Trip Preview: Day 1

by jakemintz

As some of you know, Jordan and I will be embarking on our crazy trip next week. We will drive over 1,900 miles in the pursuit of whatever it is we are pursuing. We shall chronicle all our adventures on the blog and on the new podcast we plan to start on the trip. In anticipation of these shenanigans, this week I’ll be previewing each of our stops along the way. Hope you enjoy.

Sunday, July 7th

Start Point: Nationals Park

End Point: Somewhere near Toledo

Approximate Milage: 470 Miles

Driving Time: 7 Hours and 33 Minutes

Baseball Stuff: San Diego Padres @ Washington Nationals

Notes: The beginning of the trip might also be what we are most looking forward to; the Baseball Prospectus Nats Park event. We are looking forward to meeting some of the writers and personalities that we look up to and follow. Guys like Jason Parks, Ben Lindbergh, Mark Ferrin, and Andrew Meyer will all be in attendance. Following the event, the Narts tark arn thar Pardrars. Instead of paying for gas we plan on using #natitude to keep my car running for the entire week. After the game, we pull a Joe and head West, with Clinton, Iowa as our next destination. We hope to stop somewhere around Toledo for the night and finish the driving the next morning.

These Cleats Are Made For Walking: Hey Adam Jones

by Jordan Shusterman

So basically, Orioles outfielder Adam Jones hasn’t drawn a walk since May 18th.

That’s 174 consecutive plate appearances without drawing a walk.

He’s now got a 66-8 K/BB ratio through 359 plate appearances.

COME ON ADAM. YOU’RE GOOD AT BASEBALL. DO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SORTA SHOWS THAT YOU’RE GOOD AT BASEBALL. LIKE ONCE. PLEASE. kthxbye.

In other news…

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Trip Preview: Day 2

by jakemintz

As some of you know, Jordan and I will be embarking on our crazy trip next week. We will drive over 1,900 miles in the pursuit of whatever it is we are pursuing. We shall chronicle all our adventures on the blog and on the new podcast we plan to start on the trip. In anticipation of these shenanigans, this week I’ll be previewing each of our stops along the way. Hope you enjoy.

Monday, July 8th

Start Point: Somewhere near Toledo

End Point: Somewhere near Clinton, Iowa

Approximate Milage: 386 Miles

Driving Time: 6 Hours and 2 Minutes

Baseball Stuff: Cedar Rapids Kernels @ Clinton Lumberkings

  • Prospects: Gaby Guerrero, Tyler Pike, Victor Sanchez, Guillermo Pimentel, Niko Goodrum, Jose Berrios, Adam Brett Walker, Max Kepler.

Notes: We missed Buxton by 2 weeks. It was the reason we were driving all the way to Iowa. We were downtrodden and heartbroken. It was the end of the world. There are still a mess of prospects to catch in Clinton however, our favorite of whom being the Twins’ German outfielder Kepler. Born and raised in the motherland, Kepler is a crazy athlete who has a chance to be the first German born outfielder to make the major leagues. The Lumberkings boast Gaby Guerrero, Vlads just-as-free-swinging nephew. After the game we will drive an hour north towards our next day’s destination: The Field Of Dreams.

Jose Fernandez Continues Backwards Pitching Revolution

by jakemintz

A couple months ago we looked at Angels pitcher Garrett Richards and his new unorthodox approach to pitching. It’s been a quiet time for this new strategy, but last night it struck again thanks to Marlins rookie phenom Jose Fernandez. No, it wasn’t the eight innings of scoreless pitching that got our attention. It wasn’t the 10 strikeouts either. It wasn’t even this absurdly nasty slider that caused Carlos Quentin to quit baseball.

What made Jose Fernandez’s outing Monday night so special was this one pitch to Chase Headley in the seventh inning…

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Trip Preview: Day 4

by jakemintz

As some of you know, Jordan and I will be embarking on our crazy trip next week. We will drive over 1,900 miles in the pursuit of whatever it is we are pursuing. We shall chronicle all our adventures on the blog and on the new podcast we plan to start on the trip. In anticipation of these shenanigans, this week I’ll be previewing each of our stops along the way. Hope you enjoy.

Wednesday, July 10th

Start Point: Chicago, Illinois

End Point: Chicago, Illinois

Approximate Milage: 0 Miles

Driving Time: 0 Hours and 0 Minutes

Baseball Stuff: Los Angeles Angels vs. Chicago Cubs

Notes: Gonna be a chill one. We’ll wake up in Chicago at our friends house and spend all day touring Chicago. Hopefully we will go down to Lake Michigan and do some Jetskiing. Then we’ll take a trip down to Milt’s Barbecue For The Perplexed where the Head Chef is a fellow .9er. The day concludes with another trip to Wrigley.

Update: Chris Davis Still Not Blinking (And Still Amazing)

by Jordan Shusterman

In late April, I explored Chris Davis’ ridiculous start to the season and what might have caused it. Nearly three months later, my hypothesis has been all but scientifically proven.

Chris Davis has yet to blink once this entire season.

He is too focused on breaking every possible non-Barry Bonds record ever set. Davis is currently second only to Miguel Cabrera in FanGraphs WAR at 4.8. He’s slugging .731. THAT IS RIDICULOUS. He has a commanding lead in the home run department at 32 on the year. To be nice, Chris Davis has yet to steal a base this year. He feels that would be unfair. Anyway, let’s just get to the overwhelming evidence.

Here is Chris Davis not blinking moments before getting slapped by a friendly teammate:

Here is Chris Davis not blinking while avoiding looking at Justin Morneau’s questionable moustache: 

morneau stache

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Pitching Backwards: The New Normal

by Jordan Shusterman

We thought that we had seen the last of it.

Garrett Richards showed us what it meant to stretch the limits of pitching mechanics.

Earlier this week, Marlins phenom Jose Fernandez did it again.

What happened today is completely unprecedented. Two pitchers on two different teams performed their personal rendition of what seems to be baseball’s newest trend. The Chicago Cubs were in Oakland facing the A’s. Cubs starter Travis Wood had held the Cubbies scoreless through 3.2 innings when Nate Freiman…approached the plate.

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Random Lad Named Jason “Recommends” Something

by Andrew Meyer

So, today the three of us were at the Baseball Prospectus event at Nationals Park (Jordan and Jake are currently traveling towards Akron, Ohio, with the goal to get to Clinton, Iowa, because they are crazy people), and we basked in the glory of Mike Mason Milhouse Malcolm Mark Ferrin, Jason Cole, Joe Hamrahi, a war-torn Jay Jaffe, Zach Mortimer, and other BP writers and associates. Internet friends came out in force for the event,  which also featured incredibly handsome Nationals Front Office members, and others. Oh wait I forgot someone who was there….. Oh yeah, the one shining star of Baseball Prospectus the entire internet, Jason Parks. We ended up talking with Parks, and for some dumb reason he checked out the blawg, and for reasons we still are not sure of, liked it.

Our Twitter following is surging and we are getting our largest number of page views for a day that does not involve Chris Davis wearing no shirt. Praise be unto you all.

2013 NBA Draft Recap, Probably

by Jordan Shusterman

We were out at the Hagerstown Suns game all night, so I have absolutely no clue what happened in the national ballbasket draft, but based on my past knowledge of the sport, I’ll recap the night’s exciting action the best I can. Even if I have no clue who was taken by who when where why what which whatever.

THE PICKS

 THE FIRST PICK – 6″7 Athletic  Player From Marginally Impressive University

  • INSTANT ANALYSIS: Exciting player with impressive wingspan; plenty of upside; plays basketball; has good relationship with his parents; can dunk; knows how to win; plays the game the right way; has a nice smile; this is an upside play; fantastic athlete; can do a lot of things with the basketball; huge potential

THE SECOND PICK – Fun To Watch Undersized Guard Who Made A Lot Of Big Shots For Big School

  • INSTANT ANALYSIS: Wow; wow!; whoa; he is fun; makes big shots; he is probably not taller than 5″10 but he has a big heart; wow, he is so fun to watch; he once took 67 shots in one game; he did that thing in that tournament with that basketball; fun to watch

THE THIRD PICK – Incredibly Caucasian Seven-Footer Who Looks Awkward But Is Seven Feet Tall

  • INSTANT ANALYSIS: Gamer; enjoys basketball; has work to do offensively; can block some shots; is white; is not black; not noticeably athletic; solid defender; we will see how his game translates to the NBA; has long arms because he is tall; his game will not translate to the NBA; is white

THE FOURTH PICK – Mysterious Lanky European Whose Name Would Be Automatic Victory In Scrabble

  • INSTANT ANALYSIS: We don’t know; he is athletic; can dunk; he can dunk; did you see that dunk?; look at that dunk; has attractive girlfriend; will stay in Europe because reasons; enjoys gyros; has averaged 4.3 points per game but is definitely a top prospect; is somewhere between the ages of 14 and 23; hates airplanes; will never actually come to the United States

THE FIFTH PICK – That Guy Who Has Overcome So Much To Get To This Point, Wow, How Inspirational

  • INSTANT ANALYSIS: Incredible story; he has come so far; his background is tragic; he started from the bottom; grew up without one parent; grew up in a bad neighborhood; unclear if he can play basketball but wow, he has come so far; amazing makeup; loves the game; great story; did we mention the adversity he has faced?; can dribble; needs a haircut

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