Category Archives: Go Sox

How Well Do You Know Your Team? Plus, Winner in Contest #1

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Fenway Green Monster fans react to a Rafael Devers’ homer, but “a homer” has another meaning too.                     (Photo by Matt Stone)

Contest # 1: Pick your favorite MLB team (or the team you know the most) and answer the following questions to prove whether your just a homer – “someone who shows blind loyalty to a team or organization, typically ignoring any shortcomings or faults they have” – or whether you rally 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 2017?

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, injuries, etc.) in determining their season?

Conclusion:

There were four teams chosen that had five or more of you predicting their season:

Orioles fans over predicted what their team would accomplish this season. (Once again Chris Eacho, who probably should never be taken seriously, thought the O’s would win over 100 games, would win the WS, and Buck Showalter would win Manager of the Year.)

Red Sox fans also largely over estimated how well they would do, but there were also a number of these wonderfully intelligent and obsessive fans who were very close to exact in their predictions.

Yankee fans largely underestimated how well they would do this year. (David P., however, thought they’d win the WS, which wasn’t as wild a prediction as it seemed at the beginning of the season.)

Nats’ fans were the most accurate in their assessment of their team.

Although the numbers were not significant, fans of the Cubs, Cards, Reds, Giants Braves, Royals, and Mets generally overestimated how their teams would do. Fans of the Pirates, Brewers, and Astros underestimated their teams for 2017. Dodger fans were split between over and under estimating how the Bums would do.

Winner of Contest #1:

There were a number of you who came close, generally faltering on Part B of this question. Included in this category were David Price, Daniel Fishberg, Jesse Maniff, Steve Veltri, Matt Wax-Krell, Ellen Miller, Jeff Friedman, Jon Frank, Nick Nyhart, and Meg Gage.

The two who vied for winning were Monica McHugh and Annie Orgad.

Monica predicted the Nats’ record would be 96-66 (they were 97-65), they would lose in the NLDS (true), and Bryce Harper would be instrumental in their season.

Annie predicted the Red Sox would be 94-68 (they were 93-69), they would lose in the first round of the playoffs (true), and hitting would be a big factor in their season outcome.

Monica McHugh wins this closely ‘fought’ Contest, based on the fact that her submission preceded Annie Orgads’. Monica’s prize is two tickets to a regular season game with her favorite team (details to be negotiated with me).

 

 

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More Contest Winner(s) – True/False Questions

07 Tuesday Nov 2017

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Not a good showing for MillersTime Baseball contestants in the 10 True/False questions.

Seventy-five per cent of you had six or less correct, and no one got all ten right.

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. False, largely because they lost to the Dodgers in the NLCS 4 games to 1.

B. The Washington Nationals will NOT lead the NL East Division as they did in 2016. False. They won their division by 20 games (97-65) over the Marlins. In 2016 they won their division by 8 games (95-67) over the Mets.

C. One pitcher will throw two no hitters in 2017. False. There was only one (1) no hitter thrown in all of 2017 (Edinson Volquez for Miami against Arizona, 6/30/17).

D. Bryce Harper will rebound from his 2016 season – BA -.243, HRs – 24, RBIs – 86 and finish in the top five of the MVP voting. Mostly True. In 2017 his line was BA – .319, HRs – 29, RBIs – 87. The Baseball Writers Association of America came out last night with the finalists for various awards, including MVP, but they only listed the top three. Harper didn’t make it into that group but at least one list of the top ten I saw had him number five.

E. A contract at over $400 million will be offered before the end of the 2017 season. False. But maybe in 2018.

F. There will be five or or more Triple Plays in the MLB this year (yearly average has been 4.1). True. The Orioles did it twice.

G. There will be more than three 20 game winners in 2017. False. There were none. (Last year there were three).

H. No pitcher will have an ERA under 2.0 in 2017. True. Kluber best with 2.25. In 2016 Hendricks at 2.13.)

I. At least one MLB batter will strike out 219 times or more in 2017 regular season play. False. The only batter with more than 200 was Aaron Judge (208). Last year Chris Davis struck out 219 times.)

J. One of Grandpapa’s grandchildren will witness in person either a grand slam, a triple play, a no hitter, or Teddy win the President’s race at the Nats’ stadium. False. (Last year I believe Eli saw a no hitter and a grand slam.)

Five of you got eight out of ten: Rob Higdon, Monica McHugh, Brent Schultz, Meg Gage, and Sam Poland, but one person did even better.

The winner is Chris Boutourline who got nine out of ten and wins his choice of one of these books: The 20 Best Books Ever Written About Baseball. Chris also wins a MillersTime Winner T-shirt, tho I think he may have won a contest in the past.

In the inter-generational category (parent-child, grandparent-child, grandparent-grandchild, etc. Brandt Tilis and daughter Samantha (age one at the time of her/their contest submission) are also winners, correctly identifying 8 out of 10 questions. If anyone knows of a good book on baseball for toddlers, please let me know. Of course they will each get the very valuable t-shirts (please send sizes).

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And the Winner Is…

06 Monday Nov 2017

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What a World Series that was!

I think in the end the ‘right’ team won, as the Astros were able to separate themselves, just barely, from a very good Dodgers’ team.

While it is a cliche to say that “it’s too bad only one team could win,” it’s only right that at the end there is a winner and a second place team (note I didn’t describe them as losers, tho indeed they lost).

Anyway, the end of the WS makes it possible for me to declare a winner in the MillersTime Baseball 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.

Three contestants were in the final consideration:

Nicholas Lamanna (referred by Matt Galati) predicted the Dodgers and the Astros would be in the World Series and the Dodgers would win. He did not predict the Tie-Breaker.

Elizabeth Tilis (formerly Elizabeth Miller, daughter of yours truly) predicted the Mets and the Astros would be in the WS with the Astros winning it. She did not predict the Tie-Breaker.

Clare Bolek predicted the Cubs and the Astros would make it to the WS with the Astros winning it all. She did make a prediction for the Tie-Breaker, getting four of the ten teams who made it to the playoffs.

Each of these three got one half of the primary question right and missed one half it. So the Tie-Breaker settles the winner.

Clare Bolek, the only one of the three to answer the Tie-Breaker question, is the winner of Contest #6 and the prize of one ticket to the 2018 World Series.

Nicholas Lamanna, while he didn’t win the big prize, does get to choose any regular season Washington Nationals’ game he would like to see in 2018 and can bring along Matt Galati who clued him into the contest. Assuming I’m in town for the game Nick chooses, I’ll join him and Matt for the game.

Elizabeth Tilis already got to see a WS game in 2007 when I flew her to Denver to join me for the fourth and final game of the Sox sweep over the Rockies.

And finally, I’d like to thank the 19 of you who wrote in to respond to my request for help in making the above decision (see Comments). Your thoughts were very helpful, even the one by David Stang, who wrote,

No winner if Dodgers don’t take the Series. You some kind of a wimp and want to give losers a prize like participation trophies to Little Leaguers who make errors and strike out? In competitions there are winners and losers. If the highest grade is D+ that doesn’t make the slacker a winner.
Or do you, soft-hearted one, think differently?

Now on to figuring out the winners in Contests #1, 2, 3.

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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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Baseball Notes

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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New for the 2018 Season:

The 2017 season isn’t over yet, at least for about 10-12 teams, yet there’s news about the 2018 season. It will start earlier, all teams will open their season on March 29, a Thursday, and the season will end Sept. 30 (for all but 10 playoff teams). There will be more off days scheduled, as a result of a collective bargaining agreement between league and the player’s union. More 2018 details.

And, of particular importance to this fan, the Boston Red Sox will come to Washington for a three game series, July 2-4. (For those of you who care about such things, the Yunkees come to DC for two games, May 15th & 16th). Also, as previously announced, the 2018 All Star game is in DC next year!

Cheating Red Sox:

Speaking of my heroes, the Sox have been caught red handed (wristed) using an Apple iWatch to steal and relay catchers’ signals about what pitch is coming, probably using TV to send this illegally gained info from the clubhouse to the dugout to the runner on second and then to the batter. Dustin Pedroia, one of my long time favorite Sox players, was instrumental in this violation of MLB rules (it’s OK to steal signals, say for a runner on second to relay what pitch is coming to a batter, but it’s not OK to use binoculars or electronics to do so).

Pedroia says stealing signals has always been part of the game and is no big deal.

The Sox admitted it when MLB confronted them, following evidence of the Sox perfidy being transmitted from the Yankees to MLB. (The Sox also said the Yankees are doing it, using their YES TV network in the process).

MLB is “reviewing all the evidence” and will announce any action in the near future.

So what do I say to my grandchildren about this when they learn of it and asks me?

Winning and Losing Streaks:

The Cleveland Indians, those bad guys who knocked the Sox out of the playoffs in the ALDS last year, have of this writing won 20 straight games with their complete game win last night by Corey Kluber. Twenty straight is quite a feat. It ties Cleveland for the American League record with the 2002 A’s. Now, if they win tonight, they will tie the 1935 Cubs for the MLB record at 21. (The 1916 New York Giants had a 26 game winning streak, but that was ‘marred by a tie game in a 27 game stretch.)

The Los Angeles Dodgers just barely held on over the Giants last night by striking out the final two batters in the bottom of the 9th with bases loaded. For those of you who don’t follow the West Coast Bums, the Dodgers seemed headed for 115+ wins until the ‘regression to the mean’ struck. They were 91-36 (.716) and had gone 25-5 without losing consecutive games. Then they lost the next 16 out of 17 games. With last night’s ‘win,’ they are currently 93-52 (.642).

And for the really important update, the Sox won last night, the Yankees lost, giving my cheating boys a four game lead over the Bronx cheaters going into the final 18 games.

Isn’t baseball wonderful?

Final Free Nats’ Tickets for the Asking:

Since I will be in Seattle for a wedding of a good friend of more than 50 years, you can benefit from my absence from DC. Let me know if you’re interested in two good seats (free if you take a kid, broadly defined) to the Nationals Sept. 29th game against the Pirates (7:05).

Email me at Samesty84@gmail.com if you’re interested. First shot to anyone who hasn’t used my tickets this year, then to anyone who will take a kid to the game.

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Nats’ Tickets Available – Six Sept. Games

25 Friday Aug 2017

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Fortunately and unfortunately I’ll be traveling in September, which means I have some Nats’ tickets available for MillersTime ‘readers.’

The seats are terrific, Sec. 127, Row Z, Seats 1 & 2. They are about 20 rows off the field, between home and first base, closer to home.

As in the past, the two tickets for four of the games are free if you meet the conditions outlined below. Otherwise, one ticket is free and the second will cost you $60.

If you have not used my seats so far this year, you’ll have first shot at them. But don’t let that stop you from requesting them. Also, you can give me two dates/games that would work for you as I will juggle requests.

Let me know your interest by Tuesday, Aug. 29, 7:37 PM.

Available Tickets

Thurs., Sept. 7, 7:05 vs Phillies – Both free if you take a kid, broadly defined.

Sun., Sept. 10, 1:35 vs Phillies – Both free if you take a kid, broadly defined.

Tues., Sept. 12, 7:05 vs Braves – Both free if you take a kid, broadly defined.

Thurs., Sept. 14, 7:05 vs. Braves – Both free if you take a kid, broadly defined.

Fri., Sept. 29, 7:05 vs Pirates – One free. One for $60. (Parking next to stadium available but not necessary. $40.)

Sun., Oct. 1, 3:05 vs Pirates (Final game of the season) – One free. One for $60. (Parking next to stadium available but not necessary. $40.)

Email me – Samesty84@gmail.com – with your requests.

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Baseball Happenings West of the East Coast

17 Thursday Aug 2017

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(Last night another walk off win in the bottom of the 9th)

Have you noticed what’s going on in baseball on the left coast? I know some of you have long ago given up on following Da Bums since they betrayed their Brooklyn fans and left Ebbets Field for LA. That, plus the fact that their games end after much of the country has gone to bed, makes them sometimes an after thought for some of us.

But check them out. Fifty-one games above .500, playing at a .715 win percentage rate, leading their Division by 18.5 games, and clearly on a path to win well over 100 games (115 if they continue at this rate).

Nats’ fans take note.

And then there’s Houston. Yes. Houston. Winning at a rate of .617 (74-46), 12. 5 game ahead of their closest Division rival, and likely headed for a 100 win season at this rate. Last year Houston ended just a bit over .500 and 11 games out.

On a different note, thanks to an email from MillersTime reader and baseball fan LL, something curious is happening in Kansas City too.

         (Could it be because of base running? Photo by Denny Medley, Reuters)

While they are not playing at the level of the Dodgers or the Astros, they nevertheless continue to exceed expectations of virtually every computer projection (last five years). They simply are winning more games than those who love and live by statistics project.

Just what’s going on?

Check out this good article from the WSJ by Jared Diamond:

What’s up in Kansas City? The Baseball Team That Computer Models Can’t Figure Out.

 

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Baseball’s Next Big Thing?

05 Saturday Aug 2017

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Close observers of baseball all recognize that home runs and strikeout are up, and many say that the two are connected.

But sportswriter (and a favorite of mine) Joe Posnaski thinks that the reason Houston is doing so well is they are going beyond just accepting that ‘baseball wisdom.’

See this recent article. I think he and they are on to something:

Houston’s Awesome Hitting Feat Is Defying Trends, Joe Posnanski, MLB columnist.

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“America Has Spoken: The Yankees Are the Worst” – 538

24 Monday Jul 2017

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Well, something that we Sox fans have known from our first scrape with the Evil Empire has now been verified. While you-know-who-might call it fake news or question the source of this information and article (FiveThirtyEight), it is comforting to have ‘verification’ of what some of us have long known.

Check out this article which also includes ‘info’ on which teams are most liked and lots of other useful/useless information:

America Has Spoken: The Yankees Are the Worst (and the nation mostly agrees the Cubs are pretty cool), by Harry Enten, 538, July 20, 2017.

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Baseball Imitates Life, cont.

12 Wednesday Jul 2017

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Or is it life imitates baseball?

I’m never sure.

A friend (Harry S) sent me a link to the column below by (another) one of my favorite sports’ writers, Doug Glanville. He’s such a human guy.

It’s toward the end of the article that I was once again reminded how much in common there is between baseball and what happens in our lives.

See: What Makes (and Unmakes) an All Star by Doug Glanville, NYTimes.

And as I posted a couple of days ago, we have a winner for Contest #5 of the MillersTime baseball foolishness.

Now, on to the second half of the beisbol season. It’s all going too fast.

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1st MillersTime Baseball Contest Winner

10 Monday Jul 2017

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Update July 12, 2017: Congrats to Brent Schultz. See below.

When the MLB All Star game concludes tomorrow night, we’ll have our first winner of the 2017 MillersTime Baseball Contests.

Contest #5 asked you to predict who would win that game. Seventy-three per cent of you said the American League would continue its dominance. Twenty-seven per cent said the NL would triumph this year.

There was a Tie-Breaker question that asked which player would get the most votes in the AL & the NL. Most of you thought Mike Trout and Bryce Harper would be the league leaders. In fact, Harper did lead the NL with 3.6+ million votes. However, no one named Aaron Judge (3.4+ million votes) to lead in the AL. Jose Altuve was second in the AL with 2.9+ million, followed by Mike Trout with 2.5+ million.

So, if the AL wins the All Star game, Brent Schultz will be this year’s Contest #5 winner as he had Harper and AL Runner-Up Altuve . Jesse Maniff and Todd Endo both had the AL and Trout and Harper. Close, but not close enough.

If the NL wins, there’s a tie between eight of you who had the NL and Trout and Harper – none had Altuve – (Nicholas Dent, Land/Dawn Wayland-Wilson, Jerome Green, Annie Orgad, Sam Poland, Steven Begleiter, Nellie Romero, Nicholas Lamanna). In that case, because his submission came in first, Nicholas Dent will win.

Prize: Winner will join me to see a Nats’ game in wonderful seats. If the winner doesn’t live in the DC area, can’t get here, or doesn’t want to come to DC, he can give his prize to someone who can get here, or I can take a kid to a game in the winner’s place.

And, of course, the best prize of all, he will get the rare and valuable MillersTime Winner T-Shirt.

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See a Nats’ Game – Free If You Take a Kid or an Elder

12 Monday Jun 2017

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I have tickets available for ten Washington Nationals’ games in July through mid-August, most of which I cannot attend because of  summer commitments. The seats are good ones, Section 127, Row Z, Seats 1 & 2, 20 rows off the field, between the catcher and Nats’ dugout.

So, here’s the deal:

*For each of the games below that have two tickets available, they are free to you if you take a kid (broadly defined) or an older person (broadly defined). Otherwise, your ticket is free but you will have to pay me my cost of $60 for the second one.

*For the two games I think I can attend, your ticket is free.

*Tickets will go first to anyone who has not already gotten tickets from me this year. (Even if you’ve attended a game already, still make a request.)

*Give me two choices of games you are interested in attending so that I can juggle various requests.

Games Available

Continue reading »

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“The Greatest Sportswriter There Ever Was”

30 Tuesday May 2017

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Frank Deford died on Sunday at the age 78. For sports fans (not just baseball fans) of my generation, both his writing and his speaking about sports was as good as you could get. His ability to put you at the scene of an event, to explain the importance of a moment or something larger, and his use of language to do so was, for me, mesmerizing.

There have been a number of articles and tributes to him already, and I suspect many  more will be written over the days to come. This one, by Joe Posnanski, tells about the impact Deford had on one of our current best sports writers (in my opinion) and why he believes “Frank was the greatest sportswriter there ever was.”

A Toast to the Best, by Joe Posnanski, May 29 on the death of Frank Deford.

Update 9 PM, 5/30 – For those who want to know more about Deford, see this NPR post: The Best of Frank Deford, According to Frank Deford.

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The Bucky Dent Story: Did Palermo Make the Right Call ?

15 Monday May 2017

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Bucky Dent connecting for a three-run, seventh-inning home run off the Red Sox’ Mike Torrez that all but clinched a division title for the Yankees in a one-game regular-season playoff at Fenway Park. Dent had only four other homers all year. (AP Photo)

Generally we don’t know the names of most baseball umpires, which is as it should be. I think the best baseball umpires are the ones that fade into the background and let the game be the centerpiece.

Steve Palermo, from Worcester, MA, was one of the good ones and was popular with almost everyone.

But he may have made one really bad call.

Check out Joe Posnanski’s column, written yesterday when it was announced that Palermo died at the age of 67.

Let me know if you think Palermo made the right or the wrong call.

See: Steve Palermo’s Love of Baseball, by Joe Posnanski

Also, in case you don’t know much about it, or need a refresher, check out the NYTimes article about the game and the disaster that struck the Red Sox that day: Bucky Dent’s Improbable Clout by James Tuite, Oct.2, 1978

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Seeing Ourselves in Others

07 Sunday May 2017

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For those of you who have read some of my baseball related posts on MillersTime, you know that I’m not only obsessed with the game but also believe that there are many life lessons to be learned from baseball. Unfortunately, it has become a cliche to say that the game imitates life (or is it that life imitates the game?), used mostly by baseball fans trying to justify to nonbelievers the importance and value of this wonderful sport.

I was reminded of the intersection of baseball and life the other day when an alert reader (Harry Siler) sent me a link to an article by Doug Glanville**, a former baseball player. Since 2008 Glanville has been a guest columnist for the NYTimes and, until a few weeks ago, was a baseball analyst for ESPN for seven years. (He was laid off with several hundred other ESPN employees in a major company staff reduction.)

In a May 5 NYTimes article, Red Sox, Racism and Adam Jones, Glanville writes about his own fears of possibly being traded to the Red Sox, but it is his way of looking at the recent racial incident(s) at Fenway Park in Boston that most interested me. In his usual common sense way, Glanville concludes:

Baseball gives us a chance to see ourselves in everyone, at times reflecting the image of some complex and difficult shadows in our society. That is a big step toward mutual understanding. As hard as it is, we need to see ourselves in the fans who were ejected. Having biases is human, our flawed yet efficient way to create shortcuts in our lives. But we need to check them more honestly if we are to really understand how to move forward.

We would all do well to avoid these shortcuts in our lives and check our own biases.

Check out his short article: Red Sox, Racism and Adam Jones, by Doug Glanville.

And if  you want to learn more about him, check out Doug Glanville, From Ivy League to Center Field, NPR, including an excerpt from his book, The Game From Where I Stand.

**(Glanville played 15 seasons in professional baseball, nine of them in the Majors, with the Phillies, Cubs, and Rangers before he retired in 2004. He was outstanding center fielder, going his last 293 games without making an error. He hit .325 one year and had a lifetime BA of .277. He also graduated from U of Penn with a degree in systems engineering.)

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