Comments on: Game 98: Tigers at Orioles

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:51:35 +0000

CinD: “If I was constructing the lineup, I’d have Inge hit 10th.”

That’s like being the 2nd leadoff hitter, right!

Or..um, hey wait a minute…

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:48:09 +0000

Besides I need to put in a bit of work on the dissertation before it gets too close to game time…that’s what I should be doing now, just that it’s so bloody hot here in Texas…

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:47:22 +0000

If I was constructing the lineup, I’d have Inge hit 10th.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:36:57 +0000

“Coleman, that was just another flippant comment by me on Inge’s K rate, but I’m glad you looked into it.”

That’s fine, I was running out of things to do with those stats anyway.

Although one of those Scientisticationists of Batting Order Engineering could probably tell us the right place in the lineup to bat the guys who do and don’t double-play around.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:27:28 +0000

Coleman, that was just another flippant comment by me on Inge’s K rate, but I’m glad you looked into it.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:23:56 +0000

The Latin/Hispanic guys get a break on multiple middle names, because it’s a tradition involving surnames somehow (I don’t know the details).

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:17:19 +0000

Chris in Dullass: “Gil has like 5 middle names, so he leads the team in that category as far as I know”

Actually only 3; 2 of them belong to his Skull-on-a-4-ft-pole-friend.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:15:00 +0000

Sean C: “Inge strikes out too much to be bothered with DPs.”

Possibly…although if I really wanted I could pull out a new version of the statistic here: Rate of hitting into DP per DP opportunity (vs AB); that would even things out for guys who come up all the time with nobody on base (remarkably, the Tigers all seem to do quite well at avoiding the bases-empty double-play). Doing that moves up Granderson over Inge, which seems reasonable.

But a side-effect of splitting that out is I noticed…actually Inge strikes out much less than Thames in DP Opportunity situations, although slightly more than Granderson.

I think it probably has more to do with where and how he hits; fly ball/line drive vs ground ball, ground balls that are chopped etc. In fact he beat out a potential double-play yesterday that way. Or he hypnotizes infielders or something.

By: Joel in Seattle

Joel in Seattle — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:05:49 +0000

Ah, so the Jonesy’s all-gringo persona is just a ruse… he’s a closet latino.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:58:34 +0000

Gil has like 5 middle names, so he leads the team in that category as far as I know. No wait, he’s only tied. Jose Miguel Torres Cabrera. Can we start doing the ‘Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose’ chant now?

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:55:58 +0000

Coleman, I noticed a while back that Thames’s career DP rate was incredibly low for a slugging guy. I don’t think he grounded into his first one this year until some time in June. Of course, he had about 7 AB (with 10 HR) at that point.

Inge strikes out too much to be bothered with DPs.

Granderson is a really good hitter in this respect and just keeps getting better overall. When I feel hopeless, I repeat the mantra “Granderson, Verlander” under my breath or just in my mind. Works for more than baseball, too. Try it.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:48:19 +0000

Two middle names, yeah, and I noticed the Givin thing, too (It’s a Givin thing / What a terrible thing to lose) – I think it was joked about on DTW at some point.

Is there no Tigers pitcher we can nickname “Jethro”? Can we mispronounce Bonine’s name to make it fit?

In other news, the Tigers are playing the Royals tonight. I’m calling it a must-could-probably-not win game. 3rd place is on the line, and I think there’s also some kind of Little Brown Jug involved if we make it to 50 wins before the Blue Jays. Maybe I’m confused.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:45:59 +0000

Sean C: there are several interesting things about the DP stats…
One is who the best 3 on the team are in this respect (only one is very obvious). OK, if you insist: fewest DP per AB:

1. Inge
2. Granderson
3. Thames

But very small sample size, and all that. So I looked at their career averages. And the best 3 Tigers were:

1. Granderson
2. Thames
3. Inge

Also, Sheffield is hitting into DP at roughly double his usual average, and Renteria is up too. So GIDP may be a good slump indicator…

By: Joel in Seattle

Joel in Seattle — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:35:11 +0000

I’m more disturbed by the two middle names thing…

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:32:58 +0000

Sean C: “Interesting that Todd Jones has not allowed a baserunner in 12 of 41 appearances”

Also interesting: his full name is Todd Barton Givin Jones. Givin? As in Givin’ Up ‘Dem Dingers?

Hey, stop being so negative, why not “Givin His Best.”

Um, yeah, well, OK…still – Givin… What’s up with that?