Monday Night Open Thread

June 4, 2012 by Mike Axisa 35 Comments

The Yankees are off tonight, so use this thread to talk about whatever your heart desires. ESPN is carrying the Phillies and Dodgers (Worley vs. Kershaw), depending on weather. Of course, the 2012 amateur draft begins tonight and I’ll be liveblogging the whole thing. Join in on the fun when the liveblog post guys up shortly. Otherwise, enjoy the thread.

Andrew

Watching MLB network and they just showed the top five players by WAR from the 2005 draft. Number 5 our own Brett Gardner, not too bad if I say so myself
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  Yeah I saw that. Color me surprised.
- Brian S.
  
  Can’t wait until he’s back.
- jjyank
  
  That’s…awesome. I had no idea. Sweet little fact there.
  - Tyrone Sharpton
    
    and that’s a stacked draft. damn that either is a testament towards WAR’s flaws, or shows how valuable GGBG has been.
    - jjyank
      
      Probably a little of both. Gardner’s WAR is helped a lot by his UZR, and that’s certainly a flawed defense. But defense is quite important. Even if it is due to a flaw in WAR, and Gardner is really, say, the 8th best player from the draft, that’s still really awesome.
    - RetroRob
      
      There are flaws in WAR and there are flaws in defensive metrics, but overall I think it’s a strong endorsement that players like Gardner can contribute quite a bit to a team without have glittering power stats. It’s easy to see what the power hitter provides; not as immediately obvious for some fans to wee what a defensive/speedster type like Garnder provides.
Knoxvillain

Off days suck so much ass. Anyone following E3?
- jjyank
  
  Agreed, especially when there’s two in one week. At least the draft helps.
  
  I don’t follow E3 as it happens, but I will read up a bunch after the fact. Any surprise announcements? If there was an update on Half Life 3, I think I might die of excitement.
  - Knoxvillain
    
    I haven’t seen a HL 3 announcement. Nothing surprising so far. I was hoping for Grand Theft Auto V, but I guess not.
    - jjyank
      
      GTA 5 would be sick too. I’m rather excited for Dishonored as well, seems like a cool game. Also AC 3, I’m a total homer for this games.
      - Knoxvillain
        
        AC3 tops my list of games I’m gonna get this year. Black Ops 2, Hitman Absolution are the other two. GTA V will be my top pick if it does come out this year.
        
        jjyank
        
        I’ve soured on COD games in the last couple of years, same old crap costs $60 every year? Meh. Agreed on Hitman though, Blood Money was one of my favorite games back in the day. Also very much looking forward to the next Bioshock.
Brian S.

What’s with the off day right after we just had one on Thursday? We could have used it during that 20-something game stretch in August.
- jjyank
  
  Seems unnecessary, yeah, but I’m guessing it’s due to the west coast trip.
  - RetroRob
    
    West coast/road trip, coupled with the draft tonight. They would have had to play a day game.
    - RetroRob
      
      It appears there are games ongoing running against the draft, although there are only two. Games early, and a couple of games after 10:00 ET. So it appears they try to limit games, but not block them entirely.
kenthadley

Can anyone tell me how much time lapses between picks in the first round….about what time will Yanks make their pick?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  Five mins in the first round, one minute for the sandwich round.
  - kenthadley
    
    Thanks, Mike.
  - RI$P FTW
    
    Now I’m starving.
Monterowasnotdinero

So what’s up with the RAB get together in DC? I will be at Friday and Sunday’s games.
- jjyank
  
  I will be at Friday’s game, and I also have an extra ticket.
RI$P FTW

‘Ace’ LOL
Greg

I also want to quickly say this. RIP Richard Dawson- Even though he might have had a huge ego he was still a great human being and emcee
- RI$P FTW
  
  Thanks.
RI$P FTW

Correa’s little brother is Manny from Modern Family??
RI$P FTW

So far I’ve heard on MLBN…

– the similarities are ‘uncanty’
– next year’s collective ‘bargains’ agreement
Knoxvillain

Went to middle school with Mike Zunino and played baseball with him. Nice to see him go with the 3rd overall pick. Surprising that Appel hasn’t been grabbed yet.
- Jimmy Page
  
  Why would they use the 3rd overall pick on a catcher when they have Montero????
  - Knoxvillain
    
    I heard that they were interested in Pineda, and wanted to dump Montero off somewhere because he can’t catch.
    
    Just kidding, guys.
forensic

Somebody asked in one of the threads yesterday how many of Jeter’s 27 leadoff homers were on the 1st pitch. Being that I sometimes enjoy mindless research, here’s some info if anyone cares:

– 8 of his leadoff homers were on the first pitch (4 of those on the road, so the first pitch of the game), the most common count he’s done it on (there was no count listed for his first one back in 1996)
– 18 at home, 9 on the road
– Highest month is August with 11
– Highest team is the Red Sox with 4
– Done it against Bruce Chen and Barry Zito twice each
– Yankees are 18-9 when he does it
JobaWockeeZ

Hawkins ain’t no JPP.
Tom

Jarrod Parker has a no hitter going through 7…. against the Texas Rangers.
- Tom
  
  And just like that he gives up a single to lead off the 8th.