Comments on: Yep, outfield defense matters

By: DMZ

DMZ — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:26:21 +0000

Not as true as you might think. McGraw and catchers blocking the plate – It’s all in my book, “The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball”. Check it out.

By: The Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:21:30 +0000

Re #61: That’s how it was in baseball’s early days (and not just at home plate, either — read some of the stories of McGraw’s Orioles, who were known to bump, trip, block, and tackle runners all the way around the diamond).

By: Doc Baseball

Doc Baseball — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:11:40 +0000

Yeah — funny — it was Photo #8 and then they somehow stuck a photo of Kim Jong-il on the top of the pile of baseball photos — wild — now it is photo #9

By: G-Man

G-Man — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:33:21 +0000

Doc, I think you mean photo #9. Good find.

By: skyking162

skyking162 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:38:19 +0000

#42 — Yes, the good fielding metrics account for the possibility of extra-base hits. It’s an issue for 1B and 3B’s, too.

Just have to say that I love the props fielding is getting here the past couple days. Regarding Tulo vs. Braun, it’s not even close. Braun’s got a 15-20 runs offensive advantage, while Tulo’s got a 30-50 run defensive advantage.

In 2006, Ken Griffey was about 30 runs below average for a CF according to UZR, making his overall value worse than replacement level (.313 OBP & .486 SLG in “only” 470 PAs).

By: Doc Baseball

Doc Baseball — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:50:10 +0000

that’s photo #8 out of the gallery of 150 photos near the bottom

By: Doc Baseball

Doc Baseball — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:48:40 +0000

Photo # 8 here seems to confirm that Holliday did NOT get to the plate (Barrett appears to have his hand fully blocked off it).

http://sports.aol.com/mlb/story/_a/comeback-colorado-takes-wild-card/20071002002709990001

By: rrose

rrose — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:31:22 +0000

#83

I agree, I noticed the same thing, that the catcher’s foot slid backwards across the plate as Holliday collided with it on the slide through. I’m not sure Holliday touched the plate, but from that angle, it certainly looked like he could have, and in fact, that appeared to be the more likely outcome to me. At any rate, I don’t think it was nearly as cut and dried as the view along the 3rd base line would suggest.

By: joser

joser — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:26:49 +0000

WRT whether or not he tagged the plate:

Said Padres manager Bud Black : ”It looked to me like he did get it.”

Whether that’s what Black actually thinks or not, it’s a classy thing to say. Water under the bridge, nothing you can do it about now.

By: joser

joser — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:22:23 +0000

it did look like Barrett’s foot moved quite a ways backwards

Yeah, that was my “3rd look” conclusion too. Something pushed that foot back pretty violently, and it clearly was the runners’ arm. Since the foot was on plate, and the arm pushed it back by sliding on the ground, I have to believe it touched the plate. I think that was the right call.