The MLB Thread

[vansmack]

Those two home runs Hamilton hit at home last night are two more HRs than Hamilton in Anaheim in ALL of last season.

[vansmack]

At 26-25, the tie for first is the worst record to lead the AL East on June 1 in the history of the division.

[hutch]

two things:

kind of looks like Hamilton was tanking with the Angels to get out of there...either that or he's back on the juice...

the clip of Ausmus and Price next to each other after Jobba blew the lead was priceless...

[vansmack]

Hamilton out a month (hamstring).  Still being paid by Anaheim.

[stevewizzle]

this was a great article about harper, trout, and pederson on their swing and approach: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mike-trout-bryce-harper-and-joc-pederson-on-the-top-hand/

watching joc pederson turn on a baseball reminds me of that beautiful griffey swing.

[vansmack]

joc pederson

Was I the only one who was shocked last season when Joc Pederson was called to find out he was was white?

Reggie Cleveland All Star for sure....

Now I'm going to read your article.

[vansmack]

Fantastic information, though the inclusion of Joc is bit premature.

I used "The Making of a Hitter" by Jim Lefebvre to make my swing, and still recommend it to kids, though after reading this there have been a ton of advances since that book came out.  The ability to analyze swings with modern technology has changed everything. 

I was (and suppose still am) a strong left hand over top hitter (I'm a lefty/lefty) who was pure bat speed as I have very little upper body strength.  My bat speed through the zone was much faster than it should have been though, which produced a surprising amount of pop.  This has made me an absolutely horrendous golfer, though - too fast through the swing and too much push with my left (follow) hand.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

I modeled my baseball around Chad Harbach's excellent The Art Of Fielding. Unfortunately, the character that drank all of his girlfriend's dead (gay) father's scotch resonated more with me than the elite shortstop.

[vansmack]

Somehow I missed Trumbo being dealt to Seattle yesterday.  Good pickup for them, but he is just like every other 1B/OF/DH that hasn't worked for them.  Low OBP and AVG, but a good number of solo HRs. 

[shemptiness]

Sitting in the box seats at the O's the other day I was saying that I'm surprised they haven't had more accidents and put up netting like the NHL.  I think that will happen now.

[stevewizzle]

joc pederson

Was I the only one who was shocked last season when Joc Pederson was called to find out he was was white?

a scrappy white boy, nonetheless!

Fantastic information, though the inclusion of Joc is bit premature.

also agree, fangraphs has been drooling over him since the end of last season so it's really no surprise.

[vansmack]

Last night's Vinnie Gem:

Vin Scully on the Normandy Landings of 1944.  And fans running on to the field.

[vansmack]

Anybody else following the draft tracker and watching College Baseball?  Prolly not....

Shortstops go 1,2 and 3 with 4 in the top 10.  Strange.

[Space Freely]

I'm not sure what's weirder...that the Atlanta Braves have been using Nick Markakis as their cleanup hitter, or that they've continued using his as their cleanup hitter in spite of him having ZERO home runs (and a .369 slugging pct) 56 games into their season.

[Julian, Bespoke SEXPERT]

A no-hitter with no walks but three HBPs is one of the weirdest statistical abnormalities in a while.