1. and 2. The obvious Missouri connections to this year's 10 teams in the MLB playoffs begin with the two franchises directly participating - the Kansas City's Royals and St. Louis' Cardinals. But the number of, and impact of, the historical connections are interesting as well. And one major historical event possibly changed the fate of four of the teams in this year's postseason festivities.
3. The Oakland A's were in Kansas City for 13 years before moving out west.
4. The Baltimore Orioles were previously known as the St. Louis Browns (more about this later).
5. Before Branch Rickey's fame with the Dodgers, he had already heavily impacted the game of baseball in his 30 plus years in St. Louis, both with the Browns and the Cardinals. He was a player, manager, and executive in the city during his long stint there. Branch was responsible for signing George Sisler, commanded Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson in WWI, designing the famous Birds on the Bat uniform for the Cardinals, and is credited with inventing the modern day organized minor league farm system, which first spawned the Gashouse Gang success in the 1930's. When Branch executed his most famous baseball breakthrough, the signing of Jackie Robinson, he first had to sign him away from the Kansas City Monarchs (of the Negro Leagues), and assign him to the Dodgers affiliate - the Montreal "Royals". By the way, after leaving the Dodgers, Rickey became the General Manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates and later returned to the St. Louis Cardinals as a consultant. He died in Columbia Missouri after attempting his final speech as a newly elected member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
6. 7. 8. 9. - Perhaps one of the most profound impacts on all 4 of the California baseball franchises is what DIDN'T happen because of one of the country's most infamous historical events. Before California had any of their current major league baseball franchises, there was a vote of major lead owners scheduled to approve the move of what was to be California's first MLB team. In 1941, the American League gave tentative approval for an existing franchise to move to Los Angeles. The League even created a schedule for the following season that took into account transcontinental trips for games in Los Angeles. The final step was a vote of the existing American League owners to approve the move. The vote was scheduled for the week of November 8th, 1941. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor on November 7th, the owners decided that week that it was not a good time to make a move to the West Coast. So, the franchise involved in the voting move, the St. Louis Browns, remained in St. Louis until their later move to Baltimore, in 1954. It is interesting to consider the impact this move would have made to the subsequent California franchises starting in the 1950's. By the way, some St. Louis Brown fans/investors still owned stock in the Baltimore Orioles franchise until 1979, when new Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams bought out the remaining shares, some which dated back to 1936.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Rotation setting up nicely for playoffs
I know I'm ahead of things here, but with the Oakland loss Thursday and the playoff schedule days announced, things are lining up in a very interesting way. If Guts can clinch Friday & A"s lose, we can limit innings for Duffy & Ventura over the weekend and have the following set up:
Hopefully Seattle & Oakland tie and have to pitch Walker & Lester in a Monday play in game. If A's win that one we avoid Lester and King Felix. Regardless, we could have Big Game James ready for the home playoff game on Tuesday. Then we could have Duffy on regular rest after a light game for first ALDS game on Thursday, with Ventura on regular rest after a light game for Friday"s game 2. Game 3 would be back home with Big Game James on regular rest for Sunday.
Monday game 4 would be either a rested Vargas or JGuts at home. Wednesday's deciding game 5 would be with Duffy on regular rest. There aren't any 3 straight game scenarios here, so our 7th, 8th, & 9th inning hammers should be in a good position as well. I like our chances if the combo of Shields, Duffy, Ventura, Herrera, Davis, and Holland could pitch all but 6 innings of our first 6 playoff games played over 8 days.
Even if that series goes a full 5 and we win, The ALCS would have the first two games on Friday and Saturday, allowing for Ventura and then Shields so that they could have extra rest.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
UPDATED - SEC Dominance Is Not Just At The Top
While watching bowl games involving SEC teams the past few weeks I've heard a recurring theme from football analysts - "...this team doesn't seem to believe that the SEC is so dominate..." And when Duke was building a large lead over Texas A&M in their first half, there was a mention of the ACC over the SEC.
Really?
I thought to myself, "A&M wouldn't be considered one of the top 5 teams in the SEC. While Duke played for their conference championship and would be considered the 2nd or 3rd best team in the ACC."
With the recent run of consecutive national championships, there was really no argument about the dominance at the very top of the conference. But many media people, and even some top coaches, question the true depth of the SEC.
So I started going back through the bowl games of the previous two (now three) seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13 and 2012-14) to compare the conference rank of SEC teams with the conference ranks of their opponents. The conference rank of each team is based on combination of conference record, head to head, and overall record - not the perceived ranking of the bowl game itself (though you can make arguments to move the rank up or down a spot).
2011-12 Bowls
#1 Alabama vs #2 LSU - both teams from the SEC in Nat. Champ. game.
#3 Georgia (L) vs Mich St.(Big10 #1) 30-33(ot) Outback
#4 S. Carolina (W) vs Nebraska(Big10 #5) 30-13 Cap One
#5 Arkansas (W) vs Kansas St (Big12 #2) 29-16 Cotton
#6 Auburn (W) vs Virginia (ACC #4) 43-24 Chick-Fil-A
#7 Florida (W) vs Ohio St. (Big10 #8) 24-17 Gator
#8 Miss St. (W) vs Wk.Forest (ACC #6) 24-17 Music City
#9 Vandy (L) vs Cinn. (Big East #2) 24-31 Liberty
2012-13 Bowls
#1 Alabama (W) vs N. Dame (Indep #1) 42-14 Nat. Champ.
#2 Georgia (W) vs Nebraska (Big10 #2) 45-31 Cap One
#3 Florida (L) vs Louisville (BigE #1) 23-33 Sugar
#4 Tex A&M (W) vs Oklahoma (Big12 #2) 41-13 Cotton
#5 S. Carolina (W) vs Michigan (Big 10 #3) 33-28 Outback
#6 LSU (L) vs Clemson (ACC #2) 24-25 Chick-Fil-A
#7 Vandy (W) vs N.C. St (ACC #6) 38-24 Music City
#8 Miss St. (L) vs Nwestern (Big10 #5) 20-34 Gator
#9 Ole Miss (W) vs Pittsburgh (BigE #5) 38-17 Compass
The 11-5 record over the combined two years is impressive enough (12-6 if you count the SEC vs SEC Nat. Champ. game). But when you look closer you see that most of the games are played against teams that ranked higher (or much higher) in their perspective conferences. It looks like many of the middle and lower tier SEC teams fare pretty well against teams in other conferences, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there are barely any games to compare between the SEC and the Pac 12. But with the success of the SEC in both national championship games and top-to-bottom bowl games against the other major conferences, I think you can comfortably use the word "dominate".
UPDATE for 2013-14 SEC bowl games -
#1 Auburn (L) vs Florida St. (ACC #1) 31-34 Nat. Champ.
#2 Alabama (L) vs Oklahoma (Big12 #2) 31-45 Sugar
#3 Mizzou (W) vs Okla St. (Big12 #3) 41-31 Cotton
#4 S. Carolina (W) vs Wisconsin (Big10 #2) 41-13 Cap One
#5 LSU (W) vs Iowa (Big10 #3) 21-14 Outback
#6 Georgia (L) vs Nebraska (Big10 #5) 24-25 Gator
#7 Tex A&M (W) vs Duke (ACC #3) 52-48 Chick-Fil-A
#8 Vandy (W) vs Houston (AAC #4) 41-24 Compass
#9 Miss St. (W) vs Rice (CUSA #1) 44-7 Liberty
#10 Ole Miss (W) vs G Tech (ACC #6) 25-17 Music City
Observations
The SEC bowl record of the 3 seasons from 2011-14 is 18-8 (19-9 if you count the SEC vs SEC Nat. Champ. game). Consistency is there as well as the SEC had 3 losses in each bowl season.
Obviously, the losses from the top 2 SEC teams in 2014 stand out. And this probably shows that other conferences are closing the gap with the top of the SEC. However, 2 of the 3 SEC losses were by 3 points or less.
Again, many SEC teams "played up" against teams who finished higher in other conferences. The Gamecocks big win over a Wisconsin team that finished 2nd in the Big Ten is particularly impressive. And as previously noted, a Duke team that finished 3rd in the ACC lost to the SEC's "7th best team". A Mississippi St team that finished 9th in the SEC clobbered the best team the Conference USA had to offer.
I also find this amazing - during the last 3 seasons every team in the SEC except Tennessee and Kentucky has WON a bowl game. Not just appeared...WON.
Overall, I believe this shows that the gap between the top of the SEC and the top of the other conferences has narrowed this year, But the dominance of the depth of the SEC is prominent and consistent. (Again, the lack SEC vs Pac12 games makes it harder to evaluate an overall comparison. The best indicator may be the number of ranked teams from each conference, and where they finish in the rankings. Clearly, advantage SEC using those metrics).
Really?
I thought to myself, "A&M wouldn't be considered one of the top 5 teams in the SEC. While Duke played for their conference championship and would be considered the 2nd or 3rd best team in the ACC."
With the recent run of consecutive national championships, there was really no argument about the dominance at the very top of the conference. But many media people, and even some top coaches, question the true depth of the SEC.
So I started going back through the bowl games of the previous two (now three) seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13 and 2012-14) to compare the conference rank of SEC teams with the conference ranks of their opponents. The conference rank of each team is based on combination of conference record, head to head, and overall record - not the perceived ranking of the bowl game itself (though you can make arguments to move the rank up or down a spot).
2011-12 Bowls
#1 Alabama vs #2 LSU - both teams from the SEC in Nat. Champ. game.
#3 Georgia (L) vs Mich St.(Big10 #1) 30-33(ot) Outback
#4 S. Carolina (W) vs Nebraska(Big10 #5) 30-13 Cap One
#5 Arkansas (W) vs Kansas St (Big12 #2) 29-16 Cotton
#6 Auburn (W) vs Virginia (ACC #4) 43-24 Chick-Fil-A
#7 Florida (W) vs Ohio St. (Big10 #8) 24-17 Gator
#8 Miss St. (W) vs Wk.Forest (ACC #6) 24-17 Music City
#9 Vandy (L) vs Cinn. (Big East #2) 24-31 Liberty
2012-13 Bowls
#1 Alabama (W) vs N. Dame (Indep #1) 42-14 Nat. Champ.
#2 Georgia (W) vs Nebraska (Big10 #2) 45-31 Cap One
#3 Florida (L) vs Louisville (BigE #1) 23-33 Sugar
#4 Tex A&M (W) vs Oklahoma (Big12 #2) 41-13 Cotton
#5 S. Carolina (W) vs Michigan (Big 10 #3) 33-28 Outback
#6 LSU (L) vs Clemson (ACC #2) 24-25 Chick-Fil-A
#7 Vandy (W) vs N.C. St (ACC #6) 38-24 Music City
#8 Miss St. (L) vs Nwestern (Big10 #5) 20-34 Gator
#9 Ole Miss (W) vs Pittsburgh (BigE #5) 38-17 Compass
The 11-5 record over the combined two years is impressive enough (12-6 if you count the SEC vs SEC Nat. Champ. game). But when you look closer you see that most of the games are played against teams that ranked higher (or much higher) in their perspective conferences. It looks like many of the middle and lower tier SEC teams fare pretty well against teams in other conferences, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there are barely any games to compare between the SEC and the Pac 12. But with the success of the SEC in both national championship games and top-to-bottom bowl games against the other major conferences, I think you can comfortably use the word "dominate".
UPDATE for 2013-14 SEC bowl games -
#1 Auburn (L) vs Florida St. (ACC #1) 31-34 Nat. Champ.
#2 Alabama (L) vs Oklahoma (Big12 #2) 31-45 Sugar
#3 Mizzou (W) vs Okla St. (Big12 #3) 41-31 Cotton
#4 S. Carolina (W) vs Wisconsin (Big10 #2) 41-13 Cap One
#5 LSU (W) vs Iowa (Big10 #3) 21-14 Outback
#6 Georgia (L) vs Nebraska (Big10 #5) 24-25 Gator
#7 Tex A&M (W) vs Duke (ACC #3) 52-48 Chick-Fil-A
#8 Vandy (W) vs Houston (AAC #4) 41-24 Compass
#9 Miss St. (W) vs Rice (CUSA #1) 44-7 Liberty
#10 Ole Miss (W) vs G Tech (ACC #6) 25-17 Music City
Observations
The SEC bowl record of the 3 seasons from 2011-14 is 18-8 (19-9 if you count the SEC vs SEC Nat. Champ. game). Consistency is there as well as the SEC had 3 losses in each bowl season.
Obviously, the losses from the top 2 SEC teams in 2014 stand out. And this probably shows that other conferences are closing the gap with the top of the SEC. However, 2 of the 3 SEC losses were by 3 points or less.
Again, many SEC teams "played up" against teams who finished higher in other conferences. The Gamecocks big win over a Wisconsin team that finished 2nd in the Big Ten is particularly impressive. And as previously noted, a Duke team that finished 3rd in the ACC lost to the SEC's "7th best team". A Mississippi St team that finished 9th in the SEC clobbered the best team the Conference USA had to offer.
I also find this amazing - during the last 3 seasons every team in the SEC except Tennessee and Kentucky has WON a bowl game. Not just appeared...WON.
Overall, I believe this shows that the gap between the top of the SEC and the top of the other conferences has narrowed this year, But the dominance of the depth of the SEC is prominent and consistent. (Again, the lack SEC vs Pac12 games makes it harder to evaluate an overall comparison. The best indicator may be the number of ranked teams from each conference, and where they finish in the rankings. Clearly, advantage SEC using those metrics).
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