September 2018
Starting with 3.3 WAR for Marc-O
Posted by jemanji on 09/24/18
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Thanks for the patience, amigos. The last few weeks we've been doing three articles per but that's NOT the new norm by any stretch. If I'd a known about the circumstances when doing the Patreon drive I'd have held off, trust me. But just the same please accept my heartfelt thanks.
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2018 M's TRADE DEADLINE
Sodo Mojo revisits the 2018 trade deadline for us. They cut it as fine as re-evaluating the Tuivailala-for-Elledge deal, go through Duke and Warren and Maybin.
Sodo Mojo swoons at the five games Tui pitched before tearing his Achilles', and calls him a major asset going forward... Read More
Proud of America? Felix is :- )
Posted by jemanji on 09/24/18
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Felix was sworn in as a U.S. Citizen this week:
"This country gave me everything," Hernandez said. "Just to be loyal to the United States and the Mariners, it's a dream come true."
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If we could all be emotionally dispassionate for a moment? I think we could clarify something that seems to be a point of great confusion. Every third Tweet I read (any thread, LOL) is some variation on, "How could you Christians support Donald Trump? He's an adulterer, a liar, and [fill in next several items].
You too Gentle Denizen may be confused about this question. Let's answer it in one concise... Read More
and we'd conservatively estimate his namesake's OBP at .610
Posted by jemanji on 09/21/18
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In MLB.com's article naming each ballclub's top rookie, they plumped for Daniel Vogelbach among 2018 Mariners:
Mariners: Daniel Vogelbach The 25-year-old first baseman made the Opening Day roster after a huge spring, then was sent down when he struggled at the plate in April. But after putting up good numbers again in Triple-A, Vogelbach has flashed his power potential with a couple of big home runs this week as a September callup, including a game-winning pinch-hit grand slam to beat the Astros on Monday.
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Then at My Northwest, Jerry Dipoto commented on the kid's 2019 with the M's:
“... Read More
At what rate does a player produce their WAR?
Posted by bpj23 on 09/19/18
There are other stats for this, but I wanted a straightforward number to show the rate at which a player is accumulating WAR when he is on the field. This won't necessarily show what a player would put up over a season because some guys splits will show they are platoon players, etc. (200 plate appearance minimum).IMO, it helps compare apples to apples, for example: Aaron Judge had 4.9 WAR with a 6.577 WAR/600 (he has 447 plate appearances)Francisco Lindor had a 7.3 WAR with a 6.39 WAR/600 (he has 685 plate appearances)The formula takes their WAR divided by their plate appearances and shows... Read More
Finishing up? Or Finished?
Posted by jemanji on 09/18/18
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If you've seen period pieces from the Elizabethan era, you've probably seen actresses with skin of porcelain white. The way they do this nowadays, for onscreen marble finishing, I couldn't tell ya. But back then, they tell you that the most common way to achieve the look with 'Venetian Cruse' - a concoction of vinegar and lead that left their faces looking like gleaming toilet procelain bowls.
How Mickey Mantle used to hit the ball 620 feet onto passing turnip trucks, we haven't a clue, but how Nelson Cruz obtained the #3 exit velo in MLB is simple enough: he swings the bat so hard they... Read More
Atlanta with the luxury of a +6.5 division lead
Posted by jemanji on 09/18/18
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Moving from Seattle to Texas can't be as bad as Omsk to Tomsk, but it can't be a lot better. Recent super-poster Daddy-O had to do just that. Sez he:
The M’s had deflated me too many years in a row with promises of achievement that turned into nightmares, even in those rare years when they contended. So I expected I would take the relocation as an opportunity to leave my abusive “spouse.” (James said it was very easy to leave his childhood team, the Royals, when the Red Sox hired him, because of this reason. - Dr. D)
At first I thought I would root for the team that had kindled my love... Read More
Go East Old Man
Posted by DaddyO on 09/17/18
2018 saw me move unexpectedly from the Seattle area, where we have lived since 1995, to San Antonio, TX. Mid-August to mid-September it has rained nearly every day, often heavily. Apparently the rainfall in this 30-day period has equalled the normal annual amount. Go figure.
Now I have something else to go figure, something much more impactful.
Beaten. Battered. Bloodied. Bruised. Betrayed. Befuddled. (How the Mariners have made me feel since I was 47. I am now 63.)
The M’s had deflated me too many years in a row with promises of achievement that turned into nightmares, even in those rare... Read More
Posted by jemanji on 09/16/18
Posted to blog
Hi guys!
Sorry I've been scarce lately. Mostly medical stuff, which I (reasonably) expect to be behind me now. Starting tomorrow we should be back to our regular complement of articles here, plus one article a week at D-O-V. As to what we'll talk about, probably not that much Mariners stuff ;- ) but there remains sabermetrics, playoffs, F-500, KK, and so forth.
Thanks so much for your patience. See you gumbies soon, probly Monday.
Warmly,
Jeff
and Dr. D resigns (pennant race, not blog)
Posted by jemanji on 09/08/18
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Two things:
(1) Dr. D is utilizing the resignation rule. LOL. Sometimes you play a chess game very well, to the best of your ability ... and get smashed. The feeling isn't pleasant. But after you're done sulking, you have to stop the clock and shake hands. If the guy across from you is halfway pleasant, unusual in tourney players, you're off to the skittles room to analyze the game and hope that the guy unfolds the secrets of the world to you.
Some how, some way, the rodent Orcs were able to find a way to win 97.8 games with who knows what, $5 or $6 million or whatever their payroll is... Read More
Dr. D happens to own a Honda himself :- )
Posted by jemanji on 09/08/18
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Cool Papa Bell, as you would expect him to, makes just about the best argument against Stars & Scrubs that I can imagine:
The last point seems to be conflating two separate issues: a team's overall payroll and how that payroll is distributed. If the M's increased their payroll by $20 million then they clearly could sign an additional player for $20 million without hindering the rest of the roster. Whether or not it is wise to spend $20 million dollars on one player rather than two or three is a totally different issue. I have shown that Dipoto's willingness to sign "stars" is perfectly... Read More
Maybe they could make some rule about the 7th or something
Posted by jemanji on 09/04/18
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GAME FLOW
Game #139 marked the one hundred thirty-ninth attempt by the Seattle Mariners to apply their typecase formula to the baseball game in front of them:
1) Get a small lead
2) Nurse it to the 8th
3) Hand the ball to Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz
The Achilles' heel in this formula has been, for 139 games, the 7th inning. This time they attempted to slide by the 7th with a 1-0 lead and Adam Warren, but nothing doing. Warren wasted no time in coughing up the lead, 1-1, on a home run by Renato Nunez. After two more base hits, the M's turned to Zach Duke who coughed up a screaming liner... Read More
Posted by jemanji on 09/04/18
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There's an old 2012 Hey Bill that goes to two local and critical sports questions. One is the question of Earl Thomas. Most people seem to think that at ages 30, 31, 32 a free safety is too old to play impact football; I read a study one time (as well as consulted my own common sense) that I thought convincingly debunked this. The second question goes to Jerry Dipoto's aversion to signing $20M+ ballplayers, even when such players might put them over the top.
The question went:
A thought occurs to me: I see a lot of fan and press discussion of how much money players make. It seems to... Read More
let's chip in now, Mr. King, please
Posted by jemanji on 09/01/18
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GAMEFLOW
As in Game 1, the M's came out as though they were the ballclub with the $20M players and the four All-Stars. In the first inning they didn't score, but Segura whistled a single up the middle and then Robby stood up there twitching the bat menacingly before flying out hard. K-Pax was firing seeds, fanned two A's swinging and it looked like the overmatch it's supposed to be.
In the 2nd, the M's drew blood when Span walked, Healy ripped one into CF and then Gamel launched a 400-foot* double out to right-center-field. 2-0 M's.
The pesky rodent A's somehow managed to scrounge a run... Read More