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Remember when our farm system had given us two stars in him and Garcia? Good times….

i couldn’t watch this one, but looks like Kieder recovered after a bad innings and kept them in it. But 7 h 2 bb, for DeJesus to get 4 outs? What does a guy have to do get pulled around here?

The best hitter bats second because it maximizes his run production and gets him more at bats than if he batted 3rd or 4th. The lead off hitter should get on base a lot. Best home run hitter who isn't their best hitter bats fourth. That part hasn't changed much. A lot of today's lineup is matchups though, so it depends on who is pitching like you said.

yup. What i find so funny is that as a society, the Christian Right is so selectively oblivious. Do they think that OT god of plague and genocide, who strikes down anyone who puts a fire pot in the wrong place is just going to give them a pass on 3, 4, 7, and 10? It reminds me of what Paul said about “with the law comes sin”. They condemn themselves by their own stds. Go figure. Which is because, as you note, it’s not really about religion per se at all, it’s about anti-democracy. it’s about establishing that “my rules transcend your vote”

Maybe. I had good enough seats at Comerica to sit with the guys who had radar guns. They know who's throwing what and how good all the time. Matchups. Who knows better than the guys on the field at that time. Some is pretty simple though. If I'm a left handed batter and Skub is pitching I'm telling Skip I'll guard the bat rack that day.

MUST WIN MUST WIN MUST WIN

Do the stat guys have a position on how lineups should be constructed? I know us old school guys like Jimmy did. I would love to play for that guy. If I remember right, the Tigers got beat and were out of the playoffs that year so I was really bummed out. The next day Jimmy retired. That was even worse. Spit, and double spit.

Edgecombe had 30 tonight. First rookie since Tyler Herro in 2020 to do that.

When reporters questioned his lineups, he would get riled up. He used to play hunches and they seemed to work pretty often. Against all odds at times, totally anti-stat decisions.

News at 11.

I think Lee said above putting the third hitter as the best batter is a fishermans tale, or something like that. I would guess, honest question, according to the stats, the best should be first?

It was originally reported by a guy named Larry Johnson. Ex-CIA. Nobody believes CIA people.

First two games were interesting for sure. Don't think I had Scoot's best game as a pro on my bingo card. Or Boston losing a home game.

I just read the Virginia redistricting passed. But I also read it will be going to the Virginia State Supreme Court? The only information I could find about their court is that it's conservative? Are they going to block it?

or second baseman. The left fielder batted third. He had the highest batting average and a lot of doubles. The clean-up hitter was the big slow slugging first baseman.

Dumars has either fired or not renewed contracts for 25 front office people. No, him and Troy are not on that list.

I loved Leyland. He was a character and also knew what he was doing. Plus, the players loved him. The Tigers were behind the curve in analytics during that era, but Leyland was a good manager.

How's this for a stat? In 1987, Alan Trammell struck out 47 times in almost 600 at bats.

I love a speedy center fielder who can steal a bunch of bases as much as the next guy. I like one who can get on base a lot and win you a few games with his glove even better.

Quoted a bunch here. I get a kick out of this stuff. I know Lee and Chuck are the leading stat guys here, many others are all over it too. It seems to be used much more today. That's good. I love stats, numbers, and get a kick out of this. I'm also old school. Jimmy Leyland is my hero. I don't have a problem with a speedy centerfielder with a bunch of stolen bases. 🙂 And you don't need the second batter to be a good bunter - they should all be able to bunt. No money in bunting. Giggle. So different today.

So I did a query to determine the Losing Batter of each game in 2024 and 2025, for which I have play by play files. The Losing Batter is the guy who makes the last out at the plate to lose the game. Here’s are the leaderboards for each those seasons. 2024 Losing Batter Leaderboard (Top 30) |Rank|Player, Team |Times| |----|----------------------|-----| |1 |Bryan De La Cruz, PIT |14 | |2 |Korey Lee, CHA |13 | |2 |Andrew Vaughn, CHA |13 | |4 |Zack Gelof, OAK |12 | |4 |Corey Seager, TEX |12 | |4 |Jose Caballero, TBA |12 | |4 |Leody Taveras, TEX |12 | |4 |Brent Rooker, OAK |12 | |9 |Brenton Doyle, COL |11 | |9 |Jesus Sanchez, MIA |11 | |9 |Nico Hoerner, CHN |11 | |9 |Colton Cowser, BAL |11 | |9 |Patrick Bailey, SFN |11 | |9 |Michael Toglia, COL |11 | |9 |Alec Burleson, SLN |11 | |9 |Julio Rodriguez, SEA |11 | |17 |Nolan Arenado, SLN |10 | |17 |Gavin Sheets, CHA |10 | |17 |Jeimer Candelario, CIN|10 | |17 |Josh Bell, MIA |10 | |17 |Danny Jansen, TOR |10 | |17 |Andrew Benintendi, CHA|10 | |17 |Manny Machado, SDN |10 | 2025 Losing Batter Leaderboard (Top 30) |Rank|Player, Team |Times| |----|---------------------|-----| |1 |Brenton Doyle, COL |15 | |2 |Patrick Bailey, SFN |13 | |2 |Dansby Swanson, CHN |13 | |2 |James Wood, WAS |13 | |5 |Ryan O’Hearn, BAL |12 | |5 |Josh Lowe, TBA |12 | |5 |Juan Soto, NYN |12 | |8 |Adolis Garcia, TEX |11 | |8 |Sean Murphy, ATL |11 | |8 |Jordan Beck, COL |11 | |8 |Cedric Mullins, BAL |11 | |8 |Brice Turang, MIL |11 | |13 |CJ Abrams, WAS |10 | |13 |Ke’Bryan Hayes, PIT |10 | |13 |JJ Bleday, ATH |10 | |13 |Javier Sanoja, MIA |10 | |13 |Ryan Mountcastle, BAL|10 | |13 |Jackson Holliday, BAL|10 | |13 |Tyler Freeman, COL |10 | |13 |Josh Jung, TEX |10 | |13 |Riley Greene, DET |10 | |22 |Nolan Schanuel, ANA |9 | |22 |Victor Caratini, HOU |9 | |22 |Josh Naylor, ARI |9 | |22 |Mookie Betts, LAN |9 | |22 |Agustin Ramirez, MIA |9 | |22 |Lenyn Sosa, CHA |9 | |22 |Miguel Vargas, CHA |9 | |22 |Michael Taylor, CHA |9 | |22 |Ryan McMahon, COL |9 |

Actually, I have a remote connection to Mad Magazine. In the mid 70s when I was going to the University of Arizona, one of my classmates had grown up in New Jersey next-door to Bill Gaines, the editor and publisher of Mad Magazine. His best friend was Gaines son. He said in the den downstairs, Gaines had a framed copy of every cover of every edition of the magazine on which he had worked, and by that time that was a crap load of magazine covers.

Their purpose isn’t teaching or expression. It’s just to bully.