SB Nation - Login for mobile commenting

Bleed Cubbie Blue

First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Reds, Sunday 9/7, 12:15 CT

Random baseball-reference.com page

0 recs  |  238 comments

Comments

Let's do this Cubs!!!!!
way to lead us off Sue!

let’s score early and often and give Sean a cushion to work with.

Here we go Cubbies, here we go..clap clap
OK...

No let downs…

A bit of a shake-up in the line-up

Sori, Hoff (RF), DLee, ARam, Geo, DeRo, JEd, Riot, Marshall

Thank god

They finally are doing the right thing and put Soto in the 5 hole instead of Edmonds.

Hoff played RF yesterday too?

Lou’s giving Dome the cold shoulder or time off or both?

A little of both, I think.

Plus, Harang’s a righty

It's a fine line between shooting yourself in the foot...

…and shooting yourself in the head.

I like Geo there, as well

Speed for speed in the 2-hole, but Riot’s OBP is, umm…better than Hoff’s

Sixth

on this thread

Micah starting regularly kinda pisses me off

I want Dome starting, and Micah as a bench player works…but NOT as a starter.

Id rather have the guy

that can potentially hit the ball out of the infield.

If he can make contact.
Who DOME?

That guy sure strikes out A LOT.

I just have a complete distaste

for career minor leaguers, no disrespect to Crash Davis. They are career minor leaguers for a reason: because they aren’t good enough to be in the majors.

Not always.

But Hoffpauir isn’t some TTO god like Jack Cust or Russ Branyan.

Even Crash spent 21 days in the bigs

21 best days of his life

Correct me if I'm wrong...

…Micah isn’t a #2 hitter anyway, is he? Seems like an odd slot for him.

Oh come on!

I’m sure a player with a 3:1 K:BB rate in the minors will do FINE playing out of position! What could possibly go wrong?

Agree, Dan

no matter how frustrating Dome is at bat I’d much rather have him in right

Time to bleed the Reds!
Sue, I'll join ya!!!!
hehehe..I thought so. ;-)
The Cubs can do this

the Padres can help

OT: Baseball statistics --where to get them.

Does anyone know where I can get annual W-L data (date and win-or-loss) for each baseball team for the past few years, and hitting data for players in any format? I want to play with some transfer entropy and mutual information algorithms for time series as applied to baseball. Thanks in advance.

baseballreference
Why not start with the link at the top that Al posted

Start with BR, baseball-reference.com. Good starting point for basic data, IMO.

Is it downloadable?

Either in comma-separated value, xml, or other format?

I'd recommend...

…downloading the database from http://www.baseball-databank.org/. Versions for Access and MySQL.

Sorry.

CSV and MySQL only. baseball1.com has the Access version.

That looks great. CSV works fine.

Thanks!

No problem.

What tools are you using, if I can ask?

Codes using Python and C++ that I've used for some other work I've done

on predicting possible world-wide epidemics using CDC health data. Principles are the same: given a time series of health-data, what’s the probability that what you are seeing is an “anomaly” (epidemic) based on what the “expected value” of the time series should be at some future time. Also, how does the effect of time series affect the behavior of another time-series (transfer entropy), and how does the nonlinear correlation (mutual information) between one time series and another affect each other?

Sounds fascinating.
What do you mean by "mutual information"?

Information to the general public about Disease X?

Why hasn't this game started?

It’s 1213…

blame dusty
He's like Canada

All wrapped up in one person.

He's driving around looking for Riverfront Stadium
Useless stat of the day...

DeRo has hit 20 HRs this year…

… but last night’s was his first 3R – HR of the season.

for some reason

I’m worried about facing Harang today.

Huge double-header for the NL East today

Moyer v Pedro Game 1
Hamels v Johan Game 2

Could be a big swing in that division today.

That is huge

two good pitching matchups

A little dramatic for Bruce
I'm just gonna GameDay the game...

…too much football today, and I can’t BCB, GameDay, WGN Radio, AND watch football today.

you're not ambidextrous?
No,

I’m not productive at ADHD-ing.

here's what I don't get ...

if Lou will hit Hoff in the 2-hole, why not hit Kosuke there more often? Anybody?

Because Hoffpauir runs the bases better?

Oh. Wait.

the best reason

to hit Hoff second is to put a left-hander in between our glut of righties. Or to get him some good pitches to hit with Lee and Ramirez on deck.

And that logic SHOULD apply to Kosuke, shouldn’t it?

Here's a fun question:

Would you rather have Micah or McGehee starting? I know who I’d choose.

Micah
We all knew what YOU would say.

Micah Hoffpauir isn’t the worst backup first baseman in the league, although he’s probably the fourth best on this team. McGehee doesn’t belong in the majors at all.

We all know what I would say?

you have more opinions than Dan Bernstien.

better option

DeRosa in right, Fontenot at second.

Dome seems to scuffle when he's higher in the order

1: 50AB, .260/.362/.722
2: 78AB, .154/.250/.481
5: 217AB, .300/.405/.870

that's pretty weird

It can’t be as simple as that, though, can it? No disrespect intended …

I was a big proponent of Dome leading off

Until Sori got hurt, and I got to see it first-hand. He doesn’t seem to like it one bit.

There is very little evidence that hitters do significantly differently in different parts of the lineup.

I’m still convinced we could bat Soriano down in a traditional RBI spot, we just need to be patient with it.

Not sure that applies

He was hot early in the season, and he was batting #5.

He’s gone cold, and has been cold no matter where Lou has put him.

Because Lou wants someone there not named DeRo?
in the two hole, or in right?

Please explain your point.

Batting #2.

He’s had two great games there, one not so good, and that’s it.

Why not put an .870 OPS in a position to get more PAs?

DLee has played 4 more games than DeRo and has 78 more PAs.

well ...

it would significantly weaken the lower part of the lineup. But I can’t really decide whether I disagree with you …

a quiet first and quiet BCB
Good inning, boys!

A guy that’s 4-15 with a 5.21 ERA – let’s take 7 pitches in the first! Good call dudes.

Soriano and Lee gave them a ride.

You take pitches to get ones you want to hit. Soriano was about two inches from a home run on that pitch – I don’t think he was going to see a better pitch to hit in that at-bat.

Eh...no tv for me, just GameDay. I stand corrected.
Gordo's Twitter

says A-Ram ahd quad tightness last night? I didn’t know that…

i could tell on the double by Gio
It was mentioned in the post-game

Not enough for him to sit, tho. (Obviously)

he did look slow running to third on that double
I used to think A-Ram was lazy

But now I know he just likes to take his time around the bases. Soriano can dog it around the bases, Aramis just enjoys taking his time.

Ron asked Lou on the pre-game

Lou said he had “tightness” in his leg. Didn’t get more specific…

Why does he always double clutch before throwing the ball?

It’s excruciating to watch.

And the Reds go down in order

GO4, GO6, K

make 'em pay Aramis
I guess not :-(
Complaint Alert:

Rami seems to be reaching for a lot of sliders outside the zone – noticed it especially yesterday and he’s already done it a couple times. Not too worried bc he’s a professional hitter, but it’s moderately annoying at least. Am I crazy?

No, you're not crazy.

Ramy’s in a slump. When he’s in a slump, he swings at a lot of bad pitches. He’ll snap out of it, hopefully just like Sori did.

Sabermagician in the stands...
??

missed it

Had a sign..

14 runs scored, 3 homers by Sori = magic number 17.

Ha, ha. Good one.
i could outrun Gio

……future 1st baseman

What you can't do is spell his name.
saber geek and english teacher all in one
It's three letters long!
Don't doubt the intellectual capabilities of BCBers. Best of all team blogs :-)
Who the hell is Glo?
I dated a Gloria once

She went by ‘Glo’. Not a fond memory there.

Took her to a Cubs/Cards game at Wrigley. The Cards won. I shoulda broke it off right then.

Len just said that Dempster

got hit by a “wayward biscuit.”

Sounds like it

was pretty loose in the club house this morning. LOL!

I'll say

Blanco taking the locker room attendant hostage and wheeling him out to the on deck circle… bunch o’ clowns, our Cubs :-D

Oh to be a

fly on the wall in there. :D

oh yeah

I’d be a fly with a big grin

DeRo's playing hurt today.

DeRo hit Dempster with a biscuit, and Dempster returned fire with a bagel. Got him good… That Dempster guy has a pretty good arm, I’ve heard…

Boys will be boys
Atta boy DeRo

Walks on 5 pitches

OT: it's cool how you can move tabs around in Chrome

just discovered that

You can do that in any browser

I think Firefox could do it in v1.5

Firefox has had that for a coupla versions now

I get frustrated with other browsers when I can’t move their tabs around

OK... I admit it... I'm slow
Raise your hand

if, before the season, you thought that DeRo would hit his 20th HR before DLee.

Be honest.

or that he'd have more than twice as many home runs

as Kosuke

That I'd buy.

I was expecting a little better doubles production, though.

really?

twice as many? I thought Kosuke was projected to hit between 15 and 20 HRs?

I agree on the doubles power vs. HR power

Did batting him #5 put more pressure on him to try to hit for more power? Did that cause him to lengthen his swing?

If the Reds had a good manager

Their team would be pretty good in a few years. With Dusty, I’m sure he will manage to fuck it up. Unlike the Pirates or Astros, I like their young guys.

sounds like he did a pretty good job

of screwin Harang’s season. Pitched him four innings of relief 3 days after a start and then bringin him back on short rest for his next start

You have to do strange things in the middle of a penant race

Oh, wait…

I liked that move a lot.

Really wish managers would do more with their starters on throw days – they’re throwing anyways, might as well make use of it. Yankees did it last year with Pettite.

Position players, I agree.

Votto and Bruce look like the real deal. Encarnacion, I’m not a fan.

Pitching? Dusty has already maimed Harang and Cueto — can Volquez be far behind?

Cueto should have been shut down IMO
I thought Cueto was gonna have a way better season than Volquez...
As much as we like to ride Dusty about his habits with pitchers...

…which one of us was going to shut down Prior or Wood in 2003? I think people forget how tight that race was.

I hope CPAT enjoys

his last 20+ games in baseball.

Don't you think he'll be back as long as Dusty is?
His Batting Average

Is .202!! Damn I could nearly hit that well….. Well I couldnt do much worse :)

the two brothers are combining for a sub .400 BA
You can't field as well as Patterson, though.

Not that finding a good defensive CFer that can hit .200 is that difficult; we have a guy like Sam Fuld and I’m sure other clubs have guys like that, too.

That said, I think Patterson is a better hitter than what he’s shown this year.

Your Scouting report is good

I busted my shoulder when younger and cant throw for toffee :)

Juan Pierre was an above-average defensive CFer...

…and he couldn’t throw, either.

He is a better hitter than what he's shown this year.

We know he’s a good CF.

The question is: Is Corey capable of producing an OPS that is ML average for a CF?

Probably not, but he's still a servicable fourth outfielder.

After dealing away Dunn and Griffey, it’s not like the Reds have a whole lot of other options.

Uh-oh

Marshall walks ’em clogged.

one of the funniest moments from last night

was when marquis walked a runner in and the batter was extremely reluctant to take first base….I totally imagined Dusty freaking out and screaming “Dont clog the bases!”

that was because the batter KNEW it was a strike.

The ump just decided it wasn’t/

I know that's why he didn't go

And I know it’s not all that funny when the opposition scores runs…

Dusty bashing is just very popular here especially of his “Bases Clogging” schtick so it was quite apt

Dickerson knew that the pitch was a strike...

Marquis knew it, Geo knew it, Gameday knew it, everyone knew it…

…except the umpire.

We need Dome in RF dammit!
Hoff's gun is a little sub-par, eh?
Usually you stash a guy with a poor arm at 1B.

I’m pretty sure his limited OF time in the minors was mostly in LF, too.

Even DeRo could have made that throw...
Or Ward, for that matter...
Hoffpauir hides his poor arm by having poor range.
well

now, Lou’s decision to sit Kosuke doesn’t look so good.

that wasnt that bad of a play
it wasn't

but Fukudome would have likely made a good play

Yeah, but it was a play Dome could have made...

…and it’s not like Hoffpauir’s 0-for-6 since rosters expanded is making up for it.

you're right - afterall 6 at bats is a lot
I have a pretty good idea of what I think Hoffpauir's offensive capabilites are...

…and yeah, it’s higher than a .200 OPS. But it’s not enough to offset the huge gap between him and Dome defensively.

tough hop - ball beat him
Sean getting squuezed?

Gameday sure makes it look that way!

Cubs pitchers have been getting sqeezed this whole series.

You can see it on Gameday and on the TV

is Lou just gonna sit there and take it???
Thank goodness only 1 run that inning
Hopefully that's the Reds "big inning"
Let's get some runs!!!!

Get those bats going guys!

I just ordered takeout indian food

Chicken Tikka Madras, Pilau rice, garlic naan bread. About to pick it up. Maybe that will be the spark the team needs!!!!!

Hope so.
I'm not sharing, so stop trying!
Never had Indian

food before so I think I’d pass anyway.

i think its gross
It's fantastic stuff.

Of course, I can’t claim to have had very authentic stuff for the most part – don’t think they serve a lot of beef curry in India proper.

I agree. I love Indian food.

Usually, in Indian restaurants they have chicken curry or lamb curry. Never saw beef curry on any menu—weird.

At my village resteraunt

I have the choice of dishes in whatever sauce (curry, madras, etc.) using chicken, lamb, prawn, king prawn, chicken tikka, or lamb tikka

It was a curry restauraunt in Japan called Coco's.

Japanese restaurants aren’t very authentic – they serve spaghetti with a poached egg on top in Italian restaurants.

anything with a poached egg on top rocks in my book
The curry place would serve a raw egg in a bowl on the side...

…and you’d mix it in with the curry and rice. It was awesome.

it will certainly get some runs
LMAO!!!!

Quote of the day, Emelie. Quote of the day.

LMAO. Best one today.
ha!

line of the day.

Hi everyone. I'm back from my trip to the desert.

I posted a couple of pictures from the trip with me in my BCB shirt in the fanshots section.

It was weird. The first week I was gone, the Cubs couldn’t lose a game, and the second week, they couldn’t win. I’m rooting for more of the former.

welcome back!
Thanks, Emelie, for your help on posting pictures.

I’m just a bit slow about some of these things.

VERY funny kid-eating-pizza shot
someone wipe that kid's face
there it is again for ya :)
WGN must have thought so too
That was so cute.
Is it my imagination,

or is Riot slower than we think he is? There have been a few grounders I was sure he would beat out, and he wasn’t even close.

come on throw a mistake to soriano
Ok I have to run to a garage sale

The Cubs better be ahead when I get back or I’m holding all of you accountable.

rake it in, daev
let's see if Marshall can settle down.

we will get some runs off Harang

I think these Seinfeld v Gates commercial SUCKS
Vista sucks
+2,093,581,928,238.000001
I need a new laptop for work and we are buying a Mac Book Pro

and downgrading to Windows XP so we can avoid Vista

I just switched.

MBP, with VMWare Fusion, and I run my statistical software in Vista, within OS X. I don’t see why anyone would need a Windows machine again.

It's the Conquistador!

You’re definitely a 10.

This must be a Seinfeld reference.

Never a big fan, sorry, Colin.

OT - MICROSOFT MUST DIE!!

Not that I feel strongly about it or anything.

So are you using Linux as your operating system or are you just venting?
Just venting. I am trying to learn enough to use Linux.

I’m mediocre in terms of computer literacy, as some denizens of this board can attest.

I have lots of computer literate friends (I’m an amateur astronomer and ham radio operator) and they all despise Windows.

I have one word for you...

Apple.

That's a good choice. Apple OS is based on BSD, which is similar to Linux/Unix.
I've got linux loaded up on a machine

but haven’t delved … how’s the learning curve?

I haven'
I haven't really tried it yet. I'm just a lot of talk on this issue.
Could be steep. My advice for newbies is to use Ubuntu. Friendliest and easiest of

the different flavors of Linux.

actually, I might have that

I’ll have to rev it up after the game give it a twirl

I've heard that from others, but couldn't remember that name.

Thanks for giving it to me.

I've tried a few Ubuntu variants...

…and I’ve found for what I do, Windows still fits my needs the best. Office 2007 and Photoshop CS3 are essential for me, and for that, I need Windows.

If you're not used to UNIX in general

And you want to use the command line, pretty steep. If you stick with the graphical stuff, you can get a lot done without a terrible amount of effort.

Unix always was and will be a black box for me
I've got a pair of old NeXT machines at home

They’re pretty black boxes, anyway :)

I second that -- at least the Windows part of Microsoft...
they both need the money
I must admit to having some issues with Hoff in rf -- it is just very weird.

DeRo could be there if you want to sit Dome, and then put Fontenot at 2nd (like someone else suggested). I wonder what Lou is thinking….he says he wants to play those who are hitting—and LBR is hitting.

I think Lou

is just giving Hoff a shot. It doesn’t appear to be anything that will last.

Two words for you....

Bob Howry

you really shouldn't swear like that on a family board
different situation

proven veteran vs. unproven rookie. Howry has been a very good pitcher in the past.

key word - past
"in the past" being the operative words
right ...

on the past thing. Lou is trying to get a guy who was good IN THE PAST going again. It hasn’t worked.

But there’s no reason to think he’ll give as long a leash to Hoff.

but he sucks ass this year

and Lou keeps trotting him out there.

On the pre-game,

Lou basically admitted that he “was trying to find out about Hoffpauir” — implying that he was thinking about him for the post-season roster. It doesn’t really make sense to carry him since he is just a worse fielding version of Ward, but they don’t really have a solid 14th position player. (It sounds like Pie is still in the basement of the Canine Hotel California.)

Worse than Ward?

Thats tough to say. I doubt anyone here has seen enough to make that judgement. I do know Ward is fat and slow

Ward has a stronger arm than Hoffpauir...

…and more experience in the outfield. Hoffpauir is a little more mobile, but I’m not convinced it’s enough to offset the difference.

Ward is the best pinch hitter in the Majors

And I have complete faith in the man. Michah? Notsomuch.

Where you can check out but never leave!
McNabb looking like he's trying to break Brady's records last year
I love that all we can see in the stands are Cub fans
Lots of cute little ones today.
let's give them something to cheer for in the 4th!!
OT wow, did anyone just see Farve's hail mary TD?

You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Bleed Cubbie Blue to post a comment.