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The Kansas City Royals swept took two of three from the Boston Red Sox -- can't say that I saw that coming in their series over the weekend. Matt Kemp also seems to (finally) be hitting his way out of his early season slump, and the Texas Rangers are in first place. Jean Segura was also involved in one of the craziest series of plays I think I've ever seen. What great weekend of baseball.
Previously on Beyond the Box Score
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Home Runs and Horizontal Exit Angles - By Chris St. John - Beyond the Box Score
Chris does some interesting research on the home runs hit in each ball park and which part of the park those home runs are hit most often. Some of the findings surprised me a little based on certain aspects of specific ball parks. -
MLB Should Take Action Against DUI Offenders - By Ben Horrow - Beyond the Box Score
I've long believed that MLB doesn't do enough to deter players from drinking and driving, as well as other very negative behavior, outside of performance enhancers. Ben does a great job running through the issue and making his points. -
BtBS Podcast #51 - Weird Looking Dudes - With Blake Murphy and Bryan Grosnick - Beyond the Box Score
Blake and Bryan give us the run down on Jose Reyes (pretty sure you can hear Blake cry a little), they talk about the Miami Marlins and how bad they are, and even give us some breaking news about Paul Sporer.
Around the Sabersphere
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The Worst of the Best: The Week’s Wildest Swings | By Jeff Sullivan | FanGraphs Baseball
Jeff Sullivan continues his "The Worst of the Best" pieces and brings us some pretty nice GIFs of those wild and crazy swings we love to laugh at. If anyone still needs the answer to the question of whether Ichiro Suzuki is half as good as he used to be then look no further. -
Overthinking It: This Week in Catcher Framing, 4/19 | By Ben Lindbergh | Baseball Prospectus
One of my favorite subjects, catcher framing, has become a weekly feature for Ben Lindbergh and he does a really good job showing us some great frame jobs. This week's list of the worst really surprised me with who is number one as far as runs is concerned.
Around SB Nation
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Phillies rumors: Cliff Lee could be deadline trade bait - By Nathan Aderhold - MLB Daily Dish
The Philadelphia Phillies are a team in transition in that they're not incredibly bad but they're not very good either. It makes sense that they would look to trade away what few valuable pieces they have left, with Cliff Lee probably being one of the most valuable. -
You like Derek Jeter - By Grant Brisbee - Baseball Nation
Grant confronts us in regards to our true feelings about Derek Jeter - those feelings being that we actually like him regardless of how we feel about the team he's spent his entire career playing for. I think he's right; I'm not a Yankee fan (at all) but I do think Jeter is a great leader and a great player. -
Jean Segura channels Germany Schaefer (sort of) - By Rob Neyer - Baseball Nation
Jean Segura was involved in one of the more interesting series of plays that I've witnessed so far this baseball season. He singled, stole second base, got caught in a run down after trying to steal third, made it back to second base, and then stole first base. -
Thoughts on an 11-3 Rangers win - By Adam Morris - Lone Star Ball
I was at this game yesterday and it was a great game to be at. Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam and Justin Grimm pitched surprisingly well. Even more surprising though is that the Texas Rangers are now in first place. Well, I shouldn't say surprising but I certainly didn't expect them to be playing this well with a thin rotation.
Outside the Sabersphere
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Robbing Players - From Lonestar Ball
This has to be the best GIF ever, seriously. This actually happened in a baseball game and I'm not talking about a fan robbing a player from catching a ball. -
Act of Valor Award | Honoring Baseball Legend Bob Feller
Here is something that I feel we should all take a look at. An award has been creating with the support of MLB, the Cleveland Indians, and the United States Navy to honor Bob Feller and a player every season.
