Royalties & Cardinalate

I swear - we verified this at work. It's not an April Fool's gaffe:

MISSOURI BASEBALL 2005
Texas Tech at Missouri
Apr 01, 2005 at Columbia, Mo. (Taylor Stadium)

Texas Tech 0 (18-9,2-4 BIG 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Fuller, Cody p........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 .417
Thomas, Brent ph........ 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 .267
Avants, Carey rf......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .312
Wilson, Josh ph......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .290
Blair, Cameron p......... 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 .375
Capps, Brian ph/cf....... 3 0 0 0 1 3 1 1 1 .284
Stewart, Trey 1b......... 1 0 0 0 2 1 8 1 0 .261
Callender, Joseph 3b..... 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .394
Roberts, Drew p......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .182
Williams, Chris p........ 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .264
Richburg, Chris 1b...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .277
Fouts, Cooper c.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .321
Smith, Matt c........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 8 1 1 .348
Edwards, Madison ph...... 3 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 .325
Wyatt, Brian cf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Gattis, Randy p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Conine, Brady p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Zachry, Casey p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -
Butler, Zach lf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -
Hargrove, Carleton p.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Lewis, Fielding ss...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals................... 27 0 0 0 4 18 24 8 4

Missouri 25 (22-4,4-0 BIG 12)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
LeBlanc, Bryson lf....... 3 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 .265
Pietroburgo, Dan ph..... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .263
Chambers, Derek 1b....... 5 3 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 .337
McKee, John 3b........... 2 4 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 .361
O'Neill, Greg ph........ 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .326
Mense, Hunter dh......... 3 4 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 .405
Roberson, Tyrone lf..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .400
Boone, James cf.......... 4 5 3 5 1 0 0 0 0 .396
Frey, Evan lf........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .192
Priday, Jacob rf......... 4 2 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 .342
Williams, Tyler rf...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263
Taylor, Zane 2b.......... 3 2 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 .328
Helms, Trevor ph/2b..... 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 .267
Field, J.C. c............ 3 2 0 1 3 2 18 0 2 .184
Arndt, Gary ss........... 4 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 .297
Scherzer, Max p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -
Cole, Micheal p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Totals................... 38 25 12 17 13 10 27 3 8

Score by Innings R H E
----------------------------------------------
Texas Tech.......... 00 0 000 000 - 0 0 5
Missouri............ 4(17)2 020 000 - 25 12 0
----------------------------------------------

E - Fuller; Blair 2; Callender; Williams. LOB - Texas Tech 4; Missouri 8. 2B
- McKee; Taylor. 3B - Boone. HBP - Chambers; McKee 2; Priday; Taylor; Helms.
SB - Capps; Stewart; Williams 2; Mense; Boone.

Texas Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Wyatt, Brian........ 1.0 2 4 1 1 1 6 8 35 2.76
Gattis, Randy....... 0.1 0 5 5 3 0 1 6 25 8.42
Conine, Brady....... 0.0 0 4 4 2 0 0 4 18108.00
Zachry, Casey....... 3.2 10 12 10 6 4 22 28 127 9.45
Butler, Zach........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 3 4.34
Hargrove, Carleton.. 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 3 4 16 5.40
Lewis, Fielding..... 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 3 4 15 1.29

Missouri IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Scherzer, Max....... 7.0 0 0 0 3 14 21 24 114 1.02
Cole, Micheal....... 2.0 0 0 0 1 4 6 7 31 0.00

Win - Scherzer (6-1). Loss - Wyatt (3-3). Save - None.
WP - Lewis. HBP - by Wyatt (McKee); by Gattis (Chambers); by Gattis (McKee); by
Conine (Priday); by Conine (Taylor); by Hargrove (Helms). BK - Zachry 3.
Pitches/strikes: Wyatt 35/24; Gattis 25/9; Conine 18/5; Zachry 127/69; Butler
3/3; Hargrove 16/10; Lewis 15/7; Scherzer 114/72; Cole 31/16.
Umpires - HP: Bill Davis 1B: Mark Winters 3B: Tom Svehla
Start: 6:30 Time: 3:00 Attendance: 677


The Tigers have won 14 in a row and are first in the Big 12.

Brian's old buddy Will Leitch has crafted another excellent season preview over at Black Table. Check it out. I love the site - it allows me to be a vicarious Manhattanite. Seems like the girls are hornier out there...

Now that a persistent cold spell has subsided here in St. Louis and it now genuinely feels like spring, my thoughts are often drifting toward the stadium down the street from my downtown office. The fact that I have tickets to next Friday’s home opener gives me chills. I also like that the season opener is on Tuesday, allowing more time and attention for all of the other openers across the MLB galaxy on Monday. April is a cool month for many reasons (NBA playoffs start!) and factoring in the Final Four being in town it is quite a scene here as spring unfurls her glory.

Just read that Ricky Ankiel threw out a runner at home (his first assist) on Wednesday by throwing a dart from RF. But as soon as you think his confidence may get a boost, he fails to score the tying run from third base in his ninth inning AB . . . I finally glanced over the spring stats today. First time. Pujols’ OPS in 19 games: a Phat 1.321 . . . M-Grud went 21-for-51 and Deckstein went 21-for-50 in 19 games each. But Grudzielanek scored just 6 runs while Eckstein scored 15 . . . My biggest present concern is Jason Isringhausen, who allowed 21 runners in 10 innings.

The Royals announced their 25-man roster for Opening Day today.

Suffice to say, I feel rather exalted because Calvin Pickering has won the DH job. Ken Harvey is headed for Omaha. Until I read about, I have to admit that I never thought that Royals would come to this decision. The fact that they did tells me three things: 1) Allard Baird runs the show; 2) someone, somewhere in the organization has an affinity for performance analysis; 3) the organization is placing value on the right things.

Here is the roster:
Infield: Sweeney (1B), Gotay (2B), Berroa (SS), Teahen (3B), Graffanino (UTL)
Catchers: Buck (C), Castillo (backup)
Outfield: Long/Marrero (LF), DeJesus (CF), E.Brown/Stairs (RF)
Designated hitters: Pickering (yeah!)

Quibbles: The bench is one player short. I would have kept Harvey to platoon with Pickering and pinch hit. Eleven pitchers is plenty. Also, after thinking over and reading through the collective bargaining agreement, I wish they would have made Graffanino the 3B, kept McEwing or Hocking as UTY - until May 1 or so. I know it's six years down the line but it I think there would be significant long-term gain in keeping Teahen in Omaha for another month.

Starting rotation: 1) Lima, 2) R.Hernandez, 3) Greinke, 4) Bautista, 5) Anderson
Bullpen: Affeldt (Cl), MacDougal (RH), Cerda (LH), Wood (RH), Field (RH), Camp (RH), Sisco (LH)

Quibbles: I'd swap Bautista and Wood. Wood is more polished and I think Bautista would be better served in middle relief. Also, I would have liked them to keep Kyle Snyder over Nate Field.

You'll notice I didn't mention Emil Brown. Look - it didn't matter who won that 'battle' between Brown, Aaron Guiel and Abraham Nunez. None of them was going to help in the long run. Heck, none of them probably would have lasted through this season. If Matt Stairs ends up getting the bulk of the PA in a more or less straight platoon with Brown, then the Royals have made the best of a bad situation. I am concerned, however, about the defensive ramifications of overexposing Stairs in right field.

Overall, though, I'm pleased with the decisions the Royals made. I think they've constructed a roster that maximizes the talent on hand.

It seems as soon as Ricky Ankiel decided to assume the identity of a career minor-league outfielder, that any subsequent spring training drama vanished . . . The fact that the Redbirds should not have a genuine need for a No. 5 starter until April 19 allows three more weeks to sort that issue out, with Matt Morris hopefully being ready by then. Mo allowed seven hits and five runs in four innings on Monday and will begin the season on the DL . . . The Bill Pulsipher story has been pretty cool, with his chance to make the team down to him vs. Mike Meyers. This is the biggest non-Ankiel surprise of the spring - and is one this week’s main story lines since the bullpen is the only unsettled part of the beginning roster. . . Looking at the Cardinals bench has me concerned, with the best of the bunch being John Mabry. They lack power there, but this was not a problem last season. Not a very thrilling group though.

The official site had a nice bit of trivia today regarding the potential for a current Cardinal to overtake Sugar Ray Lankford (123) as the Busch Stadium all-time home runs leader. Jimmy Edmonds would need to hit 27 home HRs to achieve this, so it is quite a long-shot. Regardless, Edmonds is just four away for 100 at Busch. Pujols is at 71, just 10 behind Ted Simmons.

If you want buy Kent Bottenfield’s new Christian album, click here.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to do much more than throw a couple of links your way.

In my latest ESPN update, discuss the latest developments from Surprise. It's already outdated, though, because it now looks like Gotay & Teahen have won everyday jobs.

In a sidebar to Wright Thompson's story about the evolution of the career home run record, I did a sidebar in which I recalculated the all-time home run standings. Aren't those caricatures in Wright's story cool?

My methodology is outlined in the article. I love to hear from others how they would approach this problem. In this instance, I not looking for a ranking of power/home run hitters per se. I'm simply looking to project the list as if all the players played with identical environmental factors.

Another item that would have improved the piece would have been home run factors for each ballpark through history, preferably for both righties and lefties. If anyone knows where this info might be available, drop me a line.