A place where Colorado Rockies baseball card collectors (all 3 of us) can waste some time reading about our favorite sport. The Rockies and their cards will be the primary focus, but I like to go off on tangents as well so anything and everything baseball related may be covered here.

Friday, July 22, 2011

July Quarry Group Break - Stats and Other Stuff

Hey guys.  The main portion of this month's break has now concluded.  That means it is time for the team stats for the break.  I don't know how many of you actually enjoy looking at the stats as much as me, but they do serve a couple of purposes.  First, they make my breaks different than everyone else's.  Second and more importantly, I use them to determine ownership of cards between multiple teams.  That hasn't happened yet this month (but will soon).  Either way, I hope you enjoy the nerdity (is that a word?) that will follow.

Also some questions arose about the odd names for the Dugout Axcess insert sets and subsets.  I will show and TRY to explain them here.  Basically the set took a word or phrase that a player used to describe certain events that would happen in a game.

Little Dawgs - Barry Larkin's nickname for new players.  This is the subset that made me think a lot less of Mr. Larkin.  It is just so egotistical, like he was too good to learn your name even if you were a teammate.  I think it is funny that "Little Dawg" Todd Helton (and a couple of others) has had arguably a better career than Larkin (not a Hall of Famer in my opinion).

Dishwashers - It doesn't really say why Dishwashers is used, but it does refer to the better pitchers of the time.  Has anyone else ever heard the term used?  Maybe it is common and I have just not heard it.

Gronks - Greg Gagne's (really?) nickname for a home run hitter.  He said they remind him of characters from the Flintstones carrying big clubs.  For those of you too young to remember the Flintstones, that was a television show in the 1960s that carried into syndication until the early 1990s.  I watched it as a kid, but it was old when I saw it.  Yes, I do feel really old by feeling that I need to explain what the Flintstones are.


Now onto the stats...first the raw total stats (base, parallel, insert, hit)

Angels                         18        0          0          0
Astros                          27        0          2          0
Athletics                      23        0          1          0
Blue Jays                     24        0          2          0
Braves                         24        0          5          0
Brewers                       21        1          2          0
Cardinals                     20        0          2          0
Cubs                           21        0          0          1
Devil Rays                   29        0          0          0
Diamondbacks             23        0          3          0
Dodgers                      24        0          2          0
Expos/Nats                  23        0          0          0
Giants                         19        1          3          0
Indians                        23        0          2          0
Mariners                      27        1          2          1
Marlins                        23        0          0          0
Mets                            26        0          1          0
Orioles                         22        0          1          0
Padres                         18        0          3          1
Phillies                         18        0          2          0
Pirates                         19        0          0          0
Rangers                       24        0          2          2
Red Sox                      25        0          6          0
Reds                           19        0          0          0
Rockies                       18        0          2          0
Royals                         20        0          0          0
Tigers                          19        0          3          1
Twins                          25        0          0          0
White Sox                    25        0          3          0
Yankees                       37        2          3          0


Now the rotisserie stats for the teams

Angels                         28.5     17.5     26        18                    90
Astros                         3.5       17.5     13.5     18                    52.5
Athletics                      15        17.5     20        18                    70.5
Blue Jays                     10.5     17.5     13.5     18                    59.5
Braves                         10.5     17.5     2         18                    48
Brewers                       19.5     3          13.5    18                    54
Cardinals                     21.5     17.5     13.5     18                    70.5
Cubs                           19.5     17.5     26        3.5                   66.5
Devil Rays                   2          17.5     26       18                    63.5
Diamondbacks             15        17.5     5.5       18                    56
Dodgers                      10.5     17.5     13.5     18                    59.5
Expos                         15        17.5     26        18                    76.5
Giants                          24.5     3          5.5      18                    51
Indians                        15        17.5     13.5     18                    64
Mariners                      3.5       3          13.5     3.5                   23.5
Marlins                        15        17.5     26        18                    76.5
Mets                            5          17.5     20        18                    60.5
Orioles                         18        17.5     20        18                    73.5
Padres                         28.5     17.5     5.5       3.5                   55
Phillies                         28.5     17.5     13.5     18                    77.5
Pirates                         24.5     17.5     26        18                    86
Rangers                       10.5     17.5     13.5     1                      42.5
Red Sox                      7          17.5     1          18                    43.5
Reds                            24.5     17.5     26        18                    86
Rockies                       28.5     17.5     13.5     18                    77.5
Royals                         21.5     17.5     26        18                    83
Tigers                          24.5     17.5     5.5       3.5                   51
Twins                          7          17.5     26        18                    68.5
White Sox                   7          17.5     5.5       18                    48
Yankees                       1          1          5.5       18                   25.5


And now, first to worst
Mariners                      3.5       3          13.5     3.5                   23.5
Yankees                       1          1          5.5       18                    25.5
Rangers                       10.5     17.5     13.5     1                      42.5
Red Sox                      7          17.5     1          18                    43.5
Braves                         10.5     17.5     2          18                    48
White Sox                   7          17.5     5.5       18                    48
Giants                          24.5     3          5.5       18                    51
Tigers                          24.5     17.5     5.5       3.5                   51
Astros                          3.5       17.5     13.5     18                    52.5
Brewers                       19.5     3          13.5     18                    54
Padres                         28.5     17.5     5.5       3.5                   55
Diamondbacks              15        17.5     5.5       18                    56
Blue Jays                     10.5     17.5     13.5     18                    59.5
Dodgers                      10.5     17.5     13.5     18                    59.5
Mets                            5          17.5     20        18                    60.5
Devil Rays                   2          17.5     26        18                    63.5
Indians                        15        17.5     13.5     18                    64
Cubs                            19.5     17.5     26        3.5                   66.5
Twins                          7          17.5     26        18                    68.5
Athletics                      15        17.5     20        18                    70.5
Cardinals                      21.5     17.5     13.5     18                    70.5
Orioles                         18        17.5     20        18                    73.5
Expos                          15        17.5     26        18                    76.5
Marlins                        15        17.5     26        18                    76.5
Phillies                         28.5     17.5     13.5     18                    77.5
Rockies                       28.5     17.5     13.5     18                    77.5
Royals                         21.5     17.5     26        18                    83
Pirates                         24.5     17.5     26        18                    86
Reds                            24.5     17.5     26        18                    86
Angels                         28.5     17.5     26        18                    90

Obviously this is only one way to look at break winners, but it works to an extent.  The top 5 has the usual suspects (Yanks, Red Sox, Braves) along with a couple of A.L. West foes that usually are middle of the pack or worse.  The Rangers were in the bottom 10 in both the May and June breaks, so congrats to Brian.  The Giants, Tigers, and Brewers also had significant jumps from the previous two break.  Since a few teams moved up, the reverse had to be true also with the Phillies, Orioles, and Angels having particularly disappointing breaks compared to their usual status.  But we do have the bonus rounds coming up and there are 3 more hits (ALL to teams without hits so far) along with lots of other good cards.

4 comments:

Ryan G said...

Stats are awesome!

I think it's interesting that they would use player's nicknames to name insert sets. I don't have a problem with Larkin calling all the newbies Little Dawgs. This is pretty bad, but coaching 9th graders, I had to come up with nicknames for some of my players, and I learned them faster than their real names. There were too many of them and not enough time to learn all their names too fast. We had 50+ ninth graders for tryouts the last year I coached. No way I'm learning all their names.

Maybe Dishwashers refers to them cleaning the plate.

The Flintstones were awesome, but I preferred the Jetsons. The stone jokes got old a little faster than the space jokes.

Anonymous said...

For fun, let me give a little love for one of my favorite players (please take no offense - this is all done in good fun :} and as I say below - Helton should definitely be in the Hall when he's done!) Also, I love that Helton demanded an apology when semi-accused of taking steroids.

Larkin not a Hall of Famer? He's easily a top-10 player at the most demanding defensive position. There are a ton of reasons why - but the one that stands out to me is 12-time all-star. How many players have more than 12 all-star rosters are not in the hall? I looked it up:

Rose, Bonds, A-Rod, Pudge, Griffey Jr.

Notice a theme? No eligible player that hasn't made the Hall has more AS appearances than Larkin.

By the way, he also won 9 silver sluggers and an MVP. Todd Helton (who I agree should be a hall of famer, too) - 5 All-star teams, 4 silver sluggers, ZERO mvps.

hiflew said...

Fair enough points. However, Helton should have been MVP in 2000 (or whatever year Kent won it TH finished 5th in a crock) AND Dante Bichette was Mile Highed out of the MVP in 1995, the year Larkin won it. The guy almost won the Triple Crown and screw WAR for saying he was replacement level because he didn't get walks or whatever. He was on base less than Larkin and scored more runs. Last I heard you don't win games from 2nd base...you win them by crossing home plate.

Top 10 SSs
Honus Wagner
Ozzie Smith
Cal Ripken
Derek Jeter
A Rod (look it up kids he was a SS)
Joe Cronin
Robin Yount
Arky Vaughan
Luke Appling
Ernie Banks

No Larkin on my list (and yes I hated putting Jeter on there). He was very good and probably does deserve the Hall, but he was hurt a lot. It doesn't matter how good you are if you aren't there. During his MVP season, he missed nearly 30 games in a shortened season. I think of Larkin around Nomar-level (or vice versa), great for awhile, but a quick drop off and never the best in his league.

And the All Star appearances are more an indictment of the rest of the NL shortstops at the time because every year it was Ozzie and Larkin. Who were they going to pick over those two? Jose Uribe? Steve Jeltz?

Also I take ABSOLUTELY no offense whatsoever. The point of these blogs and baseball conversations in general is to voice your opinion. Neither of us is 100% right or wrong, and the argument is great on both sides.

Anonymous said...

I'll preface this by saying I do put a good amount of credence in the win shares and WAR. In that order, BTW - there is a difference. WS is actual contribution, the other is comparison to a fictitious replacement level at that position. So I think win shares fairly rewards good defense - but WAR overvalues it.



Back to Larkin - first off in 1995, he played in 131 out of 144 games. Bichette played in 139 out of 144. That's really not much of a difference. It's true you need to score to win, but c'mon, you can't just say look at stats straight up. The Rockies had one starter with an an ERA under 4.75! In games the Rockies played at home, there were nearly 1300 runs scored (Colorado and opposition), while on the road there were just over 900. Just taking Larkin's Reds by comparison - Riverfront was always a very medium ballpark as far as runs scored - teams in Riverfront scored almost exactly 1,000. Plus, if you look at it - Bichette's numbers on the road were a huge drop. He hit .300 on the road, but of his 40 homers, 31 were at Coors! Regardless, Bonds should have been the MVP that year anyways.

Next off - "Larkin was never the best in his league". He was the best SS in the NL for an entire decade! In 1988 he passed Ozzie as the NL's best SS, had a less-than-stellar 1989, but from then on was easily the best NL shortstop until the turn of the millenium.

He did get hurt a decent amount, but that's because he truly was a SS his entire career. He played SS in all but 3 of his games in the field! From your top 10 list - a few guys on your top 10 list aren't truly Shortstops. Banks is clearly not a SS - he played 150 more games at first. A-Rod has about 200 more games at short right now, but will obviously end his career with far less than half his games at SS. And he couldn't even play the position today because of his hip. Yount played 55% of his games at short, 45% in the OF - I think you have to count him, but it's tough. Yount certainly did more than Larkin over his career. But Larkin definitely did more than Yount as a Shortstop.

I also wouldn't put Cronin or Ozzie ahead of Larkin. I don't know what standard Cronin could possibly be ahead of Larkin - and I also don't understand why Ozzie is so often ahead of Larkin. Look at their stats - offensively they aren't even close, and Ozzie's being the best defensive SS of all-time doesn't overtake Larkin's very good defense. And Appling and Larkin are really close. Here's my top 10 SS list:

1) Wagner

2) Ripken

3) Vaughan

4) Jeter

5) Yount

6) Larkin

7) Appling

8) Ozzie

9) Trammell

10) Pee Wee

Even if you put A-Rod on there and put Larkin behind Appling, he's safely in the top 10.