Red Reporter

BP's Joe Sheehan on Sports Guy Podcast

Man Mountain — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:27:12 -0000

Baseball Prospectus writer and editor Joe Sheehan appears on the most recent edition of Bill Simmons' podcast for ESPN to discuss many things stats related in baseball. Although Sheehan doesn't go into minute detail, I think it might serve as an excellent primer for people here who are interested in exploring - or just having a working map of - the fever swamps of statistical analysis in baseball, but maybe don't feel like reading a lot about it. He gives the context for why certain stats are currently seen as more important than others and touches on issues past, present, and future. (I thought his short discussion about the possibility of health-related or injury-related performance projections was quite interesting) Even though Simmons isn't a great interviewer ("Okay, well, hey, let me ask you this..."), I think he actually manages to be a pretty effective interlocutor in this instance. I wasn't holding out much hope, considering his podcast with Aaron Schatz from Football Outsiders last year devolved pretty quickly into Massholism and Simmons claiming credit for thinking up stats that already exist. But, as I said, there seems to be less of that here. Or maybe Sheehan just parries it well.* Warning, it's around 45 minutes long: (*Simmons seems to have been ignorant of Line Drive Percentage: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/statpages/glossary/#ld%) http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2864045

When pitching prospects attack

BubbaFan — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:42:54 -0000

The Pittsburgh Pirates released pitching prospect Olivo Astacio...because he attacked a teammate with a bat. o_O http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08124/878856-63.stm

Mr. Redlegs Falls Off ATV, Loses His Giant Head

boohiss — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:30:34 -0000

Mr. Redlegs Falls Off ATV, Loses His Giant Head

Griffey's days in Cincinnati may be numbered

BubbaFan — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:32:47 -0000

Ken Griffey Jr., playfully yelling moments earlier from his corner of the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse, suddenly is talking in almost a whisper before a game last weekend in Atlanta. It is flat and unemotional, reflecting no remorse or bitterness about a nine-year-old decision that dramatically altered his career. "I wouldn't change anything," says Griffey, who was traded to the Reds on Feb. 10, 2000. "I had to leave Seattle when I did. I just had to. They know the real reason why I left." More than eight years after departing Seattle, it might be time to leave again, perhaps returning to the Northwest. "It's everybody's dream to go back where they started," the 38-year-old right fielder says. "Everybody who plays the game would love to go out the way they see fit." http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/reds/2008-05-05-griffey_N.htm?csp=34

Hamilton wins AL MVP

shortstopv2 — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:13:21 -0000

I say good for him! http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080503&content_id=2633961&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

Fay on Krivisky

shortstopv2 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:10:09 -0000

Fay gets a chance to talk to krivisky http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/redsinsider/2008/04/talking-to-krivsky.asp

Dusty is saying the right things about EdE

Paul Householder — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:51:57 -0000

Here's a link to a remarkably positive view by Dusty on Edwin Elpidio Encarnacion and his errors. Dusty actually says EdE could win a gold glove someday. OK, maybe a bit hyperbolic. In order to do that, Edwin is going to have to hit better than David Wright, but you get the picture, right? http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080428&content_id=2605659&fext=.jsp&c_id=cin&vkey=news_cin

BP Shuns media after hitting 2 Jacks Sunday

MixFMKyle — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:49:44 -0000

From Hal McCoy's Blog: Now a smidgen of bad stuff. Second baseman Brandon Phillips has his nose out of joint. After getting three hits (two homers) Sunday, he refused to talk to any media, telling them, "Just get out of my space and leave me alone. I don’t feel like talking. Nobody talks to me when I’m going bad. They just write crap. When I’m going good, everybody wants to talk to me. So just leave me alone." And he was left alone. There was too much good to contemplate over the last two days, 10-9 and 10-1 wins over the Giants, to play games with a moody second baseman. That wide smile can fool you. It isn’t always there in the clubhouse. But if he wants to be left alone, so be it Has anyone seen anything calling out BP directly? I have seen reports about the team struggling over all, but I don't really understand where he is coming from. http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/cincinnatireds/index.html

Black Baseball’s Rich Legacy

BubbaFan — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:42:15 -0000

Once Yankee Stadium is demolished at the end of this season, Hinchliffe will be the last place left in the metropolitan region where Negro League baseball was played. Hinchliffe was host to the "Colored Championship of the Nation" in 1933 and was the home field for the New York Black Yankees from 1934 to 1937 and 1939 to 1945. In 1936, it was also home to the New York Cubans. "They bought a lot of peanuts," said Dan Oliff, 86, of Glen Rock, who made a dime for each dollar’s worth he sold to the baseball fans, black and white alike, as a vendor at Hinchliffe in the 1930s. He grew up on Carrol Street in Paterson and still remembers the day a skinny-legged new kid on the block asked to join the neighborhood stickball game. "He picked up the broomstick, and I think he hit it 10 blocks," Mr. Oliff said of Larry Doby, who, in 1947, nearly 12 weeks after Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, joined the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the American League. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/27Rbaseball.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Griffey outspoken on race issue

Stevo154 — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:24:30 -0000

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AkRIAXFddgAw8FBOxHuF8wURvLYF?slug=jp-griffey041608&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Weathers now on the DL

boohiss — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:36:56 -0000

I guess this makes the Fogg move to the bullpen easier, though I'd still rather see Coffey dropped. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txredsweathers&prov=st&type=lgns

Should we defend Marty?

MixFMKyle — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:24:29 -0000

The folks at Bleed Cubbie Blue are a bit unhappy with Marty after his rant Wednesday night when Cubs Fans Threw Balls all over the outfield. I kind of defended him, but they got a link to the audio, and why I agree with a lot of it, it is a bit hard to defend everything he said. http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2008/4/17/412079/brennaman-bitterman

Here is a cool box score from the past to hopefully take your mind off last night's frustrating loss. Mario Soto started and went six strong before getting into trouble in the seventh. Then the kid they got from Oakland for Dave Parker came in and pitched well for the fourth day in a row. Everybody in the lineup (besides the pitchers) got at least one hit and Kal Daniels continues to bat over .400 early in the season. From the New York Times/AP wrap-up twenty years ago: HOUSTON (AP) - Eric Davis's tiebreaking double highlighted a five-run eighth inning that lifted Cincinnati to the victory. With Houston leading, 2-1, the pinch-hitter Leo Garcia doubled off a reliever, Ernie Camacho (0-1), to start the eighth. Garcia then scored the tying run on Barry Larkin's single. After a sacrifice, Kal Daniels was intentionally walked and Davis doubled to the left field wall for the go-ahead run. Daniels, who went to third base on Davis's double, scored on Camacho's balk, and Davis scored on a single by Tracy Jones, making it 5-2. Jones stole second and scored the fifth run of the inning on a single by Nick Esasky off a reliever, Larry Andersen. Jose Rijo (3-1), who has been the winning pitcher in all three of Houston's losses this season, got credit for the victory when the only batter he faced, Rafael Ramirez, hit into a double play to end the seventh.

Fat Vegas Alan — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:40:22 -0000

Here is a cool box score from the past to hopefully take your mind off last night's frustrating loss. Mario Soto started and went six strong before getting into trouble in the seventh. Then the kid they got from Oakland for Dave Parker came in and pitched well for the fourth day in a row. Everybody in the lineup (besides the pitchers) got at least one hit and Kal Daniels continues to bat over .400 early in the season. From the New York Times/AP wrap-up twenty years ago: HOUSTON (AP) - Eric Davis's tiebreaking double highlighted a five-run eighth inning that lifted Cincinnati to the victory. With Houston leading, 2-1, the pinch-hitter Leo Garcia doubled off a reliever, Ernie Camacho (0-1), to start the eighth. Garcia then scored the tying run on Barry Larkin's single. After a sacrifice, Kal Daniels was intentionally walked and Davis doubled to the left field wall for the go-ahead run. Daniels, who went to third base on Davis's double, scored on Camacho's balk, and Davis scored on a single by Tracy Jones, making it 5-2. Jones stole second and scored the fifth run of the inning on a single by Nick Esasky off a reliever, Larry Andersen. Jose Rijo (3-1), who has been the winning pitcher in all three of Houston's losses this season, got credit for the victory when the only batter he faced, Rafael Ramirez, hit into a double play to end the seventh.

Reds far and away the best Playoff Odds in the NL Central??

MixFMKyle — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:55:29 -0000

Baseball Prospectus and their Postseason Odds system gives the Reds a 44 percent chance of making the playoffs (33.8 percent shot at winning division, 10.2 percent chance of the Wild Card). I wonder what Chubs fans think about that..... http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php

Gonzo has a fracture

boohiss — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:27:16 -0000

"An MRI exam performed on injured shortstop Alex Gonzalez showed that he still had a compression fracture in his left knee, the club revealed on Monday. Already on the 15-day disabled list, Gonzalez will continue to take batting practice and ground balls, but he won't be cleared to run for another 2-4 weeks. " http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080414&content_id=2527438&vkey=news_cin&fext=.jsp&c_id=cin&partnered=rss_cin

30 Songs, 30 Teams

crolfer — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:26:26 -0000

A song for each team in the Bigs... What's the Reds song? "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. Some others that I think could be considered: "Hanging By A Moment" -Lifehouse "Hold On" -Good Charlotte "Crazy Train" -Ozzy Osbourne "Pressure" -Paramore Personally I think RR deserves some songs too... "Drunken Lullabies" -Flogging Molly "I Touch Myself" -Eve 6 and per Slyde by Divinyls http://theangryt.com/?p=532

Chandra and Cameron at Cameron's first Reds Game!

chandrathan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:00:02 -0000

http://a212.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/113/l_1d3db56b4444c07b0ab1f4fc2c339d5b.jpg Chandra and Cameron at Cameron's first Reds Game!

Jonathan and Cameron at her first Reds game. (And win!)

chandrathan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:59:11 -0000

http://a740.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/48/l_d65909b64a79c1604120cf4b0e50ab3b.jpg Jonathan and Cameron at her first Reds game. (And win!)

Cameron at her first Reds Game.

chandrathan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:57:50 -0000

http://a903.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/112/l_9b1404c3449d874570e555b82ab437b6.jpg Cameron at her first Reds Game.

You thought Bronson's JTM spot was bad? Check this out.

jch24 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:43:30 -0000

You thought Bronson's JTM spot was bad? Check this out.