MLB 2011 Preseason

[Villain]

That was an awesome read. I still haven't read Moneyball, and my public library has it, so I might pick it up once I finish this stupid research paper I'm doing.

As an aside, I really hope that the A's move to San Jose and the Raiders to Fremont. San Jose is just infinitely nicer to visit than Oakland and I've noticed that they're all A's and Raider fans down there anyways. The O-A Coliseum is an eyesore.

 

[spiker]

Yeah, I'd consider "Moneyball" a must read for any serious baseball fan. It's just referenced so much, sometimes even when you're just casually watching a game. It literally changed the way we look at professional baseball.

 

[Villain]

I almost used it for the very research paper that I'm working on. I had a choice between Moneyball, a biography of Jackie Robinson, and a book on how the seeds of WWII were planted into each of the varios combantant nations.

Went for the WWII book.

 

[spiker]

What class is that?

Also, it probably would help if you have taken a college level statistics class before you read "Moneyball". Lewis does a fair job of explaining regression analysis but it's easiest to understand if you have a basis of stat knowledge going into the book.

It looks like they're going through with a movie for "Moneyball" as well. No doubt because of the success of "The Blind Side". I can't imagine how boring this movie is going to be.

 

[Villain]

It's a Post Civil War history 1877-Present. Super easy. Yes I've taken Stats, and that Moneyball movie looks pretty lame

 

[spiker]

Brad Pitt as Billy Beane? What?

I was thinking Angelina's other boyfriend...

 

[Villain]

Freeway Series tonight and tomorrow! Angels here in LA tonight, and then the Dodgers go to Anaheim tomorrow. I just saw MacDougal throw a perfect inning- groundout, flyout, and then he gassed Erick Aybar for the third. It's 2-2 right now.

Good to see the teams back in big ballparks!

 

[Prosthetic]

That was an awesome read. I still haven't read Moneyball, and my public library has it, so I might pick it up once I finish this stupid research paper I'm doing.

As an aside, I really hope that the A's move to San Jose and the Raiders to Fremont. San Jose is just infinitely nicer to visit than Oakland and I've noticed that they're all A's and Raider fans down there anyways. The O-A Coliseum is an eyesore.

Ew SJ=Giants territory.


The Coliseum isn't bad when its filled up, in fact its a big stadium so it was loads of fun in the earl 2000's during the Giants-A's games when both teams were very good. Constantly selling out on either side of the bay.

Today was the first game of the pre-season Bay Series and Giants won it 4-3. Belt is still up with the big club so he may actually start with the big club. Probably greatly helped by the Ross injury who will miss the first 2 weeks but if Belt is up it will be Huff in right and Burrell in left. I like the way our lineup looks compared to last year. Tejadas plate approach has changed pretty dramatically and for the better. Hes always been a guy to turn on the pitches every time but this year he is starting to use right field more while still turning on those inside breaking pitches. Good signs and I hope it translates.

Cain looked great tonight, got unlucky with two duck snorts back to back which resulted in a run. But that's what happens with pitchers like Cain who are always trying to jam the hitter. I was really impressed with his Curveball throwing it on 2-0 and 3-1 counts stealing a strike and going back with a change-up that he learned from Timmy.

Also... Brian Anderson could possibly have the best curveball from the leftside. He is always throwing and its impossible to hit. But he did learn you can't sneak a high fastball by Huff no matter how many curves you throw, which was the difference in tonight's game as Huff took Anderson deep.

 

[spiker]

I was watching Dave Winfield on ESPN yesterday go way out on a limb and choose a Boston-Philadelphia World Series and I felt the urge to do my own prediction.

AL West

1. Los Angeles 87-75*
2. Oakland 83-79
3. Texas 81-81
4. Seattle 80-82

AL Central

1. Minnesota 90-72*
2. Chicago 88-74
3. Detroit 80-82
4. Kansas City 75-87
5. Cleveland 69-93

AL East

1. Boston 97-65*
2. New York 90-72*
3. Toronto 83-79
4. Tampa Bay 79-83
5. Baltimore 71-91

NL West

1. Colorado 91-71*
2. Los Angeles 91-71*
3. San Francisco 86-76
4. Arizona 79-83
5. San Diego 77-85

NL Central

1. St Louis 90-72*
2. Milwaukee 89-73
3. Cincinnati 81-81
4. Chicago 79-83
5. Pittsburgh 69-93
6. Houston 68-94

NL East

1. Philadelphia 96-66*
2. Atlanta 89-73
3. New York 81-81
4. Florida 78-84
5. Washington 75-87

*Playoff Teams

Wild Card Series

Los Angeles (NL) over Philadelphia
St. Louis over Colorado
Boston over Los Angeles (AL)
New York over Minnesota

Divisional Series
St. Louis over Los Angeles
Boston over New York

World Series
St. Louis over Boston

I flipped a coin for the playoff series results. Give me a better method! Also, I didn't proof the league to see if it totals up to a .500 record. I just assigned W-L to whatever I felt like today.

 

[Villain]

Oi! That darned NLCS is a glass ceiling!

 

[spiker]

Oi! That darned NLCS is a glass ceiling!

My Canadian penny was not friendly to the Dodgers yesterday.

 

[Villain]

Okay! Bookmark this one. Yahoo! MLB 2011 Predictions.

They're covering many things. It'll be interesting to come back to this one at the end of the year.

 

[Prosthetic]

My dad bought 2 tickets front row right behind home plate the other day for today's game and it was epic. A nice walk off win against the A's and on the way out fans were chanting Beat LA already

Found out that Belt made the team so he will be our starting first baseman which is very exciting considering the last time our organization has put out a rookie that hasn't played in the bigs yet on opening day was Will Clark, a man a lot of scouts compare Belt to. Runzler also made it as the last piece of our bullpen which also is what I wanted. Probably will be used as a long reliever as they are trying to make him a starter. He did good as a starter in ST and has had success as a relieve in the bigs in 1.5 seasons. Pumped up for tomorrow 👍

 

[spiker]

Okay! Bookmark this one. Yahoo! MLB 2011 Predictions.

They're covering many things. It'll be interesting to come back to this one at the end of the year.

Jeff Passan's darkhorse for the AL HR Champ: Mark Trumbo, who has played all of 8 games in MLB up until now. Darkhorse indeed. If he's right, I'd wager he's the only one who called that.

Looks like Steve Henson called the exact date Brandon Belt would make his debut, too.

 

[Villain]

I'll say! Especially because he might not even be getting many at-bats once K-Mo returns.

 

[spiker]

Bumpity bump. Too many posts to quote but I just wanted to bump for the first few pages, really. Why aren't the O's clobbering the AL East? Where's the lack of production in the Yankees lineup? The book is still out on the Giants since they have to repeat to prove me wrong, but in due time Prosthetic, in due time...

 

[CodeRedR51]

^^^ Probably best to post that here: (since this is the pre-season thread)

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=180511