The NL roster for the All-Star Game currently consists of 20 everyday players and 13 pitchers.

Going purely on total 2013 Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-reference version) for everyday players, 13 of those 20 everyday players are also in the top 20 in WAR among NL everday players this season: Molina and Posey at catcher, Goldschmidt and Votto at first, Matt Carpenter at second, Wright at third, Tulowitzki, Cabrera and Segura at short, and in the outfield the Carloses Gomez and Gonzalez, Domonic Brown and Andrew McCutchen.

Missing from the actual roster but in the top 20 in WAR are: Continue reading →

Happy 59th birthday to Willie Randolph and Jason Thompson, two fixtures of my Strat-O-spent youth. Happy 50th to Lance Johnson, the only Met ever with 20 triples in a season and one of few reasons to watch the ’96 club.

@Cardinals 5, Marlins 4 — Shane Robinson’s pinch-single sent Jon Jay to 3rd, and a throwing error on the no-play toss to the infield let Jay race home with the winning run, as St. Louis became the last team this year with a walk-off win.

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July 2nd was the 50th anniversary of the famous duel between Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn. Both starters logged a complete game that was not decided until Willie Mays connected with a 16th inning walk-off homer for a 1-0 Giants win.

A fond look back at this iconic game after the jump.

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Should I script my 4,000th comment, maybe swing for the fences along these lines? Or just go with the pitch? Ah, decisions….

@Angels 6, Cardinals 5 — The Halos didn’t let Wednesday’s smackdown slow their roll. In their first look at Adam Wainwright, they trailed 5-3 in the 9th, when Albert started something with a 2-strike bingle against the ex-mate he’d shared two title parades with. That ended Adam’s CG quest, and brought on Edward Mujica to face Josh Hamilton.

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Below are two lists of four players, one list of batters and one of pitchers. Both the batters and pitchers are the only players in the searchable era with a certain connection to the Fourth, one connection for the batters and a different but related connection for the pitchers.

So, what are the connections?

Hint #1: there is no batter vs. pitcher connection between the listed players (at least, none that is germane to the quiz)

Hint #2: the fact that Art Houtteman, Ray Moore and Billy Pierce were teammates of each other at various times is purely coincidental and has nothing to do with the quiz. Ditto for Dwight Evans and Rich Gedman. Honest.

Congratulations to Richard Chester and Insert Name Here! Richard correctly identified (with a little help) that these batters homered in a July 4th game off of a pitcher whose birthday is July 4th. Similarly, INS identified that these pitchers gave up a home run in a July 4th game to a batter whose birthday is July 4th. They are the only players in the searchable era who meet these criteria. The fact that there are four of each for July 4th – hey, truth is stranger than fiction.

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At least four pitchers thought to be on the trading block showed off their assets Wednesday, along with one already dealt. With results like these, market activity might be heating up soon.

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@Reds 3, Giants 0: You might have heard a thing or two about this one. Doug has more, and I’ve got some notes at the bottom of this post. On to the other games….

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We’re at the half-way point of the 2013 campaign and one of this season’s best kept secrets is the fine crop of rookie hurlers this year.

Don’t know about Jose Fernandez or Julio Teheran? Here’s your opportunity to find out.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the twenty-third round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round begins to add those players born in 1949.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Homer Bailey recorded the first no-hitter of the 2013 season tonight, dispatching the Giants on 109 pitches, 74 for strikes. Bailey allowed just a single batter to reach base, on a walk to Gregor Blanco leading off the 7th inning. Joey Votto provided the only offense the Reds would need with a first inning sac fly, with Brandon Phillips adding insurance tallies with a 2-run HR in the 6th inning.

More after the jump.

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