casimir

True about his OPS+, his ISO in particular was weak. But I think that goes back to his game of putting the ball in play and getting on base. Now that I’m thinking about it, the popular theory suggests he could’ve hit for more power had he been amenable to sacrificing some AVG. But as his speed declined, he never made that transition to SLG. So maybe that theory just doesn’t hold true. He hit for pretty good power in Japan, but it never manifested itself in MLB.

This nooner precedes a night home game for the Wings followed by tomorrow's 2pm Piston game? Granted, tomorrow's night game was moved up a few hours due to some other athletic activity that might be capturing Detroit's fancy. But the LCA "field crew" is going to be a little busy this weekend.

Well, he could have also rolled over and grounded into a double play. Wait, nope, he wouldn't have been doubled up. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a slappy. He was a highly successful player that had a game that really stuck out from the rest of the crowd. The contact, the speed, the defense,..... the first step out of the box while putting the ball in play on the ground to the left side. Oh gosh yes, I'd take a leadoff hitter like that right now, especially with the changes to the rules affecting base running. And drilling down on the base stealing, Suzuki finished with 509 SB and 117 CS, a success rate of 81.3%. Rickey Henderson was 1,406 and 335, a 80.8% success rate. By no means is it a perfect comparison, the eras are slightly different. Supbar walk rate of 6.0% vs MLB average of 8.3% is noted. But let's also note his 10.1% SO rate vs 18.9% average. So, OK, he walked only 75% as well as league average. He flipping struck out half as much as everybody else! I think given his highly successful BABIP over the years, it was imperative for him to swing at what he could make contact with to get on base for those hitting behind him in the lineup.

Yes, I remember hearing this story from Bob Kendrick on the Black Diamonds podcast. I cannot find the article, but memory (yeah, I know) has it that he was very eager to meet Ernie Harwell when he made his his "vs Detroit debut".

Oh, and haircuts. Rose has to be bottom of the barrel there, so points to Ichiro by default.

But do his stat rates include his defense, specifically his laser cannon arm, or his baserunning? From my understanding, Rose was kind of moved around the diamond less because of his defensive prowess and more just to get his bat in the lineup. Baserunning, I don't know, maybe it was somewhere around a push?

And just imagine what his totals would have been had he been stateside his whole career.

I know the crowded ballot theory is out there. But I wonder how many voters are submitting full ballots to where we see these wacky voting variances on the sa,e player.

I hope Beltre's plaque doesn't have a hat. I hope his plaque has some sort of reaction for when people inevitably touch his head.

I'm surprised it was as high as it was. I don't know that I'm surprised he made it on the 1st ballot. This is Todd Helton's vote year by year. That seems like quite a climb from 16.5% to 79.7%.

Beltre getting 95% on his first ballot really surprises me.

Multiple wins in a calendar month?

Let's run it back.

There's a 10+ SO/9 & 4+ SO/BB ratio on his minor league resume. That's got to be the attraction. The MLB line is less than 9 innings of work.

He did have a pretty good season in Toledo. I suppose it could be argued that he suffered a bit of bad BABIP luck in Detroit. Maybe I'm being too harsh. I thought he was nearing 30 years old already, but he won't be 27 until Memorial Day. Maybe there's still something there. Looking over some of his batted ball stuff, he is below MLB average on pulling the ball and really beat the ball into the dirt last season. I don't know.

I honestly can't believe Nevin last this long on the 40. Heck, he probably can't believe it himself.

Back when I was a kid, you had to be attentive to radio and/or TV every 10 minutes to listen for school closings/delays due to weather. You had to actually put effort into seeing if you were lucky to be snowed out. And if you missed the alphabetically organized listing, you had another 10 minutes of agony, waiting and hooping and praying that Mother Nature did sufficient damage to the local roadways. Nowadays, the school will call you and text you and email you, and damn near turn off your alarm clock for you, in order to notify you of such luck. Horsebleep.

Livers was a DNP. Somebody figured something out.

Obviously the Baseball Prospectus list is a better list.

Just going off of memory, but I don't think the Pistons have won back-to-back games since 2006.

So, if we subject ourselves to the Pistons, can we get the Tigers at a discount?

So, does that check have to be taken into the actual lobby of the bank, or can someone just take it through the drive thru and shoot it into the tube? Man, I used to think those things were slick as heck when I was a kid.

The devil will be in the details.

... to sign me.