Welcome to the NL west, where the Rockies were effectively[1] eliminated by their loss to the D-backs on Tuesday, despite a record essentially equivalent to that of the Royals, Indians, Reds, and A’s. The highlight of my week scoring games for STATS was Saturday’s San Diego vs. Colorado matchup.[2] Greg Maddux and Aaron Cook both pitched exceedingly well until the 7th inning, when Mr. Cook got hammered and had to exit. Thing is, at the time the Rockies had a slim chance of still catching the rather lousy division leaders. The Rox lost that night… and now, a week later, they are as out of the race as the Royals.
In other major baseball news close to the Nachoman’s heart, the Reds followed the Griffey trade by sending Adam Dunn to the Diamondbacks for three pitchers, including two-way stud Micah Owings. Yay! I completely understand, respect, and agree with the arguments that Adam Dunn is one of the most useful hitters in baseball, despite the fact that he strikes out in one month more than I did in my entire little league career.[3] Yet, I’m glad to see him go. He will command way, way more money next year than a rebuilding team like the Reds should be paying. More to the point, I – and, presumably, Reds pitchers – no longer cringe every time a fly ball is lofted to left field. All pitching staffs need strong defense behind them. A young staff like that of the Reds needs solid defense even more critically… I wonder how much of Edinson Volquez’s second-half struggles can be attributed to pitching for the strikeout rather than to contact, having been burned by cheap hits to Mssrs. Dunn and Griffey too many times.
In other major baseball news close to the Nachoman’s heart, the Reds followed the Griffey trade by sending Adam Dunn to the Diamondbacks for three pitchers, including two-way stud Micah Owings. Yay! I completely understand, respect, and agree with the arguments that Adam Dunn is one of the most useful hitters in baseball, despite the fact that he strikes out in one month more than I did in my entire little league career.[3] Yet, I’m glad to see him go. He will command way, way more money next year than a rebuilding team like the Reds should be paying. More to the point, I – and, presumably, Reds pitchers – no longer cringe every time a fly ball is lofted to left field. All pitching staffs need strong defense behind them. A young staff like that of the Reds needs solid defense even more critically… I wonder how much of Edinson Volquez’s second-half struggles can be attributed to pitching for the strikeout rather than to contact, having been burned by cheap hits to Mssrs. Dunn and Griffey too many times.
This week’s quiz, meant in all seriousness:
Which of the following is the best defensive outfielder?
(A) Adam Dunn
(B) Manny Ramirez
(C) Luke Perry
No, folks, not THAT Luke Perry. I mean the Luke Perry who was a three-year starter on the Woodberry Forest varsity.[4]
For the definitive answer, I turned to Andrew Handelsman, baseball coach, Spanish professor, and Mets fan. After I got him to stop laughing and take the question seriously, he provided a rather hedged and nuanced answer.
“I can tell you Luke’s got far better range,” Mr. Handelsman said. Mr. Perry is well known for running down fly balls nearly from foul line to foul line. “Luke’s arm is not as strong as a major leaguer’s, though.”
“Yeah,” I replied, “but he at least makes a throw. Adam Dunn might be physically capable of throwing someone out at the plate, but the ball always clangs off of the his glove first.”
Mets fans seem pleasant and supportive… right?
A couple of weeks ago I taught an AP physics workshop at Manhattan [New York] College.[5] There I found myself engulfed in a gaggle of Mets fans. There was Scott, a kick-butt physics teacher at Brooklyn Technical High School who keeps a detailed scorecard at every game; Steve, a former Wall Street financier who is beginning a new career teaching at a boys’ Yeshiva; Kat, a city girl who is endearingly excited about her first job as a biological engineer; and others. All were friendly folks, intense about their love of the Mets, but in a positive and supportive way. During my week in the city, the Mets bullpen blew an easy save. I detected no trace of the stereotypical rudeness and bitterness that much of the country believes to be endemic to New York fans. I couldn’t envision any of these new friends giving their team a one-fingered salute while hollering red-faced invective.
Now, granted, things MAY have been different had I visited in June, while the team languished and Omar Minaya threatened Willie Randolph with concrete shoes and the East River.[6] But in a time when the team was experiencing considerable success, I found Mets fans quite enjoyable.
I see no reason to hang his head in shame
Saturday night, San Diego at Colorado… Chase Headley came up in the top of the 2nd inning with a man on second and none out. He hit a deep fly ball to left, just shy of the warning track in front of the 390 sign. Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday made a nice play to catch up with the ball and relay it quickly back to the infield. Kevin Kouzmanoff had gone halfway, and so did not advance to third.
This provoked a long discussion in the booth of how Headley “shouldn’t make eye contact with anyone” on his return to the dugout, because he didn’t advance the runner. “A young guy HAS to advance the runner,” said the FSN Rocky Mountain announcer.
Um, this young guy just about hit a home run. In the gigantic Coors Field outfield, any hard hit fly ball has the potential to fall in for a double. In fact, later in the game Mr. Headley contributed an RBI single and an RBI double. So, really, you’d rather Mr. Headley bunt, or hit a soft grounder to the second baseman? Maybe in the 9th inning of a tie game, but in the 2nd inning? I don’t think so. Nevertheless, FSN criticized Mr. Headley severely, especially when Nick Hundley’s ground ball would have scored Kouzmanoff had he been on third base.
Headley hit the ball so deep, in fact, that I wonder why Mr. Kouzmanoff didn’t advance. He had gone halfway to third base. The purpose of going halfway is to ensure a run should the ball drop for a hit. On a ball hit that far into the outfield, though, a runner should tag: if it’s caught, he goes to third; if it falls in, well, he can score easily from second base anyway. Shouldn’t the booth instead blame Kouzmanoff’s bad baserunning for the team’s failure to score that inning?
PTI observations
Though the Nachoman is in no way pleased with the proliferation of the “two or more guys screaming unfounded opinion at one another” shows throughout sports television, I nevertheless enjoy the founders of the genre, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon of Pardon the Interruption. In order to listen to these characters and still maintain one’s devotion to logic and reason, a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience is mandatory. Both Mssrs. Kornheiser and Wilbon are taking on roles, eschewing a deep and nuanced redaction of sports issues in order to have a loud debate. I keep coming back to PTI partly because Mike and Tony are very good at the roles they play, but more importantly because I have an impression that both are fully capable of deep and nuanced analysis.
Nevertheless, the Nachograndpa took PTI to task for their analysis of the Packers decision to trade Brett Favre:
I have no idea whether the Packers made a good or bad decision. However, I don't understand the thinking of several talk show hosts, including Tony Kornheiser. The thinking seems to go: who'd make the best quarterback for Green Bay this year? No other question is relevent. These people tolerate no discussion about longer-term considerations.
They can't be serious. No matter what, a team should go all out for the current year? No team does this. Perhaps you do this if you think there is a very high probability of getting to the Superbowl this year. But maybe in the Packers' judgment the probability isn't that high. Viewing the longer term certainly seems an argument that at least Tony Kornheiser would grasp. I'm lost by all this.
My response: Of course Tony gets this. But his on-air persona does not, because “longer-term considerations” don’t make for a good shouting match.
Similarly, Fire Joe Morgan pointed out a major mathematical gaffe in the “oddsmakers” section of PTI. A few weeks ago Tony and Mike were asked to give the probability that the Twins would beat the White Sox in that night's game. About 50-50, right, maybe leaning slightly one way or the other, for a game between these two teams fighting for first place in the central?
Wilbon: 0%.
Kornheiser: 100%.
What doofuses. But, “I think it’s an even match, might as well flip a coin” doesn’t bring in the beer ads.
They do, but not for THAT state
Burrito Girl, the Nachoman’s wife and sidekick, walked by during the Padres game. “South Dakota?” she asked. I was momentarily bemused. “Huh?”
“SD. South Dakota? They have a team for the whole state?”
As of Saturday: active pitching leaders in double play groundouts
Tom Glavine 417
Greg Maddux 414
Yes, that’s a stat born of longevity as much as innate ability, but nevertheless, the Nachoman is rooting for the Mad Dog to overtake his 1994 union rep in this and all other statistical categories.
Speaking of Glavine and Maddux
As both pitchers aged, they relied increasingly on their pinpoint control. Mr. Glavine’s struggles were widely noted when umpire evaluation via the “QuesTec” system began. Previously, Mr. Glavine had gotten calls well off of the outside corner; once the electronic eye began checking the accuracy of umpires’ strike zones, Mr. Glavine lost his most effective pitch.
Greg Maddux can be vulnerable to umpires’ idiosyncrasies as well. HIS best pitch is a sort of backup fastball, thrown directly at a batter’s knees but breaking over the inside corner. On Saturday, Eric Cooper kept missing this Maddux backdoor fastball. Or, at least Mr. Maddux thought that Mr. Cooper was missing it. Maddux several times glared at the umpire. Heck, I’d be intimidated knowing that the best pitcher in the history of baseball, whose control is so good that his catcher can close his eyes, disagreed with my judgement. I’d hang my head in shame. [Note: that’s probably one of the reasons I wasn’t top of my class at Umpire School.]
Bad mistakes in the booth: rules interpretations
Back in January at Umpire School, our class spent a rainy Saturday afternoon using the video equipment at the hotel bar[7] to watch instructional DVDs. Mostly we saw interesting and unusual rulings: a pitch lodging in the catcher’s gear, obstruction, interference, and so forth. In virtually every case, we saw the play, saw the umpire make the correct ruling… and listened to the announcers blabber incorrectly and incoherently about the ruling over six replays. The moral of the story, as if we needed the reminder: announcers don’t ever seem to know the rules. This week the Nachoman observed three major rules gaffes.
FSN Rocky Mountain: On a popup just beyond the reach of the first baseman, the ball landed a few inches foul. “If Gonzalez touches that ball, it’s fair, because he’s in fair territory.” BZZZ. No, the ball’s location when touched, not the player’s location, determines fair or foul.
FSN Florida: Perpetuated the myth that “the tie goes to the runner.” BZZZ. Um, there’s no such rule in the rulebook, and there’s no such guideline for umpires. To their credit, FSN corrected themselves later on in the game.
FSN Cincinnati: With Brandon Phillips on 2nd base, Adam Dunn hit a soft liner that landed right near Mr. Phillips. Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada avoided Phillips, fielded the ball cleanly, and threw Dunn out at first. But, second base umpire Joe West called Mr. Phillips out for interference.
The FSN booth made two rules interpretation mistakes here. First, they questioned Mr. West’s judgment of interference. They couldn’t tell whether Mr. Phillips had in fact contacted the Mr. Tejada, but conceded that interference was the correct call if contact occurred. BZZZ! A runner who “impedes, hinders, or confuses” a fielder is guilty of interference; contact is irrelvent.
Secondly, FSN wondered why the Astros didn’t argue, because Mr. Dunn was allowed to go to 1st base, even though Mr. Tejada had thrown him out. “There’s nothing in the rulebook that says interference is a dead ball,” they said. BZZZ! Take a look at rule 2.0, and scroll down to the definition of interference: “…On any interference the ball is dead.” Mr. Dunn was placed at first base because he had completed his time at bat when time was called. The only way Dunn would have been out was if Mr. Phillips had “willfully and deliberately” interfered for the express purpose of preventing a double play.
More on San Diego-Colorado
The Padres took a 6-1 lead over the Rockies in the 6th inning behind the hall of fame pitching of Greg Maddux. Of course, Mr. Maddux has not pitched beyond 6 innings since April… he’s still effective, but not for nearly as long as he used to be. Having only thrown 70 pitches, Maddux came out for the 7th, but gave up two straight hard-hit singles. After consulting with Mr. Maddux, manager Bud Black sent the call to the ‘pen for Mike Adams. Big mistake.
Mr. Adams effectively retired Gerald Atkins, but then walked Ian Stewart on a 3-2 count to load the bases. Next, unforgivably, he walked .243-hitting Troy Tulowitzki – WITH A 5 RUN LEAD – to force in a run.
Mike Adams, you have earned the Nachoman’s Stinky Cheese Award. Get thee to the bench, and don’t return until you’ve learned to throw strikes.
[Postscript: Clay Hensley rescued Mr. Adams by inducing a double play off the bat of catcher Chris Ianetta. “Whew,” said Greg Maddux and the rest of the Padres faithful.]
Shirtlessness does not translate to broadcast competence[8]
Sure, okay, Brandi Chastain kicked the world-cup winning PK back in 1999 for the US Women’s national team. And, the image of her ripping off her shirt on national live television ensured significant interest and television ratings for women’s soccer for years. I know. She’s a national hero, and she’s cute, too.
But, she’s a LOUSY soccer commentator. Just one of her many contributions that I heard before I hit the mute button:
“Topspin on a shot ensures that the ball goes up, then comes down.” No, Ms. Chastain, the physics principle you want here is “gravity.”
Next Week
Check out this clip of the Nachoman on local Cincinnati television news. (You have to click on “Local author combines science and sports.”) Next week, you might see a quiz on Bernoulli’s principle, or perhaps instead on the “Dog Eats Fork” story on the same newscast.
-- NM
[1] Meaning, their odds of making the postseason dropped below 1%
[2] The lowlight was Wednesday’s Reds-Pirates clash, which had the Nachoman pounding his head on the wall as Josh Fogg destroyed an otherwise reasonable outing when he walked the 8th place hitter with none out in a close game. Kudos to Pirate pitcher Paul Maholm, who held the Reds to 2 runs in 8 innings, and who worked quickly and threw strikes.
[3] Mr. Dunn thus strikes out an ENORMOUS amount, as anyone who played youth baseball with the Nachoman will attest.
[4] And also an excellent AP Physics student. I don’t think Dunn and Ramirez would have done as well as Mr. Perry in my class. But I digress.
[5] The clarification is only fair… why should the default Manhattan be New York and not Kansas?
[6] Is the East River ever mentioned outside the context of assassination by “legitimate businessmen?”
[7] which was open, but not for us
[8] Take note, new Jets employee Jenn Sterger
Saturday night, San Diego at Colorado… Chase Headley came up in the top of the 2nd inning with a man on second and none out. He hit a deep fly ball to left, just shy of the warning track in front of the 390 sign. Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday made a nice play to catch up with the ball and relay it quickly back to the infield. Kevin Kouzmanoff had gone halfway, and so did not advance to third.
This provoked a long discussion in the booth of how Headley “shouldn’t make eye contact with anyone” on his return to the dugout, because he didn’t advance the runner. “A young guy HAS to advance the runner,” said the FSN Rocky Mountain announcer.
Um, this young guy just about hit a home run. In the gigantic Coors Field outfield, any hard hit fly ball has the potential to fall in for a double. In fact, later in the game Mr. Headley contributed an RBI single and an RBI double. So, really, you’d rather Mr. Headley bunt, or hit a soft grounder to the second baseman? Maybe in the 9th inning of a tie game, but in the 2nd inning? I don’t think so. Nevertheless, FSN criticized Mr. Headley severely, especially when Nick Hundley’s ground ball would have scored Kouzmanoff had he been on third base.
Headley hit the ball so deep, in fact, that I wonder why Mr. Kouzmanoff didn’t advance. He had gone halfway to third base. The purpose of going halfway is to ensure a run should the ball drop for a hit. On a ball hit that far into the outfield, though, a runner should tag: if it’s caught, he goes to third; if it falls in, well, he can score easily from second base anyway. Shouldn’t the booth instead blame Kouzmanoff’s bad baserunning for the team’s failure to score that inning?
PTI observations
Though the Nachoman is in no way pleased with the proliferation of the “two or more guys screaming unfounded opinion at one another” shows throughout sports television, I nevertheless enjoy the founders of the genre, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon of Pardon the Interruption. In order to listen to these characters and still maintain one’s devotion to logic and reason, a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience is mandatory. Both Mssrs. Kornheiser and Wilbon are taking on roles, eschewing a deep and nuanced redaction of sports issues in order to have a loud debate. I keep coming back to PTI partly because Mike and Tony are very good at the roles they play, but more importantly because I have an impression that both are fully capable of deep and nuanced analysis.
Nevertheless, the Nachograndpa took PTI to task for their analysis of the Packers decision to trade Brett Favre:
I have no idea whether the Packers made a good or bad decision. However, I don't understand the thinking of several talk show hosts, including Tony Kornheiser. The thinking seems to go: who'd make the best quarterback for Green Bay this year? No other question is relevent. These people tolerate no discussion about longer-term considerations.
They can't be serious. No matter what, a team should go all out for the current year? No team does this. Perhaps you do this if you think there is a very high probability of getting to the Superbowl this year. But maybe in the Packers' judgment the probability isn't that high. Viewing the longer term certainly seems an argument that at least Tony Kornheiser would grasp. I'm lost by all this.
My response: Of course Tony gets this. But his on-air persona does not, because “longer-term considerations” don’t make for a good shouting match.
Similarly, Fire Joe Morgan pointed out a major mathematical gaffe in the “oddsmakers” section of PTI. A few weeks ago Tony and Mike were asked to give the probability that the Twins would beat the White Sox in that night's game. About 50-50, right, maybe leaning slightly one way or the other, for a game between these two teams fighting for first place in the central?
Wilbon: 0%.
Kornheiser: 100%.
What doofuses. But, “I think it’s an even match, might as well flip a coin” doesn’t bring in the beer ads.
They do, but not for THAT state
Burrito Girl, the Nachoman’s wife and sidekick, walked by during the Padres game. “South Dakota?” she asked. I was momentarily bemused. “Huh?”
“SD. South Dakota? They have a team for the whole state?”
As of Saturday: active pitching leaders in double play groundouts
Tom Glavine 417
Greg Maddux 414
Yes, that’s a stat born of longevity as much as innate ability, but nevertheless, the Nachoman is rooting for the Mad Dog to overtake his 1994 union rep in this and all other statistical categories.
Speaking of Glavine and Maddux
As both pitchers aged, they relied increasingly on their pinpoint control. Mr. Glavine’s struggles were widely noted when umpire evaluation via the “QuesTec” system began. Previously, Mr. Glavine had gotten calls well off of the outside corner; once the electronic eye began checking the accuracy of umpires’ strike zones, Mr. Glavine lost his most effective pitch.
Greg Maddux can be vulnerable to umpires’ idiosyncrasies as well. HIS best pitch is a sort of backup fastball, thrown directly at a batter’s knees but breaking over the inside corner. On Saturday, Eric Cooper kept missing this Maddux backdoor fastball. Or, at least Mr. Maddux thought that Mr. Cooper was missing it. Maddux several times glared at the umpire. Heck, I’d be intimidated knowing that the best pitcher in the history of baseball, whose control is so good that his catcher can close his eyes, disagreed with my judgement. I’d hang my head in shame. [Note: that’s probably one of the reasons I wasn’t top of my class at Umpire School.]
Bad mistakes in the booth: rules interpretations
Back in January at Umpire School, our class spent a rainy Saturday afternoon using the video equipment at the hotel bar[7] to watch instructional DVDs. Mostly we saw interesting and unusual rulings: a pitch lodging in the catcher’s gear, obstruction, interference, and so forth. In virtually every case, we saw the play, saw the umpire make the correct ruling… and listened to the announcers blabber incorrectly and incoherently about the ruling over six replays. The moral of the story, as if we needed the reminder: announcers don’t ever seem to know the rules. This week the Nachoman observed three major rules gaffes.
FSN Rocky Mountain: On a popup just beyond the reach of the first baseman, the ball landed a few inches foul. “If Gonzalez touches that ball, it’s fair, because he’s in fair territory.” BZZZ. No, the ball’s location when touched, not the player’s location, determines fair or foul.
FSN Florida: Perpetuated the myth that “the tie goes to the runner.” BZZZ. Um, there’s no such rule in the rulebook, and there’s no such guideline for umpires. To their credit, FSN corrected themselves later on in the game.
FSN Cincinnati: With Brandon Phillips on 2nd base, Adam Dunn hit a soft liner that landed right near Mr. Phillips. Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada avoided Phillips, fielded the ball cleanly, and threw Dunn out at first. But, second base umpire Joe West called Mr. Phillips out for interference.
The FSN booth made two rules interpretation mistakes here. First, they questioned Mr. West’s judgment of interference. They couldn’t tell whether Mr. Phillips had in fact contacted the Mr. Tejada, but conceded that interference was the correct call if contact occurred. BZZZ! A runner who “impedes, hinders, or confuses” a fielder is guilty of interference; contact is irrelvent.
Secondly, FSN wondered why the Astros didn’t argue, because Mr. Dunn was allowed to go to 1st base, even though Mr. Tejada had thrown him out. “There’s nothing in the rulebook that says interference is a dead ball,” they said. BZZZ! Take a look at rule 2.0, and scroll down to the definition of interference: “…On any interference the ball is dead.” Mr. Dunn was placed at first base because he had completed his time at bat when time was called. The only way Dunn would have been out was if Mr. Phillips had “willfully and deliberately” interfered for the express purpose of preventing a double play.
More on San Diego-Colorado
The Padres took a 6-1 lead over the Rockies in the 6th inning behind the hall of fame pitching of Greg Maddux. Of course, Mr. Maddux has not pitched beyond 6 innings since April… he’s still effective, but not for nearly as long as he used to be. Having only thrown 70 pitches, Maddux came out for the 7th, but gave up two straight hard-hit singles. After consulting with Mr. Maddux, manager Bud Black sent the call to the ‘pen for Mike Adams. Big mistake.
Mr. Adams effectively retired Gerald Atkins, but then walked Ian Stewart on a 3-2 count to load the bases. Next, unforgivably, he walked .243-hitting Troy Tulowitzki – WITH A 5 RUN LEAD – to force in a run.
Mike Adams, you have earned the Nachoman’s Stinky Cheese Award. Get thee to the bench, and don’t return until you’ve learned to throw strikes.
[Postscript: Clay Hensley rescued Mr. Adams by inducing a double play off the bat of catcher Chris Ianetta. “Whew,” said Greg Maddux and the rest of the Padres faithful.]
Shirtlessness does not translate to broadcast competence[8]
Sure, okay, Brandi Chastain kicked the world-cup winning PK back in 1999 for the US Women’s national team. And, the image of her ripping off her shirt on national live television ensured significant interest and television ratings for women’s soccer for years. I know. She’s a national hero, and she’s cute, too.
But, she’s a LOUSY soccer commentator. Just one of her many contributions that I heard before I hit the mute button:
“Topspin on a shot ensures that the ball goes up, then comes down.” No, Ms. Chastain, the physics principle you want here is “gravity.”
Next Week
Check out this clip of the Nachoman on local Cincinnati television news. (You have to click on “Local author combines science and sports.”) Next week, you might see a quiz on Bernoulli’s principle, or perhaps instead on the “Dog Eats Fork” story on the same newscast.
-- NM
[1] Meaning, their odds of making the postseason dropped below 1%
[2] The lowlight was Wednesday’s Reds-Pirates clash, which had the Nachoman pounding his head on the wall as Josh Fogg destroyed an otherwise reasonable outing when he walked the 8th place hitter with none out in a close game. Kudos to Pirate pitcher Paul Maholm, who held the Reds to 2 runs in 8 innings, and who worked quickly and threw strikes.
[3] Mr. Dunn thus strikes out an ENORMOUS amount, as anyone who played youth baseball with the Nachoman will attest.
[4] And also an excellent AP Physics student. I don’t think Dunn and Ramirez would have done as well as Mr. Perry in my class. But I digress.
[5] The clarification is only fair… why should the default Manhattan be New York and not Kansas?
[6] Is the East River ever mentioned outside the context of assassination by “legitimate businessmen?”
[7] which was open, but not for us
[8] Take note, new Jets employee Jenn Sterger
1 comment:
Nicely done. Now we just need to get you a weekly spot on the DC/Richmond news.... -Annual Fund Guy
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