Boo! There isn't a single thing a visiting pitcher can do to rile the home fans more than a string of pickoff throws to first base. Everybody boos pickoffs. But the question remains: do they work? Hardball Cooperative takes a look at some of the pickoff leader-boards and finds the evidence inconclusive. If pickoffs don't work, why take the risk of an error? Perhaps over-reliance on pickoff throws is what rewards an aggressive running game? And is it really possible that, out of 20 attempts, Chris Young hasn't prevented a single runner attempting to steal a base?
5 2 4 3. 4 2 4 0. 4 2 4 2. The four-hit game features a lovely crooked number in the box score and does magic for the slash stats. Can you guess which player has the most four-hit games? How about the player who has recorded the most four-hit games per games played? B-ref blog has the goods. It doesn't look quite like the career hits leaderboard, but it does feature the same name at the top. The five most prolific four-hit stars were Rose, Molitor, Boggs, Brett, and Carew. However, Ichiro has recorded a four-hit game in 3.0% of his games, easily best in history (although he is still active and likely to see the number decline eventually). The top inactive player in terms of rate is Kirby Puckett (2.6%).
Crash: Did you hit me with your right hand or did you hit me with your left?
Nuke: Huh?
Crash: Did you hit me with your right hand or did you hit me with your LEFT?
Nuke: My left.
Crash: Good! That's good; when you get in a fight with a drunk you don't hit him with your pitching hand. God, I can't keep giving you these free lessons so quit screwin' around and help me up.
Braves right-hander Jeff Bennett has been placed on the 15-day disabled list a day after breaking his left hand when he punched a door in frustration. Bennett on Thursday said he was angry after allowing inherited runners to score on Alex Rodriguez's two-run single in Atlanta's 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night .
via Circling the Bases. Yeah, but Jeff Bennett doesn't have Nuke's stuff.
First, Sweet Lou did not know a steroid from a reefer, which helps explain how Cubs catcher Geovany Soto has tested positive for the use of marijuana. The violation results in a two-year ban from international baseball (I'm sure that will teach him his lesson). Under Major League Baseball's drug policy, the test will have no impact on Soto's time with the Cubs.
Come on people, wake up and smell the herb--this has been going on in baseball for centuries. Just take the case of Lil Stoner (that would be Mr. Ulysses S. Grant Stoner to you). He may not have been the league's best pitcher, but he somehow was always relaxed and in control. He was even born today, on this day in baseball history.
The rosters for the 2009 Futures game have been announced, and some teams are better represented than others. Check out the list and see which of your favorite players made the cut. As usual, they are mostly prospects from the upper stages of the minor leagues, but a few low-A players (Josh Vitters, Brett Lawrie, Wilmer Flores) will also be playing.
"So you're telling me there's a chance?!" Via a Gaslamp Ball fanshot, citing a tweet (on a twig on a branch, and a branch on a tree, and a tree in the bog way down in the valley-o!) comes some hope for the Moneyball movie. I can't take this kind of abuse anymore. This is exactly why I am not a movie star.