New to Baseball (Questions, etc)

[Swervin81]

Oakland didn't accuse the Jays of stealing signs. Think they just happened to play Tor the series after it happened.

Yeah, I know that. It was the White Sox pen and the Yankees that complained about it. Oakland just came into town when that crap by ESPN was published, they had nothing to do with it.

 

[BigMac1212]

I'm not new to baseball, but I have a question about ERA: What does the number mean? What does an ERA of 3.00 mean?

 

[IU Hawks fan]

An average of 3 earned runs against PER 9 innings.

 

[BigMac1212]

^^ Thank you.

 

[KirkOut]

( Number or earned runs allowed / number of innings pitched ) x 9

 

[BigMac1212]

( Number or earned runs allowed / number of innings pitched ) x 9

Man, I have been calculating ERA wrong. Thanks for the formula. *fist bump*

 

[Epictetus]

Any reason MLB prefers to go to the 2-3-2 format? The NHL doesn't, and I know the NBA recently changed away from this format. Not saying there is anything wrong with it, just curious.

 

[robert terwilliger]

baseball is a game that can be played every day and a 2-3-2 allows them to play the series quicker.

by giving the two teams two travel days, they ensure

game
game
day off
game
game
game
day off
game
game

 

[BigMac1212]

How do you grip a curveball and a slider?

 

[robert terwilliger]

many ways. google pitching grips and there are many articles on the different ways players hold certain pitches.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mat-latos-throws-a-pitch-that-nobody-else-has-thrown/

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jake-arrietas-one-grip-multi-slider/

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/examining-grips-with-dan-straily/

 

[BigMac1212]

When's the earliest teams can trade players in the offseason?

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

When's the earliest teams can trade players in the offseason?

Whenever they want I would imagine.

 

[BigMac1212]

One last one for now:

What are some of the major Summer Collegiate Baseball leagues in North America?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Whenever they want I would imagine.

Indeed. There are no actual trade freezes in MLB, the deadlines are all about eligibility. If the Royals and Mets wanted to make a trade in the midst of the World Series they'd be completely open to do so...but nobody involved in the deal would be eligible to play in the playoffs.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

One last one for now:

What are some of the major Summer Collegiate Baseball leagues in North America?

Cape Cod League and Northwoods League are the top 2. A few other notable leagues are the West Coast League, Alaska Baseball League and the California Collegiate League.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

One last one for now:

What are some of the major Summer Collegiate Baseball leagues in North America?

Cape Cod League and Northwoods League are the top 2. A few other notable leagues are the West Coast League, Alaska Baseball League and the California Collegiate League.

Pretty much what AdmiralsFan24 pointed out - Cape Cod and Northwoods are the two big ones and then there's a smattering of other leagues. I'd say the major ones to note (the ones mutually tracked by OurSportsCentral, Baseball America, and Ballpark Digest) would be the Coastal Plain League, Futures League, New England Collegiate League, Prospect League, Texas Collegiate League, and West Coast League.

 

[DougieSmash]

Not exactly new to the baseball but i have one question.

Cal Ripken second best season was in '84. 103 scored runs, 27 HR, .374 OBP and 10 WAR season. And yet, he was #27 on MVP ballot. 10 WAR as a SS. Why in the world such a great season was #27 on MVP and how Willie Hernandez win it over Hrbek, Mattingly, Murray, Winfield and Ripken?

 

[Pwnasaurus]

Not exactly new to the baseball but i have one question.

Cal Ripken second best season was in '84. 103 scored runs, 27 HR, .374 OBP and 10 WAR season. And yet, he was #27 on MVP ballot. 10 WAR as a SS. Why in the world such a great season was #27 on MVP and how Willie Hernandez win it over Hrbek, Mattingly, Murray, Winfield and Ripken?

A couple of reasons most likely (thinking like a mindless voter).

A) He won it the year before
B) The team went from WS champion to missing the playoffs
C) The Tigers were ridiculous that year, I think they lost something like 5 or 6 games or something in the first 2 months combined.

None of these are particularly good reasons, however, at least closers like Willie were 2 inning pitchers at the time. Also off the top of my head, since I don't think his offensive #'s were ever mind boggling, I assume a good amount of his WAR was derived from his defense, especially as a younger player with great range. 1984 didn't really reward that as well as it would today.

I didn't realize he was 27th. LOL. That's insane.

 

[hockeykicker]

What is the point of wins above replacement (WAR)? to me that just sounds like whoever was playing that day benefited from an amazing pitching performance and another player driving in five runs. What is really the point of that stat?

 

[Pwnasaurus]

What is the point of wins above replacement (WAR)?

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/misc/war/

 

[Voight]

Not new to baseball but literally discovered this specific forum yesterday.

In short, I live in Toronto but am a Giants fan. My grandfather (who I'm very close with) was a gigantic Willie Mays fan and had me sold on them when I was kid, however I do support my hometown team (Blue Jays). Excited to have a place to talk baseball, been playing my entire life and following it like forever. Im a mega-sports fan but the two sports I've played the most and know most about are hockey & baseball, so this is perfect.

 

[Pwnasaurus]

Not new to baseball but literally discovered this specific forum yesterday.

In short, I live in Toronto but am a Giants fan. My grandfather (who I'm very close with) was a gigantic Willie Mays fan and had me sold on them when I was kid, however I do support my hometown team (Blue Jays). Excited to have a place to talk baseball, been playing my entire life and following it like forever. Im a mega-sports fan but the two sports I've played the most and know most about are hockey & baseball, so this is perfect.

Welcome. There's a lot of good posters here. My father was a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan growing up.

 

[darko]

Not new to baseball but literally discovered this specific forum yesterday.

In short, I live in Toronto but am a Giants fan. My grandfather (who I'm very close with) was a gigantic Willie Mays fan and had me sold on them when I was kid, however I do support my hometown team (Blue Jays). Excited to have a place to talk baseball, been playing my entire life and following it like forever. Im a mega-sports fan but the two sports I've played the most and know most about are hockey & baseball, so this is perfect.

Welcome man. Yankees fan so you'll probably hate my guts.

You speak Cro?

 

[Voight]

Welcome man. Yankees fan so you'll probably hate my guts.

You speak Cro?

Actually not really tbh. Jeter is one of my favourite players of all time. I'm not sure why, but I've always had a "soft spot" for the Yankees. Might have to do with me hating the ****Sox or them being great for most of my life, if they play SF all bets are off but I don't mind seeing them be good.

Not much of it, bits and pieces. Haven't been over there since 2008, and I regret not asking my grandparents to teach me more of it as a kid.

 

[robert terwilliger]

reading through some mvp ballots is pretty tough.

look at the 1992 al mvp voting.

george bell had a -0.2 bwar and finished ahead of mike mussina who had an 8.2 bwar.

eckersley won the mvp that year, pitching 80 ****ing innings. i love eck as much as is allowed by law but seriously. he got 15 first place votes!