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7/1/2008
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
Billy-Ball - From the diamond to your desktop
By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck
Subscribe to Billy-Ball - its free - www.billy-ball.com
The only spin here is on my screwball
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Top of the 1st
FIRST OBSERVATIONS
As we will do on the first day of every month during the season is take a quick look at the big picture as reflected in the standings.
Here is a tool that might make this a more interesting perusal for those of you who are interested:
The pythagorean winning percentage
Pythagorean winning percentage is an estimate of a team's winning percentage given their runs scored and runs allowed. Developed by Bill James, it can tell you when teams were a bit lucky or unlucky. It is calculated in this fashion:
(Runs Scored)^1.83
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(Runs Scored)^1.83 + (Runs Allowed)^1.83
The traditional formula uses an exponent of two, but this has proven to be a little more accurate.
The AL team with the most luck, in terms of wins (+7), is the Angels. The AL team with the worst luck, in terms of wins (-5), is the Indians.
The NL team with the most luck, in terms of wins (+4), is the Marlins. The NL team with the worst luck, in terms of wins (-6), is the Braves. As a frame of reference, the Mets and the Diamondbacks are at 0, meaning their Runs Scored and Runs Allowed correctly reflects their record.
Here are at least 20 facts about each division:
AL EAST W L PCT GB H R RS RA
Tampa Bay 50 32 .610 - 31-13 19-19 387 331
Boston 50 35 .588 1.5 31-10 19-25 428 356
NY Yankees 44 39 .530 6.5 22-19 22-20 386 366
Baltimore 41 40 .506 8.5 22-13 19-27 366 370
Toronto 41 43 .488 10 22-19 19-24 346 316
Tampa Bay has the best record in the majors; last year at this time they were 33-47.
The Rays lead the league with 88 stolen bases.
The Rays are 35-23 against right-handed starters.
The Rays are 22-15 against the East.
Boston leads the league with a .280 batting average.
Hitters are only batting .213 against Tampa relievers.
The Red Sox lead the league with 320 walks by their batters.
Boston is the AL Wild Card leader.
The Red Sox are now 3-12 indoors in 2008
The BoSox have 20 come from behind wins.
The Jays are 6-4 in this new Cito Gaston era.
Toronto has not had a walkoff win this season.
The Jays are 34-11 when scoring first.
The Yankees are a major eague-best 25-12 since 5/21.
The BoSox are 13-3 against lefties.
Toronto pitchers have 8 complete games, the most in the league.
Boston and Toronto pitchers each a league leading 624 strikeouts.
The Yankees have won 10 games this season when scoring three runs or fewer (10-23 overall) and were 6-36 in such games in 2007 and 10-37 in 2006.
The Red Sox are 2-11 on turf.
The Os have reached the 40 win mark in June for just the second time in the last 10 seasons. The 2005 Birds won their 40th game on June 18 of that year.
The Yankees were 38-41 on July 1, 2007.
The Yankees lead the majors averaging 52,214 fans a game.
The Yankees have 20 come-from-behind wins.
The Sox are 7-4 in series sweeps.
The Orioles have dropped 12 straight Sunday games (six by one run, three by
four runs, two by five runs and one by six runs). The Birds have been outscored 67-34 on Sundays this year.
Baltimore is 17-13 in one run games.
The Orioles were 11-7 in interleague play.
With the bases loaded, batters are only hitting .195 against the Orioles staff.
The Jays and the Mariners were 10-16 in June.
AL CENTRAL
Chicago Sox 47 35 .573 - 28-11 19-24 402 315
Minnesota 45 38 .542 2.5 27-18 18-20 398 390
Detroit 42 40 .512 5 25-17 17-23 398 393
Kansas City 38 45 .458 9.5 19-21 19-24 341 387
Cleveland 37 46 .446 10.5 22-22 15-24 368 359
The AL Central was 58-32 in interleague play.
The White Sox lead the AL with 112 homers.
The White Sox are 18-12 in day games.
From the 7th inning on, ChiSox pitchers have a 2.60 ERA.
From the 7th inning on, Tigers pitchers have a 5.06 ERA.
The Indians are only hitting .248 as a team.
Cleveland pitchers have thrown four complete game shutouts.
Hitters are batting .279 against Cleveland relievers.
Minnesota leads the league with 24 triples.
Minnesota pitchers have only allowed 200 walks, the fewest in the league. They are allowing only 2.4 walks per game.
With the bases loaded, batters are hitting .363 against the Twins staff.
Minnesota pitchers are allowing 10.0 hits per game, the most in the league.
The Twins and Rangers pitchers have each surrendered 822 hits, the most in the AL.
Detroit leads the majors with 25 come from behind wins.
The Tigers were 19-8 in June.
The Royals were 13-5 in interleague play.
KC is 5-11 against the West.
The Indians have 38 errors, the fewest in baseball.
The Indians were a league-worst 6-12 interleague play.
Indian batters were hit by 22 pitches in June, the most in the AL
The Twins are hitting .280 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the best in the AL.
The White Sox are hitting .205 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the worst in the AL.
The Royals have won six straight on the road, the team's longest run since 1999.
AL WEST
LA Angels 49 34 .590 - 22-19 27-15 341 334
Oakland 45 37 .549 3.5 27-21 18-16 363 299
Texas 43 41 .512 6.5 21-18 22-23 458 468
Seattle 31 51 .378 17.5 15-25 16-26 331 392
The Angels are 16-9 against the Central.
The Angels and Oakland were each 16-10 in June.
Oaklands 3.39 ERA is the best in the AL.
Batters are only .235 against the As staff.
Texas leads the league scoring 5.45 runs per game. They are last in the league allowing 5.57 runs per game.
Texas leads the league with 187 doubles.
Texas leads the league with 615 strikeouts by their batters.
Texas pitchers have allowed 343 walks, the most in the league.
Texas has committed 74 errors the most in baseball.
Texas has had exactly a .500 record 22 times this season and are 2 games over .500 for the first time since following a victory on Sept. 22, 2006 vs. Cleveland (78-76).
The Angels have 16 wins this season when scoring three runs-or-less (leads MLB).
The Angels are 33-16 in games decided by two runs-or-less, best record and most such games played in majors.
The Angels have 15 comeback victories and five walkoff wins.
LAA pitchers have held opponents to two earned runs-or-less in 22 of last 26 wins.
The Angels 204 road wins since start of 2004 are the most in baseball.
The Halos are 35-4 when they score first (most wins in the majors).
Texas is 10-0 when hitting 3 or more HRs this season.
Led by K-Rod the Angels relievers have 34 saves, the most in the league.
Oakland runners have only been caught stealing12 times.
Oakland pitchers are only allowing 7.9 hits per game.
Seattle is 4-10 against the Central.
The Mariners were 9-9 in interleague play.
The Mariners longest winning streak this season is three, achieved twice.
NL EAST
Philadelphia 44 39 .530 - 22-18 22-21 420 348
Florida 43 39 .524 .5 25-19 18-20 391 408
NY Mets 40 42 .488 3.5 22-18 18-24 379 386
Atlanta 40 43 .482 4 28-14 12-29 374 334
Washington 33 51 .393 11.5 18-26 15-25 305 420
The Phils were 4-11 in interleague play.
The Phillies stole 28 bases in June, the most in the NL.
The Phillies have 66 stolen bases and have only been caught 8 times.
The Mets are 15-15 against the East.
Atlantas 3.69 is the best ERA in the NL.
Batters are only .246 against the Braves staff.
The Braves are 4-21 in one run games.
The Braves are 1-7 in extra innings.
The Phillies have lost 6 straight series.
The Marlins are 9-1 vs. the Nationals this season.
The Braves are 5-5 in series sweeps this season.
Washington is 13-21 against lefties.
Washington leads the majors with 8 walkoff wins.
The Marlins 68 errors lead the NL.
No team in the NL has more than 3 complete games and four have none.
Washington was 9-18 in June.
Atlanta has made 12 1st inning errors.
The day after being shut out this year the Phils are 3 -2.
The Marlins are averaging 14,896 fans a game, the worst in baseball.
The Atlanta Braves went 8-7 and the Marlins went 5-10 in interleague play.
Against the NL this season, the Phillies are 40-28 (.588).
The New York Mets surpassed 3.5 million tickets sold for their final season at Shea Stadium, marking the fastest time in franchise history that the Mets have exceeded that milestone.
The largest deficit the Mets have overcome this season is two runs, which they have done six times.
The Mets only have one grand slam this season (Carlos Delgado).
NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs 50 33 .602 - 33-10 17-23 452 351
St. Louis 48 36 .571 2.5 24-17 24-19 395 361
Milwaukee 44 38 .537 5.5 25-13 19-25 367 372
Houston 40 43 .482 10 22-18 18-25 364 396
Cincinnati 39 45 .464 11.5 22-17 17-28 357 414
Pittsburgh 38 44 .463 11.5 25-19 13-25 397 450
The Cubs are 25-14 in day games.
The Cubs are 19-5 against the West.
Chicago is 19-9 against lefties.
The Brewers were 16-10 in June.
The Cubs and Cardinals were 15-12 in June. With the Brewers, these were the only three teams above .500 in June.
The Brewers lamed 44 homers in June.
St. Louis is the NL Wild Card leader.
The Cards are 17-14 in one run games.
The Brewers are 17-7 in one run games.
The Pirates have a 29-29 record in their last 58 games (beginning on April 27)
Houston is 14-18 in their division.
Houston, St. Louis, and San Diego have the fewest errors in the NL with 43.
Reds pitchers lead the NL with 646 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh pitchers have the fewest Ks with 475.
The Pirates are 8-3 in extra innings.
The Reds went 5-4 on their last roadtrip, posting a winning record on a road trip for the first time this season and for only the second time in the last 22 road trips dating back to 2006.
The Reds went 9-6 in interleague play.
The Pirates posted a record of 12-15 in the month of June
Pittsburghs 5.10 ERA is the worst in the NL.
Batters are hitting .288 against the Bucs pitchers.
Pirates pitchers have given up 847 hits in 745 innings.
The Pirates are hitting .287 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the best in the majors.
NL WEST
Arizona 42 41 .506 - 25-15 17-26 372 362
LA Dodgers 38 44 .463 3.5 22-20 16-24 332 332
San Francisco 36 47 .434 6 14-25 22-22 337 381
San Diego 33 51 .393 9.5 21-26 12-25 317 398
Colorado 32 51 .386 10 20-20 12-31 349 432
The NL West went 27-54 with no team having a winning record in interleague play.
Arizona is 20-8 in their division.
After starting the season 20-8, the Diamondbacks are 22-33 but have only lost 1½ games in the standings.
The Dodgers' bullpen has not allowed a run in 15 2/3 innings.
LA is 14-31 when their opponent scores first.
The Padres went 3-15 in Interleague play.
The Giants finished June 13-14. Their last winning month was August, 2007 (16-15).
The Giants have dropped 15 of last 18 contests at AT&T Park.
SF has posted 3-straight winning roadtrips for 1st time since 2003.
Despite being 5 games under .500, the Dodgers are in second place, compared to being 9 games above .500 and in third place in 2007 at this time.
The most errors the Dodgers have had in a game this season is two, which they have had 10 times.
The Giants pitching staff has surrendered 338 walks, the most in the NL.
The Giants only hit 14 homers in June.
The Rockies finished June with a 12-15 mark, their third losing month of the season.
Arizona pitchers have walked 243 batters, the fewest in the NL.
The Padres and the Reds are each hitting .199 with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs, the worst in baseball.
The Rockies have lost eight straight and nine of their last 10 to fall a season-high 19 games below .500.
San Diego is now 83-111 all-time in Interleague play, with a 43-54 mark at home and 40-57 record on the road.
The Padres have 15 come from behind wins.
The Giants have 13 comeback wins this season.
Heres the Dodgers won-lost record this season by day: Sunday (4-9), Monday (5-4), Tuesday (7-6), Wednesday (7-6), Thursday (3-5), Friday (5-7), Saturday (7-7).
LA is 3-10 in two-run games.
Top of the 2nd
THE RAYS ARE SHINING
After the Rays victory over the Red Sox last, they are firmly in first place.
Heres how the Rays stood on previous July firsts, compliments of ESPN.com:
Games Back Entering July 1
Season GB
2008 In 1st
2007 16
2006 14.5
2005 19
2004 11
2003 24.5
2002 21
2001 22.5
2000 10.5
1999 14
1998 24.4
Top of the 3rd
HURTIN
Roy Oswalt (7-8) struck out nine and allowed one run and six hits before walking off the field with a trainer after throwing his warmup pitches for the 7the inning against the Dodgers inning. Manager Cecil Cooper said Oswalt strained his left hip abductor in the 6th. Oswalt had grounded out in the bottom of the inning, but catcher Brad Ausmus said Oswalt hurt himself on the last pitch he threw, a curveball. Cooper said Oswalt was "day-to-day." He is due to start again in Atlanta on Saturday.
Arizona LF Eric Byrnes is headed for the DL after straining his left hamstring, a week after coming off the DL with a right hamstring injury. Byrnes, who spent a month on the DL, pulled up as he tried to steal third in the second. He never reached the bag and was thrown out.
Padres RHP Chris Young had surgery Monday to correct a deviated septum and repair his nasal fracture. Young suffered a nasal fracture and laceration when he was hit with a line drive off the bat of St. Louis' Albert Pujols on May 21.
Royals OF David DeJesus did not play because of soreness in his right ribcage. He is day-to-day.
The Orioles placed LHP Jamie Walker (elbow) on the 15-day DL and activated LHP Adam Loewen from the DL.
Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera left the game against Minnesota on Monday night because of a tight left hip flexor. He is listed as day-to-day.
Plate umpire Brian O'Nora was struck near the ribcage by a pitch that deflected off Schneider's glove in the 2nd inning of the Cardinals/Mets game but was able to resume after catching his breath. O'Nora was hospitalized with a mild concussion last week after getting struck by a broken bat in Kansas City.
Detroit Tigers right-hander Jeremy Bonderman had surgery yesterday to correct a condition that caused a blood clot in his pitching arm. Bonderman was placed on the disabled list the first week in June after having the blood clot broken up and getting an angioplasty. Dr. Greg Pearl performed a procedure in Dallas to correct thoracic outlet compression syndrome, a condition that pinches the vein responsible for returning blood from the arm to the heart and caused the clot.
Washington Nationals closer Chad Cordero is out for the season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Cordero will have surgery on the shoulder, which has been bothering him all season. Cordero has pitched in only six games, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings and who has been on the disabled list since April 30, was diagnosed early in the season with tendonitis in his throwing shoulder. The few times he did pitch, he lacked his usual velocity. Later, doctors discovered a torn lat muscle just below his pitching shoulder. Attempts at rehabilitation failed to improve the shoulder, and another examination yesterday revealed the torn labrum.
Top of the 4th
WILLIS PITCHES
Dontrelle Willis made his Lakeland Flying Tigers' debut Sunday as the Flying Tigers defeated the Daytona Cubs, 3-2, in a 20-inning game. Jeramy Laster scored the winning run in the bottom of the 20th after a fielding error by the Cubs' Robinson Chirinos.
The game was the longest played at Marchant since the Tigers and Miracle squared off for 15 innings on June 1, 2004 and the longest for the franchise since the Tigers and St. Petersburg Cardinals went at it for 20 innings in 1989.
Willis entered the game in the 7th inning and a one-out single sandwiched between two walks loaded the bases but Willis limited the damage to one run by getting consecutive fielder's choices.
He walked Jonathan Mota to start the 8th but stranded him there thanks to Pedro Cotto's outstanding diving catch in left with two outs.
"I felt very good tonight for not having thrown in a game in a couple of weeks," said Willis.
"It took me a few pitches to get my stride back but I felt I had command of all my pitches once I did," added Willis, who pitched against Lakeland when he was a Jupiter Hammerhead in 2002.
Top of the 5th
MADONNAS NEW BAT BOY?
After months of divorce rumors swirling around Madonna and hubbie Guy Ritchie, Us magazine alleges that the nearly 50-year-old pop star is cavorting with the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez.
The magazine reported that A-Rod has made numerous late-night visits to Madonna's Central Park West apartment and attended her April 30 concert in NYC. A source told the magazine that "all the doormen are talking" about the alleged affair.
She, in turn, sat in his seats at Yankee stadium at a game on June 22, the magazine reported. Also, her 7-year-old son, Rocco, was spotted wearing Yankees gear while playing in Central Park on June 25.
The two were spotted by a photo agency dining together in Santa Monica in February, and, earlier that same month, A-Rod attended a Madge-hosted fundraiser for Malawi and Unicef.
A-Rod, who's also married and has two daughters with wife Cindy, was seen in 2007 with a stripper in Toronto, Miami and Dallas.
It was rumored that Madonna had a tryst with Jose Canseco, earning him the title "Madonna's Bat Boy," but the ballplayer claimed in his book he wasn't interested in her.
Top of the 6th
BILLY-BALL-SITE-OF-THE-DAY
Lets show a little love to the Tigers well lets let this site do it:
http://www.tigerblog.net/
Top of the 7th
PROBABLE PITCHERS
AL
Royals (Luke Hochevar) at Orioles (Radhames Liz), 7:05
Rangers (Kevin Millwood) at Yankees (Joba Chamberlain), 7:05
Red Sox (Tim Wakefield) at Rays (Matt Garza), 7:10
Tigers (Nate Robertson) at Twins (Scott Baker), 8:10
Indians (Cliff Lee) at White Sox (John Danks), 8:11
A's (Rich Harden) at Angels (Ervin Santana), 10:05
Blue Jays (Jesse Litsch) at Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith), 10:10
NL
Phillies (Kyle Kendrick) at Braves (Charlie Morton), 7:00
Pirates (Zach Duke) at Reds (Edinson Volquez), 7:10
Nationals (Collin Balester) at Marlins (Mark Hendrickson), 7:10
Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw) at Astros (Wandy Rodriguez), 8:05
Mets (Tony Armas) at Cardinals (Todd Wellemeyer), 8:15
Padres (Josh Banks) at Rockies (Aaron Cook), 9:05
Brewers (Jeff Suppan) at Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson), 9:40
Cubs (Jason Marquis) at Giants (Matt Cain), 10:15
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
In the last 25 years, the only hitter to collect 210 or more hits while walking fewer than 25 times is Kirby Puckett, with 234 hits and 23 walks in 1988. Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzmαn is on a pace to join him.
Top of the 9th
ALL-STAR LIBERTY
Scattered around the city are 42 eight-and-a-half-foot replicas of the Statue of Liberty painted in the colors of teams from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the Colorado Rockies, the statues will appear virtually overnight in the buildup to the game.
The marquee event of All-Star weekend will be a red-carpet parade that, according to Tim Brosnan, baseballs executive vice president for business, will rival great parades of New York City history.
Think St. Patricks Day, think the Canyon of Heroes, think ticker tape, Brosnan said.
The parade, held on the afternoon of the game, will feature all of the All-Star players and more than 40 members of the Hall of Fame proceeding along 95,000 square feet of red carpet on Avenue of the Americas. Starting around 1 p.m. at Bryant Park, the parade will take two hours to go from 40th Street to 58th Street with the players riding past the crowds on open-backed vehicles.
Its our homage to the city of New York, Brosnan said. Its our way of letting the fans who may or may not have access to the ballpark come away with what we call that All-Star Game memory that wed like everybody to experience.
Bottom of the 9th
BUY THE BOOK
Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs Baseballs Grand (and not so Grand) Finales, with a Foreword by Jon Miller available now from ACTA Sports.
Autographed first editions are available by contacting, Bill@billy-ball.com or order directly from Acta Sports, http://www.actasports.com/detail.html?&id=3427 or from your favorite bookstore worldwide.
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Information provided in Billy-Ball has been gathered from A.P. reports, espn.com, sportsline.com, mlb.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in Billy-Ball are obviously solely the opinions of the author of Billy-Ball and do not reflect those of source material no matter how off the wall they may be.
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