HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: roger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Subject: Re: What makes a great leadoff?
Originator: news@ernie.Princeton.EDU
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 16:48:27 GMT

In article <3643@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> dtate+@pitt.edu (David M Tate) writes:
>In article <1992Jul23.195514.22037@cs.rose-hulman.edu> 
rickert@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (John H. Rickert) writes:

>>It's not really a long tradition. There's an article from the 50's 
>>in Baseball Digest's aniiversary issue talking about lineup selection.
>>The 'conventional wisdom' of the day was that a leadoff hitter needed to get  
>>on base. This started changing in the 60's.

>I'm not sure this is so cut-and-dried. 

>Look at Luis Aparicio.  His career ran from '56 to '73, and he spent the
>first 2/3 of it leading off.  In his first ten seasons, he posted OBPs of
>.312, .319, .310, .319, .326, .315, .282(!), .294, .327, and .287.  Feh.
>He had exactly one season, 1970 (age 36) when he was an above-average offensive
>player.  I mean, here's a guy who was getting well over 600 plate appearances
>every year, with the best hitters on the team behind him, stealing 50+ bases
>a year, and still never scored 100 runs in a season for any team.  Frankly,
>Mark Belanger was a better player.  And yet they led him off.

Right, but note also that Aparicio was challenging the way baseball was
played.  Before him, only Mays had stolen 40 bases in a season, and that
only once.  He was second in the ML to Mays in SB the moment he came up,
and became first after a few years as his numbers jumped into the 50's
and Mays' declined.  He was the first to steal 50 in a LONG time (1939:
Case for the Senators had 51--and one needed them at Griffith); and led
the league in SB his first eight years.  (In SBRuns 6 of the 8.)  He had
no HR power, and precious little 3B power; and his home parks weren't
good for HR anyway (actually, I don't know where the fences were at
Memorial when he arrived).  The conventional wisdom *changed* in the
1960's because of him and Wills.

That it changed for the worse goes without saying.  The Sox would have
been better advised to bat him 9th, and the pitcher 8th, so that he
could steal ahead of a good on-baser and the power in the lineup (cf.
Julio Cruz, 1983).  That way a slow on-baser can lead off without hurting
those behind him.

Roger


Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: gattuso@ssd.comm.mot.com (Christopher Gattuso)
Subject: BASEBALL:  preview
Organization: Motorola
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 13:56:19 GMT

OLYMPIC BASEBALL
----------------

FORMAT: 
   The teams that qualify include Europe's championship team (Italy), the 
   top teams from the Asian countries (Japan, Chinese Taipei) and the top
   teams from the Pan Am Games (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, US)
   and the host country.
    Teams play round-robin games, with the top four advancing to the semi-
   finals.  The first place team will play the fourth place team and the 
   second place team will play the third place team.  The winnere meet for
   the gold and the losers for the bronze.
    This will be the first year baseball will be an official sport in the 
   Olympics.  The previous seven it was a demonstration sport.  The games
   will be played under Internation Baseball Association rules, which are
   the same as those in Major League Baseball.  The only difference are 
   aluminum bats will be allowed and the squad size is limited to 20 players
   and designated hitters will be used for pitchers.
MEDAL WATCH:
   Cuba, which throttled the United States in two out of three games during
   a recent tour of Cuba, is the baseball equivalent of USA's Dream Team.
   Among the handfull of Cuban players who could play in the majors right 
   now is third baseman Omar Linares, who has been with the national team
   since he was 17.  
    Cuba, participating in the Olympics for the first time since 1980, 
   should win its first Olympic gold medal.  The U.S. has the right man for
   the job of trying to stealthe gold from Cuba.  Ron Fraser, a man with an
   impeccable reputation as a coach and master of promotions, closes out 
   his brillant career in Barcelona.
    The U.S. featuring catcher Charles Johnson, should contend for the
   silver or bronze.  Other countries expected to challenge are Japan,
   Puerto Rico, Italy, and Chinese Taipei.

OPENING GAMES:
   Cuba   vs.  Dominican Republic
   Taiwan vs.  Italy
   Puerto Rico  vs.  Japan
   United States  vs.  Spain

Feel free to send questions or comments to me!!!!
==========================================================================  
Christopher Gattuso			

gattuso@ssd.comm.mot.com
Motorola, Inc.
Schaumburg, Illinois

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president,
 and that one word is 'to be prepared'."
                -- Vice President Dan Quayle
==========================================================================  


Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: claudius@leland.stanford.edu (Nelson Lu)
Subject: RC/27 for LFs
Organization: DSG, Stanford University
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 21:53:07 GMT

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh		11.15
Moises Alou, Montreal		7.76
Vince Coleman, New York		6.38
Ron Gant, Atlanta		5.13
Bernard Gilkey, St. Louis	5.13
Eric Davis, Los Angeles		4.63
Mariano Duncan, Philadelphia	4.60
Kal Daniels, Chicago		4.50
Daryl Boston, New York		4.30
Jerald Clark, San Diego		4.05
Kevin Bass, San Francisco	3.94
Luis Gonzalez, Houston		3.78
Derrick May, Chicago		3.36

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rickey Henderson, Oakland	8.87
Brady Anderson, Baltimore	7.39
Shane Mack, Minnesota		6.79
Kevin McReynolds, Kansas City	6.12
Kevin Reimer, Texas		6.05
Candy Maldonado, Toronto	5.90
Albert Belle, Cleveland		5.42
Mel Hall, New York		5.35
Luis Polonia, California	5.28
Tim Raines, Chicago		5.24
Kevin Mitchell, Seattle		5.21
Dan Gladden, Detroit		4.10
Mark Carreon, Detroit		4.01
Greg Vaughn, Milwaukee		3.88
Mike Greenwell, Boston		3.07

===============================================================================
GO CALIFORNIA ANGELS!
Committee to Elect Johnny Ray as Angels Second Baseman
Committee to Elect Mike Witt as Angels Ace
Committee to Elect Cookie Rojas as Angels Manager
===============================================================================
Nelson Lu (claudius@leland.stanford.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: stanm@comm.mot.com (Stan Macasieb)
Subject: Cubs 1, Commish 0
Reply-To: stanm@comm.mot.com
Organization: Motorola
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 14:23:55 GMT

From WGN-AM (720) and _Chicago Tribune_ stories:

A federal court in Chicago today has granted a preliminary injuction against
the Baseball Commisioner's office preventing MLB from moving the Cubs
to the National League's West Division next year.

This will allow to court to hear full arguments from the Cubs and the 
commisioner Fay Vincent on this issue. US District Court Judge Suzanne Conlon 
is expected to make a full ruling on the commish's power to force
realignment on the Cubs sometime next week.

--Stan Macasieb (stanm@comm.mot.com)
From: prism.gatech.EDU!ccastmm@overmind.mind.org
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Metrodome roof/et.al. was Re: Aturf
Date: 22 Jul 92 22:04:00 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
X-mailer: Stadel 3.4a-227
X-Spam-content: irrelevant

In <1992Jul21.161110.23401@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> g_waugaman@nac.enet.dec.com 
(Glenn R. Waugaman) writes:

>If not from Boston, then from somewhere else.  Since they've been in the 
>Metrodome, Minnesota has demonstrated the largest home/road differential,
>by far, of all the teams in baseball.  They know how to play that park, 
>especially the roof backdrop, and apparently the teams that come in twice 
>a year don't pick it up.  From experience, it seems to me that one game 


Here in Atlanta, we HATE the "homerdome" after last October.  And by the
way you can ask Lonnie Smith about not only how hard it is to pick
up the ball in that ballpark, but how hard it is to pick up the third
base coach.   :-)


Kirby seems to know exactly how to play there.  Want is the situation
with another contract for him?
-- 

Mike Marler                        | "Saving every nickel to spend on my
Internet: ccastmm@prism.gatech.edu |  my next set of thrills..." -somebody
Disclaimer: These views are not and should not be viewed as those of OIT.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Re: Support-Neutral W/L Report -- NL
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 18:07:27 GMT

You say the figures are park-adjusted, but I can't help but notice that
Atlanta and Chicago are at one end of the spectrum, and Houston, LA, and
SF are at the other...
-- 
                      ....................................
                      ted frank | thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
                      the university of chicago law school 
                      official member of the cultural elit
From: kbos@carina.unm.edu (Kurt Bose "of Biscayzee")
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Dawson, was: Re: GMaddux to Test Free Agency Waters
Date: 31 Jul 92 01:33:57 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of New Mexico

In article <1992Jul30.140552.29738@cbnewsc.cb.att.com> jld@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (J. L. David) writes:
>
>Dawson's reputation has carried him a LONG way.  He's had lousy
>range or a long time.  I still think his arm is quite good, however.
>Unfortunately, there is no good way to measure that.  I don't
>believe that assists are necessarily a good measure.
>
FWIW, the "Zone Ratings" STATS puts out drops him about in the middle of the
pack among RFs.  For reference, the rankings went from Larry Walker and Felix
Jose at the top to Dave Winfield and Danny Tartabull at the bottom.  Andre is
slightly below the NL average.  He isn't one of the better arms anymore, but
he wasn't bad, allowing 45% of runners to advance, as opposed to an average of
49%.  Probably not enough spread to justify anything higher than an average
ranking.  With his range factors and DA, I'd put him just above Tartabull and
Winfield, but not much higher.


-- 
Kurt Bose (as in Daisy, not Rose) - kbos@carina.unm.edu - I'm not the AntiChrist
I AM a Junior Stathead.  Flame me; it's fun!  I'm a shutmouthed, selfless idiot!
Latest Attempted Compiler of the R.S.BB FAQ - Now Accepting Submissions...(hint)
Have you hugged a Dan Gladden fan today? - Dave Rossing : .456/39/132 at Denver!
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: jcp29389@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (BEACH VOLLEYBALL!!!)
Subject: ruling question
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 05:33:40 GMT

what if a batter hits a line drive that hits an umpire and deflects to a
player who catches the ball before it hits the ground.  is that a catch or
is the umpire considered to be part of the ground?

jay
-----------------------------------------------
i guess of all my uncles, i liked uncle
cave man the best.  we called him that
because he lived in a cave and because
sometimes he'd eat one of us.  later
on we found out he was a bear.     -Jack Handey
-----------------------------------------------
From: adobe.com!snichols@overmind.mind.org
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Value of Stats
Date: 22 Jul 92 20:48:00 GMT
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
X-mailer: Stadel 3.4a-227
X-Spam-content: irrelevant

In article <Brrr8I.4uw@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> 
djohnson@cayley.waterloo.edu (David Johnson) writes:
>In article <1992Jul22.000141.12304@adobe.com> snichols@adobe.com (Sherri 
Nichols) writes:
>>In article <BrrGCL.FI7@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> 
djohnson@cayley.waterloo.edu (David Johnson) writes:
>>>If Rance Mulliniks, Derek Bell, and Rob Ducey don't think that a .300 
hitter
>>>15HR and 50 RBI man so far shouldn't be playing then they shouldn't be
>>>considered team players as well.  
>>
>>Even if that .300 hitter with 15 HR and 50 RBIs is a grouch who hates
>>everybody else on the team, and only gives 75%? 
>
>If he is having bad effects on the team and causes the rest of the team to
>play poorer then maybe he shouldn't play and should be traded but that
>decision is up to management.  It also depends on who can replace him.  If
>they had a Ducey to replace him with then the decision becomes harder but
>if they have Derek Bell, a great prospect and can do the job then yes I
>would consider getting rid of him off the team.  Do you have any examples
>of this situation?

So, you think that management should get rid of such a player, but you
don't think it's okay for Derek Bell to think the same thing.

Is that correct?

Sherri Nichols
snichols@adobe.com
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: paul@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Paul R Krueger)
Subject: Re: Best Looking Swing
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 18:33:36 GMT

In article <Brt5x3.pp@me.utoronto.ca> steinman@me.utoronto.ca (David Steinman) writes:
><ALWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> writes:
>
>>    When I watch a good hitter at the plate, they will show the swing of the
>>  hitter in slow motion. IMHO the best looking swings I've seen are:
>>        1) Dave Justice
>>        2) Will Clark
>>        3) Don Mattingly
>>        4) George Brett
>
>>    These  are all good hitters. Of course, there are more but these are the
>>  ones that I can name offhand. If you care to add more or comment on those
>>  that I have just named  feel free. I know that George Brett was influenced
>>  by Charlie Lau's  style of hitting, I don't know about the others though...
>
>Let's not forget "the sweet swing of John Olerud".  He really does have a nice looking
>swing.  And he's batting over 280 now :-)
>--
>Dave!

I won't disagree with any of the previous selections, but if you're talking
righthanders I think Paul Molitor has the best swing in baseball. Compact
and quick!

Salty

p.s. my aploogies to Kirby Puckett fans ;)
From: dtate+@pitt.edu (David M Tate)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: formula for projected runs?
Date: 29 Jul 92 15:57:17 GMT
Organization: Factors of Ys, Inc.

In article <1992Jul28.220941.283@ccsvax.sfasu.edu> a_copeab@ccsvax.sfasu.edu writes:

>Is there a formula for determining how many runs scored a team *should have* 
>based on various team totals (extra base hits, steals, walks, etc.)? I've
>seen reference many times to a team scoring above or below their projected
>total -- I was just wondering how those magazines/net.readers calculate
>a team's projected runs.

Brandon, not three days ago you asked for (and received) the formula for
Runs Created.

(...waits for the lightbulb to go on...)

OK?

(If you prefer, you could also use the Thorn/Palmer Linear Weights method,
 which is a linear regression model.  David Grabiner, could you post again
 the various correlation coefficients for these methods?  I've misplaced
 them.)


-- 
        David M. Tate        | "And that inverted Bowl we call The Dome
   dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu   |  Whereunder crawling coop'd we field and bat,
   Edward "Mike" Fitzgerald  |     Lift not your eyes to *it* for help--for it
     from "The Ruthaiyat"    |  Will drop the tow'ring fly upon your hat."
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: hymowitz@whatever.cs.jhu.edu (Hymie!)
Subject: minor leage info
Reply-To: hymowitz@cs.jhu.edu (Hymie!)
Organization: Creative Sensualities dept, Jacquie's House of Underwear
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 22:00:04 GMT

hello.  i hope someone can explain to me some basics about the relationship
between minor and major league teams.

does the major league team 'own' their minor league teams as well? or is
there a contract between the major league owner and the minor league owner?

do aaa teams call players up from aa teams the way major league teams do,
such as to replace a player called up to the majors?

also, sometimes in the news, a story will refer to a player being recalled
(i think that's the word they use) from their aaa team.  other times,
a player's ''contract is purchased'' from the aaa team.  are these terms
synonymous, or do they refer to varying relationships between major and
minor league teams?

i hope my verbal meanderings aren't too disjoint to get the questions
across.  thanx in advance.

--hymie
hymowitz@cs.jhu.edu                                         hymie@jhuvms.bitnet
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't want to be cute.  I want to be manly.  Stop laughing.
--me
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Cubs totally finished with Maddux?
From: peppler@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Randy Peppler)
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 19:03:12 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Keywords: Listen to the money talk....

In article <1992Jul28.155118.13838@brtph560.bnr.ca> usscoop1@bnr.ca (Chuck McCusker P015) writes:
>In article <15480@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>, zuhars@madrone.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Gary Electric Pancreas Huckabay) writes:
>|> 
>|> One of the big three freebies will end up in Oakland.  Either Maddux,
>|> Bonds, or McGwire.  Of the three, I'd bet on Bonds.  Put him in
>
>What makes you think the A's will not sign McGwire. He will probably be
>cheaper than Bonds or Maddux. And with the Eck mentioning loyalty as a
>big factor I would think that Mark will stay in Oakland. BTW didn't he
>take a pay cut last year after that .201 season. He sounds pretty loyal
>to me.  

	There was much speculation on Coppock's show last night that
	Maddux will end up in Yankee pinstripes next year.  Remember,
	Moneybags is back next year, plus Gene Michael knows Greg well
	from his Cub days.  Besides, I really think the Yanks want to
	reclaim their throne as "New York's Biggest Spending Team" (tm)...
	Some of the west coast teams were mentioned, too, since Greg
	hails from Las Vegas.  His agent last night even sidestepped
	Coppock's view that there is at least a 30% chance that Greg
	will return to the Cubs...

	Two upcoming free agents, Greg Swindell and Doug Drabek, are
	from the Houston area.  The new owner there wants to throw some
	money around, too...

-- 
-------------------------------
| Randy Peppler               |
| Illinois State Water Survey |
| peppler@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu    |
From: pyramid.unr.edu!schnell@overmind.mind.org
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Sexy Baseball Players and Fraternities!!
Date: 22 Jul 92 20:45:00 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Nevada: Today Reno, tomorrow the world.
X-mailer: Stadel 3.4a-227
X-Spam-content: irrelevant


First, we had the postings about statistics, the term "stathead"
was coined.

Then, we started seeing posts about which player had the best
behind, and the "buttheads" :) first appeared.

Now, we have "fratheads".

Maybe next:
 - which team has the best head wear, "hatheads"
 - ?
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: wilbanks@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Dylan Wilbanks)
Subject: Yount closing on 3000 - How close?
Keywords: brewers robin yount
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 19:21:31 GMT

I understand that Robin Yount is close to 3000 hits. The question is, 
How close? I have ticket for the Rangers-Brewers series on the weekend 
of Aug.15-16. What are the chances that he'll be within range of it 
by then?
-- 
Dylan Wilbanks, Classics major, AND NOW Environmental Conservation!
"Look! An X-man movie's coming out!"          |Currently at:
c.10 year old in a Tulsa movie theater,       |Box 1143
looking at a poster for _Malcolm X_           |Boulder, CO 80306
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer)
Subject: Re: Twins Baserunning
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 17:54:05 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.173147.17906@news.iastate.edu> sckelm@iastate.edu (Steven C Kelm) writes:
>
>Following this, Morgan 
>said that he would rather have a lead-off hitter with a lower OBP that could 
>"make things happen" as opposed to a lead-off with a higher OBP that played 
>"station to station".  I think he was referring to Wade Boggs vs. anyone that 
>can run.

Morgan was harping on this all night.  He also blamed the Red Sox
offensive woes on having "dead baserunners".  The second part is
bullshit.  The Sox aren't scoring because they aren't hitting.

As for the first?  If I had to bench either Boggs or Hatcher and lead
off the other, I would obviously bench Hatcher.  If the question was
one of how to organize the lineup?  Well, that depends on the other
players involved.  Is there anybody else capable of batting in the #3
slot?  Is it a home run or singles based offense?  Do the #2/#3/#4
hitters walk a lot?

It makes sense to bat speed in front of high-contact singles hitters
who don't walk very often.  If Gwynn is batting third, you want your
leadoff hitter to have speed.  But if Plantier, Thomas, or Tettleton
bats third, I would attempt to stack as much OBP as possible into the
#1/#2 slots.  The power/walk combination is a great one on offense.
But it doesn't benefit so much from speed.

I prefer a leadoff hitter with OBP *and* speed.  And I would never
have anybody lead off who can't put up at least an average (.330) OBP.
Polonia's .350 OBP is acceptable, given his speed.  Hatcher's .310 (or
whatever) OBP is not.

Cheers,
-Valentine
-- 
If Plantier goes, I go!				tedward@cs.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: rstimets@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (robert and stimets)
Subject: Re: 6 hits in inning without scoring
Organization: Indiana University
Distribution: rec
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 03:07:12 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.215706.17195@cs.cornell.edu> tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer) writes:
>Batter #1 goes for an inside-the-park HR, but is nabbed at the plate.
>Batter #2 sticks at third, then is picked off on a suicide-squeeze
>play.
>Batter #3, a total slug, hits a ground-rule double.
>Batter #4 hits a ball deep in the hole.  #3 has to hold at second.
>On a hit-and-run, the batter swings and misses.  The catcher drops
>the ball, so the runners both "steal" safely.
>Batter #5 bunts his way on, but #3 has to hold (told you he was a slug!).
>Batter #6 hits the ball a *long* way.  #3 plods home, but misses the plate.
>Batters #4 and #5 tag the plate as they pass.  #6 ends up at third.
>On the appeal, #4 and #5 are out for passing #3, and #3 is forced at home.
                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wouldn't this be an 8-2 FC instead of a triple?

>Three triples, a double, two singles, and two SB.  No runs scored.
>
Just wondering,

RStimets