Category MLB

Talking About HoF for MLB Players Under the Age of 28? Really?

Danny Vinik 3 Comments

Today on ESPN Boston, Joe McDonald wrote an article contemplating Dustin Pedroia’s chances of reaching the Hall of Fame.

Anyone else think this is a decade too soon?

McDonald does temper the article by saying,” Obviously, Pedroia has a long way to go before he can even be mentioned in the same breath as the Hall of Fame.” But nevertheless, he goes on to compare Pedroia’s stats through his first five full seasons with Roberto Alomar, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this past weekend.

Alomar and Pedroia’s stats are similar in their first five seasons, but that’s not the point. Pedroia is a great player right now. Ten more years of playing at this level will put him in Cooperstown but that’s a long way to go and not a topic of today. What should be a topic is his 21-game hitting streak and the ease at which the Red Sox are winning ball games these days.

McDonald closes by saying:

Maybe we are witnessing a future Hall of Famer in Pedroia.

Well, whether we are or are we aren’t won’t be known for quite a while. Let’s just enjoy it while we can.

Wait. There’s more nonsensical Hall of Fame characterizations from ESPN today! Continue reading “Talking About HoF for MLB Players Under the Age of 28? Really?” →

Yankees Are A Different Team Night and Day

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

The Yankees are 28-5 during the day. They are just 28-33 at night.

So the Yankees have as many wins during the day as night though they’ve played 28 fewer day games! What gives?

I dug into this a little more. The Yankees top three pitchers, Sabathia, Burnett and Garcia, have each started seven day games. The Yankees were 18-3 in those games, including 7-0 when Sabathia took the hill. Ivan Nova, the Yankees number five guy, has made just three day game starts (the Yankees are 3-0 in those however). This is probably just a strange coincidence but when you’re number 1-3 pitchers start 21 day games and the number five guy starts just three, you’re certainly going to win more than you lose.

Of course, the Yankees have done more than just stay above .500 during day games. They’ve won 84.8 percent of those games! They’ve given up just 2.91 runs per game while scoring 5.64 and are a total of +90 during the 33 games. Seventeen of the games were at home while 16 were on the road, a very even split (only one loss came at home).

As a team, the Yankees have a .279 batting average and .831 OPS during the day.

But this is where New York should get concerned. During night games, the Yanks are batting just .247. A .247 team average would rank 22nd in all of the majors.

For the rest of the season, the Yankees play 22 of their 68 remaining games during the day. If their winning percentage at night and during the day continues as it is, they’ll win about 40 of their remaining 62 games (18.7 of the 22 day games, 21.1 of the remaining 46 night games).

That will leave them with 96 wins and likely the AL Wild Card berth. Good right?

Well, maybe not. It’s World Series or bust for the Bronx Bombers and if they can’t win at night, they aren’t going to be the last ones left standing come October. Just two of the Yanks nine playoff games last year were day games (and they were both 4:07 games). During their 2009 title run, New York played just one of its 15 games during the day (a 4:07 start as well).

In the postseason, there aren’t many day games and the Yankees play in less than their fair share of those so MLB can put them on primetime. If New York can’t find a way to win at night, they’re going to struggle come October.

For more in depth information on the Yankees day games, click here.

Judge Declares a Mistrial in Clemens Case

Danny Vinik 1 Comment

Well that was fast. We’ve heard about the government’s case against Roger Clemens for months and it has picked up in recent days with jury selection and the beginning of the trial but just like that, it’s over. And it’s because the prosecutors royally screwed up.

I don’t know much in the ways of law except for the dozens of episodes of Law and Order I’ve watched, but even I know that when a judge tells you not to present something to the jury, you can’t just ignore his orders. And that’s what the prosecutors did.

Andy Pettite says that he had a conversation where Clemens admitted to taking human growth hormone (HGH). Pettite told prosecutors that he relayed that conversation to his wife, Laura. The U.S. government wanted to put on Laura on the stand to testify to this, but Judge Reggie B. Nelson ruled the evidence inadmissible as it is hearsay. From everything I’ve watched on tv and read about hearsay, it’s a correct and straightforward ruling. The prosecutors should have expected it and abided by it.

But then came today’s openings statements. Prosecutors showed the jury a video of Clemens’s testimony in front of Congress from 2008. In the video, Representative Elijah Cummings read off a sworn affidavit from Laura Pettite saying that her husband had relayed the conversation. Judge Nelson stopped the video, removed the jury from the courtroom and chastised the prosecutors for disobeying his orders.

“I think that a first-year law student would know that you can’t bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissible evidence,” Walton said.

Lead defense attorney Rusty Hardin asked for a mistrial and was granted it. Hearings will follow on whether the government can even attempt to prosecute Clemens again given the law against double jeopardy. But they should give up this case anyways.

As much as Clemens cheated and lied about it under oath, Congress and the U.S. government has bigger fish to fry. Yes, I know that the government has to ensure that people cannot just take the stand and lie but hasn’t enough time and money been wasted trying to make a mockery of a man who’s legacy has been thoroughly damaged? In the court of public opinion, Clemens was convicted a long time ago. There’s no reason to do so in an actual courthouse.

All in all, the prosecutors were as big of an embarrassment as Clemens was in this case. Defense attorney Hardin is laughing himself to sleep at how easy this was. The prosecutors gave him a mistrial on a gold platter. I’m sure Clemens will walk out of the courthouse relieved at not facing jail time, but his reputation is forever tarnished and a mistrial isn’t going to change that.