Saturday, August 28, 2010

This is actually quite embarrassing.

At the request of Glen "The Artist" Cebulash, I was taking a second look at the stats after today's game.  Glen expressed a concern that the stats did not take into full account his innings pitched and his other asphalt performances.  So, I ran the standard program for looking over individual stats, known as the "Eldridge Query," to see if anything looked amiss.

It had Glen at 157 Batters Faced after today's play, which is 6 more than last week - CORRECT as Glen pitched two perfect innings today.  Everything seems to be working, the database is correctly accounting for all of his play.  But then, something else strange caught my eye.

It did not make sense to me that Laura Hume had 8.666 (eight and two-thirds) innings pitched.  The partial innings are a result of playing in a 1-on-1-on-1 game, where the innings are two out affairs.  Laura had never played in one of those games.  So I ran the "Eldridge Query" for Hume's stats and did find a mistake, error, .. a play mis-recorded in the stats database.

The database showed one of Laura's innings ending on a home run, but no RBI on the play.  The result was, of course, that the database never showed Laura completing that inning, thus the two-thirds on her pitching record.  I verified the scoresheet from June 26, 2010 to see how the inning was recorded at the time - Fly Out was the final play.  It seems that Fly Out to end an inning was entered as a Home Run in the database by mistake.

This has been corrected in the current stats, and I offer my sincerest apology to Laura Hume for incorrectly charging her with a home run allowed, when in fact that never happened. You will note, too, that Glen has one fewer home run, as he was the author of that Fly Out.  Sorry, Glen.

10 Innings...

... no winner.

Cool temps and low humidity greeted nine whifflers at Nance Bradds this morning. Five-on-four play commenced at nine a.m. sharp and the home team got to scoring in the bottom of the first.  Commish Berwald was pitching and gave up three singles in succession to Ben, Dave and Kurt.  Laura stepped into the box with the bases loaded, none out.  Pete induced the ground ball and made the attempt at the double play.  Unfortunately, he threw a curve and missed the box (by quite a lot, really) allowing a run, and earning a second RBI on the season for Hume.  Peter got out of the inning without further damage, but the 1-0 lead for the home-standers would hold until the top of the ninth.

In the ninth, Laura took the ball; the lead was lost by the second batter.  Single (Stats), triple (Peter) tied the score.  The visitors built a very credible threat after that, but were unable to take a lead.  Stats and Kim each pitched scoreless halves of the tenth, and it was all over.  No tie-breaking procedure was employed.

In between the scoring innings Ben, Matt, Kurt, Hansoo, Laura, Glen, Kim, Peter, Dave, Matt, Ben, Hansoo, Kurt, and Glen (in that order) authored seven scoreless innings, recording a total of 28 strikeouts.  Putting the "Whiff" in Whiffle.

Glen, Matt, Peter, Hansoo - 1
Ben, Dave, Kurt, Laura, Kim - 1
10 Innings
W, L, S - None
BS - Laura Hume

Notes:
  • With his strikeout of Kim in the first inning, Peter Berwald became the season's first 100/100 man - 100 hits as a batter; 100 K's as a pitcher.  Next in line would be Kurt, needing 12 more hits and 2 more K's.
  • An eventful game for Laura, driving in her team's sole run and later getting a hit off da Commish.  However, her 1-for-8 still lowered her BA.
  • As teammates, the batting leaders were tested by the same pitchers today.  Kurt Mosser really opened up some space in the batting chase.  His 6-for-8 raised his average to 0.451 - 0.030 clear of Dave's 0.421, which was the result of his 2-for-8 day.  Dave has slipped to third in the BA charts, behind the elusive, rarely seen Brian Simpson.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

League Standings Revised

Check the Standings under "Current Stats."  These have been revised to pitching standings, with Win, Loss, Save and Blown Saves (if any) assigned for all games of the 2010 season.  Points are assigned as follows: Win = 2, Loss = -2, Save = 1, Blown Save = -1.

Other notes:
  • A pitcher may get the win and the save in the same game.
  • Blown save is defined as losing a lead in the final three innings of play.
  • 1-on-1-on-1 games are not counted in these standings.
  • Tie games have no win, loss or save, but may have a blown save.

Drama!

Stats dejectedly handed the bat to Glen.  It was a moment worthy of a Mosser-like launching of the bat.  He had just struck out, for the SEVENTH time that game, for the second out in the top of the ninth, but instead he just slumped into a folding chair to see if his team mates could dig them out of the hole he'd dug for them.

You see, hours before, Matt took the mound in the top of the first and gave up back to back triples (the first with two on) to Da Commish and the Bandit, to give the home team the 3-0 lead they still held in the top of the ninth.

So the Artist took to the batter's box, down by three, bases loaded, two out, facing Peter Berwald.  On the day Glen was 1-for-4 off the Commissioner, and while he was pitching in serious trouble here, Peter had  several pitches working including a devastating change-up.  Glen's total plate discipline had him laying off the bad pitches, but managing only fouls off the good ones.

There were two strikes.  Berwald grooved another one in there.

The Artist lashed a high line drive to straight away center.  Center Fielder Dave Eldridge, who was playing on the HR line, started back right on contact and he was still a good ten feet shy of where he needed to be to even try a catch.  This season has not seen so dramatic a blast in 24 previous games.  "Touch 'em all, Glen Cebulash!  Your GRAND SLAM just ended the home squad's bid for a nine-inning shut out and put your team in the lead."

All that was left was for Glen to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Which he did, surrendering only a single to Peter.

Glen, Kurt, Matt - 4
Pete, Eric, Dave, Hansoo - 3

WP: Kurt Mosser
LP: Peter Berwald
SV: Glen Cebulash
BS: Peter Berwald

Notes:
  • Congratulations to Peter Berwald, his ninth inning single was his 100th hit of the season.
  • Hansoo was the first DH of the season, batting for the home team, but not pitching.
  • Dave, Eric, Glen and Kurt each pitched 3 scoreless innings.  Stats and Da Commish each had 2 scoreless innings and one bad inning.  It was a pitching dominated day, as everyone's batting average went down.
  • Batting race update: Both Kurt and Dave batted 0.333 on the day (Kurt 4-for-12; Dave 3-for-9).  Kurt was 0-for-3 off Dave; Dave 1-for-3 off Kurt.  But in the season's BA race, Kurt widened his lead 0.438 to 0.432.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Game notes: Wednesday the 18th of August

  • The forced move to Fairmont HS delayed the start until 7:30 PM.  The motions of the planet made it dark by 8:30, so it was a short, five inning 1-1 tie.  No tie breaking procedure was used.
  • Welcome back to Kim!  The pitchers were not so gracious, as Kim went 0-for-8 in his return.
  • Hansoo and Glen each drove in a run and allowed a run as a pitcher.  Nice symmetry, gentlemen.
  • Glen's sole hit, a third inning single drove in his teams only run. 
  • Da Commish's 5-for-8 was the best batting performance of the night.
  • The batting race went head to head this night.  Dave's 3-for-7 was slightly better than Kurt's 3-for-8, but was not enough to catch Kurt for the batting lead.  Kurt's .448 average is .005 ahead of Dave.  Dave was 1-for-3 off Kurt; Kurt 1-for-2 off Dave.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Chapter 14

Then a wave of athleticism passed through the town.  Sitting about was no longer tolerated and the middle-aged men cast around, in varied manners, for opportunities to race their hearts and flex their re-discovered muscles.
  
Glen, his restlessness punctuated by his avidity, became very active.  He heard soon that it was possible to join a Wiffle league and wrote to Lancaster for particulars.  These consisted in a form to be filled up with the applicant’s name, age, and alma mater; a solemn declaration to be signed that he would play a certain number of games per season; and a request that he set aside a minimum of six evenings over the course of the year for theoretical investigations into the nature of the game.  Glen duly sent the papers and within weeks received official acceptance, along with an autographed ball and bat set, signed by none other than the league Commissioner, Peter Berwald.
 
Every Saturday morning he dressed as quickly as possible in order to get to the park early.  Initially, he had hoped to impress the other Wifflers with his enthusiasm and willingness to do the scut work that the more seasoned players no longer cared to engage in: chalking the field, laying out the bats, inspecting the balls for cracks, etc., etc.  Then too, he wished them to see in him an earnestness and an uprightness that perhaps had gone missing in the league of late.  While it was quickly apparent that he was not going to dominate in batting and pitching he felt certain that the sincerity of his play and the integrity of his efforts would be enough to win the hearts of his fellows.  He remembered a line from the catechism of his youth:  
      “If you have faith and do not doubt you will not only do this which is done
        to the fig-tree, but also if you say to the mountain, remove yourself and cast
        yourself into the sea; it will be done.  And all this, whatever you will ask in
        prayer, believing, you will receive” 

By and by, after weeks and months of play, Glen found himself alone one evening with Dr. Kurt Mosser, a local professor of considerable reputation and, for many years, the team metaphysician. 
     “I say, Kurt, this passage from the bible, is it true?”  
Dr. Mosser looked up from under the brim of his cap and said, 
     “What passage is that?”
     “Why, this one about if you have faith you can move mountains”. 
     “If it says so in the bible it is so, Glen”. 
     “ So if say I were to pray for a game-winning hit, or to pitch a perfect game, it
could actually happen?”
     “Indeed, Glen, if you prayed hard enough and were genuine in your faith, then yes, God would grant these things to you.” 

Glen allowed himself to be patted gently on the shoulders by Dr. Mosser and proceeded home to begin his program of beseechments.  He had got the information that he wanted and was ready to put it into swift action.  Once in his room, he sank to his knees , buried his face in his hands and prayed to God with all his might that he would make his game fleet.  It was a small thing, compared to moving mountains and Glen was certain that God would grant him this one tiny request. 
     “Oh God, in your loving mercy and goodness, if it is your will, please allow me to hit and pitch with alacrity and grace.” 

Days passed, and days turned into weeks.  Dutifully, Glen prayed every morning and every evening.  He prayed when he showered and he prayed when he ate and he imagined, after a time, that he prayed in his sleep.  He laughed to himself as he thought of his team mates’ astonishment at the transformation of his game, as he hit with ease all manner of pitches, and fired curves and sinkers and fastballs from his supple arm.   He envisioned one after another of his fellows clapping him on the back to say, “good game, Glen”, and, “you’re quickly becoming the best in the league.”

And it came to pass, after a two-week absence, Glen came to Kettering on the evening of August 17, 2010, with the confidence of a man who is possessed of the truth.  He had prayed daily, with sincerity and humility, and was ready to display the fruit of his tireless effort.  As he mounted the pitch he was determined to realize his dream, but alas, it was not to be.  Inning after inning, batting and pitching, he failed repeatedly to muster even a paltry showing.  In the whole of the two-hour game he managed just one weak hit and, while it scored a run, it was all but useless as he followed it on the mound by giving up the tying run. 

Later that evening, he turned to Dr. Mosser and said,
     “Supposing you’d asked God to do something and really believed it was going to happen, like moving a mountain, I mean, and you had faith, and it didn’t happen, what would it mean?”
     “Well, it would mean no more than that you hadn’t got faith.”

Glen accepted the explanation.  If God had not granted his wish to be “game” it was because somehow he did not really believe.  And yet, he did not see how he could believe more than he did.  Perhaps he had not used the right words, or given God enough time.  I suppose no one ever has faith enough, he thought.   
By the third week in August he had given up the struggle.  He felt a dull resentment against his metaphysician, Dr. Mosser.  The text which spoke of moving mountains was just one of those that said one thing and meant another.  He thought the good doctor had been playing a practical joke on him. 

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Why the stats matter

Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles set career-highs with a .302 batting average, 46 homers and 141 RBIs in '61, which was one behind Yankees legend Roger Maris for tops in the American League. However, several years ago, a baseball researcher discovered that one of Maris' credited RBIs had scored as the result of an error. Within the last year, that research was verified and approved by Major League Baseball and its official statistician, the Elias Sports Bureau. In the 2010 Elias Book of Baseball Records, Gentile is for the first time listed as having shared the 1961 American League RBI crown with Maris.

So, the Orioles honored Gentile for his belated 1961 RBI crown with a pregame ceremony on Friday, August 6, 2010 that included president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail presenting the former first baseman with a $5,000 check. That was the amount of the bonus clause in Gentile's contract for leading the league in RBIs.

In four seasons with the Orioles (from 1960-63), Gentile made three AL All-Star teams, and his 141 RBIs still rank third all-time for an Oriole in a single season.

Offense!

A beautiful, cool morning brought oodles of people out to Smith for outdoor exertions on August 7, 2010.  On the grass was a girls' soccer practice; a family of roller bladers played hockey at the north end of the asphalt.  On the south side were six whifflers settling in for seven innings of whiff.  Lines drawn, teams set - the game was on.

And the bats were on, too.  In contrast to the wilting heat and scoreless play on Wednesday, this day would see 32 hits and 13 runs.  There were only 2 perfect half-innings all day.  The home siders got the scoring started in the bottom of the third, taking a real shine to Eric "The Bandit" Z's wiggly pitches.  Hans displayed epic plate discipline waiting and waiting for his pitch.  He drove in 2 runs that inning with both teammates, Boog and the Commish, each driving in 1 more.  4-0 Homeboys after 3.

Hans kept the visitors at bay in the fourth, and then Tim Baker took the ball for his second turn in the top of the fifth.  Read on, Whifflers and Fans, and take note.  Internalize what you learn today of Tim's trial on the rubber, because you nor any other whiffler have been to the place Tim "Boog" Baker went today.  The visitors sent FIFTEEN batters to the plate in the inning; each man batted five times.  Picture Tim's unique walking-pitching technique- he must've walked half a mile to deliver all those pitches.  When The Bandit struck out to end the ordeal, nine runs had scored (by virtue of 11 singles and a triple by Kurt) and the bases were left loaded.  The previous high batters faced mark in a non- "1-on-1-on-1" game was eleven.  Ice the shoulder, Tim, you earned it.

No more runs were scored this day as the pitchers found their grooves. The visitors retired 9 of their last eleven batters; Home pitchers 6 of their last 8.  Stats closed out the non-save with three straight K's.

Eric, Kurt, Matt - 9
Hans, Tim, Peter - 4

Notes:
Kurt started the game 0-for-5 at the plate, lamenting falling behind the idle R-Dave in the batting race.  He finished the game 6-for-8, however and raised his league leading average to .451.

Da Commish had a great day with the stick as well: 8-for-11, including 3 doubles, and a RBI.  Stats' 7-for-12 and 3 RBI finally got his hit total above his strikeout total.

Look at the stats: Hans is a great pitcher and the Bandit.. is a bottom half of the chart hitter.  But look at the Matrix.  Zamonski OWNS Hans - batting .538 off him, more than double the league average off Hans.  Eric was 3-for-4 today off Hans - the only three hits he allowed today.  It's a funny game.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Let's Talk Tie Breakers!

As reported in the previous post, last night's titanic struggle ended in a 0-0 tie.  After the final swing and a miss, the five of us present tried out a possible tie breaking rule to see what we thought.  Well, we sorta tried the rule.  Certain aspects of the rule were changed by Peter using his "Best Interests of Whiffle" powers. For starters, Peter declared that this was a test and that the tie result would stand.  Here's how the "Toss Up Tie Breaker" went:

  1. First the teams were made even as the game was played three against two.  Matt proposed that the team with three should go with the next two batters due up in the order (which would have been Glen and Kurt) so that the choice of who sits is random.  Peter announced that the team could simply choose which player would sit out.  Kurt chose not to participate because he disliked the idea entirely (more on that at the end).
  2. Matt announced the following rules: Starting with the visitors, each player was to take the ball and bat, choose either batter's box to stand in.  The player will toss the ball up for themselves and take a swing attempting to hit a homerun.  The player may have as many tosses as they need, but ONLY ONE SWING.  Each visiting player shall take his/her swing, and the total number of homeruns hit shall be recorded.  Once all visitors have swung, the home players shall swing by the same rules.  The team with the most total homeruns shall be declared the winner of the Whiffle game.  Peter changed this to be the person who hits a ball the farthest shall win the game for his/her team.  Glen swung first and very smartly hit a ball up the middle (shortest distance to the homerun line), which landed a few inches shy of the triples line.  Tim then had a swing and a miss.  Matt then had a swing and a miss.  Peter then struck a high fly ball, pulled down the third base line that landed just inches shy of the triple line.  Glen and Kurt agreed that Peters was closer to the triples line, and that therefore under Peter's rule Peter had won the game.
  3. Under Matt's original rule, with no homeruns hit, a second round would have been played, and so on until at the completion of a round one team had more HR than the other.  An un-encountered issue this evening was whether the team with three would use the next two due up, or the same two in every round.
After that was done, Kurt decided to get in on the fun and tried his luck.  One toss; one swing.  Kurt hit a booming shot well past the homerun line, which would have won the test for his team under any set of rules.

So, here are the questions to be answered:
  1. Does the League need a tie breaking rule?
  2. Are "Toss-Ups" a good method for settling ties?  If not, what do you propose?
  3. What specific rules should govern the tie breakers?
  4. How should performance in the tie breakers be reflected in the LEAGUE stats?
Let's get the debate going in the comments.

Bringin' the Heat

Wednesday Night Whiffle brought fans a tense pitching duel highlighted by sweet hitting early in innings and timely put outs at the ends of innings.  And, it must be noted, Glen played.

A heat advisory day with "real Feel" temps around 100, made for some toasty asphalt as the game began.  Heat rises, but it did not carry any hits over the homerun line on this night.  Five whifflers (including Glen) produced nary a run during this game.  Good for the ERAs, but only a purist, such as Glen (who was there), would appreciate 95 minutes of scoreless whiffleball.  So let us detail the pitching performances on this day.

Everyone had their "Bend, don't break" moments.  Peter and Matt (home team) had hits in every inning, and multiple hits in 4 of the six.  But the Visitors found those needed outs to keep them from denting the plate.  Tim, a teammate of Glen's, had a particularly nice inning, turning a ground ball double play after giving up a lead off double, followed by a can o' corn fly out.  Kurt, also one of Glen's teammates, allowed two hits in each of two innings pitched, then brought the heat to close out those innings, scoreless.  Glen, a crafty righty, pitched best overall on his team allowing only two hits total in his two innings, mixing weirdly moving slow stuff with respectable fastballs to keep batters off balance.

Home pitchers started with similar patterns: couple of hits and timely K's in innings 1 and 2.  Then their pitching turned dominant as Peter and Stats jointly retired 10 of the last 12 batters faced (amongst them? GLEN!!).

GLEN, Kurt, Tim - 0
Matt, Peter - 0

Game Notes:

He didn't know it but when Kurt Mosser came to the plate in the top of the sixth, having gone 4 for 7 on the evening, he was leading the league in batting.  A poor showing that inning though would have dropped him below Dave Eldridge.  Kurt finished the game 5 for 9 and has now taken the lead in BA: .450.

Maybe it was the water.  In the middle of the game, Kurt's better half, Robyn, delivered a cooler full of ice cold bottled water.  Thanks!!

Da Commish reached the 200 AB mark with a double in the bottom of the third; a double off GLEN!!