Many of you might have been asking, "Hey! What happened to my favorite new feature on Obstructed View? When the hell are they going to do another Ask OV?" Some of you might have been hoping that we never do another stupid Ask OV post again. Most of you probably didn't even think about Ask OV since the last time we posted one. So get ready to be enthralled, close your eyes, or just turn off your computer for awhile because here we go:
What kind of velocity does Michael Bowden have?
Excellent question, though judging from his first outing, the better question might be, "Does Michael Bowden have any clue where the ball is going when he releases it?" But to answer the original question, we'll go to the post MB wrote about Bowden shortly after the trade was completed:
He throws a 4-seamer that has averaged about 92.9 mph over his career. He also throws a slider and a changeup and every once in awhile he may throw a curve. His average fastball velocity so far this year is 92.6.
Where is Steve Bartman now?
Well, I doubt anybody knows for sure, but the blog, Cubbies Crib did an e-mail interview with someone who claims to be Steve Bartman. I've read through that Twitter feed and it doesn't sound like someone who has spent the last 8 1/2 years dodging anyone and everyone who wants a piece of his story. But whoever it is, they are dedicated to the bit, so there's that.
Why isnt Lee Smith in the Hall of Fame?
The joke answer is that he left his house to get there three years ago and is due to arrive sometime in 2015. Get it? Because he moves so slowly? Nevermind.
The real answer is probably a combination of things. For one, closers don't generally get a lot of love from the BBWAA voters. Whether that is right or not is irrelevant at this point, because it is currently true. Secondly, HOF voters do like to see post-season success and Lee doesn't have any. He appeared in two postseasons, pitched poorly in both and his teams lost. So count that against him.
Thirdly, his career, while impressive, doesn't have a a real spike of true greatness. He has one significantly good season in 1983 where he was worth 4.5 WAR, but nothing else higher than 3.0 (which is good, but not great). Over his 18 year career, he averaged about 1.6 WAR per year. Compare that to Bruce Sutter who had 3 seasons over 4.5 WAR (including 6.3 in 1977), and averaged over 2 WAR per season.
The flipside is that he does hold up pretty well against another Hall of Fame closer, Rollie Fingers, and he held the saves career record for 13 years. But I don't think he gets in for awhile, and he better hope he gets in before Mariano Rivera is due because no closer looks good when compared to Rivera.
How much does Starlin Castro make a year?
He's making $567,000 this year, up from $440,000 last year.
Better prospect, Anthony Rizzo or Brett Jackson?
Depends who you ask. Baseball America ranks Jackson at 32 and Rizzo at 47. Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus feels even more strongly that Jackson is better, ranking him 44, but Rizzo all the way down at 75.
Meanwhile, Keith Law at ESPN has Rizzo ranked 36 while Jackson is barely edging out Javier Baez (95) at 89. MLB.com basically is calling it a push as they have Rizzo at 35 and Jackson at 36.
Personally, I like Jackson better because he has a wider skill set and plays a premium position. If Rizzo doesn't hit, he's pretty much worthless over at first base.
What are marquee games and silver games?
Those are pricing tier designations that the Cubs began using when they realized not all games are created equal. Originally, the schedule was broken up by Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels. However, as time has gone on, they have since added the Platinum level above the Gold and new last year, the Marquee level above the Platinum.
So now, a Saturday ticket against a rival may be in the Marquee level because that is the most valuable, but the Friday afternoon game may be Platinum because they realize it is still happening during working hours and it limits the population that can buy them.
Additionally, the Cubs introduced a new system this year where the bleacher seats can sometimes be a different price level than the tickets in the "bowl." This is meant to address the disconnect between bleacher seat demand and demand for the tickets in the grandstand.
Is bunting ever worth it?
MO would emphatically tell you that it is not and then probably threaten to kill you and your family if you disagreed. However, Brett over at Bleacher Nation had an interesting discussion on his site about Tony Campana bunting and whether his speed making a "sure out" into a potential hit changes the math.
One commenter, TC, did some quick math to suggest that maybe it would be worth it:
Did some quick back-of-the-napkin calculations on that Campana bunting question. The answer is….yea, it might actually make some sense to have him laying down sac buntsUsing the base-out Run Expectancies at Tango’s site, I calculated the weighted change in RE using 30% no out on bunt 70% out on bunt runners advance for any situation where I’ve seen a true sacrifice bunt:0 outs:1 on first: +.0303 RE1 on 2nd: +.0782 RE1st & 2nd: +.1739 RE(!)1 out:1 on 1st: -.0295 RE1 on 2nd: -.0882 RE1st & 2nd: -.0355 RESo, yea, there’s a few occasions where this will make sense. The +.1739 RE for the 2 on no outs situation is shockingly high, and would be a great thing to introduce into the game strategy if those situations happened more than 1.5% of all plate appearances. (If Campana were to get 600 PA this year and bunted on every single runners on 1st and 2nd situation, it would likely lead to only an extra 1.56 runs…)There are obviously about 1000 problems with the data presented here, but its an interesting surface-level look at the question.
Somebody please check to make sure MO doesn't swallow his tongue as he has his convulsions.
Bonus Search Term of the Week
giant fuck pencil
Just cuz it was a good read I’m posting this here too:
http://sabermetricresearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-10-runs-equals-1-win.html
How is your blog a giant fuck pencil?
Mobile Rice wrote:
It just is. Prove me wrong.
Searched “giant fuck pencil” ———> OV is the 3rd result (dying laughing)
@ Aisle424:
I had a search hit for “how to draw boobs wheth tits.”
Not in the order I’d put it in, but this was a thread about 90′s video games I recently enjoyed
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/what-90s-video-game-is-still-awesome-today
@ jtsunami:
@ josh:
It is irritating when you draw some boobs and then realize you don’t know where to include the tits. We’ve all been there.
@ Mish:
I agree, awful order.
@ Mish:
Hey Mish, what side do you come down on for Chrono Cross?
@ Mish:
I really dig these pictures: http://thechive.com/2012/04/23/a-few-rare-photos-on-the-set-of-the-only-star-wars-movies-that-matter-43-photos/
@ Berselius:
Is that a good game? I guess it is on PS3 to download for $9.99
@ Mish:
Man, fuck Battletoads in the ear.
@ Berselius:
If you can keep a secret: I actually never beat it. I didn’t have a PS, so I borrowed my friends and a couple of games, so I never really got sucked in as I had to split my time evenly.
One of my friends loves it, another hates it (and both are like me thinking CT might be one of the greatest games ever). You?
@ WaLi:
Old School RPG style. A decent story, I thought. It’s not as fast and furious as something like Skyrim though.
@ Mish:
Wait, maybe I’m thinking of Chrono Trigger.
(dying laughing)
@ josh:
What?!? Battletoads is the shit.
@ josh:
I like old school RPGs. I have Skyrim, and it’s great, but I get too side tracked doing all the side quests and then realized I’m a 100 hours in and only a quarter of the way through the main plot then get bored (dying laughing) I’ll finish it one of these days.
@ Mish:
I never did either, I thought the story was boring and the battle mechanics tedious. I couldn’t believe it when I found out year later that gamespot (or someone) gave it their first perfect 10 ever. Crono Trigger definitely one of the best games every though.
@ josh:
Yeah, Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPG’s. Probably second to FFVI (FF3)
@ josh:
Battletoads was a fucking difficult game. And this is coming from someone who would probably put final fantasy tactics in a top ten favorites list (dying laughing)
@ WaLi:
*tries desparately to avoid arguing about FF6, fails*
I’d rate the first half of FF6 as one of the best rpgs ever, but I loathe the second half of the game. Which probably says a lot about the kinds of rpgs I like.
@ WaLi:
I agree on Skyrim, but sometimes the same thing happens in the Old school ones, where you spend hours in a cave fighting giants so you can buy a cool sword, or so that you can beat the bosses without getting your ass completely handed to you.
I actually ended up being very disappointed by Skyrim’s ending, partly because the game just kind of keeps going and you’re like “okay, is that it?”
That fucking cart-race-jump-the-barriers part of Battletoads can eat shit and die of sepsis.
I don’t see how Mario 64 isn’t #1. That game changed video games.
@ Berselius:
Don’t get me wrong, I never beat it. But the two-player was fun.
And Final Fantasy Tactics? Loved it. Every play Ogre Battle (Either Tactics or the original)
@ WaLi:
Never played OT but did try the original. Wasn’t really my thing.
@ Berselius:
I can’t remember, is that the one with the airship?
No but seriously, I don’t think I ever played the second half of that one, so I only remember it being good.
Mucker wrote:
I never played RPGs when I was younger. I should have though because now I don’t have the time to play RPGs so I don’t really play them to their capacity or know how to. I just rip through the story mode and don’t do all the side quests and stuff. Plus I’m an idiot when it comes to leveling up. I never really grasped how to properly play RPGs.
I think the roleplaying game I enjoyed the most all the way through was Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. I still think about that one sometimes. Somehow they managed to do combat so you always felt like a badass. Also, I enjoy darker, weirder stories in general.
Super Metroid is #7? Who made this list, Dave Cameron?
@ Mucker:
Well, what I like about them is that you can play that way, get something out of, or go through and try to hit all the sidequests. It’s up to you. So there’s not “right” way. In fact, you probably enjoy it more than I end up enjoying it because I quit when I’m so sick of it I want to vomit on the next skeleton I see.
Mario Kart 64 and NBA Hangtime are 90s video games I’ve recently enjoyed.
@ Mucker:
@ Berselius:
Yeah the story kind of goes downhill when Terra turns into the fairy thing, but the gameplay is great. You also have so many different unique characters to play.
Berselius wrote:
Hahah you and your broken world shtick. (dying laughing)
Also, nerds.
Ocarina of Time was bad ass. You could play that game for hours just fishing. Even the fucking fishing was awesome.
I went ahead and started a forum post for further video game geeking
http://www.obstructedview.net/forum.html?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=64.0#postid-685
Also, this is probably necessary:
There was a PC game back in the mid 90s called Full Throttle. It was kind of like the cartoon type graphics but the game was totally righteous. It was a puzzle/rpg game and it was about this biker dude who was a bad ass and was being framed for murder. I haven’t found too many people who have played it but it’s one of my favorite games of all time.
@ Suburban kid:
Mario Kart I’ve played Mario 64 never played. Mario Kart was one of the most fun games, and I could see the argument that it led to the Wii social gaming rise we’ve seen lately.
Best PC game of all time, hands down —-> Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
GBTS wrote:
OMG this. I rebought this on Steam last fall and was reminded all over again what a great game it was. Though I’d probably put any of the first three Monkey Island games up there too.
@ Berselius:
Will….resist……..time suck!!!
@ Berselius:
Is that good? I’ll have to try it out.
OOOOO and it’s only $5. Yoink!
@ josh:
Fantastic puzzle/adventure game. I was really sad to see that genre disappear with the rise of the FPS
@ Berselius:
Me too. There were some really shitty adventure games, where logic went out the window in favor of clicking on everything, but for the most part, I enjoyed the genre. I’ve seen a few indy producers trying to resurrect the genre.
@ Aisle424:
(dying laughing) (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
Berselius wrote:
@ Aisle424:
out of curiosity, where is the original picture of him playing with his phone from? Was it a random shot, or was there some context?
@ Suburban kid:
Reminds me of the handheld baseball game we had when I was a kid, where the batter was just a little LED light. And the bat “animation” was a series of three bat icons lighting up. Oh, here we go:
josh wrote:
He was standing on the field with a bunch of other blogger types. I don’t know where the picture came from or who originally found it (though I suspect it was Ryno). Then someone cut him out of the shot and I saved just that element and I’ve been having fun with it since.
I believe the first to actually put Alvin in a picture was Ryno, with the original “Bunt Signal.”
I think it came from the same series as these:
GBTS wrote:
I think you’re right.
@ josh:
I held all ten spots on the high scores list of an 80s baseball arcade game when I was in college.
I missed the main conversation, but had Super Mario 3 been released a year later, it would easily have topped the list.
@ Rice Cube:
According to Wiki it was released in Japan in 1988 but in the US in 1990. I forgot when I bought it but my original Nintendo and Mario 3 cartridge still work. If it was 1990 then that entire list was just invalidated.
@ Aisle424:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
“Nice snark.”
This is the NFL draft analysis to end all NFL draft analyses.
http://www.draftcountdown.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52641
So I just finished Season 2 of the Wire. Kind of “meh” about the whole season. Season 1 was definitely better. I’m assuming the next few will be better?
@ WaLi:
Everyone I know agrees, Season 2 is the weakest.
@ WaLi:
Oh yes. The best is yet to come.
josh wrote:
Mucker wrote:
Thanks, good to know!
WaLi out fuckfaces.
WaLi wrote:
(dying laughing) nice fix.
Season 4 is probably the best, though the insights into behind-the-scenes politics in Season 3 is awesome. I kind of get teary when I think how happy McNulty is in Season 4.
But Season 2 had Frank. Frank was awesome.
@ josh:
Or five.
@ josh:
Season 4 is the best, but it’s not really fair to single out seasons on that show. Part of the reason seasons 3 and 4 are so great is because so much spadework was done in the previous seasons.
Brenly mentioned that Bowden is throwing a splitter this year and according to pfx data it looks like he’s basically replacing his slider with the splitter and throwing a few more curves this year.
The velocity has been 92.3 mph on the 4-seamer and 85.3 on the splitter. The slider is 82.5 and the curve is 82.1.
I haven’t checked TC’s numbers regarding Campana and sac bunts, but he should definitely be laying down bunts in obvious sac bunt situations from time to time. If he never bunts in those situations the infield will play back and a Tony Campana groundball getting through an infield playing back isn’t likely to happen. Bring that infield in and he can hit some through the holes. Not only can he beat the bunts out on occasion, but he also opens up some holes to create additional base hits too.
I know MO hates bunts, but I’m hoping he doesn’t hate it when perhaps the fastest guy in baseball is laying one down.
@ mb21:
I wouldn’t mind the Campana bunt if he could actually do it effectively. What was his bunt-hit %?
Didn’t Campana have a bunt hit earlier that game?
Hmmm, Bryce Harper is about to be promoted.
When he gets the bunt down there’s more than 35% chance he’ll reach safely: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4964&position=OF#battedball
That doesn’t include at-bats in which he tried to bunt and fouled it, missed it, etc.
@ mb21:
I think my frustration at the missed bunt that led to DeJesus’ TOOTBLAN has clouded my memory.
@ mb21:
Then I guess the question becomes, how often can he actually get the bunt down? (dying laughing)
I’m a bit biased though because when I’ve had the chance to watch, he’s always looked terrible as a bunter.
So, Z’s game is the mlb.tv free game of the day, but I really want to see Halladay pitch.
Bryce Harper, 19 year old major leaguer. Nuts.
@ ACT:
I will unfortunately miss it
Guess I’ll watch the abbreviated MLB.com highlights.
Good luck with the suit, RC: http://blog.motorcycle.com/2012/04/27/products/man-sues-bmw-for-causing-persistant-erection/
@ GBTS:
His AAA wOBA of .313 was just too awesome for him to stay down, I guess.
@ GBTS:
I dropped the suit after I thought about Josh thinking about Kim DeJesus. Crisis averted.
mb21/RC, this is not a spot to discuss baseball. Video games and The Wire only.
(dying laughing)
@ GBTS:
I liked Season 5. Honestly, I liked season 2. The show was so good, with each season like a novel, that it’s difficult for me to really criticize much about it. I take it as a total, and the total, what it did, how it did it. It was like a British style show but with a budget. To me it’s a total experience.
But yeah, Season 5 has a wrap-up kind of feel to it. The show might have ended satisfactorily after the fourth season.
But I really, REALLY like knowing what happened to Bubs.
@ Rice Cube:
So you lost your erection by thinking about nothing at all?
josh wrote:
I thought he was off worshipping Tim Tebow.
@ josh:
That would imply that I (or you since I was thinking like you hypothetically would) find nothing sexy.
So far Ty Colvin is 0 WAR. What’s sad is that, so far, the Rockies have gotten more value out of him than the Cubs got out of Ian Stewart.
Then again, Ty’s riding a .391 BABIP.
I’ve had time to calm down since the Bears drafted McClellin and I have to say that all I’ve read about him seems to be that he’s a very good pass rusher and a great all-around football player. I just wish they would’ve drafted Reiff since he was there for the taking. Emery said that McClellin was the highest rated player available of the 7 that they really liked. I’d like to see the list of the 7.
@ Rice Cube:
No, you said you dropped the suit after you thought about me thinking about Kim DeJesus. The set of thoughts I’ve had about Kim DeJesus is basically the empty set, within tolerances.
@ ACT:
Then he’s got nothing on Bryan Lahair.
@ josh:
How zen.
@ josh:
Call me an optimist, but I think Bryan’s .522 BABIP is sustainable.
Preview up
http://www.obstructedview.net/previews/series-preview-chicago-cubs-6-13-at-philadelphia-phillies-9-10.html