On nights like this, it’s great to be a baseball fan with nothing at risk — even if I can’t keep up with everything.
@Rays 4, Rangers 3 (12 inn.) — In the fourth straight stanza of high drama, Jose Lobaton singled to start the home 12th, pinch-runner Sam Fuld moved up on a bunt, and he dashed home on Desmond Jennings’s line single into right, stealing a win that the Rangers had seemed sure to book.
Indians 5, @Royals 3 — Or, the night the lights went out on K.C.’s playoff hopes. Cleveland pulled even in the 7th with 2 runs, keyed on Michael Bourn’s triple after a hit batsman by Kelvin Herrera, and pulled ahead in the 8th when Asdrubal Cabrera doubled after Carlos Santana drew a leadoff walk from Wade Davis. Bourn tacked on a HR on the 9th, the first run off Luke Hochevar in 11 games, and the Tribe held on to stay a half-game off the wild-card pace, knocking the Royals 3.5 games back. Kansas City left 10 men on base.
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:
We’re back with another season of the OOTP/HHS Baseball League. Some big news:
Complete notes:
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.
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.
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.
@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.
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