One of the most frustrating experiences for any pitcher has to be the well-pitched loss. You know the type I’m talking about. It’s the kind of game that occurs when both pitchers are dealing and the smallest breakthrough; a soft single up the middle with a runner on 2nd or a botched grounder by an infielder for instance, can determine the outcome. Unfortunately in those circumstances, somebody has to take a tough luck loss, even if that day’s pitcher struck out 15 while only allowing one hit. Well, without further adieu, I present to you the tough luck losers of 2013:

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We’re back with another season of the OOTP/HHS Baseball League. Some big news:

• Big League Debuts: Andy HHS, RJ Jackson (both with the Mariners)
• Players in AA: Bryan O’Connor, Dalton Mack, Hal Ensrud (Hartvig), Duke Sims, Brandon Robitaille, CJ Miller
• Suspended: Brandon Robitaille (7 days, for arguing balls and strikes)
• Traded: Nick Pain (from Pittsburgh to Oakland)
• New Player: Dan McCloskey, who left us for football, has been replaced by Charles Simone.

Complete notes:

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With just two weeks left in the season, Mike Trout will repeat as AL WAR champion and Andrew McCutchen, last year’s NL WAR runner-up, looks like the senior circuit’s champ. In second place are Josh Donaldson in the AL and Carlos Gomez in the NL.

Come again, you say? You’re forgiven if those two runners-up weren’t the names you were expecting to hear. Both of these players are new to baseball’s leader boards. After the jump, more on the new kids on the WAR block.

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Padres 2, @Pirates 0 — Andrew Cashner went the route and faced the minimum 27 batters, a franchise first, and his one-hitter briefly knocked the Pirates off their perch.

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Last season, Omar Vizquel retired after a 24-year major league career and many notable achievements. But, probably one you weren’t aware of is this – Vizquel is the only player to bat against both Jerry Reuss and Yu Darvish.

The search for such morsels of obscurity can be aided by consulting the Oracle of Baseball, one of the tools available on B-R in its “Frivolities” section. The tool lets you find linkages across baseball history from one player to another, based on common teammates. Thus, if you were to ask the Oracle to link Deacon White with Buster Posey, you could get an answer like:

Deacon White	played with	Frank Scheibeck	for the 1888 Detroit Wolverines	  
Frank Scheibeck	played with	Charley O'Leary	for the 1906 Detroit Tigers	  
Charley O'Leary	played with	Bruce Campbell	for the 1934 St. Louis Browns	  
Bruce Campbell	played with	Lou Boudreau	for the 1938 Cleveland Indians	  
Lou Boudreau	played with	Minnie Minoso	for the 1949 Cleveland Indians	  
Minnie Minoso	played with	Rich Gossage	for the 1976 Chicago White Sox	  
Rich Gossage	played with	Randy Johnson	for the 1994 Seattle Mariners	  
Randy Johnson	played with	Buster Posey	for the 2009 San Francisco Giants

This quiz is something like playing the Baseball Oracle. With a few wrinkles. Audience participation is required. Lots of answers (at least twenty-one) for you to shout out as you find them.

Thanks to our readers for identifying twenty-four correct answers to the quiz, and congratulations to RJ for finding the most correct answers. Answers are after the jump.

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@Twins 6, Rays 4 — Josmil Pinto planted a 3-run bomb on Joel Peralta in the 8th, capping Minnesota’s 4-run rally (all after 2 were out), as well as a general bullpen failure that brought Tampa closer to the pack.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the thirtieth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round adds those players born in 1944.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Much debate and discussion this round, but the top choice was clear from early on — Rod Carew is the 29th inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.  More on Carew and the voting after this message from our sponsors  the jump. Continue reading →

Athletics 1, @Rangers 0 — Brandon Moss doubled home Josh Donaldson with 2 outs in the 1st, and Bartolo Colon nursed it for 8 innings, handing both Texas and Yu Darvish their third 1-0 loss at home this year — their only such games since 2004. Oakland’s division lead reached 5 in the loss column, and Sunday they’ll try to win the season series and stick Texas with their second 6-game skid at home this year.

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Some of our regular readers were commenting recently on the uniqueness of Alphonso Soriano. Their view was that it is difficult to really describe the type of player that he is since there are so few similar players to compare him to.

That got me thinking about how that uniqueness might best be described. As our commenters knew so well, it’s not easy. Soriano’s like a lot of players, in certain ways, but quite unlike them in others.

After the jump, some thoughts on the enigma that is Alfonso.

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