HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rinehart@aramis.rutgers.edu (Mark J. Rinehart)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: The Mighty Yankee Machine Rolls On!
Date: 13 Apr 92 16:04:25 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

In article <1992Apr12.161551.16301@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> jjd3@po.CWRU.Edu (James J. Dibenedetto) writes:

> 4-0!!!!!!!!!
> Check it out - the Yankees are getting good pitching and good hitting,
> and they're rolling over all comers in the American League East!!!
> The Magic Number for clinching the division is only 158!!!
> (April IS the time for hopes and dreams in baseball, after all)
> James John DiBenedetto (jjde@po.cwru.edu, V064QPCD@ubvms.buffalo.edu)


Make that 5-0. I am not getting my hopes up at all, but I gotta say
that the Yanks are putting together timely hitting and some good
pitching from their starters, along with GREAT pitching from the
bullpen and they are undefeated so far. But dreaming is another
subject..... 8^)

Of course, now that I've said that, and the fact that they're playing
the only other undefeated team tonight, it should put a good whammy on
them.... but what the hell.... it's the beginning of the season. I
hope they can continue to win, cause it sure as hell is fun watching
them when they do. 

Mark
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: cubsfan@camelot.bradley.edu (Michael Silverman)
Subject: Re: Fred McGriff
Organization: Bradley University
Date: 14 Apr 92 22:23:15 GMT

In <10010568@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> rcodo@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Rob Codo) writes:

>   The Cubs blow!!!!

>   GO GO Chi-Sox!

Another proof that the averge White Sox fan's I.Q. is about equal to
to that team's number of wins so far.
From: wlarkin@hounix.org (Ward Larkin)
Subject: Numbers retired by Major League baseball teams
Organization: Houston Unix Users Group
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 02:35:49 GMT

This morning I learned that the Houston Astros have during 
their history retured the playing numbers for two of their 
players -- Don Wilson and Jim Umbricht.

Jim Umbricht has to be the least accomplished Major League
baseball player to have his number retired.  The man had
a 9-5 lifetime win-loss record. 

Both men died while active players for the Astros, and the 
Astros retired their respective numbers out of commemoration.

Although a very touching gesture by the Astros, I seem to
recall the Don Wilson committed suicide.


-- 
-- Ward Larkin
   wlarkin@hounix.org
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer)
Subject: Blue Jays vs. Red Sox
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1992 16:43:09 GMT


The biggest reason why the Blue Jays are overrated: They have good
defense.  People give them credit once for their pitching (which has
an artificially low ERA due to the defense), and *again* for the
defense.  Yet those runs are only prevented once!

Of course, their offense is overrated too.  Position by position:
Boggs vs. Alomar	No contest here.  Boggs runs a *far* better
			OBP, with similar SLG.  SB?  Who cares?
Reed vs. White		White was better in his career year, but not by
			incredibly much.  It'll probably be pretty close.
Plantier vs. Carter	No contest.  Plantier will out-hit, out-slug, and
			out-walk Carter.  By approximately two and a half
			miles (or 150 points of OPS, whichever you prefer).
Burks vs. Winfield	I admit Winfield had the better year last year.
			But Burks is hitting in Spring Training, and I
			expect him to return to 1989/1990 form.  Edge Burks
			by a significant margin.
Greenwell vs. Olerud	Pretty similar, really.  Both will rebound.
Clark vs. Gruber	Gruber will bop a few more HR.  Clark will walk his
			way to a .380+ OBP.  Significant edge to Clark.
Vaughn vs. Bell		Can't really call this one.  But if I had to, I'd
			give Vaughn the edge.  The power is the difference.
			They both hit for a reasonable BA, and Vaughn
			probably won't walk much more often.
Rivera vs. Borders	Slight edge to Borders, but not by much.
Pena vs. Lee/Griffin	Does *anybody* compare unfavorably to Manny Lee?  :-)

The Sox lineup has more power in practically *every* lineup position,
and more OBP in *every* lineup position.  I don't even see it as being
close.

-Valentine


-- 
"Red Sox all the way in '92!"	tedward@cs.cornell.edu
From: jtchern@ocf.berkeley.edu (Joseph Hernandez)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Cecil is a god! (HIGH SCHOOL TEAMMATES)
Date: 9 Apr 1992 22:42:02 GMT
Organization: Joseph TeleCommunications Enterprises; Berkeley, California, USA
Distribution: JTC Enterprises Global Electronic Mailing Services
NNTP-Posting-Host: ocf.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Apr9.004431.8685@leland.Stanford.EDU> burger@leland.Stanford.EDU (Scott Schlossberg) writes:
>Hmmm, let's do a bit of math.  At the current pace, Cecil would only hit...
>243!!!!! Homeruns this year!
>And he would have...
>486 RBIs!!!
>Ok, so what if Detroit loses all of its games 10-9 or something like that.  
>They're still fun to watch.
>And, I have Cecil on my fantasy team.
>GO CECIL!!!

I have a question. Did anyone know that Cecil Fielder and former Tigers'
catcher Mark Salas were teammates in high school? That school is Nogales High
School in La Puente, California (about 25 miles east of Los Angeles).

I know everyone makes a note of the fact that Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry
of the Dodgers were teammates at Crenshaw High School. Although the first pair
don't get the accolade of the second. 

I believe I read a while ago in Allan Malamud's Los Angeles Times article that
in the last two years, the Fielder/Salas duo has hit more homeruns than any 
other pair that had played in high school together. I believe Fielder and Salas
combined for a total over 100. I think Strawberry and Davis totalled under
70 the past two years. 

If anyone could give me the HR and RBI stats for these four players I would 
surely appreciate it. Address at my .signature.

Just my 8% of a quarter's worth-
Joe (Nogales High School Class of 1990)
 
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****  *****  *****   Joseph TeleCommunications Enterprises World Headquarters 
    *    *    *                 One Telecommunications Complex Center         
    *    *    *      University of California, Berkeley, California, USA  94720
*****    *    *****         (510) 841-1127   <<jtchern@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>>      
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: niguma@ug.cs.dal.ca (Gordon Niguma)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Hey, I'm a NICE Jays fan!
Date: 13 Apr 92 19:57:37 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

In <1992Apr13.133132.9916@jts.com> geoff@jts.com (Geoff Vona) writes:

>Argh!  Gotta get this peeve offa my chest.....

>What happened to the nice Blue Jay fans of yesteryear?  I remember the
>early pennant drives of `84 and `85, and the predominant attitude amongst
>Jays fans was "gee, we really do have a good team! Maybe we're good enuf?"
>Now, the attitude seems to be "Our team kicks ass, yours sucks, don't talk
>to me just eat my dust!".

  Those Jays fans and netters know who they are and I am not one of them. 
Couldn't agree with your statements any more.

>When I was younger, I honestly thought that Toronto fans were different. Now
>I see that obnoxious fans are a result of a string of success.  I find
>myself wishing that the Jays were bad again so that I didn't have to listen
>to 1,000 bar conversations about the relative merits of Dave Winfield and
>Jack Morris.

  Well I don't wish they were bad again; but some of these Jay fans think that
players like Morris and Joe Carter are gods and that aside from Roger Clemens
the BoSox have nothing for pitching and that their offense ain't so hot now
that Wade Boggs is worthless.

>Jay fans seem to do more grandstanding on the net too.  How embarassing.
  
  Does the name Hsing ring a bell?

>Sure the Jays are good.  So are the Red Sox.  So are the Orioles. So are the
>Tigers (to a certain extent).  Just let them play!

   Good another Jays fan who doesn't shoot off his mouth! See netters; some of
us aren't arrogant pricks!

						Gord Niguma
						(fav player: John Olerud)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Re: Ken Griffey?
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 23:23:45 GMT

In article <cubsfan.703290342@camelot> cubsfan@camelot.bradley.edu (Michael Silverman) writes:
>In <14APR199216141161@summa.tamu.edu> fwt4290@summa.tamu.edu (TSAO, FREDDIE WEI) writes:
>
>>	Is it my overlooking, or has Ken Griffey Jr. not been playing?
>>If he is not, please tell me the reason.
>
>He's been playing, but he just hasn't hit worth a damn! He started real
>slow last year as well before turning it on in mid-June. Hopefully, with
>Mitchell hitting behind him, Griffey can remember how to hit before school
>gets out...

Griffey, on 6/1/91, was hitting just under .300, with 6 HR and 22 RBI.
True, it wasn't quite up to the July-August stretch where he hit over 
.400 with 11 HR and 42 RBI's, but it's nothing to sneeze at...

Want to see something frightening?

AB	H	2b/3b/HR	RBI	BB
598	222	50/2/30		134	72	371/439/612

That's Griffey's stats over the last half of last season, multiplied by 2... 
-- 
Ted Frank          + "He wanted to be the car rather than the thimble or the
1307 E 60 St, #109 +  hat."  -- District attorney explaining Marc Cienkowski's
U o' C Law Skool   +  murder with bow and arrow of Michael Klucznik in
Chi, IL 60637      +  Doylestown Borough, PA over a game of Monopoly.
From: saevans@l_cae06.icaen.uiowa.edu (Scott A Evans,,,)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Where's Kevin Tapani?
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:21:40 GMT
Reply-To: saevans@icaen.uiowa.edu

From article <1992Apr10.022758.26006@leland.Stanford.EDU>, by sigmond@leland.stanford.edu (Steve Sigmond):
> The Twins played their third game today and according to the boxscores,
> Tapani hasn't started any of them. Is he starting the season on the DL or
> something? I find it hard to believe he'd be number 4 in the rotation!
>
THe last I heard (and this was a couple of weeks ago), he was scheduled to
start the Twins home opener.

Hope this helps.
 
--
                                              / /  *\  
          Scott A Evans                      /0/ __O/  
     (saevans@icaen.uiowa.edu)      |TTTTTTTTTTTTTT\\T| 
       Grad Student For Life        |IIIIIIIIIIIIIII\\|  
                                    |      / \      / \  
                 o                  |     /  /      \ |\
              _ /-_                 |                 |  
             (_)>(_)             --------------------------
From: km@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: I Told You Bonilla Was Worth the Money
Keywords: Seriously:  A Truly Different Mets' Team
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:13:17 GMT
Reply-To: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Organization: Computer Science Dept., University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr9.171344.6490@adobe.com> snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols) writes:

>The final offer the Pirates made to Bonilla was $22.5 million.  If it isn't
>competitive, in what sense is it serious?  

It was close enough to some of the other offers that it shouldn't
have been perceived as a joke. It probably was the maximum that
the Pirates felt they could offer. That is why it was serious.
It just wasn't in the same league as what the Mets could offer,
which is why it wasn't very competitive.

>No, I have very fond memories of my years in Pittsburgh.  I liked living in
>Pittsburgh quite a bit, and I don't think everyone in Pittsburgh is a total
>jerk by any means.  I'm sorry if you've gotten the impression that I think
>you, in particular, a total jerk, because I absolutely don't.  

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you felt we were all jerks. I think
it is more of an impression the local media gives us. I'm surprised
they didn't whine about only getting 48,000 paid at the opener when
it was the same night as the NCAA tournament.

>Pittsburgh has some members of this class of baseball fans; the throwing of
>batteries at Dave Parker is an example of the behavior of this class of
>fan.  However, these fans are not limited to Pittsburgh by any means.

I agree totally. Dave Parker got a raw deal here, engineered in no
small part by the media. I thought the Pirate lawsuit against him was
disgraceful. On his worst day, he hussled more than the rest of the
team put together. 

>
>What I don't understand is why these people get so upset over it.  I'm well
>aware of the reasons people have presented here for being so down on
>Bonilla, I just don't understand why those things have those people so
>upset.  So what if Bonilla talked about looking out for his family (Heaven
>forbid!) when talking about his contract desires?  

As for myself, I don't think "upset" is the work I would use. I just
didn't have a particularly high opinion of him the last year here.
He seemed to have had a change in attitude, which I always felt was
somehow engineered by his agent. Maybe if he hadn't been portrayed
as so nice when he first came here, it wouldn't have mattered. 

 -km
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: steph@cs.uiuc.edu (Dale Stephenson)
Subject: Re: Errors (was Re: Robinson and Boyer)
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 23:13:46 GMT

In <204880@unix.cis.pitt.edu> dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David M Tate) writes:

>In article <1992Apr13.235055.2269@m.cs.uiuc.edu> steph@cs.uiuc.edu (Dale Stephenson) writes:
[snip]

>>I'm not claiming that errors are particularly useful, or that errors
>>give you *any* information you can't get from another source.  However,
>>since errors clearly *can* be used in the hypothetical situation, it
>>strikes me as a bit silly to imply that errors can convey no information.

>The claim was that, BY THEMSELVES, they convey no information, and that when
>combined with other things, they don't modify the conclusions you would have
>drawn given only the other things.  You haven't shown me that this isn't
>true.

RBIs, Wins, and Saves convey no information, unless they are large enough
that we can assume some rate.  30 wins is impressive.  5 wins means nothing
100 errors is (negatively) impressive.  5 errors mean nothing.

Combined with other things -- I've seen n+1 posts (where n approaches infinity)
claiming that in this situation:

		PO+A	E	Inn
TreeStump	300	3	500
Butterfingers	300	30	500

Butterfingers probably has better potential, since he reaches 27 more balls
than TreeStump does.  After all, it's easier to cut down on errors than
to increase range.  *THIS IS INFORMATION THAT CANNOT BE GARNERED FROM
PO, A, AND INNINGS*

Of course, it's highly subjective and speculative information, and similar
real life situations are probably so few and far between that errors are
better off disregarded.  Especially since errors themselves are so
subjective.

-- 
Dale J. Stephenson |*| (steph@cs.uiuc.edu) |*| Gigabit Study Group 

  "It is considered good to look wise, especially when not 
   overburdened with information" -- J. Golden Kimball
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: kirsch@ux.acs.umn.edu (Dave Kirsch)
Subject: Re: Trivia: What to the numbers mean...?
Organization: David Cone's Pull Toys and Assorted Paraphenalia, Inc.
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 14:17:17 GMT

	My guesses:

> 1) .424      

  Carney Lansford's range factor?  

> 2) 2.17

  Number of seconds it took Juan Gonzalez' HR to hit the seats in the
Kingdome the other night? 
	
> 3) 56        

  Number of players already out with a broken wrist this season? 

> 4) 57

  Number of times Danny Tartabull will have it out with the NY mediots this 
season?   

> 5) 61

  Lulu's bust size? 

> 6) 190

  The *real* distance down the line to the Green Monster in Fenway? 

> 7) 511

  Cecil Fielder's weigh-in weight in pounds prior to his sumo wrestling match
in the offseason? 

> 8) 755

  Distance in feet that Round Tripper Kipper's last Spring Training HR
traveled before it rolled to a stop? 
  
> 9) 5511 

  Number of ABs Al 'Allan' Newman has gone without a HR, or even a faint
resemblance of one? 

> 10) 7

  Number of consecutive HRs Kenneth "Don't call me Ken" Patterson will allow 
next outing before he gets pulled? 

  Oh well, they're just stabs in the dark. 

-- 
Dave Hung Like a Jim Acker Slider Kirsch  ...   of the Warren Newson fan club 
kirsch@ux.acs.umn.edu                          "Blue Jays all the way in '92"  
"Sportswriters mostly sit in bars and argue about things, then go home and 
 write all the clever bullshit they think they should have said at the time." 
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: CAVGEOE@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu
Subject: Re: Most Popular Athletes List
Organization: Yale University
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 20:58:40 EDT

In article <1992Apr16.033549.11560@leland.Stanford.EDU>
claudius@leland.stanford.edu (Nelson Lu) writes:
 
>
>This is a list of the two most popular athletes in specific North American
>cities and regions.  An athlete doesn't have to be from the fan base
>area listed to be one of the most popular (e.g. Cal Ripken in Washington).
>
>Most popular active athletes (one athlete per team per region)		Apr/92
>
>		Most popular			Second most popular
>
>Atlanta		Dominique Wilkins (K)		Deion Sanders	(F,B)
 
Sorry, but after last year there's no way the most popular athlete in
Atlanta is not a Brave -- it could be Avery or Gant or Pendleton or
Glavine or Justice or even Deion, but not a Hawk.
 
No flame intended, just my $.02.
 
Jeff Caveney
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: daweuste@rodan.acs.syr.edu (david a. weuste)
Subject: Re: Trivia: What to the numbers mean...?
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 23:24:32 EDT

In article <92099.185021GRM100@psuvm.psu.edu> GRM100@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>Here's a bit of trivia from our college paper...
>
>Give the significance of the number and the player
>who holds the record.
>
>1) .424      Hugh Duffy's average one year (highest all time)
>2) 2.17      lowest career ERA
>3) 56        Joe DiMaggio's magic # (the Streak)   
>4) 57        Hershisers consecutive shutout inning streak
>5) 61        Roger Maris (duh!)
>6) 190       Hack Wilson's season RBI record
>7) 511       Mel Ott's career HR
>8) 755       Aaron's career HR
>9) 5511      ???????????? 
>10) 7        Was that Mantle's #?
>
>Any suggestions?  Good luck..I post the answers when the next paper
>arrives....at the end of april.....
>
>grant
From: mjones@FENWAY.AIX.KINGSTON.IBM.COM (Mike Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: stealing/swinging (was Re: DUMB inexcusable play)
Date: 10 Apr 92 16:15:16 GMT

In article <1992Apr9.162439.15235@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> carl brenner writes:
> 
> ...... But I don't think his chances are that good. I would really be 
> surprised if his success rate is 90%, especially in a situation like this
> (a 3-0 count, pressure on the pitcher to throw a strike, batter unlikely to
> distract the catcher by swinging). The only factor in Vince's favor here is
> surprise.

Hmmm...now here's another bit of "Traditional Baseball Wisdom" (tm) that I'd
like to see investigated, but I don't know if anyone has the data. Is it
really an advantage to the base stealer if the batter swings at the pitch? 
Does anyone have SB/CS numbers broken down by swing/no swing to check? My
personal belief is that the difference, if it exists, will be minimal, but
that's based on my catching experience, which stopped at Little League.
Chuck, do you have any light to shed on the matter? What was your
experience?

   Mike Jones  |  AIX/ESA Development  |  mjones@donald.aix.kingston.ibm.com

99 Reasons Baseball is Better Than Football - Number 2:
In football, nobody says, "Let's play two!"
	- Tom Boswell, "The Heart of the Order"
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: dxf12@po.CWRU.Edu (Douglas Fowler)
Subject: Re: Subjective trivia question
Reply-To: dxf12@po.CWRU.Edu (Douglas Fowler)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 15:26:29 GMT


In a previous article, dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David M Tate) says:

>Here's a cute alternative to arguing about Frank vs. Cecil or the value of
>errors in evaluating defensive value.
>
>Who would be your pick as the best offensive player to never lead the league
>in any major offensive category?  (Major off. cats. are BA, OBP, SLG, H, R,
>RBI, 2B, 3B, HR, BB, SB).  I have somebody in mind, but I'll wait to see who
>else gets nominated.

     Steve Garvey?
>
>-- 
>          David M. Tate            |"The man who hath no music in himself
>     dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu       | Nor is not moved by concord of sweet sound
>  A poem should be dumb, / As old  | Is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils
> medallions to the thumb.-MacLeish | 	Shakespeare, "Merchant of Venice", A.V
>
-- 
Doug Fowler: dxf12@po.CWRU.edu      :    "Every baby born into the world is
Real home: Canton, Ohio             :  finer than the last."--Charles Dickens
 Trying to follow in the path of our :     "A baby is an inestimable
Lord;anything close will be a success:  blessing and bother."--Mark Twain
From: dxf12@po.CWRU.Edu (Douglas Fowler)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: If they played today would they be so great?
Date: 7 Apr 92 01:37:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: usenet.1992Apr7.013747.25447
Reply-To: dxf12@po.CWRU.Edu (Douglas Fowler)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)


In a previous article, ALWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET () says:

>There is a lot of talk about how today's athlete is better conditioned than
>athletes who played before. There has also been a lot of talk about how the
>former baseball stars such as Mays, Mantle, Gehrig, Williams, etc. etc. played
>in different "eras" and their stats are relative to the era that they played i
>
>in, that is why we no longer have .400 hitters, Triple Crown winners etc.
>because the game has changed. Is this to say that if a Mantle or a Mays played
>today the numbers they put up would mirror a Canseco or a Puckett, or someone
>like Eric Davis would have put up #s like Willie Mays had he played in that
>era?Would George Brett or Don Mattingly have hit .400 if they played then?
>The questions could go on and on.Opinions are welcome, this is ,after all
>a discussion group.
>
     Players like Brett, because they would have played in smaller parks, would
have had more home runs, etc.  It would depend on the style of play, I guess.
For instance, Ty Cobb, if he had survived the numerous fines and suspensions
he undoubtedly would have received, had the power, I think, to hit 25 home
runs a year.  He would have gone down in his batting, though - probably to
about .350 at his height. (I don't think he would have brawled a LOT, but
he would have a "Superbrat" image, a la John McEnroe, and have been traded a
couple times because of bad clubhouse influence, a la Jack Clark.  Heck, a
whole debate could be devoted to how Cobb would be today!)
     I think the greatest could play well in any era - by that, I mean measured
by those skills Branch Rickey espoused so long ago - Running, Throwing,
Hitting, Hitting for Power, and Fielding (not sure about #5 - it could be
Catching).  It's just that different aspects would shine through, like Cobb's
power.Someone like Vince Coleman might not have made it in the majors 30 or 50
years ago, as they didn't run much. (Well, okay, the lowly Senators may have
atken a shot and hoped he hit .280, but even then...)  His whole game is
based on speed.  Nowadays, more 1- and 2-dimensional players are appearing
because of expansion and other factors. (Other sports, etc.)
     The ones with 3, 4, or 5 of the basic skills would do well anywhere,
though.
     Note I don't discuss pitchers - I'll save them for the weekend, when
I get doen with this 20-page appellate brief for Research and Writing class.
(It's due Friday.)
-- 
Doug Fowler: dxf12@po.CWRU.edu      :    "Every baby born into the world is
Real home: Canton, Ohio             :  finer than the last."--Charles Dickens
 Trying to follow in the path of our :     "A baby is an inestimable
Lord;anything close will be a success:  blessing and bother."--Mark Twain