The Yankees go for a sweep of the Giants as Yusmeiro Petit faces Andy Pettitte in what should be Andy’s last regular season start at Yankee Stadium. This would be a game of the day no matter what, just because the more economical Petit is going against the Pettitte who insists on double letters. Petit […]
The AL West features a tight race for first, but with a high-priced team lurking in the distance. Oakland Athletics, 56-39, 1st place. Strengths: Walks, on both sides of the ball. This may be the Oakland team that is about what many thought Moneyball was actually about. The A’s pitchers allowed the fewest walks while […]
The Angels offense disappointed so far this season, but they are the kings of sacrifices. They are tied with Houston for the AL lead in sacrifice hits with 12, and lead the AL in sacrifice flies with 24. Note that the record for team sacrifice flies in a season is 77 by the 1984 Oakland […]
The series on team offense continues with the Miami Marlins. The Marlins finished twenty ninth in the majors and fifteenth in the National League in 2012 with 3.76 runs scored per game. The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Mike Redmond may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter […]
It looks like cities that host spring training sites bleed money, most of it going into the pockets of the ball clubs: The Republic’s analysis of financial records of the nine cities that host spring training revealed that: Mesa has lost an average of $1.47 million annually over the past five years hosting the Chicago […]
The Athletics signed a new five-year lease to stay in their current home in Oakland. That gives them two years to work out a deal to move to somewhere, and two years to build a new stadium, with some extra time for wiggle room.
The Tigers just need to win one of the next four games to advance to the World Series. CC Sabathia will try to stop them on Thursday as he faces Max Scherzer. CC pitched lights out against Baltimore, giving up just three runs in 17 2/3 innings, good vor a 1.53 ERA. He gave up […]
Chris Carpenter takes the mound for the first time this season as the Cardinals face the Cubs Friday afternoon. Carpenter, if indeed healthy, would be a great addition to the Red Birds rotation, especially come playoff time. He showed over the years that he’s a big-game pitcher, with a 9-2 record in 15 post-season starts, […]
The red hot Reds face off against the Phillies in the pitching matchup of the day as Johnny Cueto battles Cole Hamels. Since the start of 2011, Cueto owns the lowest ERA in the majors among pitchers with at least 300 IP. Johnny doesn’t strike out that many batters, but he keeps the ball in […]
The Oakland Athletics and the commissioner’s blue ribbon committee secretly met about a new stadium in Oakland. Here’s a take on why: The cynic in me looks at this trip with a simple explanation. Summer owners’ meetings are scheduled for next week, and while there will be more pressing matters on the agenda (Padres sale, […]
The Orioles trail the Yankees by 7 1/2 games as they open a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. Miguel Gonzalez takes on Freddy Garcia. Gonzalez’s walks and home runs allowed are high, which could cause problems for a right-hander at Yankee Stadium. Garcia doesn’t keep the ball in the park, either, but his lower walk […]
Brandon Moss helps the Oakland Athletics beat the Rockies 8-2 with a home run and two doubles. The A’s sweep the three-game series, as Moss picks up six hits, four home runs and two doubles. Brandon drove in six runs in the series, increasing his season total by 200%. Josh Reddick homered and doubled Thursday […]
The Angles placed Torii Hunter on the restricted list. I’m not sure how long he has to stay on the list once there. Update: I’m looking at the CBA, but I can’t figure out why they would place Hunter on the restricted list. Update: Hunter’s son was arrested. Los Angeles Angels right fielder Torii Hunter […]
The Rays visit the Yankees, Tampa Bay tied for first place in the AL East with the Orioles, the Yankees in fourth place 3 1/2 games back. James Shields and Ivan Nova get the call in game one. Shields comes in 5-0 in six starts. His one weakness this season is the long ball, giving […]
Oakland makes a last ditch effort to save their teams: The City Council unanimously approved spending $3.5 million on plans for a new stadium, hotels, conference center, shopping, entertainment and other amenities in the 750-acre area around the Coliseum and along Hegenberger Road toward the airport. “Along with a few other things we have going, […]
Former Giants owner Peter Mcgowan notes that the Giants won’t give up San Jose to the Athletics, as loan agreements are tied to that area remaining under San Francisco control. No other two-team market has territorial rights assigned. The A’s gave the Giants the rights to Santa Clara County in 1993, when the Giants had […]
Oakland and Boston managed to get in game two of their double header despite the rain in New England on Saturday, the Red Sox tossing a shutout 4-0. Erik Bedard and the bullpen combined to allow three hits in the game, walking five but striking out 10. David Ortiz finished a big day with three […]
The Marlins are closing the upper deck of Sun Life Stadium: Marlins spokesman P.J. Loyello said team officials decided it made little sense to staff the upper deck with ushers and security personnel for a section that attracted so few fans. “It was an operational decision,” Loyello said. “We don’t sell a whole lot of […]
The Rays try to gain on the Yankees again as they send Jeremy Hellickson against Freddy Garcia. Hellickson has a tendency to give up home runs, which might be a problem against a power hitting team like the Yankees. Garcia allowed seven of his nine home runs in Yankee Stadium, so despite their low ERAs, […]
With the holiday, there are a number of afternoon games to keep you entertained, and nothing very late. The Yankees travel to Oakland, both teams a stones throw from first place in their respective divisions. Bartolo Colon takes on Trevor Cahill. Colon comes off his second worst start of the season, allowing six runs in […]
It was a rare good day on the road for Alexei Ramirez as his three hits, including a home run, helped the White Sox to a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics. He came into the day with a .232/.291/.316 slash line away from Chicago, .296/.377/.481 at home. The good news is that the White […]
See yesterday’s post for my thoughts on the Danks/Buchholz matchup. Colby Lewis and Carl Pavano square off in Minnesota as the Twins hold a 2 1/2 game lead for ALDS home field advantage. Lewis ranks fifth in the AL in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.78. This helped him to a .230 BA allowed. That […]
CC Sabathia allows one hit over eight innings as the Yankees shutout the Oakland Athletics 5-0. CC worked very efficiently, only throwing 95 pitches, but with the heat, Joe Girardi removed him early. (Dallas Braden left after five innings with cramps due to the heat.) CC runs his record at Yankee Stadium to 11-0 this […]
MLB is talking to Las Vegas about an American League franchise. My first guess is this is blackmail to get either Tampa Bay or Oakland a new stadium, just like talk of moving the Giants to Tampa Bay served to get that team out of Candlestick Park. Moving the A’s to Vegas would cause the […]
The Boston Red Sox will try to make the AL Wild Card race relevant as they open a four-game series at Yankee Stadium. Boston needs to take three out of four from the Yankees to set themselves up for the stretch run. Clay Buchholz faces Javier Vazquez. Despite striking out fewer batters and giving up […]
Via Hardball Talk, the Indians find their attendance dwindling and their financial health with it. The business department is working on a budget pegged to attendance of 1.5 million, a figure that now looks like a longshot, especially in light of the fact that the club has sold only about 9,000 season tickets, down from […]
The Yankees visit the Red Sox in a three-game series that promises great pitching matchups. The start off with Phil Hughes facing Josh Beckett. Phil allowed just 10 hits in his first 25 innings of work this season, good for a .122 BA against. Ten of his 12 walks were issued to left-handed batters. Hughes […]
The annual Forbes business of baseball section is online. The Yankees are now worth $1.6 billion, keeping them the most valuable franchise. The next closest team is the Boston Red Sox at $870 million. Given that Steinbrenner’s group bought the Yankees for $20 million, he made a pretty good investment. The Yankees do have a […]
Gwen Knapp wonders if the signing of Joe Mauer indicates the Twins are about to lose the financial efficiency that made them so successful this last decade. I don’t think so. In a way, the Twins have out-Moneyballed the Oakland Athletics. One of the theories the A’s were working on was that winning would bring […]
The Angels and Yankees play a make-up game at Yankee Stadium with Jered Weaver facing Joba Chamberlain for at least three innings. Weaver’s walks go way up on the road, as do his hits allowed, leading to an ERA two runs higher away from Anaheim. I wonder if there is something to the hitter’s background […]