Tag Archives: MillersTime Baseball Contests

Predictions, Notes, Questions & Repeating History

06 Saturday Apr 2019

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  • From Fenway Park in 2005 and soon to be repeated. See Notes below

I. Some Predictions from MillersTime Baseball Contestants

Contest 1: MillersTime contestants say it will be the Dodgers vs either the Red Sox or Yankees in the 2019 World Series, and they believe the American League team will win it in six games.

Contest 3:  No doubt here. Overwhelming choice is the American League to win the All Star game. Scherzer (or maybe Sale) will be the first pitcher to win 12 games. Harper, Stanton, and Judge all tied for first to hit 25 home runs.

Contest 4:     Contestants split evenly between those who think the Yankees will win the AL East and those who don’t, but they seem to think the Nats will definitely not win the NL East. Everyone seems to think one of my ‘grand’ children will see at least one of the following: a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, Teddy winning the President’s race, will go home with a foul ball, will have his/her pix taken with an MLB mascot, or will be on the TV screen at an MLB stadium. (Has happened yet, but I’m working on this one.)

Other Contest Predictions: Too complicated to post here. But thanks to all who participated.

II. Baseball Notes and Two Questions:

***Check out this article that looks at a different, but easy way to judge who are the best hitters in baseball: Secondary Average by Victor Mather, NY Times, April 5, 2019. (Hat Tip to Joe H for alerting me)

***There’s a new book out by one of today’s top baseball writers, Tyler Kepner of the NY Times. A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches. Reviews have been outstanding, and I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I finish it. (It’s due to arrive at my house April 7.)

***Every time I attend a baseball game, I’m looking for something I never saw before. A few days ago this: Tie game between the Phillies and the Nats in DC. Bottom of the 9th. First man up for the Nats gets a single. Then the the Phillies’ pitcher walks the next two batters. Bases loaded. And he does it again. A third walk. Walking in the winning run for the Nats. What do we call that? A Three Walk Walk-Off? A Triple Walk Walk-Off? A Walk-Off Walk? Bad pitching? Terrible managing? Let me know what you would call it. And I suppose you all know the actual definition of ‘Walk-Off’ win. It’s not the winning team walking off. It’s about the losing team having to ‘walk off’ the field after they’ve ‘blown’ the game.

***Not sure if it’s my getting older (which is certainly happening), but I’ve already attended four games at Nats’ Park, and I’m sure they’ve cranked up the loud speakers, making it difficult to talk and hear each other between innings. one of the enjoyable aspects of seeing a game with a son, daughter, wife, father, grandfather, grandchild and/or friends. Is this increase in noise level happening elsewhere too? Or am I just getting more like my parents did at a similar stage in their lives?

III. Repeating History

***Finally, heading to Boston with the three females in my life – wife Ellen, and daughters Annie and Elizabeth – to ‘treat’ them to Opening Day, April 9 in Fenway where the World Series flag will be raised, a huge banner will be dropped across the Green Monster, and the WS rings will be given out. I took them in 2005 (see photo above) when the Yankees had to sit in the Visitors’ dugout and watch the ceremonies after the best ever WS win in my lifetime. Now, with this fourth WS victory in this early part of the 21st century — eat your hearts out Yankee fans — my only regret is that my daughters and grand children will never truly understand what I had to go through for most of my baseball life – though I think Elizabeth kind of understands. If you’ve never read this, don’t miss: The E-Mail on the Kitchen Table, posted 12.19.08 on MillersTime but written just after the Sox finally won it all in 2004. A must read.

IV. PS

***You can look forward to an upcoming post, Opening Day Thru Ellen’s Lens, with commentary attached.

Ellen’s Photo from Oriole Park at Camden Yards




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Announcing the 2019 MillersTime Baseball Contests & Prizes

21 Thursday Feb 2019

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  2019 MillersTime Baseball Contests

Contest #1:

  1. Name the two teams who will play in the World Series in 2019?
  2. Which team will win it all?
  3. Tie-Breaker: What will be the total number of games played in the 2019 World Series – 4, 5, 6, or 7?

Prize: One ticket to the 2020 World Series.

Contest #2:

Pick your favorite MLB team (or the team you know the best) and answer the following questions to prove whether you’re just a homer (“Someone who shows blind loyalty to a team or organization, typically ignoring any shortcomings or faults they have”) or whether you really know something about your team and can honestly evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. Please answer all three parts of the question.

1. What will your team’s regular season 162 game record be in 2019?

2. Will they make the playoffs, and if so, how far will they go?

3. What will be the most important SINGLE factor (hitting, starting pitching, bullpen, an individual’s performance, the manager, injuries, etc.) in determining their season?

Prize: Two tickets to a regular season game with your favorite team (details to be negotiated with me.)

Contest #3: Questions to be decided by the 2019 All Star game, July 9.

  1. Name which League will win the All Star game.
  2. Name one AL team & one NL team who will be leading their Division July 9.

Tie-Breakers: (May take longer than July 9 to decide these)Name the first MLB player to hit 25 HRs.

3. Name the first MLB player to hit 25 HRs.

4. Name the first MLB pitcher win 12 games.

Contest 4:   True or False:

Prize: Bring a friend and join me for a Nats’ game in the second half of the 2019 season or a Nats’ game of your choice next year (except for Opening Day). If you can’t make it to DC, maybe I can make it to where you live, and we’ll see a game together there.

A. The New York Yankees WILL win the AL East in 2019.

B. The Washington Nationals WILL win the NL East in 2019.

C. There will be at least one 20 game winning pitcher in each League in 2019. (There were two from the AL in 2018 – Snell – 21 & Kluber – 20; none in 2017, three in 2016 – Porcello – 22, Scherzer 20, Happ – 20). (from Chris Boutourline)

D. No pitcher in MLB will have two complete shutout games. (from Ben Sentura)

E. At least two teams in 2019 will lose 100 games or more. (Three did so in 2018 – Orioles lost 115, Royals lost 104 and White Sox lost 100. Five other teams lost between 95-99 games: Reds, Rangers, Padres, Marlins, & Tigers)

F. A manager will be fired by the All Star game in 2019? (from Brent Schultz)

G.  In 2019 the two AL & the two NL wild card teams will each come from the same division in their League.

H.  Either Manny Machado or Bryce Harper will fail to live up to expectations in 2019. In other words, one of the two will not perform well, will not have a particularly good year as defined by factors such as BA, HRs, RBIs, OPS, Fielding Average, etc.)

I.  At least three teams will win 100 games or more in 2019. (Three teams did so in 2018: Red Sox – 108, Astros – 103, Yankees – 100).

J. One of Grand Papa’s (c’est moi) grandchildren will witness in person (at an MLB game) at least one of the following: a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, Teddy winning the President’s race at the Nats’ stadium, will go home with a foul ball, will have his/her picture taken with an MLB team mascot, or will be on the TV screen at an MLB stadium.

Prize: Your choice of one of these books: The 10 Baseball Books Every Fan Should Read or a newer book, Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game by Rob Nyer.

Contest # 5:

These questions are inspired by MillersTime baseball contestants Matt Galati, Nick Nyhart, and Maury Maniff. They are mostly for unrepentent baseball nerds, ones who have been known get up in the middle of the night to see how their favorite team did, check all the baseball scores, look at video of a game, etc. To gather information before answering, you might want to go to this site – http://proxy.espn.com/mlb/stats/team?stat=pitching – to see what the correct answers would have been before 2018:

For all of these five questions, choose the MLB team who in the 2019 regular season will:

1. Have the most wins? (Boston in 2018)

2. Have the worst BA? (Miami in 2018)

3. Have the most errors? (St. Louis in 2018)

4. Have the highest (pitching) save percentage? (Texas in 2018)

5. Have the lowest WHIP? (Houston in 2018)

Prize: Your choice of one of these books: The 10 Baseball Books Every Fan Should Read or a newer book Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game by Rob Nyer.

Additional Details:  

All winners get the ‘one-of-a-kind,’ specially designed and updated MillersTime Baseball Winner T-Shirt.

Enter as many or as few of the contests as you want.

Be sure to answer all parts of each contest you do enter.

If you get a friend (or a foe) to participate in these contests, and he/she wins and has mentioned your name in their submission, you will get a prize also.

First time entrants who are runners up in any contest will get THE T-shirt. Any two-generation submissions (mother/son, grandfather/granddaughter, etc.) who are runners up will also get THE T-Shirt

Get your predictions in soon. In case of ties in any contest, the individual who submitted his/her prediction first will be the winner.

Submissions should be sent to me at:

Samesty84@gmail.com or by snail mail – Richard Miller – 2501 Tracy PL NW, Washington, DC 20008.

Deadline for Submissions: Opening Day: Thursday, March 28, Noon, EDT

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And the First 2018 MillersTime Baseball Contest Winner Is…

22 Sunday Jul 2018

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Contest # 2:

Which League will win the All Star Game?

Correct answer: American League. Fifty-eight per cent of you picked the correct answer, 42 had the National League.

Tie-Breakers: Name the first MLB player to hit 30 HRs and the first MLB pitcher to win 12 games.

Correct Answers:

Jose Ramirez, Indians, first to 30, followed by JD Martinez, Red Sox 29, and Aaron Judge, Yankees, 26.

Luis Severino, Yankees, won his 12th on June 26 (and now has 14), Corey Kluber, Indians, got his 12th on July 2 and Max Scherzer, Nationals, on July 12. (There are others – Curasco, Lester, Nola & Snell – who are at 12 wins but were not picked by any contestants.)

No one chose either Ramirez as first to 30 HRs or Severino as first to 12 wins.

Possible Winners:

Not so easy to decide:

1. Tim Malieckal on 3/21 had the American League and Judge & Scherzer.

2. Edan Orgad on 3/21 had National League and Judge & Scherzer.

3. Dawn Wilson on 3/21 had National League and Martinez & Kluber.

4. Justin Stoyer on 3/24 had American League and Judge & Scherzer.

5. Brian Steinbach on 3/24 had National League and Judge & Kluber.

6. Brandt & Samantha Tilis on 3/26 had American League League and Judge & Scherzer.

7. Ellen Miller on 3/27 had American League and Martinez & Scherzer.

8. Jere Smith on 3/27  had American League and Martinez & Sale.

9. Tiffany Lopez on 3/29 had American League and Judge & Scherzer.

10. Eli Orgad on 3/29 had American League and Judge & Scherzer.

For not answering the initial question correctly (Which league will win the All Star Game?), Edan Orgad, Dawn Wilson, and Brian Steinbach are eliminated.

For getting assistance from Richard Miller/Grand Papa, Ellen Miller and Eli Orgad are eliminated.

For only getting close on one of the two Tie-Breaker questions, Jere Smith and Tiffany Lopez are eliminated.

Winner:

Tim Malieckal wins as a result of his being the first (3/21) to chose the American League and Judge & Scherzer. Tim will join me on Sept. 23 for a Nats vs Mets game in DC, four rows behind the Visitors’ dugout. And, of course, he will receive the ever popular and desired MillersTime Baseball Winner T-Shirt.

Justin Stoyer (3/24) and Brandt/Samantha Tilis (3/26) are the runners up, predicting the American League and Judge & Scherzer. They will receive the fabulous T-Shirts.

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According to MillersTime Baseball Fans…

20 Friday Apr 2018

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Finally, and happily for some of us, we’re about 10% into the 2018 baseball season, and there are some early indications of what is ahead of us.

First, however, a look at what MillersTime readers, as gleaned from their entries into the annual contest, have predicted for the season:

1. It will be a Dodgers vs Yankees World Series and a toss up as to which team will win it all.

2. The Astros and the Nats will get close but not go all the way.

3. The American League will again win the All Star game (‘”Duh,” as my daughter writes).

4. Giancarlo Stanton will beat Aaron Judge as the first to hit 30 HRs, and Clayton Kershaw will beat Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer to 12 wins.

5. Nats fans think they’ll win 96 games but most don’t believe they’ll get to or win the WS.

6. Sox fans (ever the pessimists) predict 93 wins but little chance of making it into or winning the WS.

7. Yankee fans think their heroes will win 96 and have a good shot at winning it all.

8. Dodger fans say 98.6 wins and have a 33% chance of winning the WS.

9. Pitching seems to be what most of you believe will be the determining factor in how your team fares.

10. Most of you think there will be at least one 20 game winner but no (starting) pitchers with an ERA under 2.0.

11. Most don’t believe Stanton and Judge will hit as many HRs as last year (111) and certainly not 115.

12. Those who believe there will be at least three teams with 100 wins or more slightly out number the doubters.

13. And almost everyone believes that one of my grand kids will witness in person an MLB grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, an extra inning game, or Teddy winning the President’s race. If one of little tykes had been with me the other night, they would have seen two of those events.

As to how much we can know from the first 10% of the season, it does look as if the Nats are not the shoe-ins many predicted, and the Dodgers are off to a bad start, tho they seem to be trying to overcome that. The Yankees are struggling a bit, and unless their pitching improves, they may not even make it into post season.

On the other hand, the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, and Angels are doing better than predicted, as are the Mets and the Phillies (watch out Nats).

And then there are my heroes, the Sox. As a true Boston fan, I swing back and forth between believing/fearing what’s happening (16-2) is not going to last and hoping that everyone stays healthy and they continue to pitch, hit, and field at the rate they are now doing.

Finally, one big concern: the attendance at MLB is down markedly (see this article). It’s not clear if that is weather related (probably not) or some other factors are at play. So, go to a game. Take a kid. Or a friend or two.

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Announcing the 2018 MillersTime Baseball Contests

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Yes.

And none too soon.

Which means it’s time for:

2018 MillersTime Baseball Contests

Contest #1:

Pick your favorite MLB team (or the team you know the best) and answer the following questions to prove whether you’re just a homer (“Someone who shows blind loyalty to a team or organization, typically ignoring any shortcomings or faults they have”) or whether you really know something about your team and can honestly evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. Please answer all three parts of the question.

  1. What will your team’s regular season 162 game record be in 2018?
  2. Will they make the playoffs, and if so, how far will they go?
  3. What will be the most important SINGLE factor (hitting, starting pitching, bullpen, an individual’s performance, the manager, injuries, etc.) in determining their season?

Prize: Two tickets to a regular season game with your favorite team (details to be negotiated with moi.)

Contest #2:

Which League will win the All Star Game in 2018?

Tie-Breakers: Name the first MLB player to hit 30 HRs and the first MLB pitcher to win 12 games.

Prize: Join me after the All Star break to see a Nats’ game in wonderful seats. If you don’t live in this area or can’t get here, we can work out seats to a game somewhere that you can attend.

Contest #3: True or False:

A. The new MLB rules (shorter commercial breaks and limit of six non pitching visits to the mound by manager, coach or other players) will NOT result in reducing the average game time to under three hours. (Average time in 2017 was 3:05.)

B. The New York Yankees WILL win the AL East in 2018.

C. The Washington Nationals WILL NOT win the NL East in 2018.

D. There will be no 20 game winning pitchers in either league in 2018. (There were none in 2017 and three in 2016.)

E. At least one pitcher in the regular 2018 MLB season will have an ERA under 2.0. (There were none in 2017 or 2016. One did it in 2015 and two in 2014.)

F. Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge together will hit at least 115 regular season HRs in 2018. (In 2017 they ‘combined’ for 111.)

G. At least one MLB batter will strike out 220 times or more in 2018 regular season play. (Aaron Judge struck out 208 times in 2017, and Chris Davis struck out 217 times in 2016.)

H. There will be at least 8 Triple Plays in the MLB this year. (Over the last 10 years the average has been 4.1 per year, and in each of the last two years there were 7 each year.)

I. At least three teams will win 100 games or more in 2018. (Three teams did so in 2017: Astros – 101, Indians – 102, Dodgers – 104).

J. One of Grand Papa’s (c’est moi) grandchildren will witness in person (at an MLB game) a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, an extra inning game, or Teddy win the President’s race at the Nats’ stadium.

Prize: Your choice of one of these books: The 20 Best Books Ever Written About Baseball.

Contest #4 :

Who will be the two teams in the World Series in 2018 and which team will win it all?

Tie-Breaker: Name the five teams in each league who will make the playoffs.

Prize: One ticket to the 2018 World Series.

Additional Details:

  1. All winners get the ‘one-of-a-kind,’ specially designed and updated MillersTime Baseball Winner T-Shirt in addition to the prizes outlined above.
  2. Enter as many or as few of the contests as you want.
  3. Be sure to answer all parts of each contest you do enter.
  4. If you get a friend (or a foe) to participate in these contests, and he/she wins and has mentioned your name in their submission, you will get a prize also.
  5. First time entrants who are runners up in any contest will get THE T-shirt.
  6. Any two-generation submissions (mother/daughter, grandfather/grandson, etc.) who are runners up will also get THE T-Shirt.
  7. Get your predictions in soon. In case of ties in any contest, the individual who submitted his/her prediction(s) first will be the winner.
  8. Submissions should be sent to me in an email – samesty84@gmail.com

Deadline for Submissions: Opening Day: March 29, 2:40 PM, EST

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Baseball Contest # 4 Winners

08 Sunday Oct 2017

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While we await the outcome of the 2017 MLB playoffs to determine the MillersTime contest winners in four of the six contests, I can announce the winner(s) in Contest # 4.

(I previously announced the winner in Contest #5 about the 2017 All Star game.)

Contest # 4:

A. Which MLB team will have the best improvement in their games won over 2016?)

B. Which MLB team will have the biggest decline (most losses compared to 2016)?

What actually happened:

Best Improvement:

1. Minnesota Twins: + 26

2. Arizona Diamondbacks: +24

3. Houston Astros: +17

Biggest Decline:

1. San Francisco Giants: -23

2. Detroit Tigers: -22

3. Texas Rangers & New York Mets: -17

Winners:

No one got both A & B correct.

Ten of you had the Twins with the best improvement – Dawn Wilson, Todd Endo, Rob Higdon, Matt Eisner, Jesse Maniff, Ellen Miller, Tiffiany Lopez, Jeff Friedman, Matt Wax-Krell, Justin Stoyer

Nick Fels was the only one to predict the Giants loss of 23 games.

Since Contest #4 involved getting both right, by the power invested in me by me, I declare the following the Winners:

Todd Endo, Jeff Friedman, Rob Higdon, & Dawn Wilson. They all got A correct and all had the Rangers for B.

and

Meg Gage who had the second place team in A & B – Diamondbacks & Tigers.

So, Todd, Jeff, Rob, Dawn, and Meg, please send me your T-Shirt size, your home address, and your commitment to wear the T-shirt at least once during the 2018 baseball season.

 

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2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

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Yes it is.

And guess who is going to five games? Well, three actual MLB spring training games, plus one game between the Sox and the USA team, and one World Classic playoff game. (Have I mentioned how much I love retirement?)

In the meantime, feast your eyes and minds on the MillersTime Contests for 2017 and sharpen your pencils (some of you no doubt still use those things). Your predictions are due by the opening pitch of the season, April 2, 1:10 PM. (See new deadline below.)

So it’s time to turn to the MillersTime Baseball Contests to test your baseball knowledge, hopes, luck, fears, prejudices, and ignorance. The contests have evolved from just Red Sox (and Evil Empire) focused questions to ones that involve all of MLB as the majority of contestants are no longer Sox fans (poor souls).

You don’t have to enter all of the contests, and if you’re not baseball obsessed (pity), you can easily just choose a couple of contests to enter (see #1, #2, #3, Extra Credit).

While it might be tempting to wait until late in Spring Training to submit your answers, you do run the risk of losing out to someone who submits a similar winning answer earlier.

Also, in addition to the prizes listed in each contest, all winners get the exclusive, one-of-a-kind “MillersTime Baseball Contest Winner” T-Shirt, a much ‘valued’ prize.

Winner

backwinner

 

Justin B models

his ‘prized’ T-Shirt

 

 

Contest # 1:

Pick your favorite MLB team (or the team you know the most) and answer the following questions to prove whether you’re just a homer (“Someone who shows blind loyalty to a team or organization, typically ignoring any shortcomings or faults they have”) or whether you really know something about your team and can honestly evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.

a. What will your team’s regular season 162 game record be in 2016?

b. Will they make the playoffs, and if so, how far will they go?

c.  What will be the most important factor (hitting, starting pitching, bullpen, an individual’s performance, the manager, injuries, etc.) in determining their season?

Prize: Two tickets to a regular season game with your favorite team (details to be negotiated with moi.)

Contest #2:

Make a prediction about something that will happen during the 2017 MLB season.

Your prediction could be about a team, about a player, about a new record, about an ‘event,’ or about something, hopefully unique, you think will happen in 2017. One prediction only.

Of those that come true, MillersTime readers will determine which one is the best prediction. Voters generally have selected the most specific prediction, one that showed baseball knowledge, and/or one that predicted something unusual.

Prize: Join me to see a Nats’ game next year in wonderful seats. If you don’t live in this area, can’t get here, or don’t want to come to DC swamp, you can give your prize to someone who can get here, or you can choose one of the books cited in the prizes below.

Contest #3: True or False

A. The Chicago Cubs will follow Joe Maddon’s advice again to “Be a good Cubbie and try not to suck” and will at least go to the World Series in 2017, as they did in 2016.

B. The Washington Nationals will NOT lead the NL East Division as they did in 2016.

C. One pitcher will throw two no hitters in 2017. (Only been accomplished five times: Johnny Vander Meer in 1938, Allie Reynolds in 1951, Virgil Trucks in 1952, Nolan Ryan in 1973, and Max Scherzer in 2015.)

D. Bryce Harper will rebound from his 2016 season — BA .243, HR-24, RBIs-86 – and finish in the top five the MVP voting. (Hint, but be wary: Harper hit a monster HR on his first swing in Spring Training this year)

E. A contract at over $400 million will be offered before the end of the 2017 season.

F. There will be five or more Triple Plays in the MLB this year. (Over the last seven years the average has been 4.1 per year.)

G. There will be more than three 20 game winners in 2017. (2016: Porcello -23, Happ – 20, Scherzer – 20)

H. No pitcher will have an ERA under 2.0 (Best in 2016 was Kyle Hendricks at 2.13)

I. At least one MLB batter will strike out 219 times or more in 2017 regular season play (Chris Davis, Orioles, did that in 2016.

J. One of Grand Papa’s (your ‘conductor’ of these contests) grandchildren will witness in person (at an MLB game) either a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, or Teddy win the President’s race at the Nats’ stadium.

Prize: Your choice of one of these books: The 20 Best Books Ever Written About Baseball.

Contest #4:

A. Which MLB team will have the best improvement in their games won over 2016?

B. Which MLB team will have show the biggest decline (the most losses compared to their record in 2016) ?

Prize: A copy of A. Bartlett Giamatti’s wonderful collection of baseball writings entitled A Great and Glorious Game.

Contest #5:

Will the American League continue its dominance over the National League in the All Star game in 2017? (AL won the last four ASG, 7 out of last 10, and 11 out of last 15).

Tie-Breaker: Name the AL and NL players who will each get the most votes to play in the All Star game.

Prize: Join me after the All Star break to see a Nats’ game in wonderful seats. If you don’t live in this area, can’t get here, or don’t want to come to DC, you can give your prize to someone who can get here, or I can take a kid to a game in your place.

Contest # 6:

Who will be the two teams in the World Series in 2017 and which team will win it all?

Tie-Breaker: Name the five teams in each league who will make the playoffs.

Prize: One ticket to the 2017 World Series.

Extra Credit:

Make up your own question about MLB in 2017 and then answer it.

Of those that come true, we’ll put it up to MillersTime baseball readers to decide who wins the prize. And that question will be incorporated in next year’s contests.

Prize: Your choice of one of these books: The 20 Best Books Ever Written About Baseball.

Additional Details:

  1. All winners get the ‘one-of-a-kind,’ specially designed MillersTime Baseball Winner T-Shirt.
  2. Enter as many or as few of the contests as you want.
  3. Be sure to answer all parts of each contest you do enter.
  4. If you get a friend (or a foe) to participate in these contests, and he/she wins and has mentioned your name in their submission, you will get a prize also.
  5. Get your predictions in soon. In case of ties in any contest, the individual who submitted his/her prediction first will be the winner.
  6. Submissions should be sent to me in an email – samesty84@gmail.com or can be sent to me by snail mail – Richard Miller – 2501 Tracy PL. NW, Washington, DC 20008.

New Deadline for Submissions: Nats’s Opening Day: Apr. 3, 2017, 1:05 PM, EST.

Addendum: Consider a Joint Submission with a son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, niece, nephew or with your father, mother, aunt or uncle, or grandfather or grandmother. If you and your ‘generational companion’ win, then both of you will get a ‘prized’ MillersTime Winner T-shirt and two tickets to a regular season game of your choice.

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Results of 2016 MillersTime Baseball Contests

17 Thursday Nov 2016

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Two of the seven contests, Contest #2 and the ‘Extra Credit’ contest have yet to be decided as those winners are to be determined by the votes of contestants. If you have not yet voted, please do by Tuesday, Nov. 22. You can see the two contests’ finalists and vote HERE. Please vote in both those contests.

Contest #1: Pick your favorite MLB team (or team you know the most) and answer the following questions to prove whether you’re just a homer or whether you really know something about baseball.

Continue reading »

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Winners – 2015 MillersTime Baseball Contests

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Spring-Training.th_

That was a pretty good World Series, especially if you’re not a Metropolitans’ fan. But even they did surprisingly well this season. The Royals clearly were not to be denied and deserved the win. There’s something different about watching baseball when you don’t have a ‘dog in the fight.’

On to the winners of the 2015 MillersTime Baseball Contests.

Continue reading »

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What’s Going on in Baseball?

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

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In no particular order, here are some comments, thoughts, observations, and perhaps even an occasional insight at this point in the 2015 baseball season: ** For those of you who can remember back to preseason, I wrote about the new baseball rules for shortening games and predicted they’d work (see: It’s Gonna Work – Betcha). At the All Star break this year, roughly the halfway mark of the season, the average length of the games was down almost exactly 10 minutes.  The rule about batters having to keep one foot in the batter’s box accounted for half of the reduction in game time. Calling for a play challenge from the dugout and limiting the time between innings, probably make up the other half. Recently, however, the game time has crept up a bit. (It seems to me that batters are staying out of the box more now than they did at the beginning of the season, perhaps because MLB and the Players Union agreed not to use the financial penalties that were supposed to kick in in May?) ** If you think there are more no-hitters this year than last, you’re right (six already versus five for all of last year). And there were 33 no ‘hitters’ thru 6 innings (better than all of last year), 17 through 7 innings and 10 through 8 innings. But pitchers on the whole are doing worse than last year. The ERA of all the Major League teams is up over 2014, from 3.74 (full season) to 3.82 (thru 8/31/15). Batters are doing better (makes sense if ERA is up) in all categories: Ave. – 254/.251, OBP – .315/.314, SLG. – .402/.386, and OPS –  .718/.700. Fielding PCT is virtually unchanged (.985/.984). ** What’s up with the Sox? They have been out of it for most of the season, largely because of weak pitching and weak hitting. (Outgoing GM Cherrington should’ve listened to me when I said stay away from Hanley Ramirez). They have done well over the past several weeks as they have settled into what is likely to be an outstanding outfield — Bradley, Betts, and Castillo (photo below) — for next year and beyond, tho it’s not clear yet which position each will play in that outfield. Their hitting is up and so is their starting pitching; relief pitching, however, has worsened, especially with the loss of Uehara for the remainder of the season. They have a modest chance of avoiding last place if they continue at their present pace. Everyone is on their toes trying to prove to their new president of baseball operations Dombrowski that they deserve to play next year.

-BOSTON-RED-SOX-AT-CHICAGO-WHITE-SOXCaylor Arnold/USA Today Sports

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2015 Baseball Contests – Help Needed

08 Thursday Jan 2015

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Hus-on-firstby: JamieD 9/3/10, Total ProSports.com. (If you’ve never seen, or want to see the Abbott-Costello piece Who’s on 1st: http://bit.ly/1mV1fyH)

 

Baseball Fans:

Now that it is officially 2015, and we are all freezing, my thoughts naturally turn to the upcoming baseball season and the annual MillersTime Baseball Contests.

And I’m asking for some help.

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The Fans Win

30 Thursday Oct 2014

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It’s ‘every’ boy’s dream to be at bat in the bottom of the 9th with the chance to win the game and the World Series.

Alas, for Royals’ fans, the result last night disappointed.

But what a season it was for the Royals.

And it was a wonderful playoff season for all of MLB, from the wild card games, which resulted in both wild card winners making it to the World Series, thorough the Division Series and including the Championship Series.

As for the World Series, it’s always better when it goes seven games. This time either team could have won. The Giants, thanks primarily to Madison Bumgarner’s outstanding pitching, prevailed, 3-2 (for the third time in five years). But it could have easily been the Royals.

The biggest winner?

The fans.

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2014 MillersTime Baseball Contests

23 Sunday Feb 2014

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2007. WS.photo

3/21 – DEADLINE EXTENDED: Contrary to the information at the end of this post, the deadline for submissions has been extended until the first pitch is thrown on Opening Day, March 31, in the US (as opposed to the two games early opening day games in Australia between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks). For individuals who have submitted their picks in a timely fashion, you are welcome to amend any or all of what you’ve submitted. For those of you who are slaggards, your procrastination/careless reading of the previously announced deadline has been ‘rewarded’. However, in case of a tie in any of the contests, the individual who first submitted the prediction will be declared the winner.

Contest #1:

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Final 2013 MillersTime Baseball Contest Winners

11 Monday Nov 2013

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With the conclusion of the World Series (wasn’t that just dandy?) and the naming of Wil Myers as the American League Rookie of the Year today, the voting closes for choosing the winners of Contests #1 and #6.

Contest #1 – Make a Prediction about the 2013 baseball season:

I put the 12 predictions that came true to a vote of MillersTime/GoSox baseball readers, and the result was a tie between two as voters seemed to appreciate the specificity of the these two predictions:

#3 – RA Dickey will struggle, his ERA will be higher than the past three seasons, and he won’t win more than 15 games. (His ERA was indeed higher, 4.21 vs 3.28, and his record was 14-13.)

#7 – Jordan Zimmerman will be the Nats best and most consistent pitcher, over Strasburg and Gonzales. (Zimmerman was 19-9, Strasburg 8-9, Gonzales 11-8.)

So Rob Higdon (#3) and Dan Cate (#7) tie. Their prize is an all expense over night car trip with me to Cooperstown between the end of the 2013 MLB baseball season and Opening Day in 2014. Hopefully we can work out a mutually satisfying time for this trip.

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