Comeback Player Of The Year

Note: In 1989, Lonnie Smith of the Atlanta Braves won the National League Comeback Player of the Year award, beating out San Francisco's Dave Dravecky.  Smith put up very good numbers after having his career derailed by cocaine abuse.  Dravecky pitched in only two games, but did come back from cancer in his pitching arm.  This has been a point of contention between Adam and Gabe for some time now.

Adam:  The race for comeback player of the year is going to be interesting this year.

Gabe:  Vogelsong or who?

Adam:  Beltran.  Berkman?

Gabe:  Oh right.  So Dravecky, then?

Dave Dravecky

Adam:  Did Carlos miss last year because of blow?

Gabe:  Probably.  It was under the floorboard of his locker.  It was Strawberry's at Shea, and they just moved it over.

Adam:  Nice.  I think Brooks Conrad's comeback is worthy of merit.

Gabe:  I do my best.  But I forgot about Fat Elvis.  He's been awesome.  Brooks is also a good option.  In other years he might have won.  He's the Jason Jennings of comeback players.

Adam:  Vogelsong would win if it were held today.

Gabe:  You'd think so.  He really has been amazing this year.  And not "good for a guy with his story."  Just good.

Adam:  Nice Jennings reference ... I was thinking Doug when I first read that ... very confused.

Gabe:  Sadly, Doug Jennings probably won't win this year.  But when I first read that, I was thinking Doug Henning.

Adam:  It's one award per league, right?

Gabe:  I think so, yes.

Adam:  'Cause JJ Hardy is legit, too.  And Hafner.

Gabe:  Totally.  But I'm still hoping he's in the NL by next month.

Adam:  Which one?

Gabe:  Hardy.

Adam:  Ohhhh good ... 'cause Hafner might not be a great fit in San Fran.

Gabe:  Yeah, he might have a tough time playing right at AT&T.

Adam:  Would pay to see that, though.

Gabe:  Absolutely.

Adam:  What would he have to hit to make sabermetric sense?

Gabe:  An OBP of roughly 1.400.

Adam:  Right, to go with his UZR of -654168448.3.

Gabe:  And a VORP- of pi.

Adam:  VORP would also transcend sabermetrics to become a word describing that feeling every Giants fan would get on a routine fly to right.

Gabe:  "Fly ball towards right, Hafner going baaaaaack ... oh, VORP!"

Adam:  You would all be longing for the days of torture.

Gabe:  Yep.  We'd miss Burrell's glove.

Adam:  Nah, you keep him for a defensive replacement.

Gabe:  Or to play shortstop.

Adam:  He was probably a shortstop in high school.

Gabe:  Just like every other Big Leaguer?

Adam:  Prince?

Gabe:  Ooh.  Good point.  Fat kid.  He was a catcher.

Day 13: Did Not Hear From Giants

The Giants, like most successful businesses, look for every possible way to get their customers to part with more of their money.  That's expected and appropriate, for the most part.  One of their new revenue streams allows fans to have Lou Seal, their ridiculous costumed mascot, visit them in their seat during the game.

For $75, Lou Seal will drop by your seat, ostensibly between innings, to "hi-five your kid, and take photos."  For $100, the mascot will make a special birthday visit, bringing some manner of undefined "gift."  For $125, he will make a 15 minute visit to your pre-game tailgate party.  There is no information on whether or not he will also require a burger or any of your adult beverages.

Seriously. Go away.

Personally, I can't stand costumed mascots at the Big League level.  Sure, the late, great Sonoma County Crushers' "Abominable Sonoman" was clever, and the between-inning stuff with kids was fun.  But when the World Champs are on the field?  I don't get why that's necessary at all.  And there have been times (mostly at Candlestick), where the dumb guy was actually blocking my view of the field, which is nigh-unforgivable.

So I figured, the Giants are looking to bring in some cash to help pay for the cost of sanitizing mascot costumes, and on June 13 I sent them the following email:

Just curious about the cost of ensuring Lou Seal does not come into my section at any point during the game.  I'm not really sure why anyone needs to be entertained by a Mime/Furry when the World Champs are on the field, but it would be awesome if I could make sure he/it isn't distracting me or any other actual baseball fans around me.
Yes, I am serious.
And yes, I pay the Salvation Army Santa to stop ringing his dang bell until I have driven away.  
Sincerely,Gabe

Now it's been almost two weeks, and still nothing from the Giants.  But seriously.  I want to know.

Feel free to email and/or tweet @SFGiants on my behalf.  I will be posting regular updates as this drama plays out.

Whose Line Is It Anyway: June 24, 2011

Look at the following career total stat line, and guess which player has those numbers.  Then leave your guess as a comment to this post.  First one with the right answer wins a custom desktop wallpaper featuring your favorite (non-dodger, non-o. smith) player, from any sport, built to the size of your screen.  Obviously, the "honor system" is at work here as far as not researching the answer.  You can submit more than one answer, but please make each guess a separate comment.  Come back every Friday for another game and chance to win!


This player spent his entire 19-year career with one National League team.  Adam says we should note that he played in the Modern Era (1980-Present).  So ... whose line is this? (click to view larger image)

Hints:

• He was an All Star 12 times
• He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting 2 times

Get AdamandGabe.com Approval To Vote For All Stars

We here at AdamandGabe.com take our All Star voting seriously.  And every year, we're frustrated by people who don't.  The natural, gut reaction to poor voting practices is to want the vote taken from fans and given to players, writers, groundskeepers ... really anyone who might actually be paying attention to what's happening in the games taking place this season.  But it's not fair to penalize all fans for the actions of their peers.  Instead, we are proposing that Major League Baseball require fans to pass a small test that would allow them to vote for the All Star teams.  And to help them get started, we have developed our own test.  (note: Adam also thinks there should be a test required to vote in any local, state, or federal elections, but that's better saved for another post)

So below are five questions, which we think progress from very easy to moderately challenging.  Get 4 out of the 5 right, and we think you should vote with pride and confidence that you know what you're doing.  Then you will receive the AdamandGabe.com "Official Seal Of Approval" which you can post on your Facebook page, use for your Twitter profile pic, or give to your favorite tattoo artist and have it permanently emblazoned onto your body.  This may be the last year that passing a test like this is not required to vote, so think of this as a tune up for future seasons.  Like the PSAT of All Star voting qualification tests.

My All Star Ballot 2011

With just over a week left to cast ballots for the 2011 All Star teams, it's time to carefully look at stats and fill out my 25 ballots (per email address!).  My process is to look at a wide range of stats from this season, and then consider peripheral things like career stats and the role they fill on their team.  Lastly, I have an unbreakable personal law that prohibits me from ever voting for dodgers.  It's right up there with my "no rental footwear" law.  I guess I hope that someday, nobody will vote for any dodger players, and the NL manager will just forget about them and I won't have to see that uniform in the mid-summer classic.

American League

First Base: Paul Konerko

Also considered: Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera

This is probably the closest call for me in either league. It comes down to Konerko having a few more home runs, a slightly higher SLG, and the fact that his lineup isn't as strong as Boston's. On some subconscious level, I may have also factored in which 1B had the most DUI arrests.  It's kind of a thing for me.

Second Base: Robinson Cano

Also considered: Dustin Pedroia, Howie Kendrick

Cano has the most hits, most home runs, and highest SLG of any AL second baseman.  Pedroia is also having a great season, and I was pretty surprised by the excellent numbers being put up by Kendrick.

Shortstop: Johnny Peralta

Also considered: Alexei Ramirez, Yunel Escobar, Asdrubal Cabrera, Elvis Andrus

This one was really close between Peralta and Cabrera.  In fact, if I hadn't used up all my ballots yet, I might switch.  But Peralta does have the slight edge in AVG/OBP/SLG, and that tipped it for me. You can make a solid case for any of the 5 shortstops listed here.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez

Also considered: Kevin Youkilis

I'm as surprised as you are that I'm voting for A-Rod, but the guy has the numbers and star power to be there.  He and Youk are the only AL 3B's slugging over .500.  Youkilis has a slightly higher OBP, while A-Rod has a slightly higher average, and 2 more home runs.  Coming into play today (June 22), they have an identical .506 SLG.  

Catcher: Alex Avila

Also considered: AJ Pierzynski, Matt Wieters

Avila leads all AL catchers in OBP and SLG, tied for fifth in home runs, and has been steady all year.  Plus, he's been a tremendous asset on one of my fantasy teams.  And I definitely went into this looking for reasons to not vote for Pierzynski, which makes me like Avila even more.

Outfield: Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, Jacoby Ellsbury

Also considered: Carlos Quentin, Brennan Boesch, Matt Joyce, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Melky Cabrera (I know, right?)

Bautista is probably the easiest call in either league.  The guy is just unreal.  Granderson is having the season the Tigers were dreaming of when they drafted him (too bad he's having it with the Yankees).  Ellsbury is having a tremendous season after everyone assumed he would be supplanted at the top of the Red Sox lineup by Carl Crawford.

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz

Also considered: no one

This one isn't even close.  Ortiz is having one of the best offensive seasons of anyone in the American League, regardless of position.  He's everything Ron Blomberg hoped to be as a DH.

National League

First Base: Prince Fielder

Also considered: Joey Votto, Gaby Sanchez, Ryan Howard, Michael Morse

With Pujols out with an injury, this one becomes a lot easier.  Fielder's OPS is over 1.000, and he leads NL first basemen in home runs, RBI, and doubles.  Sanchez is probably next, with Votto, Howard, and Morse all having excellent seasons.  Yes.  Michael Morse.  Who knew?

Second Base: Rickie Weeks

Also considered: Brandon Phillips

Weeks is the only NL second baseman with an OBP over .350 and SLG over .500, and he's the leader in home runs.  He also has more steals and a higher batting average than Brandon Phillips.  It's hard to believe this guy was losing playing time to Ray Durham just a couple of years ago.

Shortstop:  Jose Reyes

Also considered: Troy Tulowitzki, Starlin Castro

It's amazing that there's a runaway winner at this position and it's not Tulowitzki or Hanley Ramirez.  Reyes is second in the majors in hits, has an OPS just shy of .900, and is 26-for-31 in stolen base attempts.  This may go down as the new definition of "walk year."

Third Base: Chipper Jones

Also considered: Ryan Roberts, Chase Headley

No NL third baseman is having a truly great season so far, and two of the best young 3B's, Ryan Zimmerman and Pablo Sandoval, missed significant time with injuries.  It's a very close call here between Jones and Roberts, and so I employ my secondary criteria of career success and who I'd rather watch in the game, and Chipper clearly wins in both of those categories.  Plus, maybe Adam will buy coffee next time because I'm advocating voting for his guy.

Catcher:  Brian McCann

Also considered:  Yadier Molina, Miguel Montero

Molina and Montero are both having nice seasons, but let's be honest.  The only real competition McCann had is out for the season with a broken leg.  I look forward to many years of the McCann/Posey NL All Star catching tandem.  

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman, Justin Upton

Also considered: Hunter Pence, Mike Stanton, Andrew McCutchen, Michael Bourn, Shane Victorino, Jay Bruce

Obviously there's a glaring omission here because of my "no dodgers" policy.  Still, Braun, Berkman, and Upton are all having amazing offensive seasons and definitely deserve to be on the team.  The runners-up included a couple of surprises, like Hunter Pence leading NL outfielders in hits (93), and Shane Victorino having a SLG of .507.

Okay, that's my ballot.  Feel free to use it for reference, or just copy the whole dang thing when you cast your votes.

Get our official Seal of Approval to vote for All Star teams by taking our quick 5-question quiz to prove you know what you're doing!

Whose Line Is It Anyway: June 17, 2011

Look at the following career total stat line, and guess which player has those numbers.  Then leave your guess as a comment to this post.  First one with the right answer wins a custom desktop wallpaper featuring your favorite (non-dodger, non-o. smith) player, from any sport, built to the size of your screen.  Obviously, the "honor system" is at work here as far as not researching the answer.  You can submit more than one answer, but please make each guess a separate comment.  Come back every Friday for another game and chance to win!


This player pitched for 2 teams over 10 seasons.  
So ... whose line is this? (click to view larger image)

Hints:

• He lead the AL in ERA, Complete Games, and Shutouts one time in each category
• He was an All Star twice

Yeah, I Do Think I'd Be An Awesome Commissioner

Still waiting to hear if I'm going to get an interview to step in when interim Commissioner Bud Selig steps aside, which I'm sure he's going to do any day now.  I say that because I'm working on an article discussing the proposed baseball realignment, and once it's posted, I fully expect MLB to come a-calling with any number of job offers.  I'm still hoping to hold out for the big one.  I also hope everyone's cool with me moving the Commissioner's office to the Bay Area.

This is the letter I received, on snappy Milwaukee Brewers letterhead, in response to my letter expressing interest in the MLB Commissioner position, August of 1993.

Yes, it's real. Some of you have seen it in person.
Feel free to validate it in the comments.

Fun With Stats: Strikeouts Per 9 Innings

While perusing the halls of Baseball-Reference.com for next Friday's Whose Line Is It Anyway, I strolled through the career leaders for most strikeouts per nine innings, with pitchers who have thrown a minimum of 1,000 innings.  You know what the first thing was to grab my attention?  Dwight Gooden, "Dr. K," at number 67, with 7.3686 K/9.  Sixty.  Seventh.  He doesn't even have the highest rate in that great rotation the Mets had in the second half of the 80's; that belongs to "El Sid" Fernandez, who ranks twenty-first with 8.4038.  Other pitchers I never, ever would have guessed to be ahead of Gooden include Brett Myers (65th, 7.3972), Ted Lilly (44th, 7.6577), Matt Clement (38th, 7.7534), and Bob Veale (32nd, 7.9579), but that last one is mostly just because I don't think I've ever heard of him.

Dr. 7.4 K/9

But those are Gooden's career numbers.  His numbers just with the Mets must be better, right?  Before his decline years, which started after he missed a year with a drug suspension, and before he got clean?  Is cocaine technically a "performance enhancing" drug?  Anyway, Dr. K's K/9 with the Mets, 1984-1994, is 7.4.  Which is possibly more than 7.3686, but not by much.  Or not at all, if B-R is employing any of that fancy "rounding" I've been hearing about.  In fact, the only season that Doc was above 10 strikeouts per 9 was his rookie year of 1984, when he racked up 11.4.

I think the lesson here (and who knew you could learn life lessons from baseball stats?) is that sometimes reputation supersedes reality.  People thought of Gooden as a strikeout pitcher, and I'm not saying he was Billy Swift (3.4859 K/9), but he never lived up to the Dr. K title.  So the lesson here is don't do drugs, kids.  Or give up big home runs to Mike Scioscia in a playoff game.  That's the lesson.

Why did they always
take his picture right
after he threw up?

A couple more quick things from the list.  Because it takes 1,000 career innings to qualify, there aren't nearly as many relief pitchers as there are starters.  Discounting Kerry Wood (47% of his appearances through 2010 are starts), the only reliever in the top 10 is Trevor Hoffman (5th, 9.3608 K/9), whom I haven't really considered a strikeout pitcher since around the time he broke Robby Thompson's cheekbone in 1993.  It's all the changeups.  The other relievers in the top 25 are Arthur Rhodes (11th, 8.7921), Dan Plesac (13th, 8.7397), Lee Smith (15th, 8.7324), Eric Plunk (20th, 8.4526), Tom Gordon (24th, 8.2315), and Mariano Rivera (25th, 8.2004).  Plesac and Plunk?  Really?  Those are names I did not expect to see.  For reference, longtime closer Roger McDowell is 599th with 4.4914.

Lastly, seventh on this list is Oliver Perez, with 9.1160 strikeouts per 9 innings.  That's seventh all time.  Oliver Perez.  The same Oliver Perez who the Mets cut before this season started, feeling they were better off paying him $12,000,000 to not pitch for them.  Perez has a career ERA of 4.63 and WHIP of 1.482.  Those numbers are what we, in the business, like to call "not good."  So the lesson we learn from this list of names and numbers is this: strikeouts are exciting and impressive, but not a terribly accurate way to evaluate a pitcher's overall effectiveness.  Lesson learned.

Whose Line: June 10 Winner

Hall of Famer
Eddie Murray

This week's Whose Line Is It Anyway winner is faithful reader (to the extent that's possible) Dan!  He correctly identified switch hitting slugger Eddie Murray.

While he tried to decline his fabulous prize, he gets one anyway.

But I did have to guess at what player he'd want, and what his monitor resolution is.  Hope I'm close.  As you can see, though, these are downloadable for everyone who visits the site, so in a sense when one person wins, everyone wins!

Congratulations Dan!
Clicking the thumbnail image takes you to a page with the image, then you'll need to click "download" on that page (right clicking doesn't give you the full sized image).

Big Mac 1280x1024

MacBook Friendly Mac 1440x900

Whose Line Is It Anyway: June 10, 2011

Look at the following career total stat line, and guess which player has those numbers.  Then leave your guess as a comment to this post.  First one with the right answer wins a custom desktop wallpaper featuring your favorite (non-dodger, non-o. smith) player, from any sport, built to the size of your screen.  Obviously, the "honor system" is at work here as far as not researching the answer.  You can submit more than one answer, but please make each guess a separate comment.  Come back every Friday for another game and chance to win!

Nobody guessed correctly last week, so we'll make it a little easier.  This week's player had an astounding 21 year Big League career, playing for 5 different franchises.
So ... whose line is this? (click to view larger image)

Hints: 

• 16 years in the AL, and 6 in the NL (so obviously a little overlap in there somewhere)
• During his 6 years in the NL, he had approximately 26,512 RBI against the Giants

Somebody is going to get this one pretty easily, so post your guess pronto!


Last week's answer after the jump:

Baseball's Best Nicknames

Adam: Hey look at the career of Chris Hoiles … why didn’t he have a job offer? Injury? Just hung them up? That’s a solid final year for a catcher. He had an OPS over 1.000 in ’93.

Chris Hoiles

Gabe: Those are definitely better numbers than I would have guessed. I have no idea why he stopped playing.

Adam: Yeah, I can’t remember either. Career OPS over .830 … nice.

Adam: One of McCann’s Baseball-Reference “most similar” players is “Bubbles Hargrave."  Ol’ Bubbles.

Gabe: That has got to be the worst baseball name ever.

Adam: And yes … Bubbles is Pinky Hargrave’s brother.

Gabe: Shut up. Neither of those are real.

Adam: Pinky was a lifetime .278 hitter … 39 bombs too. Bubbles was a lifetime .310 hitter.

Gabe: Still, though. I had an Uncle Pinky. He was a drummer. But how do you make it through years of team sports and still go by “Pinky?” Or “Bubbles?”

Adam: No idea. Pinky was a Brave for a bit, though.

Gabe: Pink doesn’t go with the Braves colors at all.

Adam: Bubbles spent most of his career with the Reds … was on the Yanks in 1930. I bet Babe Ruth had some fun with Bubbles.

Gabe: You’d have to think so. How many times do you think he heard “I know a stripper named Bubbles?”

Adam: Ruth probably knew more than one stripper named Bubbles. And Pinky.

Gabe: Yep. That’s a safe bet.

Adam: On the list of catchers similar to McCann there is a Bubbles … a Shanty a Babe and a Yogi. Catcher had to be the best nicknamed position right? (oh, and Ed Taubensee … which I am sure has McCann stoked)

Gabe: I’m sure. Spanky and Sluggo have got to be the best nicknames ever for teammates who played the same position.

Adam: Yeah, for sure … maybe we should do a top ten list of our favorite nicknames?

Just A Little Perspective

Aubrey Huff, one of the great clubhouse personalities of this generation, has saddled Giants rookie shortstop Brandon Crawford with the nickname "John Stamos."  Already, the hashtag #stamos gets plenty of run on Twitter during Giants games.

But Crawford is a young guy, and I found myself wondering whether or not he would even know who John Stamos is.  So I looked it up.  Brandon Crawford was born January 21, 1987.  Stamos' co-stars on Full House, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, were born June 13, 1986, roughly six months before Crawford.

Still, Huff isn't far off.  Also, I am old.

Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, John Stamos

Brandon Crawford, "John Stamos"

Whose Line Is It Anyway: June 3, 2011

Look at the following career total stat line, and guess which player has those numbers.  Then leave your guess as a comment to this post.  First one with the right answer wins a custom desktop wallpaper featuring your favorite (non-dodger, non-o. smith) player, from any sport, built to the size of your screen.  Obviously, the "honor system" is at work here as far as not researching the answer.  You can submit more than one answer, but please make each guess a separate comment.  Come back every Friday for another game and chance to win!

This week's player had a 14 year Big League career, playing for 4 different franchises.
So ... whose line is this? (click to view larger image)

Hints: 

• He spent 8 years in the NL, and 6 years in the AL.
• He won 1 major award in his career, and was an All Star 3 times.