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  • The Worst 20 Cubs Performances in 2012

    I already looked at the 20 best, as measured by WPA,so it only seems appropriate to look at the 20 worst. I'll be using WPA again, but it's by no means the only metric you could use to create a similar list. I'll be doing so without any commentary this time and will be breaking it down into pitchers and position players because late-inning relievers are easily going to have had the most negative impact on the game (think Carlos Marmol blowing a 32 run lead by walking 36 straight).

    Of course Koyie Hill would be in this list. I'm actually surprised Joe Mather isn't in it more frequently. Soriano and Castro each made the list 3 times, but when you play as many games as those two did, that's going to happen. Not surprisingly, the Cubs closer led the way with 4 times on the list. That's probably true of almost every team.

    dmick89
    When I awoke, the Dire Wolf, six hundred pounds of sin, Was grinning at my window, all I said was "Come on in"
    dmick89
    JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-21-13 http://t.co/YP42evMD1C - 11 hours ago
    dmick89
    Contact me here

    126 Responses to “The Worst 20 Cubs Performances in 2012”

    1. Rice Cube 3 Rice Cube says:

      Do they assign WPA to the defender if they make a really stupid error, rather than the pitcher?

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    2. WaLi 4 WaLi says:

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    3. WaLi 5 WaLi says:

      @ mb21:
      Think Baez has a chance of skipping AAA like Castro did? It wouldn’t make sense contract wise, but it would put fans in the seats.

      I guess I could see it if he would be an improvement and we have a shot at being a good team. The chance of us having a good time anytime soon though is somewhere between slim and none.

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    4. josh 6 josh says:

      I don’t know what I was expecting Raul Ibanez to sound like, but it definitely wasn’t “not even slightly Hispanic.”

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    5. Rice Cube 7 Rice Cube says:

      @ josh:
      Would it surprise you to know that Raul was born in NYC?

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    6. WaLi 8 WaLi says:

      @ josh:

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    7. josh 9 josh says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      I looked all that up after I heard him. You get so used to hearing guys with thick Dominican accents that it really struck me as unusual that a guy with such a distinctly Hispanic name (an accent AND an enye!?) would have no accent at all.

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    8. Rice Cube 10 Rice Cube says:

      @ josh:
      I think Carlos Pena is like that too.

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    9. josh 11 josh says:

      @ WaLi:
      Incorrect. “Hispanic” is not a race. It’s an ethnicity.

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    10. Rice Cube 12 Rice Cube says:

      @ josh:
      You’re ethnicist then.

      Go sports team! Beat other sports team!

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    11. josh 13 josh says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      True, but he has a detectable accent, just a hint. Seriously, Raul sounds totally neutral. Players never sound like I expect them too. Strange, b/c you spend so much time staring at them, but have no idea what their voice even sounds like.

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    12. josh 14 josh says:

      @ josh:
      His ethnicity of name-to-ethnicity of accent ration is extremely high is my point, asymptotically approaching infinity.

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    13. Rice Cube 16 Rice Cube says:

      Speaking of racist…

      I totally (dying laughing)

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    14. mb21 17 mb21 says:

      @ WaLi:
      Baez was pretty bad in his short stint at high a ball. He’ll go back there and spend most of 2013 with a potential promotion to AA late in the season if he’s had a good year. Then in 2014 he’ll go back to AA and at that point he could get called up if he’s hitting the shit out of the ball. So yeah he could skip AAA but that won’t be happening until 2014 at the earliest.

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    15. WaLi 18 WaLi says:

      @ mb21:
      At which point he will almost be 22 – if he’s just cracking the MLB roster at 22 then may as well consider him a bust and trade him. All the cool kids are getting in younger than that.

      /Harper’d, Trout’d, and Castro’d

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    16. mb21 19 mb21 says:

      @ WaLi:
      (dying laughing). FWIW I think 2015 is a more realistic ETA for Baez.

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    17. Rice Cube 21 Rice Cube says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Might be a bit morbid but based on certain articles about A-Rod’s ego it seems to be on the mark.

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    18. Mish 22 Mish says:

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    19. Rice Cube 23 Rice Cube says:

      Giants! Woo!

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    20. Rice Cube 24 Rice Cube says:

      I like the part where Matt Cain is being nice and trying to give some of it back.

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    21. Suburban kid 25 Suburban kid says:

      Reds! Ooh!

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    22. Rice Cube 26 Rice Cube says:

      K-TOOTBLAN!

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    23. Rice Cube 27 Rice Cube says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Or is this better as a TOOTBLANK?

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    24. Suburban kid 28 Suburban kid says:

      Wilson’s face blanket freaks me out.

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    25. GBTS 30 GBTS says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      BUST

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    26. josh 31 josh says:

      So are you all playing Postseason Bingo and Moundball?

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    27. Suburban kid 32 Suburban kid says:

      Xavier Nady ————————–> schmoe

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    28. Suburban kid 33 Suburban kid says:

      Pagan just shat on the Reds’ (likely) last chance.

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    29. Rice Cube 34 Rice Cube says:

      Way to make Chapman waste 25 pitches.

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    30. mb21 35 mb21 says:

      Fucking Giants.

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    31. Berselius 36 Berselius says:

      mb21 wrote:

      Fucking Giants.

      I always pegged you as a midgets guy

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    32. Rice Cube 37 Rice Cube says:

      It’s not over yet.

      Dammit, bullpen.

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    33. mb21 38 mb21 says:

      This is getting exciting.

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    34. Suburban kid 39 Suburban kid says:

      What an at bat (so far)

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    35. Rice Cube 40 Rice Cube says:

      Jesus Christ that was an insane at-bat.

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    36. Suburban kid 41 Suburban kid says:

      Goddamnit

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    37. Suburban kid 42 Suburban kid says:

      I prefer the Giants to the Nats and Cards but I am a little bit of a Reds fan so this sucks ass.

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    38. Suburban kid 43 Suburban kid says:

      Oh shit. More Brenly and Stockton.

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    39. Suburban kid 44 Suburban kid says:

      Hello? Anyone there? The Cube? Insect Boy? Statfucker?

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    40. Rice Cube 45 Rice Cube says:

      @ Suburban kid:
      Part of me wanted Dusty to advance, but I do like the Giants. So fuck Cincinnati (dying laughing)

      I see Detwiler is doing a bit better than his rotation counterparts so far.

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    41. Rice Cube 46 Rice Cube says:

      My lying eyes tell me that Kyle Lohse is inducing an unusually high number of foul popouts.

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    42. josh 47 josh says:

      @ Suburban kid:
      It’s my afternoon with the kid (i.e., swim lessons an daddy dinner. So don’t expect much from me.

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    43. josh 48 josh says:

      I didn’t take this pic, unfortunately, but it’s still awesome:

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    44. Rice Cube 49 Rice Cube says:

      So I guess the Reds can’t even complain about home field advantage then.

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    45. Rice Cube 50 Rice Cube says:

      @ josh:
      I’ll…be…right…here…Elliot…

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    46. Rice Cube 51 Rice Cube says:

      GBTS, senorgif please:

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    47. mb21 53 mb21 says:

      @ Suburban kid:
      I was rooting for the Reds too. If the Cardinals win this series I just don’t give a shit about the NL. I’ll root for anyone in the AL.

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    48. Rice Cube 54 Rice Cube says:

      @ mb21:
      A’s please.

      Or Yankees, I’d be okay with the Yankees.

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    49. mb21 55 mb21 says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      (dying laughing)

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    50. Rizzo the Rat 56 Rizzo the Rat says:

      Anyone but the Cardinals or Yankees, please.

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    51. Rizzo the Rat 57 Rizzo the Rat says:

      I’m kinda rooting for the Tigers because my happiness is directly correlated to how often I see Verlander pitch.

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    52. GBTS 58 GBTS says:

      Zimmermann was fucking filthy. Holy shit.

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    53. Suburban kid 59 Suburban kid says:

      @ josh:

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    54. Suburban kid 60 Suburban kid says:

      The best pinch hitter in the NL struck out on a ridiculously shitty pitch.

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    55. Suburban kid 61 Suburban kid says:

      Werth’s at bat is rivaling Bruce’s.

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    56. Suburban kid 62 Suburban kid says:

      OK, it was better than Bruce’s. (dying laughing)

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    57. Rice Cube 63 Rice Cube says:

      @ Suburban kid:
      YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH

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    58. Suburban kid 64 Suburban kid says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Yeah, I got all excited that they knocked the dreaded Nards out of it, then quickly realized there was one more game to play (dying laughing)

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    59. Rice Cube 65 Rice Cube says:

      @ Suburban kid:

      Do or die games are extra sweet.

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    60. Berselius 66 Berselius says:

      BASEBALL

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    61. Rice Cube 67 Rice Cube says:

      Perhaps Mr. GorillaCock could verify this when he is able. I got this from Cubs Fan Report:

      A Message From Tom Ricketts

      Dear Season Ticket Holder -

      With the 2012 season having drawn to a close, it’s time for all of us at the Chicago Cubs to thank you for your support and provide an update on the progress we’ve made toward building a championship-caliber organization. You are a vital stakeholder to this franchise and an important partner in our transformation.

      Despite this year’s results in the standings, we are confident the Chicago Cubs are heading in the right direction. Our players, coaches, management and front office have approached their jobs with professionalism, effort and unity, which has created a winning atmosphere inside the organization. It’s our responsibility to turn that effort into additional wins on the field. Our number one goal is to reward loyal generations of Cubs fans with a World Series and we’re reinvesting every dollar spent by our fans into the franchise to achieve that goal.

      To achieve our goal, it was clear the team needed a long-term strategy. Over the past year, we recruited new baseball leadership to create and execute a plan for building a consistently-competitive ballclub. We now have a long-term strategy in place and a baseball organization focused on delivering a championship to Wrigley Field. That team is communicating openly and honestly about implementing a proven model for sustained success.

      As part of that strategy, we are developing a core of young players at the major league level. This season provided an opportunity for homegrown and acquired players to gain valuable experience and establish themselves as potential long-term contributors to the club.

      Our minor league system improved in 2012, as the Cubs acquired, drafted or signed a significant wave of new talent into the organization. We welcomed a strong 2012 first-year player draft class into the system, building on a franchise-record investment in draft signings in 2011. Many of these players made immediate positive contributions. In fact, five Cubs prospects were included in MLB’s recently-released Top 100 Prospects list; a total topped by only three other teams in the league. A number of our newly-acquired players excelled in both the minor and major leagues and look to contribute further in 2013 and beyond.

      We’ve welcomed new talent in the front office as well. Perhaps no operation bears more responsibility for advancing our organizational plan than scouting and player development. After a season of evaluation, our scouting and development teams have been reorganized to procure and develop the best amateur, professional and international talent available. Our scouts and coaches have been equipped with state-of-the-art analysis tools and equipment to enhance the club’s analytical capabilities.

      In addition to personnel investments, we’ve made significant upgrades to our facilities. We are currently building a new baseball academy to serve our Latin American players in the Dominican Republic. The facility, open year-round, will span 50 acres with baseball fields, training facilities, player housing and an education center, making it the largest academy in the country. Additionally, we broke ground this season on a new Spring Training facility in Mesa, Ariz., that will be one of the premier training facilities in baseball, as well as a more enjoyable venue for watching a Spring Training game. We continue to make improvements to Wrigley Field’s facilities for our players and fans, with larger scale investments coming down the road. All of these improvements will enhance your fan experience and bolster the club’s ability to attract and develop elite players throughout the world.

      Lastly, we continue to invest in the Chicago community to help deserving children and families. The Cubs and Chicago Cubs Charities will support a team-record $4.5 million of donations to worthwhile nonprofits and programs across Chicagoland this year. We’re honored to support the people and organizations that make our city a great place to work, live and play baseball.

      In the end, we are fans and our goal is to win. We’re committed to building an organization you can be proud of and we’re committed to building a champion the right way. This franchise has embarked on a path that will present challenges along the way, but the destination is promising.

      We deeply and sincerely appreciate your ongoing support.

      Tom Ricketts
      Chairman, Chicago Cubs

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    62. Berselius 68 Berselius says:

      Beer status: New Glarus Spotted Cow

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    63. GBTS 70 GBTS says:

      Rice Cube wrote:

      A Message From Tom Ricketts

      Dear Season Ticket Holder -

      [Sorry.]

      Tom Ricketts
      Chairman, Chicago Cubs

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    64. Rice Cube 71 Rice Cube says:

      GBTS wrote:

      A Message From Tom Ricketts

      Dear Season Ticket Holder -

      [Sorry, but please still give us lots of money.]

      Tom Ricketts
      Chairman, Chicago Cubs

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    65. Aisle424 72 Aisle424 says:

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    66. Rice Cube 73 Rice Cube says:

      Legendary Jeter at-bat in progress.

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    67. Rice Cube 74 Rice Cube says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Legend denied.

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    68. Rice Cube 75 Rice Cube says:

      How is Joe Saunders doing this? This should be impossible!

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    69. mb21 76 mb21 says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Performance enhancers?

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    70. mb21 77 mb21 says:

      @ Aisle424:
      l(dying laughing)

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    71. Rice Cube 78 Rice Cube says:

      @ mb21:
      Eye of newt and dragon’s tail.

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    72. Aisle424 79 Aisle424 says:

      Rice Cube wrote:

      How is Joe Saunders doing this? This should be impossible!

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    73. Rice Cube 81 Rice Cube says:

      Nate McLouth. Of course!

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    74. GBTS 82 GBTS says:

      @ Aisle424:
      (dying laughing)

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    75. mb21 83 mb21 says:

      @ Aisle424:
      Someone should gif those showing Alvin in each frame.

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    76. Berselius 84 Berselius says:

      TOOTBLAN

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    77. Berselius 85 Berselius says:

      bonus baseball!

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    78. josh 86 josh says:

      The O’s are making it exciting anyway

      Go A’s.

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    79. Rice Cube 87 Rice Cube says:

      The Yankees are way off their regular season scoring average. This is highly unusual.

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    80. Rice Cube 88 Rice Cube says:

      I like how the ump is giving Verlander the opposite batter’s box as well for the “strike zone”.

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    81. Berselius 89 Berselius says:

      By Grapthar’s hammer, Joba has crappy injury luck. He must have had a blood transfusion from Mark Prior or something.

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    82. mb21 90 mb21 says:

      Berselius wrote:

      By Grapthar’s hammer, Joba has crappy injury luck. He must have had a blood transfusion from Mark Prior during the kidney transplant that Kerry Wood graciously provided.

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    83. GBTS 91 GBTS says:

      I wouldn’t mind seeing Swish in a Cubs uni next year.

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    84. Rice Cube 92 Rice Cube says:

      Unless the A’s can make Verlander throw about 30 pitches next inning I don’t think Moneyball has enough oomph to mount a comeback :(

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    85. Rice Cube 93 Rice Cube says:

      @ GBTS:
      It’s really too bad that Swisher wants stupid money.

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    86. mb21 94 mb21 says:

      I was thinking that Swisher would look pretty good in a Cubs uniform too. Also wouldn’t mind the Cubs exploring a trade for Phil Hughes. Shouldn’t cost all that much and he’s still flashed quite a bit of potential at times. Maybe a move to the NL would help him our. Plus, he could always become a really good late inning reliever for the Cubs. They should also have the Yankees throw in Robinson Cano in any trade for Hughes.

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    87. mb21 95 mb21 says:

      (dying laughing) Jeter missed that pitch by about 3 feet. Maybe 4.

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    88. josh 96 josh says:

      A’s lose.

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    89. Rice Cube 97 Rice Cube says:

      Moneyball dies tonight.

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    90. Rice Cube 98 Rice Cube says:

      O’s my gawd.

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    91. mb21 99 mb21 says:

      I know the people who did this ivy double check commercial with Kerry Wood thought it would be funny to find Andre Dawson in the ivy, but I find it much funnier that he found a fucking french horn in the ivy. That’s easily the best part of that commercial. I can kind of see how you might find Dawson in the ivy. I can’t think of a single damn reason why you’d find a french horn though.

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    92. Rice Cube 100 Rice Cube says:

      @ mb21:
      Those old dudes who play music usually stay in the main concourse so unless a drunken fan threw one of their instruments in the ivy…

      Although I don’t think any of them actually plays the french horn.

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    93. Aisle424 101 Aisle424 says:

      GBTS wrote:

      I wouldn’t mind seeing Swish in a Cubs uni next year.

      Ew.

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    94. mb21 102 mb21 says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Over the next week we’ll read a million articles about how sabermetrics doesn’t work and why computer geeks are ruining baseball.

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    95. josh 103 josh says:

      Swisher had a good year, despite being a bit of a douche.

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    96. josh 104 josh says:

      @ mb21:
      The A’s made it to the postseason with how much budget again? I mean, that’s really the key that people can’t seem to wrap their minds around.

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    97. EnricoPallazzo 105 EnricoPallazzo says:

      fuck yeah

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    98. Rice Cube 106 Rice Cube says:

      Those O’s…

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    99. EnricoPallazzo 107 EnricoPallazzo says:

      so tomorrow is hammel vs. who?

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    100. Rice Cube 108 Rice Cube says:

      @ EnricoPallazzo:
      Sabathia I believe.

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    101. Berselius 109 Berselius says:

      @ mb21:

      This.

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    102. Rice Cube 110 Rice Cube says:

      I wonder if Leyland lets Verlander go complete game to seal the shutout.

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    103. Rice Cube 111 Rice Cube says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      Correct.

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    104. WaLi 112 WaLi says:

      So it’s pretty exciting that all the division series games got to a game 5.

      Unfortunately I only enjoy watching shitty baseball.

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    105. Mish 113 Mish says:

      Fangraphs wOBA, wRAA, wRC, wRC+ —-> no longer include SB/CS

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    106. GBTS 114 GBTS says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      I missed this. What’s he asking for?

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    107. mb21 115 mb21 says:

      @ Mish:
      Good. I never liked it and then I hated it when they added BRR or whatever it’s called.

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    108. mb21 116 mb21 says:

      Rice Cube wrote:

      Do they assign WPA to the defender if they make a really stupid error, rather than the pitcher?

      I don’t think Fangraphs does as far as I know, but they should. WPA on Fangraphs helps poor fielders and hurts good fielders. That said, it’s not a big deal because I don’t think anyone is going to use it for hardcore analysis.

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    109. WaLi 117 WaLi says:

      @ mb21:
      How do batters accumulate -WPA? Coming up with bases loaded and one out when down by one and then hitting into a double play? I see it a lot easier for a pitcher to accumulate -WPA and a batter to accumulate +WPA

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    110. Mish 118 Mish says:

      @ mb21:
      Yeah Fangraphs WPA is just for hitters and pitchers (I assume base running is in there too as it should be easy). I sometimes enjoy WPA for a single game analysis, but I don’t think I’ve ever meaningful used it in analysis unless I’m telling people that there are better “context-dependent” stats than RBI.

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    111. SVB 119 SVB says:

      @ Rice Cube:
      You’d figure with those nice flowing locks that he’d have had a facial well before now, eh?

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    112. SVB 120 SVB says:

      So far, I’m quite happy with the results of the play-offs. Let’s have a Tigers–Nationals World Series!! Seems that RtR and I am the only ones happy about the Tigers.

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    113. Mish 122 Mish says:

      @ GBTS:
      That’s incredible. (dying laughing)

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    114. mb21 123 mb21 says:

      @ WaLi:
      Exactly like that. Any out is going to be negative WPA (it decreases their chances of winning the game). An 0-4 in which you strand 9 runners is going to really hurt, especially if the game is close.

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    115. josh 124 josh says:

      @ SVB:
      Fuck the Tigers. In the Ear. Fat assholes.

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    116. josh 125 josh says:

      All right Baltimore. You and the Nationals are my last hope to stave off utter baseball apathy.

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