Baseball Toaster: The Griddle : Forest City bound!

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Chicago Cubs	97	64	.602	C1
2	Philadelphia	92	70	.568	E1
3	Los Angeles Dodgers	84	78	.519	W1
4	Milwaukee	90	72	.556	C2
5	New York Mets	89	73	.549	E2
6	Houston	86	75	.534	C3
7	St. Louis	86	76	.531	C4
8	Florida	84	77	.522	E3
9	Arizona	82	80	.506	W2
10T	Colorado	74	88	.457	W3
10T	Cincinnati	74	88	.457	C5
12T	Atlanta	72	90	.444	E4
12T	San Francisco	72	90	.444	W4
14	Pittsburgh	67	95	.414	C6
15	San Diego	63	99	.389	W5
16	Washington	59	102	.366	E5

American League

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Los Angeles Angels	100	62	.617	W1
2	Tampa Bay	97	65	.599	E1
3	Chicago White Sox	89	74	.546	C1
4	Boston	95	67	.586	E2
5	New York Yankees	89	73	.549	E3
6	Minnesota	88	75	.540	C2
7	Toronto	86	76	.531	E4
8	Cleveland	81	81	.500	C3
9	Texas	79	83	.488	W2
10	Oakland	75	86	.466	W3
11	Kansas City	75	87	.463	C4
12	Detroit	74	88	.457	C5
13	Baltimore	68	93	.422	E5
14	Seattle	61	101	.377	W4

Random Game Callbacks

Select a date:

So where is that book?

Personal favorites that I wrote

The Metro Area Battles

New York

W L GB

Yankees 89 73

Mets 89 73

Baltimore/DC

W L GB

X - Orioles 68 93

Nationals 59 102 9

Chicago

W L GB

X - Cubs 97 64

White Sox 89 74 9

LA/Orange County

W L GB

X - Angels 100 62

Dodgers 84 78 16

SF/Oakland

W L GB

X - Athletics 76 85

Giants 72 90 4.5

X - Clinched

So long and thanks for playing this year

1. Washington (8/31)
2. Seattle (9/1)
3. Pittsburgh (9/6) *
3. San Diego (9/6) *
5. Baltimore (9/8)
6. Oakland (9/8)
7. Atlanta (9/9)
8. Kansas City (9/9)
9. Cincinnati (9/10)
10. Texas (9/13)
11. Detroit (9/15)
12. San Francisco (9/17)
13. Colorado (9/18)
14. Cleveland (9/19)
15. Toronto (9/21)
16. New York Yankees (9/23)
17. St. Louis (9/23)
18. Florida (9/23)
19. Arizona (9/25)
20. Houston (9/26)
21. New York Mets (9/28)
22. Minnesota (9/30)
23. Chicago Cubs (10/4)
24. Milwaukee (10/5)
25. Chicago White Sox (10/6)
26. Los Angeles Angels (10/6)
27. Los Angeles Dodgers (10/15)
28. Boston (10/19)
29. Tampa Bay (10/29)

* - Teams eliminated at same time

The last batter to reach on catcher's interference was ...

Seth McClung of Milwaukee by Koyie Hill of the Cubs on September 26, 2008.

FAQs

At least I think they should be.

Cycle alerts

Yellow alert - Player needs triple for cycle
Orange alert - Player needs double for cycle
Red alert - Player need single for cycle

If a player needs a home run for the cycle, the level of the alert varies depending upon the determination of the Cycle Detection Warning System, which is headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

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Forest City bound!

2008-06-23 20:57

by Bob Timmermann

On Wednesday, I'll be boarding a Southwest jet for the long trek from Los Angeles to Cleveland for the 38th annual SABR Convention.

My journey out will involve a stop in St. Louis, but no change of planes, so fortunately I won't run into the same problems that Lyle Lanley faced when his plane had a stop in North Haverbrook. The flight back will take the ever popular Cleveland-Nashville-Los Angeles route.

The convention starts on Thursday with some research presentations that I don't want to miss. Tim Wiles, from the Baseball Hall of Fame, will talk about a century of singing "Taking Me Out to the Ball Game." There are also going to be a couple of Cleveland-themed presentations, one on Tris Speaker and another on the Yankees-Indians rivalry of the 1940s and 1950s.

Friday is loaded with presentations ranging from Dr. Alan Nathan's examination of the Pitch/Fx system, a presentation by a 14-year old on the possible effects steroids would have had on Babe Ruth, and Yoichi Nagata's examination of the Tokyo Giants historic tour of North America in 1935. The day is capped off with a trip to Progressive Field for an all Ohio battle between the Indians and Reds. (Daryl Thompson vs. C.C. Sabathia is the scheduled pitching matchup.)

On Saturday, Phil Birnbaum will give his reexamination of the Hamermesh study on racial bias among umpires. Dave Smith of Retrosheet will continue to look at the importance of strike one. Dick Cramer and Pete Palmer will try to clear away some of the Bill James fog and attempt to see if baseball's legendary beast, the clutch hitter, actually exists.

In between all this, there is time for the best part of the convention, which is catching up with old friends and just talking baseball over beers (or in my case, iced tea or Diet Coke, the beers are metaphorical.) It's three days when you can walk around with a Nippon Ham Fighters jersey and not have people laugh at you.

Or at least not as many.

If you're in Cleveland this weekend, come by the Renaissance Hotel and say hi. You'll recognize me because it's a convention and they like us to wear nametags.

Comments

2008-06-23 23:13:20

1. Greg Brock

It's three days when you can walk around with a Nippon Ham Fighters jersey and not have people laugh at you.

Think about how Ham Fighter Nation felt when they were denied admittance to the UN.

2008-06-23 23:28:17

2. Greg Brock

If you could hop over to Pennsylvania and grab me two cases of Yuengling, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

2008-06-23 23:56:31

3. Eric Enders

Ah, man. Yuengling is the stuff. I could get it in New York, so I be you can get it in Ohio too.

2008-06-23 23:56:41

4. Eric Enders

bet

2008-06-24 00:23:43

5. Greg Brock

3 Yuengling is the stuff

It is!

I bet you can get it in Ohio, too

You can't! My mystical internet sources tell me it is not distributed in Ohio.

I think a beer exchange program is in order.

2008-06-24 00:44:09

6. Eric Enders

If Prince Fielder were sold to the Ham Fighters, would he take a stand like Jackie Robinson and refuse to report?

2008-06-24 04:50:27

7. Repoz

"Diet Coke"

Ahh...at least I'll have someone to hang out with in Cleveland.

See ya there, Bob!

2008-06-24 05:14:40

8. dianagramr

Enjoy yourself!

One of these years I'll make it out to a Convention.

2008-06-24 07:01:45

9. mehmattski

5 Send me some Anderson Valley and I'll gladly get you some Yuengling...

2008-06-24 08:52:15

10. Bob Timmermann

7
I often think I should just crash AA meetings since I don't drink and get me some free coffee.

2008-06-24 09:32:05

11. bhsportsguy

10 One of my first emails to Bob was contained an offer that could be refused for two reasons, I offered to buy him a beer at a UCLA football game at the Rose Bowl.

He kindly refused since he does not drink and second and perhaps more to the point, they don't sell beer at the Rose Bowl for UCLA home games (though you can buy it when attending the Rose Bowl game).

2008-06-24 09:38:38

12. Bob Timmermann

Which is not to say that there aren't plenty of people who arrive at UCLA football games completely hammered.

Just like last year's UCLA-Cal game when two completely wasted Cal fans sat behind me and taunted my friend and I.

And it was a 12:30 pm kickoff.

They left in the third quarter in very, very, very bad shape. I felt no sympathy.

2008-06-24 10:36:26

13. Greg Brock

On Sunday, the guy next to BH and I almost wen't arse over tea kettle coming down the stairs.

Drinking lots of beer in 95 degree heat...Brilliant!

2008-06-24 12:54:42

14. Josh Wilker

Can we expect some Griddle dispatches from the front lines?

2008-06-24 12:58:32

15. Bob Timmermann

You should as long as the wifi in the lobby is free. Then you will get pictures. If not, then you will just get text only dispatches via BlackBerry.

It's $12.95 a day to use the internet in the rooms!

2008-06-24 14:18:44

16. dianagramr

does that include the "adult" sites?

2008-06-24 14:22:14

17. Bob Timmermann

Pete Palmer doesn't work blue.

2008-06-24 14:30:43

18. Greg Brock

When is the PowerPoint presentation that compares this SABR convention to previous conventions?

Will it be available online?

2008-06-24 14:47:55

19. Bob Timmermann

Davis Guggenheim will be directing that.

2008-06-24 15:44:34

20. bhsportsguy

Bob will be presenting Rob Neyer a limited edition "Griddle" pie tin which will suspiciously look like a tin you get from a local pie making establishment.

2008-06-24 17:29:33

21. JHWaugh

I would assume that since you are in the city of the Rock and Roll HOF there will be a presentation on big leaguers who also rocked. I believe Sandy Koufax played the electric shofar in a rock band in Los Angeles' Borsht section of the Sunset strip.

2008-06-25 21:21:45

22. Spaceman Spiff

Bob, I imagine you've addressed this in the past, but why Nippon Ham?

Is it because the (inaccurate) name Ham Fighters is just so cool? Was it being the underdog tenant of the Tokyo Dome, to the Yomiuri Giants? Are you a fan of the island of Hokkaido? Inquiring minds want to know.