On this day we give thanks

Remember to give thanks for Friends, Whiffle and folding chairs.

A Whiff of Indian Summer

Five whifflers came to the Aberdeen Avenue Grounds this morning to enjoy what seems surely to be the last opportunity to play in 2010 (but you never know).  Before the start of play it was agreed that for this game no stats would be kept, and no stats would count.  So to protect the innocent, the names have been changed in this game story.

Despite the fact that we weren't keeping score, most players still pitched like it was game seven, and more than a couple of players watched strike three like it was game seven, too.  What should have been played like an exhibition, ended up a 3-0, six inning final, though it ended with some drama.  To wit....

Visitors "Kant" and "Eisenhower" each pitched three shut out innings, getting meaner and meaner with each successive turn at the rubber.  I guess nothing less should have been expected as they are the two best pitchers in the league.

They got all their runs in the third off  "Bowie," the only pitcher who was using the stats-free environment to work on his pitches.  "Kant" doubled, then singled one out later, then homered with two outs for three RBI.  He and "Eisenhower" would proceed then to load the bases, but failed to score again.

A long boring string of three up/three down innings would follow until the bottom of the sixth, with "Kant" in to protect a three-run lead (but no save to be earned).  The home side managed to load the bases thanks to a single from "Bowie" and two from "Han Solo."  However, in the midst of this threat "Henry Chadwick" was quietly striking out twice, and now "Henry Chadwick" was up with two out and the bases loaded.  I'm pretty sure "Kant" felt he had to get "Henry Chadwick" out because if he didn't the next two batters had a real shot at working a walk-off win.  So the velocity came up a couple of notches, and the chatter went silent.  In an earlier inning "Kant" hit "Henry Chadwick" square in the left cheekbone with a wicked fast ball, and he used that to his advantage now with crazy breaking pitches all on the inside and up.  "Henry Chadwick" didn't have a prayer.  Ball. Game.

Kant, Eisenhower - 3
Bowie, Han Solo, Henry Chadwick - 0

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray.

 Another low scoring game where we spent most of our time watching guys strike out.  So come to The Whiffies and join the debate about how the rules should be changed to get some more offense:

December 10, 2010 @ 7:30

TANK'S

A Bill..

For the Consideration of the Rules Committee

of the Oakwood Whiffle and Ale Club

December 10, 2010

Proposed rules changes for the 2011 Championship Season

1. Game Rules:
1. Move the pitching rubber back - current distance to the wall is approximately 41 feet.
2. Ground balls must be fielded no deeper than the pitching rubber.
3. Runner at third (less than 2 outs) to tag and score on fly ball caught beyond the HR line - batter credited with 1 RBI, and charged with an out.
4. Self-toss HR derby to resolve tie games - specific rules of such derby to be determined at a later time.
5. Both hoops to count for automatic grand slam, rather than just the east hoop - it’s just common sense.
6. All players must wear sleeves - it is a gentleman’s game, after all.
7. A pitch that hits the batter shall count as a "Ball" and four "Ball"s shall count as a walk.

2. Scoring Rules:
1. Account for strike out looking separately from strike out swinging - Beltran!
2. Account for errors by Pitcher - errors will not count as hits, this will lower batting averages.
3. Account for errors by Fielders - errors will not count as hits, this will lower batting averages.
4. Determine un-earned runs, and factor into Pitcher ERA - this will lower ERAs.

Comments to these rule proposals are welcome.  Please also submit additional rule proposals for consideration in the comments to this post.

And finally, comment on how large a majority is needed to pass a new rule?  50% +1? two-thirds?  just Peter?

"Untitled"

No wiffle yesterday, but a good number of Whifflers gathered this week with the arts community at the Triangle Gallery on the campus of Sinclair Community College (4th Floor, Building 13, corner of Perry and Fifth, downtown Dayton) for a reception marking the opening of Glen Cebulash’s show: “Recent Work by Glen Cebulash.”

It was certainly a well rounded, complete reception.  There was art to contemplate:

There was excellent conversation:

There was live music:

There was food (not pictured).

The Artist himself was there and the opportunity for one-on-one conversation with Glen, on the topic of his oeuvre, was both engaging and enlightening.  Glen was a blur of motion and activity, as can be seen by this series of shots in which my camera (which is really more phone than camera) was unable to capture him clearly:

The pieces on display now through November 18 include collages, as well as works in other media (oils and inks) that affect collages.  There is a great variation in scale with pieces ranging from the sketch to the over-sized canvas.  Speaking as someone with no artistic outlet of my own, I was impressed by the evident energy and devotion that went into this “Recent Work.” This gallery show is a swell setting to see Glen’s work.  However, like most Whifflers, my favorite place from which to see Glen’s work is from the BATTER’S BOX.

Towards the end of the show Tim “The Whammer” Baker had the audacity to get out his camera.  

Let’s see what Tim is capturing on his phone here...

GASP!  So not only will The Artist not show up on film, neither will his work?  Glen, what kind of  Black Magic are you employing?

Well, anyway the Whiffle off season is off to a smashing start!  Can we look forward to wine and cheese tastings, poetry readings and foreign film noir??  Sounds .. uplifting.  On the other hand, some of us will be playing ice hockey in our sneakers.

Remember: The Whiffies banquet is December 10.

Sad Whifflers

The Commish has declared an end to the season: no Whiffle on Saturday.  Further, the post season banquet, The Whiffies, has been set for December 10.

Watch this space for occasional updates on whifflers' off season activities.

All stats are FINAL.

Trick or Treat

When the rules committee meets in the off-season, a number of proposals will be on the table, most of them geared toward generating more offense.  Games like today’s contest at Nance Bradds, though, may have the committee thinking everything is just fine, thank you.


This morning the 3 Musketeers were hosted by the SmARTies for a six inning battle to the finish.  The drama came right away as Cebulash got into a one-out, bases loaded jam, with league leading hitter Mosser at the plate.  Accounts from all sides agree, Glen turned a gutsy double play on a deep grounder to squelch the threat and allow no runs.


But the visitors would not be held at Zero for long, scoring 1 in the second off Berwald (an RBI triple from Mosser) and another three off Cebulash in the third, courtesy of a bases loaded triple off the bat of one, Brent Mackintosh.


Down 0-4 in the bottom of the third, the SmARTies started their own offensive Starburst, at the expense of pitcher Tim Baker.  Berwald started the inning with a K, but then would hit a remarkable four straight 1-RBI hits in his next four at bats.  Cebulash Skittled hits in be-Twixt those and when Baker found the last out, we had a whole new game at 4-4.


The home SmARTies looked to continue their run scoring against Mackintosh in the 4th: Cebulash hit a 1-out double.  Berwald then tagged a low liner, a Twizzler that carried at maybe 2 feet off the ground all the way into Mosser’s hands as he fell and made the catch.  Cebulash followed with a Tootsie Pop into the hands of Tim Baker.  Candy corn, and the rally was over.

The visitors seemed to put the game out of reach in the 5th when Glen’s ill-advised attempt at another double play let a runner from third score when the throw hit the wall too low.  There were some Snickers when a dribbler passed through Glen’s Butterfingers for a single.  Four hits later, it was a three run inning and the visitors were sitting pretty, up 7-4.  The M&M boys, Mackintosh and Mosser combined for 7 RBI on this day.


But this game was not over.  The bottom of the sixth was Crunch time for closer, Tim Baker. Cebulash and Berwald combined on four straight singles to start the inning, closing the gap to 7-5.  In these situations, pitchers need to pull reserve will from a Special Dark place in their character.  With the winning run aboard, Baker induced a double play from Cebulash - turning the tables on him - and then a ground out from Berwald to end the contest.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	LOB
3 Musketeers - Brent, Kurt, Tim	0	1	3	0	3	0	7	17	9
SmARTies - Glen, Pete	0	0	4	0	0	1	5	15	9

W: Brent Mackintosh
L: Glen Cebulash
S: Tim Baker

Notes

• No Whoppers from our two Baby Ruths today and they remain tied at 5 HR a piece with few if any chances left to add to their totals.
• Big Payday for Brent Mackintosh today: 2IP, no runs allowed; 5-for-12 at the plate with 4 RBI.

The Net Effect

Many commentators remarked as the regular season wound down that the NL MVP race was between Joey Votto, Albert Pujols and Carlos Gonzalez.  And as the Rockies faded from post season contention, Gonzalez’s stock fell; many now predict that Votto, who had a very-good to great season for a division winner will get the award.

SABR-matricians will tell you that the real winner should be Roy Halladay, because his WAR stat is best in the NL.  WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is, in theory, a stat that allows for the comparison of all players, pitchers and position players, across all teams.  It is a grand unified stat.  

I suspect Votto will win, but predict that Roy Halladay will finish in the top 4.

A unique aspect of the whiffle stats is the fact that EVERY player is a batter and a pitcher.  This simplifies the issue of League MVP voting, because voters will not have to decide between a dominant pitcher and a dominant hitter.  So can one develop a single unified statistic that weighs a player’s contribution on the asphalt both as a pitcher and as a batter?

The “Net”

Following on from the concept that all plays are positive for one player and negative for another, could one sum up all a player’s positives, and the subtract out the negatives and get a single measure of the player’s effectiveness?

Say for instance we take a player’s positive stats, batting hits (bH) , batting RBI (bR), and pitching strikeouts (pK) and add them up.  Then subtract out the negatives, hits allowed as a pitcher (pH), runs allowed as a pitcher (pR) and batting strikeouts (bK).  So, we’d have:

bH+bR+pK-pH-pR-bK = Net

In the case of Matt Lindsay you’d have:

94+30+114-98-27-106 = 7

But we can get a little more detailed with the stats.  Instead of hits, how about total bases batted (bTB) and allowed (pTB)?

bTB+bR+pK-pTB-pR-bK = Net

Again, using Lindsay’s stats:

133+30+114-146-27-106 = -2

So, after a Spring and Summer of whiffle, the net effect of Matt’s play has been a negative 2.

Using this formula, here are the players with a positive net:

Name	Net
Mosser	161
Eldridge	105
Berwald	90
Ha	39
Simpson	27

That’s it.  That's the list.  And if you add up all 17 players’ Nets from this full season, naturally, you get zero.  So these five players have been feasting on the other 12 of us.  Or actually 11 of us, because in his one appearance Chris Diodoardo’s Net summed to zero.

But wait, these are cumulative stats.  What about a really good player that didn’t play very much (I’m looking at you, Brian Simpson)?  To really compare players, this stat should be a per-game measure.  So here is the per game Net for these players:

Name	Net	Games	Net/Game
Simpson	27	4	6.75
Mosser	161	29	5.55
Eldridge	105	19	5.53
Berwald	90	31	2.90
Ha	39	18	2.17

The last question is, “6.75 what?’  What does the number mean?  Might mean nothing as we are adding up net bases, net runs and net strikeouts.  I guess it means these are good players to have on your team - they do more good than harm.

Oh, I’m sure your anxious to know Stats’ Net/Game.  With 27 games played it calculates to -0.07.  Yep, it’s almost like he was never even there.