Trivia Wednesday: Hit Batter Edition

In honor of serial-Yankee plunker Jeremy Guthrie, we have a HBP question this week (sorry...I know it's a day late):

Since 2000, 8 different pitchers have hit 85 or more batters. Matt Clement (who hasn't pitched since 2006) is 8th with 85. Who are the 7 pitchers who have plunked more batters than Clement?

Guess below in the comments and I'll reveal the answers later

Running Series: Yankee Stadium Deconstruction Update 5/5/10

Quick!  Get a look at the very last piece of Yankee Stadium before it comes crashing down.

That's all we have left -- just a small piece of the right field stands in front of the 4 train tracks.  Everything else has been leveled.  Since this last segment has been left alone for a while now, I feel like the deconstruction crews have been toying with us.  The longer it stands, the more the knife is twisted and it hurts.  Maybe they are Red Sox (or Mets) fans.

Here is what the now-vacant plot of land looks like...

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Formula 1 coming to New Jersey?

Formula 1 -- that's auto racing for those who still insist auto racing is not a sport -- could be coming to New Jersey.

That's right, the Garden State may receive its very own 3.6 mile auto racing circuit.  Located in Jersey City within Liberty State Park, the track would be located directly east of Ellis Island and roughly one mile from Manhattan.  Not far from where the Barclays Golf Tournament was held in Jersey City last summer.  This site offers some amazing views, to say the least.

New Jersey, which has considerable budget problems just like every other American state, could obviously use a new source of revenue.  Plus, that revenue could be tremendous if this racetrack really does have "the potential to host the largest spectator audience on record."

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24 Recap: Jack’s Revenge and Denny’s Grand Slam

24 is best when Jack is teetering on the brink and revenge is a driving emotion. For a person as unpredictable as Jack, it seems odd to say, but you can really predict that he’s going to do the right thing in the end. But when he has something driving him towards revenge…well, watch out bad guys. In Season 1 he had his family’s safety, Season 2 he had the goal of avenging his wife’s death, Season 3 was the return and death of Nina, Season 4 was the kidnapping of his girlfriend (Audrey, though this wasn’t really enough of a drive to keep him going all season), and Season 5 was avenging President Palmer’s death. The general theme that had been absent for a few seasons was back in full force once that sniper bullet went right through Freckles. Last night, we got a glimpse of the ultimate revenge plot: Jack Bauer has 4 hours to kill as many people responsible for Freckles death as possible. Strap in your seats, folks, because 24: Season 8 is not going to be making a clean landing.

Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone

John Wayne rode off into the sunset at the end of his movies, but Jack Bauer is not John Wayne. A tip of the hat to the 24 writers for realizing that (and needing a “jumping off point” to their movie) and making sure Jack’s last day on TV was like his 7 days before: controversial and full of twists and turns. Something snapped in Jack the second that Freckles was taken away from him as so many women had been taken away from him before. And because he’s never going to be the same, it makes the viewing audience that much more invested in Jack’s revenge. It’s Guy Pierce in Momento, Denzel Washington in Man on Fire, Uma Thurman from Kill Bill, Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver, and Sayid in LOST all rolled into one. Someone HAS to pay.

So how did we get to the shocking ending and--finally!--Denny’s death? Let’s review

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Study: HGH Significantly Increases Sprint Capacity in Healthy Recreational Athletes

I've heard the argument that there is no proof that HGH actually helps to improve the performance of athletes. This study may blow that all out of the water. This trial is the first to show that growth hormone positively affects physical performance. Here are the details from the video and then the press release:



Philadelphia, May 4, 2010 – A study released today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians (ACP), finds that human growth hormone (HGH) improves sprint capacity in healthy recreational athletes. This is the first trial to demonstrate that HGH improves athletic performance.

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The Yankee Clipper: 5 April Surprises

Another series, another series win for the New York Yankees. The Yankees had a chance to sweep this series, but lost the rubber game behind another weak outing from Javier Vazquez (and BP's Jay Jaffe does a great job of breaking down Javy's troubles so far). But they bounced back last night in the rubber game and beat the White Sox 12-3 behind another strong pitching performance from Phil Hughes and some big games from their surprise bats. Let's take a look at some of those early-season surpises so far as we turn the calendar from April to May:

1. Brett Gardner - Patience was a virtue for this gritty, gutsy outfielder. Many fans were clamoring for Johnny Damon, Matt Holliday or Jason Bay to come to the Bronx to play left but the Yankees stuck with Brett Gardner and the results have been excellent so far. And while I thought that Gardner would be fine in leftfield because of his glove (UZR of +20.8 for his career) and his speed, he's so far been showing that given enough playing time, Gardner can impress with his bat. Gardner is 6th in the American League in batting average at .342, 10th in OBP at .415, 9th in runs scored at 18, tied for 9th in wOBA at .411, and 1st in stolen bases at 11 (which leads the Majors and is great in comparison to his one caught stealing). He is now on pace for 80 steals for the season. As the New York Times writes, the most important play in Sunday's win may have been Brett Gardner's infield hit in the second inning which drove in the game's first run. As a bonus, the little guy hit a home run too. Gardner, a slow starter at all levels over his professional career, has come on strong this season with his selectivity with the bat, seeing 4.43 P/PA good for 3rd in the AL. Oh, and those who thought that Gardner should face a strict platoon to guard him against lefties are looking off so far: he's hitting .409 against lefties so far this season. The one cause of concern? Gardner's .381 BAbip may be unsustainable (even with his speed). But so far, it's been a great start for the man who replaced Johnny Damon in left...and now Curtis Granderson in center.
2. Phil Hughes - I want to repeat: my preference of Joba Chamberlain being a starter had nothing to do with Phil Hughes' ability; I really though, eventually, he'd be a solid starter...but even I didn't see this coming. Hughes is becoming everything that the Yankees thought he would when they refused to package him in a deal to get Johan Santana. And after their starts yesterday, the Yankees look somewhat justified--a place that no one thought they'd be after Hughes' dismal 2008. Well he's showed them so far. He's 3-0 so far and looked like an ace. Hughes is 2nd in the AL in ERA (1.44), 3rd in wins (3), 2nd in WHIP (.880), 1st in H/9 (3.600), 9th in K/9 (8.640), 8th in HR/9 (.360), and first--in the majors--with a .122 BA against. Although his FIP (3.13) and xFIP (4.24) show that maybe he's been the bearer of some good luck, Hughes has looked as good as he did in the bullpen last season. You hope that players take bullpen assignments like that as motivation to trust in their stuff and use their fastball to get ahead and Hughes is certainly doing just that so far in 2010.

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How to Correctly Use a Bullpen

Many times I shake my head at the bullpen usage of Major League managers. No matter how many new tools are available to managers, they find more ways to micromanage bullpens and use relievers in rigid, antiquated ways. Roles are set and cannot be undone regardless of the circumstances. Closers can only pitch the 9th and will only do so in save situations. But sometimes you see a manager do something smart and it helps his team win a game. Yesterday in the Colorado vs. San Francisco game, Jim Tracy made one of these good decisions.

The Rockies were in desperate need of a win after falling in the first two games of the series. They started a rookie, Jhoulys Chacin, in his second career start and he was really good, giving the Rockies 7 innings of one-hit ball, striking out 7 and walking only 3 as the Rockies held a 4-0 lead into the 8th. Right handed reliever Matt Daley allowed a double, got an out and then served up a single to Aaron Rowand leaving the situation for Jim Tracy where he had runners at first and third and one out. Coming up next was left-handed hitting John Bowker, switch hitting Pablo Sandoval (who has an OPS 334 points higher and wOBA 124 points higher from the left side), and, potentially, left-handed hitting Aubrey Huff.

Tracy decided not to mess around with middle relievers. He realized the game was right here. He went straight to his closer, Franklin Morales, a power lefty. Morales struck out pitch hitter Andres Torres and then struck out the Giants' best hitter, Pablo Sandoval. Inning over and threat diverted. That was your high leverage situation and Morales was brought on at the right time to get the Rockies out of it.

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Mets embrace own history at Citi Field 2.0

As you may have noticed, NYaT is largely a Yankees blog.  But we do have one resident Mets blogger (Ari) so from time to time we have to pay heed to the other team in town.  Especially when that team has recently been on a tear, going from worst to first and then back to second all in just a few short days.  So without further ado, please welcome our newest guest blogger, the lovely Elissa Glucksman, as she offers a thorough review of the 2010 version of Citi Field.  Let's go Mets, F-A-N da da da!
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Last year Mets fans had a lot to grip about.  It seemed like every day another Met was put on the DL and the 2009 season fell woefully below expectations.  But at least we had a brand new stadium to keep our spirits up, right?  Wrong.  To most Mets fans Citi Field felt like Ebbets Field Jr., with a little New York Giants orange and black thrown in.

After a season of complaints the Wilpons have finally acknowledged that the Mets have a distinct and unique history of their own, wholly independent of their Dodger and Giant ancestors.  My first trip to Queens in 2010 was last Tuesday in the middle of the Mets' amazing homestand and I couldn't believe the difference in Citi Field's appearance.  Last year when fans walked from the parking lot to the stadium the only remnants of Mets history were five bronze plaques embedded in the parking lot commemorating Shea Stadium's home plate, bases, and pitcher's mound.  This year it is hard to avoid pieces of Mets history.  Banners are hung along the outside of Citi Field highlighting past and present Mets players, ranging from Ed Kranepool to Edgardo Alfonzo.  There are also banners hanging from the lights posts that illuminate the entire length of the sidewalk next to Citi.

I was lucky enough to have VIP tickets to the game.  All of the VIP entrances are now named after Met greats.  The first base VIP entrance is named after legendary Mets manager Gil Hodges, the third base entrance features Hall-of-Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, and the left field entrance is entitled Stengel VIP after Casey Stengel, the Mets' first manager.  The hallways inside each VIP entrance are adorned with photographs and memorabilia highlighting each of these three Met heroes.

The 2009 Citi Field feature that I hated more than any other was the Ebbets Club.  It was the club/dining area on the Field Level behind home plate.  What Ebbets Field has to do with the Mets, aside from existing in the same city, I will never know.  Thankfully, that horrible excuse for a club name is gone, and has been renamed the "Champions Club."  The club now celebrates the 1969 and 1986 World Series Champion Mets teams.  The first base side of the club honors the 1986 team, with pictures and memorabilia all along the walls, and the 1969 team is honored on the third base side.

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End of the Week Link Roundup

The last Yankee lefty to hit .400 in April was Paul O'Neill who hit .448 in April of 1994 and appeared in this great Seinfeld episode highlighted to the right...And we're off:

Yanks!

• Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports has Jorge Posada ranks all his pitchers and the results are great
• TYU on Robinson Cano and "clutch"
• Want some weird A-Rod hate? HardballTalk's Craig Calcaterra has the details and Wall Street Journal has some more of the haterade. 
• Joe Posnanski goes out of his way to defend A-Rod
• The Bronx Goblin on Jorge's availability last night and Joe at River Ave Blues checks in on Cervelli's good luck 
• IIATMS pits Cano vs. Pedroia: the intangibles and ESPN.com's Rob Neyer weighs in
• The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on Javy Vazquez from NoMass
• A Yankees fan beat the New Yorker fact checker according to CBS News
• Ian O'Connor of ESPN New York talks to Ed Whitson about Javy Vazquez and Pinstriped Bible tells us why Curt Schilling wasn't totally correct
• Mike at River Ave Blues examines if Tyler Clippard is the one who got away
• The Yankees staff vs. the Media in paintball from YES Network
• RealClearPolitics has Jeter telling the President to watch out with the Yankee shots
• Ben from River Ave Blues on the John Sterling conundrum  
• The Yankees and the emotion of their Walter Reed visit from the News' Mark Feinsand
• The Onion says that True Yankees and Regular Yankees will be wearing different unis to distinguish

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Just When Things Were Starting to Look Up for the Mets...

No matter how good things get for the Mets, there's one bad date they have to put on their calendar: July 1, 2011. And, well, every July 1st thereafter--until 2035. Why? Bobby Bonilla. Let's let CNN and Mental Floss explain:

Next year former outfielder Bobby Bonilla goes back on the payroll at the ripe old age of 48.

In 1999, Bonilla returned to the Mets for a second stint at Shea following his borderline disastrous free-agent signing in 1992. Bonilla wasn't any better the second time around, so the Mets waived him in 2000. The problem was that the team still owed Bonilla $5.9 million in guaranteed salary.

Bonilla's agents worked out a deal with the Mets where he would defer the salary if the team would pay him $1,193,248.20 every July 1 from 2011 to 2035. Not a bad deal for someone who was so bad the team basically paid him to go away.

Now, if you're wondering, what that $1.193 M could pay for the Mets in 2011, Cot's Baseball Contracts is the place to go. But even if you just take the Major League Minimum of $400,000, Bonilla's salary could pay for almost three players to play--or, for 2011, Ike Davis, Jon Niese and Jenrry Mejia.

How bad was Bonilla in 1999 that the Mets decided to waive him and incur this future albatross? Well in 60 games, he hit .160/.277/.303 and a cool .260 wOBA (which, according to FanGraphs was 9.9 runs below average). According to Baseball Projection, that was good enough for -1.5 wins, the worst mark of Bonilla's career. He also supposedly was playing cards with Rickey Henderson during the 1999 NLCS--while the game was going on. And the Mets will be paying him until he's 72! Maybe if the Mets are looking for some offense this off-season, they can ask Bobby Bo to actually come back and earn some of that money.

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