Friday, September 14, 2007
Mel Hall
I had heard of this news back in June, but I just read ex-Yankee Mel Hall was indicted on charges of sexual assault. Another Yankee's life outside baseball ruined...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Speculating Awards: The MVPs
Today I'm discussing my top three candidates for AL and NL MVP. If you read the previous post first, you'll have a better understanding of how I made these assessments which go into my arguments. Following this, I'll discuss the Cy Young and RoY awards within the next week I hope.
Note: The MVP stats are through September 12th.
American League MVP
1. Alex Rodriguez, 3B New York Yankees
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .317/52/140
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .424/.667
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 92.8/75.7/.344
So far this season has been A-Rod's best in pinstripes and will be one of the top three of his career. Rodriguez leads the AL in HRs, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage, and ranks third in on-base percentage. He also has hit for a solid average, so by the traditional stats A-Rod should the the AL MVP at this point. What do BP's stats tell us though?
Well, A-Rod's VORP (value over replacement player) leads the majors by far. VORP tells us how many runs above a replacement player at A-Rod's position he's contributed. So if Miguel Cairo had played 3B all year and he's your typical replacement player, A-Rod's season produced 92.8 runs above what Cairo would have produced.
He also leads the majors in MLV (marginal lineup value). MLV is an estimate of how many additional runs a player adds if they were in a lineup of average hitters. In other words, if you have a lineup of average hitters, no one adds any more or less to production so the lineups average is zero. But if you put A-Rod in the lineup, he'd raise the offensive production of that lineup by 75.7 runs.
Finally, A-Rod also leads in EqA (Equivalent Average). EqA makes corrections in a players total offensive output given the ballparks they play in, league difficulty, baserunning, but not defense. An average EqA is .260 and A-Rods far above that. Being in a batting average format at .344 A-Rod's offensive production is better than what his traditional batting average tells us.
It would be a shock if A-Rod doesn't win the MVP award. But we already saw how A-Rod was snubbed of the award in 2002. Even so, it may not be unanymous as the runner-up has put up a great season as well.
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF Detroit Tigers
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .358/27/132
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .430/.595
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 78.0/69.8/.334
No one would have thought Ordonez had a season like this in him. After signing with the Tigers in 2005 having been injured for the previous seasons, most critics considered the signing a huge risk and all but said Ordonez would become a DH pretty soon. That hasn't been the case at all. Last year Ordonez had a nice season for himself and this year has surpassed expectations.
Ordonez leads the AL in batting average, is second in on-base percentage, and is fourth in slugging. By BP's stats he's behind A-Rod in VORP, MLV, and his EqA is a bit lower mainly because of the AL Central being less competitive than the AL East.
All in all, if Ordonez wins the batting crown, gets over 30 HRs, and continues to drive in runs he may have a shot at winning the MVP in the eyes of the voters. It will also make some difference if the Tigers make the playoffs and not the Yankees. But in my view, he falls just short of MVP contention.
3. Jorge Posada, C New York Yankees
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .338/20/85
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .423/.556
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 67.6/47.8/.324
I hear the grumbling already. What about David Ortiz or Vladimir Guerrero? They are both putting up nice seasons as well and have better traditional stats than Jorge. While I admire Big Papi's hitting--he's only a DH and a DH has never won the MVP no matter how great his offensive production (M's fans would understand this after Edgar Martinez's great seasons as a DH). So while Ortiz is 3rd in VORP (72.0), 3rd in MLV (60.5), first in OBP (.434), and 3rd in SLG (.599)--all MVP worthy numbers--he doesn't play in the field.
As for Vladi, Jorge is better at getting on base (.423 OBP vs .405), has a higher batting average (.338 vs. .327), and they have around the same SLG (.556 Jorge vs. .553 Vladi). By BP's numbers though the bigger differences is in VORP where Vladi's is 58.6, 9 or so runs lower than Jorge'z. It's close by all these numbers, but the big thing for me is that Jorge is a catcher. Most catchers do not put up a season like this one (even in Jorge's case) and that to me makes the case.
Other notable names for MVP consideration in no particular order:
Vlad Guerrero (noted above), Curtis Granderson (3rd player in the 20, 20, 20, 20 club--that 2Bs, 3Bs, HRs, and SBs), Carlos Pena (should get AL Comeback player of the year by all means), and Ichiro Suzuki.
National League MVP
1. Hanley Ramirez, SS Florida Marlins
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .332/28/72
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .389/.575
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 84.6/56.5/.319
Let me first say in the eyes of the voters Ramirez most likely will not win the MVP, because the Marlins are not a winning team, but there is a point to my picking him. I have not heard his name even mentioned in discussions for the MVP, but he is having a tremendous year after winning the RoY award last year. And to be completely honest, I am sure he will win an MVP at some point in his career just seeing how amazing an all around player he is already.
Let's get to my assessment though. He is 4th in batting average, 4th in slugging, and just makes the top 10 in OBP. He's shown power with 28 HRs which is in the top 10 and is 3rd in stolen bases (46).
Going by BPs stats he is the VORP leader by far (David Wright is second at 72.0). He's also first in MLV, but not by a lot. Those are pretty good indicator of an MVP right there even if he won't drive in 100 RBIs. However, he's the leadoff hitter and 72 RBIs at that spot is pretty good--I'd say he gets 85 or so for the year.
You don't always need 100 RBIs to win the award though. Leadoff hitters have won the award. Remember Rickey Henderson's MVP award? That was in 1990, and although he hit 28 HRs and drove in only 61 RBIs, he beat out Cecil Fielder's 51 HRs and 132 RBIs. He also lead the majors in VORP with 86.2 which was well ahead of Cecil's 61.2. So the voters got it right that year.
So it is possible, except again that the Marlins are in the NL East cellar--the 1990 A's were just the opposite. But that doesn't matter to me--it's an individual award and he's the best in the NL.
2. David Wright, 3B New York Mets
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .315/28/96
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .412/.542
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 69.5/50.1/.327
Wright's name has come up in MVP discussions and by all likelihood, he'll probably win it. Of course the Mets are probably in the playoffs and he's put up solid numbers having played in a pitcher friendly park. He's tied for 9th in RBIs, 10th in batting average, and 10th in homeruns. While his numbers certainly aren't dominating, they're all around solid and he also gets points for being a respectable player and leader in the league even at a young age.
By BP's numbers, Wright is 2nd in VORP and 7th in MLV (though not far behind Hanley and others). His EqA indicates how much Shea hurts his offensive production during the year. I'll also throw in that he's a top defensive 3Bman.
3. Matt Holliday, LF Colorado Rockies
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .335/30/119
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .397/.590
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 62.3/52.6/.311
On the surface, Holliday's stats are better than Wright's or even Ramirez's, but remember where he plays (Coors Field). I argue that it's harder to put up good offensive numbers in a pitchers ballpark, which is why Holliday's 3rd.
Even so, Holliday has lower OBP than Wright and a lower VORP. Their MLVs are close, but if you look at Holliday's EqA you can see how much Coors Field impacts his offensive numbers.
Other notable names for MVP consideration in no particular order:
Chipper Jones (solid season considering his age), Miguel Cabrera (putting up another great year despite weight problems), Chase Utley (likely would win it if he didn't get injured), Prince Fielder (following in Dad's steps), and Albert Pujols (worst year of his career).
Note: The MVP stats are through September 12th.
American League MVP
1. Alex Rodriguez, 3B New York Yankees
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .317/52/140
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .424/.667
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 92.8/75.7/.344
So far this season has been A-Rod's best in pinstripes and will be one of the top three of his career. Rodriguez leads the AL in HRs, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage, and ranks third in on-base percentage. He also has hit for a solid average, so by the traditional stats A-Rod should the the AL MVP at this point. What do BP's stats tell us though?
Well, A-Rod's VORP (value over replacement player) leads the majors by far. VORP tells us how many runs above a replacement player at A-Rod's position he's contributed. So if Miguel Cairo had played 3B all year and he's your typical replacement player, A-Rod's season produced 92.8 runs above what Cairo would have produced.
He also leads the majors in MLV (marginal lineup value). MLV is an estimate of how many additional runs a player adds if they were in a lineup of average hitters. In other words, if you have a lineup of average hitters, no one adds any more or less to production so the lineups average is zero. But if you put A-Rod in the lineup, he'd raise the offensive production of that lineup by 75.7 runs.
Finally, A-Rod also leads in EqA (Equivalent Average). EqA makes corrections in a players total offensive output given the ballparks they play in, league difficulty, baserunning, but not defense. An average EqA is .260 and A-Rods far above that. Being in a batting average format at .344 A-Rod's offensive production is better than what his traditional batting average tells us.
It would be a shock if A-Rod doesn't win the MVP award. But we already saw how A-Rod was snubbed of the award in 2002. Even so, it may not be unanymous as the runner-up has put up a great season as well.
2. Magglio Ordonez, RF Detroit Tigers
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .358/27/132
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .430/.595
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 78.0/69.8/.334
No one would have thought Ordonez had a season like this in him. After signing with the Tigers in 2005 having been injured for the previous seasons, most critics considered the signing a huge risk and all but said Ordonez would become a DH pretty soon. That hasn't been the case at all. Last year Ordonez had a nice season for himself and this year has surpassed expectations.
Ordonez leads the AL in batting average, is second in on-base percentage, and is fourth in slugging. By BP's stats he's behind A-Rod in VORP, MLV, and his EqA is a bit lower mainly because of the AL Central being less competitive than the AL East.
All in all, if Ordonez wins the batting crown, gets over 30 HRs, and continues to drive in runs he may have a shot at winning the MVP in the eyes of the voters. It will also make some difference if the Tigers make the playoffs and not the Yankees. But in my view, he falls just short of MVP contention.
3. Jorge Posada, C New York Yankees
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .338/20/85
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .423/.556
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 67.6/47.8/.324
I hear the grumbling already. What about David Ortiz or Vladimir Guerrero? They are both putting up nice seasons as well and have better traditional stats than Jorge. While I admire Big Papi's hitting--he's only a DH and a DH has never won the MVP no matter how great his offensive production (M's fans would understand this after Edgar Martinez's great seasons as a DH). So while Ortiz is 3rd in VORP (72.0), 3rd in MLV (60.5), first in OBP (.434), and 3rd in SLG (.599)--all MVP worthy numbers--he doesn't play in the field.
As for Vladi, Jorge is better at getting on base (.423 OBP vs .405), has a higher batting average (.338 vs. .327), and they have around the same SLG (.556 Jorge vs. .553 Vladi). By BP's numbers though the bigger differences is in VORP where Vladi's is 58.6, 9 or so runs lower than Jorge'z. It's close by all these numbers, but the big thing for me is that Jorge is a catcher. Most catchers do not put up a season like this one (even in Jorge's case) and that to me makes the case.
Other notable names for MVP consideration in no particular order:
Vlad Guerrero (noted above), Curtis Granderson (3rd player in the 20, 20, 20, 20 club--that 2Bs, 3Bs, HRs, and SBs), Carlos Pena (should get AL Comeback player of the year by all means), and Ichiro Suzuki.
National League MVP
1. Hanley Ramirez, SS Florida Marlins
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .332/28/72
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .389/.575
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 84.6/56.5/.319
Let me first say in the eyes of the voters Ramirez most likely will not win the MVP, because the Marlins are not a winning team, but there is a point to my picking him. I have not heard his name even mentioned in discussions for the MVP, but he is having a tremendous year after winning the RoY award last year. And to be completely honest, I am sure he will win an MVP at some point in his career just seeing how amazing an all around player he is already.
Let's get to my assessment though. He is 4th in batting average, 4th in slugging, and just makes the top 10 in OBP. He's shown power with 28 HRs which is in the top 10 and is 3rd in stolen bases (46).
Going by BPs stats he is the VORP leader by far (David Wright is second at 72.0). He's also first in MLV, but not by a lot. Those are pretty good indicator of an MVP right there even if he won't drive in 100 RBIs. However, he's the leadoff hitter and 72 RBIs at that spot is pretty good--I'd say he gets 85 or so for the year.
You don't always need 100 RBIs to win the award though. Leadoff hitters have won the award. Remember Rickey Henderson's MVP award? That was in 1990, and although he hit 28 HRs and drove in only 61 RBIs, he beat out Cecil Fielder's 51 HRs and 132 RBIs. He also lead the majors in VORP with 86.2 which was well ahead of Cecil's 61.2. So the voters got it right that year.
So it is possible, except again that the Marlins are in the NL East cellar--the 1990 A's were just the opposite. But that doesn't matter to me--it's an individual award and he's the best in the NL.
2. David Wright, 3B New York Mets
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .315/28/96
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .412/.542
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 69.5/50.1/.327
Wright's name has come up in MVP discussions and by all likelihood, he'll probably win it. Of course the Mets are probably in the playoffs and he's put up solid numbers having played in a pitcher friendly park. He's tied for 9th in RBIs, 10th in batting average, and 10th in homeruns. While his numbers certainly aren't dominating, they're all around solid and he also gets points for being a respectable player and leader in the league even at a young age.
By BP's numbers, Wright is 2nd in VORP and 7th in MLV (though not far behind Hanley and others). His EqA indicates how much Shea hurts his offensive production during the year. I'll also throw in that he's a top defensive 3Bman.
3. Matt Holliday, LF Colorado Rockies
Traditional stats (AVG/HR/RBI): .335/30/119
Non-traditional stats (OBP/SLG): .397/.590
BP's stats (VORP/MLV/EqA): 62.3/52.6/.311
On the surface, Holliday's stats are better than Wright's or even Ramirez's, but remember where he plays (Coors Field). I argue that it's harder to put up good offensive numbers in a pitchers ballpark, which is why Holliday's 3rd.
Even so, Holliday has lower OBP than Wright and a lower VORP. Their MLVs are close, but if you look at Holliday's EqA you can see how much Coors Field impacts his offensive numbers.
Other notable names for MVP consideration in no particular order:
Chipper Jones (solid season considering his age), Miguel Cabrera (putting up another great year despite weight problems), Chase Utley (likely would win it if he didn't get injured), Prince Fielder (following in Dad's steps), and Albert Pujols (worst year of his career).
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Speculating Awards: A Primer
Now that we're two weeks or so away from the end of the season, I'm finally ready to begin discussing and speculating who will be baseball's award winners this year (MVP, Cy Young, RoY). Some winners may be clear while others are debatable and I want to throw in my two cents, because my opinion may differ from those who will actually vote for these award next month.
- For MVP - Batting average, Homeruns, Runs Batted in
- For Cy Young - Earned Run Average, Wins, Strikeouts
- For RoY - Same as above if it's a hitter or pitcher
- For Gold Glove - Manager's perception
Many statheads in the baseball community, myself included, do not agree with using the traditional stats as noted above. For one, there are other stats to consider when evaluating a player. If you know about Moneyball for example it made a great case that on-base percentage is pretty darn important. Also, OPS (on-base plus slugging) is another good stat that isn't one the voters really look at for hitters.
The same arugement can be made of pitchers. Wins are a terrible statistic for assessing how well a pitcher pitched. What if the team's offense doesn't give a great pitcher any run support? Look at Kevin Millwood's 2005 season with Cleveland, he went 9-11 but lead the league in ERA (2.86). He got 3.98 runs/game started which was 39th in the AL for pitchers pitching at least 160 innings. Or vice versa what if the pitcher is terrible but the offense bails them out? Last year a pitcher named Jason Marquis won 14 games (losing 16) and had a 6.02 ERA.
But some of the traditional stats are somewhat biased and do not give as accurate a picture of a players performance. For example, players with lots of homeruns and runs batted tend to be batters in the middle (3rd to 5th) of the lineup. Does that mean a leadoff hitter who has a higher AVG, better OBP but less power is less valuable? Or another example--ballpark effects contribute to the raw stats a player puts up--will we ever get a Cy Young pitcher from Colorado--I doubt it.
How well a team does also matters as well. Usually the logic is this--a player is more valuable as long as his team performs better than an average team (or one at .500). Extra kudos tend to go to players on teams that make the playoffs too. For example, take a look at two AL 2002 MVP candidate's stats and then their team records:
.308 AVG/34 HRs/ 131 RBIs/.862 OPS Team record: 103-59
.300 AVG/57 HRs/142 RBIs/1.015 OPS Team record: 72-90
Who won the MVP? The first player Miguel Tejada who was on the 1st place Oakland A's won it, the other is Alex Rodriguez who put up his best power numbers of his career but was on the last place Texas Rangers. So team matters too and that tends to make things murkier when voting.
So when I consider who's an MVP or the best pitcher in baseball, I use other stats--mainly those of Baseball Prospectus, who have a wide range of their own stats that I personally find very valuable. Below are what I use with their definitions linked:
For hitters: VORP, MLV, and EqA.
For pitchers: VORP, BABIP, PERA, Stuff, and SNLVAR.
I'll explain these stats as I assess each award.
I'll get started with the MVPs in a couple days and am only giving my top three. Until then for our readers, how do you assess the awards?
I'm going to do this in three parts because as I started researching and writing this, it was taking a long time and it will be easier to digest for our readers. I'll first discuss the AL and NL MVPs in one entry, then AL and NL Cy Young's, and finally AL and NL Rookie of the Year. I may comment on Gold Gloves, but honestly the way that is awarded is truly a joke.
A Rant: An Introduction on Differences in Evaluating these Awards
First thing's first though--the awards come down to a couple things: 1) a players stats and 2) the team that player played on. It probably also matters that the voters "like" the player too. In any event, stats are the real key here, and traditionally these are the stats each award looks at:
- For MVP - Batting average, Homeruns, Runs Batted in
- For Cy Young - Earned Run Average, Wins, Strikeouts
- For RoY - Same as above if it's a hitter or pitcher
- For Gold Glove - Manager's perception
Many statheads in the baseball community, myself included, do not agree with using the traditional stats as noted above. For one, there are other stats to consider when evaluating a player. If you know about Moneyball for example it made a great case that on-base percentage is pretty darn important. Also, OPS (on-base plus slugging) is another good stat that isn't one the voters really look at for hitters.
The same arugement can be made of pitchers. Wins are a terrible statistic for assessing how well a pitcher pitched. What if the team's offense doesn't give a great pitcher any run support? Look at Kevin Millwood's 2005 season with Cleveland, he went 9-11 but lead the league in ERA (2.86). He got 3.98 runs/game started which was 39th in the AL for pitchers pitching at least 160 innings. Or vice versa what if the pitcher is terrible but the offense bails them out? Last year a pitcher named Jason Marquis won 14 games (losing 16) and had a 6.02 ERA.
But some of the traditional stats are somewhat biased and do not give as accurate a picture of a players performance. For example, players with lots of homeruns and runs batted tend to be batters in the middle (3rd to 5th) of the lineup. Does that mean a leadoff hitter who has a higher AVG, better OBP but less power is less valuable? Or another example--ballpark effects contribute to the raw stats a player puts up--will we ever get a Cy Young pitcher from Colorado--I doubt it.
How well a team does also matters as well. Usually the logic is this--a player is more valuable as long as his team performs better than an average team (or one at .500). Extra kudos tend to go to players on teams that make the playoffs too. For example, take a look at two AL 2002 MVP candidate's stats and then their team records:
.308 AVG/34 HRs/ 131 RBIs/.862 OPS Team record: 103-59
.300 AVG/57 HRs/142 RBIs/1.015 OPS Team record: 72-90
Who won the MVP? The first player Miguel Tejada who was on the 1st place Oakland A's won it, the other is Alex Rodriguez who put up his best power numbers of his career but was on the last place Texas Rangers. So team matters too and that tends to make things murkier when voting.
So when I consider who's an MVP or the best pitcher in baseball, I use other stats--mainly those of Baseball Prospectus, who have a wide range of their own stats that I personally find very valuable. Below are what I use with their definitions linked:
For hitters: VORP, MLV, and EqA.
For pitchers: VORP, BABIP, PERA, Stuff, and SNLVAR.
I'll explain these stats as I assess each award.
I'll get started with the MVPs in a couple days and am only giving my top three. Until then for our readers, how do you assess the awards?
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Hindsight and Foresight: Yankee Review September 3rd to September 16th
Now that A-Rod has hit 52HRs and counting, I'd be suprised if he doesn't win the MVP this season. Not that the MVP is all about HRs--he's put up a monster of a season and will be looking for a brand spankin' new contract after this season. At least that's what I think, but I'm saving that discussion for another post.
After some medicrity the last couple of weeks, the Yankees are on a five game tear and more importantly gained ground in the Wild Card standings. Seattle has been flaming out slowly and now stand 5 games back with Detroit trying to pull back into things at 2.5 games back. It's not over yet and though the Yankees remaining schedule concludes with six series, one of which is against a team over .500, we've seen how bad the Yankees can be against teams like Tampa Bay and Baltimore--both of whom count for nine of the remaining 19 games.
Hindsight: September 3rd to September 9th
After losing a series to Tampa Bay at home of all things, Seattle came into town being just a couple of games back in the Wild Card. The first game did not bode well as King Felix (who still hasn't earned his crown in my eyes) shut down the Yankees and Clemens was tatooed and left the game with a bad elbow. But after that the offense woke up as did the pitching. The last two games against Seattle were blowouts with the Yankees outscoring the M's 22 to 5. This series made me think back to the years 1995 to the early 2000s when the M's and Yankees were somewhat rivals (M's beating the Yankees in the 1995 playoffs, but the Yankees stunning a 116 win season for the M's in 2001 to go to the World Series). Same teams but different faces. After the M's the Yanks easily swept the Royals. Pettitte and Wang have been the strong pitchers and won their 14th and 18th games respectively.
Weekly Stats
W-L: 5-1
RS/RA: 43/22
Offensive Numbers (AVG/OBP/SLG): .326/.393/.620
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 3.00/1.27/5.60/.233/.319
Who's Hot: Alex Rodriguez. Check this out: .579/.652/1.684 for a 2.336 OPS. 7 HRs and 10 RBIs to boot.
Who's Not: Hideki Matsui struggled with an 0-20 slump or something like that.
My Yankee of the Week: Phil Hughes put together a good performance. I've heard he's hard on himself, which I can definetely sympathize with, but Phil you're great keep doing what you do.
Foresight: September 10th to September 16th
Back up to Toronto where tempers may flare again and then...FENWAY!! I can't offer a prediction here on the Red Sox series other than it will probably be intense. This is the last time they will play this year in the regular season and the AL East race is still between either team. We'll see some great pitching matchups though: Game 1 Pettitte v. Dice K, Game 2 Wang v. Beckett, and Game 3 Hughes v. Schilling.
For a funny read, check out this story on Wade Boggs that a friend of mind sent me.
Finally, for any baseball fan, I recommend going to PNC Park in Pittsburgh at some point (or before they build another new stadium). I just went there this weekend for my first time. It's a great ballpark even though I had to sit in detour traffic for 2 hours to make it. Oh and you'll have to watch the Pirtates play no matter what.
After some medicrity the last couple of weeks, the Yankees are on a five game tear and more importantly gained ground in the Wild Card standings. Seattle has been flaming out slowly and now stand 5 games back with Detroit trying to pull back into things at 2.5 games back. It's not over yet and though the Yankees remaining schedule concludes with six series, one of which is against a team over .500, we've seen how bad the Yankees can be against teams like Tampa Bay and Baltimore--both of whom count for nine of the remaining 19 games.
Hindsight: September 3rd to September 9th
After losing a series to Tampa Bay at home of all things, Seattle came into town being just a couple of games back in the Wild Card. The first game did not bode well as King Felix (who still hasn't earned his crown in my eyes) shut down the Yankees and Clemens was tatooed and left the game with a bad elbow. But after that the offense woke up as did the pitching. The last two games against Seattle were blowouts with the Yankees outscoring the M's 22 to 5. This series made me think back to the years 1995 to the early 2000s when the M's and Yankees were somewhat rivals (M's beating the Yankees in the 1995 playoffs, but the Yankees stunning a 116 win season for the M's in 2001 to go to the World Series). Same teams but different faces. After the M's the Yanks easily swept the Royals. Pettitte and Wang have been the strong pitchers and won their 14th and 18th games respectively.
Weekly Stats
W-L: 5-1
RS/RA: 43/22
Offensive Numbers (AVG/OBP/SLG): .326/.393/.620
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 3.00/1.27/5.60/.233/.319
Who's Hot: Alex Rodriguez. Check this out: .579/.652/1.684 for a 2.336 OPS. 7 HRs and 10 RBIs to boot.
Who's Not: Hideki Matsui struggled with an 0-20 slump or something like that.
My Yankee of the Week: Phil Hughes put together a good performance. I've heard he's hard on himself, which I can definetely sympathize with, but Phil you're great keep doing what you do.
Foresight: September 10th to September 16th
Back up to Toronto where tempers may flare again and then...FENWAY!! I can't offer a prediction here on the Red Sox series other than it will probably be intense. This is the last time they will play this year in the regular season and the AL East race is still between either team. We'll see some great pitching matchups though: Game 1 Pettitte v. Dice K, Game 2 Wang v. Beckett, and Game 3 Hughes v. Schilling.
For a funny read, check out this story on Wade Boggs that a friend of mind sent me.
Finally, for any baseball fan, I recommend going to PNC Park in Pittsburgh at some point (or before they build another new stadium). I just went there this weekend for my first time. It's a great ballpark even though I had to sit in detour traffic for 2 hours to make it. Oh and you'll have to watch the Pirtates play no matter what.
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