Buccos game

I holla'd at one foot long Hebrew National which brings the season total to 4 (foot longs count as 2). Buccos looked solid in their home opener with Duke pitching a complete game shutout. Hopefully G-mode blogs about the Red Beards shortly.

I was proud of the way the Tabs scratched and clawed against the white sux. They never gave up and that's all I will mention of that terrible game. Holla at some fun today Ricky P! Go Tigers!!!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter and enjoyed themselves like pinochio did when found out he was no longer wooden. Big Phil and I had a great time at the Tabbies game Saturday, especially with the Tigers picking up an awesome come from behind W. The picture to the right is the view from our seats at Comerica. The Hebrew National count now stands at 2 after a mediocre day of hot dog consumption. But hopefully this afternoon I pick up the pace at PNC Park, where the Pirates open up their home slate.

Real quick update on the two baseball studies:

EXTRA BASE HIT STUDY

0 Extra Base Hits in an inning = 1 or more runs scored 10% of the time
1 or more Extra Base Hits in an inning = 1 or more runs scored 65% of the time

LEADOFF ON BASE STUDY

Leadoff man of inning reaches = 1 or more runs scored 44% of the time
First baserunner reaches with 1 out = 1 or more runs scored 41% of the time
First baserunner reaches with 2 outs = 1 or more runs scored 24% of the time

The only thing I'm surprised by is how little of a difference it makes to get your first baserunner with either 0 or 1 out. More to come on later blogs.


Yesterday afternoon's Tabbie game was unbelieveable. It was looking like a Debbie Downer afternoon until the Tabs put together an awesome eighth inning. BI's hitting for power to all fields this year and I've never seen him with more plate coverage. The at-bats for the Tigers have been very impressive this year as they have been very patient. Because of this the frequency of hard hit balls has increased and the opposing pitchers are laboring more.

MineDogg is on the hill today and it is time to play the White Sux like a two bit fiddle. For Zach to be successful today he must keep the ball on the ground and limit his walks. When we're at the plate the key will be to continue to be patient and take our walks when they give them to us. And then eventually light their pitchers' tats! holla! Go Tabs!

Photos from Opening Day at PNC Park coming soon.

Tabbies Day Game Adventure

Big Phil and I are about to take off for the Tigers' game this afternoon. Hopefully we will roll down there in time to holla at my favorite establishment ever... Ol'Sheighleighleighs. Can't beat a nice tall glass of Guinness before a ball game. JV is on the hill again today and hopefully he brings the same stuff he had in Toronto but not the same results. So far the Tabbies starters have been awesome this year and I think a big reason for that is they have issued very few walks. Its amazing when you throw strikes how many times guys will hit the ball hard and still get out. When you don't throw strikes the batter will get on base 100% of the time.

Hopefully I will be able to get a few photos from the game posted here. Plus today I begin my Hebrew National count. My goal for the 2009 baseball season is 100 Hebrews.

Last thing before Big Phil and I head down to Detroit to give the Rangers the biz, the picture above is Millsy's awesome porno stache from Spring Break 2009. That thing could ignite a season long rally for the Tabs! Holla and Go Tigers!

Crushing Defeat

The 5-4 walk off loss last night for the Tabs stinks but once again lets pull a positive out of what can otherwise be deemed a debacle. Edwin Jackson was phenomenal last night. The main reason for his success was attacking the strike zone. If all the Tigers starters can throw strikes then we will have a successful season. I can handle getting our brains beat in but the 9th inning walk that Lyon allowed ended scoring and winning the game for the Blue Jays. I also felt that with runners at first and third and one out, Leyland should have brought in Rodney or Perry to try for the strike out rather than intentionally walking the bases loaded and going for a double play.

Tonight we will see if we are a different squad from last season. If we can forget about last night's game and come out prepared and play hard, I like our chances. Miner must follow Jackson's lead and attack the strike zone. Go Tabbies! Have some fun tonight in Toronto.

My fantasy baseball team (the Rod Allen Pahdanuhs) is pretty solid in position players and starting pitching but relief pitching is a large area of concern. I have no reliever on my roster who consistently gets outs. I think there will be a lot of sheist spoken in our league especially from a large fella named Millsy. But maybe Millsy will set up a trade with me for Huston Street. The RAP's are coming at ya and they are bringing it like some crazy rattle snakes.

Hopefully the Tigers holla at some racky tacky tonight and give the Blue Jays the biz.

Update

The one positive to take from last night's Tabbies game is our offensive ability. We scored 5 runs off one of the top pitchers in the league. That's the only the I will say about last nights game because the rest makes me sick to my stomach.

The reason for this post was to update everyone on the 2 current sabermetric studies. The extrabase hit study has so far shown that it's imperative to have guys in the lineup who slug. Singles just do not produce runs at a high rate. 58% of the innings in which there is an extrabase hit at least one run is scored. This is compared to just 10% of the innings in which there is no extrabase hit at least one run is scored. This is a huge difference and I'll continue to keep an eye on it throughout the season.

In the other study, 45% of the time when the leadoff batter of an inning reaches base at least one run is scored. 25% of the time when the first baserunner is with 1 out at least one run scores. And only 13% of the time a run is scores when the first baserunner reaches with 2 outs. This shows how important it is to get that first batter of each inning on base.

Holla back to see more updates on these studies. Im hollerin at a Fantasy baseball draft tonight so hopefully I'll be able to post my team roster shortly. Go Tigers! Do 'em derrty EJ!

1 day

A lot of fun and crazy times as Lindsey visited the Pittsburgh scene this weekend. The Hofbrauhaus was once again amazing. But the real reason for this blog is to remind everyone that we are only one day away from the Tabbies give the biz tour (aka opening day). If JV can throw strikes I think we will be able to holla like some damn genius'. I can't wait to get the Rod Allen Drinking Game fired up tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have the rules posted shortly so stay tuned. And if any has any good ideas for modifications, holla at a brotha.

Pineapples for all! Bloop bloop!

4 days...

As I sit here at Panera, all I can think of is Opening Day. It is only 4 days away for the Tabs! Verlander will being facing off against Roy Halladay it what figures to be one of the better matchups of power arms in baseball. I was a little discouraged by JV's last spring outing where he gave up 7 runs on 9 hits over 5 innings. The good news is he only walked one and it was a spring game. In spring training games, pitchers tend to work on specific aspect of their game and not worry so much about the actual results. I hope this was the case for JV. No matter what though, you can count on me holla'n at the Rod Allen Drinking Game Monday night when the Tigers take on the dirty Blue Jays. Eddie is probably printing off the 2009 version of the RADG as I write this. One way or another I hope to have it posted on here in next week or so. And hopefully we can get Millsy to throw some awesome pics up from his trip to the Final Four. I'm super jealous of that crazy ass guy so hopefully he remembers I bring a wicked clothesline.

I gotta roll out of here so I can go give the biz to so big azz margaritas at Mad Mex's happy hour. Peace and Frizzle frazzle.