DrungoHazewood

I'm just glad that there are places in the world where a guy can make a good living playing baseball even if they're in their late 20s and are not quite good enough to be major leaguers. That they have to go to Japan or Korea is a symptom of the broken minor league model. No sports league should be 95% development and 5% winning. When that happens really good players like Mike Wright basically get told to quit because they aren't quite at the top level and are never going to get there. Much of the rest of the world has multiple tiers in sports leagues, and if someone wants to keep playing until they're 40 or 45 they have that option even if they're not at the very highest level.

Much easier to pitch 300 innings a year when the other team has a pitcher, a Ray Oyler, and a Kiko Garcia in the lineup, and they just give you three outs a game with sacrifices and slapping the ball behind the runner to move him over.

When I was a kid the Orioles thing was otherwise awful players with one glaring strength. Other teams would throw them away, Earl would get them to OPS .800 in 240 PAs.

Yep. In 1960 half the players in the league were Hanser Alberto. Now there's one.

Shifts. Or that's my guess. Lots of third baseman playing rover.

I wonder if or how much those numbers are influenced by the fact that in Brooks' era there were a little over half as many strikeouts as in Manny's, and that far fewer players in the 1950s-70s tried to hit every ball in the air. Back of the napkin, I get 500 balls in play per team per season gone because of Ks, and another 150 from the GO/AO differences just from 1990-2019. So if there were even more ground outs in 1966 the Orioles probably saw at least 300-400 more infield BIP than the 2019 Orioles.

Kuhn was a complete and total tool. He went after Steinbrenner and Finley because he had personal disagreements with them. He was a die hard traditionalist and Webster's dictionary conservative, who couldn't stand to see free agency or player sales or anything out of step with 1950s era hidebound MLB ownership. I'd like someone to name just one thing Bowie Kuhn did that was of long-term benefit to the game of baseball.

I've watched some KBO. And thanks to @scOtt's shady Russian streaming site I've been watching my boys at 1860 München try to get promoted out of the German 3. Liga. Premier League will restart in a few weeks. I'll be okay for a while. But MLB and the MLBPA are a bunch of idiots. Can you blame anyone for being apathetic about baseball when they don't seem to care?

There is no baseball equivalent of FIFA (not that that always works well), there is no higher level organization or voice for the good of the game. Landis only got away with being independent because baseball was reeling from the Black Sox. The commish has been a representative of MLB owners for my whole life and years prior to that. Bud took it a step further by actually being an dual-hatted owner/commish. Faye Vincent tried to be a little independent and was swiftly crushed for it.

Now Hanser Alberto is my favorite Oriole. He's where baseball needs to go. Move the mound back 3', deaden the ball, and make everyone swing a 38+ ounce bat.

I'm watching it, but the extended commercial about a special commemorative set of Derek Jeter cards has left me woozy, nauseated and more than a little disoriented.

I'm assuming that he had a very high standard deviation of exit velocity? That's kind of a throwback to the times when bat speed wasn't the be-all, end-all, and players would change how they swung based on count or other situational considerations.

Isn't a five tool player someone with clearly above-average ability in each of the five tools? Nothing at all against Jones or Markakis, they were both very good for a long time. But it's hard to say a guy is a five-tool player if, in Adam's case, he never had 20 steals and never hit .300. He was never in the top 10 in the league in steals or BA, and his top HR season he was 6th. Maybe this debate hinges on tools vs execution. Someone mentioned Corey Patterson as a five-tool player. Maybe he was, but he wasn't a five... uhh... results player, not when he hit .252, only once had 20 homers, and had a career high of eight OF assists.

I think nobody mentioned Markakis because he was a little fast when he came up, but by 2012 he was not fast. And in the modern game a peak of 23 homers 13 years ago is not power. Last year he had nine homers, and the average MLBer had over 20 homers per 600 PAs. And I think the only time I was ever convinced he was Gold Glove caliber was when I was in the middle of one of those mind-numbing arguments with @Old#5Fan. I say all of this as a Nick Markakis fan. Just not on the level of @Frobby

Melvin Mora stole as many as 16 bases in a season. He had the arm and the overall ability to play third or short. He once hit .340. He had 27, 27, and 23 homers in individual seasons. Before signing with the Mets he was a fairly high-level soccer player in Venezuela. And he sired quintpulets. He's gotta be at least a seven tool player.

The other side of that is when you have a smaller sample buried in a line that includes the first half some players will have truly ugly performances: Rk I Player Split Year G BA GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ 1 Bill Doran 2nd Half 1989 55 .131 48 208 176 26 23 9 0 0 9 8 0 26 24 .244 .182 .426 32 0 1 3 2 1 3 .149 37 25 2 Dan Uggla 2nd Half 2013 48 .133 43 178 143 14 19 2 0 4 13 2 0 27 55 .298 .231 .529 33 4 7 0 1 2 1 .176 60 53 3 Adam Engel 2nd Half 2017 70 .136 68 242 220 19 30 8 3 4 16 4 0 11 92 .198 .255 .453 56 0 6 5 0 0 4 .210 75 21 4 Steve Jeltz 2nd Half 1988 69 .137 60 205 182 16 25 3 0 0 11 0 0 18 28 .214 .154 .368 28 4 0 4 1 1 2 .161 38 9 5 Derek Norris 2nd Half 2016 49 .144 44 177 160 12 23 4 0 2 9 5 2 16 64 .226 .206 .432 33 3 1 0 0 2 1 .223 51 20 6 Vic Harris 2nd Half 1972 58 .144 53 192 180 8 26 5 1 0 10 7 3 12 37 .198 .183 .381 33 0 0 0 0 1 3 .182 107 16 7 J.P. Arencibia 2nd Half 2013 54 .145 44 173 166 11 24 5 0 5 13 0 0 5 50 .173 .265 .438 44 4 1 0 1 0 3 .170 49 22 8 Jerry Kenney 2nd Half 1970 65 .149 47 192 168 15 25 3 1 1 10 9 1 23 17 .251 .196 .448 33 4 0 1 0 1 5 .160 58 29 9 Gordon Beckham 2nd Half 2016 54 .152 30 155 138 10 21 9 0 2 14 0 0 12 36 .219 .261 .480 36 7 1 0 4 1 1 .183 50 31 10 Jon Singleton 2nd Half 2014 57 .155 50 207 174 26 27 7 0 7 23 1 1 33 77 .290 .316 .606 55 0 0 0 0 0 3 .222 96 76

The 2nd half of a season is never quite half, it's usually 70 games or so. So I checked on 2nd half splits, and in the last 50 years six guys have hit .400 over that period. And 26 have hit at least .380. Even recently, in the period of declining batting averages: Rk I Player Split Year G BA GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ 1 Ichiro Suzuki 2nd Half 2004 76 .429 75 360 333 56 143 8 3 5 29 15 5 22 32 .465 .517 .982 172 1 2 1 2 12 4 .463 126 159 2 George Brett 2nd Half 1980 72 .421 71 326 280 57 118 21 4 16 77 9 6 38 10 .482 .696 1.178 195 6 1 0 7 10 3 .391 111 227 3 Joey Votto 2nd Half 2016 72 .408 71 314 262 53 107 19 2 15 55 2 0 47 32 .490 .668 1.158 175 8 0 0 5 8 0 .418 134 214 4 Barry Bonds 2nd Half 2002 61 .404 59 265 171 49 69 15 0 19 53 6 1 89 19 .608 .825 1.432 141 2 3 0 2 30 2 .370 108 280 5 Larry Walker 2nd Half 1998 61 .402 54 244 209 61 84 16 2 14 34 6 0 31 36 .480 .699 1.178 146 5 2 0 2 1 1 .435 119 209 6 Tony Gwynn 2nd Half 1993 47 .400 47 208 190 35 76 19 0 4 30 4 0 15 4 .438 .563 1.001 107 9 0 0 3 5 5 .389 123 171 7 Wade Boggs 2nd Half 1985 75 .395 74 353 311 59 123 20 2 5 40 1 0 40 30 .467 .521 .988 162 11 2 0 0 2 7 .428 113 172 8 Jim Eisenreich 2nd Half 1996 41 .391 35 151 138 18 54 13 1 1 19 3 0 12 10 .437 .522 .959 72 4 0 0 1 2 1 .414 116 152 9 George Brett 2nd Half 1990 71 .388 70 305 278 46 108 33 5 12 58 4 1 24 28 .433 .673 1.105 187 9 0 0 3 5 0 .398 143 212 10 Justin Turner 2nd Half 2014 50 .388 30 146 129 25 50 11 0 4 22 4 1 14 27 .459 .566 1.025 73 3 3 0 0 1 1 .469 128 197 11 Manny Ramirez 2nd Half 2008 63 .388 63 274 224 44 87 18 0 19 61 2 0 43 42 .485 .723 1.209 162 7 3 0 4 19 3 .407 133 214 12 Barry Bonds 2nd Half 2003 50 .388 48 201 134 43 52 11 0 15 27 0 0 64 19 .587 .806 1.393 108 3 2 0 1 24 1 .366 119 270 13 Hank Aaron 2nd Half 1973 43 .387 37 166 137 31 53 7 1 13 44 1 1 25 12 .470 .737 1.207 101 2 0 0 4 6 1 .345 132 237 14 J.T. Snow 2nd Half 2004 59 .387 47 224 181 42 70 18 1 9 44 2 0 37 25 .496 .646 1.142 117 0 4 0 2 0 1 .409 138 198 15 Albert Belle 2nd Half 1998 76 .387 76 328 282 61 109 26 1 31 86 4 0 38 34 .451 .816 1.267 230 6 1 0 7 9 2 .348 138 228 16 Johnny Damon 2nd Half 2000 76 .386 76 354 329 71 127 29 6 8 52 23 3 17 24 .413 .584 .997 192 5 1 3 4 0 9 .395 126 159 17 Wes Helms 2nd Half 2006 70 .385 28 154 130 21 50 14 3 5 29 0 2 13 23 .444 .654 1.098 85 5 4 3 4 0 0 .425 128 183 18 Buster Posey 2nd Half 2012 71 .385 69 298 257 43 99 23 1 14 60 0 1 37 46 .456 .646 1.102 166 7 0 0 4 7 2 .423 129 203 19 Miguel Cabrera 2nd Half 2011 69 .385 68 300 257 48 99 27 0 12 46 1 0 42 38 .470 .630 1.100 162 9 0 0 1 8 2 .418 112 200 20 Roberto Alomar 2nd Half 1997 37 .384 35 153 138 20 53 12 0 6 24 2 2 10 12 .424 .601 1.025 83 4 1 2 2 1 0 .385 129 170 21 Josh Hamilton 2nd Half 2010 48 .384 47 203 177 36 68 15 1 10 36 1 0 19 25 .448 .650 1.098 115 9 4 0 3 1 1 .400 112 202 22 Mike Napoli 2nd Half 2011 61 .383 58 249 214 44 82 15 0 18 42 3 1 33 47 .466 .706 1.171 151 4 1 0 1 2 3 .427 124 217 23 John Olerud 2nd Half 1998 77 .381 72 326 281 51 107 20 1 15 47 1 1 41 33 .457 .619 1.076 174 9 1 0 3 3 4 .390 115 184 24 Rod Carew 2nd Half 1977 67 .381 63 299 273 58 104 18 2 8 42 13 3 24 22 .430 .549 .979 150 2 0 1 1 4 2 .393 92 169 25 Wade Boggs 2nd Half 1988 73 .380 73 339 271 69 103 22 4 3 27 0 2 63 13 .493 .524 1.017 142 10 1 0 4 7 6 .386 111 198 26 Victor Martinez 2nd Half 2005 71 .380 69 301 263 42 100 19 0 11 45 0 1 35 42 .449 .578 1.026 152 7 0 0 3 5 1 .418 141 175 Ichiro was doing his best peak-Willie Keeler impersonation the second half of '04. And how do you like Albert Belle's steroid-era walk year finish in '98? .387/.451/.816 with 31 homers, good for a Bondsian 1.267 OPS. Sure impressed Mr. Angelos.

There was never an asterisk. But for a while there were two entries in the official MLB records, one for Maris and one for Ruth. Because commish Ford Frick had previously written a bio of Ruth and kind of worshiped him, couldn't stand to see his record broken.

Not a literal one, but when folks are drawing up best-of lists almost every single one gives extra credit for time missed due to WWII and Korea.

It is true, as samples decrease standard deviation increases. We won't get the counting stats but someone could hit .400 or have a 0.00 ERA in 33 innings or something. The other side of the coin is we might see even shorter pitcher outings with large rosters and short schedules. So it might be an endless stream of one-inning relievers throwing 96 mph, so overall offense might be down and even more three true outcomes (blech).

No I don't. I don't know if he would be a good or a poor pick because the information is unclear. What I'm saying that the error bars in Gonzales' performance are greater than those accompanying Martin or Torkelson because of the obscuring effects of an environment where teams score 10 runs a game. If the Orioles' projections for Gonzales are good enough that the uncertainty is less relevant, than great, draft him. But the uncertainty is still there, it doesn't go away. Of course the offensive environment has a huge impact on his numbers, I don't see why that's even a point of discussion. But maybe that fact is less important than the scouting reports and other information. Also, New Mexico State's park isn't small. It's 345-385-400. Dimensions aren't everything. It's altitude, wind and other effects. Coors has perhaps the largest outfield in MLB.

There's strange quirks of the BBWAA voting even today that I don't fully grasp. Like why Scott Rolen got no support. And then there's the fact that nobody is ever officially excluded, you're always a Vet's Committee candidate as long as you played 10 years. So who knows what things will look like in 20 or 30 years. Evan Longoria is just tremendously better than Pie Traynor, and Pie Traynor used to sometimes be called the best third baseman of all time. I guess I should really try to remember that "Hall of Fame Standards" aren't really a thing. All along the Hall has included guys like Ray Schalk and Bill Mazeroski while keeping Alan Trammell and Bert Blyleven waiting for decades.

There a difference between a viable pick and a less risky pick. If the Orioles are that comfortable with Gonzales despite having less solid information to go on, then pick him. You can be the best player in the world and still be a 1998 Colorado Rockie. But if you're trading for that guy you are taking on a lot of risk that he's not really the best guy, he just has gaudy Mile High numbers. When you say "..that the Orioles should never, ever select a player whose home park was a hitters park" you're underselling the case here. Colorado is a hitter's park. Fenway is a hitter's park. Gonzales' hitting environment is twice that of the Rockies. It's way, way, way beyond any environment that has ever existed in MLB history. That inherently adds risk to the equation. This is like an NFL team drafting someone who has only played Arena Football. It's plausible he could be really good, but it's very hard to tell because the context is so out of whack.

Oh come on. Your thing is to advocate for sweeping decisions to be made on 18 at bats. After like 20 years we can kid you about it. I'm sure you can come up with some kind of thing about random players from 1878 to make fun of me.

In wildcard's universe Bob Milacki was inducted into the Hall of Fame during the 1988-89 offseason.