You Remind Me of Somebody

by The Cheat on Oct 23, 2008 11:45 PM CDT Comment 72 comments

Baseball Reference rolled out their annual "Most Similar (by age)" update sometime in the last couple weeks. Some quick comps:

Javier Vazquez' top comp changed from Brad Radke to Livan Hernandez. Neither is very encouraging, considering Radke left baseball with a torn up shoulder at age 33 and Hernandez rapidly declined from above average to slop-throwing sub-replacement level vagabond after age 30.
David Justice, Bobby Higginson and Tim Salmon are Carlos Quentin's top comps, which seems like a pretty good group.
Nick Swisher's rough season moves Greg Vaughn to the top of his comps, which violates the unwritten Comparable Players Must Be of the Same Race rule--the second time we've broken that rule on the front page in the past 12 hours.
Gavin Floyd's top comp is Jason Dickson, a flameout for the Angels in the late 90's. #2 is James Baldwin, which is familiar if uninspiring.
John Danks doesn't have a comp whose debut came after I was born until #5 in Brad Penny. Numbers 1 and 2 made their debut in the '60s. But the career line of #3, John Keefe, who made his debut in '90--1890!--has to be seen to be believed. He lost 24 games, threw 36 complete games, walked 148 (28 more than he struck out), allowed 355 hits, and posted an ERA+ of 82. Keefe pitched 352.1 innings that season, and was never heard from again, unless you count the coincidentally named drummer of Boys Like Girls, who happens to turn up wearing a White Sox shirt on GIS.
The Phillies offense through two World Series games against the Rays should bring back some not-so-pleasant memories. They have exactly ZERO hits w/ RISP through two games, and have only two non-homer runs.
Baseball Graphs updated their team pages with lots of sortable data, so now you can find out things like the White Sox bullpen had the highest average fastball velocity of anyone in baseball.

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Tell me the title is an R. Kelly reference.

“You remind me of my jeep!”

by CWSKeith on Oct 24, 2008 12:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

i was thinking usher "you remind me"

The movement was so devastating that television announcer Hawk Harrelson called it "the Doomerang," saying that if Day had enough distance to work with, the pitch would eventually come back to him.

by U-God on Oct 24, 2008 8:23 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vazquez is our ace tho char char char

And the pen will probably go back to hell again what with Linebrink and Dotel’s arms falling off and everyone else sucking. Thus an 83 win season

by Daniel Berlyn on Oct 24, 2008 1:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think the fastball velocity brings up a point about KW and saber vs scouting

KW is a hybrid. He obvs knows that stats show that most pitchers that do well year after year strike guys out, he knows this is even more important in the bullpen where guys often enter with men on. He also know that he has a hell of a talent evaluater and molder in Cooper who can coax hard throwers and mold them into pitchers that can avoid walking dudes while they throw hard.

KW isn’t the poster guy for sabermetrics, but he is very keen on what works and who he works with. I am really high on KW after this seasone and I hope the influence of Hahn continues to grow while KW’s common sense and good managing practices grow on Hahn.

by madvillian on Oct 24, 2008 1:13 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

when do we get our trophy for most badas hardthrowing bullpen?

His stats are as good as Fields -- that's the sad thing

by Jbasic89 on Oct 24, 2008 1:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

badasssssssssssssssss

His stats are as good as Fields -- that's the sad thing

by Jbasic89 on Oct 24, 2008 1:52 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

BADASS**

His stats are as good as Fields -- that's the sad thing

by Jbasic89 on Oct 24, 2008 1:52 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

1 2 3 BadAss

I figured you were either drunk, or referencing Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I am going to ask you one time, and i'm gonna ask you nice. Where the fuck is Ringo bitch.

by ElDiablo on Oct 24, 2008 5:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i thought he was referencing

The movement was so devastating that television announcer Hawk Harrelson called it "the Doomerang," saying that if Day had enough distance to work with, the pitch would eventually come back to him.

by U-God on Oct 24, 2008 8:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

recap of offensive production from some top FA targets last year.

aaron rowand: .271/.339/.410. 94 OPS+ [$12M]
kosuke fukudome: .257/.359/.379. 90 OPS+ [$12M]
torii hunter: .278/.344/.466. 110 OPS+ [$18M]

of course, the sox ended up trading for this guy: .219/.332/.410. 92 OPS+

hindsight being perfect, this was the guy to get: .243/.331/.477. 110 OPS+. [$7M]

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 9:05 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

his wife and children have quite unique names.

on the subject of CF, do you think anderson would be any better at this point in his career had he been left out there in 06 or if he had been given the starting job after “beating out” grinderstad in spring training of 07?

brian anderson would've caught that...

by BuehrleMan on Oct 24, 2008 9:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i don't think so.

he’s got problems with his swing and/or pitch recognition; and it doesn’t really seem to me that more reps would change that – some guys just can’t do some things.

he’s getting to the peak of his power now that he’ll be in his age 27 season so, if you were to start him or play him more, you’d probably be getting the most out of him now. but he’d still be an OBP drain. something like .250/.300/.450 might be feasible (sort of like uribe at his "peak"). you can easily carry that on your team when a guy plays plus defense at a premium position. the problem is you really can only carry one of those guys. if the sox were to address some other significant roster issues, BA could be the right decision in 09. on a more ideal team, he’d be a 4th oufielder but who got more playing time. he was unfortunately drafted by an american league team. and while a lot of NL teams would like to have him, KW i think understands his value to the sox; and no NL is going to be want to match the value KW ascribes to BA. so he’s kind of stuck in an unfortunate spot, especially since i don’t see how KW could or would address all those roster issues to make is sensible to start BA.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 10:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

that would mean knowing with near certainty you were getting average offense

from 2B and 3B

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

There were plenty of people on here stumping for Cameron

IIRC, you were one of them

Ah well, hopefully Swish bounces back over the remainder of his contract and makes the trade look good for KW.

this isn't hard. you live in a port city. and you're a slut. do the math. -larry

by rhythm on Oct 24, 2008 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i stumped for fukudome so what the fuck do i know.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 11:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

apparently, you know what a real baseball fan is ;)

Couldn’t resist after reading the shit storm on Chiburb’s Fanpost.

this isn't hard. you live in a port city. and you're a slut. do the math. -larry

by rhythm on Oct 24, 2008 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

STFU and get in the muck with the rest of us,

crackhead. Above the fray? I don’t think so.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Walk could fix him.

EVERYBODY PICK US FOR 3RD OR 4TH SO I DINK WE DOIN POOTY GOO
Sox Machine

by Sox Machine on Oct 24, 2008 12:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does he speak "batanese"?

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 12:33 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

that was just plain awful

I rec’d it anyways

this isn't hard. you live in a port city. and you're a slut. do the math. -larry

by rhythm on Oct 24, 2008 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was on the cameron train

I believe the offseason plan specifics were Cameron, with trades for soon-to-be type A’s Burrell and Furcal

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Oct 24, 2008 2:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

too bad on furcal.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You are sorry we didn't get him? Do you still want him?

He seems expensive and getting older by the moment.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

no.too bad he didn't maintain that "soon to be".

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i was on the Cameron train at some point

But I was high on Fukudome also

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 3:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

larry? Is that you?

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i could be wrong, but i don't think i advocated cameron that much.

i probably said it was fine because he would have been cheap but it wouldn’t have been really worth it to spend the money considering the sox would be a .500 team. so i can’t take any credit for any CF good decisions. unless we count me saying it’s a bad, bad idea to sign rowand and hunter won’t be nearly worth the salary and years he’ll get.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was referencing the fact that you said exactly the same thing

yesterday, IIRC. I do remember most of us were not advocating Legend or Hunter. (Well, actually I would not have minded Hunter. But that’s me – Mr. Vegas.)

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

you did want Andruw Jones

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 3:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i did?

not sure about that one. i think i said he’d get a one year deal and i’d have taken a flyer then. not at the years or dollars he ended up getting.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

actually it seems i didn't even say that. this is a pretty damning assessment.

four years of rowand
is smarter than one year of jones.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/o/owensje01.shtm
by larry on Dec 5, 2007 10:34 AM CST

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

though reading the context, i guess that was in the context of the white sox signing him.

i guess i thought jones would be okay but there was no reason for the sox to sign him since, again, they would just be a .500 team.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 4:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

er, that's not accurate

i was just referring to this

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 4:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, that was a resounding endorsement considering how much i dislike hunter.

much to my chagrin hunter was actually somewhat productive this year.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

in any case, he beat the crap out of andruw jones in center.

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

not that either made sense at the years/dollars given

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

in all fairness to you, oswalt ended up having an excellent year.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 6:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

better than maggs for fantasy purposes, which i believe was the debate, as well.

you win some. you lose some. not all of my opinions i have as great of conviction in. can’t say i really cared much about andruw jones. of course, i would have put my oswalt opinion up in the same conviction category as my indians opinion so that’s not fool proof either.

and hunter’s slugging will decline again next year and he’ll be a 100 OPS+ player. and this time i mean it for real. really.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 6:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

man had a nice contract year. this year not as nice. as you say, hopefully next year will be further regularly scheduled aging.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 6:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

more like

But I was high ~~on Fukudome also~~

The movement was so devastating that television announcer Hawk Harrelson called it "the Doomerang," saying that if Day had enough distance to work with, the pitch would eventually come back to him.

by U-God on Oct 24, 2008 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

mike cameron?

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Oct 24, 2008 3:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks. i think that is a really good answer.

and it’s pretty much what i was thinking as well.(maybe that’s why i think it’s a good answer!) i wouldn’t mind him being “that guy” the sox carry but understand why he may not be. i just really like watching him in center.

brian anderson would've caught that...

by BuehrleMan on Oct 24, 2008 11:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

sorry if this has been covered...

but was there ever any official or semi-official word as to why baldelli was scratched from game 1?

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 1:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You just like keeping it stirred up, don't you?

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 1:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's YOU.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

you might just me the michael vick of sss.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 1:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

"just me", eh?

But typos aside (pot = kettle = black, I know) I don’t get the Vick ref. I love dogs.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 1:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

metaphor. the rest of us are the dogs. you like watching us fight. arf.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 1:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah HAH!

Hey, I mix it up, too. I have an ex-wife who says I am a “catalyst” – neither adding nor subtracting anything, just causing a reaction. She was smart. And cruel. She sleeps with the fishes (metaphorically speaking).

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 1:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

he wasn't scratched. will carroll had wrong info.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

so then it was steroids

glad we got that settled

this isn't hard. you live in a port city. and you're a slut. do the math. -larry

by rhythm on Oct 24, 2008 3:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

oops, forgot the clearly

this isn't hard. you live in a port city. and you're a slut. do the math. -larry

by rhythm on Oct 24, 2008 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

DB. Put down the pipe.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well, maddon ain't conventional. gotta give him that.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

From Boston Globe today:

And if not for a last-minute change of heart by manager Joe Maddon, who felt Ben Zobrist was a better match against Game 1 starter Cole Hamels, Baldelli would have started two straight games.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

to be clear, zobrist was in the original lineup submitted to the press, so baldelli wasn't "scratched".

i guess maybe we’re splicing hairs, since it is clear that maddon wasn’t initially going with zobrist, but scratched usually implies an injury or something other than a manager changing their mind. it probably wouldn’t be much of a story if the press didn’t expect to have lineups given, or at least whispered, to them 10 hours before game time.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i thought zobrist was a better matchup with hamels.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

larry = Maddon.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i guess i remember you saying that. any reason in particular?

pursuing baldelli in the hopes of him signing a low-risk (from the sox perspective) deal is fine by me, but a benching for game 1 of the world series against a lefty for reasons unrelated to his disorder in favor of ben zobrist doesn’t seem like a great endorsement.

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 3:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

why?

i don’t like thome against cole hamels, either. doesn’t mean i don’t want thome on the white sox.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

zobrist likes the changeup. baldelli, well. susceptible.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

but i suppose you could say the same for most right handers who face hamels.

remember, hamels is tougher against righties than lefties.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even if it was related to his disorder I still think it lowers his value.

I mean, the 1st game of the Series? At home? Against a lefty? For whatever reason, if you manager thinks the bell is best answered by a guy who bounced back and forth from the minors to the parent club all year the bell tolls for thee.

Whoosh!

by winningugly on Oct 24, 2008 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i still haven't gotten an answer from anyone about whether baldelli can play two straight days in the field.

but, if he can’t (and that’s how the rays have treated him so i don’t see any reason to assume otherwise), i would not have started him against hamels and would have started him against myers. better matchup and better use of him if his game action is limited.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

safe to assume then that aybar likes the change better than baldelli as well?

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 4:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

also, a more practical consideration re: sox pursuing baldelli.

do you think the great oz would be cool with having a new guy on the roster he can’t “trust” because he’s not sure on a day to day basis whether the guy will be able to play? or was the crede stuff just ozzie bluster?

"and when there is an opportunity, i do not hit. it hits all by itself."

by Toonderstrook on Oct 24, 2008 4:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i dunno. i have no idea how much he can play. i labeled the plan preliminary for a reason. i like the idea assuming he can play a decent amount of time.

ozzie has handled veterans who can’t necessarily play full time before (see griffey last year) so i’m not sure it will be a problem. i think with baldelli there will be less uncertainty because, like griffey, it’ll probably be pretty easy to know when he can’t play because rather the whole point with baldelli will be to control his playing time so he won’t have problems. so he’ll have, for lack of a better term, a “schedule”. maybe something as simple as two days on, one day off.

"winning tacos for America was pretty cool too."

by larry on Oct 24, 2008 4:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs