Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

Dude's arms must be tired after each game.

 

Agreed. And there are rarely any fans out in those seats - unless it's a holiday or the Yankees (hmmmm) or Red Sox are in town so this guy would stick out even more.

 

Couple funny Tweets from Jays catcher JP Arencibia:

Looks like we had verlanders signs #nohitter

Just read the dumbest article on ESPN about us getting signs? I'm hitting 200 and we get signs at home, that makes sense?

 

Bautista in 2010 hit 33 HRs at home and 21 on the road, in about the same # of PAs. In addition to all the other evidence, that does seem a tad extreme.

 

That's what makes it intersting to me but there are a lot of players who have had Home/Road splits like that.

 

Good point. I see Konerko was 26/13 and Hamilton was 22/10 last year. Even more dramatic splits than Bautista.

But there's too much going on in Toronto to think it's all just an accident.

 

but don't you think an ex Jay would have said something by now? We live in a world where nothing can be kept quiet, too many people would have to be in on it to make this thing work.

 

Rogers Centre has always been a hitters park, particularly if the roof is open.

I have sat over the visiting 'pen a few times at Jays games and those guys don't seem to pay attention to too much. They chew seeds incessantly, yak and constantly rummage through those Barbie backpacks (looking for God knows what) they make the rooks carry.

 

Yeah, that does make me wonder, but the article ascribed that silence to The Code. Don't know how much stock to put in that, but even the players making the claims were afraid to do so publicly -- the guy who sent the text to Granderson couldn't even be named, and then Granderson said he got the text but didn't notice anything unusual.

Also as the article said, why not keep quiet and use the info to your advantage? If you tell your team to mix up the signals because you've been there, and one of your other competitors doesn't know about it and doesn't mix up the signals, that's your advantage. Nobody has had to worry about hurting the Jays' playoff hopes in the last couple of years so there wouldn't be much bonus in blowing the whistle on them.

Guys pocket those advantages. I remember when Bonds was with the Giants there was a big stink one time after he said he wouldn't help a teammate with tips against a particular pitcher because that teammate might be on another team next year.

 

Chris Narveson ... stay away from the scissors ...

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/127436133.html

 

Article says Granderson was in the dugout and could not see anything.

Blue Jays may hit more HRs as a percentage of their hits at home but their BA is not higher than on the road by much and their opponents' BA is about the same, just not as high a percentage of HRs.

So stealing signs makes it easier to hit HRs but not hits? What about line drive %? That would seem to be more relevant.

 

The RC has played like a home run park for years.