Did Bobby Valentine Reveal that Posada Has a Secret 20-Foot Retractable Arm?

As you probably know, Bobby Valentine made this comment on the Derek Jeter flip throw in the 2001 ALDS:

   "I think (Jeter) was out of position and I think the ball gets (Giambi) out if he doesn’t touch it, personally."

If you look at the following split-screen photo, there are only 3 possible explanations:

1. Valentine has been heavily tapping the Red Sox starting rotation's beer stash.
2. Valentine will say anything to get his name in the paper, even if that means making perhaps the most moronic statement in baseball history.
3. Valentine is revealing that Jorge Posada has a secret 20-foot retractable arm that he could have used to reel in to reach Shane Spencer's errant throw.

What else is there to say about this?


image source:
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/235/014/Posada_display_image.jpg?1274669829

Mariano Rivera's Nasty Statistics

When fiddling with some statistics of pitchers across baseball history, I accidentally noticed that Mariano Rivera ranks incredibly high on many critical stats. I had expected pitchers from the dead-ball era to dominate this list - and they did, with the exception of the Sandman.

This involved all pitchers who pitched at least 1000 innings since 1901, the beginning of the modern era of major league baseball. What I was looking for were indicators of pitchers who were nasty to hit against, be it due to stuff or deceptive motion or a trick pitch, and thus postulated that such pitchers might rank well in stats that measure the following:

• HRs allowed
• Hits allowed
• Runs allows
• Strikeouts
• Walks - which I included because if a pitcher is always walking men on base and getting into hitters' counts, his nastiness is limited by his inability to command.

Since this study involved walks and strikeouts, I excluded seasons earlier than 1901, because prior to 1901 the rules that defined what constituted strikeouts and walks were different.

I ranked the pitchers by these stats, and that is when I noticed Mariano kept appearing at the top. So for these stats, I averaged each pitcher's ranks in the categories, then ranked these averages. The following table shows the pitchers who ranked in the top 10:

Pitcher	Hits/9	ERA	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	Avg. of All Ranks	Overall Rank
Waddell, Rube	31	6	28	227	79	74.2	1
Rivera, Mariano	6	10	264	72	26	75.6	2
Walsh, Ed	12	1	6	40	405	92.8	3
Wood, Joe	13	4	5	313	203	107.6	4
Johnson, Walter	35	9	72	83	386	117.0	5
Bender, Chief	90	30	45	94	447	141.2	6
Mathewson, Christy	101	7	89	9	543	149.8	7
Young, Cy	83	8	46	1	647	157.0	8
Plank, Eddie	100	19	11	101	592	164.6	9
Joss, Addie	23	2	7	5	797	166.8	10

If it is not clear, the way to read the table is as follows:

• The 2nd through 5th columns list the pitchers' ranks in particular stats. For example, Mariano ranks 6th in H/9, 10th in ERA, etc.
• The 6th column  ranks the pitchers' average ranks. Mariano is 2nd.

Mariano is the only non-dead-ball era pitcher who makes the top 10, and he even outranks most of them. Later on this post will compare Mariano with only pitchers in the live ball era. But first, let's let's discuss the particular stats used and any considerations that provide context.

Lies or Ghosts?

The Yankees agreeing to terms with Eric Chavez must mean one of the following 3 things is true:

1. Joel Sherman was just making shit up when he wrote that the "current Hal Steinbrenner budget even after AJ trade has room only for Chavez or LH DH (likely Ibanez) not both.".
2. The Ghost of Baseball Yet To Come visited Hal Steinbrenner after Hal pretended to his GM that the poverty-stricken Yankees just could not afford to hire any help. Presumably all the Ghost had to do was flash a few visions of Eduardo Nunez fielding blunders in order to reduce Hal to a cowering, whimpering, gelatinous shell of a man.
3. The Yankees used the media to negotiate Chavez down $100,000 or so by leaking phony rumors about Hal's strict budget. Classic bad-cop good-cop - Hal seemingly puts his foot down, then Cashman calls Chavez' agent and said "I might be able to persuade Hal if the contract is less than a million...."

I'd be shocked, shocked to find that lying was going on in baseball. So if everyone was truthful, then  the Ghost must have visited Hal to wreak some havoc.

"That's only Nunez' 32nd error, I've got 15 more to show you."




(image info:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Last_of_the_Spirits-John_Leech,_1843.jpg
- Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come)

Hal Steinbrenner Is a Great Vampire Squid Wrapped Around the Wallets of Yankee Fans

Joel Sherman has a couple of tweets that suggest Hal Steinbrenner has degenerated into a level of greed normally reserved for scumbags such as Bernie Madoff, Scrooge before his 3 dreams, and the CEO of Goldman Sachs:

    1. "Of $5M saved in '12, plan to get Chavez for about $1M and Ibanez for about $1M, though Damon lingers as DH possibility"

    2. "Hear current Hal Steinbrenner budget even after AJ trade has room only for Chavez or LH DH (likely Ibanez) not both."

Personally I consider Chavez useful as an infield backup who can allow A-Rod to DH and still leave a quality player in the lineup - unless one is sold on the notion that Eduardo Nunez is Major League-ready, Chavez seems a no-brainer. Ibanez I consider a total waste of roster space - a 40-year-old who has had serious declines the last 2 seasons.

However, if the Yankees baseball people do want to sign both, then they can certainly afford to spring for them both. The fact they they pretend otherwise really makes me pine for the days of George Steinbrenner. Despite George's numerous flaws and errors, strategically he understood what it meant to be an owner of the New York Yankees. George's errors sprung from an intense competitive drive; one has to infer from this winter's sad DH saga that Hal is sorely lacking in this respect.

Gary Carter's Gift to Yankee Fans

All Yankee fans who enjoyed the "1918" chants through 2004 owe some thanks to Gary Carter.

In game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when Carter came to the plate with 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th of game 6, the Red Sox had a 99% chance of ending The Curse. They were up by 2 runs, with 2 outs and no one on base. Carter pulled a pitch into left, decreasing the End Curse Probability to a mere 96%. Two singles, a wild pitch, and an error followed, all of which kept intact the path from Babe Ruth to Aaron Boone.

Click this link to the game's Win Probability Chart and look in the last box on the right, which represents the bottom of the 10th inning. The sharp downward slope almost straight down, just like the cliff off of which the Red Sox fell.

Perhaps the only more drastic reversal of fortunes in a World Series game was game 4 of the 1929 World Series, when the Cubs blew an 8-0 lead to the Philadelphia A's in the bottom of the 7th. Look at the slope on this chart. A Yankee connection is that the Cubs pitcher who started the inning by giving up 6 hits to the first 7 A's batters was Charlie Root, who a few years later served up Babe Ruth's famous called shot.

Gutty Gritty Yankees Calls Yankee Payroll Bluff

The Yankees have leaked that their previous leaks about needing to dump AJ Burnett's salary in order to afford signing a lefty bat were just spin for the purposes of negotiation:

"If a deal is completed, the Yankees plan to move quickly to sign free-agent designated hitter Raul Ibanez and infielder Eric Chavez, sources said. One or both of those signings could occur even if Burnett is not moved."

This revelation is clearly a reaction to GuttyGrittyYankees.com's revelation of Brian Cashman's desperate attempt to raise cash for a lefty bat.

In another shocking turn of events, A-Rod announced that despite reports to the contrary, he had worked out this winter and indeed could afford his monthly gym fee.

Steinbrenner Stands Firm On Yankees DH Budget

Yankee GM needs cash for a decent lefty DH, and so is exploring revenue opportunities in older forms of social media.

Hideki Irabu, an Underrated Yankee

Hideki Irabu has been one of the most mocked Yankee acquisitions of the last 15 years. And while certainly Irabu did not live up to the hype of being the next Nolan Ryan nor the expectations of a big contract, he was no Kei Igawa either. What made me think about Hideki is the false notion that A.J. Burnett is useless and thus the Yankees should just dump as much of his salary as possible.
I see these 2 guys as analogous because while neither lived up to their contracts or expectations, both pitched decently enough for the Yankees to merit more respect than they get. In Irabu's case, in the 2 seasons he was in the Yankee rotation, he was actually one of the better AL starters.

There are a number of ways to see this. Consider the following table, which sums up some basic stats for all AL pitchers who started at least 40 games in 1998 and 1999. The table is sorted by ERA:

Name	W	L	G	GS	IP	ERA
Martinez, Pedro	42	11	64	62	447.0	2.50
Mussina, Mike	31	17	60	60	409.2	3.49
Cone, David	32	16	62	62	401.0	3.50
Clemens, Roger	34	16	63	63	422.1	3.52
Rogers, Kenny	21	11	53	53	358.0	3.54
Saberhagen, Bret	25	14	53	53	294.0	3.55
Moyer, Jamie	29	17	66	66	462.1	3.70
Hernandez, Orlando	29	13	54	54	355.1	3.72
Colon, Bartolo	32	14	63	63	409.0	3.83
Finley, Chuck	23	20	67	67	436.2	3.90
Radke, Brad	24	28	65	65	432.1	4.02
Olivares, Omar	24	20	69	58	388.2	4.10
Burba, Dave	30	19	66	65	423.2	4.18
Wells, David	35	14	64	64	446.0	4.18
Rosado, Jose	18	25	71	58	382.2	4.23
Arrojo, Rolando	21	24	56	56	342.2	4.23
Guzman, Juan	15	25	54	54	333.2	4.29
Carpenter, Chris	21	15	57	48	325.0	4.38
Erickson, Scott	31	25	70	70	481.2	4.39
Moehler, Brian	24	29	65	65	417.2	4.44
Irabu, Hideki	24	16	61	55	342.1	4.44
Pettitte, Andy	30	22	64	63	408.0	4.46
Alvarez, Wilson	15	23	53	53	302.2	4.46
Thompson, Justin	20	26	58	58	364.2	4.47
Sele, Aaron	37	20	66	66	417.2	4.50
Saunders, Tony	9	18	40	40	234.1	4.53
Sirotka, Mike	25	28	65	65	420.2	4.54
Helling, Rick	33	18	68	68	435.2	4.63
Wakefield, Tim	23	19	85	50	356.0	4.78
Rapp, Pat	18	20	69	58	334.2	4.79
Hill, Ken	13	17	45	41	231.1	4.86
Sparks, Steve	14	15	50	46	276.1	4.92
Gooden, Dwight	11	10	49	45	249.0	4.92
Ponson, Sidney	20	21	63	52	345.0	4.93
Hentgen, Pat	23	23	63	63	376.2	4.97
Milton, Eric	15	25	66	66	378.2	5.01
Escobar, Kelvim	21	14	55	40	253.2	5.07
Nagy, Charles	32	21	66	65	412.1	5.09
Morgan, Mike	17	12	52	42	238.0	5.11
Parque, Jim	16	20	52	51	286.2	5.12
Belcher, Tim	20	22	58	58	366.1	5.16
Baldwin, James	25	19	72	57	358.1	5.20
Wright, Jaret	20	20	58	58	326.1	5.27
Fassero, Jeff	18	26	69	59	381.0	5.29
Candiotti, Tom	15	22	51	46	272.1	5.49
Haynes, Jimmy	18	21	63	58	336.1	5.62
Burkett, John	18	21	62	57	342.1	5.65
Oquist, Mike	16	21	59	53	315.2	5.84
Hawkins, LaTroy	17	28	66	66	364.2	5.92
Navarro, Jaime	16	29	69	54	332.1	6.23
Witt, Bobby	12	19	46	45	249.2	6.34

Are the Yankees Cheapskates?

No Maas recently analyzed the Yankees' finances and concluded that the Yankees are cheap. That post and its followup make a compelling case that the Yankee front office is merely giving lip service to the team mission statement of doing what it takes to win every year.

Either No Mass is absolutely correct about this, or Joel Sherman is just making shit up when he says the "Yankees claim they have just a small amount of money left to spend this offseason."

The Yankees can only afford to get a decent lefty bat if they pawn off most of A.J. Burnett's contract on some other team - yeah, right. Sure. If you believe that, here is some breaking news: A-Rod told the Yankees that his monthly gym fee was killing him, so he could not afford to work out this offseason unless the team agreed to pay 75.76% of his alimony payments.

Yankee Ticket Prices off the Chart - Literally

This graph shows the price of the most expensive seat in Yankee Stadium from 1967-2011:

The ticket price rise was steady but measured until the last decade. The upwards curve really starts to spike around 2007 - the peak of the real estate bubble. It then exponentially jumps in the new Yankee Stadium; despite the large decrease in 2010.

This spike is so large that on the graph, the top prices from 1967 ($3.50) to 1997 ($35.00) look nearly indistinguishable, because so much of the graph's real estate has to allow for the top prices of the last few years.

Caribbean World Series TV and Video Stream

The Caribbean World Series is being played this week. You can stream the games via ESPN3. Use these links:

Live games (if any):

     http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/startDate/20120205/type/upcoming/channel/espn3/#type/livenow/


Upcoming games - click the link below. Click the dates in the middle of the screen to see what is planned for each night:

     http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/startDate/20120205/type/upcoming/channel/espn3/#type/upcoming/

The Facade: Why I Love the New Yankee Stadium

Matthew O’Connor recently wrote an excellent critique of the new Yankee Stadium for the Lohud Blog. Matthew is absolutely correct about its flaws. The worst of these flaws - the much-derided moat and the the empty seats it surrounds -all originate in design decisions slanted in favor of the 1%. These flaws reflect an obnoxious attitude on the part of some of the brass. If you think "obnoxious" is too strong a word, consider Lonn Trost's infamous defense of no longer allowing kids to watch BP at field-level before games:

      "If you purchased a suite, do you want people in your suite? If you purchased a house, do you want people in your house?"

Such comments give new meaning to the phrase "what a douche." Hopefully the Steinbrenners will mature as owners and decide it is a strategic goal for that when people talk about Yankee Stadium, they talk about its classiness, instead of being distracted by follies such as building a moat around empty seats.

But despite its imperfections, I prefer the new Yankee Stadium to the refurbished version of the old Stadium for a few reasons. Some are practical, such as the elevator system that makes it much quicker to exit the Stadium from the upper deck after a game. But if it were just a matter of the conveniences, I would pine for the charm of the old Stadium. What makes me prefer the new Stadium is that it rectifies a disastrous flaw in second version of the Stadium that opened in 1976 - the removal of the classic facade that surrounded the upper deck of the original Yankee Stadium:

Photo: http://www.evesmag.com/farewellstadiums_files/image002.jpg