I accidentally spilled a large amount of bird seed when trying to refill the feeder outside our window. Now the cat has been forced to miserably stare at a long parade of squirrels, rabbits, and birds just in front of his face from inside of our patio door.
So, at what point do we hear which umpire crew the Yanks get for the series?
We already have, actually. Here's game one.
HP: Manny Gonzalez
1B: Todd Tichenor
2B: Gary Cederstrom (Crew Chief)
3B: Lance Barksdale
LF: Eric Cooper
RF: Adrian Johnson
That's better than the fantasy crew I was expecting:
HP: Angel Hernandez
1B: Joe West
2B: Laz Diaz
3B: Hunter Wendelstedt
LF: Phil Cuzzi
RF: Derek Jeter
Only 46 center fielders* in MLB history have passed 50 Rfield (WAR Runs Fielding). Since the franchise’s move to Minnesota, two of these center fielders have played for the Twins. Who are they?
* Defined as playing at least 45% of total games in CF.
Willie Norwood and Bobby Mitchell?
Norwood was -6; Mitchell was +9 for his career, but +11 in 1982 alone. If he’d gotten an earlier start, or had enough ancillary skills to stick during an era where speed & contact skills were more valued, he might’ve had a shot.
+50 total, not necessarily with the Twins?
Correct. This is a career total, and two center fielders with at least that many have played for the Twins during their careers.
This seems like a stretch, but I couldn't look it up quickly so I'll throw it out there-
He was the first one I thought of, too.
Turns out he was....not a great centerfielder.
Still better than Ken Landreaux!
This is even more along the right track.
Anyone mentioned
?
yeah, I knew his arm was a minus, but he seemed to have good range
I was surprised to see him rated so poorly, too.
Ryan Zimmerman!
Ok, I think I found him.
I have zero recollection of him as a Twin and don't know what connection he has to DPWY.
Correct. I think the connection is the brief time he played and the only person here who would have been attending games then.
I’m fairly certain I saw him, but can’t say definitively. I bet Pirate did, and could.
I remember that he played for the Twins, but the only thing I really remember about him is
Exactly!
Correct! I was surprised to see him on that list; I don’t remember thinking he was anything particularly special in the field at the time.
To be fair, he wasn't then. Above average for his brief career but not much. He had a good overall career in center but the overall numbers are bolstered by two years.
For your information, I saw him play inter-league in St louis *sticks out tongue*
Kirby Puckett was at +40 runs after his first two seasons. He ended at -14. Man he declined hard in the field. He was -29 runs in centerfield in 1993 before he was moved to right field more or less permanently.
Shane Mack in center and Kirby in right was probably the better outfield alignment in 1991, but Kirby robbed Ron Gant’s XBH, so I’m not complaining.
He played back because of his poor range. Let a lot of singles drop in front of him
At least 808 injuries at MLB parks over the past eight years. Included is a breakdown of how far each team has their netting. Many teams are at the minimum, covering only up to the dugouts. The Twins go a bit farther. NBC was able to get injuries by section for Coors and covering even to the foul poles doesn't stop half.
I still feel bad for that lady that got smacked by that Sano donger way out in the CF bar. Honestly, who expects to get hit with from over 150 yards away?
I wonder what the breakdown is on seriousness of injury. I imagine a pop fly over the net causes less damage than a screaming line drive. Unless they net up to the roofs.
It doesn't matter if you are keeping track of the game or not -- you could have a line drive hit in your direction and every skill at catching it, but the bozo in front of you who does not throws his hands at it deflecting it into your (insert body part). You just can't arbitrarily suggest that fan inattentiveness is at fault.
It doesn’t even have to be a bozo—most people are not really trained to have a baseball hit to them while they are seated in a crowd. Certainly not baseballs hit by pros.
Why are they keeping track of injuries caused by people running after baseballs? That's ridiculous and could skew the results. I also am wondering why I see so many dots in the netted areas. I would have thought there would be more of a dramatic difference. Just how effective is the netting? And how injured are these people?
Those are drunken fights.
If they really want people to be up in arms about expanding nets, they should show how many $10 beers have been lost or damaged by baseballs.
StatCast catches EVERYTHING!