No, really, who *are* these guys? ← FREE KRAUT!

No, really, who *are* these guys? 98

28 Jul 2011  |  monkeyball  |Game Thread

98 thoughts on “No, really, who *are* these guys?”

  1. nevermoor Jul 28,2011 1:12 pm

    That crafty slusser, always with the answer

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  2. nevermoor Jul 28,2011 1:16 pm

    Also, I know the things about batting average, but I love that Weeks is still above .300

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  3. Leopold Bloom Jul 28,2011 1:28 pm

    Going in my recap

    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 1:32 pm || Up

      … Slusser riding a bicycle …

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  4. FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 1:32 pm

    Anyone else expect that at any moment the A’s are going to wake up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette?

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 1:35 pm || Up

      This is my manager Bob … this is my other manager Bob.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • 5Aces Jul 28,2011 1:41 pm || Up

      I’m actually picturing them walking to the shower and seeing Patrick Duffy in there.

      Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it? -Steve McCatty
    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 1:52 pm || Up

      Comcast feed cuts to black as the guy in the Members Only jacket …

      {gasp}

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  5. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 2:27 pm

    So it looks like, post 1st inning, the familiar A’s have returned.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • oblique Jul 28,2011 2:38 pm || Up

      The sweet spot for trading Willingham was the 3rd inning.

  6. Poppy Jul 28,2011 2:37 pm

    FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…

    There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
  7. Leopold Bloom Jul 28,2011 2:38 pm

    This is not good.

    • Poppy Jul 28,2011 2:40 pm || Up

      Look at the bright side: At least we can recognize them now!

      There's a wild thing in the woolshed and it's keeping me awake at night.
      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 2:45 pm || Up

        And all we need is another 5-spot.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  8. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 2:43 pm

    Well that was a steaming pile of dung.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  9. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 2:47 pm

    OK, seriously, WTFK is going on here?

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  10. nevermoor Jul 28,2011 2:58 pm

    This is even less recognizable.

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 3:00 pm || Up

      Well, no. Ziegler, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, and Magnuson sucking is entirely familiar.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 3:07 pm || Up

        Don’t forget Breslow.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
        • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 3:15 pm || Up

          Breslow was so good last year though.

          "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
        • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 3:22 pm || Up

          And WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

          you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  11. FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 2:59 pm

    Goddamn it. That’ll teach me to do work instead of paying attention to the A’s game.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 3:02 pm || Up

      YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE GAME!

      Now we’re guaranteed a loss on Saturday.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 3:32 pm || Up

        I could just stay in the lot and keep the tailgate going until you get back…

        "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
        • Leopold Bloom Jul 28,2011 3:50 pm || Up

          You laugh, but that’s becoming more and more a viable option at **.

          • FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 4:09 pm || Up

            I’ve considered it before; I love the parking lot. And packing away the tailgate stuff is a pain in the ass, so leaving it up three extra hours avoids the pain that much longer. But on this occasion I’ll want to be inside hanging with my FKing homies. Also the kids.

            "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
            • Leopold Bloom Jul 28,2011 4:51 pm || Up

              Well, the ** crowd has taken to both pre- and post- tailgating. Any of you can come. They’re doing it tomorrow for fireworks, I believe. No one any of you would want to avoid comes. Just some you’d probably like to see, like Nina and Jenny…

              • oblique Jul 28,2011 5:09 pm || Up

                Incidentally, I am going tomorrow with my dad — first game we will have gone to together in almost 30 years!

                • spwc2010 Jul 28,2011 10:41 pm || Up

                  that’s way cool. I hope you both have a great time.

                  \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
              • spwc2010 Jul 28,2011 6:46 pm || Up

                tomorrow? holy sh!tballs! I just found out I’m going to the game tomorrow!

                \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
              • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 6:47 pm || Up

                I’ll be at the game, but not at that event.

                "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  12. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 3:09 pm

    If we drop the outlier innings, it’s a perfectly run-of-the-mill 3-1 game.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 3:15 pm || Up

      3-2

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • oblique Jul 28,2011 3:19 pm || Up

      Olympic scoring FTWL

    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 3:21 pm || Up

      Match play, we’re 1 2-2-5

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  13. the dogfather Jul 28,2011 3:28 pm

    A tired bullpen is a good bullpen?

    The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
  14. monkeyball Jul 28,2011 3:34 pm

    My guess: Z + $ to the Yanks for … Chavez

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 3:38 pm || Up

      Then get Ramon from the Reds, and Ellis and Giambi from CO

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  15. oblique Jul 28,2011 3:35 pm

    Upton’s gotta have a ridiculous WPA for this game.

    • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 3:39 pm || Up

      -0.012 according to fangraphs.

      Jennings 0.334; Ziegler -0.554.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  16. futwork Jul 28,2011 3:36 pm

    Kyle Farnsworth’s sub-2 ERA was shaking the foundations of my worldview. Glad the A’s saw fit to rectify that.

  17. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 3:41 pm

    *Sigh*

    WP peaked at 97.2% when Harden struck out Chirinos to start the 6th.

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 3:47 pm || Up

      Not only that, their SP got the win.

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 3:49 pm || Up

        Despite a -0.319 WPA.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • Leopold Bloom Jul 28,2011 3:51 pm || Up

        the ND for Rich sucks. Aside from that one pitch, he pitched a really good game.

      • sslinger Jul 29,2011 11:38 am || Up

        Yeah, that hurts. And looking at the box score this morning, Breslow is credited with a Hold for his 0.1 inning & 3 ER.

        • dmoas Jul 29,2011 7:40 pm || Up

          How’s that possible? A Hold is like a save, need to have a lead of 3 or less runs. Or did that change?

  18. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 4:03 pm

    Inspired by the above, who holds the record for the worst WPA for a winning starting pitcher (-0.723)? best WPA for a losing starting pitcher (1.112)?

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 4:11 pm || Up

      Ever? I imagine some of those rubber-armed Depression-era guys hung around ballgames long enough to pick up a few 10-8 wins.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 4:14 pm || Up

        The first one is 1988 (and involved the A’s) and the second is 1954 (and very definitely involved rubber arms).

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • monkeyball Jul 28,2011 4:11 pm || Up

      Latter’s gotta be Haddix.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 4:28 pm || Up

        16th (0.666).

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 4:19 pm || Up

      And to complete the set, worst WPA for a losing starting pitcher (-0.903) and best for a winning starter (1.612 – same game as the best/loser above)

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
  19. ptbnl Jul 28,2011 4:49 pm

    Forget individual games, let’s look at careers.

    The unluckiest: which 5 starting pitchers lost 10 or more games in which their WPA was 0.2 or greater?

    The luckiest: which 2 starting pitchers won 10 or more games in which their WPA was -0.2 or less?

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • Leopold Bloom Jul 28,2011 4:52 pm || Up

      ooooo! If I had any clue whatsoever what WPA was, I’d really like this.

      As it is, I’m numbers-ignorant. I love that you guys aren’t, though.

      Fun question.

      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 5:08 pm || Up

        The graph above shows the Win Probability (WP) over the course of today’s game – it’s calculated from the historical records by seeing how often teams have gone on to win from a given score and inning/out.

        The WP changes with each plate appearance, and you can sum up all those changes over the course of the game for PAs involving a particular pitcher or hitter to calculate their personal Win Probability Added (WPA).

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 5:18 pm || Up

        Think about it as a story stat. In general, after you’ve watched a game the player you thought had the most impact will have the best WPA.

        The scale is +0.5 WPA total for the winning team, -0.5 WPA total for the losing team (because it assumes each game is 50/50).

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
        • oblique Jul 28,2011 5:33 pm || Up

          Does it factor in defense? My statement above about Upton assumed that (a) it does, and (b) Upton’s catches in the ninth inning were as game-saving as they sounded on the radio.

          • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 5:41 pm || Up

            Nope – only assigned to the pitcher/hitter (I believe).

            If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
          • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 5:41 pm || Up
            "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
          • andeux Jul 28,2011 6:53 pm || Up

            They were both solidly hit line drives that looked like they would be routine singles, but were caught because he was playing shallow not because of any spectacular effort.

            TINSTAAFK
            • oblique Jul 29,2011 8:56 am || Up

              So I was 0/2 on assumptions — explains my bad conclusion!

    • Soaker Jul 28,2011 4:59 pm || Up

      I don’t know about 10 games, yet, but Felix Hernandez has to be moving up fast on the unluckiest list.

      What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
      • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 5:11 pm || Up

        280th= with 2.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
        • Soaker Jul 28,2011 5:17 pm || Up

          But he’ll have 3 more by the end of this season.

          Good pitcher who pitched for a lot of terrible teams? I’ll make one more guess, mainly because I happen to be listening to him right now on the MIN @ TEX game: Bert Blyleven.

          What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
          • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 5:25 pm || Up

            Now we’re cooking … 12th= with 8 (all complete games and over which he gave up 9 ER and struck out 48).

            If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
            • FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 5:43 pm || Up

              Nolan Ryan? Gaylord Perry? One or both Neikros?

              "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
              • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 5:48 pm || Up

                Perry and Phil Niekro are both 6th= with 9.

                Ryan is 21st= with 7.

                Joe Niekro is 201st= with 3.

                If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
              • the dogfather Jul 28,2011 5:48 pm || Up

                Carlton? Robin Roberts? Rick Vaughn?

                The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
                • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 5:54 pm || Up

                  Excellent.

                  Robin Roberts is 1st= with 12.

                  9 of those were with the Phillies, and the person he shares the #1 spot with had 7 of his 12 with the Phillies too.

                  Carlton – 37th= with 6.

                  Vaughn – nowhere to be seen.

                  If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
                • FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 28,2011 5:59 pm || Up

                  That’s cuz Vaughn is WINNING.

                  "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
                • the dogfather Jul 28,2011 6:19 pm || Up

                  “Check.”

                  The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
                • the dogfather Jul 28,2011 7:22 pm || Up

                  Curt Simmons? Chris Short? Grover (Cleveland Alexander), Jim Bunning? buttnotthatassholecurtschillingright?

                  The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
                • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 7:24 pm || Up

                  (in a group including Jim Bunning, Shilling is not the asshole)

                  "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
                • the dogfather Jul 28,2011 7:32 pm || Up

                  I plead the Cartman’s Mom defense — I was young and he pitched a perfect game.

                  The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
                • ptbnl Jul 28,2011 7:28 pm || Up

                  Bunning is the other 1st=.

                  Shilling is 6th= with 9.

                  Simmons is 58th= with 5.

                  If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
                • the dogfather Jul 29,2011 7:31 am || Up

                  So, THIS is the pay-off for having to root for the Phutile Phillies as a kid?

                  I want my attention span back. This time I Will play with that chemistry set. Promise.

                  The meaning of life is not so much found, as it is Made. -- Opus
  20. andeux Jul 28,2011 6:54 pm

    L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-W-L

    For a while it looked like the key factor in me seeing a win might be “Rich Harden starting” but now it appears to be “second game of scheduled doubleheader.”

    TINSTAAFK
    • nevermoor Jul 28,2011 7:02 pm || Up

      Heh. This one proves your mojo is particularly bad.

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • batgirl Jul 28,2011 8:39 pm || Up

      Oh my that is just awful. They should give you some sort of prize or at least have Kara bring you a BART card.

    • sslinger Jul 29,2011 11:16 am || Up

      Yup, it’s definitely the second game of a doubleheader.

  21. FreeSeatUpgrade Jul 29,2011 11:27 am

    Fittingly, while channel surfing last night I landed on the prolonged chase scene from Butch Cassidy.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • monkeyball Jul 29,2011 11:33 am || Up

      If you experience a chase scene lasting longer than 4 hours, contact your cinematographer.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • nevermoor Jul 29,2011 11:38 am || Up

        /Children of Men

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  22. Leopold Bloom Jul 29,2011 1:51 pm

    For Mein Fuhrer, NM:

    ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

    • nevermoor Jul 29,2011 1:59 pm || Up

      I’m more this way:

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
      • Leopold Bloom Jul 29,2011 2:03 pm || Up

        I wanna break off and go hang out with Hawaii and Alaska…

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