tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post7565642684045995483..comments2024-03-18T20:03:55.946-04:00Comments on Night Owl Cards: C.A.: 2019 Topps Heritage American League HR Leadersnight owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673973790245316059noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-62819839004614670602019-03-15T13:00:42.060-04:002019-03-15T13:00:42.060-04:00The thought of a 5 single rally has me all pumped ...The thought of a 5 single rally has me all pumped up now. It doesn't have to be a home run to be exciting, right? The problem is in the numbers. I remember reading a really interesting article about beating the shift last year, and it explained that players swing for the fences over the shift because, statistically speaking, singles don't produce many runs. They have a better chance of scoring by swinging away every time, even with the chance of a strike-out, than they do by dropping a single into the opposite field gap. I don't like how that is changing the game, but if the object is still to score runs and win, I don't see strategy going away from the statistical analytics.<br /><br />But I really hate waiting for a rally and knowing in my heart that it all depends on a home run to happen, and if it doesn't, hope is gone.Trevor Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09207010676916110937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-31072437721277472302019-03-15T12:54:50.178-04:002019-03-15T12:54:50.178-04:00That would be really nice. I don't see it hap...That would be really nice. I don't see it happening, though.Trevor Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09207010676916110937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-48654471467491519902019-03-15T07:56:17.106-04:002019-03-15T07:56:17.106-04:00I'm thinking that one day a manager will put o...I'm thinking that one day a manager will put on a hit-and-run, it will be executed successfully, and fans will go bonkers and say "MOST EXCITING PLAY EVER!" And after that, maybe good ol' baseball will start making a comeback.gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17740439412693373442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-90487366200001019692019-03-15T02:57:14.344-04:002019-03-15T02:57:14.344-04:00The tiny ballparks also speaks to those dingers - ...The tiny ballparks also speaks to those dingers - IDK maybe those short fences are reachable by more players who cannot hit singles. Regardless NL run scoring in 2018 is up 0.29/Game for each team from 1969, that is a run every three games so whatever the batters are doing is producing more runs and I am afraid to say they will keep on doing that. dealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04633750324558738343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-13972426902084965412019-03-14T21:57:48.466-04:002019-03-14T21:57:48.466-04:00Could be, although there were 32 players in the NL...Could be, although there were 32 players in the NL last year with between 20-29 home runs.night owlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11673973790245316059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-30508810828032306642019-03-14T21:11:33.687-04:002019-03-14T21:11:33.687-04:00The increase in 20+ home run hitters could be due,...The increase in 20+ home run hitters could be due, in part, to the DH. Pitchers were hitting back in 69, and now NL pitchers do not have to hit in AL parks. Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16217827063741767040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-30263633157714146102019-03-14T20:46:37.713-04:002019-03-14T20:46:37.713-04:00You made me look back at the 1961 season. I though...You made me look back at the 1961 season. I thought for sure the year that Maris hit 61 and Mantle hit 54 and several more hit 40+, I would be able to show you a year in the past when homers ruled the season. However, when I looked at the AL home run leader card, only 27 players were listed and even with the big totals by M&M, the totals quickly went down to 11. You win. Old Cardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13112089873949361756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2700049103080920994.post-41899400550249703632019-03-14T20:45:40.315-04:002019-03-14T20:45:40.315-04:00I'm not at all a fan of the way cards have to ...I'm not at all a fan of the way cards have to read<br /><br />Davis, Oak.<br />Trout, Angels<br /><br />Because of the way the teams have ®©™ on the various parts of their names. Ditto for what happens with Washington and Colorado in the NL on most cards.<br /><br /><br />Anyway, the Home Run game is indeed kinda boring. 0.5 less Doubles per game is a change; as batters try to hit over the shift one would expect more Doubles, not less. Triples are always just a lucky Double and have a big Park Factor at play.<br /><br />But the data slicers are endlessly slicing things so it always remains to be seen what they come up with next. The FanSided blog for the Brewers had an excellent piece the other day about how Milwaukee ramped up Steal attempts last year, and likely won several extra games out of it, even though the data says the risk is not worth taking. But that data is for across a whole season, and can not account for the risk/reward of the decision at a single point in time within a game. My suspicion is that Milwaukee might have won more games than the formulas predicted for them at this point on the calendar last year as a result.<br /><br />https://www.brewcrewball.com/2019/3/13/18264146/the-milwaukee-brewers-ran-to-the-nls-best-record-stealing-the-division-in-2018<br /><br />The Royals have a bunch of speedsters ready to go this year - Yost might have been watching Counsell's games. I think this could well allow KC to climb out of the cellar this year by a standings spot or two, we'll see.BaseSetCallinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com