Angels Dust

I haven’t been posting much lately, mostly because I’m

a) busy writing my thesis (again)

b) busy with work

c) trying to keep the At Homeplate Blog alive

So I will only sporadically post here when something comes to my mind that I could not post over at AHP. (BTW, check out this play by former Angels captain Darin Erstad!)

At least I’m able to watch more Angels games live now that I can open MLB.TV in an external player while working!

Plus I’m seriously thinking about whether I can get to Anaheim in 2010 for the All-Star Game. Boy that would be something!!!

So pay me a visit over at the AHP Blog and leave a comment to I get the illusion someone is actually reading my lousy posts.

Go Angels!

The days that Roger Maris former home run record is broken with regularity may be over, but today’s game is still full of imposing sluggers that strike fear into opposing pitchers’ hearts. But among those stalwarts of slugging, who is the strongest of them all, the primus inter potens? There are several possible approaches to answer this question, and I would like to take a few traditional ones before I present my own solution… (Read more)

Unfortunately, Mike Scioscia and Terry Francona have decided to deny the fans the joy of watching the two current Cy Young frontrunners in the AL face off against others, instead feeding them recently demoted Ervin Santana and a TBD. On the one hand that leaves the possibility that both Beckett (15-5) and Lackey (15-6) earn another win and bolster their resumé. On the other hand, we still won’t know who is better. Since the answer to that question will not be given on the diamond this Friday, lets check a few stats and facts to find out who gets my MVP (most virtuous pitcher), a special award that captures current and past performance on and off the field.

To read more, click here

Good to see the Angels start the second half on a positive note after the pre-All-Star slump, although Kelvim Escobar was robbed of a deserved win yesterday.

However, I’m sorry for the recent lack of updates, but I had a seminar a few days ago and exams are coming up in less than a fortnight, not to forget the regular work, and so I’m pretty busy right now and I don’t have enough leisure to write something at the moment.

So for all of you that are not regular readers of At Homeplate (Shame on you!), I will now link to an article I wrote some time ago about measuring a manager’s decisions to steal and bunt late in a game by win probability added. Although the peg is Dave Roberts’ steal in the ALCS in 2004, it also looks at Erick Aybar’s infamous game ending caught stealing(s). Not particularly original, but I guess it’s still better than not posting anything at all. So here you go:

The Steal & the Bunt
I do not know what someone who has been living baseball his or her whole life is thinking about when I speak of “THE STEAL”, but for someone like me, who has been watching American baseball for only four years now (thanks to the wonders of the internet), it can only mean Dave Roberts’ steal against the Yankees in game four of the 2004 ALCS.
Click here to read the complete article