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Saturday, November 7, 2020
IBWAA SELECTS HENDRIKS, WILLIAMS IN 2020 RELIEVER OF THE YEAR VOTE
IBWAA SELECTS ABREU, FREEMAN IN 2020 MVP VOTE
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IBWAA SELECTS BAUER, BIEBER IN 2020 CY YOUNG VOTE
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IBWAA SELECTS CASH, MATTINGLY IN 2020 MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTE
IBWAA SELECTS CASH, MATTINGLY IN 2020 MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTE
The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners of the IBWAA Manager of the Year awards Tuesday: Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Don Mattingly of the Miami Marlins. This is the IBWAA’s 12th annual election for these awards. All IBWAA members were eligible to vote.
Election results are as follows:
AL:
1st Place: Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays- 479 points
2nd Place: Rick Renteria, Chicago White Sox- 282 points
3rd Place: Bob Melvin, Oakland Athletics- 161 points
NL:
1st Place: Don Mattingly, Miami Marlins- 341 points
2nd Place: Jayce Tingler, San Diego Padres- 305 points
3rd Place: Dave Roberts, Los Angeles Dodgers- 135 points
The IBWAA endeavors to serve the baseball writing community, representing more than 600 baseball content creators. We strive to increase visibility, networking, and opportunities for all of our members. Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results announced the following January.
Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers and content creators. For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.
Contact:
Daniel R. Epstein and Jonathan Becker
Co-Directors, IBWAA
ibwaa2020@gmail.com
IBWAA SELECTS CRONENWORTH, LEWIS IN 2020 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTE
IBWAA SELECTS CRONENWORTH, LEWIS IN 2020 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTE
The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners of the IBWAA Rookie of the Year awards Monday: Jake Cronenworth of the San Diego Padres and Kyle Lewis of the Seattle Mariners. This is the IBWAA’s 12th annual election for these awards. All IBWAA members were eligible to vote.
Election results are as follows:
AL
1st Place: Kyle Lewis, Seattle Mariners- 557 points
2nd Place: Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox- 384 points
3rd Place: Christian Javier, Houston Astros- 33 points
NL
1st Place: Jake Cronenworth, San Diego Padres- 468 points
2nd Place: Devin Williams, Milwaukee Brewers- 212 points
3rd Place: Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies- 162 points
The IBWAA endeavors to serve the baseball writing community, representing more than 600 baseball content creators. We strive to increase visibility, networking, and opportunities for all of our members. Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results announced the following January.
Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers and content creators. For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.
Contact:
Daniel R. Epstein and Jonathan Becker
Co-Directors, IBWAA
ibwaa2020@gmail.com
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Whitey Ford, 'Chairman of the Board,' dies - By Mark Feinsand
Whitey Ford, the Yankees’ all-time wins leader, Hall of Famer and six-time World Series champion, has died at the age of 91.
The Yankees announced Ford's passing on Friday, 12 days shy of what would have been Ford's birthday. They said he died on Thursday night, surrounded by family while watching the Yankees' Division Series game against the Rays.
“Today all of Major League Baseball mourns the loss of Whitey Ford, a New York City native who became a legend for his hometown team," Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "Whitey earned his status as the ace of some of the most memorable teams in our sport’s rich history. Beyond the Chairman of the Board’s excellence on the mound, he was a distinguished ambassador for our National Pastime throughout his life. I extend my deepest condolences to Whitey’s family, his friends and admirers throughout our game, and all fans of the Yankees.”
• When it came to winning, Ford led the way
“Whitey’s name and accomplishments are forever stitched into the fabric of baseball’s rich history," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said. "He was a treasure, and one of the greatest of Yankees to ever wear the pinstripes. Beyond the accolades that earned him his rightful spot within the walls of the Hall of Fame, in so many ways he encapsulated the spirit of the Yankees teams he played for and represented for nearly two decades.
“Whitey was New York tough. When you couple that with his dedicated service to our country, a deep love for the only team he ever played for, six World Championships, and a genuine personality and charisma that showed throughout his life, it’s no wonder he endeared himself as a legend to generations of Yankees fans everywhere.
“While there is comfort knowing Whitey was surrounded by his family at the time of his passing while watching his favorite team compete, this is a tremendous loss to the Yankees and the baseball community. We have lost our ‘Chairman of the Board,’ and we extend our deepest condolences to the entire Ford family.”
The left-hander -- nicknamed “The Chairman of the Board” by batterymate Elston Howard -- went 236-106 with a 2.75 ERA during his 16 years with New York, winning his only Cy Young Award in 1961. Ford, whose .690 winning percentage is the highest of any pitcher with at least 150 victories in the Modern Era, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
“I grew up on Long Island, not too far from Yankee Stadium,” Ford said during his Hall of Fame induction. “I was a Yankee fan since I was five or six years old. To think when I was 21 years old I’d be playing with [Joe] DiMaggio and [Yogi] Berra against guys like Stan Musial and Roy Campanella, it’s just something I can’t fathom. It’s just been great.”
Born on Oct. 21, 1928, in New York City, Edward Charles Ford attended a tryout camp with the Yankees as a first baseman in 1946. A Yankees scout noticed his arm, suggested he try pitching and taught him how to throw a curveball. That led to Ford signing with the Yankees as an amateur for $7,000 before the 1947 season.
The blond-haired Ford was given the nickname “Whitey” by Lefty Gomez, the legendary Yankees southpaw who managed him in Binghamton in the Class A Eastern League.
Ford spent three seasons in the Minor Leagues before debuting as a reliever for New York on July 1, 1950. Ford would go 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA in 20 games (12 starts) during his rookie season, winning The Sporting News' Rookie of the Year honors while finishing second to Red Sox first baseman Walt Dropo in the American League Rookie of the Year vote by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Pitching behind fellow starters Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat, Ford went on to win the clinching game in the World Series that October, allowing two unearned runs in 8 2/3 innings against the Phillies in Game 4.
“That was my first big thrill in baseball,” Ford told YES Network during an interview for its “Yankeeography” series.
• Whitey could laugh even at his own passing
Ford missed the next two seasons while serving in the Army during the Korean War, though he was never sent overseas. He returned to the Yankees in 1953, winning 18 games in the regular season before helping the team to another World Series championship, the club’s fifth straight title.
“He wasn’t a power pitcher; he was just maybe the smartest pitcher that ever lived,” long-time teammate Jerry Coleman told YES. “With about 17 different pitches, he really had an array of pitches that was remarkable.”
In 1954, Ford was selected to the first of his 10 All-Star Games and won 16 games. Despite 103 victories that season, the Yankees’ championship streak came to an end at the hands of the 111-win Indians, who won the pennant. Ford would help his team play in each of the next four World Series, averaging 16 wins and a 2.41 ERA from 1955-58, with the Yankees winning championships in ’56 and ’58.
In Game 1 of the 1955 World Series, Ford was on the mound when Jackie Robinson stole home in the eighth inning. Robinson was called safe by home-plate umpire Bill Summers, though catcher Yogi Berra argued loudly that he had tagged him out.
“I’ve seen the films of that play maybe 50 times, and Robinson is out every time,” Ford wrote in this autobiography.
Ford won that game, as well as Game 6, but the Dodgers beat the Yankees for the title in Game 7.
Ford pitched in 11 World Series during his 16 seasons, winning six rings. His 10 World Series victories remain the most of any pitcher in history.
“I don’t care what the situation was, how high the stakes were,” Mickey Mantle once said of his close friend. “The bases could be loaded and the pennant riding on every pitch, it never bothered Whitey. He pitched his game. Cool. Crafty. Nerves of steel.”
Although Ford never pitched a no-hitter during his career, he tossed one-hit shutouts in consecutive starts in 1955, only the fifth time in Major League history a pitcher had accomplished that feat, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
“He was outsmarting most of the hitters,” Hall of Famer Bob Feller once said of Ford. “He was a very tough competitor.”
The 1961 season proved to be notable for several reasons, beginning with a change in the manager’s office. While Casey Stengel had routinely started Ford no more than once every five days (sometimes even six or seven), new skipper Ralph Houk decided to hand the lefty the ball every fourth day. After starting 29 games in each of the three previous seasons, Ford started 39 times in 1961, throwing a league-high (and career-high) 283 innings.
Ford went 25-4 with a 3.21 ERA that season, beating out Milwaukee’s Warren Spahn for the Cy Young Award, which was given to only one big league pitcher per year until 1967. Overshadowed all season by the Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris home-run race, the 5-foor-10 lefty capped his memorable year by leading the Yankees to another championship. Ford went 2-0 in two starts against the Reds, throwing 14 scoreless innings to take home World Series MVP honors.
“I really enjoyed that season because the writers were so busy with Maris and Mantle with their home-run derby that they didn’t bother me,” Ford told YES. “It was the best year I ever had.”
The Yankees won again in 1962, Ford’s sixth and final World Series title. They would return to the Fall Classic in 1963 and ’64, though Ford went 0-3 in those two series as the Yankees fell to the Dodgers and Cardinals. He left Game 1 in 1964 with an arm injury and never pitched in another World Series.
Ford finished 10-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 22 career World Series starts. In addition to holding the World Series records for career wins and starts, he also has the mark for strikeouts (94) and innings pitched (146).
Between 1960-62, Ford threw a record 33 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 29 2/3. The mark still stands.
“If the World Series was on the line and I could pick one pitcher to pitch the game,” Mantle said. “I’d choose Whitey Ford every time.”
Ford passed Red Ruffing as the Yankees’ all-time wins leader in 1965 with his 232nd victory, and he won only four more games over the next two seasons as he battled circulatory issues. Ford retired in May 1967, having been limited to only seven starts due to bone spurs in his elbow.
“Sooner or later the arm goes bad. It has to,” Ford said late in his career. “The arm wasn’t meant to stand the strain pitching imposes on it. It’s unnatural. Sooner or later you have to start pitching in pain.”
Ford made his retirement official on May 30, 1967, in a ceremony at Yankee Stadium.
Following his playing career, Ford served as Houk’s first-base coach in 1968, then returned to the Yankees in 1974 as the club’s pitching coach. He came back as pitching coach in 1975 before health issues prompted him to end his coaching career. Ford continued to serve as a Spring Training instructor, but never worked as a coach again. He did give broadcasting a try, serving as a color analyst for the Blue Jays in 1977.
Ford became the first Yankees pitcher to have his number retired when his No. 16 was hung up in Monument Park in August 1974, the same summer in which he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame alongside Mantle, his good friend.
During his induction into Cooperstown, which came in his second year of eligibility, Ford thanked his teammates, including “fellas like Mickey and Maris and Berra for scoring all those runs.”
In August 1987, Ford was honored with a plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.
During the 1999 World Series, Ford was named as a member of MLB’s All-Century Team.
In 2000, the Yankees honored the legendary hurler with “Whitey Ford Day,” 50 years after he debuted for the club. Ford fought back tears as some of his former teammates, including Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, talked about his career during the ceremonies at Yankee Stadium, showing an emotion he rarely displayed during his playing career.
“It’s different when you’re pitching,” Ford told reporters that day, according to the New York Post. “You’re moving your whole body, but when you’re just sitting there watching all these ex-teammates, it was tough. It was a great day.”
Ford also threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.
Ford had been the second-oldest living Hall of Famer since Red Schoendienst died in June 2018. Tommy Lasorda, 93, is the oldest among living Hall of Famers.
He is survived by Joan, his wife of 69 years, and two of their three children, Sally Ann and Eddie, as well as eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Their third child, Tommy, died in 1999.
Mark Feinsand, an executive reporter, originally joined MLB.com as a reporter in 2001.
Monday, September 28, 2020
Experts’ Advice For Baseball Daily Fantasy Sports A Newbie Should Know
Experts’ Advice For Baseball Daily Fantasy Sports A Newbie Should Know
If you are an avid fan of baseball and have even played several matches in the past, the rules are pretty simple if you get the gist of it. The hitter would just hit the ball and get to the bases until he gets a home run. Pretty simple, right?
However, it might seem simple, but the strategies that players incorporate in their plays are complicated and involve many factors. Same as betting on fantasy baseball. It would be best if you consider all the factors to predict things that would happen in the game and, ultimately, accurately guess the winner of the match.
That said, doing your research, finding resources, and correctly assessing all the factors that come into the game is essential if you want to win bets. There are many things a beginner should learn, but here are five starting tips every newbie should learn to get those wins.
Assess Your Starting Pitcher
Arguably, the most critical aspect of an entire team is its starting pitcher.
Many people will say it is the hitter, but a good hitter will only get a chance to bat probably 4-5 times during a game. Some people will also say it's the defenders, but every defender would only get to catch a ball ten times if they don't get swapped out.
However, if you look at the starting pitcher, he would be playing and can potentially dominate the other team during the beginning of a match, which is crucial to have a point. Always remember, a good pitcher stops good hitting. Even if the opposing team has a killer lineup, a pitching ace on the other team can dominate them, leaving them no chance to even hit the ball.
If you base your logic into betting a dominant team that is dominant in the entire season over an inferior team, you may lose. However, you are not betting on which team will be winning the season. You will bet on which team will win a game. That said, even if the other team is superior and is most likely to win, they can lose to a weaker team with a pitching ace.
Some factors to see in a pitcher:
Strikeout to walk ratio
Home run rates
Ground ball rates
Fielding Independent Pitching or FIP
Take Advantage of Underdog Players
To make money off betting in fantasy baseball, the bettor should have a win percentage of 52.4%. If MLB bettors consistently make teams with underdogs consistently, they can leave with positive numbers above the break-even point.
Taking advantage of underdogs means you will be a contrarian. Think of it like this: the average bettor bases his bets on how a player performed last game. If a player performs more significantly than the opposing counterpart, then the average bettor will bet on the greater player. By going against the tide, you will discover a lot of sleepers that you can use in your future games.
Take Note of Pitching Splits
Like mentioned earlier, the pitchers on your MLB DFS picks, especially the starting pitchers, are the essential person on a baseball team. Even the best lineup can be brought down to its knees if the opposing team has a pitching ace. That said, assessing a pitcher's performance is vital if you want to predict the outcome of the game.
ERAs, win-loss records, and WHIPs are the vital stats you need to know about a pitcher. However, they don't take other factors into account. Don't just look at how the pitcher performs on their team. You should also look at outside variables, like weather conditions during the game and the mound the stadium is using.
For example, the home/road splits. Pitching mound varies by texture and firmness. Some pitchers prefer firm mounds to have a more powerful pitch that gives them an excellent opportunity to give the batter a strike. Also, some pitchers relish on the challenge of pitching on enemy territory, making them pitch better than usual. Thus, you have to assess the home/road splits of a pitcher.
Another split you should take into consideration is the day/night split. This split determines how a pitcher performs during certain parts of the day. Some pitchers ignore other factors, but the part of the day they are playing can have a massive effect on their pitch.
Takeaway
Many experts assess the pitcher's performance since they are the people who can make or break the game. Also, they tend to be the factor that can turn them into the dominant team even if they are underdogs. That said, you should assess the superior team and look at how the underdog performs. Not to mention that winning a bet on the underdogs will make you rake in a lot of cash. By following the advice above, you’ll surely find your MLB DFS a worthwhile experience.
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Yanks Struggling, Cole’s Streak Ends
Yanks Struggling, Cole’s Streak Ends
Bombers Reeling
The Yankees had just gotten beat up in a three-game sweep by their divisional rivals from Tampa Bay when they turned their lonely eyes to their $324 million ace, Gerrit Cole, to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, their prized free-agent acquisition was not up to the task and had an uncharacteristically poor outing. When the dust settled, Cole had worked five full innings and surrendered five earned runs on five hits, three of which were home run shots, and the Yankees dropped a 5-1 decision to the Braves, their fourth consecutive loss.
“I just sort of liked to have pitched better,” said Cole, whose 20-game winning streak, dating to last May, came to a close. “It seemed to be a little bit feast-or-famine in terms of good command for a period of time and some bad command in some bad spots.”
“Times when I thought that they were going to be aggressive, they were patient. And times when I thought maybe I could grab some more of the zone in some situations, I made a poor pitch and they were being aggressive. It just didn't match up and they stayed about one step ahead of me too many times.”
New York is now 1 ½ games behind the Rays in the AL East standings and is a sub .500 road team as of this writing. While their performances at Yankee Stadium have reaped stellar results, they are not a serious championship contender unless they can win on the highway. Despite a somewhat disappointing first half to this truncated season, they are certainly not considered MLB underdogs by any stretch of the imagination as their roster is loaded with talent and many believe it’s only a matter of time before this 2020 Yankees edition puts it all together.
Happ Not Happy
J.A. Happ has 17 million reasons to be unhappy about the way he has been used by manager Aaron Boone this season. You see, the 37-year-old hurler has a $17 million vesting option for next season if he makes either 27 starts or pitches 165 innings, which is prorated to 10 starts or 61 ¹/₃ innings in this abbreviated season. MLB rules prohibit purposefully manipulating a player’s usage to keep said player from his vesting option.
Happ is coming off of his best outing of the season when he held the Red Sox to one run over five-plus innings in a 4-2 Yankees victory on August 16th. But he has yet to get a start over the last 10 days and believes there might be a conspiracy afloat.
“I know I’m healthy and have been healthy and ready to pitch since what would have been [the beginning of] the regular season and since summer camp and the start of the abbreviated season,’’ Happ said. “I’ve been ready to go in all those cases with no issues.”
While ace Gerrit Cole, leads the team in starts with seven on the young season, Happ has only three starts on his 2020 resume and he’s not shy about showing his dismay. When asked about the brewing controversy, Happ stated, “You guys [in the media] are pretty smart. It doesn’t take too much to figure out, sort of, what could be going on.”
But Boone rebutted that contention when he explained, “After a four-day break, we reshuffled to prioritize getting Gerrit going and [Tanaka] after him, then the off day and then [Montgomery] and J.A. There’s a chance we even pitch Gerrit and [Tanaka] on the sixth day out of this. … With only four starters right now, you’re gonna need to make up those slots.”
In fairness to Boone, Happ has not been setting the world on fire and could be pitching himself right out of the rotation. After three starts he has logged only 12.2 innings of work and has 10 walks to six strikeouts with a bloated 6.39 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Probably not the best time to start complaining as a member of a championship-caliber team.
Happ was posed with the question about the situation becoming a distraction for him on and off the field, “It’s hard to quantify an answer for that. It weighs on me to some extent, but when I come in here, I try to continue to be a good teammate and prepare to be ready and be professional and that stuff. But when I’m away [from the park], it certainly can creep in and has taken a lot of thought. … At this point, I need to leave that on the back burner and let that play out how it might.”
Sunday, June 28, 2020
MLB RELEASES PLAN TO PLAY IN 2020
MLB RELEASES PLAN TO
PLAY IN 2020
* Spring Training Camp to be held at Yankee Stadium
* Players Report July 1
* Opening Day is July 23
* Yankees Open Season at Nationals Park
* 10 Games Each Againts Division Foes Blue Jays,
Orioles, Rays, and Red Sox
* 20 Games -vs- Braves, Phillies, Nationals,
Mets, and the Marlins
* Opening Rosters will be 30 players, which
will be reduced over time to 26.
* Many obstacles still to overcome and
questions to be answered about safety!!!