For Gold Gloves, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A graph showing Total Zone defensive ratings for the firt 15 years of Derek Jeter's and Cal Ripken, Jr.'s careers:

Gold Gloves for Jeter: 5
Gold Gloves for Ripken: 2

For more on this, see this post. And maybe this one too.

Yankees Fans Are Animals; Sky Still Blue

Not that this is a shocker but Yankee fans tried to douse Cal Ripken, Jr. with beer last night. This video was on Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports:



The kind of fans who would dump beer on Ripken, who is classy to a fault, are the kind of fans who belong in a cage. Somebody tell me I'm wrong.

Top 5 Oriole Interleague Stars - The Hitters

As the Orioles are in the midst of interleague play yet again, I thought I'd take a look at the Oriole hitters who had taken advantage of the National League. God knows we could use some of these guys now.

Here's the top 5:


5. Aubrey Huff

         AVG   OBP   SLG   HR   OPS
Huff    .326  .394  .526    7  .920
 

Perhaps this was the indicator that Aubrey Huff would bounce back a bit once he went to the NL this offseason.

4. Albert Belle

         AVG   OBP   SLG   HR   OPS
Belle   .326  .396  .525    7  .921
 

It's crazy how close Huff and Belle's interleague numbers are. But they were both raking.



3. Cal Ripken, Jr.

         AVG   OBP   SLG   HR   OPS
Ripken  .330  .380  .558   14  .938

Of course, Cal is here. Even more amazing than those numbers is the fact he did it at a time when the NL was probably the better league.

2. Larry Bigbie

         AVG   OBP   SLG   HR   OPS
Bigbie  .360  .446  .523    3  .969
 
 

There always has to be a surprise on a list like this and Bigbie qualifies. This is over 101 plate appearances where he walked 14 times. It's still a drag this guy didn't make it.



1. Harold Baines

         AVG   OBP   SLG   HR   OPS
Baines  .355  .424  .553    3  .976
 

Just another reason to love Harold Baines. No Oriole was more effective against the Senior Circuit.

Ripken: "I Had Dinner With Mr. Angelos Last Night."

With all the hubbub given to the original Ken Rosenthal story about Cal Ripken and Peter Angelos earlier this week, people have paid much less attention to the denial by Angelos and the statement released by Ripken.

Anyway, Cal addressed the issue again yesterday on Ripken Baseball, his weekly radio show that he and brother Billy host every Friday on XM's MLB Network Radio. Below is the transcript of what Cal said about the controversy. I thought some of it was interesting and the Rosenthal story (the meat of it anyway) looks more and more like weak sauce.

(This reads a little stilted in text form but I was trying to be as accurate with the transcript as possible.)

Billy Ripken: ...I just figured I'd give you some airtime here and talk about the O's...and you. Because that was a story and, uh, that was out there and I know that some stuff kind of happened and I saw your statement that was issued. It's nice that I read your statements instead of just ask you about it 'cause I know it's going to come out sooner or later. And, you know, the fact of the matter is, you played in Baltimore your entire career, you have a relationship with Peter Angelos, you're in the same city now that Andy MacPhail resides in and works in...you guys are bound to have conversations from time to time.

Cal Ripken, Jr.: (laughs) Well, we've made it a point to meet pretty regularly. I value his opinion on many different things and many times we've disagreed and we've said things, you know, and almost to make each other mad I think. But, you know, I was on a college visit with my son and I got up early in the morning and my Blackberry started blowing up with people telling me that there's this stuff out there. And I honestly didn't really want to deal with it then, it was the time to actually visit the school and really not take your attention away from what you're really supposed to. So then I had to come back and deal with that.

And my experience, and I said it in the statement, is when things go bad, when they go really bad, then this is when these stories have the biggest legs. And certainly there were some elements of the story that were true, certainly I've talked to Andy MacPhail specifically about a role with the organization and I've talked to Peter Angelos about that. And as I've said, you know, the talks are ongoing and they're continuing, you know, with no direct timetable but it's an interest. I know that I'd like to get back into the game, I think, but on my timetable, it is when my last kid, in this case, Ryan, goes off to school, I'm looking at that sort of timetable. So it's not really this urgent thing.

And I wondered if the Orioles got off to an 11-1 start, would there have been any legs to the story at all?

BR: No.

CR: You know, would it have even been thought of or brought up? But it seems like the intention of the story is to create some sort of rift and I think that the fact of the matter is that it was never said that Mr. Angelos didn't want to do anything for fear of giving me credit for a turnaround. That just wasn't said. That just wasn't true. But there were some elements of truth to it...was that we actually have talked and are talking about, you know, things that deal with the Orioles at the big league level so...that's all it is, nothing more than that and I don't have anything more to report. Matter of fact, I had dinner with Mr. Angelos last night.

BR: Uh-oh! Breaking news! Right here! Today! (chuckling)

CR: (chuckling) And then leaving there, one of the persons in the restaurant said "Have you guys cut a deal?" And we both kind of laughed and said "Not yet."

BR: Well, I'm glad you gave me that insider information because I'm going to be up here on the desk tonight up here in New Jersey at the network. I'm going there. "Junior had dinner with Peter Angelos last night." It's out there.

CR: Details to follow.

BR: Perfect!

Angelos Turns Down Ripken! Why Let Facts Get in the Way?

As you all know buy now, a Ken Rosenthal story surfaced on Friday that Cal Ripken, Jr. had approached the Orioles about a job in The Warehouse but was refused by Peter Angelos. A story like that is red meat for Oriole fans who pounced on it with all the enthusiasm and angst you would expect.

To be fair, if this story wasn't about Peter Angelos it wouldn't even be plausible. Angelos has made quite the bed over the years with his meddling, egotistical dealing with the team.

But it just seems like an odd story. The Orioles already work with Ripken in other ways. He owns the Aberdeen Ironbirds, an Oriole affiliate and Cal is involved with the Sarasota spring training deal with a Ripken Baseball Academy being built near Ed Smith Stadium. Why would they be so averse to partnering with Ripken in other ways?

Add to this the fact that Angelos, wisely, went public to deny the story and further stated that if Cal wanted to work for the team, he was more than happy to listen.

But the denial doesn't have the legs that the original rumor has. Even this morning, the Cal snub is being referred to by many media outlets with no hint of the denial. And even on blogs where the denial is acknowledged, the slicing and dicing of Angelos' words is hysterical (in more ways than one). "He must be evil! This must be true!"

But Peter Schmuck has it right...it doesn't really matter one way or the other.

Never mind that Angelos publicly rebutted the story and unequivocally denied that any offer from Cal had been made or refused. This really isn't about who actually said what and when. It's about a set of preconceived notions — some accurate, some not — that reached a hazardous intersection at the same time and caused another collision between fact and fantasy...

No matter how much Orioles Nation romanticizes Ripken, he has no experience running a major league baseball franchise, and he certainly has no experience in the kind of crisis management necessary to turn around this particular organization...

It might simply force fans to face an even harsher reality — that even Cal Ripken cannot save the Orioles.


And this is completely correct. I love Cal Ripken but he's not magic. It would be cool if he was involved in the organization, especially in the minors. And I'd like to hear Cal's side of the story. But this is hardly worth getting worked up about. O's fans are resembling Red Sox fans more every day.

edit: Cal has released a statement.

Nestor is looking to spin this as a "ball's in your court" volley from Cal...looks to me like they've had vague discussions at best. Cal also refutes the statement that Angelos did not want Cal to get credit for a turnaround in Baltimore.

About Those Retired Numbers at Camden Yards...

The theft of Cal Ripken's #8 monument from the outside of Camden Yards gives me the opportunity to comment on these monuments in a larger sense.

Below are some pictures I took of the monuments during a couple visits to the Yard this season:







The retired numbers monuments are a nice gesture but they fall short. They are aluminum. They are hollow. They seem cheap. Earl Weaver's #4 was damaged so they are not exactly durable. And to top it off, they turned out to be mobile.

The Orioles should do this: leave the number monuments but start to add proper statues of the Oriole immortals around the park.

A statue of Brooks ranging wide of third to make the play. Frank Robinson unleashing a mammoth home run swing. Cal tipping his hat to the Oriole faithful. Earl Weaver, cap turned backwards, arguing with the ump. (OK, maybe not that last one...)

The only proper statue at the park is of Babe Ruth! I know he's a Baltimore native...but he's an icon of a division rival! We can do better.

You don't have to do it all at once. Commission the Cal statue this year. In a couple of years, unveil Earl Weaver. And so on. It can and should be done.

I'm going to post some pictures of the statues outside of Turner Field. They are a start. The Oriole immortals deserve better.

Base Hits: The AFL Rosters, Nagging Injuries and Happy Birthday to Cal.

The rosters for the Arizona Fall League have been, by and large, released. The Orioles who will be taking the field for the Phoenix Desert Dogs:

1B Brandon Snyder
3B Josh Bell
3B Brandon Waring
OF Matt Angle
RP Eddie Gamboa
SP Brandon Erbe
SP/RP Ryohei Tanaka

I'm very interested to see how Josh Bell and Brandon Waring fare against top notch pitching. Snyder proved himself in the AFL last season and that success carried him to the cusp of the majors this season.

The pitchers are intriguing too. Has Brandon Erbe recovered? Will fast-rising reliever Gamboa show the stuff to get top level hitters out? Does Tanaka have more promise than originally thought?

Interesting teammates for the Oriole players too. Top Nationals prospect Steven Strasburg will be on the squad as well as former Oriole pitcher turned Blue Jays hitting "prospect" Adam Loewen. (Loewen is posting a .245/.348/.371 line a high-A Dunedin...)

*****

From this roundup article from the Boston Globe:

8. Dave Trembley, manager, Orioles - A scout who watched the Orioles-Rays series last week noticed a bit of apathy from the Baltimore bench. “They have good talent, a couple of good young pitchers, but there’s no fire over there whatsoever,’’ said the scout. “You’ve got to show your players you’ve got the fire no matter where you are in the standings, and you don’t see that with the Orioles. That really stands out.’’ Trembley has managed the tough times in Baltimore, but will he be around to manage the upswing?


If what the scout says is true, it could be a bad omen for Trembley. As I said last week, if Trembley gets let go, it'll be because he has lost his players and not because he lost a lot of games.


*****

The Examiner takes a look at where some Orioles that started the 2009 season with the team have ended up.

*****

Monday was the 49th birthday of Hall of fame shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. In a reminder of the arrogance of the New York sporting community, here's the article from the New York Times that suggested that Ripken take a day off before breaking Gehrg's record in 1995.

*****

Orioles-Inflicted Grimace of the Day. In honor of Baltimore's first series win since the All-Star break, I present Mark Buerhle:

This grimace comes courtesy of a Nolan Reimold 2-run shot on Sunday.

*****

I don't like back injuries for young stars like Adam Jones and although the condition is not considered serious, it gives one pause to poner the Oriole lineup without him.

In the same article, Nolan Reimold may have offseason surgery to repair a fraying Achilles tendon. If that turns out to be the path he chooses, let him do it now! It's a good 4-5 months of recovery time and that's if everything goes well. The O's will need Reimold healthy for 2010...2009 is a lost cause.

*****

Love the interviews with minor leaguers over at Right Off Russell and the two latest are Frederick pitcher Zach Britton and Frederick 1B/OF Robbie Widlansky.

Good Ravens coverage over there too, if you're inclined to that sort of thing.

Base Hits: Draft Surprises, Draft Hysteria, The New Aubrey and Cal the Selfish

So late Monday night while everyone was waiting to see if the Nats would sign Stephen Strasburg, the Orioles received a much bigger surprise than the Nats would get. 2nd round pick Mychal Givens signed with the Orioles after all.

This deal looked dead as Dillinger in the days leading up to the signing deadline but it turns out that both sides (especially scouting director Joe Jordan) were just playing hardball.

Joe Jordan on the tough negotiations:

"I don't know if it was any tougher than anything else. It became apparent to us several days ago that this was going to go down to the end. And I had to put a negative spin on things and then try and hopefully create a situation where we could get it done."

I think there was another factor involved. Givens was committed to Oklahoma State and I would imagine that Joe Jordan's been there. I have. Maybe if Givens was committed to Miami or USC
Jordan would not have been so bold in negotiations. But I'm guessing he was counting on the kid taking the money instead of going to play ball out in the middle of nowhere for the next two years.

The Orioles signed 25 of their top 30 picks including 10 of the first 11. In the first 11 picks, Baltimore added:

2 college righty starters
1 high school righty starter
1 college lefty starter
1 high school lefty starter
1 college righty reliever
1 college catcher
1 high school catcher
1 college first baseman
1 high school shortstop

Not a bad haul, especially when you consider that they made some high upside picks in the later rounds.

*****

While we're on the draft, ESPN's Jayson Stark with a pro-owner/anti-player screed about how the draft is broken and needs to be changed. I don't like to pick on Jayson Stark since I used to read his work way back when in Outside Pitch. So I will agree with his assertion that draft picks should be able to be traded. Anything that gives the teams another avenue for building their farm system is fine with me.

I was going to write about Stark's rehashing of all the ideas many have thrown out to revamp the draft in recent years but Shysterball can do that better than I. (Good comments on this post too...)

*****

Baltimore lost an Aubrey but gained one last night when they recalled 1B Michael Aubrey from Norfolk.

*****

Matt Albers was sent down and Kam Mickolio was recalled from Norfolk.

Against all statistical evidence, I have believed (and still do) that Albers is a major league pitcher. He's got good stuff and just needs to learn to control it. It looked like he had turned a corner earlier this season but has fallen back to his old ways. I'm still pulling for the guy but if you can't find the plate, you can't really expect success...

*****

I found this story comparing the selfishness of Brett Favre to the selfishness of Cal Ripken during The Streak. I refuted the argument in the comments and it turned out to be pretty long. Here's my argument in favor of The Streak:

What everyone seems to forget about Ripken's streak is that he was easily the best choice to play shortstop, offensively and defensively, every day he came to the ballpark. In the days before Nomar, A-Rod and Jeter, a bat like Ripken's was invaluable for a shortstop and his glove was top notch, one of the best of his generation at short. I have always failed to see how the Baltimore Orioles would have been better off with Manny Alexander or Tim Hulett in the lineup. Batting slump or not, Ripken was always contributing stellar defense. A run saved is at least worth an RBI.

I have also failed to see how a game or two off would suddenly rejuvenate a "tired" player. If that was truly the case, one or two games aren't going to help. Ripken often had a better second half than first half over the course of his streak. He often left the game in blowouts to get some extra rest. To assume that he would have had better numbers with a couple of extra games off is quite a leap. Again, this argument forgets Cal's defense.

There wasn't much juicy to write about Cal over the course of his Hall of Fame career so writers fell back on two criticisms: 1) Cal's streak is hurting the team and 2) Cal is not a fiery leader and that's why the Orioles lose. Both were simple, silly and designed to sell papers, not provide analysis. Olney and Ken Rosenthal loved these angles.

Peter Handrinos (an unabashed Yankee fan) makes the assertion that Ripken's poor September cost the Orioles the AL East in 1989. What he fails to remember is that the 1989 Orioles were a ragtag team of rookies and journeyman. They were not expected to contend at all and played above their head all year. To blame their collapse on Ripken's streak is ludicrous. Trading away Mike Boddicker and Eddie Murray (for minor leaguers and spare parts) in 1988 doomed the '89 season before it started. Management did not believe in the team and started to rebuild. The Streak had nothing to do with it. Handrinos seems to want to enhance Lou Gehrig's streak by diminishing Cal's.

And Bobby Bonds' criticism is hilarious. Bonds was a hard drinking partier during his playing days and aged badly as a result, possibly ruining a shot at a Hall of Fame caliber career. Ripken was a diligent trainer and kept in top shape during his career. Which player was truly selfish? Which player was letting his team down? Ripken slept at night...you don't need as much rest when you get a good night's sleep.

Yes, Ripken was lucky to escape injury but as Seneca said, "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity." Ripken put himself in the best possible position to play every day. To compare Gehrig's streak and Ripken's in silly anyway; to even come close to Gehrig's streak, let alone break it, at shortstop instead of first base is far more impressive.

There’s certainly some room to wonder how historically important the streak was but to paint Cal as selfish in this regard is way off base, no pun intended.

WAR Graphs: The Great Orioles of the 90's

(click on the graph for a version you can actually read...)

I decided to take a look at the great Orioles players of the 90's to see how they stacked up in terms of WAR (which includes defensive value). I only included players who played more than 5 seasons for the Orioles between 1990-1999 so Rafael Palmiero, Roberto Alomar and the like do not make the cut.

No real surprises here except maybe the inclusion of Mike Devereaux who hit fairly well for a centerfielder over the course of 7 seasons.

There's Cal's monster 1991 season looming above all with only Chris Hoiles huge 1993 as any kind of rival.

Brady Anderson exceeds Hoiles with overall WAR due to his consistency and longevity...that and his own monster season in 1996.

Cal reigns supreme, which is no surprise but I was surprised by the margin over Anderson...I thought it might be a little closer as Cal entered the twilight of his career.

MASN to Televise Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate All Star Game

MASN to Televise Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate All Star Game

Special Mid-Atlantic Classic Coverage in HD on July 15 at 7 p.m.


(Washington D.C.) -- MASN, the local leader in live sports entertainment, will broadcast the Mid-Atlantic Classic live on July 15th at 7 p.m. on MASN and MASN HD from the Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, MD, home of the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

The game, which will pit a team of 28 Valley League Stars against a team of 28 Ripken, Sr. League Stars, will air in high definition during MLB's All-Star break. In addition to the game, a Home Run Derby between the two leagues will precede the contest at 5:30 p.m.

Legendary broadcaster Johnny Holliday and former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dave Johnson will handle play-by-play and color duties for the Classic, just as they did during MASN's broadcast of the Cal Ripken League All-Star Game in 2007.

"As the home of two Major League Baseballl teams, MASN is excited to showcase the best amateur talent in the Baltimore-Washington region throughout MASN's seven state territory," said MASN spokesman Todd Webster.

About the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League:

The mission of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League is to promote, promulgate, and perpetuate collegiate wooden-bat baseball in Maryland and the District of Columbia. By creating community-based summer collegiate baseball teams, the League seeks to promote amateur and youth baseball and softball in the area through the improvement of existing fields and facilities and fostering spirited competition with an emphasis on sportsmanship, teamwork, honesty, and fair play. The backbone of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League is the investment in and partnership with local communities.

About MASN

MASN is the television home of the Nationals and the Orioles. The network carries over 600 live sporting events every year including more than 275 NCAA Division I football, basketball, and lacrosse games. MASN is currently carried on 23 cable and satellite providers throughout a seven-state region.

WAR Graphs: Ripken, Jeter and Trammell

Inspired by the work of Beyond the Boxscore (and apologies if they have done this particular graph), a comparison of the seasons in terms of WAR of three long playing shortstops: Cal Ripken, Jr., Derek Jeter and Alan Trammell. The seasons are arranged in order of greatest to worst regardless of timeline:

First, notice the sheer dominance of Cal Ripken, Jr especially over Derek Jeter. Second, notice how closely the lines of Trammel and Jeter mirror each other over the course of their career. Jeter is a sure-fire, first ballot Hall of Famer. Alan Trammell has never exceeded 20% of the needed votes to be elected in his 8 years on the ballot. Just some food for thought.

(By the way, you can thank Scott Garceau for the loose continuing series of "Jeter vs. Ripken" posts. There will be more...)

Ripken vs. Jeter: Not Even Close

While I was up in the Baltimore area during opening week, I listened to a fair amount of local sports radio to catch up on the Orioles. Most of it was fine but I did hear somebody repeat a myth and in the process degrade the reputation of one of the all-time Oriole greats.

I was listening to Anita Marks and Scott Garceau on WHFS and someone called in to ask how much longer the Yankees could afford to let Derek Jeter play shortstop given his diminishing ability to play the position. Garceau scoffed and said he was sick of hearing how Jeter can no longer play shortstop. Jeter may not have the raw athletic range he once had, opined Garceau, but he put himself in good positions to make the plays and thus gets to as many balls as he ever did. And then he said it...Just like Cal Ripken, Jr. did later in his career.

I have had this argument before on two fronts. The first to show that Cal Ripken did maintain excellent range until he moved to third base in 1997 and to show that Gold Glover Derek Jeter is, by and large, a fraud in the field. And I usually have this argument with baseball fans who are not necessarily statheads. So how do I make the point?

Total Chances. Most baseball fans understand in general terms how Fielding Percentage is calculated (Assists + Putouts)/ Total Chances (Assists + Putouts + Errors). People understand that your Total Chances demonstrate how many times you got to the ball. The numbers don't care how you did it, just that you did it. Here's the graph of total chances by season as full-time shortstops for Ripken and Jeter.



First, each player has a season where they plunge below 500 Total Chances. For Ripken it was 1994, the strike-shortened season. For Jeter, it was 2003 when he was injured and only played 118 games. The rest of the points all represent full seasons.

Jeter only had three seasons where he got to more than 700 balls. Ripken only had two full seasons in which he did not get to 700 balls. When Ripken got to the point that he could barely keep it above 700, he quit kidding himself and switched to third. Jeter has no such self-awareness. I mean, look at the graph. It's a slam dunk.

As Ripken's range and quickness declined, he adapted in two ways. The first, he positioned himself well for each batter and even each pitch. Secondly, and most important, he was blessed with a cannon for a right arm. This allowed him to play deeper, even out on the grass, and still make the plays he needed to.

With Jeter, he was never an elite defender to begin with. He enjoyed three, maybe four decent seasons in the field. He doesn't make a lot of errors once he gets there but, by and large, he doesn't get there. And that's the most important job of a fielder...get to the ball.

And while no fielding metric is perfect, I could grab a ton more data to show the same thing.

So let's put this myth to rest. Jeter is not Ripken. Certainly not in the field and perhaps not even at the plate.

Cal Ripken on MLB.com

In minutes, MLB Network will be airing an interview with Cal Ripken, Jr. on MLB Tonight.

They usually replay the show later in the evening and many times the following morning in case you miss it...more on this later.

Q&A With MLB.com Writer Jonathan Mayo About His New Book, "Facing Clemens"

This is kind of a book review but with a different twist. The book is called "Facing Clemens" by Jonathan Mayo. No, it's not a rehash of the whole steroid mess. It's a look back at Roger Clemens' career between the lines...told by the hitters who had to face him.

What's the Oriole connection? Well, Cal Ripken, Jr. faced Clemens more than any other batter during his career and he sat down with for a very in depth interview about what it was like facing arguably the best pitcher of his generation.

Jonathan Mayo is a senior writer for MLB.com. He joined Major League Baseball’s official website in April 1999 and has covered every facet of the game. More recently Jonathan has focused his efforts on covering minor league baseball and, notably, the baseball draft. Mayo worked on the broadcast team assembled for ESPN’s coverage of the first televised baseball draft in 2007, interviewing draftees after their selections.

Jonathan was kind enough to participate in a Q&A about his book. Here it is:

Dempsey's Army: Examining a great pitcher’s career through the eyes of the opposing batters seems to be a pretty unique format for a baseball book. Where did you get the idea to write about Roger Clemens from this angle?

Jonathan Mayo: To give credit where it’s due, it was the publisher’s idea. They had done a pair of boxing books – “Facing Ali” and “Facing Tyson” – and felt the format would translate well to baseball. Clemens seemed to be the perfect subject at the time due to the length of his career and the level of his success.

DA: This book does not focus on steroids or the Mitchell Report. Indeed, you must have been in the middle of some of these interviews when the Mitchell Report was released. Did the report change the tone of the book at all or were you able to keep it strictly between the lines?

JM: Actually, the book was completely done before the Mitchell Report came out. So while there was a little helplessness when everything happened, there also was nothing I could do. Looking back, it’s sure been interesting timing, but I’m glad in a way that it is what it was meant to be: just a simple, pure baseball book.

DA: Cal Ripken, Jr. did not hit particularly well against Clemens during his career and he struck out against him more times than against any other pitcher (17 times). Ripken is known to be a standup guy but he couldn’t have been excited to sit down and talk about his struggles against Clemens. How did you talk him into it?

JM: I asked. Seriously. I had had the opportunity to do an interview with him for MLB.com when the NY-Penn League All-Star Game was in Aberdeen. That went really well and I think that helped pave the way. I think – or at least hope – that he liked the concept of the book. His recall for their matchups was uncanny and I think it’s the strongest chapter in the book as a result.

DA: Ripken said, “He was just a serious competitor. I know that some pitchers pride themselves on being a little intimidating, where they’ll move you off the plate. Certainly Roger had that ability to move you back and move you off the plate, but to me, he was a consummate professional and under control at all times.” Was this just a very nice way of saying Clemens would fire one in at your hip without batting an eye? Were other players you interviewed for this book so diplomatic?

JM: I think the thing Ripken appreciated was that while he could knock you off the plate, he was never a guy looking to hurt you, at least in his opinion. He always knew where the ball was going. That’s one of the things that makes his early career so amazing. He was a pure power pitcher, but with command. It was an amazing combination of skills at the time and I think Ripken had a lot of respect for what he could do. Other players did tend to take that aspect of things in stride. Maybe it’s old school thinking now, but a lot of players felt that getting knocked down was just a part of the game. In some ways, it was a badge of courage to get knocked down by Clemens.

DA: You have an impressive list of players that you interviewed for this book. Who surprised you as an interviewee? Is there anyone you would have liked to talked to but couldn’t?

JM: For obvious reasons (think 2000 World Series), I really wanted to talk to Mike Piazza. But he wasn’t interested. I had thought Spike Owen would’ve been a good one – he played with Clemens at Texas, then was on the Mariners team that struck out 20 times against him in 1986, only to get traded to Boston for the postseason run that season. But I never was able to connect with him. Surprises? All were good, really. I’d never really spoken with Chipper Jones at length before this and he was simply amazing and had Ripken-like recall. Maybe the most surprising was Koby Clemens. I thought that would make for a nice little chapter and we had such a good and interesting conversation that it turned out much better than I anticipated.

DA: You interviewed Phil Bradley who was the 20th strikeout victim during Clemens’ dominating game versus Seattle. Ripken struggled against Clemens most of his career but recalled a three-run homer against Clemens on Opening Day in 1989 as one of the few times that he got the best of Roger. How ironic is it that Phil Bradley was one of the men on base when Ripken hit that shot?

JM: That’s the beauty of baseball, isn’t it? Even within that 20-strikeout game, Bradley pointed out that the Mariners weren’t even totally aware of what was going on because they were leading for much of it and they were really focusing on getting the win. Imagine what the reaction would have been had Clemens set that record and actually lost the game!

DA: So after all this research, what’s the best way to get a hit off of Roger Clemens?

JM: Swing early, I guess. The one common theme, even as he evolved as a pitcher, was to get him early in the count. Especially after he added that splitter, if you fell behind, you were in big trouble.

DA: OK, I’m going to pick your brain about the Orioles’ prospects. True or False: Adam Jones will be a star player.

JM: True. Give him some time. He’s learning on the job. When all is said and done, you’ll be quite happy.

DA: Excepting Matt Wieters, what Oriole farmhand will be the next regular contributor for the big club?

JM: Next? Instead of going with someone who’s close – literally the next – I’ll stay there in Frederick. I think Jake Arrieta’s going to move pretty quickly. Heck, might as well just keep him and Wieters together. Seems to be working so far, doesn’t it?

DA: The farm system has been strengthened by the offseason trades and the 2007 draft but still has a long way to go. What player do you expect Baltimore to draft in the 2008 amateur draft?

JM: There are several players that could fit into the O’s plans with the No. 4 pick. In my first crack and projecting the top 10 picks, I had them taking University of San Diego lefty Brian Matusz, who’s much more than a pitchability college southpaw. He’s got some serious stuff and could be a top of the rotation type quickly. If they wanted to go bat, they could go with University of Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham or maybe South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak.

Jonathan Mayo's book "Facing Clemens" can be purchased here on Jonathan's website.

http://www.jonathanmayo.net/

Sweet Swings or Garbage Kings?

I was going to write a post as a farewell to Jay Gibbons similar to ones that I wrote about Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard. It was just to be a quick note to show the highlights of his Orioles career.

Unfortunately, highlight material was pretty lacking for Jay. What was his biggest moment? In 2002 he hit a solo shot off of Ugueth Urbina in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game against the Red Sox (a game that the O's would eventually lose in 15). That's it. A nice moment to be sure but there's no more like it.

I liked Jay Gibbons as a player. Excepting the injuries, I thought he was a useful player for a few years for the Orioles. (And he was a good guy...) But for a slugger, he had few moments when his contributions resulted in big plays that changed the course of the game. A lot of his extra base hits came during "garbage time".

Ben at Oriole Central got me thinking more about this when he posted an Ode to the Garbage Home Run and correctly identified Jay Gibbons as a man who did not have many big moments with the long ball during his major league career.

And all that got me thinking about a way to quantify that.

Now I have. It's a new stat called the Big Homer Index (BHI). I was going to call it the GHI (Garbage Homer Index) but the stat gets bigger as the "clutchness" of the homers increase. You'll see what I mean in a minute.

(For any of you who hate or love stats when it comes to baseball, understand that this is just for fun! It's completely unscientific and the numbers are based purely on my own preferences. Something created for diversion and discussion, nothing more.)

If you don't want to know how I established each player's index, scroll down until you see Jay Gibbons' name.

Each component is based on a percentage of each player's career home runs. This way, a marginal slugger who hit 100 home runs can be compared to a player who hit 400. Homers hit when the team is up by at least 3 runs or down by at least 4 runs count against the player. Also a high percentage of solo shots can count against the batter too. The average solo home run rate for the American League is typically just over 57% so any percentage above or below 58% (divided by 2) will count against or for the batter respectively.

Go ahead and tying home runs count for the batter as do walk-offs. Walk-offs count 8 times the value of the other types.

So the formula is:

((% Go-Ahead Homers)+(% Tying Homers)+((Game Ending Homers)*8)+((.58-(% of Solo Homers)/2) - (% Homers When 3+ Ahead) - (% Homers When 4+ Down)) * 1000 = BHI

I am so happy I will never have to try to explain that again...

Jay Gibbons - 121 Career Home Runs

Surprisingly, Jay doesn't have a huge percentage of his homers coming in "garbage time" (up by 3+ runs or 4+ runs down) but he clearly falls short when it comes to homers to tie the game or put the team ahead. Zero walk-off homers also hurts his case.

Jay hit solo shots at an almost 60% rate which didn't help his BHI either.

Gibbons lived in the middle. He hit a lot of solo homers when the score was 5-3 or 3-5. Contributions to be sure but nothing much in the clutch or in game changing situations.

BHI: 42

Cal Ripken - 431 Career Home Runs

A man with the flair for the dramatic, Cal gets a big boost from 4 walk-off home runs. Ripken had a larger percentage of homers during "garbage time" than Jay Gibbons but he also hit a much higher percentage or go ahead and tying homers during his career. He also hit fewer solo shots than the league average.

Put it all together and Cal laps Jay Gibbons as would be expected. These two numbers should give us a couple of nice reference points for future evaluations.

BHI: 197

Erik Bedard is Masterful...Again

Erik Bedard was dominant against the Rangers last night, striking out 11 and moving himself up in the Oriole record book.

Rube Wadell  238  1908
Bobo Newsom  226  1938
Erik Bedard  218  2007
Mike Mussina 218  2000
Mike Mussina 210  1996
 
 

How about that? Bedard struck out Adam Melheuse in the 4th to pull into 2nd in Oriole history and struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia to tie the record in the 7th.

Now Bedard is chasing ghosts and has the all-time franchise record in his sights. And nobody seems to care.

Kevin Millar extended his streak of getting on base to 47 games. He has now pulled ahead of Cal Ripken for second and is just behind Ken Singleton (49) in club history. Not too shabby.

It's a great day for baseball. Let's play two!

The Excellent Weekend/Trading Deadline

Really, what could make for a better weekend. Cal gets inducted to the HOF, the Orioles take the series from the Yankees and I got to watch a replay of Cal breaking Lou Gehrig's record in 1995. OK, we could've swept the Yankees but really that's about it.

The trading deadline is upon us and I'm waiting for the O's to announce if anything has happened. Outside of signing one of the Flying Molinas and sending him to Bowie, not a peep out of the warehouse. (Actually, this isn't one of the "good" Molina catchers; Gustavo is from Venezuela, Bengie and friends are from Puerto Rico.)

I don't care who you root for, the Josh Beckett/Erik Bedard matchup should be a classic. If you don't like this matchup, you just don't like baseball, you communist!

4:45...silence from the warehouse...

September 6th, 1995...

....Great Lakes , Illinois, Naval Service Training Command.

I was in the Tech Core barracks (all seaman training for technical rates - ET, DS, FC, etc.) finishing up my Data Systems training the night Cal broke the record. It was 4 hours before game time and I had a problem. Where was I going to watch the game?

I had the misfortune to be on duty that evening which meant there would be no running out to a local bar or one of the on-base clubs tonight. I was stuck in the barracks. I would have to find a TV in one of the lounges where I could watch Cal make history.

Now, there were several lounges in the barracks and you would have thought that in a BEQ filled with 400 or so men I would have had no problem finding a TV with a nationally televised baseball game of such importance. You would be wrong. These barracks were filled with tech types and many of them fit the stereotype - nerds. If you wandered around to see what was being watched on most evenings, there were no sports on any of the TVs. Typically, it would be Star Trek:The Next Generation or some sort of Japanese anime. Worse still, it was majority rule. If most of the people in the lounge wanted to watch the SciFi network, then that's what was going to be on. So my problem was getting the numbers on my side or missing probably the biggest night in O's history.

I got my buddy Parrish (a diehard Tigers fan) to commit but he had a couple of things to do after class and would not be there right away. I would hold down the lounge on the 3rd deck by myself, hoping not to be run off by a nerd patrol.

I went straight to the BEQ, straight to the 3rd deck and straight to the lounge and put on ESPN. And waited. I was there on my own for about and hour and a half, praying that the reinforcements would arrive. After some tense moments, Parrish showed up with one of his friends and he had three. Soon, guys would pass through, see that we were getting ready to watch Cal break the streak and stayed on. Before the game started, we must have had 25+ on our side and the guys showing up looking for a TV to watch Princess Mononoke or some crap were well outnumbered.

I watched Cal break the record with guys from all over the country, with various rooting interests but who all seemed to realize what a big deal all of this was. Cal homered. We cheered. Cal ran his lap, high-fiving the crowd. We applauded. And we watched the game.

Congratulations on your induction, Cal. We'll all be cheering for you one last time.

Amber Theoharis' Version of "Who's More Now?"

A look at the latest Amber Theoharis article:



Who Will Fill Heroes' Roles After Ripken?



...For baseball fans, however, heroes never die. Think how many of us have fathers or friends who are nearing their 60s and 70s, yet would still be awe-struck if they had a chance to meet Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris or Mickey Mantle.



I think they would be awe-struck (as would I) as all of those fine ballplayers are dead. Regardless of age, if a decaying DiMaggio crawled out of the crypt and tried to shake my hand, I think anybody would be a little "awe-struck". If fact, "awe-struck" would be an understatement. I would call it all encompassing terror.



For my generation, how many of us feel giddy at the thought of meeting Nolan Ryan, Rickey Henderson and the biggest of them all, Cal Ripken Jr.?



Many of us would although I get the impression that most baseball fans thought Henderson was a pompous, self-aggrandizing jerk but point taken.



Next weekend, Cooperstown is expected to be flooded with one of the largest crowds ever for the Baseball Hall of Fame induction. There is one reason and one reason alone for that: Baltimore's biggest modern-day hero, Ripken, is the headliner.


Longtime Padre Tony Gwynn will also be enshrined in this year's class. Even though he is a huge name in baseball and is beloved by fans in San Diego and beyond, Gwynn simply doesn't have the same legendary status as Ripken. Then again, who does?



He doesn't have the same legendary status? They are both first-ballot hall of famers. Hall of Fame election is based on people's (writer's) opinions, so in the voter's eyes, Gwynn does have the same legendary status as Ripken.



Let's also not forget that Gwynn was a much more productive hitter than Ripken (yes, even when you consider Cal's superior power numbers). A much better hitter by a good margin actually. Although Ripken played tougher defensive positions, Gwynn was no slouch with the glove either (5 Gold Gloves).



Legendary status: Gwynn's got it.



That raises the question: Are baseball heroes becoming extinct with each passing generation? Just look at the list of heroes mentioned earlier for Generation X. With the exception of Ripken, none were anywhere as big as the Baby Boomers' icons; DiMaggio, Mantle and Maris.



DiMaggio was worshipped by Baby Boomers? A Baby Boomer is defined as having been born from 1944-1954. So at best, a Baby Boomer was about 6 while DiMaggio limped through his final season with the Yankees. My father, die-hard Yankee fan and solidly a Baby Boomer was not even 3 during the 1951 season. Needless to say, he never saw DiMaggio play.



So, out with DiMaggio and bring in Willie Mays. And Maris? Not even one of the true greats of his generation, let alone of all-time. Maris is out and Ted Williams will take his place.



Poor research Amber. OK, now we have three Boomer heroes.



Now, why don't Nolan Ryan and Rickey Henderson and seemingly no one else who played from the late seventies to the early nineties qualify as bonafide baseball heroes? Let's see:



Nolan Ryan - 8 no-hitters, strikeout king, HOF and nationwide acclaim

Ricky Henderson - Arguably the greatest offensive force of the '80's, SB king, 3,00 hits

Reggie Jackson - star slugger from the late '70's to mid-'80's, HOF, had his own candy bar



Aw hell, I don't have time to justify why Eddie Murray, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Robin Yount, Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Gary Carter, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor and others are true baseball heroes. They were all enormous stars during Ripken's era, are or will be in the HOF and were beloved.



Ugh, I can't continue...

Miguel Tejada and the Integrity of the Game

For those who may be outraged about Miguel Tejada's bogus bunt to maintain his streak, consider the following:

Friday, September 25, 1987: Against the Yankees, Cal Ripken strikes out looking in the first and uncharacteristically (and somewhat suspiciously) argues balls and strikes until ejected.

Monday, August 7, 1989: Cal takes the field in the top of the 1st against the Twins and then is inexplicably lifted in the bottom of the first for Rene Gonzales (???).

Sunday, September 29, 1996: Against Toronto, Cal has one AB and is lifted for Manny Alexander.

Sunday, July 20, 1997: Cal strikes out looking in his first AB and is replaced at third by Aaron Ledesma.

What do all those games have in common? Cal had 1 AB or less in each game and the streak remained in tact. And don't get me started on Lou Gehrig's streak...

If you stood up and applauded Cal when he broke the streak, get off of Dave Trembley's and Miguel Tejada's backs.