Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- I love science geeky stuff which is why I want this clock - and this carpet. 

- Interesting story of how the man who was the first to have three no-hitters in baseball has been purposefully forgotten

- Heh heh - Seinfeld predictive script scripts

- Ex-Giants ace Tim Lincecum has simply vanished. Good for him!

- Amazing - more humans live inside the circle than outside it

- 8 things cryptocurrency enthusiasts probably won't tell you. Or why cryptocurrency is still the wild west (long read)

- Wind turbines are neither clean nor green and they provide zero global energy. Natural gas and nuclear are the real answers.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Roy Halladay's scouting report as a 21-year-old prospect

- With John Henry poised to buy Liverpool - here's a nice story on how the team got it's signature song. Now the trick is how to explain Dirty Water to the people in England.

- Awesome - the scale of the universe

- Charlie Crist's Comically Bad First Pitch

- Bus driver of WKU volleyball bus dies of heart attack while driving. Coach seizes wheel, stops bus safely

- Tim Lincecum is great and all but this has to be hyperbole

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

One of the most impressive facts about Albert Pujols this season is the fact that he's leading MLB in both runs scored and RBI. You usually lead the league in one or the other category but to lead all of baseball in both is incredible... Mike Lowell's hip makes him run like someone's athletic grandmother but he still leads all Red Sox hitters in doubles with 18. Go figure... If the season ended today a very good argument could be made that Matt Cain should be the NL Cy Young winner. Cain is 9-1 with a 2.28 ERA. His 9 wins are tied for first in the NL and his ERA is second only to Dan Haren's 2.23. Tim Lincecum gets all the attention but Cain has 3 more wins and his ERA is almost a half run lower than his reigning Cy Young teammate... Interesting - Matt Clement has been named the head basketball coach at his high school alma mater. Good for him. I'm also sure this won't get in the way of him making a try at a comeback. JP Riccardi was a very successful basketball coach in the offseason at Holy Name HS in Worcester while working for the Oakland A's and Matt Stairs still coaches high school hockey in Maine in the offseason. I'm rooting for Clement. He always seemed like a nice guy...

Baseball Awards

With Cliff Lee winning his 20th game he has all but guaranteed that he'll be the AL Cy Young Award winner. That got me thinking - who gets the rest of the awards? Here's who I think is most deserving at this late point in the season.

AL Cy Young - Cliff Lee Cleveland
AL MVP - Justin Morneau Minnesota*
AL Rookie of the Year - Evan Longoria Tampa Bay
AL Manager of the Year - Joe Maddon Tampa Bay

NL Cy Young - Tim Lincecum San Francisco
NL MVP - Albert Pujols St. Louis
NL Rookie of the Year - Geovany Soto Chicago
NL Manager of the Year - Lou Piniella Chicago

* - A real tight race but Morneau currently edges Boston's Kevin Youkilis in my mind right now

Interesting Question

The Big Lead posts and interesting question, "If you could have any pitcher in baseball and salaries were not a factor" (who would you take)?

I've been thinking about the question all morning and I think I'd have to take Tim Lincecum. I know some people are worried about his body size and delivery style but I can't help but think of the same things being said of Pedro Martinez when he was with the Dodgers.

It should be noted that I've done a 180 on Jon Lester and I would seriously give him consideration as my top choice if the team I was picking for had a park that favored lefty pitchers over righties..

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

The Red Sox have played 5 more road games than Tampa Bay and 7 more than the Yankees. That's perhaps the most important thing to understand about the dynamics of the race for the AL East going forward. Boston will feast at home while neither the Rays or Yankees should expect to do anything but hover around .500 on the road... If the reports are true - that the Marlins nixed the deal that would have netted them Manny because they wanted an extra $2 million from Boston - then that's disgusting. Here's a team that is right in the thick of a playoff race and they could have added a bat like Manny? The payoff of playoff games is bound to be more than $2 million. The Marlins made a big mistake in not making that deal. I'm officially rooting against the Marlins now... The problem for the Tigers is that they just can't beat the teams in their own division. Detroit is just 20-28 against other AL Central teams. If the Tigers can put together a moderately sized winning streak - then I expect they can get right into the middle of the race. In fact even though they are 6.5 games back and have lost their last 3 games - I still expect the Tigers to win the AL Central. The Twins have a lot of road games yet to play so I expect them to turn back into a pumpkin. And honestly - I just don't see the White Sox as anything but a .500 team... If the NL Cy Young was awarded today - I would hope that Tim Lincecum would be the winner. What he's doing with a lousy Giants team is incredible... Remember how people were talking about Lance Berkman and how he had a legitimate shot at winning the triple crown? Then Berkman went out and hit ZERO home runs in July. Needless to say but you don't hear that triple crown talk anymore... Today should have been Rod Beck's 40th birthday. RIP Shooter...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Ken Rosenthal raises the interesting question about the Red Sox NOT exercising their option on Manny Ramirez for 2009. I think the Red Sox will exercise the option but if Manny finishes the year with 30 HR, 100 RBI and an OPS+ of 130 - then they will definitely think about it. And if Manny acts up again between now and the end of the year - then they will think long and hard about whether having Manny around is worth it. Manny is lucky that there are no big name outfielders available in this year's free agent crop. I think Rosenthal is correct that the Red Sox will check with the Rockies about the availability of Matt Holliday before they re-up Manny.... LyfLines has a great review of the Red Sox performance in June. I had forgotten that the Red Sox entered June a game back of Tampa Bay. It also looks like the Red Sox were actually a better club with Coco Crisp in the line-up. Crisp had an OPS of .880 for the month (compared to Jacoby Ellsbury's anemic .592). Good stuff... David Pinto points out that Edgar Gonzalez has been a hit for the Padres. A 30-year old career minor leaguer making the most of his opportunity is always a great story. I would like to point out that the Red Sox also have a career minor leaguer playing second in Pawtucket who I think would do well with a shot at the bigs. Joe Thurston is leading Pawtucket with a .324 BA but at 29-years old - time is running out for him... Tom Verducci has an excellent article on Tim Lincecum. Well worth the read...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

I don't believe in the White Sox. I just don't see them winning the AL Central. My pick is the Indians. The Pythagorean W/L says that Cleveland has had the worst luck (-5 games) of any team in the AL. Meanwhile the White Sox are just 11-17 against teams with a winning record. I see Chicago falling back to earth, Ozzie having another tirade and finally getting fired... The Mariners are bad. It certainly doesn't help that they can win close games (7-14 in 1 run games). With JJ Putz going on the DL - I wouldn't look for that record to improve either... The Braves are 7.5 games behind the Phillies mainly because Atlanta just can't win on the road (8-24 on the road) or in extra innings (1-7)... Many people picked St. Louis to be awful this year but if the season ended today - they would be the NL Wild Card. They lead the Marlins by 3 games... Just saying but JD Drew has the 2nd best OPS in the AL. His .973 is better than Josh Hamilton's .961 and Manny Ramirez's .940. (Milton Bradley leads with a 1.077 mark and Jason Giambi is 4th with a .953 mark)... Oakland's Jack Cust leads the AL in walks with 52 and is 2nd in strikeouts with 70 (just 1 behind Carlos Pena). I'm rooting for Cust to "win" both categories... It's bizarro world. The NL has the top 4 HR hitters in baseball and the AL has the top 2 base stealers... If I had to give out the NL Cy Young Award today I'd give it to Tim Lincecum for being 8-1 for a lousy (and I mean lousy) San Francisco Giants team...

Top 5 - NL ROY Candidates

Here are who I see as the top 5 candidates for the National League Rookie of the Year Award:

1. Ryan Braun Brewers
2. Troy Tulowitzki Rockies
3. Hunter Pence Astros
4. Tim Lincecum Giants
5. Josh Hamilton Reds

I have to think that Braun's number will be too sexy for voters to ignore (25 HR and a .331 batting average) but keep in mind that Tulowitzki actually leads Braun in Win Shares (17 to 16) for those sabermetrically inclined.