Finding a groove

As everyone gets back into a baseball rhythym in the 2nd half, here are some links for your reading enjoyment:

• The Daily Fungo has a podcast interview with TV play-by-play man Mario Impemba. I haven’t had a chance to listen to the interview yet. But it does remind me of one time I was at the Costco on Hall Road. It was during the winter and a guy almost walked in front of my car (while it was moving). That guy was Mario Impemba. Thus ends the lamest story ever.
• Here is a very detailed examination of the sacrifice bunt. The quick sabermetric answer is that sac bunting is bad. However this empirical study finds evidence that in some situations it makes sense. Personally, I’m all for the sac bunt in a situation where you have a weak hitting, good bunting player. Especially in a close and late situation where one run will prove to be valuable.
• Mike’s Baseball Rants notes that the Tigers are one of 47 teams to win 60 or more of their first 89 games. The complete list is available to peruse, but here is the relevant take away:
  

  Note that on average they end up with 103 wins, and all but four made the playoffs. The only team to finish with a sub-.600 winning percentage were the Tigers in 1911, not to look for bad omens or anything.

  And all 4 that didn’t make the playoffs were prior to the wildcard system.

• As many have pointed out here, John Sickels has recapped his Tigers preseason top 20. I was going to blog this as part of a bigger review of the Tigers hitting prospects. It never happened, so take a look if you haven’t already.
• Another site I’ve been meaing to link to for ages is the Baseball Card Blog. I encourage you to get lost in the site as you remember those days of wax packs and rack packs. If you came of age as a baseball fan in the 80’s, it’ll take you right back to your youth.
• Henry Ford Health System’s site has a Q & A with Tigers team physician, internist Dr. Mike Workings.