Friday, July 11, 2014

The Daily Dozen - July 11, 2014

THE DAILY DOZEN
(Twelve Takeaways from Tonight's Game - July 11th, 2014 Edition)

I must apologize for not getting to tonight's game until the 7th inning.  What a slacker I am! I worked until 7 pm tonight after getting home from the Yankees v Indians at 1:35 am.  Once I got home I set up our new dining room table and then saved three baby birds that are nested in our chimney.  Some morons came and placed a chimney cap on it today for the owners of our rental property...things almost died.  Alas, there are more important things than the Yankees game.  With that in mind....

1. LEBRON JAMES.  ESPN had an hour long special on ESPN RADIO tonight just for Lebron James information, gossip, etc...  The Cavaliers sold out their season tickets less than 8 hours after Lebron's essay was released.  Wow...maybe the same will happen after A-Rod writes his essay about returning to the BRONX!
Don't you miss him making great plays!?!
2. After getting to the game in the 7th inning I saw that the Yankees of course scored two runs early and then blew that lead in the 4th with spotty defense and some wild pitches.  Thanks for the update Burch and @SteveTech74 (if that is your real name).  Why am I not surprised at what happened?  It turns out I could probably skip over the first 4 innings every day and remove some of the heartbreak.

---9:13 pm---the mama bird is going freaking nuts in the chimney right now, which is approximately 10 feet from this computer so I'm a little off my game...

3. I like the feature on the ESPN GameCast that shows the likelihood of teams scoring runs based on the situation.  Right now Yangervis Solarte is up in the top of the 7th with 1 out.  The Yankees have a 7.26% chance of scoring 2+ runs in this inning.  It would be interesting to know what kind of program they use to predict this stuff.  I would say the likelihood is closer to 0%, but who the heck am I?  I am only watching via GameCast because I can't get MLB.tv to load for some reason, which is HorseShiite. It keeps loading to 33% and then freezes.  Holy crap...the curse of Nick Swisher!

4. Brian Roberts homered in his first AB back in Baltimore.  That has got to be a good feeling.  And I'm sure the fans there all cheered for him.  Through all of his injuries (ahem...and reported PED usage...ahem), he was always a lovable character for the Orioles organization and I am sure the good people of Maryland enjoy seeing him do well.  Kind of reminds me of Jeter's 1st AB after coming off the DL last year when he hit a home run...feel good story indeed.
Brian Roberts puts the Yanks on the Board with a solo HR in the 2nd
5. Holy Crap! The Bronx Bombers Have Returned!  Kelly Johnson now has SIX home runs.  Go for that record guys!  But seriously, it's good to see Yankees not named Teixeira hitting bombs.  Wheeler did it last night and now Roberts and Johnson.  And then of course Ichiro with two doubles in the 2nd and 4th innings.  The recent trend is a good sign that the Yankee bats may come alive.  They will have to in order to outscore the opponents every 4 out of 5 starts.

6. Speaking of every 4 of 5 starts.  The Yankees are now down to only ONE of the original starting rotation of Sabathia, Nova, Tanaka, Kuroda, and Pineida.  I knew having every starter's last name end with an 'A' was a bad idea.  I'm pretty sure I tweeted that to Cashman at the beginning of the season, but my plea fell on deaf ears.
"I don't need to apologize...I'm still pitching..."
7. A pop foul to the catcher has to feel worse than a bloop single that lands 5 feet in front of the plate.  You are just helpless to sit and watch the catcher stand there and seal your fate.  Two pop fouls so far tonight...not good wood guys, not good wood.  Almost as bad as watching a run score on a wild pitch...hmmmm....

8. Camden Yards is a great place to see a ball game.  I saw a game there a few years ago while I was in town for a conference.  Baltimore was playing the Red Sox..of course I rooted for the O's...they crushed the Sox that day...but didn't make the playoffs.
Camden Yards at Night - Source: MLB.com
9. When is the last time Baltimore was in 1st place this late in the season?  Well, it's the first time they have at least shared the lead going into the All-Star break since 1997.  Wow...good ol' Cal Ripken, Jr.  It's been awhile...I'm actually glad to see them be relevant.  They have some really good young talent (Machado, Wieters, Jones) that are waaaaaaay more exciting to watch then say....Solarte.

10. The walk to the "power hitter" Yangervis Solarte in the 9th inning was the first allowed by Oriole pitching.  This is why they are 50-41 and in 1st place.  Although, barring last night the Yankees have the best bullpen in the AL.  But you win games by not giving away bases.  Good for you Orange and Black!

11. If you were starting a franchise, who would you take...Jones or Ellsbury?  Of course the immediate conclusion would be Adam Jones due to his power numbers...but I'm not so sure.  I think Ellsbury is a transcendental player.  He does everything well.  It would be a toss-up I guess.  I still think he should be the next Captain (Bryan van Dusen).  A look at their stats for their careers reveals the following:

Adam Jones Stats (source: Baseball-Reference.com)

Jacoby Ellsbury Stats (source: Baseball-Reference.com)


Jones is two years younger but they both have about the same time in the majors.  Ellsbury has a 14-point lead in the batting average category, but Jones has 162-game average of 24 home runs to Ells' 14 and he has 12 more RBI per 162-games then Ellsbury.  It's crazy that their OPS is EXACT though.  I think the big difference between the two is the stolen bases.  I'll take speed on the base path any day, because ultimately their defense is close enough.  Ellsbury is pretty good in the clutch with World Series experience...the kind of leadership that is good for a clubhouse.

12. Of course the game would go extra innings! Thankfully, since I got to the game late.  Wait...as I write this the Orioles are scoring the winning run due to Machado's lead-off double to start the 10th.  I know who I would pick to start a franchise out of any of the guys playing tonight and it would be Manny...Ramirez...Machado.  Unbelievable talent.  The Orioles move to 51-41 and the Yankees are now mired in mediocrity at 46-46, only 5 games above the lowly Rays and Red Sox.


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