#shawon dunston

[kraken-open-an-old-one]

First post in a while, trying to manage my anxiety and dread, at least my Cubbies are doing pretty well this year.

Bring it on.

Own this BCV Original.

[diarioelpepazo]

Los rapaces se hicieron respetar en su nido para vencer 3 carreras por 1. Silvino Bracho vino y en labor de 1 episodio contuvo la arrmetida felina. Con este triunfo, Águilas se mantiene firme en el tercer lugar [caption id="attachment_94440" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Las Águilas le dieron otra estocada a los Tigres (Foto: José Ramón González)[/caption] La organización de las Águilas del Zulia recibe la visita de Tigres de Aragua, en vista de que tiene que disputar una jornada más de la temporada regular de la Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional (LVBP), pero este sábado 18 de noviembre tiene un toque especial, al ser el juego de La Chinita. El Estadio Luis Aparicio "El Grande" se viste de gala para recibir a todos sus fanáticos, que deseen asistir a una nueva e histórica edición de este tradicional compromiso que une por todo lo alto al pueblo zuliano y a todos los amantes de la pelota venezolana. Por esta razón, el conjunto aguilucho tiene que salir al terreno de juego conseguir su triunfo número 28 en de este apartado que es en honor a la Virgen de Chiquinquirá, seguido de darles las mayores alegrías a todos sus seguidores. Sin embargo, los dirigidos por Buddy Bailey llegan con la necesidad de conseguir un resultado positivo y mejorar su actualidad en la tabla de posiciones, debido a que están ocupando el último lugar de la tabla, con un récord de ocho ganados y 15 perdidos. Los aragüeños tienen tres victorias y tres derrotas cuando se trata de este clásico. Primer Episodio – Tigres Lanzador por Águilas del Zulia: Jorge Tavarez Alexis Amarista recibe cuatro lanzamientos malos y va a la primera base. Seguidamente, segundo Yonathan Mendoza deposita la pelota en el jardinero derecho y se acredita un imparable. José Martínez entrega el primer out tras acreditarse un ponche. Rafael Marchan recibe base por bolas, los visitantes tienen bases llenas. Shawon Dunston Jr. se poncha y entrega el segundo out. Carlos Tocci termina el inning sin carreras, tras un elevado a la zona de seguridad que captura Niko Hulsizer. Primer Episodio – Águilas Lanzador por Tigres de Aragua: Guillermo Moscoso Alí Castillo entrega el primer out por la vía del ponche. Jackson Chourio batea elevado al campo corto. El último out lo entrega Andrés Chaparro con ponche. Segundo Episodio – Tigres Manuel Meléndez batea rodado de out al segunda base, Osleivis Basabe. Keyber Rodríguez falla con elevado al camarero. Sandy León deposita la pelota en el jardín central para el primer imparable de este inning. Alexis Amarista recibe su segunda base por bolas del juego. Yonathan Mendoza batea rodado que se convierte en out forzado al campocorto y termina este capítulo para los visitantes. Segundo Episodio – Águilas Ángel Reyes entrega el primer out por la vía del ponche. Osleivis Basabe batea elevado en la zona de foul hacia los lados de la primera base. Niko Hulsizer recibe bases por bolas luego de dos fuera. Alex Romero conecta hit hacia el jardinero derecho, hombres en tercera y primera. Jesús Sucre trae la primera carrera del compromiso, con imparable hacia el jardín central, Niko Hulsizer anota. Eduardo Torrealba recibe bases por bolas, bases llenas para los locales. Alí Castillo otorga el último out con elevado hacia el primera base. Tercer Episodio – Tigres José Martínez recibe base por bolas. Seguidamente, Rafael Marchan batea para doble matanza hacia la primera base, Alí Castillo, quien se combina con el campocorto, Eduardo Torrealba y retira a Martínez en segunda. Shawon Dunston Jr. termina la entrada con elevado al campocorto. Tercer Episodio – Águilas Jackson Chourio recibe base por bolas. Andrés Chaparro pega sencillo con rodado a jardinero derecho y le da la oportunidad de anotar a su compañero, tras errores defensivos de sus rivales. Ángel Reyes remolca a Chaparro desde la tercera, gracias a un imparable hacia el jardín derecho. Cambio de lanzador – Tigres Sale Guillermo Moscoso y entra en su lugar Carlos Guamán.

Osleivis Basabe falla con rodado a la primera base. Niko Hulsizer se poncha tirándole. Alex Romero entrega el último out hacia el jardín izquierdo. Cuarto Episodio – Tigres Carlos Tocci se acredita un hit hacia los lados del jardín derecho. Manuel Meléndez batea para doble matanza al segunda base, Osleivis Basabe, quien se combina con campocorto Eduardo Torrealba y este con Alí Castillo para completar la jugada. Sandy León entrega el último out con un ponche. Cuarto Episodio – Águilas Jesús Sucre dominado con rodado a la segunda base. Eduardo Torrealba entrega el segundo out por la vía del ponche. Ali Castillo recibe bases por bolas. Sandy León retira a Castillo en intento de robo de la segunda base. Quinto Episodio – Tigres Cambio de lanzador – Águilas Sale Jorge Tavarez y entra en su lugar Francisco Carrillo. Alexis Amarista recibe su tercer boleto del compromiso. Yonathan Mendoza batea rodado batea para out forzado, se encuentra en la inicial. José Martínez conecta sencillo por todo el jardín central. Rafael entrega el segundo out con ponche tirándole. Leobaldo Cabrera como bateador emergente, es retirado por la vía del ponche para terminar el inning. Quinto Episodio – Águilas Cambio de lanzador – Tigres Sale Carlos Guzmán y entra a su lugar Eduardo Figueroa. Jackson Chourio entrega el primer out con ponche tirándole. Andrés Chaparro se poncha sin tirarle. Angel Reyes batea línea de out a jardinero izquierdo para terminar con el inning. Sexto Episodio – Tigres Cambio de lanzador – Águilas Sale Francisco Carrillo y entra en su lugar Alvin Herrera. Carlos Tocci recibe pelotazo y posteriormente, se roba la segunda base. Manuel Meléndez entrega el primer out con rodado al campocorto. Keyber Rodríguez pega sencillo hacia el jardín central para la anotación de Tocci. Error el tiró del lanzador Herrera, lo que permite el avance de Rodriguez a la segunda. Sandy León entrega el segundo out con un ponche. Alexis Amarista se poncha para el último out del inning. Sexto Episodio – Águilas Cambio de lanzador – Tigres Sale Eduardo Figueroa y entra en su lugar Alfredo Zarraga. Osleivis Basabe pega sencillo al lanzador y avanza a la segunda por error. Niko Hulsizer entrega el primer out por la vía del ponche. Alex Romero falla con rodado a la inicial. Jesús Sucre es el último out con elevado al jardín central. Séptimo Episodio – Tigres Cambio de lanzador – Águilas Sale Alvin Herrera y entra en su lugar Eduardo Jimenez Yonathan Mendoza falla con línea al campocorto, Eduardo Torrealba. José Martínez batea rodado de out a la tercera base. Rafael Marchan batea elevado de out a jardinero central para cerrar el inning. Séptimo Episodio – Águilas Cambio de lanzador – Tigres Sale Alfredo Zarraga y entra en su lugar Luis Mey Eduardo Torrealba recibe bases por bolas. Jesús Sucre retira a Torrealba en la segunda por intento de robo. Alí Castillo entrega el segundo out por la vía del ponche. Jackson Chourio pega sencillo al jardín central. Andres Chaparro falla con elevado al jardín izquierdo. Octavo Episodio – Tigres Cambio de lanzador – Águilas Sale Eduardo Jimenez y entra en su lugar Carlos Betancourt Leobaldo Cabrera batea elevado de out al jardín derecho. Carlos Tocci se poncha tirándole. Manuel Meléndez falla con rodado de out a la segunda base y de esta forma terminar el inning. Octavo Episodio – Águilas Cambio de lanzador – Tigres Sale Luis Mey y entra en su lugar Jorgan Cavanerio Ángel Reyes conecta doble de línea al jardín derecho. Osleivis Basabe out en toque de sacrificio. Niko Hulsizer falla con rodado al campocorto. Alex Romero se poncha tirándole. Noveno Episodio – Tigres Cambio de lanzador – Águilas Sale Carlos Betancourt y entra en su lugar Silvino Bracho. Keyber Rodríguez se poncha tirándole. Jesús Rodríguez como bateador emergente, conecta sencillo a la tercera base. Alexis Amarista pega hit hacia el jardín derecho. Yonathan Mendoza batea para doble matanza al campocorto, Eduardo Torrealba, quien se combina con Alí Castillo y darle punto y final.

El conjunto de las Águilas del Zulia se queda con el Clásico de La Chinita. Para recibir en tu celular esta y otras informaciones, únete a nuestras redes sociales, síguenos en Instagram, Twitter y Facebook como @DiarioElPepazo El Pepazo/Meridiano

[rcsodak]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: 1989 Upper Deck Chicago CUBS Team Set of vintage Baseball Cards NMint.

[otd-in-cubs-history]

June 4, 1989

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ the Shawon-O-Meter is first raised, by fan Dave Cihla, in the left field bleachers of @wrigleyfield during a game against the @mets. The makeshift placard displayed the batting average of the Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston.

Original versions of the Shawon-O-Meter are stored in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution, Baseball Hall of Fame and Chicago History Museum.

[baseballthrowbacks]

fernando vina, mark mcgwire, jim edmonds and shawon dunston, 2000

[gamesspex]

MLB Players Personal Favorites

                     List  of  Some of Gamesspex Favorite                                                                      MLB Players  

                                                           (LF)                                     (CF)                                       (RF)

   TonyGwynn19                KirbyPuckett34                    AndreDawson8

                                                       (SS)                              (2B)

                       ShawonDunston12       RyneSandberg23      

     (3B)                                                                                       (1B)

PeteRose14                                                                       FrankThomas35                                                                (P)                            

                                            GregMaddux31                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               (Ca)                           

                                             IvanRodriguez7

Give us a list of your Players Just a List of Pos, Name, #

  LF-CF-RF

3B-SS-2B-1B

        P-C

[baseballfavo]

+%^#@ Shawon Dunston Wilson Baseball Signature Edition Glove A2644 w Autographs https://ift.tt/2Zwrun3

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

Innings Festival: A Live Review

The fact that I attended this music festival in Phoenix at the beginning of March seems like 1 million years ago. I had gone back-and-forth about attending this festival, but ultimately decided to go because of the promise I made to someone. Every band that I saw at this festival except for maybe two or three, I had seen before. I will not go into too much detail about those bands that I have written about at length before. The headlining bands on the nights that I went were Dave Matthews and Weezer. The one thing that struck me at this festival was the realization that medium sized cities like Phoenix do not get the same type of concert choices that people in Los Angeles, Chicago, or even Detroit do overall. I remember talking to a bartender about this, which he agreed with 1000%. They really do not have a venue to attract some of these bands that cannot fill a stadium. For this reason, I began to see why people were going crazy for someone like Weezer being there. This festival was an opportunity to see a whole bunch of bands that it would take years to see in Phoenix. The theme of the festival coincided with major-league baseball because spring training was going on at the same time. I got to stand right by some former players like Shawon Dunston, Wally Joyner, and Kenny Lofton. In tribute to it being a baseball theme, I wore a Charlie Sheen Ricky Vaughn jersey, which got me a couple of high-fives throughout the day. This was a very pleasant festival filled with people of all ages that never made you feel uncomfortable whatsoever. I would make the analogy that it was probably sponsored by VH1 because the rock bands playing there were very safe and non-controversial. I did get to see some some bands again that I did not mind seeing including one of my under the radar favorites, Strand of Oaks. I even got to wave at the lead singer as he drove by in a golf cart, while I pretended to smoke a cigarette. Portugal. The Man was very good as they went into their top notch covers as always, which I quickly posted to Instagram. The band’s official Instagram page actually liked it. I always find it really cool when a band that’s fairly popular reaches out to fans like that. I did go over to see Death Cab For Cutie, but the set was cut short because Ben Gibbard was really sick. Looking back now, I wonder if he had coronavirus at that time. I never heard anything later about it, but it is quite possible. Coronavirus was in the conversation a little bit while I was there, but people never thought it would get as bad as it did. The main thing I remember being said was if COVID-19 is really that bad, then why would they allow this festival to go on. We found our answer two weeks later that it should not have gone on. Yet, that just shows how naïve people were at the time. I always want to leave things on a much better note, instead of talking about coronavirus. I did find a couple of new bands that were pretty good while I was there. You should go check out Dr. Dog and Whiskey Myers. Their music is well worth your time. And so it goes.

[quotescodex]

'There was Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace, and together we were a double play combination for ten years' -Ryne Sandberg | View more inspirational quotes at Jar of Quotes.

[diarioelpepazo]

El criollo se llevó el premio Willie Mac GERARDO JAVIER ROMERO El jugador de cuadro de los Gigantes de San Francisco, Thairo Estrada, fue seleccionado como el ganador del Premio Willie Mac 2023, anunció hoy el club. El premio Willie McCovey se otorga anualmente al jugador más inspirador del equipo, según la votación de los jugadores, entrenadores, personal de entrenamiento, personal de la casa club y fanáticos de los Giants. Esta temporada marca el 43 aniversario del premio, que se estableció en 1980, en honor a la leyenda y miembro del Salón de la Fama Willie McCovey . “Espíritu competitivo, capacidad y liderazgo” están grabados en la placa que ahora honra tanto a Estrada como a McCovey. Estrada, en su tercera temporada con los Gigantes, actualmente lidera al equipo en hits (133), dobles (26), bases robadas (23) y está empatado en el liderato con 63 carreras. Ha igualado su mejor marca personal con 14 jonrones y su fWAR (4.1) es superado únicamente por el lanzador derecho Logan Webb (4.9). Las 23 bases robadas son la mayor cantidad de su carrera y la mayor cantidad para un Gigante desde 2012. Estrada ha jugado la mayoría de sus partidos esta temporada en la segunda base (99), pero también ha jugado 24 partidos como campocorto y tres partidos en el jardín izquierdo. Su juego defensivo vale +18 Outs Above Average (Statcast), el tercero mejor en toda la MLB. A continuación se enumeran los ganadores del premio Willie Mac: 1980 Jack Clark 1981 Larry Herndon 1982 Joe Morgan 1983 Darrell Evans 1984 Bob Brenly 1985 Mike Krukow 1986 Mike Krukow 1987 Chris Speier 1988 José Uribe 1989 Dave Dravecky 1990 Steve Bedrosian 1991 Robby Thompson 1992 Mike Felder 1993 Kirt Manwaring 1994 Ninguno 1995 Mark Leiter y Mark Carreón 1996 Shawon Dunston 1997 JT nieve 1998Jeff Kent 1999 Marvin Benard 2000 Ellis Burks 2001 Mark Gardner y Benito Santiago 2002 David Bell 2003 Marqués Grissom 2004 JT nieve 2005 Mike Matheny 2006 Omar Vizquel 2007 Bengie Molina 2008 Bengie Molina 2009 Matt Caín 2010 Andrés Torres 2011 Ryan Vogelsong 2012 Buster Posey 2013 Pence cazador 2014 Madison Bumgarner 2015 Matt Duffy 2016 Brandon Crawford y Javier López 2017 Nick Hundley 2018 Will Smith 2019 Kevin Pillar 2020 Mike Yastrzemski 2021 La Monte Wade Jr. 2022 Wilmer Flores 2023 Thairo Estrada Para recibir en tu celular esta y otras informaciones, únete a nuestras redes sociales, síguenos en Instagram, Twitter y Facebook como @DiarioElPepazo El Pepazo/Líder/MLB.com

[rcsodak]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: 1989 Upper Deck Chicago CUBS Team Set of vintage Baseball Cards NMint.

[christine-moore]

Going Back to Turner. (I Don’t Think So.)

"Would you like to have lunch this Friday at the Market?"

Out of context, this seems like a perfectly ordinary question from my husband. So why did it first hit me with a brief pang of dread? 

Because "The Market" isn't a quaint little Midtown café to meet for a sandwich. It's the name of the new food court at Turner, part of a large-scale, high-budget renovation of the campus. And eating there would be my first time back at Techwood outside of the annual family Halloween party, during a regular work day like the thousands I'd had there myself.

But nearly five years (!) after leaving, was I really still nervous about visiting? Had I really not moved past it? What was wrong with me?

Alan had mentioned a few weeks ago that the menu at one of the stations that day had been especially good: a Texas buffet of chicken-fried chicken, beef brisket, jalapeno mac and cheese, and chili cheese fries. They were having that theme again on Friday, so he thought it'd be a good chance for me to come try it and see the new Market, along with all of the other changes at Turner.

I know he knew it'd be a little tough for me, even if I didn't say so, and the invitation was a thoughtful gesture for him to make. And I knew if he was there with me, that's what really mattered. So I said yes.

It was admittedly strange to be pulling up to the gate on the Visitors side, to have the security guard sternly ask for my ID. When he returned with my parking pass, he asked, "Have you been here before?"

As soon as we started walking across campus, it felt familiar, but not. Muted blue and steel gray Adirondack chairs line the front lawn. The landscaping is clean and crisp. In one shady spot, there's a brand-new hammock.

We climbed the steps up to the redesigned main courtyard, which I'd seen in progress last October but was now finished, in more than one sense of the word. The space has a shiny coat on it, like it's still fresh from the packaging. It almost feels like I imagine couples on HGTV shows feel after the makeover: Everything is beautiful and pristine, and you're afraid to actually use any of it.

The old Turner was the lived-in family room that was sort of a mess, but it was your mess. Everything was a little dated and well-worn, but you knew where your spot was, and everyone else did, too. It wasn't designed for guests--it's where you and your group could feel comfortable and just be yourselves. And with that confidence, people created sharp, original work, buoyed by the grateful disbelief that you got to come in and do this everyday.

Alan and I made our way to the Market, which feels not only like you've left Techwood, but Atlanta entirely. By design, it has the same New York/Chelsea Market vibe that Atlanta's own Ponce City Market is trying to capture. (One former coworker even referred to it as "TCM--Turner City Market.")

As with the courtyard, it was hard to believe this was the exact same amount of space that had existed previously. It was the reverse of when you go back to your old high school and realize how small everything looks. Here I thought, Was it always this big?

Then I wondered if maybe it was me who was smaller. In my peak days at Turner, I felt in charge--of my team, of my work, of my experience each day. I could glide through campus with the ease of someone who knew the layout like the back of my hand, greeted with each step by someone I knew and who knew me. It was the Cheers theme song in real life.

After lunch, Alan took me to see the redesigned 1010 building, which traditionally had been the anchor building of the campus, housing the old Station Break cafeteria and the bulk of the network floors. Now it's home to sleek conference rooms and modern meeting spaces straight from the lobby of a five-star hotel.

As we walked, I flashed back and saw ghostly images from the past overlaid on the new structures. I saw all of Cartoon Network gathered around the staircase as the former president, Betty Cohen, led us in a toast to the fact we had been the No. 2 kids network for six weeks straight. I saw the TV that had been set up to showcase what the cutting-edge new technology of HD looked like. I saw Bill Burke, former head of TBS, announcing to a gathered crowd in the lobby that the network had acquired reruns of Seinfeld--"and we'll be starting bake sales to pay for it." I clearly remember him saying those episodes would start airing in 2002 and thinking that sounded so. far. away.

Later, when TBS picked up Sex and the City, the network internally used the tagline "From Mayberry to Manhattan" to signify its evolution from old, nonstop episodes of The Andy Griffith Show to a young, buzzy show from the prestigous halo of HBO.

Today, Turner as a whole embodies the sentiment. The small-town, familial nature of the old culture was simultaneously its strongest appeal and its biggest weakness, as comfort became complacency. The new leadership was tasked with changing all that and reinvigorating the image of Turner, and in that regard, they've succeeded.

The more I've thought about my visit over the past couple of days, the more I've realized my issues are really not about Turner. To paraphrase Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn't help but wonder: Was I sad about Turner's big changes… or about my own?

The fact is, I've been feeling old lately. After everything I went through with my mom, I know rationally that "Aging is a privilege," but it doesn't change the fact that I am, indeed, aging. Because my career at Turner, from age 22 to 36, essentially defined my young adulthood, I have to confront the fact that it's not necessarily Turner I miss, but that phase of my life.

I remember back in the late '80s when I was growing into my Cubs fandom, my dad and I would evaluate each season's team. Each year, there was one player, Shawon Dunston, who I'd say "has a lot of potential." By the 4th or 5th season I said this, my dad replied, "How many years can he have potential? At some point, you have to admit he's just an average player."

For some reason, this has always stuck with me, and I recalled it again this weekend. My years at Turner and Cartoon Network represented potential, the start of a career path that could reach unlimited heights. What did it mean that my climb led to a plateau, then eventually to me jumping back down to the bottom?

Then I came back to my mantra that I am not my job. I have value and worth independent of what I did or didn't do at Turner. One of my friends on Facebook, another CN alum, pointed out that the bulk of the work we did there was ephemeral. Nobody remembers the promo he cut for the show that got canceled a year later. The clever tagline I wrote for a new series now exists only as a screenshot on my laptop. Ultimately, to paraphrase my friend, it's not the work that shapes your experience, but the experience of doing the work that shapes who you are.

I'm a big fan of the "You Made It Weird" podcast hosted by comedian Pete Holmes. While the focus is primarily on talking with fellow comedians about comedy, Holmes infuses his interviews with the big questions about life, death, religion and philosophy.

He had one episode with Deepak Chopra in which Chopra talked about the importance of presence and living in the moment, since we live in a state of constant change. Chopra talked about how our own bodies are not the same ones we had even a few days ago, as our cells are constantly dying and being regenerated. When you think back on your past, think about how right now you're physically made up of 100% new matter than you were back then.

Rather than sharing this fact to freak us out, Chopra encourages us to embrace it as proof that meaning comes in mindfulness, that only by appreciating what's currently in front of us can we find real peace. And that if your current situation doesn't bring you happiness, you can rest assured that change not only is possible, but inevitable.

So I decided this weekend to take a moment to reflect on who I am--not who I was or who I'm "supposed" to be.

           I am alive.            I am healthy.            I am Archie's mom.            I am in a kind, loving marriage.            I am part of a caring family.            I am worthy of love and happiness.            I am capable of love and happiness.            I am kind.            I am curious.            I am observant.            I am a writer.            I am only responsible for doing my best, not for being perfect.            I am someone who enjoys making people laugh.            I am welcome among the right group of people.            I am not concerned with the wrong people.            I am not always good at knowing who the wrong people are.            I am trying to have faith that people usually have good intentions.            I am focused on building positivity.            I am becoming less tolerant of negativity.            I am in control of how I respond to what I cannot control.            I am doing work I enjoy.            I am good at the work I do.            I am happy to work with the people I work with.            I am financially stable.            I am creating a home for Archie.            I am mentally healthier now than I was five years ago.            I am healthy.            I am alive.            I am here.            I am happy.

In truth, there is no "top" or "bottom" of the climb, because there is no climb. Nobody is tracking your progress, and those who are don't need to be part of your life. We're all just putting one foot in front of the other, every day. Even when it feels like you're being pushed or pulled in a direction you don't want to go, you're the one taking your own steps and reshaping your path into a place where you feel right.

As I get older, I'm increasingly happier on my own path, less tempted to look over to see if someone else's looks better. And when I'm unsure of what's ahead and turn around to go backwards, it's not a path to the past I see. It's the people who love me now--family and friends, old and new--forming a wall of support and assuring me they're the real force that will keep me safe going forward, and not the false security of nostalgia. They are solid and true. They will protect me and catch me. The past is art on the walls: comforting, inspiring, but ultimately an illusion, a curated image of something that existed at a moment in time--or may not have even existed at all.

One of the saddest ironies of losing my mom is not being able to tell her all the lessons I'm learning from processing the grief of her passing. So many of her quotes and cliches and sayings echo through my head daily, and occasionally one snaps into place as I suddenly understand exactly why she said it. I remember when she gave me this print as a gift and not getting why she thought it was so important. Now, as I look down the foggy road of what my future holds, her message is coming through loud and clear.

[otd-in-cubs-history]

April 8, 1997

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ The Cubs play the coldest recorded game in @wrigleyfield history when the game time temperature drops to 29℉/-2°C.

The 5-3 loss to the @marlins falls in the middle of the Cubs longest ever losing streak, when they opened the 1997 season 0-14.

Photo: Shawon Dunston examines his bat after popping up to the catcher, on a bunt, in the eighth inning on 4/8/97.

[telesilla]

So, let me start out with two things here--one, we would have lost the game anyway and two, the call would have stood. None of that mitigates the fact that Shawon Dunston couldn't get word to Bochy that they needed to review that Kris Bryant homer for possible fan interference. You know why he couldn't? Because the fucking phones between the video room and the visitor's dugout weren't working. I dunno, but I kind of think it's not exactly unreasonable for the visiting team to expect things to, oh, you know, fucking work?

[alright-hamilton]

Examining Kyle Gibson’s apathy toward strikeouts

Kyle Gibson has thoughts and feelings and opinions that sound like they make sense, but they don’t. He has Reasons with a capital R that he doesn’t need strikeouts to be successful, but his Reasons don’t actually hold up. Let's look at Gibson's public statements and see if we can figure out what he's really thinking.

1.  "Guys who hit .300 are making outs seven out of 10 times"

Shawon Dunston once hit .300 and made an out 6.88 out of 10 times. That’s comical and also the closest anyone has ever come to the accomplishment that Gibson believes is the norm. Guys who hit .300 also draw walks, which are not outs. Guys who have an on-base percentage of .300 are making outs seven out of 10 times, but are also probably in danger of being sent to AAA. When Gibson faces Mike Trout (315 batting avg last season, 441 on-base) I hope he doesn’t think to himself, “Hey, this guy stinks, he makes outs almost seven out of 10 times!”

2. “If I’m able to keep my hard contact rate low, ground balls are almost automatic outs for me."

Gibson is correct that ground balls turn into outs at a good clip (76% or so). That fact shouldn’t be used as an argument against strikeouts, though, since strikeouts result in an out at a much better clip - about 99.9%..

And so even though he has an above average career ground ball rate (52%), some of those balls sneak through. Even more sneak through with the Twins’ defense behind the pitcher. Gibson seems to understand this.

3.  “When hitters put balls in play, they’re going to get a hit sooner or later. But if I get five ground balls in a row, I’m more than likely going to get out of the inning. Offensive numbers will tell you that. If they only get a hit three out of every ten times they put the ball in play, that’s less than two out of five, so I like my chances.”

I guess Gibson is cool with not converting batted balls into outs at an above average rate. He knows balls will drop for hits 30% of the time. And it’s comforting to him! He uses this as evidence that he has the advantage and doesn’t need to strike anyone out. Just look at Kyle’s imaginary inning - he got three outs but gave up two hits and he likes it.

Imagine a carnival game where kids shoot a basketball and win a stuffed animal if they make a basket. It’s the carnie’s job to prevent this from happening, and because this is the worst carnival game ever, he’s allowed to very easily block the shot if he so chooses. Like Mutombo against Danny DeVito or something. If it were Kyle Gibson, he’d he sit back and say, “they only make it about 30% of the time, so I like my chances. No need to block the shot.”

Front offices have reached the opposite conclusion as Gibson: why even give them a shot? Give them fewer opportunities to get lucky. In other words, try to allow fewer balls in play.

And they’ve succeeded dramatically. Balls in play are way down and strikeouts are way up and it’s become a big point in the “games are too long” debate. But from a strategic standpoint, it’s rock solid.

Putting the strategy into place involves measuring what a pitcher does apart from balls in play - homers, walks and strikeouts. But since Gibson doesn’t understand the strategy (remember, he thinks the odds are in his favor even when running a .400 BABIP), he doesn’t understand a primary measurement for putting the strategy into practice:

On succeeding with a low K-Rate: “Maybe someday someone can explain FIP and xFIP to me, and I’ll get it."

Kyle understands pitchers don’t have much control over what happens after the ball leaves the bat. And that’s the fact that was the genesis of the stat Fielding Independent Pitching, so Kyle has a great foundation for understanding it. But because he uses the same fact to arrive at a different conclusion, he can’t wrap his mind around FIP.

4. "I’d benefit from increasing my strikeout rate, but the same time, you have to know what your strengths are. Going after strikeouts for 27 out of 27 guys isn’t my strength right now. Sure, there are times where I’d like to get more strikeouts, but 27 outs are 27 outs. Whether it’s 27 strikeouts or 27 ground balls doesn’t matter to me.”

After cutting through the hyperbole, it seems that Gibson simultaneously believes the following things:

a. I can’t get more outs via strikeout (Going after strikeouts for 27 out of 27 guys isn’t my strength right now)

b. I would benefit by getting more outs via strikeout (I’d benefit from increasing my strikeout rate)

c. It doesn’t matter to me if I get more outs via strikeout (27 outs are 27 outs. Whether it’s 27 strikeouts or 27 ground balls doesn’t matter to me)

______

a. I can’t get more outs via strikeout

Let’s tackle the first one first: Is it within the realm of possibility for Kyle Gibson to increase his strikeout rate?

People who know baseball certainly seem to think so. Last year at this time, even strikeout under-rater Terry Ryan saw the K skills:

"There's a lot of talk about his strikeouts. If you evaluate that guy pitch by pitch, he's got three plus pitches in his approach, but you wouldn't know it with his strikeout ratio," Ryan said. "He's just gotta attack the strike zone more and not nitpick. He shouldn't be a finesse guy. He's got stuff with a power slider, a fastball that can sit around 92-93 [miles per hour] and a good touch and feel for a change. So there's a good chance Kyle Gibson is a guy who can take a step or two forward."

And there have been articles written by really smart people examining his strikeout upside and saying, “he’s proven himself as a quality arm. Take a quality arm and add some extra strikeouts, and you’ve got a dominant arm. And it seems like he should be getting those extra strikeouts.”

It’s not all just potential. He has the results, too.

This excel sheet sorts every career start into one of three categories: high k%, medium k% and low k%.

Take a look at the top third by K% of his career starts - every start in which he K’d more than 17.8% of the batters he faced. In those 32 starts, he struck out an average of 24.96% batters. League average since Gibson broke in is about 20.4%.

In other words, he’s had a lot of games in which he had a high k percentage. So yes, he can do it.

I suppose the quote, “going after strikeouts for 27 out of 27 guys isn’t my strength right now.” might not mean, “I literally can’t strike out more guys”, but could be read as “If I tried something that isn’t a strength, even if I succeeded in raising my K rate, it would not benefit me overall because any gains would be negated by going away from my signature strength - inducing grounders.” If that’s what he meant, he’d obviously be contradicting himself when he said that raising his K rate would be beneficial. But furthermore, he’d be presenting an either/or type situation. As in, there’s a choice between being a groundball pitcher or a strikeout pitcher, because it’s impossible to increase one rate without decreasing the other.

Being a ground ball pitcher is part of Kyle Gibson’s identity. No one wants to lose part of their identity. Especially if they also think it will hurt their performance.

The line of thinking is this - adjusting approach to go after more swings-and-misses (whiffs) and not pitching to contact means he’d be throwing his sinker less often, meaning the success in missing bats would be offset by giving up fewer grounders when they do make contact.

Luckily, we have fangraphs correlation calculator tool so we can see if ground ball rate goes down when swinging strike rate goes up.

Not so much. 

For Gibson himself, it’s a little different. Looking at the top third of starts by swinging strike rate, we see that his groundball rate doesn’t change much when he gets more whiffs, but his BABIP does.

Swinging Strike Rate - Upper Third of starts - 53.08 GB% and .312 BABIP 

Swinging Strike Rate - Lower Third of starts - 51.80 GB% and .294 BABIP

On the other hand, these thirds are only composed of about 35 starts, a little more than a season’s worth of games.

Inducing grounders and suppressing BABIP isn’t the only thing to worry about. Pitchers also need to avoid giving up extra base hits. Maybe Gibson is freaked out about giving up harder hit baseballs if he tries to miss bats as opposed to throwing his sinker and going for contact, which means that even if the guy gets a hit on it, at least it won't be for extra bases.

First, is this true generally? We’ve seen bright guys like Zack Greinke trade in swinging strikes for pitching to contact, so there must be something to it. Let’s go back to the correlation calculator and check if Isolated Slugging Percentage goes up when swinging strike rate goes up.

The opposite! This shows that improving whiff rate actually makes ISO go down, even though it’s an extremely weak correlation and we shouldn’t actually say that. 

I don’t have Gibson’s ISO-against, but we can look at hard%. The top and bottom third of swinging strike rate games produced almost the same exact Hard% and GB%. So, it doesn't seem like he has to choose between getting swings and misses or getting grounders OR avoiding hard contact. 

Swinging Strike Rate - Upper Third of starts - 29.13 Hard% and 16.50 HR/FB%

Swinging Strike Rate - Lower Third of starts - 26.66 Hard% and 11.50 HR/FB%

According to our spreadsheet, Gibson’s home run per flyball does rise slightly in games where he gets more whiffs, though. Gibson’s fears that we just invented are maybe valid. Maybe he’s right to be scared that his GB% will go down and his hard% will go up resulting in both a higher BABIP and ISO against.

That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t increase his strikeout rate though. It’s pretty clear that any losses in those departments will be more than made up for by the increase in strikeouts. And he knows this. 

b. I would benefit by getting more outs via strikeout

Damn right. And the proof is right there in the results. His ERA is significantly lower in games that he strikes out a higher rate of batters, which is probably mostly because he lets fewer people on base. And when they do get on, they’re stranded more often.

c. It doesn’t matter to me if I get more outs via strikeout

If this interpretation is correct and Gibson believes both B and C, then he’s admitting that he doesn’t care about getting better.

However, the actual quote is “..27 outs are 27 outs. Whether it’s 27 strikeouts or 27 ground balls doesn’t matter to me.” Maybe he’s referencing Tom Tango’s work that shows the value of a strikeout is only marginally better than a groundout. If so, he’s correct that the way he gets the outs doesn’t matter, as long as he gets them.

However, getting outs isn’t the only goal of a baseball pitcher. It’s getting outs while not giving up runs.

It’s like if your goal was to get to the top of Mount Everest and you could use a wheelchair or a jetpack. Gibson would be like, “Getting to the top of the mountain is getting to the top of the mountain. Whether it’s with a jetpack or a wheelchair doesn’t matter to me.” But it does matter because the goal isn’t just getting there, it’s also to not get frostbite on your nose and have your nose fall off because of the frostbite. Imagine Kyle Gibson saying “yeah I chose to take a wheelchair to the top of Mt. Everest when I could have taken a jetpack but the result was exactly the same” without a nose.

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