Denver Bears - New York Yankees Reunion

All baseball fans in the Denver area and beyond will want to check out the Denver Bears - New York Yankees Reunion being held May 3 at the Denver Athletic Club in downtown Denver sponsored by the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Former Bears/Yankees who will be on hand include Don Larsen, Ryne Duren, Herb Plews, Johnny Blanchard, Ralph Terry and Woodie Held.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will kick off at 10 a.m. with a player panel moderated by Denver radio host Irv Brown. The panel will be followed by a gourmet lunch with the players and after lunch the players will be available to sign autographs and continue the discussion. Participants will also have an opportunity to buy discounted tickets to that night's 6:05 p.m. game with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

You can reserve your spot at the event online ($75 for SABR members and $85 for non-members) or download and print the registration form from RM SABR's web site.

Here are a few notes provided by RM SABR on those who will be in attendance:

Woodie Held – Infielder – 14-year major league career. He played with the New York Yankees in 1954 and 1957. Before the era of home run hitting shortstops Woodie hit 20 home runs in his 1957 rookie year. He averaged 21 homers per year from 1959 – 1964.

In addition to his hitting skills, Woodie was a dominating defensive infielder with the Indians, averaging 136 games per season, between 1959 and 1962.

Don Larsen – Pitcher – 14-year major league career. He compiled an 81-91 major league pitching record with a 3.78 ERA and was a Yankee from 1955 to 1959. Larsen had a 9-1 record with the Denver Bears in 1955.

He is best known for pitching the only perfect game in World Series history in Game Five of the 1956 series. Using a no-windup delivery, Larsen used only 97 pitches to dispatch the mighty Brooklyn Dodgers in one of the most famous games in baseball history.In 1956 and 1957 Larsen won a total of 21 games while losing only 9 and finished his career with a 4-2 record in World Series play.

While pitching for the San Francisco Giants in the 1962 World Series, he defeated his former Yankee teammates on October 8 – which ironically was the sixth anniversary of his perfect game.

Ryne Duren – Pitcher – 10-year major league career. He pitched for the New York Yankees from 1958 to 1961. He pitched first no hitter in Denver Bears history.

As the most feared relief pitcher in baseball in the late 1950s, Duren led AL in saves – 20 in 44 appearances – in his first full rookie year in 1958. He was the hero of Game Six of the 1958 World Series, stopping a rally by the World Champion Milwaukee Braves in the late innings.As a bullpen specialist in 1959 he went 36 consecutive innings without allowing a run. From 1958 through 1959 he fanned 183 AL batters in 151 innings.

Pitching for the Los Angeles Angels in 1961, Duren set a major league record by striking out seven consecutive batters on June 7.

Johnny Blanchard – Catcher/outfielder – 8-year major league career. Johnny was on the New York Yankees roster in 1955 and 1959-1965.

While sharing catching duties with All-Stars Yogi Berra and Elston Howard, Johnny took full advantage of his opportunities. Between 1961 and 1963 he hit 50 home runs in only 707 at bats.In 1961 only one major league catcher (Yogi Berra, 22) hit more home runs than Johnny’s 21. Berra came to the plate 395 times while Johnny had 243 at bats.

At one time Blanchard held the record for most World Series pinch-hitting appearances (9) and pinch hits (3).

Ralph Terry – Pitcher – 12-year major league career. Ralph pitched for the Yankees 1956-1957 and 1959-1964.

Ralph was a workhorse for New York between 1960 and 1963, winning 66 games and logging nearly 921 innings.He led the American League in 1962 in wins (23), games started (39), and innings pitched (298). In 1963 he started the most games in the AL (37) and tied for most complete games (18).Ralph finished his career with 107 wins and a lifetime ERA of 3.62.

In the 1960 World Series, Ralph gave up the home run to Bill Mazeroski that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates the championship. In the 1962 World Series he led the Yankees to the title by beating the Giants twice (including a Game Seven, four-hit shutout) and posting a 1.80 ERA.

Herb Plews – Infielder – 4-year major league career with the Washington Senators and Boston Red Sox.

A sure-handed defensive player, Plews tied an existing Major League record when he participated in five double plays while manning second base for the Senators on September 26, 1958. Plews, who would now be labeled a super-utility infielder, hit well in his first two major league seasons, averaging .270, while playing second, third and shortstop.

Norm Siebern – Outfield - Had a twelve-year major league career with six teams. He played with the Yankees in 1956, 1958 and 1959. In his major league career, Norm hit .272 with 132 home runs. He was a three-time All Star and also won a Gold Glove.

Norm signed with the New York Yankees in 1951, and made it to the majors before he was 23 years old. In 1956, Norm suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss much of the season. The next year, he starred in the minor leagues at Denver and was chosen by the Sporting News as their Minor League Player of the Year. He was a regular in the majors from 1958 to 1966. In his first full season with the Yankees, in 1958, he hit .300 with a .388 on-base percentage.

After the 1959 season, Norm was traded to the Kansas City Athletics along with Hank Bauer, Don Larsen, and Marv Throneberry in the trade that brought Roger Maris to the Yankees. Norm spent four seasons with the A’s, hitting a peak in 1962 with numbers of .308/.412/.495 and 117 RBI.

After the 1963 season, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim Gentile. In 1964, his average dipped to .245, but he had 106 walks and thus still was able to score 92 runs. In 1966, he was on the California Angels, and although he hit .247, he drew enough walks that he was close to leading the team in OBP. He finished out his career in 1967 and 1968 with the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox.

The Captain

What everyone knew already but that is now gaining a little mainstream press.

Derek Jeter is not a good defensive shortstop.

The above revelation is a part of the presentation that Shane Jensen and colleagues gave in discussing his Spatial Aggregate Fielding Evaluation system or SAFE at a recent AAAS meeting in Boston.

Of course, as is typical, the popular press (the Popular Science article) gets the details wrong and attributes Defensive Efficiency Ratio (DER) to David Pinto instead of his system called Probabilstic Model of Range (PMR).

SFR in the Infield - AL East

Today we'll look at the AL East infielders in terms of SFR...

                                                   Ex
Name                   Team      POS      Balls Runners Runners     SFR
Steve Trachsel         BAL        1          32       3       0     1.9
Jeremy Guthrie         BAL        1          22       2       0     1.8
Erik Bedard            BAL        1          17       2       0     1.4
Chad Bradford          BAL        1          17       1       1     0.3
Daniel Cabrera         BAL        1          18       2       5    -2.3
Ramon Hernandez        BAL        2          26       2       2     0.1
Chris Gomez            BAL        3          32       5       4     0.4
Aubrey Huff            BAL        3          83      13      15    -2.0
Kevin Millar           BAL        3         207      32      35    -2.7
Brian Roberts          BAL        4         644     165     153     8.6
Brandon Fahey          BAL        4          17       4       2     1.8
Chris Gomez            BAL        4          25       7       6     0.6
Melvin Mora            BAL        5         404      89      85     2.6
Chris Gomez            BAL        5          70      15      15    -0.1
Aubrey Huff            BAL        5          43       9      11    -1.5
Scott Moore            BAL        5          29       6      11    -3.6
Luis Hernandez         BAL        6          71      19      12     5.8
Miguel Tejada          BAL        6         507     146     142     4.3
Chris Gomez            BAL        6          42      12      11     0.9
Brandon Fahey          BAL        6          38      11       9     0.8
Freddie Bynum          BAL        6          30       7       7    -0.5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Daisuke Matsuzaka      BOS        1          25       2       1     0.9
Tim Wakefield          BOS        1          26       2       2     0.3
Josh Beckett           BOS        1          15       1       3    -1.2
Jason Varitek          BOS        2          35       1       3    -1.2
Kevin Youkilis         BOS        3         286      42      33     6.6
Eric Hinske            BOS        3          71      11      10     0.3
Dustin Pedroia         BOS        4         537     127     118     6.8
Alex Cora              BOS        4         134      31      27     3.6
Mike Lowell            BOS        5         419      86      75     8.3
Kevin Youkilis         BOS        5          42      10       9     0.9
Alex Cora              BOS        6          89      25      23     2.5
Julio Lugo             BOS        6         582     156     151     0.1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Mussina           NYA        1          29       3       2     0.9
Roger Clemens          NYA        1          16       2       1     0.5
Chien-Ming Wang        NYA        1          38       4       4    -0.3
Andy Pettitte          NYA        1          30       3       4    -0.8
Jorge Posada           NYA        2          55       5       5    -0.1
Andy Phillips          NYA        3         106      16      13     2.3
Doug Mientkiewicz      NYA        3         125      17      15     1.7
Jason Giambi           NYA        3          30       5       4     0.9
Wilson Betemit         NYA        3          17       3       3     0.1
Miguel Cairo           NYA        3          45       7       8    -0.3
Josh Phelps            NYA        3          37       5       8    -2.4
Robinson Cano          NYA        4         686     167     154     9.2
Wilson Betemit         NYA        5          19       5       4     0.2
Alex Rodriguez         NYA        5         433      90      89     0.1
Miguel Cairo           NYA        6          34      10       8     1.1
Alberto Gonzalez       NYA        6          23       5       5     0.0
Wilson Betemit         NYA        6          18       4       5    -0.7
Derek Jeter            NYA        6         618     172     197   -20.8
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Casey Fossum           TBA        1          17       2       1     0.9
James Shields          TBA        1          30       3       3    -0.1
Andrew Sonnanstine     TBA        1          17       2       3    -0.9
Scott Kazmir           TBA        1          22       3       6    -2.3
Dioner Navarro         TBA        2          29       2       3    -0.6
Carlos Pena            TBA        3         321      46      43     1.9
Ty Wigginton           TBA        3          32       5       8    -2.8
B.J. Upton             TBA        4         223      51      49     1.9
Jorge Velandia         TBA        4          43      11      10     0.5
Josh Wilson            TBA        4          90      23      22     0.2
Ty Wigginton           TBA        4         140      35      36    -0.7
Brendan Harris         TBA        4         154      37      43    -3.8
Akinori Iwamura        TBA        5         331      71      71     0.2
Josh Wilson            TBA        5          28       7       7    -0.1
Ty Wigginton           TBA        5          89      17      19    -1.6
Jorge Velandia         TBA        6          17       5       4     1.5
Ben Zobrist            TBA        6         112      31      41    -7.7
Josh Wilson            TBA        6         190      53      67   -10.6
Brendan Harris         TBA        6         356     101     121   -11.3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaun Marcum           TOR        1          27       4       0     2.7
Jesse Litsch           TOR        1          24       3       1     1.3
Dustin McGowan         TOR        1          32       2       1     1.1
A.J. Burnett           TOR        1          16       2       1     0.4
Josh Towers            TOR        1          23       2       2    -0.1
Roy Halladay           TOR        1          42       5       6    -1.0
Scott Downs            TOR        1          17       2       4    -1.8
Gregg Zaun             TOR        2          36       3       3    -0.4
Lyle Overbay           TOR        3         253      39      31     6.4
Matt Stairs            TOR        3         103      15      16    -0.7
Curtis Thigpen         TOR        3          24       4       5    -0.8
Aaron Hill             TOR        4         735     190     158    23.5
John McDonald          TOR        5          42       9       5     3.2
Jason Smith            TOR        5          37       7       5     1.8
Howie Clark            TOR        5          25       6       5     0.1
Troy Glaus             TOR        5         305      66      66     0.0
Hector Luna            TOR        5          35       8       8    -0.1
Russ Adams             TOR        5          26       6      11    -3.9
John McDonald          TOR        6         406     111      94    11.3
Ray Olmedo             TOR        6          69      20      15     4.4
Royce Clayton          TOR        6         266      74      69     2.9

Indians at Yankees, Game 3 Part 6

Starting in the top of the eighth...

Final. Indians 4, Yankees 8.

Unimpressive. I haven't seen Robinson Cano play much this year but he's now looked poor on two plays. Such are the risks of small sample sizes since Baseball Prospectus' Fielding Runs Above Average have him at +23 in 2007 and Ultimate Zone Rating has him at +15, second in the American League behind Mark Ellis at +25. Derek Jeter, on the other hand, was last in the AL at -27 in UZR and at -6 at BP.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow. The Yankees don't replace Joba Chamberlain and he has a 21 pitch inning and gives up a run. For the two innings he throws 38 pitches. Wonder how that will impact tomorrow's game assuming this one ends with a Yankee victory especially not knowing what you're going to get with Mike Mussina as the probable starter tomorrow.

Guts. Chip Carey notes that Joe Borowski does it with location and "guts". I'm not sure but I think that means he doesn't have very good stuff. The graphic they showed of his ERA in save and non-save situations was interesting with his save era at around 3.70 and his non-save at over 9.00. The implication of course is that he's better under pressure but I do see from looking at his game logs that he took four losses in 15 non-save situation appearances. In only two other games did he come in with a big lead, pitch poorly and have his team still win.

Mariano Rivera finishes it off and we'll have baseball tomorrow night.

Indians at Yankees, Game 3 Part 5

Starting in the top of the sixth...

End of the seventh inning, Indians 3, Yankees 8.

Hard Stuff. Uneventful top of the sixth with Phil Hughes now mixing his pitches nicely. He threw all fastballs to Kenny Lofton in striking him out and 13 of his 18 pitches were fastballs.

Done. Like Bob Brenly, also surprised that Jake Westbrook is back out for the bottom of the sixth but that doesn't last long with A-Rod's second single of the night on a changeup. It was clear that Westbrook had lost the confidence in his sinker as he threw just two in five pitches to Rodriguez.

Strategic. I really liked the bunt by Doug Mientkiewicz in that situation with nobody out and runners on first and second. That's the situation where, if the idea is to score a single run, the break even value is the lowest it ever is for laying down a sacrifice bunt at under 80% for the general case. In this situation already up by two runs, a third run means raising the win expectancy by over 8%.

Busted It Open. The move pays off with the single from Robinson Cano and subsequent error by Trot Nixon in right field that plates three runs and lets Yankee fans breathe a little easier.

Joba Rules. Joba Chamberlain hits greater than 98 mph on three pitches to the first two batters and 99.2 on the first pitch to the third, but strikes out the first couple on sliders in the dirt. He tries the same thing to Travis Hafner but he gets it up and Hafner flies out to right field. After the fourth pitch to Hafner Chip Carey says that "last pitch broke a foot and a half". PITCHf/x had it's movement at 9.4 inches horizontally and 7.4 inches horizontally and thrown at 77 mph. Not a foot and a half but a huge break none the less. That said, I hope Brenly is wrong and they don't elect to use him for another inning. With a five-run lead it would seem to be prudent to save him for tomorrow.

Wow. Jensen Lewis looks impressive and had an excellent September in 10 games.

Indians at Yankees, Game 3 Part 4

Starting in the top of the fourth...

End of five innings, Indians 3, Yankees 5.

Tailing. Tony Gwynn mentioned that the fastball Phil Hughes threw to strike out Trot Nixon in the fourth was a good running fastball. Generally speaking Hughes' fastball rides more than it tails (I presume the definition of "running" likely includes both). On the season his fastball will typically record a vertical movement value of 12 or more inches, meaning that it comes in about two to three inches higher than a typical fastball thrown at that velocity. The tailing action on his fastball, however, is only in the range of one to three inches. In fact, that pitch referenced by Gwynn had a value of 1.3 inches according to PITCHf/x.

Consistency? Robinson Cano doesn't move his body and get in front of the ball and after scoring it a hit initially the call is changed to an error. The right call I think but terribly inconsistent given Jeter's gift in the first.

Curve. As noted by Bob Brenly Phil Hughes has established his curveball and threw it four of the first eight pitches in the fifth inning and then used it setup the fastball on the outside corner to Ryan Garko to end the top of the fifth. Nice.

Shift. Before Jason Giambi struck out in the bottom of the fifth I think Tony Gwynn was going to take Giambi to task for not attempting to beat the shift with his team desparately needing base runners. BIPChart says Giambi hits 75% of his grounders from the middle to the right side of the infield and the shift worked perfectly in his first at bat.

Getting the Ball Up. The three straight singles in the bottom of the fifth off of Jake Westbrook were all elevated sinkers at 2.2, 2.4, and 3.3 feet above the ground. Not mentioned but two very nice plays by Kenny Lofton to hold Hideki Matsui at third and to charge the single by Melky Cabrera and hit the cutoff man.

See Above. As was the homerun Johnny Damon hit to give the Yankees at 5-3 lead. That pitch was thrown at 91.7 mph and came in at 3.4 feet above the ground and was also about 2 inches towards the left-handed batter's box. Can the relievers get ready any faster? As a result, Derek Jeter sees only one sinker out of five pitches and now Westbrook is trying to adjust by working his curveball and slider. Maybe a little too late.

Indians at Yankees, Game 3 Part 3

Continuing in the top of the third as Phil Hughes enters the game...

End of the third inning. Indians 3, Yankees 1.

Wild Pitch. Jorge Posada has no chance on that pitch from Hughes and it hit so far in the front of the plate that moving over into a blocking position likely wouldn't have helped. Of course as has been their luck it immediately costs them on Jhonny Peralta's double to right.

Sweeps. This is looking like the first time all four division series will end in sweeps. In fact this is the first time there have been as many as three sweeps. The two game sweeps

In 2006 Oakland swept Minnesota and the Mets swept the Dodgers.
In 2005 the White Sox swept the Red Sox and the Cardinals swept the Padres (despite my prediction to the contrary).
In 2000 the Mariners swept the White Sox and St. Louis swept Atlanta.
In 1998 the Yankees swept the Rangers and Cubs were swept by the Braves.
In 1997 Florida swept San Francisco and Atlanta swept Houston.
And finally, in 1995 the Indians swept Boston and the Reds swept the Dodgers.

DPs. As with Livan Hernandez last night, Jake Westbrook has been able to get out of trouble courtesy of the double play via his sinker. At one point, as reported by Nate Silver, 12 of 24 Cubs hitters had reached base and yet they were unable to break it open. And so with their defeat, 2008 will be the 100th year of the rebuilding effort.

Mistake. Terrible play by Victor Martinez in throwing to third with a three-run lead. Nice slide by Hideki Matsui to get his hand in there. And another good sinker from Westbrook to get the ground ball. He's throwing his sinker consistently between 91.5 and 92.5 mph. However, the one he threw to Johnny Damon stays up and he scoots it through the right side.

And another DP on another sinker, this one at 1.99 feet from the ground.

Indians at Yankees, Game 3 Part 2

Starting at the top of the second...

Top of the third. Indians 2 Yankees 0 - pitching change.

Oops. Did I say Clemens' location was good? Trot Nixon hits an 86 mph splitter that doesn't sink or a slider that just spins and ends up thigh high on the inner half (PITCHf/x had it an inch and half towads the left-handed box). Grady Sizemore hits almost the identical pitch albeit a few inches lower for a single to right. The splitter is looking better in the at bat to Asdrubal Cabrera even though he was able to lay off the two best pitches.

A-Rod. 0 for his last 18 in the postseason and Alex Rodriguez just misses a 3-1 fastball in the zone before hitting a solid single to left on a 92.5 mph fastball. Maybe the buzzards will move off for a few innings at least.

Turbo sinker! The first "turbo sinker" reference belongs to Bob Brenly in reference to Fausto Carmona in the bottom of the second.

Laying off. Chip Carey and Tony Gwynn agree that Indians hitters are laying off the split fingered fastball and he's taking longer between pitches now and doesn't look good. This won't last long.

Done. Clemens is done after throwing fewer than 60 pitches. Is this the last time we see him on the mound? Lord I hope so. I'd hate to see another round of "where will Roger go" this offseason. Enough is enough and maybe this will convince him to hang it up content with the fact that he was arguably the greatest pitcher of all time.

Indians at Yankees, Game 3 Part 1

Hoping that this game is more interesting than the Red Sox/Angels, I thought I'd blog a little during the game. I'll try to do an inning or two at a time for as long as I can.

Indians 1, Yankees 0 end of one inning.

Derek Jeter throws wild in the top of the first. A hit? Are you kidding? Yet another example of how scoring has been construed to the advantage of the fielder to a ridiculous degree in recent years. In a recent column noting the Rockies breaking of the all-time fielding percentage record, I talked about the increase in fielding percentage and how that records an increasing level of excellence in play. While I think the general trend still holds there is no doubt that fielders have a larger margin for error today than they did say 20 years ago.

Clemens. 27 pitches in the top of the first. He topped out at 93.2 mph in his first pitch to Asdrubal Cabrera. His location hasn't been bad other than the single hit by Ryan Garko on a 91.4 mph fastball that was right down the middle.

Jake Westbrook struggled a bit in September (60 baserunners in 37 innings) but in the first inning all three balls that were hit were down in the strike zone (2.2, 1.9, and 1.8 feet off the ground. Good news for a guy that relies on his sinker and as Bob Brenly said, throws his fastball 80% of the time on first pitches.

Torre's Job. So the boss says Joe Torre needs to win to keep his job. It seems like we've heard this before although it seems this is a little more serious.

Pitch by Pitch

In my column today on Baseball Prospectus I take a pitch by pitch look at the almost no-hitter of Yankees rookie Phillip Hughes on May 1st using the enhanced GameDay data provided by MLBAM. Joe P. Sheehan over at Baseball Analysts has pioneered alot of the analysis and so you'll want to check out his work as well.

To me, the interesting aspect of this is in how it will certainly be combined with bio mechanical analysis in order to provide quantitative support for what is today primarily observational. A synthesis of the two worlds will offer insights that neither could provide independently and that's exciting stuff.

Update: My article actually was published after this one by John Beamer at THT where he looks at the consistency of the data between parks. Obviously, if I had seen this I would have mentioned it but interestingly, his research on Kevin Millwood, who has pitched at five of the eight parks in which the Enhanced GameDay system is installed, suggests that there may be some park bias in play. Particularly he sees this in speed and location (for example location of release point). Both of course become much more useful when you can compare them from game to game. If indeed the system has built-in biases, either adjustments will have to be made internal to the system (if possible since a variable like mound height may be a contributing factor as may atmospheric conditions although Beamer finds that unlikely) or those using the data will have to make the adjustments themselves. The second option is certainly not appealing.

Team Running - New York Yankees

Today in our continuing series we'll take a look at the Yankees baserunning in 2006. As a team the Yankees finished 28th at -9.28 runs when not considering EqSBR and 21st (-9.33) when EqSBR was included. Johnny Damon came out far ahead of any other Yankee at +3.28 runs and has historically been a very good baserunner (my data goes back only since 2000).

Year     Opp   EqGAR   Opp   EqAAR    Opp   EqSBR   Opp   EqHAR   Total
2000      76    3.18    56    3.21     45   -0.69    59    3.84    9.53
2001      28    0.32    41   -0.99     38    0.82    47    2.24    2.39
2002      40   -0.64    37    2.11     36   -0.11    42   -0.39    0.97
2003      41   -0.79    37    1.75     51    1.16    56   -0.83    1.30
2004      31   -1.02    27    0.11     41    0.09    52    4.50    3.67
2005      42    0.64    19    2.84     54    1.66    66    0.04    5.18
2006      49   -0.12    36    2.16     35   -0.41    52    3.28    4.90

Totals   307    1.57   253   11.19    300    2.52   374   12.67   27.95

Damon has been particularly effective in advancing on hits and fly balls and has been a break even basestealer and runner when advancing on ground outs. In 2006 he ranked 5th in EqHAR and in 2000 ranked second overall to Tom Goodwin, in 2004 he ranked 19th overall, and in 2005 ranked 7th.


On the flip side Jorge Posada has been the worst baserunner in baseball from an aggregate perspective since 2000. Here is the shortlist.

Jorge Posada    -25.5
Jim Thome       -23.4
Benjie Molina   -22.7 
Frank Thomas    -21.2
Javy Lopez      -21.1
Pat Burrell     -19.5
Paul Konerko    -15.2
Victor Martinez -13.6  (starting in 2002)

Keep in mind that these numbers are not a direct reflection of running speed but rather the intersection of running speed, judgement, and opportunities. Still, opportunities even out over the course of seven years for regular players and so there is clearly a heavy dose of running speed involved.

As far as 2007 is concerned it now appears we won't be seeing Bernie Williams and so there will be some addition by subtraction although Hideki Matsui was -0.06, -0.99, and -0.19 from 2003 through 2005 and so he's basically been a break-even runner as well. Interestingly Bobby Abreu has been consistently inconsistent and depsite turning in a good 2006 (+3.94) and 2004 (+4.16) has had other poor seasons (-3.05 in 2005, -3.48 in 2003, and -3.42 in 2000). The primary difference appears to be how well he's done in EqAAR which is inherently more variable.

Equivalent Stolen Base Runs
Name              Team    SB    PO     CS  EqSBR
Derek Jeter       NYA      33     0      5   1.90
Bobby Abreu       NYA       9     0      2   0.44
Kevin Thompson    NYA       2     0      0   0.42
Jorge Posada      NYA       3     0      0   0.28
Gary Sheffield    NYA       3     0      1   0.22
Bernie Williams   NYA       2     0      0   0.19
Jason Giambi      NYA       2     0      0   0.19
Hideki Matsui     NYA       1     0      0   0.15
Miguel Cairo      NYA      13     2      1   0.14
Kevin Reese       NYA       1     0      0   0.10
Alex Rodriguez    NYA      12     0      4   0.02
Bubba Crosby      NYA       3     0      1   0.02
Aaron Guiel       NYA       2     0      1  -0.38
Nick Green        NYA       1     0      1  -0.40
Johnny Damon      NYA      25     0     10  -0.41
Andy Phillips     NYA       2     0      2  -0.82
Robinson Cano     NYA       5     2      2  -0.93
Melky Cabrera     NYA      12     1      5  -1.18

Equivalent Hit Advancement Runs
Name              Team   Opp    OA  ExHAR  EqHAR  HARate
Johnny Damon      NYA      52     0   8.23   3.28     140
Melky Cabrera     NYA      36     1   6.18   1.34     122
Miguel Cairo      NYA      13     0   1.80   0.46     126
Andy Phillips     NYA      15     0   3.25   0.43     113
Kevin Thompson    NYA       5     0   0.45   0.39     186
Terrence Long     NYA       4     0   1.04   0.33     131
Nick Green        NYA       7     0   1.07   0.24     123
Aaron Guiel       NYA       5     0   0.88   0.21     124
Bubba Crosby      NYA       8     0   1.43   0.20     114
Bobby Abreu       NYA      16     0   4.48   0.19     104
Andy Cannizaro    NYA       1     0   0.03   0.09     390
Kevin Reese       NYA       1     0   0.03  -0.03       0
Sal Fasano        NYA       3     0   0.12  -0.12       0
Craig Wilson      NYA       4     0   0.37  -0.16      59
Kelly Stinnett    NYA       4     0   0.24  -0.24       0
Robinson Cano     NYA      39     0   5.83  -0.27      95
Gary Sheffield    NYA      10     0   2.28  -0.28      88
Hideki Matsui     NYA      18     0   2.92  -0.37      87
Alex Rodriguez    NYA      41     1   7.37  -0.52      93
Bernie Williams   NYA      29     1   4.91  -1.54      69
Derek Jeter       NYA      60     1   6.33  -1.81      71
Jason Giambi      NYA      44     1   5.45  -3.50      36
Jorge Posada      NYA      46     0   6.78  -4.21      38

Equivalent Ground Advancement Runs
Name              Team   Opp ExGAR  EqGAR GARate
Nick Green        NYA       6  0.74   0.32   1.43
Hideki Matsui     NYA       7  0.16   0.07   1.40
Kelly Stinnett    NYA       4  0.24   0.06   1.23
Kevin Reese       NYA       2  0.06   0.04   1.67
Jaret Wright      NYA       1  0.01  -0.01   0.00
Alex Rodriguez    NYA      26  2.22  -0.02   0.99
Bubba Crosby      NYA       3  0.03  -0.03   0.00
Derek Jeter       NYA      24  1.25  -0.03   0.98
Craig Wilson      NYA       1  0.03  -0.03   0.00
Bobby Abreu       NYA      10  0.28  -0.10   0.66
Andy Phillips     NYA       9  0.70  -0.10   0.85
Terrence Long     NYA       1  0.11  -0.11   0.00
Sal Fasano        NYA       2  0.11  -0.11   0.00
Johnny Damon      NYA      49  3.70  -0.12   0.97
Aaron Guiel       NYA       5  0.28  -0.13   0.55
Gary Sheffield    NYA       4  0.15  -0.15   0.00
Miguel Cairo      NYA      13  0.61  -0.24   0.61
Melky Cabrera     NYA      24  1.93  -0.33   0.83
Robinson Cano     NYA      32  3.20  -0.35   0.89
Kevin Thompson    NYA       6  0.61  -0.44   0.27
Jason Giambi      NYA      18  1.06  -0.68   0.36
Bernie Williams   NYA      31  1.94  -0.75   0.61
Jorge Posada      NYA      20  1.22  -0.79   0.35

Equivalent Air Advancement Runs
Name              Team  Opps ExAAR  EqAAR AARate
Johnny Damon      NYA      36  5.82   2.16   1.37
Miguel Cairo      NYA       7  1.36   0.62   1.46
Melky Cabrera     NYA      28  2.76   0.60   1.22
Andy Phillips     NYA      12  1.29   0.41   1.32
Bobby Abreu       NYA      12  1.40   0.39   1.28
Hideki Matsui     NYA      11  1.49   0.22   1.15
Derek Jeter       NYA      43  3.07   0.17   1.05
Nick Green        NYA       2  0.59   0.15   1.25
Bubba Crosby      NYA       4  0.65   0.14   1.21
Aaron Guiel       NYA       2  0.00   0.03   6.54
Craig Wilson      NYA       2 -0.01   0.01   0.00
Terrence Long     NYA       1 -0.01   0.01   0.00
Kevin Reese       NYA       2  0.00   0.00   0.00
Kelly Stinnett    NYA       1  0.00   0.00   0.00
Sal Fasano        NYA       2  0.00   0.00   0.00
Alex Rodriguez    NYA      32  2.07  -0.02   0.99
Gary Sheffield    NYA       2  0.04  -0.04   0.00
Bernie Williams   NYA      22  3.11  -0.14   0.95
Jorge Posada      NYA      31  3.80  -0.21   0.94
Kevin Thompson    NYA       4  0.64  -0.64   0.00
Robinson Cano     NYA      19  1.46  -1.41   0.04
Jason Giambi      NYA      19  1.60  -1.41   0.12

All-Stars 2008

Yes, the Yankees have received the 2008 All-Star game. There has been some controversy about it with critics wondering whether it makes sense to host the game in a park about to close and since it is likely the Yankees will be playing in the post season which is a more fitting way to say goodbye to Yankee Stadium. To me, it makes sense to honor historic parks that are on the way out since the new parks will be eventually get their turn.

The 2007 game will be played on July 10th at AT&T Park in San Francisco and Commissioner Bud Selig announced on January 15th that Busch Stadium in St. Louis will serve as the host of the 2009 Midsummer Classic.

The following are a few notes released by MLB.com on some of the background surrounding the 2008 game.

The 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be the 79th Midsummer Classic.

This will be the first time in baseball history that an All-Star Game has been held in a ballpark in the final year that it will be open.

It will mark the fourth time that Yankee Stadium has played host to the All-Star Game, joining 1939, 1960 (the second ASG of the season) and 1977, and it will be the eighth Midsummer Classic staged in New York City (Polo Grounds, 1934 and 1942; Ebbets Field, 1949; and Shea Stadium, 1964).

The National League has a 2-1 advantage in the three previous All-Star Games played at Yankee Stadium, winning the last two contests. The American League won by a 3-1 score in 1939; the National League blanked the A.L. 6-0 in 1960; and the N.L. prevailed 7-5 in 1977.

The Yankees have had the most All-Star players (112) and the most total All-Star selections (349) of any other Major League Baseball franchise since the Midsummer Classic originated in 1933.

Derek Jeter is the only Yankee to be named the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player since the MVP was first given in 1962. The Yankee captain earned the honors after a 3-for-3 effort with two RBI and a run scored in the 2000 All-Star Game at Atlanta's Turner Field.