2015 World Series Game Four Live Weblog

7:49	Carson Cistulli: This is the World Series Game Four Live Weblog. Please don’t hesitate to begin saying whatever you’ve come here to say.

7:50	Carson Cistulli: Perhaps consider this: what the over/under on infield fly balls induced by Chris Young? That seems like a moderately interesting question to contemplate.

7:52	Comment From tz 5. Or, one per inning pitched

7:55	Comment From Mayor McCheese 12

7:55	Comment From Jenstrom I’ll say 3. And aren’t we lucky to chat with sexy Carson Cistulli!

7:57	Neil Weinberg: The price is also being required to chat with Owen and me.

7:58	Carson Cistulli: Neil! Hello!

7:58	Owen Watson: Good evening esteemed chatters and fellow panelists!

7:58	Neil Weinberg: Hi, Carson!

7:58	Carson Cistulli: And hello, Watson.

7:58	Owen Watson: Hello!

7:58	Neil Weinberg: The reader might not know that Carson had the audacity to tell me yesterday that the world might not be interested in Joe Blanton until next week.

8:00

Comment From Brinks
Good evening, is A Rod showing himself as a competent commentator thus far


	Owen Watson: I believe we can all say that he has shown himself to be more competent than certain other members of the broadcast team

8:01	Carson Cistulli: “Evidence” seems to suggest that Young produced 1 IFFB per roughly every 4.0 IP this year.

8:02

Comment From a
DOES ESCOBAR SWING AT THE FIRST PITCH


	Carson Cistulli: Also an important question. Let us source the crowds.

8:04	Comment From Miller Escobar does not. Only because a batter finds it difficult to swing at pitches that are thrown behind them

8:04	Comment From tz Joe Blanton would be more competent than certain members of the broadcast team

8:05	Neil Weinberg: The best pitcher, no doubt.

8:08	Comment From Siegmeyer of Catarina The players should be required to play this game in costume

8:08	Neil Weinberg: I mean…uniforms are a type of costume.

8:09	Carson Cistulli: First pitch…

8:09	Carson Cistulli: Swing!

8:09	Carson Cistulli: Second pitch…

8:09	Carson Cistulli: Sort of swing!

8:09	Comment From Gordon The first-pitch curve seems like a much better idea than up-and-in

8:10

Comment From Ken Rosenthals Pajamas
under/over 25 times “Halloween” said on the broadcast


	Owen Watson: Does this include Halloween puns?

8:10

Comment From Miller


	Carson Cistulli: This is a video still from indie horror film It Follows, I believe.

8:11

Neil Weinberg: The lack of depth to the bear’s face is unsettling.


	Carson Cistulli: It’s like an even scarier valley next to the uncanny one.

8:11	Comment From Matt Is it time to recognize that Alcides Escobar is a star player?

8:12	Neil Weinberg: Among all adult humans? Yes.

8:12	Comment From David Murphys Trimmer If we power rank all the Long Island-looking people in sports, does Matz already fall in the top five?

8:13	Neil Weinberg: My mother will be upset to learn that he isn’t Jewish.

8:13	Comment From kevinthecomic Matz looks like he could be Joe DiMaggio’s grandson

8:13	Carson Cistulli: Interference!

8:14

Comment From tz
Still shocked Conforto isn’t a Jersey boy. Washington state??


	Carson Cistulli: I was always surprised that Andy Pettitte was Texan, as well.

8:15

Comment From Frogger
Why do the royals act like any up and in pith is some sort of personal affront?


	Carson Cistulli: Because they JUST CANT STAND PITH.

8:16	Comment From Tango Oops. Thought this was a WE blog.

8:16	Neil Weinberg: Luckily everyone who would get this joke is here.

8:18	Comment From BabeRuthless3 So the gray line that got added to the live WE graph is the WE without factoring in projections right? Just every game in that situation? While green is the normal one factoring in projections?

8:18	Neil Weinberg: Gray line factors in pitcher/lineups. Green assumes average team

8:19	Comment From Nathan Do you set which way the conversation scrolls?

8:19	Carson Cistulli: I have no idea!

8:19	Comment From Sgt. Pepper It scrolled the other (better) way last night

8:19

Comment From Dread
Does Yost know that he’s a manager and not a spectator?


	Owen Watson: This could’ve been said of both managers last night!

8:20	Comment From Dread Is Chris Young secretly a reptile? He does this thing with his tongue…

8:20	Neil Weinberg: This is all I can see now

8:20	Comment From BabeRuthless3 The gray line is new, right? I’ve only seen the green one before and thought it was the opposite, with green factoring in projctions

8:20	Neil Weinberg: Gray line debuted last year I believe

8:21

Comment From kevinthecomic
any chance the broadcast team gets into a discussion vis-à-vis ‘perceived velocity’?


	Owen Watson: They’ve had a few discussions about it in Game 1, just in different, less specific terms.

8:21	Comment From BabeRuthless3 Is the gray line not on mobile or something? I’ve had that live graph open for every game in the playoffs and this is the first time I’ve seen it, but I’m usually on my phone

8:22	Neil Weinberg: I don’t know. It’s possible it wasn’t working briefly. But it’s not a new feature

8:23	Comment From Hell Cistulli, say something witty about TV commercials

8:24	Carson Cistulli: I have nothing witty to say, but I’ve just noted this: the gentleman following his eBay auction via Apple Watch while also playing piano ought to use a sniping program.

8:25	Comment From Ben Kaspick What gray line?

8:25	Neil Weinberg: http://www.fangraphs.com/li…

8:25	Carson Cistulli: And should also learn to ignore technology while practicing his craft.

8:25	Comment From Ben Kaspick Thanks. And what is the gray line?

8:26	Neil Weinberg: The gray line is WE factoring in our pregame odds (based on projections of the players in the starting lineup)

8:26	Comment From blecch anyone notice how bad Hosmer has been? at least a handful of dubious plays in field

8:27

Neil Weinberg: Granted, I only see him 25-35 games a year, but sometimes he tries to play things off to the side when it isn’t needed.


	Owen Watson: The Game 1 error was a howler, and exactly how you describe it!

8:27	Comment From Gordon It really seems like we’re discussing the most boring sort of public transit

8:27	Carson Cistulli: Take the gray line to the beige line. Fall asleep. Never wake up again.

8:28	Comment From Kevin Do you think Chris Young the outfielder dressed like Chris Young the pitcher for Halloween?

8:29	Carson Cistulli: Lot of the plate on 0-2 there.

8:29	Comment From BabeRuthless3 The amount of plate the Mets have hit all playoffs on 0-2 and 1-2 has been infuriating

8:29

Comment From Frogger
I feel like that has been happening a bunch on 0-2, 1-2, any way to measure that?


	Owen Watson: Baseball Savant heatmaps!

8:30	Carson Cistulli: Yes! Tell August Fagerstrom to do it. That’s the easiest way.

8:30	Neil Weinberg: Very doable with some PITCHf/x-ing.

8:30	Comment From Gabe Re: 0-2: The Mets were 4th in the league in 0-2 hits allowed during the regular season, though they also had the most 0-2 counts of any team. So maybe we’re just seeing more 0-2 hits because they’re getting ahead of so many hitters!

8:31	Carson Cistulli: Gabe has unwisely introduced both (a) facts and (b) reason into this conversation.

8:31	Carson Cistulli: Frigging Gabe.

8:32	Comment From Harold Reynolds facts and reason are highly overrated

8:32	Comment From Aaron Cistulli, I’m out of beer. What can you do about it?

8:32	Carson Cistulli: Drink the boxed wine from on top of your refrigerator.

8:32	: 0-2 counts for Mets pitchers over this whole postseason — this actually does strike me as a lot of plate! Especially up.

8:33

Comment From Miller
Owen, I’m pretty sure that’s a rorschach card. Not the Mets heatmap


	Owen Watson: But what DOES IT MEAN

8:33

Comment From Ben Kaspick
what do the colors mean? How the pitches were hit or the frequency of the location?


	Owen Watson: Frequency

8:34	Carson Cistulli: I’ll tell you what I see in it: my father telling me I’m not good enough.

8:34	Comment From kevinthecomic pitching over the plate 0-2 seems especially curious, given the research that shows the ump is more likely than he ought to be to call it a strike anyway

8:34	Neil Weinberg: And batters will swing at more stuff, so don’t throw it over the plate

8:35	Comment From Doug Why are those heatmaps always from the catchers perspective? I feel like his perspective will be biased towards the pitcher since it’s his teammate. I’d rather them be from some neutral affiliates perspective.

8:35

Comment From Matt
Would it have made more sense for the Mets to start deGrom in game 1 and Harvey in game 2? Their pitching ability is roughly the same but starting deGrom in game 1 would mean he also gets the game 5 start which means he’s home and gets to hit and he’s a much better hitting pitcher than Harvey.

8:35	Neil Weinberg: I think there was some desire to pitch Harvey at home?

8:35	Neil Weinberg: Why, I am not clear.

8:36

Comment From BabeRuthless3
deGrom I believe was just about etting him some more rest


	Owen Watson: Right you are, BabeRuthless

8:37	Carson Cistulli: Zero IFFBs for Chris Young.

8:38	Comment From Kevin I love that Chris Young is starting in this series full of young flamethrowers.

8:39	Carson Cistulli: He’s also old enough, biologically speaking, to be their dad’s.

8:39	Comment From Wood I know we’re only in the second and all, but this chat is really hitting its stride. Genuine laughter over here! (We’re on the internet so I wouldn’t have to be polite and fake laugh anyway)

8:40	Carson Cistulli: Or “dads,” plural. Their *respective” dads, is I think what I mean.

8:40	Neil Weinberg: Regarding laughter, does anyone else never laugh out loud when alone? Or is that a weird thing about me?

8:41	Comment From Nathan I do for sure but that doesn’t mean it isn’t weird

8:41	Comment From Ben Kaspick I laugh out loud sometimes when I’m alone

8:41	Comment From mapsamountainrange If I’m alone, I probably laugh audibly only 10% of the amount I normally would.

8:41	Comment From Section329 It is weird about you

8:42	Comment From Druidiful I’ll laugh out loud, but nowhere near as much as when i’m with people.

8:42	Comment From Boo Urns I think “their dad” would be enough.

8:43	Carson Cistulli: Laughing does seem typically to be a social act. Those among us without friends, we laugh into the void.

8:43	Comment From Nathan Sad but true Carson

8:45	Comment From machetko Matz has both weird arm-side movement and late opposite movement. Seems like the kind of thing a) seems more impressive than it is, b) leads to injuries, or c) both.

8:45	Comment From Ben Kaspick Did the Royals really prefer Rios to Aoki? Giants got Aoki for real cheap.

8:46	Carson Cistulli: Whatever the Royals’ mysterious player-evaluation methods, they seem to work.

8:46	Carson Cistulli: But yeah, Rios is making more than 2x what Aoki did this year.

8:46

Comment From Pontoons
But Rios wasn’t good this year.


	Owen Watson: But he’s been good this postseason, which is very Royals

8:46	Carson Cistulli: Perhaps he magically improved his teammates?

8:47	Neil Weinberg: Rios is a very interesting player. Overall has been very average, but highs and lows.

8:47	Comment From Ty Sorry for the non-WS question, but it’s at least about stats! If I were to compare stats from one season to the next, looking for correlation, what would be a good r^2 value to look for? Is there a point that that the number has to cross to be considered “good”?

8:48	Neil Weinberg: The rule of thumb is crossing an r^2 of 0.5, but it’s really more complicated than that.

8:48	Comment From Azzed Starting in a World Series as a left-hander with only eight career starts? Totally different from doing the same thing as a right-hander.

8:48	Comment From mapsamountainrange Carson, what sort of download/listen numbers do Fangraph Audios generate?

8:49	Owen Watson: I find R-squared involving baseball stats to be lower than other subjects, for what it’s worth.

8:49	Carson Cistulli: I’m not privy to this information — or any other sort what would be considered “important to running a business.”

8:50	Carson Cistulli: Unrelated: do you know anyone who lives in a tiny house like one of these: http://www.countryliving.co…? They’re frigging adorable.

8:50	Neil Weinberg: Oh my.

8:50	Carson Cistulli: Oh, also: home run, Conforto.

8:51	Owen Watson: Well that’s a way to wake up Conforto’s bat!

8:51

Comment From Siegmeyer of Catarina
Im sorry that was terrible


	Carson Cistulli: For roughly half the fans, it was.

8:52	Neil Weinberg: Statcast says 395, traveling 107. Must not be a lot of carry tonight

8:52	Comment From Siegmeyer of Catarina My unpublished pun i mean. The hr was great

8:54

Comment From Ryan
I know they’ll likely lose Murphy and Cespedes, but will the Mets offense next year actually be better by virtue of full years from Wright, Conforto, and d’Arnaud?


	Carson Cistulli: It’s hard to project not-injuries, though.

8:55	Comment From machetko Murder.

8:55	Carson Cistulli: Strong addition, Machetko.

8:55	Comment From Ben Kaspick I feel your should always bring the infield in in situations like this. You guys agree managers don’t bring infield in enough?

8:55	Carson Cistulli: Huh. Rios was weirdly surprised.

8:55	Carson Cistulli: Did he really forget? That’s inopportune.

8:56	Comment From Siegmeyer of Catarina Brain fart

8:56	Comment From tz RIOS HELD THE BALLL!!!!!

8:56	Comment From xx what the hell was that lackadaisical throw?

8:56	Comment From blecch forgot the outs?

8:56	Neil Weinberg: Lots of people would say yes, but I think the infield comes in too often. Would like to have access to more robust data on the subject

8:56	Carson Cistulli: Woah! Appeal might really save Rios.

8:57	Neil Weinberg: This is very close.

8:57	Carson Cistulli: This has the potential to be a comedy of no fewer than two errors.

8:57

Comment From Ty
Is there a better place to get the more complicated explanation? I’m trying to essentially self-teach myself to play around with stats, so any help is appreciated! Thanks guys!


	Owen Watson: I usually just google things I don’t understand, but a good understanding of the way r^2 and p values interact is a good start. Also read the FG glossary (which you might do already) — Neil keeps it up updated because he’s awesome and it’s awesome: http://www.fangraphs.com/li…


	Owen Watson: You could get a stats textbook, too. Always good to have on hand.

8:57	Carson Cistulli: Which, “A Comedy of No Fewer Than Two Errors”: not Shakespeare’s best play.

8:58	Comment From Frogger too close to overturn

8:58	Neil Weinberg: Ty, you can contact me directly on Twitter @neilweinberg44 if you want to talk more about that stuff. We can trade emails

8:58	Comment From Alex Rios Need a side angle of 3b

8:59	Carson Cistulli: Safe! (For those who aren’t watching or listening.)

8:59	Comment From Miller

8:59

Comment From Rick
Has an outfielder ever tried to deke a runner on third into leaving early by switching from a normal catch (above his head) to a basket catch (below the waist) at the last moment?


	Owen Watson: This is an awesome but insane idea.

8:59	Neil Weinberg: I love this idea so much.

9:00	Comment From Gabe Rick…..comeon man

9:00	Carson Cistulli: It’s frigging Gabe, again!

9:01	Carson Cistulli: The basket catch idea would help if the relevant fielder were really tall.

9:01	Comment From Gabe No, that was an impostor Gabe! I am the real frigging Gabe!

9:01	Carson Cistulli: Ah, frig. Frigging impostor Gabe.

9:01	Comment From Gabe I am not an imposter, Gabe. I am Gabe 2.0

9:01	Carson Cistulli: Beta Gabe?

9:02	Carson Cistulli: By the way, 83% of respondents guessed Escobar would swing at first pitch. Which he did. And which was a curveball.

9:03	Owen Watson: This would be a good place for Murphy to get his bat going this series. Been quiet

9:04	Carson Cistulli: A half-IFFB! Infielder catching it in the outfield.

9:04	Owen Watson: Put it on the board!

9:08	Comment From Ben Kaspick is Fox using a camera that’s actually centered on home plate?

9:08	Carson Cistulli: It seems very close to straight-on. Offset by just a few degrees, I think.

9:09	Neil Weinberg: Remember when the NL wild card game was in PIT and they didn’t use the normal angle?!

9:09	Comment From machetko Zobrist at 37 career WAR and project for 4 next year. Applying 0.5 reduction per year puts him at about 53 WAR for his career. Would that get him into the Hall?

9:09	Neil Weinberg: Sadly, I doubt he gets anywhere close. Not clear enough for big saber push, and too WAR-y for non saber support

9:10	Comment From The Ghost of Dayn Perry What are you wearing, Cistulli?

9:10	: Enough said

9:11	Neil Weinberg: So a mid inning non seq: I have an outlet in my home linked to a switch. So you turn the switch on and the outlet begins working ( i have a lamp plugged in). This week, the on/off reversed position with no explanation. What could have caused this?

9:12	Comment From George Brett Saberhagen There’s another switch in the house that controls the same outlet?

9:12	Comment From xx witchcraft

9:12	Carson Cistulli: I see merit in both answers.

9:13	Neil Weinberg: Oh my god, there is a switch in my apartment I have never used. Could someone have flipped it? Checking.

9:13

Comment From David Murphys Trimmer
It’s weird how Fox’s regular camera is straight on and K-zone camera is distorted


	Carson Cistulli: During the regular season, the Mets feature an offset regular camera and AWESOME centered slow-motion replay camera.

9:13	Neil Weinberg: It worked! Thank you, internet stranger

9:14	Comment From Tom If not Zobrist, which player on the Mets or Royals has the best chance at the hall? Wright?

9:14	Neil Weinberg: Gotta be Wright.

9:15	Carson Cistulli: Wright only needs about 10 wins to hit the 50-50 threshold.

9:15	Carson Cistulli: Or thereabouts.

9:15	Neil Weinberg: And while he’s been around forever, he is pretty young. And could get a huge narrative boost if he comes back from a SPINE injury

9:15	Comment From Tom Wright is already at 52.9 WAR, according to fangraphs.

9:16	Comment From Reverse Gabe Does Zobrist sign as a second baseman this offseason, or as a super utility player?

9:16	Carson Cistulli: Still deserves a starting job, I’d think.

9:16	Neil Weinberg: Someone will sign him to play COF primarily but he’ll get lots of 2B time to facilitate some other platoon

9:17	: Ben Zobrist: fifth-highest WAR among position players since 2009.

9:18	Neil Weinberg: Future Tiger Ben Zobrist

9:18	Neil Weinberg: Harold can’t believe pull hitters pull outside pitches.

9:18	Comment From Ian It’s amazing to me that a man can strike out Major League hitters throwing 87.

9:19	Comment From Sgt. Pepper Browsing Facebook between innings laughing at the people who had to take their stupid infants out for Haloween

9:19	Carson Cistulli: It also suggests how great it’d be to have something like “apparent velocity” readily available.

9:20	Comment From tz Someone on the community page had a neat article breaking out position players’ skills within their WAR. The only two guys above average in all categories: Zobrist and Wright.

9:20	Neil Weinberg: My brother in law’s kids were mario and luigi.

9:21

Comment From blecch
why do people insist that yoenis c is good?


	Owen Watson: Because he’s streaky, and when he’s on, he’s really good. Also, he has “tools”.

9:22	Comment From Kevin Also the CespedesBBQ account

9:22	Neil Weinberg: He is good?

9:24	Comment From blecch he’s not 100m good

9:24	Comment From Ian 95 looks nice and easy from Matz….that’s a pretty motion.

9:24	Carson Cistulli: Cespedes kick!

9:25	Comment From blecch bingo

9:25	Comment From Pliny the Fielder That is literally booting it!

9:26	Comment From Gabe Yoenis showing he’s a 3-sport athlete. Baseball, golf and now Soccer

9:26	Carson Cistulli: With regard to Matz, though, the velocity is interesting: he’s not a physical guy. But he also doesn’t exhibit much effort.

9:26	Comment From Alex Rios So now we know Escobar is literally twice as fast as Perez

9:26	Neil Weinberg: Cespedes is 100M good. $100M doesn’t buy you a superstar, it buys you a really good player, which Yo is.

9:27	Comment From Boo Urns It may be impossible to prove, but it seems like Cespedes boots the ball more than any other outfielder.

9:27	Neil Weinberg: He has the ability to play center, but it seems like he’s not quite used to reading the ball off the bat from that spot. Rarely did that stuff in LF for Detroit this year

9:29	Carson Cistulli: Credit to Verducci for invoking phrase “high-leverage.”

9:29	Neil Weinberg: They don’t really have another pinch hitter. So not sure what the alternative is

9:30	Carson Cistulli: Although, this is pretty close to the highest-leverage moment of the game thus far.

9:31	Comment From machetko I briefly passed out in my kitchen–how did the Royals score?

9:31	Carson Cistulli: Cespedes kicked ball again. Followed by Gordon hit.

9:32

Comment From xx
his use of “not-exactly high leverage” made me wonder what the LI was- does the FG win probability chart show the LI of the plate appearance anywhere before it’s completed?


	Owen Watson: Pretty sure the LI shown on the WE charts is the initial leverage, so the leverage before the PA starts.

9:33	Carson Cistulli: Wait, I was wrong. LI was 1.18 for Morales PA. Not very high, actually.

9:33	Comment From Ian I know a few people who live in tiny houses, and I live in a yurt. Answered.

9:34	Carson Cistulli: Any manufacturers you’ve heard of, in particular? There are a bunch of them out there, seems.

9:34	Comment From xx right, after the guy hits/strikes out/whatever the LI from his appearance shows up. but it’s not shown during the PA, correct?

9:34	Owen Watson: I’d say Morales only hitting a single with no real repercussions is something the Mets will accept happily.

9:34	Neil Weinberg: Yeah. The LI shows up once the PA is complete, it seems. But you can find a simple LI table that will tell you the basic numbers. Let me find you one

9:35	Neil Weinberg: This will do the trick. A tad less precise, but serviceable http://www.insidethebook.co…

9:36	Comment From Alex Rios Seems weird not to use Gomes when you know he’s going to face a lefty since Morales is a SH

9:37	Neil Weinberg: Gomes is not on the roster

9:37	Carson Cistulli: Conforto Redux.

9:38	Neil Weinberg: A series, we seem to have.

9:38	Comment From kevin Morales’ goatee shaped like something that would accept a Tetris piece.

9:39	Owen Watson: There will be a Jeff Sullivan article about that home run, I can almost guarantee it.

9:39	Comment From Ian I caught up to the chat! Hello, everyone.

9:39	Neil Weinberg: If you only saw the swing, and not the ball, you would think single to RCF

9:41	Comment From Miller Conforto’s wRC+ this postseason (besides tonight): 2

9:44	Comment From machetko Arod had a really good quote about broadcasting–like going to Europe, lots of fun, but eventually you just want to go home. Surprising wit.

9:44	Carson Cistulli: Huh. Seemed like a weirdly poor jump for Granderson on CS.

9:44	Carson Cistulli: Or that perhaps he stopped midway somehow.

9:45	Comment From kevin Would either or you pick Matz as having the highest ceiling of the Mets four pitchers?

9:47	Neil Weinberg: I wouldn’t, but I do think Matz will be very good.

9:47	Carson Cistulli: Syndergaard seems like the most obvious pick because of the velocity and size and youth.

9:47	Owen Watson: I wouldn’t either. I’d go Syndergaard.

9:47	Carson Cistulli: But betting on pitchers is a fool’s errand.

9:48	Comment From Ian So hey….when do the bullpens come in?

9:48	Neil Weinberg: One of them already is!

9:48	Comment From Shirtless George Brett How much money has Ben Zobrist made this post season? haha

9:48	Neil Weinberg: Not much. He was getting paid well before. Doubt the needle moves

9:49	Comment From Ian Continuing….what else does Wright need to do to make the Hall? Third base is tough.

9:49

Comment From Duh
So is the trick to beating the Royals in the postseason just to have a lefty or two that are really tough on lefties. I mean, it’s hard to start Matz over the Big 3, but given the way he’s pitched tonight and the way de Grom and Harvey pitched, who would you rather have pitching in two starts?

9:50	Carson Cistulli: Don’t know what JAWS says specifically, but Wright can’t be that far away from at least being considered. Esp considering he’ll be just 33. A few three-win seasons and he has a shot.

9:50	Neil Weinberg: I assume they want to get him through Hosmer and Moose? Then go to a RHP?

9:50	Neil Weinberg: wanted*

9:51

Comment From Indymets
my cable must be on delay, because Carson’s post came up literally 3 seconds after Granderson was gunned down


	Carson Cistulli: Or I’m a prophet! (I’m not a prophet.)

9:51	Comment From tz I’d love to have Matz available for a couple innings in Game 7, between Thor and Familia. Not a bad trio.

9:52	Comment From TWB Magic alive and well… or 3rd time through the order…

9:53

Comment From Indymets
They just said Matz’s FB is second only to Sale


	Carson Cistulli: This appears to be a true fact: http://www.fangraphs.com/le….

9:55	Comment From Reverse Gabe Has anyone made a win expectancy graph for a full series? Weighting the WPA for each at bat in context of the whole series? I would enjoy that.

9:56	Neil Weinberg: I thought I saw some of those out there this year?

9:56	Comment From Shirtless George Brett Man, Cain loves that delayed steal. I have no idea how it ever works but it does.

9:56

Comment From Ian
Do you agree with the stated purpose of JAWS: to increase the standard of the Hall? I’d rather see a more inclusive Hall, so while JAWS adds consistency and maybe sets a threshold above which someone needs to be in, I’m not with Jaffe entirely. A player shouldn’t have to be above the median at his position to be a serious candidate.


	Owen Watson: I think HoF candidacy should take historic performance comparisons into account in addition to current performance comparisons. Whether that argues for more or less inclusion I don’t know. Probably more.

9:57	Neil Weinberg: So much of the catcher’s throw depends on him knowing the runner is going before he catches the ball. It’s unexpected.

9:57	Carson Cistulli: With regard to HOF talk, a version of reality in which Lorenzo Cain played baseball as a young person would be interesting. He turns 30 next year and has a long way to go, but he’s developed into a fantastic ballplayer.

9:57	Comment From Ian Mets are still winning and I feel like the game is out of hand…

9:58	Carson Cistulli: Were I to have a rooting interest in a team, I would be terrified of the Royals as an opponent.

9:58	Neil Weinberg: Speaking as someone who roots for one of their direct competitors, they are not fun.

9:59	Carson Cistulli: A member of the crowd appears to have been summoned from the bleachers to pitch for the Mets.

9:59	Owen Watson: As an Oakland A’s fan, I still suffer from a stress disorder as a result of last year’s wild card game.