Tracking Ex Oriole Thread

[weams]

4 hours ago, LookinUp said:

Oh snap. Frobby and Drungo head-to-head in message board theater. Frobby got the tko on this one. I look forward to the rematch. lol. 

That was OG v OG there. 

[DrungoHazewood]

16 minutes ago, Hallas said:

Well this is a trip down Memory Lane.  I had always seen Milligan as a player that was woefully underappreciated as an MLB ballplayer.  It looks like he was also woefully underappreciated as a minor league prospect.  He OPSed .877 in a 1/2 season of AA as a 22 year old, and they rewarded him by making him repeat an entire season in AA, where he OPSed .870.  Then he gets bounced around as a 24 year old, and OPSes 1.033 as a 25 year old in AAA.  I can only guess that this was because he wasn't a power hitter, so they assumed his ability to draw walks wouldn't translate to MLB.  My how times have changed.  A player, even a 1B, OPSing 1.033 in AAA and not getting a call-up would be seen as criminal today.

Back in his 1980s Abstracts Bill James would have lists of guys he called "Ken Phelps All Stars".  A lot of AAA players with relatively big numbers who coaches and GMs "knew" would flame out in the majors.  Ken Phelps of course was one.  At 25 in AAA he OPS'd .988.  At 27 in AAA he OPS'd 1.175.  At 28 in AAA he OPS'd 1.029.  He first got 100 PAs in a major league season at 28.  Many of these guys were like Milligan or Phelps - not terribly athletic, didn't play key defensive postiions, but could hit, walked a ton and got labeled AAAA players.  

Could you imagine someone having Phelps' 1982 today and getting sent back to AAA?  .333/.469/.706 with 46 homers, 108 walks, and 141 RBI in 132 games. The following season he spent 74 games in AAA.  And the year after that he spent another 12 games in the minors!  Finally in 1984 he got a real shot in the majors at the age of 29 and OPS'd .898.  That same year Cal Ripken OPS'd .884, Eddie Murray .918.  The Mariners, Royals, and Expos kept one of the better hitters in baseball in AAA for six years.

[weams]

3 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Back in his 1980s Abstracts Bill James would have lists of guys he called "Ken Phelps All Stars".  A lot of AAA players with relatively big numbers who coaches and GMs "knew" would flame out in the majors.  Ken Phelps of course was one.  At 25 in AAA he OPS'd .988.  At 27 in AAA he OPS'd 1.175.  At 28 in AAA he OPS'd 1.029.  He first got 100 PAs in a major league season at 28.  Many of these guys were like Milligan or Phelps - not terribly athletic, didn't play key defensive postiions, but could hit, walked a ton and got labeled AAAA players.  

Could you imagine someone having Phelps' 1982 today and getting sent back to AAA?  .333/.469/.706 with 46 homers, 108 walks, and 141 RBI in 132 games. The following season he spent 74 games in AAA.  And the year after that he spent another 12 games in the minors!  Finally in 1984 he got a real shot in the majors at the age of 29 and OPS'd .898.  That same year Cal Ripken OPS'd .884, Eddie Murray .918.  The Mariners, Royals, and Expos kept one of the better hitters in baseball in AAA for six years.

Excellent reprise. 

[Hallas]

8 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Back in his 1980s Abstracts Bill James would have lists of guys he called "Ken Phelps All Stars".  A lot of AAA players with relatively big numbers who coaches and GMs "knew" would flame out in the majors.  Ken Phelps of course was one.  At 25 in AAA he OPS'd .988.  At 27 in AAA he OPS'd 1.175.  At 28 in AAA he OPS'd 1.029.  He first got 100 PAs in a major league season at 28.  Many of these guys were like Milligan or Phelps - not terribly athletic, didn't play key defensive postiions, but could hit, walked a ton and got labeled AAAA players.  

Could you imagine someone having Phelps' 1982 today and getting sent back to AAA?  .333/.469/.706 with 46 homers, 108 walks, and 141 RBI in 132 games. The following season he spent 74 games in AAA.  And the year after that he spent another 12 games in the minors!  Finally in 1984 he got a real shot in the majors at the age of 29 and OPS'd .898.  That same year Cal Ripken OPS'd .884, Eddie Murray .918.  The Mariners, Royals, and Expos kept one of the better hitters in baseball in AAA for six years.

The glasses probably didn't help.  I almost wonder if he grew the mustache to make himself look more manly.

[backwardsk]

Brandon Snyder has been pitching in Fresno.  Two outings, three innings so far.  Don’t know if these are just blowouts.

[bobmc]

Yesterday Christian Walker went deep off Clayton Kershaw (and was pied by AJ to boot) for the third time in eight AB's.  Who let this guy go again?  

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/dodgers-vs-d-backs/2019/06/24/564869#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=564869

 

[TonySoprano]

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

Yesterday Christian Walker went deep off Clayton Kershaw (and was pied by AJ to boot) for the third time in eight AB's.  Who let this guy go again?  

Baltimore followed by Atlanta followed by Cincinnatti

[25 Nuggets]

High probability this will be Walker's One Career Year, hope it nets him some $$$

[TonySoprano]

 

[BohKnowsBmore]

3 hours ago, bobmc said:

Yesterday Christian Walker went deep off Clayton Kershaw (and was pied by AJ to boot) for the third time in eight AB's.  Who let this guy go again?  

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/dodgers-vs-d-backs/2019/06/24/564869#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=564869

 

Love the lamenting of his finally breaking out for a 114 OPS+ while Mancini has no value at 145 at a year younger. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, 25 Nuggets said:

High probability this will be Walker's One Career Year, hope it nets him some $$$

This will likely be his 1987 Larry Sheets season. But hoping he sticks around long enough to qualify for a pension. 

[Enjoy Terror]

33 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

This will likely be his 1987 Larry Sheets season. But hoping he sticks around long enough to qualify for a pension. 

Larry Sheets made his debut 3 weeks after I was born. I have suspicion I was a World Series baby.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Enjoy Terror said:

Larry Sheets made his debut 3 weeks after I was born. I have suspicion I was a World Series baby.

I feel old now since I can remember the 1983 season, but hey at least I was alive when the O's were champions. 

[sportsfan8703]

6 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I feel old now since I can remember the 1983 season, but hey at least I was alive when the O's were champions. 

I was like two weeks old. Nobody is taking that ring away from me. 

[TonySoprano]

Quote

Josh Hader is the greatest bullpen weapon ever!

We’ve seen many a behemoth stomp out of many a bullpen. We’ve seen Gossage and Fingers, Mariano and Hoffman, Kimbrel and Chapman. But have we ever seen anything like Josh Hader?

Correct answer? That would be no! Halfway through the season, the Brewers’ floppy-locked left-handed dominator is averaging 17.4 strikeouts per nine innings – and 3.1 hits. Who else has ever done that? No one else has ever done that. In any season ever.

Hader is currently on pace for 152 strikeouts and 26 hits in 78 2/3 innings. , which would be absurd for your “MLB The Show” closer, let alone a person who exists in real life. And pretty much every run he’s allowed has been on a homer, incidentally, since he’s also on pace to give up 12 home runs – and six singles, in an entire season.

But maybe most important, Hader is doing all that while also averaging more than four outs per appearance, and racking up more saves of four-plus outs (ten) than saves of three outs or shorter (nine). Just to put that in perspective, no reliever has saved 30-plus games and averaged more than four outs per relief appearance since Doug Jones — in 1992! So it says here Josh Hader is the greatest bullpen weapon ever … for one season, anyway. Go prove me wrong.

“Incredible,” one rival NL exec says. “He’s amazing. And the way they use him is great.”