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    • last nite brandon mccarthy had an "immaculate inning" -- 9 pitches, 3 strike outs. that is the 82nd time this has happened in baseball history. 2 thots:

      1. only 82? i would have guessed this would have happened A LOT more than that.

      2. if my quick review of wikipedia is correct, there have been 286 no hitters thrown in baseball history. more no hitters than perfect innings? wouldn't have guessed that either.
      2,000 miler
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      don't get too excited about the video above. it's fake. it's an ad for gatorade that never ran.


      Probably a gymnast, or perhaps a rock climber.


      according to snopes:

      The clip, produced by Element 79, combined footage taken during and after a game between the two minor league teams with some digital trickery to produce the illusion of a spectacular catch made by a hustling ball girl. ShootOnline talked to director Baker Smith, who explained how the effect was created:"The big shot, the one that follows the ball out [from the plate to left field], was completely choreographed for lack of a better word," Smith said, explaining that a motion control shot followed what would have been the trajectory of the ball, and the artisans at New York's Framestore CFC later inserted a ball in post.

      As for how the ball girl (played by stuntwoman Phoenix Brown) made the spectacular catch that is the highlight of the video, she got a little help from rigs and Framestore CFC.

      Smith and his crew shot the big catch right after the game they were shooting concluded, attaching the ball girl to wires and having two stunt men off to the side literally yanking her up the wall.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      last nite brandon mccarthy had an "immaculate inning" -- 9 pitches, 3 strike outs. that is the 82nd time this has happened in baseball history. 2 thots:

      1. only 82? i would have guessed this would have happened A LOT more than that.

      2. if my quick review of wikipedia is correct, there have been 286 no hitters thrown in baseball history. more no hitters than perfect innings? wouldn't have guessed that either.


      Surprising, but all it takes it one one ball or foul ball (with 2 strikes) to ruin it.

      And as a pitcher if you have a defense you can rely on you are happy get batters to swing earlier and hit weak ground balls or popups and save your pitch count.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • max.patch wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      don't get too excited about the video above. it's fake. it's an ad for gatorade that never ran.


      Probably a gymnast, or perhaps a rock climber.


      according to snopes:

      The clip, produced by Element 79, combined footage taken during and after a game between the two minor league teams with some digital trickery to produce the illusion of a spectacular catch made by a hustling ball girl. ShootOnline talked to director Baker Smith, who explained how the effect was created:"The big shot, the one that follows the ball out [from the plate to left field], was completely choreographed for lack of a better word," Smith said, explaining that a motion control shot followed what would have been the trajectory of the ball, and the artisans at New York's Framestore CFC later inserted a ball in post.

      As for how the ball girl (played by stuntwoman Phoenix Brown) made the spectacular catch that is the highlight of the video, she got a little help from rigs and Framestore CFC.

      Smith and his crew shot the big catch right after the game they were shooting concluded, attaching the ball girl to wires and having two stunt men off to the side literally yanking her up the wall.


      Interesting, and what it takes create an illusion (fake) can also be neat to understand. 8)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • more evidence that baseball needs more offense?

      a review of previous immaculate innings shows that after lefty grove's immaculate inning in 1928 the next one did not happen until 25 years later in 1953.

      and in 2014 there have already been 6, which is the most in a single year ever. and astro, you probably watched one of them. :)
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      more evidence that baseball needs more offense?

      a review of previous immaculate innings shows that after lefty grove's immaculate inning in 1928 the next one did not happen until 25 years later in 1953.

      and in 2014 there have already been 6, which is the most in a single year ever. and astro, you probably watched one of them. :)


      I don't remember one, but I would not be surprised if my son caught at least 1 or 2 of them. After school today he was taking a nap, so he could stay up and watch a 9pm game on his laptop (bought him the MLB package). During the summer he was watching 3 games a day. It is what he did most of the time when he was not playing, practicing, or umpiring.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      more evidence that baseball needs more offense?

      a review of previous immaculate innings shows that after lefty grove's immaculate inning in 1928 the next one did not happen until 25 years later in 1953.

      and in 2014 there have already been 6, which is the most in a single year ever. and astro, you probably watched one of them. :)


      I don't remember one, but I would not be surprised if my son caught at least 1 or 2 of them. After school today he was taking a nap, so he could stay up and watch a 9pm game on his laptop (bought him the MLB package). During the summer he was watching 3 games a day. It is what he did most of the time when he was not playing, practicing, or umpiring.


      one of the games was against the astros.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      more evidence that baseball needs more offense?

      a review of previous immaculate innings shows that after lefty grove's immaculate inning in 1928 the next one did not happen until 25 years later in 1953.

      and in 2014 there have already been 6, which is the most in a single year ever. and astro, you probably watched one of them. :)


      I don't remember one, but I would not be surprised if my son caught at least 1 or 2 of them. After school today he was taking a nap, so he could stay up and watch a 9pm game on his laptop (bought him the MLB package). During the summer he was watching 3 games a day. It is what he did most of the time when he was not playing, practicing, or umpiring.


      one of the games was against the astros.


      Well I am not all shocked that we struck out on 9 pitches. Hitting and specifically making contact (other than Altuve) is not our strong suit. Been so busy working lately I am more watching online updates between tasks and reading box scores afterwards than watching entire games. Did get to see two in person when my son and I took a quick road trip to Houston this summer.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • As for baseball needing more offense, I am more of a homer or very biased. I want my team to score a lot, but want to shut out the other. Only want a true pitchers duel if I know I will win.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • odd man out wrote:

      How about three outs with three pitches. Wouldn't that be better from the pitcher's point of view? I wonder how often that happens?

      As for more scoring, I'd say my two favorite plays in BB are a really nice double play and a knee buckling slow curve ball for a called strike three.


      As a coach you love the 3 or at least low pitch inning. While the strikeout has a demoralizing effect on the other team, having your pitcher minimize pitches definitely is preferred. Besides tournaments where they utilize pitch counts to determine usage, it has a big impact on effectiveness as everyone reaches a saturation point (and also health of the arm aspect).
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • max.patch wrote:

      sometimes a strike out is as good as a triple.

      mlb.mlb.com/images/1/4/6/81730146/OdorK_o87pcqlg.gif


      After that lackluster effort by Miguel Cabrera, you know why that traded Prince Fielder to Texas to move him away from 3B. More plays like that and perhaps he should be swapping 1B-DH with VMart. Reminds me of the old Stan Musial story about even when we struck him out he ended up on second. Also shows why after Pitcher, Catcher is the most important position on the field. Few things more demoralizing to a team than seeing a guy you struck out get on base (in addition to advancing base runners anytime on a PB (Passed Ball)).
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • pirates just made the playoffs by beating the braves 1-0. beat em last nite too 3-2. which is exactly how the braves season has been all year. most quality starts in the majors and 5th best era, but only 29th in runs scored. total failure of big money free agents uggla and upton cost gm frank wren his job, as it should have.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      pirates just made the playoffs by beating the braves 1-0. beat em last nite too 3-2. which is exactly how the braves season has been all year. most quality starts in the majors and 5th best era, but only 29th in runs scored. total failure of big money free agents uggla and upton cost gm frank wren his job, as it should have.


      While I am sorry the Braves missed the playoffs, it is nice to see there still some accountability in the world with the Wren situation. Freeman, Heyward,and Justin Upton can not do everything (and of course the first two came up in the system). One of my friends coached Freeman along with his son back in CA. His son went on to play at BIOLA for four years.

      It will be interesting how the Astros start spending their money over the next few years. Last 4 years have been a whole lot more fun knowing their was a plan, than the previous 4 years when paying lots of money to old players (Carlos Lee, Miguel Tejhada, etc..) just to finish around .500.
      If they could have just signed Jose Abreu (came in 2nd in bidding for Cuban FA) and kept JD Martinez, and George Springer stayed healthy I believe they could have finished well above .500 this year. Bullpen also cost them a lot of games, and 2 of the free agents they had signed for that pitched little or none (Matt Albers and Jesse Crain). But there is hope for next year and I know they are moving in the right direction.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • A.T.Lt wrote:

      Taking my son to the Yankees game this afternoon! Nothing better than the excitement of an 11 year old going to a game.


      I started taking my youngest son to Astro games when he was 2. It was an afternoon game and even though he usually took a nap then, he stayed focused on the game until falling asleep in the 10th inning. Sometimes I regret moving from Houston since he only gets to see a few of their games a year now, but on the upside at 14 he still gets really excited (where if he went to 20-40 a year like I used it might get a little old for him after a while).
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • max.patch wrote:

      milkman wrote:

      Not a big Yankee fan but not a hater either. Got a boat load of friends who are and am really happy for them. This guy is a class act.
      sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big…adium-game-022355428.html


      that was an ending you only see in the movies.


      Even better if he listened to Obermann and made it his last game.
      And since when did the Yankees start worrying about disappointing Red Sox fans?
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • i'm sure those who read this thread know about the phil hughes situation and that he has turned down the opportunity to pitch one last out in the remaining games.

      right now he has the best strike out to walk ratio in baseball history.

      out of curiosity i took a look at his numbers if he chose to pitch that extra 1/3 inning.

      if he didn't walk anybody he still has the record.

      if he walked a batter and then struckout a batter he would be tied for the all time best strike out ratio. he would have to pitch until he struck out another batter to regain sole possession of the record.

      but if he walked 2 batters he would have to strike out 13 batters. oops.

      i wonder if this scenario played a role in his decision. hard to walk away from 500k. although 500k to him is like the change i find under my couch cushions to me.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      milkman wrote:

      Not a big Yankee fan but not a hater either. Got a boat load of friends who are and am really happy for them. This guy is a class act.
      sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big…adium-game-022355428.html


      that was an ending you only see in the movies.



      story book ending? the evening started with him taking the field and a rainbow in the sky(for real).youu couldnt script last nights goodbye any better.Im no yankee fan, but jeter was a class act, an example for any kid looking to play sports.
      its all good
    • max.patch wrote:

      i'm sure those who read this thread know about the phil hughes situation and that he has turned down the opportunity to pitch one last out in the remaining games.

      right now he has the best strike out to walk ratio in baseball history.

      out of curiosity i took a look at his numbers if he chose to pitch that extra 1/3 inning.

      if he didn't walk anybody he still has the record.

      if he walked a batter and then struckout a batter he would be tied for the all time best strike out ratio. he would have to pitch until he struck out another batter to regain sole possession of the record.

      but if he walked 2 batters he would have to strike out 13 batters. oops.

      i wonder if this scenario played a role in his decision. hard to walk away from 500k. although 500k to him is like the change i find under my couch cushions to me.


      I was thinking about posting about him walking away from the $500K, but now it makes more sense. Still happy for him. Getting away from Yankee Stadium short RF porch really helped him.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General