter one RBI)

 

AVG usually means batting average, or how often a player hits the ball. This is calculated by the ratio of hits to times at bat. (Example: if a batter hits the ball 1 out of 2 times, he has a .500 batting average. 1.000 is a perfect batting average meaning a player hits the ball every time he's at bat.)

[Runey 52]

 

Been watching Baseball quite a bit here in England (it's on at 1/2am, but I rarely sleep much anyway), however I'm a bit lost when it comes to stats, when a player comes out;

 

It shows HR (Home Runs I assume) .RBI (What's that? Runs By Innings?) and AVG (Which again I assume is average, but how is an average calculated? Just like in Cricket?). Appreciate any help to further my understanding of the sport.

 

Oh and is the All Star Game worth staying up for and watching in a week?

Here are a few more stats I'd like to throw out there.

 

ERA- Earned Runs Average. Average the number of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per 9 innings. So, if a starter pitches a complete game and allows one run, his ERA is 1.00

 

Earned runs are runs allowed by a pitches where the runner is allowed on by that pitcher, and was not a fielding error. Fielding errors are dropped balls, bobbles, passed balls that should have been caught and bad throws, like off line or over the other fielder's head.

 

Wins and losses by pitchers are determined on if his team wins when he's pitching. If a pitcher allows the other team to score a game winning run, he is given a loss.

 

Saves are a stat for closing pitchers and other relievers. If they come into a close game in the closing innings and his team maintains that lead, he is credited with the save.

 

You may notice that there are some games where there is a "DH". That is Designated Hitter, and only the American League has them. The National league, the pitcher hits in the game.

 

Also, there are pinch runners, where someone from the bench replaces a base runner. This is usually done to increase speed on the paths.

 

Pinch Hitters are the same, except it is done when the person his hitting. This is done in late innings to have someone other than the pitcher hitting in a critical spot.

 

Well, It's late...so I'll post more tommorow. Hope that helped.

Edited July 3, 2007 by Runey.

[Mainland Marauder 88]

Biggio has been a future HoFer for a few years now - this just makes him pretty much a slam dunk for a first-ballot inductee.

 

Interleague play is tired. It works in some places, like New York and Chicago, but not much anywhere else. Nobody in Texas cares about the Silver Boot (Astros/Rangers). It was novel for awhile. At least Ichiro made it to Houston this year.

[darthYENIK 8,766]

As of right now, I'm picking Vlad Guerrero for the HR derby.

[gtaluva 3]

Prince choked in the derby. Bummer. But any predictions for the All star game tomorrow. I'm going with AL because I think they are just better then the NL. Just look at interleague play. Especially last year's interleague play record.

[darthYENIK 8,766]

I just hope Guerrero hits another homer like last year. And this one will go 510ft.

[B Rob 1]

I dont think that Haren should get the start for the AL imo. He does have the lowest ERA but I feel that CC and Beckett are both better.

[JoeyLeone25 26]

Cheers Darth and Runey, makes the game a whole lot easier to understand when I know what everything means!

 

All Star game tonight should be interesting. Hopefully see quite a few Homers hit as well as I always seem to miss them when I'm watching BB on TV!

[Striker* 0]

The HR Derby was pretty dissapointing. I liked the second round. But the first round was rather bland and the final was just terrible. I had picked Fielder, and I'm pretty upset that he flopped. He does swing the bat pretty hard though.

 

Oh, and my pick goes to the AL for the All Star game.

[B Rob 1]

I agree Striker. I'm going with the AL too. Somewhere along the line of 8-6.

[MrCarmine 0]

LMAO inside the park HR!!!!

 

too bad griffey was in right when ichiro hit it there for the HR, i love griffey it was a weird bounce! very weird! the ball must've had some weird spin!

Edited July 11, 2007 by MrCarmine

[scarface910 8]

LMAO inside the park HR!!!!

 

too bad griffey was in right when ichiro hit it there for the HR, i love griffey it was a weird bounce! very weird! the ball must've had some weird spin!

It bounced off the side of the arch, Griffey anticipated the ball to bounce off the arch straight to him..

[darthYENIK 8,766]

Nice, Francisco Rodriguez got to close that mofo out.

[Striker* 0]

At the end, I was fearing that the NL would come back and win. It was quite a good All-Star game. You've got to love the inside the park homer. And how Barry Bonds came just short of hitting one.

[gtaluva 3]

So now with the second half beginning who are your picks for cold teams to start heating up and hot teams to start cooling down. The Pirates' first half wasn't very good but they really started playing well before the break. I think they will have a great second half. Too bad they play in the same division as my brewers. Haha.

[darthYENIK 8,766]

It's really hard to say. Sadly the Angels started to cool down already. I hope they can pick it up again.

 

As much as I hate to admit it, I'd say the Yankees will probably come back like they always do.

 

I think the Mariners are on the fence. They will either get really good or fall into a hole.

[B Rob 1]

I think everyone that is leading their divisions right now will win them except for the NL Central. I see the Cubs heating up and passing the Brewers.

[gtaluva 3]

YEah the cubs are making me nervous in the NL central. However the brewers have been playing good baseball mostly all year. The cubs are hot now but who knows, this might just be a hot streak that can cool off as fast as it start. The Brewers have been for the most part consistant all year.

 

I doubt the Yankees can come back. My money is the Red sox winning that division.

[Striker* 0]

I doubt the Yankees can come back. My money is the Red sox winning that division.

More like the Red Sox BETTER win the AL East. I'd be quite pissed if they didn't. By the way, when's the last time somebody besides the Yanks and the Sox won that division?

[gtaluva 3]

No kidding. The other teams would be better off if the Yankees and Redsox became there own division.

[Attorney General 41]

I doubt the Yankees can come back. My money is the Red sox winning that division.

More like the Red Sox BETTER win the AL East. I'd be quite pissed if they didn't. By the way, when's the last time somebody besides the Yanks and the Sox won that division?

In the AL East, the O's won it in 1997 and the Yanks have worn the crown since 98.

[darthYENIK 8,766]

Reason being, the AL east sucks. What do you got other than the big two? Tampa Bay, Toronto and Baltimore. All of which are usually found under 500. And Boston hasn't always been that great either.

Edited July 18, 2007 by darthYENIK

[Striker* 0]

Yeah, like the D-Rays, I don't even think they've had a season over .500. They're career winning percentage is somewhere near .400. That's pretty sad, I wonder how long it'll be before they make the playoffs. I give it a good 10 years....perhaps longer. It's hard to tell, sometimes teams just sprout up with good seasons. And they do have a lot of young guys.

[gtaluva 3]

Yeah but no matter how good your young guys are it's always hard to compete with the money that the redsox and yankees have. The two largest payrolls in the MLB in the same division.

[beanmachine43 2]

I know this is sort of off-topic, but I've been watching the baseball series on ESPN, The Bronx Is Burning. I gotta say that this show fu*kin' rocks. I've only seen the first three that have aired so far (thank you internet), but I'm hooked. It's not as trivial and odd like another ESPN original series with Playmakers.

 

But anyway it depicts Reggie Jackson's arrival in New York, the conflicts between management and players (and sometimes between themselves), and some other sub-plots like the .44 mass serial killer. Plus, the guy who plays Emilo from Mr. Deeds plays Billy Martin, the GM! How could say no to that?

 

I've never really followed baseball for a long time, but even if it is a stupid way to get back into it, I'm actually watching ESPN and catching up on all the news/stats. Looks like I'll be getting MLB 2K8 this year.

[Striker* 0]

I've been very reluctant to watch The Bronx Is Burning. It looked cheesy to me.

 

I'm surprised that we never talk about Barry Bonds, seeing that he's so close to breaking Hank's HR record. Just saying...

[darthYENIK 8,766]

Plus, the guy who plays Emilo from Mr. Deeds plays Billy Martin, the GM! How could say no to that?

John Turturro. Great f*cking actor. I know it was a small role, but I love him in The Big Lebowski as Jesus Quintana.

 

Anyway. The Angels are whooping the Tigers at the moment. It's now 8 - 1 in the bottom of the third, one out, bases loaded, with Vlad Guerrero up, and Garrett Anderson on deck.

 

That would be nice if Vladdy broke his HR drought with a grand slam.

[gtaluva 3]

I myself don't even want to talk about Barry Bonds. Enough is being said about him in the media. If he used steroids then he doesn't deserve to break the record, which I think is the case. If he didn't use steroids then its unfortunate that the media and all tainted is attempt. That's my opinion atleast.

 

Also I love Bronx is Burning. I too thought it would be stupid when I saw the previews but when I actually watched it I loved it. Now I'm hooked too. And I'm very excited it's on tonight.

[Striker* 0]

Yeah, I guess it is kind of dumb to talk about Barry. Enough oxygen is wasted on him anyway.

 

The Red Sox got Eric Gagne! What a trade.