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Royal Blues

March 14, 2010 5:55 PM

Royals Authority Annual - buy it today!

Before I ever had any measure of success as a blogger, back when only my family and a handful of others knew I even had a blog, I read and admired Royals Authority. I'm still a fan of that blog, even now that a huge audience of like 24 non-family people know who I am. Last year, I devoured the first Royals Authority Annual. I thought it was easy to digest for any kind of fan, without being too simple for the more nerdy ones.

(Oh wow, "devoured" and "digest" in one description? Someone's ready for dinner.)

So I'm honored to be a part of this year's Annual - subtitled "Deconstructing the Process" - which is on sale now. My essay is in great company, with guest research, previews and retrospective by Jeff Zimmerman, Matt Klaassen and Max Rieper, respectively. Here's a direct link to the book on sale at Lulu.com.

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Also, I apologize for my lack of Countdown posts lately. They'll be back soon. And then, Opening Day will be here! And then, the O-Royals season will start!


Posted by Minda Haas at 5:55 PM | | Comments

March 4, 2010 7:34 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 32 Cruz ER

Spring training action has started in Surprise, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

32 Days = 32 earned runs given up by Juan Cruz
When the Royals picked up the free agent Cruz, it was supposed to add a "strikeout guy" to the bullpen. And he WAS a strikeout guy - the previous two seasons in Arizona, he struck out more than 12 per 9 innings.

That rate dropped to 6.79 K/9 in 2009, the lowest of his career. That drop in strikeouts would be survivable if Cruz never walked anybody, but his BB/9 stayed right in step with where it had been in those high-strikeout seasons.

Those batters Cruz wasn't striking out were getting on base, and Cruz was not leaving them out there. His strand rate was the 2nd-lowest of his career, resulting in the 2nd-highest FIP of his career. (The worst year in both of those categories, interestingly, was his only other American League year - 2005 with Oakland.)

The result of all of that on the scoreboard was 32 earned runs in Cruz' 50.1 innings last year. He wasn't exactly what the Royals had in mind when they surprised the baseball world by signing him. What will he be this year, at age 31?

And now, it's time for Jim and Pam to have Baby Halpert! Squee! I love The Office.


Posted by Minda Haas at 7:34 PM | | Comments

March 3, 2010 8:56 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 33 GreinkeDays

Spring training action has started in Surprise, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

33 Days = 33 GreinkeDays last year

On 33 dates in 2009, Royals fans didn't have to hang our heads in shame. Whenever Greinke started, we weren't the punchline to any jokes.

No, every five days, outsiders watched the Royals for something other than a comic relief. People watched a Royals player and were wowed, and that doesn't happen very often. In 33 days, it will happen again. I can't wait for the next Zack Attack.

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Also, apparently I have comments now. Give 'em a try, see how it works!

Also also, I would just like to remind people to never ever ignore symptoms of heart trouble. If you have chest pains, etc., swallow your pride and GO SEE A DOCTOR. This PSA brought to you by my dad, who is alive because he paid attention to sudden symptoms last week. 

Lastly, keep your eyeballs fixed upon Royals Authority this month. Not only do they have a new contributor, they will also be releasing details soon about the 2010 Royals Authority Annual. Spoiler alert: I'm in it.

Posted by Minda Haas at 8:56 PM | | Comments

February 26, 2010 2:52 PM

Countdown timeout

Hey all,
The Countdown to Opening Day - and pretty much everything else blog-related - is going to be on hiatus for a little while. Real-life stuff is happening, so I have to put some things on the back burner for a while.

Until I'm back, keep looking for the elusive Kyle Farnsworth fan! I'm not kidding; there is a prize. I almost feel comfortable putting up like $100 as a prize, because I'm that sure nobody owns a Farnsy jersey.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and that GMDM doesn't do anything too harmful.
Unicorns,
Minda

Posted by Minda Haas at 2:52 PM | | Comments

February 24, 2010 11:37 AM

Countdown to Opening Day: the Kyle Farnsworth Fan Search

KyleFarnsworthSpringTraining2010.jpgAll of the Royals have reported to Surprise, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

40 Days = the number 40 on Kyle Farnsworth's back

All right, readers. Time to work your magic. A few days ago on Twitter, I asked if anyone could provide photographic proof of a Kyle Farnsworth fan. No one there has been able to find such a thing, so I'm opening this up to you.

And I'm dead serious - there will even be a prize.

So here's what I want:
1a. A photo of a person in a Kyle Farnsworth Royals shirt or jersey (no Chicago/Detroit/NY)
    1b. Those 40th Anniversary free giveaway jerseys from last summer do NOT count. We have to have the Professor's name on it. The point is to find someone who likes Kyle Farnsworth so much, they went out of their way and spent money to wear his name.

2. This can be from any location - Kansas City, Surprise, or wherever you are.

3. A picture of yourself WITH the Farnsworth fan would bump up the prize winnings.

4. E-mail your entry to minda.haas at gmail.com. The contest will be open indefinitely, because I'm sure that finding this could take time.

So....go! Keep your phone cameras at the ready. And if you find the mythical creature in question, buy him a beer. He probably needs it. 

 

Posted by Minda Haas at 11:37 AM | | Comments

February 23, 2010 3:57 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 41 Callaspo doubles

CallaspoDoubl.jpgAll of the Royals have reported to Surprise, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

41 Days = 41 Alberto Callaspo doubles
Alberto "Bort" Callaspo's power surge last year was fascinating. He had shown some ability to hit doubles in AAA in 2006 - 24 of them, in fact. But that was over 554 plate appearances. If he had doubled at that same rate with the Royals last year, he would only have hit 27 or 28. By Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projection, he was only going to hit 15 doubles.

But no, he doubled 41 times and also threw in 11 home runs - the first 11 of his Major League career.

Remember that grand slam on June 10 off of Carl Pavano? I believe KC was already up by 5, and then loaded the bases for Bort with two outs. My brother called the grand slam; I didn't believe him. So, uh...hi brother. Good call.

What led to all that new power? Will it come back this year? And even if it does - will he even be in the lineup often enough for us to see it?

Posted by Minda Haas at 3:57 PM | | Comments

February 22, 2010 11:36 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 42 AUGH

Pitchers and catchers have reported, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

42 Days = 42(ish) times I had to restart the computer or restart Premiere or lose a bunch of my editing work. So no Royals stuff today, sorry!

Parents, don't send your kid to journalism school at Nebraska. Kids, don't go to Nebraska for journalism. You'll hate everything.

Posted by Minda Haas at 11:36 PM | | Comments

February 21, 2010 3:27 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 44 and 43

Pitchers and catchers have reported, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

My apologies - I forgot to post Day 44 yesterday!

44 Days  = 44 walks issued by Jamey Wright

Royals relievers walked more batters per 9 innings than any other American League team last year. Wright contributed 44 walks and a 5.01 BB/9 to that total.

But he was hardly the biggest offender. Of the 8 Royals relievers who pitched at least 20 innings from the 'pen, Wright was only one of four guys who walked more than 5 per 9 innings. And the other 3 all walked guys more often than he did. Gross.

Wright is no longer the Royals' burden; he signed with the Indians earlier this month.

43 Days = Zack Greinke's HR rate, sort of

Samurai Zack was good at many things last year. He was the best in the American League at keeping the ball in the park, with a HR/9 of 0.43. (See? That's kind of like 43.) That performance backs up what he told reporters in Surprise yesterday:

"Strike out as many as possible. Walk as few as possible. And give up as few home runs as possible. You can't really control anything else." (from this KC Star story)

By the way, if you think sabermetrics sounds fun but too complicated for you: Did that quote make sense to you? Then congratulations, you understand the basis of DIPS theory. See, geeky stats don't all have to be so scary after all - you can do it!

Now, back to hockey.

Posted by Minda Haas at 3:27 PM | | Comments

February 19, 2010 9:55 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 45 Chen Ks

Pitchers and catchers have reported, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

45 Days = 45 Bruce Chen K's

As the intro warns, these numbers don't necessarily mean a thing. Our dear friend Chopped Liver didn't really do much good with Kansas City last year, but still logged more than 60 innings at the big league level.

While I was looking for something related to Chen, I found the craziest set of stats. I'll share that instead of trying to find some larger meaning in the low (and annually sinking)  strikeout rate of a AAAA pitcher.

Chris Michalak, in the Blue Jays system, pitched 0.2 innings at the Triple-A level last year. His K/9, BB/9, and HR/9 all ended up being 13.50. He gave up one homer, walked one, and struck one out in two 0.1 inning performances.

That doesn't mean anything either, but it was kind of silly to see all those 13.50s lined up together.

Posted by Minda Haas at 9:55 PM | | Comments

February 18, 2010 4:25 PM

Countdown to Opening Day: 46 Buck hits

JohnBuckOmahaStretch.JPGPitchers and catchers have reported, but there's still a lot of time between now and Opening Day. I'll be counting down the days with a collection of random Royals-related numbers. Most of them mean nothing - this isn't supposed to be a groundbreaking series of research - but they'll hopefully make the days go faster until April 5.

46 days = 46 hits by John Buck in 2009

The Royals employed a carousel of catchers last season: Miguel "Swingandamiss" Olivo, the incredibly likable but defensively challenged Brayan Pena, and the Stormin' Mormon, John Buck. Not one of them played enough to qualify for the batting title, not that any of them would be serious contenders.

Buck got the least of the playing time. Part of that was his back injury, which sent him to Omaha* for a handful of games. Part of it was Miguel Olivo's position as The Official Catcher of Cy Young Award Winner Donald Zackary Greinke. And part of it was that Brayan Pena got something that resembled a chance to show Dayton Moore what he's got at the MLB level.

*the photo in this post is of Buck stretching with his temporary teammates in Omaha on June 29.

All of that added up to 46 hits for Buck in 46 games behind the plate (and 13 at DH).

Posted by Minda Haas at 4:25 PM | | Comments