Opening Day Plastic Cup
Both the National League and American League are underway...we're just waiting for Opening Day for 26 more teams.
We might have to wait another day for the Brewers to get started though. It's rain, rain, and more rain in Chicago today. You know, I'm not sure if anybody has thought of this before, but is it possible to build a baseball park with a roof? Maybe even one that can be removed on nice days?
You can scroll down to see what Cubs blogger Byron Clarke has to say about his team. For my answers to his questions about the Brewers, check out the entry here.
TheJay noticed this David Pinto division preview, in which he picks the Brewers to win. Interestingly, he isn't down on anything about the Cubs--in fact, he's probably too optimistic about the rotation. He likes everything about the Crew though, and seems to expect a big improvement from 2007.
The Hardball Times is going to include outfield arms stats along with all of their other numbers this year. Cool, huh? I'll be curious to see how Braun stacks up.
At Two Fisted Slopper, Nate looks at some unheralded factors in the division race. It's especially important to look at that interleague schedule. I wrote a program a while back that does a quick-and-dirty strength of schedule estimation; maybe I'll have to dig that out and see how the Brewers and Cubs fare by that measure.
The Marlins have a $21MM payroll. This guy thinks that's insulting. I think it's kind of cool. Granted, I don't care if the Marlins win or lose, and I like seeing youngsters and I like rooting for underdogs. But even apart from all of that, it's an interesting experiment, isn't it? While the Marlins ownership is hardly the classiest bunch in the game, what this writer ignores is: what good would a bunch of free agents do for them? They could've kept Miggy and Dontrelle and won 80 games. They could've coughed up the dough for ...I don't know, Hideki Kuroda, and maybe won 82 games. All of that would've put them in a position to not win the division, then win 75 next year or the year after...which is where they'll probably be now.
Our own Eric Johnson (battlekow) is writing a weekly column for the fantasy site Creative Sports. Check out his first installment here.
Juan Pierre is now a $9MM per year bench player. I love it.
23 games in the University of Miami's season, Jemile Weeks is hitting .400. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that he won't last until the 8th round in this year's draft.
That's all for today folks. Keep your eye on the weather channel and remember, as Prince would say: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
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20 comments
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No Rain!
Not sure I can make it through the day if they don't play the game. C'mon we have been waiting months (years) for this!!!!
The Wallbangers won because they played the game like kids! Let's do that again!!!
by 80badger on
Mar 31, 2008 11:09 AM CDT
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Radar links
Here's the Weather Underground radar for Chicago and here's the Intellicast.com version.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Mar 31, 2008 11:12 AM CDT
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More college numbers
Brooks Kieschnick's third cousin Roger Kieschnick is hitting .324 with 11 home runs through 26 games for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Mar 31, 2008 11:17 AM CDT
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nice!
I always forget about him.
Kind of weird, I spend hours every day immersed in college stats and I'm not sure if I could name more than 20 or 30 players. (I could list every g--d--- division one team, though!)
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on
Mar 31, 2008 11:20 AM CDT
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How's Coppin State doing?
Aren't they perennially awful?
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Mar 31, 2008 11:21 AM CDT
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I don't know about "perennial"
but they were dreadful last year. Their pythag last year was something like 0.016 (really).
Here are there stats:
http://www.coppinstatesports.com/multimedia/docs/BBStats08/teamstat.htm
They won a pair against NC Central, but that barely counts -- this is NCC's first year in D-1. Coppin isn't losing quite as decisively as they did last year, though...at least not all the time.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on
Mar 31, 2008 11:23 AM CDT
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Begs the question
I'm just being mean now, but...
Mar 20, 2008 Montgomery, AL Alabama State 13, Copin State 12 Box score
...having your school's name spelled wrong on your own stats page might mean it's time to call it a year.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Mar 31, 2008 11:28 AM CDT
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If that were the case,
a lot of teams would be out. Particularly Ouachita Baptist.
It's absolutely embarrassing how many misspellings there are, particularly of a team's own players. As you might imagine, when it comes to linking up players in box scores to players in my database, that is massively irritating.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on
Mar 31, 2008 11:33 AM CDT
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Ouachita
I can't think of a single sophomoric way to mispronounce that...
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Mar 31, 2008 11:35 AM CDT
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hey, did anybody notice?
there's a "post" button on comments now! no more "preview" then "post." SBN 2.0 builder guys, if you're reading...thank you!
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on
Mar 31, 2008 11:21 AM CDT
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haha
I didn't do anything! that's the best part of all :).
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on
Mar 31, 2008 11:53 AM CDT
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Watching Royals@Tigers
Miggy looks like he actually lost some weight.
by Marty McSuperFly on
Mar 31, 2008 12:26 PM CDT
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Carlos Guillen
He looks like he could have some problems at first base this year
by brewfan2 on
Mar 31, 2008 12:27 PM CDT
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Just joined during Polanco's AB
In a lunch break, so I ran back to my hotel room
by Marty McSuperFly on
Mar 31, 2008 12:29 PM CDT
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Parking for opening day???
I'm hearing a rumor about needing an actual parking pass to get in the lot this Friday. Is there any truth to this?
Lordz Of Vengeance....Sometimes I drink...Okay...I drink most of the time.
by Dikembe Meiztombo on
Mar 31, 2008 12:30 PM CDT
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Sounds like a good idea
To avoid the overflow nightmare they ran into last year.
by Marty McSuperFly on
Mar 31, 2008 12:32 PM CDT
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Opening against the Royals
The hype over the Tigers isn't going to lessen with this series.
by Marty McSuperFly on
Mar 31, 2008 12:30 PM CDT
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The red bat
Jacques Jones gets rung up on a check-swing, and I have to believe it's because that red bat is so easy to see for the 3rd base umpire. Maybe he should consider giving it up.
by Marty McSuperFly on
Mar 31, 2008 12:38 PM CDT
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