TheRealJohnnyBravoBlog

A Fallen Star

jdude618 — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:04:04 +0000

It was announced today by multiple sources that Ryan Braun allegedly took steroids during his 2011 NL MVP season where he helped lead the Brewers to the NLCS for the first time since 1982 when they lost the World Series in 7 games against the St. Louis Cardinals. Braun was first informed that he tested positive in October when he took a test during the playoffs and he then took another test a few weeks later to test the legitimacy of the first test. This past season was the best season of his career batting .322 with a .397 OBP and won the MVP award with 388 points to Matt Kemp’s 332. First off, I would have expected Kemp to win it but that is besides the point. If Braun is suspended for taking performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, it would not be only a huge blow to his career but to Baseball in general! If suspended he would possibly be the most important player and defiantly the most respected ever to get suspended. Since he is a first time offender he will be suspended for 50 games if he loses his appeal to try and prove his innocents. No one has ever had a suspension for taking PEDs overturned and, unless he has a VERY good appeal, it is very unlikely he will not have to serve a suspension. The only way he will be able to play for the first 50 games next year is if his camp is able to convince the league that he either unknowingly took PEDs or there was a mistake in the first of the two tests he took to check if he took them. I sure hope that with the new rules in the CBA regarding PED testing doesn’t lead to revealing of a bunch more of players who took/take them. What a huge blow that would be to Baseball! On the other hand, weaving out the cheaters would be great, not saying Ryan Braun is one, yet. I would be shocked if this was true but I would also be surprised if the test got it wrong. There is of course the chance of a “false-positive” but that would also be a disappointment because I would expect more from this kind of test!

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
2005	21	MIL-min	A,Rk	47	213	193	27	68	18	3	10	45	4	5	11	40	.352	.393	.632	1.025		122	7	4	2	3	1	CHL,HEL · SALL,PION
2006	22	MIL-min	AA,A+	118	517	457	76	132	31	3	22	77	26	4	44	100	.289	.357	.514	.871		235	9	7	4	5	2	HVL,BRE · SOUL,FLOR
2007	23	MIL-min	AAA	34	134	117	28	40	12	0	10	22	4	3	15	11	.342	.418	.701	1.119		82	1	1	0	1	0	NVL · PCL
2007	23	MIL	NL	113	492	451	91	146	26	6	34	97	15	5	29	112	.324	.370	.634	1.004	154	286	13	7	0	5	1	*5	MVP-24,RoY-1
2008	24	MIL	NL	151	663	611	92	174	39	7	37	106	14	4	42	129	.285	.335	.553	.888	130	338	13	6	0	4	4	*7/D	AS,MVP-3,SS
2009	25	MIL	NL	158	708	635	113	203	39	6	32	114	20	6	57	121	.320	.386	.551	.937	146	350	6	13	0	3	1	*7	AS,MVP-11,SS
2010	26	MIL	NL	157	684	619	101	188	45	1	25	103	14	3	56	105	.304	.365	.501	.866	131	310	17	6	0	3	1	*7/D	AS,MVP-15,SS
2011	27	MIL	NL	150	629	563	109	187	38	6	33	111	33	6	58	93	.332	.397	.597	.994	166	336	9	5	0	3	2	*7/D	AS,MVP-1,SS
5 Seasons				729	3176	2879	506	898	187	26	161	531	96	24	242	560	.312	.371	.563	.933	145	1620	58	37	0	18	9
162 Game Avg.				162	706	640	112	200	42	6	36	118	21	5	54	124	.312	.371	.563	.933	145	360	13	8	0	4	2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/10/2011.

Mariano Rivera’s Record Breaking Save

jdude618 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:56:59 +0000

Mariano Rivera recorded his record breaking 602nd save earlier today against the Twins. This surpasses Trevor Hoffman’s previous record of 601 which was set last year. Rivera completed these feat 1 year sooner than Hoffman but it took him 3 more games to do this. Even though it took him 3 more games, it needs to be taken into account that Rivera has started 10 games in his career while Hoffman has started 0 games. A few interesting things about this:

1) Rivera has played all of his games in a Yankees uniform

2) He will be the last person in all of baseball to wear the number 42 (Jackie Robinson’s old number)

3) The Yankees have had 90 wins in all but 3 seasons since the beginning and they have reached the playoffs in all but 2 of these 17 seasons of Rivera’s career.

Something else about this; the total of saves do not surprise me because that would mean that Rivera would have to get a save about every 4.6 games, or 36 saves per season. Even though this is an impressive number I would expect all elite closers on a decent team to get this amount every year.

4) This huge amount of saves and and Rivera having to get save every 4.6 games means that there is a one game every 4.6 games is one that the Yankees do not blow many teams out. Now let’s say that the Yankees lose one out of every of those 4 games (which is not practical because they lose a bit more then that) that means that they are up by only three run or less every 3.6 games.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mariano Rivera is a future hall of famer but, by looking at these numbers, I would think that any good closer with this kind of consistency with him team and the right situations would reach this number or at least get very close.

The Streak Is Over!!!

jdude618 — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:28:57 +0000

The Giants broke their streak of 21 consecutive home runs with out someone on base last night when Cody Ross hit a two run home run in the top of the third. The Giants ended up winning the game 5- 2 against the Marlins while hitting 4 home runs in the game. Three of those home runs were solo shots, two of which we hit after the two run home run. Let’s please not wait another 19 games before hitting a home run with someone on base!!!!

To see my post about the streak, go to this link:

Giants Break Consecutive Solo Home Run Record (inc. update)

Fewest Pitches By a Starter In A Complete Game

jdude618 — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:35:42 +0000

I was fooling around with the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index today and I thought it would be interesting to find what is the record for the fewest pitches in a complete game start. The record is 39 pitches on August 17th, 1979 and his held by John Fulgham. He did this while on the St. Louis Cardinals and against the Giants. In his 2-0 victory he allowed 2 hits, one of which was a double, and faced only 29 batters. This 39 pitch to 29 batters ratio means he pitched only about 1.34 pitches to each batter. There are a couple of things that stick out to me in this start. The first one is the overall amount of pitches themselves. I would like to think/hope that this will never happen again and no one will get close to this record. Batters are so much more disciplined now that it is unusual that a batter has an at bat where they get out on the first pitch. I also notice that he struck out 5 batters. This number seems extremely high due to the 1.34 pitches per AB ratio. It obviously takes AT LEAST 3 pitches to strike out a batter so that means that at least 15 of his 39 pitches were used to strike out 5 batters. This means that it took him only 24 pitches to get through the other 24 batters!!!! Using this example and the fact that he did not pitch a single ball we can assume that he struck out all 5 batters on 3 pitches each and the other 24 batters only saw one pitch each!!!!

Rk	Player	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	App,Dec	IP	H	R	SO	Pit	Str	GSc	BF	2B	3B
1	John Fulgham	1979-08-17	STL	SFG	W 3-0	SHO9 ,W	9.0	2	0	5	39	39	88	29	1	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/13/2011.

Giants Break Consecutive Solo Home Run Record (inc. update)

jdude618 — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:33:20 +0000

The Giants just broke the consecutive solo home run record with Pablo Sandoval’s homer in the top of the first against the Marlins. This was the 20th solo shot in a row, breaking the 1914 Phillies record of 19. This is a very interesting record but not the best one to hold because it means you haven’t hit a muli-run home run in quite a while. In the Giants case it means they haven’t hit a home run with someone on base since July 6th against the Padres. The previous Giants franchise record was 15 consecutive solo home runs and was set in 1997. Even though this record is very interesting, as I said before, I think it is time the Giants break this streak and start hitting home runs with people on base, especially with how weak the offense has been all season and especially in these past few games.

Update (7/13): Jeff Keppinger hit a solo home run in today’s game against the Marlins in the first inning to increase the streak to 21 straight solo home runs.

Bryce Harper Tearing It Up In Single-A

jdude618 — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:04:22 +0000

Bryce Harper, Baseball America’s number 1 prospect to tearing it up in Single-A Hagerstown. The Hagerstown Suns are the single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals who drafted Harper in last years draft with the overall number one pick. Harper has been amazing ever since he was 12 and was drafted when he was only 17.
Here are his numbers for this year so far:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
2011	18	Hagerstown	SALL	A	WSN	42	175	153	31	53	13	0	10	34	7	3	22	35	.346	.429	.627	1.056	96	2	0	0	0	5
1 Season						42	175	153	31	53	13	0	10	34	7	3	22	35	.346	.429	.627	1.056	96	2	0	0	0	5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/24/2011.

These numbers are obviously very impressive but the number that stands out the most to me is his 1.056 OPS. For comparison, the only person who has an OPS of over 1.000 in the major leagues and at least 175 plate appearances is Jose Bautista, who had a OPS of 1.330, but that is a post for another time.
Yes, Harper is only playing in single-A, which is much different then the major leagues, but an OPS of over 1.000 is impressive anywhere. I am personally kind of surprised that Harper is still only in single-A and that he hasn’t been promoted being as the major league season is over 1/4 done. I will be very interested to see if, when he comes up, he will be able to hit major league pitching and become the super star some experts believe he will be, or if he will slow down and become an average player.

Sophomore Slump?

jdude618 — Tue, 24 May 2011 05:04:58 +0000

There has been a little bit of talk so far this baseball season on the topic of “is Buster Posey going through a sophomore slump?”. A sophomore slump is when a baseball player does worse in his second season then in his first season. First of all, let me squash the Posey slump idea. Buster Posey’s numbers are defiantly down from last year. At the end of last year Posey was batting .305 and this year he is batting .281. Even with these lower numbers, he is tied for the team lead in average. OPS+ is 100*[OBP/lg OBP + SLG/lg SLG - 1] and it is normalized to the player’s ball park and the league’s OPS.

Okay, here are the numbers that prove there is no “Sophomore Slump”:

These numbers relate to the bar and line graphs:

1 Babe Ruth

2 Lou Gehrig

3 Willie Mays

4 Ted Williams

5 Rogers Hornsby

6 Ty Cobb

7 Honus Wagner

8 Stan Musial

9 Hank Aaron

10 Tris Speaker

11 Albert Pujols

12 Alex Rodriguez

13 Ken Griffey Jr.

14 Chipper Jones

15 Vladimir Guerrero

16 Ichiro Suzuki

17 Jim Thome

18 Manny Ramirez

19 Derek Jeter

20 Ivan Rodriguez

21 Edgar Renteria

22 Joey Votto

23 Barry Bonds

24 Shoeless Joe Jackson

25 Pete Rose

26 Eddie Mathews

27 Roberto Clemente

28 Rickey Henderson

29 Luis Aparicio

30 Geroge Brett

31 Roberto Alomar

32 Yogi Berra

33 Johnny Bench

34 Joe DiMaggio

35 Harmon Killebrew

36 Miguel Tejada

37 B.J. Upton

38 Dan Uggla

39 Jason Varitek

40 Ryan Zimmerman

Blue= OPS+ in season one Green=OPS+ in season two

Blue=Higher OPS+ in first season Green=Higher OPS+ in second season

ESPN – OTL: Deadly Games

jdude618 — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:40:18 +0000

I found this amazing article on espn.com about the situation in Rio De Janeiro. Rio is going to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. I will be very interested to see how this plays out as we get closer to 2014 and to see what Rio does to improve its country. I hope for the sake of not only the country but the athletes who will be participating in these events that everything gets sorted out in time so nothing tragic occurs.

ESPN – OTL: Deadly Games – E-ticket.

Justin Verlanders’ No-Hitter

jdude618 — Sat, 07 May 2011 23:04:03 +0000

Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers just threw the second no-hitter of the young baseball season. He accomplished the feat against the Toronto Blue Jays and even thought he did not get a perfect game, he still faced the minimum of 27 batters. This has only been done seven times before and the last time someone did this was Matt Garza’s no-hitter last year. Only one pitcher, Warren Span in 1961, has ever gave up two base runners and have gotten a no-hitter. Here is the list, sorted by base runners, of pitchers (not including Verlander) who have gotten a no-hitter while facing the minimum.

Rk	Player	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	IP	H	R	BB	BR	SO	Pit	Str	GSc	BF	AB	2B	3B	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	ROE	GDP	SB	CS	PO	BK	WP	ERA
1	Warren Spahn	1961-04-28	MLN	SFG	W 1-0	9.0	0	0	2	2	5			90	27	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

2	Matt Garza	2010-07-26	TBR	DET	W 5-0	9.0	0	0	1	1	6	120	80	92	27	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
3	Mark Buehrle	2007-04-18	CHW	TEX	W 6-0	9.0	0	0	1	1	8	106	66	94	27	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
4	Terry Mulholland	1990-08-15	PHI	SFG	W 6-0	9.0	0	0	0	1	8	105	75	95	27	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
5	Sandy Koufax	1964-06-04	LAD	PHI	W 3-0	9.0	0	0	1	1	12	97	68	98	27	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.00
6	Lew Burdette	1960-08-18	MLN	PHI	W 1-0	9.0	0	0	0	1	3			90	27	26	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
7	Jesse Barnes	1922-05-07	NYG	PHI	W 6-0	9.0	0	0	1	1	5			91	27	26				0	0							0	0	0.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/7/2011.

Rare Footage Of Ruth And Gehrig Unvieled

jdude618 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 04:32:25 +0000

Rare Footage Of Ruth And Gehrig
Rare, previously unseen footage of baseball greats Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth was discovered very recently in an Illinois cellar. This video was taken on October 18, 1927, a few days after the Yankees swept the Pirates in the World Series.
I think it is amazing that the video was preserved this well after 84 years and it is a great look into both how life was in the 1920′s and how these two baseball greats spent their free time.