Baseball is back

Live baseball has returned to MLB Network - the Caribbean Series, anyway.

We've been watching here and there. The other night I heard that Vinny Castilla was hitting.

"The Vinny Catilla?" I asked, thinking there was no way the 42-year-old who hasn't played in the majors since 2006 and has worked in the Rockies front office since 2007 would still be playing.

"Yes, that Vinny Castilla," the announcer said, seemingly answering my question on cue.

While watching another game a few days later, Christine made fun of the exchange when she heard Freddy Guzman was hitting.

"The Freddy Guzman?" she said.

Later, I found out she was just picking a random player and had forgotten that not only did the Phillies sign this guy, but he was featured prominently on the nation's leading Red Sox and Phillies blog. Maybe she should re-read this post she edited.

Today, we learned from Phillyburbs.com that Freddy Guzman stole home in that game:

You know Freddy Guzman, the outfielder the Phils just signed to a minor league deal? Fleet Freddy stole home last night for the Dominican Republic as they beat Venezuela 3-2 in a Caribbean Series game.

Red Sox: The Globe's Peter Abraham learned that Bill James' new book is out. I guess he hasn't been reading the leading Red Sox and Phillies blog either. Granted, we don't have the sources of the Globe, so we have been a little more desperate for blog ideas lately.

Dinner update: It wasn't quite how we planned it, but we pulled off the dinner. The staff seemed pleased with our contribution, but we'd like the chance to do it for real next time.

Pat Burrell's impact

According to The Bill James Handbook, Charlie Manuel used more pinch runners in 2007 (56) and 2008 (62) than any other manager. He also used a lot of defensive substitutes in those years (75 and 60).

Those numbers plummeted last year: only 20 pinch runners and 16 defensive replacements. In the National League, a manager averaged 20 pinch runners last year and 38 defensive switches.

How much of Cholly's decreased use in switches is due to the fact that our beloved Pat Burrell, a plodding left fielder, was jettisoned for Raul Ibanez?

Incidentally, the Phillies also, by far, used the fewest number of lineups of any team last year. Cholly used only 68 lineups the entire season; the only other team with fewer than 100 lineups was the Marlins with 97.

Missed one: The other day, I noted that while Roger Clemens was making his 375th start for the Red Sox on Aug. 17, 1996, an unknown named Rich Hunter was making his eighth start for the Phillies. Christine, however, noticed that for Seattle on that day, a 33-year-old pitcher was making his 243rd start. His name? Jamie Moyer.

Honor roll

The other day, I noted how Jamie Moyer is now the active career leader in several more categories because Randy Johnson announced his retirement.

He's clearly the most decorated active SoxandPhil, but he's not the only one who ranks among active career leaders. Here's where some SoxandPhils hitters rank on the career lists in The Bill James Handbook - but for my sake, we'll keep using the Big Unit's rankings from the book.

After completing this mind-numbing task, my one thought is surprise that Pat Burrell couldn't squeeze into any category, but Carlos Ruiz did.

Current SoxandPhils

Slugging average: Ryan Howard (.586, third)

Triples: Jimmy Rollins (95, T-first), Mike Cameron (59, 10th)

Strikeouts: Cameron (1,798, second)

Stolen bases: Rollins (326, eighth)

Seasons played: Moyer (23, first)

At-bats per home run: Howard (12.1, first)

Stolen base percentage: Jacoby Ellsbury (84.9, fourth), Rollins (82.5, seventh)

Strikeouts-to-walks ratio: Dustin Pedroia (.820, sixth), Ruiz (.971, 10th)

OPS: Howard (.961, sixth)

Secondary average: Howard (.461, fourth)

Highest strikeout per PA: Howard (.279, seventh)

Lowest strikeout per PA: Placido Polanco (.065, third), Pedroia (.069, fourth)

At-bats per RBI: Howard (4.2, first), David Ortiz (4.8, fifth)

Former SoxandPhils

Average: Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra (.313, T-ninth)

On-base percentage: Ramirez (.411, fourth), Jim Thome (.404, eighth), Bobby Abreu (.404 ninth)

Slugging average: Ramirez (.591, second), Thome (.557, eighth)

Home runs: Thome (564, third), Ramirez (546, fourth)

Games: Thome (2,284, fifth), Ramirez (2,207, sixth)

At-bats: Johnny Damon (8,408, sixth), Ramirez (7,962, ninth)

Hits: Ramirez (2,494, seventh), Damon (2,425, ninth)

Total bases: Ramirez (4,703, fourth), Thome (4,290, fifth)

Doubles: Ramirez (531, second), Abreu (483, sixth), Damon (451, 10th)

Triples: Damon (95, T-first)

Runs: Ramirez (1,506, fifth), Thome (1,486, sixth), Damon (1,483, seventh)

RBI: Ramirez (1,788, second), Thome (1,565, fifth)

Walks: Thome (1,619, first), Ramirez (1,283, fifth), Abreu (1,254, seventh)

Intentional walks: Ramirez (212, third), Thome (162, seventh)

Hit by pitch: Scott Rolen (112, ninth)

Strikeouts: Thome (2,313, first), Ramirez (1,748, fourth), Abreu (1,518, eighth)

Sacrifice hits: John Smoltz (136, second), Edgar Renteria (91, eighth)

Sacrifice flies: Ramirez (87, fourth)

Stolen bases: Damon (374, third), Abreu (348, sixth)

Seasons played: Tom Gordon and Smoltz (21, T-fourth), Thome (19, T-eighth)

At-bats per home run: Thome (13.7, second), Ramirez (14.6, sixth), Russell Branyan (14.8, seventh)

Grounded into double play: Ramirez (237, third), Renteria (226, sixth)

Stolen base percentage: Michael Bourn (82.9, sixth)

Worst stolen base percentage: Mark Kotsay (62.3, second)

At-bats per GIDP: Bourn (240.0, second), Branyan (105.7, 10th)

OPS: Ramirez (1.002, second), Thome (.961, seventh)

Secondary average: Thome (.492, first), Ramirez (.443, sixth)

Highest strikeout per PA: Branyan (.335, first), Smoltz (.313, fifth), Carlos Pena (.262, ninth)

Plate appearances: Thome (9,463, seventh), Ramirez (9,437, eighth), Damon (9,433, ninth)

At-bats per RBI: Ramirez (4.5, second), Thome (4.9, seventh)

{And if you've managed to slog your way through to the end of this list, yes, Greg did go 0-4 on his weekend football picks. Better luck next weekend.}

When one old lefty moves out, another moves up

When Randy Johnson announced his retirement this week, it did have some meaning for the Phillies - well, one of them anyway.

With Johnson out of the picture, Jamie Moyer has moved up in a couple of categories on the ol' active leader lists, according to The Bill James Handbook.

Before the Big Unit retired, J-Moy already led active pitchers in games started (609), losses (195) and home runs allowed (491).

Now, he will open the season also leading in wins (258), innings (3,908.2) and batters faced (16,642).

Moyer also moved up to fifth in complete games (31), third in strikeouts (2,342), second in walks (1,117) and third in hit batsmen (138).

Moyer - whose fastball averaged a league-low 81.4 mph last year - will be the active strikeout leader if Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz don't play in 2010.

Another old Phillie: Brett Myers, who has a been a Phillie for so long that his major league debut occurred during our honeymoon, is officially gone. He's now with Ed Wade and the rest of the Philadelphia Astrox. Christine laments the end of an era. We said our peace to young Brett in November.

Mutual (g)love society: Mike Lowell once told Nick Cafardo that Adrian Beltre was the best third baseman he's seen:

"Tools-wise, Adrian Beltre is the best one," he said. "He can be the best one. He's very, very quick. He comes in on the ball incredibly. I relate it to the way I can catch some ground balls. But I see some balls he gets down the line where I really have to concentrate on setting my feet to make a good, strong throw and he's off-balance throwing from the side and it's a rocket that comes out of his arm.

"So I enjoy watching his tools. I wish I could have that ability to flick the ball across the diamond and it goes like a bullet. In the minors, he was like a man playing against boys."

Beltre, supplanting Lowell at third for the Red Sox, returned the kind words today:

New Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre has played against Mike Lowell since they were in the minor leagues, and said Lowell has the best hands of any third baseman in the game. "I know Mike Lowell," he said after his introductory press conference in Fenway Park on Friday. "I'm a huge fan of Mike Lowell. Mike is a great guy."

Thanks: Big kudos to Cafepress.com. Christine's Chooch T-shirt was a little too small. We asked to exchange it for a larger one. They just sent us a larger one without asking us to send the other one back. It arrived today. Great customer service.

D-Fence and the new-look Red Sox

It's quite clear by now that Theo Epstein thought the best way to improve the Red Sox was via leather and pitching. Run prevention is the new catch phrase in Boston.

So Jason Bay was banished to New York, and Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek were sent to the bench, and Jacoby Ellsbury was sent to left field.

What?

Interestingly, I was looking at defensive stats this morning in The Bill James Handbook and was surprised to see that, defying conventional wisdom, both Ellsbury and Shane Victorino rank among the worst center fielders in the game. So although I was surprised when news broke this afternoon that the Red Sox will play Mike Cameron in center, I wasn't completely shocked.

I'm really psyched for the new-look defensive Red Sox, even though I'm sure some, like this moron particpating in a Rob Neyer chat, will question Theo's logic:

Steve (NYC)
Rob, do you think the Sox are putting too many eggs in the UZR basket? They've improved their defense, but from a distance it also looks like they've added mediocre bats to 1/3 of their lineup. Are we really so confident in the relative value of defense to offense that these "WAR" numbers are gospel? I guess we'll find out, but I personally find the Sox a lot less scary than in previous seasons.

Rob Neyer (12:10 PM)
Cameron has been an above-average hitter in each of the last 11 seasons; Beltre has been above average in four of the last six seasons. So, no.

Thanks, Rob.

A little longer defense of the Red Sox D-Fence comes from Dave Cameron:

Beltre isn't just a good defender. He is in the conversation of the best defensive third baseman of all time.
[...]
It isn't just the numbers, either. When you watch Beltre play third base, you are amazed at the things he can do. He has perfected the charge on a bunt – no one in baseball comes in on the ball as well as he does. His lateral range is hilarious at times, as he regularly fields balls that are hit directly at the shortstop, just because he can. He has a great arm, often throwing lasers across the field without transferring his weight, showing pure arm strength.

Nuggets gleaned today from Bill James: Chase Utley was the best base-running second baseman in 2009 and was second only to Michael Bourn among all players. Mike Lowell was the worst base runner at third base - another reason the Adrian Beltre signing makes sense. Although he's not an excellent base runner, at least Beltre is on the positive side of the ledger, unlike the guy he is replacing.

Brad Lidge had the worst OPS (.912) among relievers with at least 50 games. He was also tied with the second worst save percentage (74 percent).

Ryan Madson tied for second with 29 appearances in which he pitched on the previous day. But with all the talk about not using the injured Lidge on consecutive days, the closer did have 21 such appearances.

[Photo credit: HuggingHaroldReynolds.com]

Back to work

Rob Neyer opened his morning blog post with the observation: "When I have to work every day, I want a day off. When I have days off, I want to work. Go figure ..."

I interpret that as saying that he updates his blog even if he is off. Andy Martino, however, does not. I know it's the holiday season and Phillies news has been slow, but he's gone nearly two weeks since posting. That's ridiculous. Even if he has a good excuse like a personal reason for being unable to work, you'd think a colleague would post something every couple of days to stave off the blog's stagnation.

Christine and I returned to work today after a nice holiday break. I did have time to peek at a couple of pages of The Bill James Handbook that Christine got me for Christmas.

Among the early SoxandPhils highlights is the closest vote ever for a Fielding Bible Award. At second base, Aaron Hill and Dustin Pedroia were tied at 76 points with Chase Utley in third with 73 points. Hill won the tiebreaker with more first place votes than Pedroia.

And the best two catchers at blocking bad pitches? Jason Varitek (95.9 percent) and Carlos Ruiz (95.8 percent). See, Chris Coste, maybe you getting yanked in the 9th inning was more about Chooch and less about you. (That sentiment isn't as bitter toward Coste as it sounds. I was just a little defensive about Christine's favorite Phillie.)

Red Sox still working: But Mike Lowell won't be working as much in 2010. Welcome aboard Adrian Beltre. I like that this is a one-year deal; I'm just perplexed what it means for Lowell's role with the team.

Christine got Chooch!

Last year, Ken Ryan found himself under the official SoxandPhils Christmas tree. This year, it was Carlos Ruiz's turn to be a gift.

Christine normally doesn't like Phillies garb specific to a certain player. But she has developed an affinity for Chooch, and I figured she would get a kick out of a Ruiz shirt.

Unfortunately, the only official Ruiz shirts for women come in red, and Christine doesn't wear red. So I did some searching and found some customizable Carlos Ruiz shirts.

Before discovering CafePress (yes, I was the last person on Earth to have heard of it), I came across a Phillies canvas chair while looking in a sporting goods store. I picked up one because we recently got a canvas chair as a prize from a charity walk. Christine had mentioned that it seems wrong to have just one chair, so now we have a pair: one that's bright orange and one that's Phillies. We won't stick out at all at the next parade.

I also got Christine a transistor radio (yup, they still sell them) so that next summer she won't have to choose between taking a walk in the neighborhood or watching the beginning of a Phillies game. We can stroll around the neighborhood while listening to the start of the game.

In my pile from Christine was The Bill James Handbook. It's been awhile since I've had a copy. So long, in fact, that Christine thinks the last one I had was used to try to settle our debates over who was better, Scott Rolen or Nomar Garciaparra, who both seemed destined for the Hall of Fame way back then.

At my parents' house, I got a Red Sox vs. Yankees checkers set. It's nice, but who is going to want to play as the Empire? Christine and I joked that we will buy Phillies vs. Mets so we can put together a SoxandPhils game.

I also got Boston Red Sox Yesterday & Today. It's rare for a new Red Sox book to come out without my knowledge, let alone one authored by one of my favorite columnists, Nick Cafardo. I was very surprised.

Actually, Christine got me a non-baseball book that I was also unaware of. It's not actually out yet, so Christine had to print out a picture of it to put under the tree. At first, I thought it was going to another baseball-reference sponsorship, just like Ken Ryan last year.

Hope you all had a nice holiday and that next year we all get our Christmas present in October: Sox vs. Phils.