King Felix was demoted to the bullpen for the first time in his career

wiivile wrote:In honor of Mookie hitting for the cycle... https://www.mlb.com/video/bell-hits-for ... 1874560783

Featuring our muse

I was at that game!!

Teh Orioles were eliminated from the AL East race Friday. Still have a Tragic Number of 12 in the WC race, though.

swishnicholson wrote:Teh Orioles were eliminated from the AL East race Friday. Still have a Tragic Number of 12 in the WC race, though.

How does this compare to the earliest eliminations ever?

take it to the fast food threat

phatj wrote:

swishnicholson wrote:Teh Orioles were eliminated from the AL East race Friday. Still have a Tragic Number of 12 in the WC race, though.

How does this compare to the earliest eliminations ever?

Pretty close as far as I can tell. the '62 mets were eliminated early, being 50 games back with 49 to play, though I'm getting the date listed variously as August 7 and August 10. 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who won only twenty games,were apparently eliminated on August 4. But I can't find anyone in the Divisional era who can challenge the O's.

2003 Tigers were apparently eliminated from the WC on 8/19/03 and the Central on 8/22/03.

Jose Urena hit Ronald Acuna because Acuna previously hit a bunch of home runs. It hit his elbow and he was taken out of the game and is still a bit iffy from it.

what a big man Urena is

swishnicholson wrote:

phatj wrote:

swishnicholson wrote:Teh Orioles were eliminated from the AL East race Friday. Still have a Tragic Number of 12 in the WC race, though.

How does this compare to the earliest eliminations ever?

Pretty close as far as I can tell. the '62 mets were eliminated early, being 50 games back with 49 to play, though I'm getting the date listed variously as August 7 and August 10. 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who won only twenty games,were apparently eliminated on August 4. But I can't find anyone in the Divisional era who can challenge the O's.

2003 Tigers were apparently eliminated from the WC on 8/19/03 and the Central on 8/22/03.

This is from a reddit post on it, so not 100% of its accuracy.

The Baltimore Orioles have tied the American League record for earliest mathematical elimination from the league/division
Other MLB teams eliminated on or before August 10 (excluding the NA):

NL 1876 Cincinnati Reds (elim. August 1)
NL 1876 Philadelphia Athletics (elim. August 9)
NL 1878 Milwaukee Grays (elim. August 3)
NL 1918 St. Louis Cardinals (elim. August 10 in hindsight, because of later canceled games)
AL 1932 Boston Red Sox (elim. August 10)
NL 1962 New York Mets (elim. August 7)

Urena suspended six games for hitting Acuna

nm

why do you have reading on ignore

Jim Bowden has an article up on the Athletic about the farm systems across baseball, and this one thing stuck out at me:

"The Giants took advantage of having the second overall pick in the June free-agent draft by taking catcher Joey Bart out of Georgia Tech. Bart was clearly the best position player left on the board, and the Giants were able to get their heir apparent to Buster Posey, and put a plan in place for when Posey eventually is moved to first base for the latter part of his Hall of Fame career."

I know Bowden is kind of a goon, but Buster Posey isn't really a hall of famer, is he? B-R has his similar batters as Paul LoDuca and Victor Martinez, among others. The Bill James HOF stats have him miles away. And if he moves to first base, it only makes it worse. I guess it's the world series wins that make his case, but f that guy. Has he really been that good?

Ramon Gris wrote: Has he really been that good?

It's closer than you think. He's the 16th rated catcher by total WAR averaged with 7-year peak (which Jay Jaffe argues is a good predictor of how hall-of-fame voters will see a player). He's ahead of Posada, Ernie Lombardi and just behind Buck Ewing (who he will likely pass). He's been to 6 all-star games. He's way ahead of 9-time all-star Yadier Molina. You could make a good case for him--I think he'll probably get in, but it will be close.

phillychuck wrote:

Ramon Gris wrote: Has he really been that good?

It's closer than you think. He's the 16th rated catcher by total WAR averaged with 7-year peak (which Jay Jaffe argues is a good predictor of how hall-of-fame voters will see a player). He's ahead of Posada, Ernie Lombardi and just behind Buck Ewing (who he will likely pass). He's been to 6 all-star games. He's way ahead of 9-time all-star Yadier Molina. You could make a good case for him--I think he'll probably get in, but it will be close.

And Molina seems to be pretty much a lock

Ramon Gris wrote: B-R has his similar batters as Paul LoDuca and Victor Martinez, among others.

That's in total career numbers for LoDuca though. I suppose if Posey's career were to end right now, it would make it a lot more doubtful. But through age 30 his top ten comparables include HOFers Gabby Hartnett and Barry Larkin, likely Hofer Joe Mauer, Miguel Tejada, who has Hof numbers even if ped controversy will keep him out, and Troy Tulowitzki, who would need a few more good seasons but isn't out of the conversation. Heck, I think Martinez would be a good bet if hadn't gotten hurt and was unable to be a regular catcher after 2010. People give a lot of weight of weight (and should) to players who can bear the physical demands of catching and still produce offensively.

Uncle Milty wrote:

Stripes wrote:

phillychuck wrote:

Ramon Gris wrote: Has he really been that good?

It's closer than you think. He's the 16th rated catcher by total WAR averaged with 7-year peak (which Jay Jaffe argues is a good predictor of how hall-of-fame voters will see a player). He's ahead of Posada, Ernie Lombardi and just behind Buck Ewing (who he will likely pass). He's been to 6 all-star games. He's way ahead of 9-time all-star Yadier Molina. You could make a good case for him--I think he'll probably get in, but it will be close.

And Molina seems to be pretty much a lock

Molina and Posey seem regarded quite differently on the catching aspect.

Agreed that Molina is an all-time defender. Posey gets a lot of credit for handling the pitching staff of 3-time WS champs, and is the superior hitter. WAR supposedly encompasses all(most) of that, and as phillychuck said, Posey is way ahead of Yadi.

But I realize some on here will hate Posey because of what the Giants did against the Phillies in the playoffs...

He won Rookie of the Year (2010) and league MVP (2012) too

Uncle Milty wrote:I'm just thinking of the HOF voters. If I had a vote I'd choose Posey over Molina.

I guess I misunderstood where you were going with that.


With Yadi being nearer the end of his career, there seems to be more talk about him being a "sure-fire Hall of Famer." Posey's closer to the middle of his career, and he's certainly on the right path.

so how did trout's b-i-l die

Bucky wrote:so how did trout's b-i-l die

He was 24, and the causes of death for otherwise healthy people of that age are pretty limited. Accident, homicide, suicide, overdose, hidden health risk (i.e. cardiomyopathy). Such a tragic thing when a person passes away so young! Condolences to his family and friends...