Baseball is Here!! MLB 2012!!!!

[SlowwHand]

A's and their Billy Bean Ball are doing well this year. On the Rangers' heels.

[ColdWizard]

How 'bout them Cubs?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Baltimore

Would absolutely love it if Baltimore, Washington and Cincy all made the playoffs (and it looks like they are all in prime position to do so).

[Also Baltimore this year is one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while. Their run differential is -17, but yet at 17 games above .500. Only team with a negative run differential with a winning record, and usually that means an under .500 record. For comparison, the team with the best record int he majors, Washington (how strange is saying that) has a run differential of +135 - best in the league]

[snoopy369]

BAL really knows how to win one run games, and how to get blown the **** out by teams. As opposed to the White Sox who blow teams out for one game then lose the series.

Wow, I hadn't realized HOW good they were. 24-7 in 1 run games. That's incredible... Yankees 17-20. 1-run games ought to follow the average winning %, so a .550 team should be around .550 in one run games... apparently not in this sample size though

[Imran Siddiqui]

Apparently. Their Pythagorean Record (what they should be based on their run differential) is 67-70. they are 77-60. I wonder if that's a record.

edit: apparently not. A few teams (but not many) had +10 difference in real record and Pythag record.

[snoopy369]

Well, extrapolate 24-7 (31 games) and give them a .550 or so winning percentage, you have 17-14 or so. So that's seven of those games right there... the other three were against the White Sox, who lost games to them just because they wanted to keep the tension in the race with the Tigers while KC was sweeping them.

[Guynemer]

Miguel Cabrera is now tied for the AL HR lead, and is officially in position to win the Triple Crown.

[SlowwHand]

I applaud Melky's decision.

[Imran Siddiqui]

And here comes the fun in the AL MVP race. Old school measures in respect to the Triple Crown (Miguel Cabrera) or new school sabermetric measures in respect to WAR and other stats (Mike Trout). I'd vote for Trout, myself (the MUCH better defense and the 48 steals to 4 caught stealing clinches it to me).

[-Jrabbit]

Two exceptional seasons. I thought it was Trout, but Cabrera has really burned it up down the stretch. Trout faded a bit in Aug-Sept.

I'm well aware of the differences in their profiles, especially re speed and defense, but I'm now leaning toward the triple crown winner.

[SlowwHand]

Not really surprisingly, I would vote Cabrera.

[snoopy369]

Cabrera. His team is in the playoffs, largely because of him (and a collapse that would be called epic of not for 2011, but that's neither here nor there); and he's likely to win the triple crown. Sure, he's hitting-only, terrible defense, but his hitting is so good. Trout is a very good player on another very good team that should be in the playoffs - but they aren't, and the Tigers are, so he's out IMO. Unlike the Cy Young, the MVP is supposed to take that into account (that you took your team to the next level).

If both had missed the playoffs, then I might still vote Cabrera (again, triple crown...) but it's closer. Or Alex Rios

[Imran Siddiqui]

Though the Angels do have a better record than Detroit . In a tougher division.

The Triple Crown is impressive, but Trout's season is better. To make sense of that statement, it's like a player hitting for the cycle vs. a player hitting 2 HRs and 2 doubles. Cycle is impressive, but 2 HRs and 2 doubles is a better game.

[SlowwHand]

Again, it's in your perspective and the circumstances of the game. A triple is the hardest/rarest hit to achieve.

[Imran Siddiqui]

No, it's not perspective. 2 HRs and 2 doubles allows for a greater chance of runs and a win than a cycle. Being rare or harder dosn't mean it equates to runs (you know the point).