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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 176 OF 914 ·
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May-10-10
 | | Phony Benoni: Hmmm. Obviously a couple of period pieces. |
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| May-11-10 | | Jim Bartle: PB, do you remember a player for the Pistons in the 60s named Terry Dischinger? Here's what Tom Heinsohn wrote about him in 1964, when he was still on Chicago: "Finally, there is Detroit's Terry Dischinger. It's funny—he's not big, not strong and he is a picture-book shooter. But he has all the moves of Baylor and one thing more: absolute speed. Terry can beat any big human and probably a pack of greyhounds. If I could stop Pettit cold, if I was the greatest defender in the league against Baylor, I couldn't stop Dischinger. Our solution: send a little man out there to harry him and bark at his heels; try to keep him out of the gantlet and make him shoot from outside. It doesn't work, but that's the solution anyway." Dischinger was good, but I'm surprised at such high praise. Maybe he was just a guy who Heinsohn couldn't handle. Dischinger had an odd career. Dynamite shooter, around 50% when the league barely shot 40%, scored 25 a game as a rookie and 22 the next year. Then with Detroit his production kept going down. I wonder why. |
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May-11-10
| | Phony Benoni: I didn't follow basketball in the 60s. Back then, the Pistons were a distant fourth in Detroit's sports consciousness, also-rans while the Tigers, Red Wings, and even the Lions were generally in contention. So I remember nothing of Dischinger except for the name. Looking up some background, I see he lost two seasons to military service. No combat duty, but that surely stunted his development. Also, I note that the Pistons' problem was that they had some good individual players who couldn't co-operate as a team, plus a deadly combination of ineffective coaching and poor front office deals. Look up the Dave DeBusschre deal, for instance. |
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| May-11-10 | | Travis Bickle: Hey Phony remember this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7vs... |
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| May-11-10 | | Jim Bartle: I remember that trade. I just couldn't believe how the Knicks would give up a top-flight center like Bellamy for a good-but-not-great forward like DeBusschere. Shows what kind of GM I would make. Maybe the Pistons thought DeBusschere was going to return to baseball. (2.90 ERA in 100 innnings with White Sox.) Almost all the NBA teams in the mid-60s had really first-rate starting fives. There were only 9 or 10 teams, so that was to be expected. I mean, the Celtics were bringing in Havlicek off the bench. Pistons had DeBusschere and Ray Scott at forward, Eddie Miles and Dischinger at guard--that's a first-rate lineup. Unfortunately their center was the legendary 7-footer Reggie Harding, who (after he retired) tried to rob his neighborhood liquor store wearing a ski mask. |
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| May-13-10 | | Deus Ex Alekhina: What American League team has the best all-time record vs the damn yankees? I saw this question in The Sporting News in the early/mid 1960's & the answer then was, I believe, the Tigers with an all time record (then) of .460 or so. |
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May-13-10
| | Phony Benoni: Still the Tigers, as of 2009:
Detroit +919 -1035 .470
Milwaukee +182 -208 .467
Anaheim +271 -322 .457
Boston +933 -1117 .455
Seattle +157 +197 .444
Cleveland +864 -1085 .443
Toronto +205 -259 .442
Chicago +823 -1043 .441
Minnesota +764 -1081 .414
Texas +244 -353 .409
Baltimore +838 -1222 .407
Oakland +758 -1112 .405
Kansas City +174 -256 .405
Tampa Bay +69 -133 .342
Boston has more wins, due to divisional play. Don't forget that the Brewers were originally an AL team. |
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| May-13-10 | | Jim Bartle: I presume Baltimore's record includes their days as the Browns. Their record as the Orioles must be much better. Same with Minnesota. |
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May-13-10
| | Phony Benoni: Yes, those are totals for the franchise. And the Yankees' record includes their two years as the Baltimore Orioles. |
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| May-13-10 | | Jim Bartle: LeBron James nearly pulled off the quadruple double we were talking about: 27 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 9 turnovers. |
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May-13-10
 | | chancho: It's on to a rematch with the Magic.
Hopefully things will turn out differently this time. It will be a tough series. |
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| May-14-10 | | Travis Bickle: <Phony Benoni> <Jim Bartle>, Are The Sharks any good? Also: Lebron James wants to be a Chicago Bull! |
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| May-14-10 | | Travis Bickle: Here's a picture of my drinking partner at the United Center when The Black Hawks are in town. Bobby in a little fracas with a bastard from Montreal. ; P
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/... |
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May-14-10
| | Phony Benoni: <Travis> I've also heard rumors about LeBron James going to New York, Boston, and Detroit. Sounds like a whole lot of wishful thinking going around. |
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May-15-10
| | Phony Benoni: Dept. of Prophecy:
<Apr-11-10: thegoodanarchist: In any event, I predict the Nats win at least 68 games this year. No more 100+ loss seasons!!!! At least not until next decade :)> Still early, of course, but if the playoffs started today the Nationals would be the N.L. wild card team. |
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| May-16-10 | | playground player: <Phony Benoni> Neat stat! Over the course of history, the Yankees beat everybody. The whole American League is their happy hunting ground. I know the Giants (NY and SF combined) have won the most games of any major league franchise--but I wonder if there is any NL team that has an all-time winning record against all the other teams, as the Yanks have in the AL. I wonder how much of that .470 winning percentage against the Yankees, by the Tigers, was Frank Lary's doing. |
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| May-16-10 | | Jim Bartle: I'd be interested in how the Yankees have done vs. the rest of the league since around 1967, after the draft was instituted in 1965. I would guess their winning percentage went down once every team had an equal shot at the best players, but not that much. However I wonder if it's a coincidence they had a poor record in the years 1967-1975, those few years between the installation of the draft and the beginning of free agency--in other words, the only years where the Yankees did not have an advantage due to their money. Nine years isn't enough to reach any firm conclusions, but it's still interesting to see. |
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May-16-10
| | Phony Benoni: <playground player> The Giants have accomplished the same feat as the Yankees, though hardly as emphatically. Here are the totals through 2007: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/tea... The comparable AL page is at:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/tea... Adding in the numbers from 2008-2009, we get these percentages against the Giants: Los Angeles .497
Houston .485
Washington .4802
Chicago .4801
St. Louis .4796
Milwaukee .468
San Diego .466
Pittsburgh .464
New York .461
Atlanta .453
Cincinnati .451
Colorado .445
Arizona .436
Philadelphia .415
Florida .381
Remember that Washington's result includes the Montreal Expos' record. Frank Lary was 28-13 against the Yankees lifetime. In 1958, when he was 16-15 overall for a fifth-place team, he went 7-1 against the pennant-winning Yankees. <JB> That wouldn't be hard to calculate, but would take some time and I'm feeling lazy today. Maybe some other time. |
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May-16-10
| | Phony Benoni: Here's the story of the Tigers' thrilling victory last night, and a video of the heart-stopping walk-off walk: http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/... The hero, Ramon Santiago, nearly Merkled it. If you view the video, you'll see he had to be reminded to touch first base before joining the celebration! Later, he admitted he didn't know that was required. Nobody teaches the fundamentals any more. |
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| May-16-10 | | Jim Bartle: Hmmm. That would have been a controversy. What I saw was a mild, sort of uncomfortable celebration. I think the Sox walked four in that last inning, though maybe started it with a single. A lot of walks on the night. I'm really surprised the Giants have a winning record against every NL team. Without checking I can guarantee they have a solid losing record against the Dodgers since they came to California. And probably against St. Louis and Cincinnati as well. |
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May-16-10
| | Phony Benoni: <JB> OK, I've done a little work on the Yankees question. From 1965-2009, the Yankees still have a winning record against every AL club. However, it's not as decisive. They are ahead of Boston by only one game (343-342). In the period 1965-1975, four teams actually had a winning record against them: Baltimore (.632), Boston (.571), Minnesota (.565), and Detroit (.505). Even Cleveland was just one game behind (99-98 for the Yankees). Looking at it another way, here is the Yankees' winning percentage in various periods: 1901-1964: .567
1965-1975: .502
1976-2009: .568
So maybe your thesis has some validity. Or maybe it was just one of those cycles which happen for no good reason. I'll look at the Giants from 1958- next. |
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| May-16-10 | | Jim Bartle: Thanks, PB. The numbers are interesting, but in truth I think it's mostly coincidental that the low point occurs when the Yanks' money had the least effect. Pretty hard to prove any causality there. First, the team just fell apart after 1964, and the coming draft had nothing to do with that. They sure did sign some big free agents starting about 1976: Hunter, Jackson, Gossage, Gullett, etc. Of course they also pulled off some good trades, such as stealing Chambliss and Tidrow from Cleveland, and making good trades for Piniella and Randolph. Rivers for Bobby Bonds, not sure how to rate that one. I'll be real interested to see what you find for the Giants. You'll consistently good but not great teams through the 60s and until about 1973, then a bad period until 1978, and another really bad period from 83 to 85. Then the Roger Craig/Will Clark and Dusty Baker/Barry Bonds eras, which were pretty solid if not spectacular. |
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| May-16-10 | | Jim Bartle: On the occasion of the Raiders cutting LaMarcus Russell, a writer listed his all-time biggest busts, and invited readers to send in their nominations. Here are the baseball players on the list, with a heavy bias toward Bay Area players: Matt Bush, drafted #1 by Padres, washout.
Ben Grieve, A's player faded after good start.
Todd van Poppel
Trade of Orlando Cepeda (Sadecki was not named, though)
Drew Henson, Yankee/Cowboy "star," long gone.
Brien Taylor, Yankee draft pick
Ken Henderson, failed to become the next Willie Mays (this is totally unfair--not a bust, formed excellent OF with Mays and Bonds) Steve Chilcutt, Mets overall #1 choice, washout
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic... Of course the Giants have had many other busts, as have most teams. I remember pitcher John D'Acquisto and a whole lot of third basemen in the 60s and 70s. |
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| May-17-10 | | eightsquare: <Phony Benoni> Do you want to play a match?
If yes , please email me , chandramowlid@yahoo.in |
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May-17-10
| | Phony Benoni: <eightswquare> No thanks. I've got enough games going already. |
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