Random Baseball Observations

[CobaltBlue 662]

The opening day payroll list was released recently. My friend asked me if I wanted to make a prop bet. He said he'd take the top 10 teams in payroll and I'd get the bottom 20 to win the WS. After some negotiating, I've got 21 teams. How big of a dog do we think I am?

[slink 1]

The opening day payroll list was released recently. My friend asked me if I wanted to make a prop bet. He said he'd take the top 10 teams in payroll and I'd get the bottom 20 to win the WS. After some negotiating, I've got 21 teams. How big of a dog do we think I am?

Is it an even money bet?

[CobaltBlue 662]

Is it an even money bet?

Yeah.

[DJ Vu 176]

Starting with the year 2000, there have been six champions in the top ten and six not in the top ten.

[CobaltBlue 662]

Starting with the year 2000, there have been six champions in the top ten and six not in the top ten.

Yeah, and I found that there have been 6 of the past 11 WS that haven't even included a team in the top 9.

[wsox8 10]

let me know if you want more $ on it Cobalt

[DJ Vu 176]

The 10 Worst Pitches of the 2011 SeasonFunny stuff right here.#1Lewis: Let's assume that there are other realities.Lewis: Let's just assume.Lewis: Other realities, very similar to this one, with a few differences.Lewis: Those alternate realities exist in alternate universes.Lewis: Alternate universes perhaps accessible from this one.Lewis: Might there also be alternate strike zones?Lewis: Alternate strike zones accessible from this reality?Lewis: Alternate strike zones in unusual places?Lewis: I throw this pitch in the name of science!Lewis: /throws horrible pitchUmpire: BallLewis: dangRelated: Most Extreme Pitches Hit for Home RunsMy favorite:

• dirt
• dirt
• dirt
• dirt
• dirt
• dirt
• highest pitch hit for a home run all year

[timwakefield 68]

Myers: WHO THE SWEET F*** IS JOSH HARRISONMyers: I MEAN I DON'T EVENMyers: WHY DO WEMyers: GODDDDDDDDMyers: I HATE THESE MOTHERF***ING GAMESMyers: BETWEEN THE MOTHERF***ING ASTROSMyers: AND THE MOTHERF***ING PIRATESMyers: /spikeMyers: YEAHHI enjoyed this. And gifs. Sports gifs are one of my favorite things, please post more whenever you come across them.

[timwakefield 68]

I have no idea what is going on here. Well I might have some idea. He's either doctoring the ball or flirting, or both. http://www.checkoutmycards.com/Players/Bas...akefield/415599

[DJ Vu 176]

Ryan Braun tested positive for PEDs.

This just doesn't make much sense to me. He doesn't look like a steroid freak, and his numbers don't support it either. We'll see, I guess.

Vindication! Ryan Braun won his appeal and won't be suspended. Edit: Maybe.Tom ‏ @HaudricourtPlayers union officially announces that Braun won appeal, saying parties agreed to announce it despite usually confidential process.Tom ‏ @HaudricourtI've been told AP is reporting Braun lost his appeal. Believe me, Braun won.2nd Edit: The best thing about Twitter reporting and the race to be first is all the wrong reports that come out. 3rd Edit: I might've used the word "best" incorrectly in the above statement.4th! Edit: MLB issued a statement: "...Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das."That's an interesting stance to take since it's probably a good thing for the league that the reigning MVP isn't getting suspended. I'm interested to find out the details of all this.

[CobaltBlue 662]

4th! Edit: MLB issued a statement: "...Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das."That's an interesting stance to take since it's probably a good thing for the league that the reigning MVP isn't getting suspended. I'm interested to find out the details of all this.

"MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred and union head Michael Weiner are part of the arbitration panel, and management and the union almost always split their votes, leaving Das, the independent panel member, to make the decision.'It has always been Major League Baseball's position that no matter who tests positive, we will exhaust all avenues in pursuit of the appropriate discipline. We have been true to that position in every instance, because baseball fans deserve nothing less,' Manfred said."I agree that it should be a good thing for them, but I guess they don't want their drug-testing policy to be weakened. I think it's interesting that he basically says that they're more interested in punishment than truth.

[DJ Vu 176]

"According to one of the sources, the collector, after getting Braun's sample, was supposed to take the sample to FedEx/Kinkos for shipping but thought it was closed because it was late on a Saturday. As has occurred in some other instances, the collector took the sample home and kept it refrigerated. Policy states that the sample is supposed to get to FedEx as soon as possible."This is how he won his appeal? I don't think that's going to change a lot of minds about whether he actually took a banned substance. But that would make sense why MLB would be upset with the decision.

[speedz99 145]

I enjoyed those links.

Vindication! Ryan Braun won his appeal and won't be suspended.

Heh, I came here to post the article, but I had completely forgotten that I called it. As if I needed some ridiculous panel to tell me that I'm always right.

I think it's interesting that he basically says that they're more interested in punishment than truth.

I think it's more idiotic than interesting.

[speedz99 145]

"According to one of the sources, the collector, after getting Braun's sample, was supposed to take the sample to FedEx/Kinkos for shipping but thought it was closed because it was late on a Saturday. As has occurred in some other instances, the collector took the sample home and kept it refrigerated. Policy states that the sample is supposed to get to FedEx as soon as possible."This is how he won his appeal? I don't think that's going to change a lot of minds about whether he actually took a banned substance. But that would make sense why MLB would be upset with the decision.

I wouldn't say that without doing some good old-fashioned research into whether or not that would make a difference to the numbers. Some blood values will definitely change over time.It does seem pretty weak though.

[DJ Vu 176]

I wouldn't say that without doing some good old-fashioned research into whether or not that would make a difference to the numbers. Some blood values will definitely change over time.It does seem pretty weak though.

David Schoenfield ‏ @dschoenfieldUrge you to read updated newser. Braun didn't appeal evidence of tampering or science. Argued protocol not followed.

[speedz99 145]

But there has to be some reason why this makes a difference, otherwise he'll look ridiculous saying that this vindicates him.

[mrdannyg 274]

"According to one of the sources, the collector, after getting Braun's sample, was supposed to take the sample to FedEx/Kinkos for shipping but thought it was closed because it was late on a Saturday. As has occurred in some other instances, the collector took the sample home and kept it refrigerated. Policy states that the sample is supposed to get to FedEx as soon as possible."This is how he won his appeal? I don't think that's going to change a lot of minds about whether he actually took a banned substance. But that would make sense why MLB would be upset with the decision.

But there has to be some reason why this makes a difference, otherwise he'll look ridiculous saying that this vindicates him.

I don't think that's the case - the USDA or whatever president was quoted as saying that this is common practice when the Fedex offices are closed. I'm sure there are timeframes associated with it, but seems likely that a day or two doesn't make a difference.Since protocol wasn't followed, I can only assume the issue of tampering can't be completely eliminated, hence the decision. It's no different than a guy getting off on a technicality on a legal matter. No one can really say the guy is innocent based on the decision, but that's why anyone defending themselves maintains their innocence all the way through, right? So when something like this happens, you can say "yeah, well I was innocent anyway, but this was the easiest way to close the case."

[The Ocho 970]

This is asinine. Drug tests have a chain of custody, they are sealed, then the shipping bag they are put in is also sealed. Both with tamper proof measures.Many times tests don't get to the lab for a couple days. You just don't have testosterone show up in your urine.

[Theraflu 1,035]

Since protocol wasn't followed, I can only assume the issue of tampering can't be completely eliminated, hence the decision. It's no different than a guy getting off on a technicality on a legal matter. No one can really say the guy is innocent based on the decision, but that's why anyone defending themselves maintains their innocence all the way through, right? So when something like this happens, you can say "yeah, well I was innocent anyway, but this was the easiest way to close the case."

This seems to be pretty accurate. His press conference today was really well done, and he basically said why they believe the sample was tampered with. Well worth the ~10 minute watch.

[speedz99 145]

This is asinine. Drug tests have a chain of custody, they are sealed, then the shipping bag they are put in is also sealed. Both with tamper proof measures.Many times tests don't get to the lab for a couple days. You just don't have testosterone show up in your urine.

His press conference today was really well done, and he basically said why they believe the sample was tampered with. Well worth the ~10 minute watch.

Yup. He's either the most convincing liar of all time, or the Ochos of the world are missing something.

[timwakefield 68]

He's either the most convincing liar of all time

He's certainly 8 billion times more believable than Mark "I'm not here to talk about the past" McGwire.Ryan "I would bet my life that this substance never entered my body" Braun.P.S. Here's the first half of the press conference. http://www.csnbayarea.com/sportsnetBayArea...ence-part-1.htm

[mrdannyg 274]

This is asinine. Drug tests have a chain of custody, they are sealed, then the shipping bag they are put in is also sealed. Both with tamper proof measures.Many times tests don't get to the lab for a couple days. You just don't have testosterone show up in your urine.

They have a chain of custody. A chain that involves a guy getting paid $12/hour having unsupervised access to the sample and additional sample bags available to him (I assume) for as much as several days.

Yup. He's either the most convincing liar of all time, or the Ochos of the world are missing something.

Despite my comment above, I actually think Ocho is completely right on this. But there's plenty of things, in baseball and elsewhere, that people who really care and really look into believe one thing, but the general public believes another. Half of these guys who have been caught with fake IDs were guys who were whispered about by plenty of baseball people (other's suspected of age fraud: Albert Pujols). In this case, we have a handler being paid $12/hour inexplicably not following his organization's rules precisely for a suspicious reason (one of your two main duties involves fedexing something, and you don't know when the closest fedex office closes?), and an independent arbitrator ruled you to be not guilty. How could the public look at that and call him guilty?The whole thing is ridiculous though, since we all know if he had muscles like McGwire or Bagwell, people would have been calling him juiced before this test, and this test would've confirmed everything, regardless of the reversal.

[DJ Vu 176]

So I guess baseball is going through with this extra wild card team. Two wild card teams from each league will play a one game playoff to make it into the playoffs. The winner plays the #1 seed.Because this was added so late, there are travel issues. So, the team with home field advantage in the first round actually opens up on the road. You play two games on the road and then games three through five are at home. They did this for a few years when the wild card was first introduced and it was stupid then too.More schedule details here.

[The Ocho 970]

They have a chain of custody. A chain that involves a guy getting paid $12/hour having unsupervised access to the sample and additional sample bags available to him (I assume) for as much as several days.Despite my comment above, I actually think Ocho is completely right on this. But there's plenty of things, in baseball and elsewhere, that people who really care and really look into believe one thing, but the general public believes another. Half of these guys who have been caught with fake IDs were guys who were whispered about by plenty of baseball people (other's suspected of age fraud: Albert Pujols). In this case, we have a handler being paid $12/hour inexplicably not following his organization's rules precisely for a suspicious reason (one of your two main duties involves fedexing something, and you don't know when the closest fedex office closes?), and an independent arbitrator ruled you to be not guilty. How could the public look at that and call him guilty?The whole thing is ridiculous though, since we all know if he had muscles like McGwire or Bagwell, people would have been calling him juiced before this test, and this test would've confirmed everything, regardless of the reversal.

Why would he know where all the fedex delivery schedules? He had to travel to wherever Braun was. That may not have been somewhere he was familiar with. BTW, followed the rules 100% correctly. Braun basically convinced an arbitrator that this guy could have possibly done something that was not detected, so therefore it's invalid. It's 100% safer for someone who has undergone the proper training a protocol to store the item, than it sit in a warehouse with 1000's of other shipments over the weekend. Or even worse, in a drop box that is not monitored at all.

[speedz99 145]

Why would he know where all the fedex delivery schedules? He had to travel to wherever Braun was. That may not have been somewhere he was familiar with.

This is...are you serious? It's his job to drop shit off at a local fedex, you're really trying to excuse the fact that he was unable to figure out that there were open locations within close proximity? That's absolutely absurd, regardless of the other issues at hand. "Oh well, it's supposed to go to a labaratory for testing, but it's getting a bit late, and there's probably no open locations around here, I guess I'll just take it home with me. No need to take two seconds to call the company or check online to make sure. What could go wrong?"The guy fucked up. MLB is saying he followed protocol because they don't want to admit that, by extension, they fucked up.

BTW, followed the rules 100% correctly. Braun basically convinced an arbitrator that this guy could have possibly done something that was not detected, so therefore it's invalid.

The arbitrator who has never sided with a player before. Does that not make you pause to think that maybe there's something you might be missing here?

It's 100% safer for someone who has undergone the proper training a protocol to store the item, than it sit in a warehouse with 1000's of other shipments over the weekend. Or even worse, in a drop box that is not monitored at all.

100% safer than [however save the warehouse is] does not make it 100% safe. What I still don't understand is why MLB didn't make the right PR move, take the minor embarrassment of poor protocol, and laud the the whole process which exonerated (sort of) one of the game's best players.