Friday, April 30, 2010

Pesky Nats Fly to Miami

The Marlins face another surging team this weekend in the over-.500 Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman returns to Washington's lineup tonight, so hopefully the rest of the team will feel they can take a breather.

Meanwhile, Danny's had a happy April.

Both of tonight's starters, Ricky Nolasco and Fo-Fish Scott Olsen, have pitched great lately.

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BLECH: Zimmerman could've won the game on his own with his 2 homers, but he had some help - Fish lose 7-1

Oops - Even Later With This One

The Marlins didn't play yesterday, but here's yesterday's scoreboards if you want a look...

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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Game Two with No Home View

Again, FSFlorida or SunSports won’t be doing tonight’s game...so here’s this link again.

Anibal makes his 1st start of his career against SanDiego tonight, while Jon Garland tries to stop the Fish as a Padre the same way he did as a Diamondback last year.

Some trends...
---”SD are 8-2 in their last 10 overall.”
---”SD are 8-2 in their last 10 Tue. games.”
---”FLA are 15-6 in Sanchezs last 21 home starts.”
---”SD are 2-6 in the last 8 meetings (with Florida).”

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It’s Only April

Joe Frisaro discusses how Hanley’s upset at his start and how Stanton won’t be brought up too soon. Coghlan, however, will be platooning with Carroll for a while.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Fish Back For Nine

The Marlins and Padres meet tonight for the first of two series between them here at Miami Gardens this year. 'Cheap' tickets can be had for this and the next couple of series - just click on this link (tomorrow's game is not on local TV, anyway).

It's Josh Johnson and Mat Latos on the mound tonight.

Some News: Meyer goes on the DL as Sanches goes off. And Mike Stanton has hit 5 home runs in the last two days.

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WIN: Josh and the Marlins abuse the Padres 10-1.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Rockies Series Starts Today

Last night's game will start at 5:05 ET today - and tonight's game, featuring Nate Robertson and Aaron Cook will start afterwards.

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Friday, April 23, 2010

Rockies Series Starts To(EDIT)morrow

The Marlins have Nolsaco, who hasn't lost against the Rockies yet; and Colorado presents Greg Smith, who hasn't faced the Marlins yet.

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Speaking Streaks - NL West

I'm stopping looking for these 'predictive' streaks after today - the American League will just have to live without knowing the future, I guess.

Let's see if I can explain this again - I'm looking at each team for certain dates within the first two months of the season, dates on which games played through the years have shown historical streaks of 'predictiveness', in that wins on those dates corresponded to winning seasons, and, conversely, losses to losing seasons. I'm also checking game position (from game number one to game number fifty) to see if seeing the seasons that way may also reveal a lengthy 'predictive' streak or two.

Now for the NL West...

---The Diamondbacks have the distinction of having a 'predictive' streak that's lasted for their entire history. Game No. 33 on their schedule has pointed in the direction that their season will end up since 1998 (this year that game's scheduled to be May 10 against the Dodgers). May 8 (which on 2001 WAS Game No. 33) has acted as a 'predictive streak' since 2000, although Arizona didn't play on that date in 2003 or 2006.

---The Dodgers have the most spectacularly long 'predictive' streak in the NL, made even more spectacular by the fact that the next longest streak that they have, in April 23rd games, has lasted only since 2004. The big streak is on May 25 (with gaps in 2000 and 2006 when the team didn't play on May 25), and that streak has lasted since 1994,... and if you discount 1993, when the Dodgers went 81-81, then the streak has continued all the way back to 1990.

---The Giants' longest streak, conversely, has lasted only since 2005, on April 7 (which they already won this year).

---The Padres' longest 'predictive' streak is Game No. 48 on their schedule, a streak that has lasted since 2001. Their next longest streak is Game No. 24, which has gone on since 2002.

---The Rockies' longest streaks go back to 2003, on May 12 and 24, and Game No. 2 (which they lost this year), and Game No. 47.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Defeating the Sweep

Anibal and Felipe do battle this evening.

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WIN: Fish fry Astros 5-1.

Federal Government Hates South Florida Baseball

Before, it was the FAA making onerous demands on improvements for Ft. Lauderdale Stadium that drove the Orioles into the arms of Sarasota. Now a SEC investigation may delay the Marlins stadium's parking garages.

UPDATE: Miami defies Washington (that has a familiar sound) and charges forward to complete the parking garages as late as they usually do, and not any later.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Game Two With a View

The roof should be open tonight.

Josh Johnson and Bud Norris are to occupy the mound.

"FLA are 13-3 in their last 16 Wed. games."

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OOF: Lindstrom shuts down his former team for the second straight night - Marlins lose 5-4.

NL Central - More Speaking Streaks

As I presented earlier for the NL East, here are some 'predictive' streaks from the first third of the season for the teams of the NL Central.

These are streaks starting sometimes a decade or more ago up to last year, of games occuring on certain dates or certain game numbers when teams consistently have won during winning seasons and lost during losing seasons, thus casting a 'predictive' glow on them. The streaks may or may not continue through this year, and they're probably just results of randomness, but it's interesting anyway.

---The Cubs have one of these streaks going for tonight (April 21), a streak that has lasted since 1998, although they didn't play for two of those years (2003 and 2000). Their next best streaks have lasted since 2004, and are on Game Number 35, May 3 and 6, and on April 6 (which they skipped this year).

---The Reds also have a streak going since 1998, on Game No. 47. And also like the Cubs, their next longest streak is also since 2004, on Game No. 38.

---The Astros' longest early 'predictive' streak has continued since 2004, on the third game of the year (which they've already lost in 2010). Their next longest streaks would be since 2006, on Game No. 43, April 23 and 25, and May 4 and 21.

---The Brewers went 81-81 on 2005. If you choose to ignore that as a push, then they have a streak going since 2003 on April 18 (which they won this year), and since 2004 on April 12 (which they lost). After 2005, they have streaks since 2006 on Game No. 6 (which they won), April 14 (which they lost), and May 20.

---The Pirates' have a streak since 2000 on May 23, since 2003 on April 19 (which they didn't play this year), and since 2004 on Game No. 47 and April 7 (which they already won?!?!).

---The Cardinals' oldest of these streaks is on April 29, which has gone on since 1998 (with gaps in the schedule on 2002 and 2007). Next longest is on May 21 and Game No. 15, which have continued since 2000.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Time For Texas

The Astros have a gift tonight for the Fish - Lance Berkman (with some possible Matt Lindstrom on the side).

Chris Volstad is scheduled to start for the Marlins and Brett Myers for the 'Stros.

Some quick supposed facts from USAtoday...
---"FLA are 7-3 in their last 10 Tue. games."
---"HOU are 6-21 in their last 27 Tue. games."
---"FLA are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings (with Houston)"

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UGH!:Fredi made at least one bettor unhappy last night as the Fish do the flop on another series opener, losing 7-5.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Former Fish Follow-Up

Catching up with Jim Eisenreich... (mcall.com)

Kurt Abbott is catching criminals these days... (tcpalm)

And Miguel Olivo caught another no-hitter... (mlb)

OH,...: And Mike Jacobs has been DFA'ed by the Mets. (USAtoday)

Nate-Cole Today

Supposed facts possibly concerning today's game from Miami Herald...
---Nate "will make his first career start against Philadelphia, and is 0-0 with an 18.00 ERA in two relief stints against" Philadelphia... (He is) 1-0 with a 3.60 earned run average in two starts with the Marlins."
---Cole "in his career against the Marlins...is...2-6 with a 4.48 ERA in 12 career starts."
---"Florida and Philadelphia split 18 meetings a year ago, but the Marlins went 7-2 in the City of Brotherly Love."

Supposed facts possibly concerning today's game from Sporting News...
---Robertson "in Tuesday's 10-8, 11-inning loss to Cincinnati...gave up six runs - three earned - and five hits before exiting after the fifth inning...
---(F)ive days earlier...he yielded one run and six hits in five innings of a 3-1 road win over the New York Mets."
---Hamels' last win over the Fish was on "Sept. 22, 2006...(He) is 0-5 with a 4.97 ERA in nine starts against them since, including a 7.08 ERA during a four-game losing streak at Citizens Bank Park."

Supposed fact possibly concerning today's game from SBRforum.com
---"Cole Hamels may have a high ERA, but opposing batter are batting just .156 off of him in his first two starts..."

Supposed facts possibly concerning today's game from USAtoday
---"PHI are 6-2 in their last 8 games following a loss."
---"PHI are 1-8 in Hamels' last 9 starts vs. FLA."
---"FLA are 8-3 in the last 11 meetings."

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YAY-AGAIN: Marlins win 2-0.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Nolasco Vs. Moyer Tonight

Supposed facts possibly concerning tonight's game, from Sporting News....
---"The Philadelphia Phillies are off to their best start in 17 years...spurred by a .315 batting average, 15 homers and a major league-leading 7.8 runs per game."
---"Utley has been...hitting .368 with six homers and 12 RBIs...has homered in four consecutive games,...(and) has feasted on Florida's pitching, batting .354 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs in 50 home meetings. He's also 7 for 23 with a homer against Ricky Nolasco..."
---"Moyer is 13-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 17 starts against the Marlins. However, he's lost his last three home starts against them..."
---Nolasco "is 6-1 with a 4.49 ERA in nine road games,...(and) has thrived at Citizens Bank Park, going 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA in five games, winning the last three."

Supposed fact possibly concerning tonight's game, from Philly.com...
---"Leo Nunez vs. Phillies: The Marlins' closer allowed just six hits in 37 at-bats against the Phillies' regulars."

Supposed fact possibly concerning tonight's game, from USAtoday...
---"PHI are 1-7 in their last 8 Sat. games."

Coghlan's still not in the lineup (oops, sorry, I guess he is). Accuscore's computer flips a coin.

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YAY: Ricky dominates through nine innings - Fish win 5-1.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Out Of Town - Day 3

I’m still on the run. But I have time enough to announce that I also approve of the recent moves. Here’s tax day’s games...

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010

West Coast Knuckleballs Today

Again it's 'Knuckleball vs. Anibal' as No. 49 Charlie Haeger starts for the Dodgers. He did well in spring training and his AAA catcher from last year will be catching today. Marc Lawrence has already called this game a Dodgers win because of Anibal's troubles and Haeger's spring, even though Manny and Russell won't be starting. One could have hope in the fact that the Marlins have had more recent knuckleball experience than most teams, having faced Tim Wakefield twice this spring. But as A.J. Ellis, who'll be catching for Charlie today, says, "I don't think you ever get used to [the knuckleball]."

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KNYUCK-KNYUCK-KNYUCK: Fish win!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

'Pivotal' Game Tonight?

The official organs haven't owned up to it yet, but some of us out there know how important tonight's game is. The Marlins apparently do too, as Fredi decided to go with No. 1 Josh Johnson on the mound instead of Anibal. Padilla starts for LA.

The Dodgers have won 11 of their last 14 in Miami Gardens, no matter what they have called the stadium. But the AccuScore Simulation Supercomputer played this game 10,000 times already, and gives the Fish a better-than-55% chance of winning tonight (unless Matt Kemp has a big game of course).

And it's Super Saturday. So go support the highest profit MLB team by buying the sixth cheapest seat, the second most expensive beer, and the most expensive hot dog in the majors.

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SEASON-SALVAGED: Cantu hits the walk-off sac fly that caps off a 3-run rally in the 9th, beating the Dodgers 7-6.

Friday, April 09, 2010

Opening Night in Miami Gardens

A plane is dragging a Geico sign around and around over the area where the stadium is. Soon Scott will sing, fighter jets will fly over, Andre will toss one of the first pitches, and a ball game will commence at Sun Life Stadium, as the Marlins host the Dodgers for their first home game this year.

It's Volstad and Kuroda tonight.

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DRAT: The jets didn't show up, Chris Volstad did pretty good, but Kuroda had the thoughts of a fallen collegue behind him and did a bit better, and then the new usual hijinks ensued - Fish lose 7-3.

Another New Marlins Blog

Try out the stories on Ninety Feet Away.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Game 3 in the Citi

Tonight it's our first real look at Nate Robinson as he starts for the Fish. Wish him a nice long outing - don't want the bullpen to get too stressed.

Jonathon Niese will start for New York.

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TWO-FER: Marlins win 3-1.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Game 2 Tonight

First some good news: Brian Sanches' hammy only has a mild sprain.

Nolasco hopes to continue his spring-training success tonight, while John Maine starts for the Mets.

Both Anibal and Oliver will be available to pitch out of the pen tonight.

Tonight is also the Braves' second game of the year, the results of which, for the past six years, have pointed in the direction of where each of their seasons have ended up.

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AGGH-YAYYY!: Fish win, barely. Braves win, too.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

No NL East Games Today

But there's other NL, and AL games tonight - here's the scoreboards...

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Super Sabado

The Super Saturday shows for the first half of the season (except for this weekend's show with Nelly, Kevin Rudolf and New Boyz, and the one with the Michael Jackson impersonator on May 15) will have a distinct Latin-American flavor, beginning with insurance salesman Willy Chirino on May 1. (MLB)

Monday, April 05, 2010

It's Starting Again

The Fish get the show going against the Mets in what's reported to be a glorious day in Flushing.

Clark Spencer asked some pertinent questions about today's game.

It's Josh vs. Johan in the Clash at the Citi.

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CAN-WE-START-OVER?: Santana and 3 errors equals a loss to the Mets.

Spring Cleaning

Before the first game I tidied things up a bit around my line o' links. I've had a Tweets section for a while now, but today I moved a few sleepy blogs to the renamed Hibernating slot, shuffled the remaining ones a bit, and added some new links, including John Baker's blog, Miami Sports Generation, and a new "The Marlins Blog". Earlier I put in First Place Fish.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Baseball Begins

Tonight the RedSox and Yankees slap spheroids around in Fenway on its 99th Opening Day. As i've done the past couple of years to keep track of the games, here are today's scoreboards from six different sports news services. Pick the one you like, or the one that works.

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NL East Future Preview - Let the Streaks Speak

The predictions for the season are being made, some by computer simulation, some through experience and instinct.

My purpose today is to lay out the historical streaks in the early part of past baseball seasons that may give an indication of success or non-success for a team's entire season, and flag those early games for the NL East.

Example: One of the more interesting of these streaks involves the Marlins, and it happens early. Since way back in the post-strike year of 1996, Marlins games played on April 10 have reflected the direction in which each season has finished.

In other words, seasons from '96 on in which the Marlins have won on April 10 have ended up as Marlins' winning years, while those years with losses on April 10 have resulted in under-.500 seasons for the Fish.

With the exception of the 2006 Joe Girardi season, in which the Marlins didn't play on April 10, that makes (so far) thirteen years in a row in which this congruence has occurred.


year April 10 results season w/l
1996 FLA @ SDP L 0 3 80-82
1997 FLA @ CHC W 1 0 92-70
1998 FLA @ PIT L 1 4 54-108
1999 FLA PHI L 2 5 64-98
2000 FLA @ MIL L 3 4 79-82
2001 FLA @ PHI L 6 7 76-86
2002 FLA MON L 7 9 79-83
2003 FLA NYM W 4 3 91-71
2004 FLA PHI W 5 3 83-79
2005 FLA WSN W 8 0 83-79
2006 no game 78-84
2007 FLA MIL L 2 3 71-91
2008 FLA @ WSN W 4 3 84-77
2009 FLA NYM W 5 4 87-75


Another (less-spectacular) date is April 19, where this same pattern has occurred for the Fish since 2002. For those who would rather check game numbers instead of dates, Game Number 37 has shown the same pattern since 2003 (Game 37 this year is scheduled to be the May 15th game here against the Mets).

Here now are the dates and/or game numbers for some of the longer streaks of early predictive games for the rest of the NL East:

---THE NATS/EXPOS have a longer one of these predictive streaks than the Marlins, IF you discount the 2005 season where they inconveniently went 81-81, AND the two years (2004 and 2007) when they didn't play on this date - with that in mind, the team now known as the Nationals have been playing predictive games on May 10th since 1995. Their next best streak is the 18th game of the season, where (again discounting 2005) the pattern has continued since 2001.

---THE METS have had a predictive streak going on May 19 since 2002, but within that are three years when they didn't play ('03, '05 and '08). Better is Game No. 33, which has no gaps in the streak (unless they stop playing at Game No. 32), and has also lasted since 2002.

---THE BRAVES' longest early predictive streak is on May 10, which has been going on since 2002 (with a break in 2004). They have a much earlier one of these streaks, though - the second game of the season has been foreshadowing their season's results since 2004.

---THE PHILLIES' longer streaks of the early part of the season happen later - they have one since 2002 (with a gap in '06) on May 15, and since 2005 on the 49th game of the year.