MLB All Star Starters Part 2

July 2, 2008May 23, 2010Danny Vinik Leave a comment

Just about a week ago, I wrote an article about who deserves to start for the American League in the 2008 All Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Now I am choosing who deserves to start for the National League. The AL was actually straightforward for the most part and there were not many difficult decisions. The National League was much more difficult.

Designated Hitter: This one was tough to choose since the National League does not have a DH. The solution I came up with was to choose the best hitter who I did not select to start at any other position and I came up with Albert Pujols. He has the second highest OPS in the National League at 1.121, behind only Lance Berkman who plays the same position as him. Pujols also has hit 16 homers and driven in 43 runs while boasting a .358 batting average. He has been injured for some of the year, but has still put up excellent stats, making him deserving to start as the National League’s DH.

Catcher: This one was extremely difficult, because there are so many catchers having an exceptional years in the National League. Bengie Molina is having an excellent year, batting .313 and driving in 48 runs. Cubs’ catcher Geovany Soto has a .277 average, 12 home runs, and 46 RBI, but the player worthy of starting at catcher is Brian McCann from the Braves. He has a .303 average with 14 home runs and 44 RBI, but he leads all catchers with a .921 OPS, much higher than Molina’s .787 OPS and Soto’s .869 OPS. That’s not to mention the fact that McCann has made only 3 errors all year and has the fewest passed balls in the National League (1) making him the deserving catcher to start for the NL in Yankee Stadium Continue reading “MLB All Star Starters Part 2” →

The Unfairness of Interleague Play

June 28, 2008May 23, 2010Danny Vinik 2 Comments

I am very confused with MLB scheduling. I can’t figure out how any of it makes sense and can’t see how it could possibly be fair, especially with Interleague games. The Red Sox, for instance, face NL teams that are a combined 27 games over .500 while the Yankees face teams a combined 20 games under .500. How can that possibly be fair? Or how about the fact that the teams withthe four hardest strength of schedules are all from the American League East, but the Yankees are not one of them (they are 13th). The teams with the 11 highest strength of schedules are all American League teams and the teams withthe 11 lowest strength of schedules are all National League teams. I know the AL is beating up on the NL, but is that what creates this ridiculous difference. Even crazier, of those 11 NLteams with easy schedules, only 6 have records above .500 while of those 11 AL teams with tough schedules, only 4 have records below .500. Thus, the teams with easy schedules are losing and the teams with tough schedules are winning. Wouldn’t that suggest that those 11 AL teams are an incredibly amount better than those NL teams? Amongst those 11 NL teams are all three NL division leaders, the Phillies, Cubs, and Diamondbacks. Are we really supposed to expect the NL to contend with the AL? Continue reading “The Unfairness of Interleague Play” →

October is Approaching

September 19, 2007May 23, 2010Danny Vinik 1 Comment

The Major League Baseball season is coming to an exciting end. With less than two weeks remaining, division races are close and wild cards are up for grabs. The AL East is getting closer by the day as the Red Sox continue to free fall. The Yankees have destroyed Baltimore pitching to close to 2.5 games of the AL East. There are no games remaining between the two teams, but the Yankees recent hot streak combined with the Sox cold streak leaves this division up in the air. The AL Central and West are basically over as the Indians and Angels both have leads over seven games. If the Red Sox can start winning again, they will have to fight with the Indians and Angels for the American League’s best record. All three teams are within half a game of each other, so that competition will likely go down to the final day. Finally is the AL Wild Card, where the Yankees have all, but locked that one up too. Detroit is only behind the Yankees by five games, but the way the Yankees have played lately, the Tigers need to win the rest of their games. That is a quick overview of the American League. My prediction for the first round playoff matchups: Sox vs Indians, Yankees vs Angels Continue reading “October is Approaching” →