HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: Monday, 25 Jan 1993 19:35:37 EST
From: <RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Yankees chances in '93 (was Re: 1993 MLB WS odds)
Distribution: na
 <1993Jan22.152627.1@ualr.edu> <1993Jan23.010405.1867@cs.wayne.edu>
 <1993Jan24.224457.13551@Princeton.EDU>

if o'niell and gerald williams are platooned, i think that would be
a good advantage over roberto kelly.  if o'niell plays full time, ick.

bob vesterman.
From: pjohnso@polaris.unm.edu (Zoe Paddy Johnson CIRT CSOS)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Where is the '93 All-star game???
Date: 21 Jan 1993 20:01:23 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
NNTP-Posting-Host: polaris.unm.edu

The 1993 AAA All-star game is in Albuquerque, NM!
From: CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Bryn Smith's Doritos (was Re: Lee Stevens to the Expos)
Date: 22 Jan 93 18:39:58 GMT
Organization: McGill University

In article <yang-220193103406@comm-mac-ii.acs.ucalgary.ca> yang@acs.ucalgary.ca (David Yang) writes:
>In article <C10B95.JGs@panix.com>, spira@panix.com (Greg "Sarcasm Is A Way
>Of Life" Spira) wrote:
>>
>> In <1993Jan16.225313.9967@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> marwood@csri.toronto.edu (Simon J. Marwood) writes:
>
>> >4. Focussing on ridiculous stories about how Bryn Smith had to drive over
>> >   to Vermont to buy the particular brand of Doritos he liked, and how he
>> >   wasn't too hip on the Montreal habit of gravy with french fries.
>>
>> I've never heard this or the last story.  Considering that I read about
>> 6 newspapers a day, I'm very skeptical that these stories were "focused"
>> on.
>>
>I heard about this, but I could almost swear it was on an Expo's telecast
>on CBC. I could be wrong about it being on CBC but I can remember a
>reporter asking Smith about the French Fries (is that best question they
>can ask??) and Smith replied along the lines that he likes ketchup with his
>fries and he also had a problem with Montreal not putting any ice in his
>pop.  Sounds pretty stupid, I thought he was joking.
>
This story got a lot of coverage here in Montreal.  I don't recall
the original source, and the tale may well have grown with the
telling, but I never heard Smith or anyone else suggest it was a
complete fabrication.

As I recall, it was Smith's wife who used to drive to Plattsburgh, NY
to buy "staples, like Doritos."  There was much humorous comment
on the fact that the Smiths considered Doritos to be a staple.
Furthermore, it was pointed out that Doritos *are* sold in Montreal.
So Smith had to explain that what he wanted were *unflavored*
Doritos, which are not sold here.  (You can get unflavored nacho chips,
but they're not Doritos brand).

Smith also supposedly said that when he asked for ice in his Coke,
a waiter told him he was being stupid, since more ice -> less Coke.

Tom Box
CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: gspira@nyx.cs.du.edu (Greg Spira)
Subject: Baseball Book Season Begins
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 01:18:10 GMT

Ah, the middle of winter.  Snow.  Freezing cold.  And the start of the
baseball book season.

I noticed the first two real arrivals of the baseball book 
season.  First, the Great American Baseball Stat Book 1993 is
out.  Very similar to last year's, with a few additions like
park factor and disabled list data.  Second, the Steve Mann/Ken
Mallin annual fantasy guide is out (the book looks like overkill
to me, but what do I know?).

Oh, by the way, the GABS mentions a new publication called the Great
American Baseball Report, which will be 10 times a year for $40
with stuff by Palmer, Mann, etc.  Each issue will be rather small,
though.  Dozens have tried this before; I'll be curious to see if
they can succeed.  Last time Project Scoresheet/Sportsource/Baseball
Workshop tried something like this, it lasted two issues (though the
method of publication was quite different, it was donethru USA Today's
Sports Center computer service.

Greg 
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols)
Subject: Re: AVERAGE/GOOD values...
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 17:13:45 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.225611.6859@adobe.com> snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols) writes:
>In article <1993Jan21.115544.1@stsci.edu> sandoval@stsci.edu writes:
>>   What are the AVERAGE avg/obp/slg values for each position?
>>That is, what are the values that are adequate?  And, as a
>>followup, what are the values that are GOOD, or well above
>>average?  
>
>My reference which has this is at home right now

It's no longer at home, so here are the numbers for the averages at each
position in each league.  (The Great American Baseball Stat Book 1992)

1991

AL
Pos	BA	OBA	SA
c	.252	.307	.374
1b	.264	.344	.417
2b	.268	.338	.365
3b	.259	.328	.388
ss	.255	.310	.352
lf	.261	.331	.398
cf	.272	.332	.405
rf	.258	.325	.436

NL
c	.243	.305	.352
1b	.267	.341	.411
2b	.258	.334	.371
3b	.264	.324	.408
ss	.256	.314	.361
lf	.260	.330	.378
cf	.260	.330	.378
rf	.268	.334	.422

Sherri Nichols
snichols@adobe.com
From: gaf5@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (Gail A. Fullman)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Phillies/Cards Trade Rumor
Date: 22 Jan 93 12:45:43 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University


>Kruk is better than Zeile right now, but is older and with his weight
>problem, probably not likely to be that good for that much longer. I
>would trade Zeile for Hollins but I doubt Philadelphia would be that
>stupid.
>

Don't bet the ranch on it!
-- 

------------------------
|   Gail A. Fullman    |
|   Manager - ADMO     |
|   Ext. 83113         |
------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: andy.bgsu.edu (Ryan )
Subject: Re: Daryl Boston released?
Followup-To: rec.sport.baseball
Organization: Bowling Green St. U.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 00:16:00 GMT

In article <1993Jan19.052058.7271@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>,
ggreenbe@nyx.cs.du.edu (Greg Greenberg) wrote:
> 
> demers@cs.ucsd.edu (David DeMers) writes:
> 
> 
> 
> >I heard that Boston is a free agent and the Mets either didn't offer
> >arbitration or released him.  This was on the radio while I was not
> >paying a lot of attention, so clarification would be appreciated.
> >I think he has enough talent to play OF full time; certainly should
> >play over Coleman.  Comments?
> 
> Well, Baseball Weekly had Vince Coleman on the cover saying 
> "I can play".  I hope so!  I think I read that the Mets did not want 
> to offer Boston a contract because he did pretty well last year and
> the Mets would probable have to pay him considerably more this year
> since he is eligable for arbitration.
> --
> ggreenbe@nyx.cs.du.edu
> 
> Go Mets! Go Kansas Jayhawks!

Boston was lost in the expansion draft, I tihnk.
From: tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: YANKEE REFLECTIONS ANYONE???
Date: 26 Jan 93 14:33:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1993Jan26.143327.20389
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853

In article <1993Jan25.142158.1@eagle.wesleyan.edu> jpollock@eagle.wesleyan.edu writes:
>
>I'm not sure why this was true...perhaps just pressures from the organization
>to perform, NY media, etc...  going to Cincinatti I think will improve his
>patience.  After all, with the exception of Kevin Maas two years ago, no one
>on the Yankees has walked an incredible amount.  

This is possible.  But Kelly is so far below the major league average
that this will likely only bring him up to average.  Last year was
dreadful, but even before then he never walked very much.  And unlike
Mattingly, it is *not* because he is an exceptional contact hitter.

>You have to remember, Showalter really wants to use Williams.  He's said
>repeatedly that he believes that Williams has the ability to be their everyday
>outfielder.

Sometimes managers don't say what they mean.  I can't say for sure,
but this may be one of those instances.  He could be praising Gerald
to put pressure on Bernie to perform (reportedly they are having
discipline problems with Bernie).  Or he could be trying to make
Gerald happy with his role as the fourth OF.  ("You are plenty good,
but we have four plenty-good-OFs, and so you won't get very much PT.")
Or he could really mean it.

>So why should they deal for O'Neill instead of dealing for someone
>they could use, like a CATCHER!  (esp. after giving away a minor league 
>catcher prospect like Brad Asmus in the draft).

No matter what anybody said, I don't see Ausmus as a real prospect.  I
don't believe he has shown any signs of having the talent to be a
major league hitter.  Isn't there another, more highly rated, catching
prospect in the system?  I forget.  (Have to check those minor-league
rosters...)  In any case, Nokes' defense *used* to be considered
acceptable, and Stanley was very good last year in limited PT.  I don't
think the Yankees are particularly short at catcher.  No more so than
most major league teams.  (Stanley was a steal...)

>Outfield and first base are two positions
>that they've had covered for years.

Well, without the trade they would *have* to play Gerald Williams
(risky?), and would only have four OFs on the roster (Dion James being
the fourth).  They lost Hall to Japan (I think it was reasonable to
let him go... No team with Hall is ever going to win anything...),
Barfield left, and Kelly was involved in the trade.  They started out
with an OF surplus, but they lost an *entire* starting outfield.  I
think they needed at least one OF back.

>But in order for the Yankees to contend,
>Steinbrenner has got to let the team gel without his influence.  That, I
>believe, is the main problem.

I agree.  You have to stick with talent, even when it slumps.
Steinbrenner has never understood this.

Cheers,
-Valentine
From: akamholz@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Andrew E Kamholz)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Yankees
Date: 25 Jan 1993 16:33:30 -0500
Organization: HCF - Johns Hopkins University, Balitmore, Maryland, USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu

Sort of in response to some earlier posts, I think the Yankees have a
great shot to win it all this year. They really didn't have a bad team
last year and they finished 76-86. If you can get 10 more wins from
Abbott and Key (which is very possible considering how bad
their pitching staff was last year) they'll be a hefty 86-76. Actually, even 
if they don't win this year, they'll make the extended playoffs next year.
 

Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: tloughin@IASTATE.EDU (Thomas M Loughin)
Subject: '34 & '36 Braves (was Re: Why Rabbit is in the Hall)
Reply-To: tloughin@IASTATE.EDU (Thomas M Loughin)
Organization: Iowa State University
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 23:08:24 GMT

In article <1993Jan24.174710.16913@Princeton.EDU>, roger@crux.Princeton.EDU
(Roger Lustig) writes:
> In article <21JAN199323511961@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu> doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu
(Jason Abner Miller) writes:
> >In article <1993Jan20.012605.27165@Princeton.EDU>, roger@astro.princeton.edu
(Roger Lustig) writes...
> 
> >>(Oddly enough, the 34 and 36 teams weren't all that bad.  Anyone know what 
> >>the story was?)
> 
> >	When your #2 starter strikes out 34 men in 210 innings, in any
> >age, you have problems.  Having no power or average doesn't hurt either.
> >Without Wally Berger (34 HRs, .295, 130 RBI for a team with no on-base)
> >this team had nobody else even remotely memorable (Rabbit and Babe
> >retired early in the year)
> 
> Right.  Now, how did they *get* so bad?  So bad so fast?  And how did 
> they recover to mediocrity so soon?
> 
Maybe Roy Cabaniss can help us out here...
Roy? ;-}

I'll offer a consideration:  maybe they weren't _really_ all that bad in '35.

-Tom
Date: Wednesday, 27 Jan 1993 10:59:48 EST
From: <RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Change the game?
Distribution: na

when a .037 hitter comes to the plate with a guy on third, you bunt.

doing something because you have no choice is not "strategy".

bob vesterman.

Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols)
Subject: Re: i want.
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 17:02:53 GMT

In article <93025.170947RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu> <RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu> writes:
>i want many things.  specifically, though, i want a baseball encyclopedia
>with the following characteristics:

Can't do it with one encyclopedia.  In fact, even with more than one, you
can't get all this.

>     1) huge

Goes without saying.

>     2) player stats, team stats and league stats since whenever they
>        kept track of them

The most complete is _Total Baseball II_, by Palmer and Thorn.

>     3) cross-indexed so that joe dude's 1938 stats appear in at least
>        two places: under joe dude's career entry, and under the 1938
>        (hitter/batter/whatever joe was) section

The only encyclopedia which has Joe Dude's 1938 stats in a 1938 section is
the _Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball_, by Neft and Cohen, but SE:B wouldn't
have the 1938 stats under Joe Dude's career entry.  A combination of SE:B
and TB II will give you this.

>     4) splits versus lefties and righties, whenever available

You can get this for the current players in either _The Great American
Baseball Stat Book_, by Gary Gillette, or _The Elias Baseball Analyst_, by
Siwoff, Hirdt, and Hirdt.

>     5) none of this cheesy stuff like ignoring walks or caught stealings

Most sources not published by the Sporting News contain walks.  I believe
TB II has CS.

>     6) fielding stats (as complete as possible, but bare minimum of
>        games played per position, put outs, errors, stuff like that,
>        and none of this cheesy ignoring that the shortstop frank dude
>        played an inning at catcher)

I don't have TB II here at work, so I don't remember whether or not they
have games played per position.  _The Baseball Encyclopedia_, published by
Macmillan and known as the Big Mac, does.

>     7) none of this cheesy ignoring when a batter pitches, or a pitcher
>        bats

Most sources will contain pitching records for non-pitchers, but the only
source I'm aware of (though I don't own it, sad to say) that contains
pitcher batting records is the original edition of the Big Mac, published
in 1969.  

Sherri Nichols
snichols@adobe.com



Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: thom@well.sf.ca.us (Thom Rogers)
Subject: Re: Drn Jackson trade???
Keywords: trade
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 22:02:43 GMT


This interest of Boston is really scary to me.  With their retinence to take
Hurst because of salary and injury the Pads might trade Jackson as long as
the RedSox take Hurst with him.  Don't know what the Pads would want in
return, but it certainly seems salary pruning is their main objective.
From: niguma@ug.cs.dal.ca (Gordon Niguma)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Change the game?
Date: 28 Jan 93 13:30:28 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

In <93027.105948RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu> <RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu> writes:

>when a .037 hitter comes to the plate with a guy on third, you bunt.
>doing something because you have no choice is not "strategy".

  I don't really agree with this strategy. I don't think it's "automatic"
because to pull off the squeeze play alot of the time it doesn't work. Now,
the other options may be less likely to work but the squeeze play makes it
quite possible that the runner on third will get picked off if a sign is
missed or if the pitcher just misses the pitch and the runner has to break.
(This is from what I have seen on TV, but I watch mostly AL so I don't see
it a whole lot). Losing the runner on third is devastating; easily the worst
case scenario and I wouldn't want to risk it playing on a one run strategy
that isn't very likely to work anyways. (This scenario happens early in
the ball game most of the time; I only believe in one run strategies late
in the game and at that point a pinch hitter would be used).

						Gord Niguma
						(fav player: John Olerud)


-- 
In Stores Now:
The brand new album from Gord Niguma, Chris Nantes and Sean Andrews!
Songs Include: Yesterday My Hamster Died, The Death Of Kirby Puckett,
               Let Love In, Alcoholic Santa Claus......Get your copy today!
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: nlu@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu)
Subject: Re: "NL has more speed, less power than AL"
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 00:41:02 GMT

In article <C1J8LG.EFz@zoo.toronto.edu> rising@zoo.toronto.edu (Jim Rising) writes:

>I think that is would be interesting to see what percentage
>of folks in netland prefer DH vs not, cast in the light of
>which league they follow more closely.  My guess is that AL
>fans generally like the DH and NL ones generally don't.
>But I'm too busy to keep track of the data.

I like the DH rule not because I particularly like high-run games (I don't);
rather, I like the potential that it gives the manager at playing with the
bullpen.  The manager no longer is obligated to pinch hit for the reliever
while down two runs; he could use his relievers in spots more often, and
(if he's intelligent) more effectively.

===============================================================================
GO CALIFORNIA ANGELS!
===============================================================================
Nelson Lu (claudius@leland.stanford.edu)
From: wrigley@u.washington.edu (Bob Ennes)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: The Straw Man
Date: 26 Jan 93 17:30:33 GMT
Article-I.D.: 128.wrigley-260193093229
Followup-To: rec.sport.baseball
Distribution: world
Organization: University of Washington
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.95.123.178

Does anyone in net land have any idea how Daryl Strawberry's health is?  Is
he primed to return to the type of player he was in New York or is he
finished?  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks

Bob
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: green@ie.utoronto.ca (Marc Green)
Subject: Re: Canadian Ball Teams and Taxes (Was: Lee Stevens to the Expos)
Organization: University of Toronto, Department of Industrial Engineering
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 14:25:31 GMT

kettler@pierre.mit.edu (KETTLER, THOMAS R.) writes:

>In article <1993Jan22.010650.18172@sifon.cc.mcgill.ca>, bspencer@cs.mcgill.ca 
>(Brian SPENCER)       writes...
>>In article <1993Jan22.000627.5381@leland.Stanford.EDU> 
>dkeisen@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dave Eisen) writes:
>>>My understanding is that the reason is: 
>>>
>>>(5) Something about the tax laws works against playing for
>>>the Expos. I don't know if the player's income is then
>>>subject to bot US and Canadian taxes, or what the story
>>>is exactly. I've just heard this given as a reason why
>>>American ballplayers try to avoid playing for Canadian
>>>teams.
>>>
>>>Maybe somebody else can give a definitive answer on how the
>>>tax situation differs when a player plays on a Canadian
>>>team.
>>>
>> 
>>The problem is that there are higher tax rates in Canada. Since they
>>work in Canada, they must pay income taxes here. For that tax bracket,
>>the rates are much higher here than States-side. Unfortunately, I am not
>>familiar with the tax rates at this level, and probably never be in my
>>lifetime unless I shed a few pounds, become left-handed, and throw 90
>>miles an hour.
>>

Canadian tax rates, combined federal/provincial, are about 46-48% up to
around the equivalent of $40K US. By $80K, you are paying well over
53% and it keeps increasing. This contrast with the US 31% + state (0-12%). 
So if you are from,
say Texas, Canadian taxes are 60% higher. On a salary of 4 million, you
can figure out the difference.

Marc Green
Trent University
From: demers@cs.ucsd.edu (David DeMers)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Where is the '93 All-star game???
Date: 23 Jan 93 21:20:40 GMT
Organization: =CSE Dept., U.C. San Diego

In article <1993Jan21.115447.11480@cybernet.cse.fau.edu> tshann@transquest.oe.fau.edu (Ted Shannon) writes:

>	I think I remember something about San Diego but I'm
>not sure. (Maybe that was last year).
>	Doesn't matter whether you post or email, please.

The All-Star game was in San Diego last season (I was there!),
and will be in Baltimore in 1993.

-- 
Dave DeMers			 	        demers@cs.ucsd.edu
Computer Science & Engineering	C-014		demers%cs@ucsd.bitnet
UC San Diego					...!ucsd!cs!demers
La Jolla, CA 92093-0114	(619) 534-0688, or -8187, FAX: (619) 534-7029
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: jle@world.std.com (Joe M Leonard)
Subject: Consider Whitaker when talking about good 2B...
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 19:38:22 GMT

Seeing the comment regarding Joe Morgan being uncomparable to Rhino
made me wonder...  Certainly Morgan produced some of the finest
single-season productions of anybody who played the position.  I know
he had several good years with the Reds, but how many before that, and
what were the park corrections required to match his longevity
against Sandberg's.

I do know that Whitaker came up in '76 or so and has been stringing
seasons back-to-back since then.  Sure, some have been rather boring,
but on the whole, he'd be a big plus to any team during that perion.
While I don't have the exact numbers, his power improved as he aged,
without giving up OBA...  Pretty good glove, and a LH-batter to boot.

One could do worse :-)

I don't know when Rhino came up - wasn't it around '81?

Joe Leonard
jle@world.std.com
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Cecil signs :-( :-( :-(
Date: 22 Jan 93 04:17:06 GMT
 na.mit.edu><GRABINER.93Jan21141053@germain.harvard.edu><1993Jan21.212135.25921@cs.cornell.edu>
Organization: /etc/organization
In-reply-to: tedward@cs.cornell.edu's message of Thu, 21 Jan 1993 21:21:35 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.212135.25921@cs.cornell.edu>, Edward [Ted] Fischer writes:

> In article <GRABINER.93Jan21141053@germain.harvard.edu> grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner) writes:
>>
>>I don't believe this is true, though.  The value of a player to your
>>team does not depend on standard deviations; it depends on the number of
>>games he helps your team win and lose.  If you trade a shortstop who
>>slugs 50 points better than average and an average first baseman for an
>>average shortstop and a first baseman who slugs 50 points better than
>>average, your team will still score the same number of runs.  Since you
>>break even on the trade, you must have traded players of the same value.

> After some thought, I have to disagree.  The key isn't value-above-
> average.  The key is value-above-replacement-level.  Which is
> significantly below average.  Therefore 50 points above average is
> more valuable at a position with a higher variance in talent.

In fact, I agree with this, and should have included a comment that
comparing to replacement level would be better.  (I don't think the
difference between average and replacement level varies that much from
position to position; I'll check sometime later.)

The above argument is still valid even if an *average* first baseman
is more valuable than an *average* shortstop, because average shortstops
are closer to replacement level than average first basemen are.

But the additional 50 points is worth the same amount no matter where
you add it.  Players who are 50 points of SLG better than replacement
level all have the same value, while players who are 50 points of SLG
better than average for their positions all have the same additional
value beyond that of average players.


--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball