And in the pasture, methinks — a.k.a. center field.

In Thursday’s matinee, rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis started the Mets’ attack with a leadoff triple in the home 1st and scored the game’s first run. It might have remained their only run, but Miami closer Heath Bell had an unprecedented loss of control in the 9th, walking four batters to force in the tying run. And then with 2 out, Nieuwenhuis came up and banged a 1-0 meatball off the wall in RF to win the game with his third hit 0f the day. Continue reading →

Paul Konerko‘s 400th HR was a game-tying shot in the 9th inning on the first pitch from Grant Balfour.

It’s the 12th time a Konerko HR in the 9th inning or later has won or tied the game or put his team in front. That’s 3.0% of his career HRs.

What’s your gut feeling on how Konerko’s rate compares to those of contemporary sluggers? The answer is below the jump.

Continue reading →

I was the kind of kid who was often starstruck around pro athletes. I got my first autograph at eight or nine from Cory Snyder, and I don’t know if I’d have been more thrilled if it had been Barry Bonds. I once got in trouble at a high school dance because the Sacramento Kings were gathering in the same building, and I kept going up to the team. Even interviewing Jose Canseco a few years ago felt surreal. As a journalist, I’ve learned to be objective talking to players, though part of me still brims with childlike awe whenever I talk to anyone whose baseball card I may have had. Baseball has and will hopefully always hold a certain magic for me, and watching a video online Wednesday night, some feelings came back.

To anyone who hasn’t seen it, Deadspin and a number of other outlets posted a clip of a young boy bawling at a game in Texas last night after losing out on a foul ball to a couple sitting next to him. In the video, the kid who can’t be more than three or four cries and cries while the couple obliviously celebrates. I know that kid’s feeling because I once had a baseball snatched from me at a game. The only difference is that I got it back.

Continue reading →

I wouldn’t want to predict that this will be Jamie Moyer‘s final season. But, if it is, it will be interesting if, as the oldest player in baseball, he gets a chance to appear in a game with the youngest player. Incidentally, Moyer has previously done exactly that, most recently on July 15, 2010 for the Phillies against Starlin Castro and the Cubs.

Presently, the youngest player to appear in an NL game this year is Jose Altuve of the Astros, just 6 weeks younger than Castro. The Astros and Rockies started the season against each other, and both Moyer and Altuve appeared in that series but, alas, not in the same game. But, the season is young – that opportunity may yet arise. The only younger AL player to play so far this year is Drew Hutchison of the Blue Jays – but Toronto and Colorado are not scheduled to meet this year.

After the jump, I’ll look at a few games from the past where the torch was passed.

Continue reading →

To win 2 tickets to the game Tuesday 5/1 Athletics at Red Sox, all you need to do is post a comment below (not anonymously) with a guess of which player will be the first one to hit a home run in today’s MLB games. Keep in mind that the first game starts at 12:05 ET (less than 2 hours from now.)

You can make up to 3 guesses. The winner will be the first person with the correct guess, determine by either their post here or their tweet @HighHeatStats. If you are going to tweet guesses, your tweet must also include a link to this blog post. Guesses must be submitted by 12:00 (noon) today.

In the event a game is eventually rained out, I will still count the winner as the player who homered before the rain stoppage.

Playing a little catch-up here; thirty teams generate a lot of box scores! Any neglect of your team is unintentional….

Tuesday — Nationals 3, Padres 1: Yowza! At 13-4, Washington remains on pace with the franchise’s best start (and last playoff edition), the 1981 Expos. They also lowered their team ERA to 2.21, half a run below the next-best NL team, and have allowed just 3 HRs all year. Continue reading →

Derek Jeter has started of so hot that I wanted to look at the first 16 games of each of his seasons:

Year   BA/ OBP/ SLG   2B   3B   HR   RBI   BB   K
2012 .411/.436/.644    5    0    4    13    4   6
2011 .219/.282/.234    1    0    0     4    6   5
2010 .333/.368/.500    3    0    3    11    3   6
2009 .290/.388/.522    4    0    4    11    5   8
2008 .277/.309/.369    2    2    0    12    2   5
2007 .324/.392/.366    3    0    0     4    6   6
2006 .350/.473/.600    5    2    2    15   14   6
2005 .350/.473/.484    4    0    1     8   13   9
2004 .209/.284/.254    3    0    0     5    5   9
2003 .309/.347/.485    4    1    2     7    4  12
2002 .271/.329/.386    2    0    2    10    6  10
2001 .306/.370/.375    3    1    0    10    8   6
2000 .304/.360/.464    3    1    2     8    5  14
1999 .424/.541/.881    4    4    5    14   13   7
1998 .257/.303/.386    3    0    2     8    5  16
1997 .338/.456/.492    3    2    1     7   13  15
1996 .314/.435/.412    0    1    1     8    9  12

As you can see for yourself, other than a higher OBP in 2005 and 2006, Jeter’s off to his best start since 1999. It’s also noteworthy, though, that his walk rate is quite low–his excellent SLG so far could be a small-sample-size hiccup from Jeter being less patient, putting the ball in play more, and getting a few more extra-base hits.

Last Tuesday, Arizona’s Joe Paterson came in to pitch the 8th inning and surrendered hits to the first two men. Although he escaped that jam, the fact that those hits came from the Pirates — the worst-hitting team so far, one that’s already had two games of 2 hits or less — gave a hint that his really bad week was just getting started.

Continue reading →

Orioles 3, Angels 2: Baltimore is the first team this year with 9+ hits and all of them singles.

• Darren O’Day faced one batter and got two outs, on a DP grounder. But Dan Otero went one better the day before, with a lot of help from his backstop. Otero came on in the 8th inning of the Giants-Mets game with Jason Bay at bat, two men aboard and no outs.  Buster Posey first picked off Ike Davis at 1B, then threw out David Wright stealing 3rd two pitches later; then Otero retired Bay on a groundout. Otero’s outing was the first time since April 2009 that a pitcher faced one batter and got 3 outs.

Continue reading →

With its win yesterday, Texas became just the 41st team since 1918 to start a season with 13 or more wins in its first 16 games. What might this hot start presage for the rest of the Rangers’ season?

I’ll take a look at that question after the jump.

Continue reading →