The Twins have been slowly creeping up on the Tigers in the AL Central (though they will need to pass the White Sox as well to take that division). The A's have been doing you-know-what in the AL West. Any meeting between these two teams always inspires a discussion about how they both succeed based on their cheap homegrown talent. In Minnesota's case, that talent consists of their two monster bats (Mauer and Morneau), plus a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Brad Radke clones (i.e. pitchers who don't walk anyone, but don't get many Ks either). Oakland's farm system has provided two of their three starting pitchers (you could claim all three, since we acquired Gio for Oakland draftee Swisher), but the lineup is full of underperforming veterans, as we all know.
Links
- Probable pitchers
- Twins stats
- GOG #30 has already been graded, so how about that? Also, if you haven't checked out the GOG All-Star break, you should do so.
GOG #31 :: A Triplet Against the Twins (31 points possible)
Three game series vs Minnesota Twins -- July 20-22
UPDATE -- answers added below in bold
- Series outcome [3 points] 2-1 Oakland
- So far in Joe Mauer's jaw-dropping season, 22 percent of his fly balls are going over the fence. This is not quite Custian (I'm talking about vintage 07/08 Cust), but pretty remarkable for someone with a line drive swing. How many of Mauer's at-bats result in fly balls? Do any of those go for home runs? [3 points for the first question, +-1 for the second] 3 fly balls (includes one popup), no HR
- Let's not be too hard on Gio Gonzalez. It's really hard to get through many innings with a BABIP of .441 (on the other hand, he deserves plenty of criticism for walking 5.18 per 9 innings). Predict his hits allowed, strikeouts, and walks against the Twins [2 points each] 10 hits, 1 strikeout, 3 walks
- Gio's opponent, Nick Blackburn, is exactly the opposite type of pitcher. Blackburn's K/9 has dropped below 4 this season, but he hardly walks anybody. All that pitching to contact has led to three complete games so far this season. Predict Blackburn's IP/K/BB [2 points each] 5 IP, 0 K, 0 BB
- Delmon Young's 2009 season has been a disaster so far. He is striking out 30% of the time, drawing a walk only 3% of the time, and hitting for very little power. Somehow, in only 57 games, he has managed to accumulate 1.3 wins *below* replacement. How many times does Young strike out against Oakland pitching? [3 points] zero strikeouts for Young, in 8 AB
- Sweeney is still looking for his first walk since coming back from the DL on June 18. Will he score a free pass from the Twins arsenal of control pitchers? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] nope
- How many swinging strikes for Wuertz's spectacular slider? [3 points] 7 swinging strikes in 2 IP, all from sliders... at least I'm pretty sure they were all on sliders, but I'm not really someone who knows his way around pitch-fx, so there is a small possibility that one of those was a changeup.
- Who steals more bases, Rajai or Denard Span? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] neither of them stole a base, so it's a tie. Those of you who were guessing Span can thank Powell for that, since Denard was caught stealing in his one attempt.
- Do the A's manage to score in every inning where they have a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] yes, they did score in each of those innings. However, our very own Daric Barton, fresh and clean from triple-A, did come up twice in one out, bases loaded situations and fail to produce a run. Fortunately Landon, Kurt, and Rajai picked up his slack.
- How many earned runs for Breslow, against his former team? [3 points] 0 ER in 1 IP
We've got Gio starting game 1 at 7:05. Cross your fingers, grab your rabbit's foot, and post your GOG entry...
Results
So swatnick predicted that this would be a low scoring GOG, and it definitely is. I was pretty worried in the middle of grading it, that the scores would be even lower, after no one managed to get a single point on the question about Blackburn's line score and then Delmon Young went and didn't strike out. So I guess what I'm saying is that you all did better than I hoped!
Overall scoring statistics
- mean = 3.90000 points
- standard deviation = 3.14392 points
- mode = 1 or 3 points
Your Scores
Woohoo! I'm the big wiener!
name | place (this GOG) | score (this GOG) | # of GOGs | place (all GOG) | score (all GOG) | place (by AVG) | score by AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
colin | 1 | 9 | 30 | 4 | 198 | 16 | 0.199 |
mikeA | 2 | 8 | 29 | 3 | 218 | 6 | 0.227 |
Rated-R Superstar | 8 | 25 | 9 | 164 | 13 | 0.202 | |
stranahanahan | 8 | 3 | 67 | 15 | N/E | 0.152 | |
zaniac75 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 2 | 226 | 5 | 0.234 |
Kimberly | 6 | 20 | 19 | 125 | 21 | 0.190 | |
nevermoor | 6 | 29 | 1 | 241 | 4 | 0.251 | |
micdog2001 | 8 | 5 | 26 | 8 | 172 | 18 | 0.198 |
Blicks | 5 | 14 | 31 | 82 | 27 | 0.174 | |
swatnick | 10 | 4 | 20 | 7 | 174 | 1 | 0.262 |
doctorK | 11 | 3 | 31 | 12 | 149 | 34 | 0.145 |
train80 | 3 | 27 | 10 | 160 | 25 | 0.179 | |
muffinpryde | 3 | 27 | 12 | 149 | 29 | 0.165 | |
adragon | 3 | 21 | 23 | 110 | 30 | 0.160 | |
oblique | 15 | 1 | 24 | 15 | 144 | 24 | 0.180 |
Angry Sean | 1 | 29 | 16 | 142 | 32 | 0.147 | |
robbo650 | 1 | 2 | 80 | 8 | N/E | 0.123 | |
Steve in Napa | 1 | 1 | 95 | 1 | N/E | 0.032 | |
roscoe | 19 | -1 | 27 | 12 | 149 | 28 | 0.167 |
streetfan | 20 | -2 | 31 | 11 | 150 | 33 | 0.146 |
Mantecan As Fan | DNP | -- | 1 | 95 | 1 | N/E | 0.024 |
SoCal As Fan | DNP | -- | 14 | 28 | 93 | 15 | 0.200 |
NateHST | DNP | -- | 15 | 22 | 112 | 7 | 0.225 |
DCinWC | DNP | -- | 16 | 30 | 84 | 31 | 0.158 |
GoAs | DNP | -- | 26 | 6 | 175 | 17 | 0.198 |
ZeroIndulgence | DNP | -- | 19 | 21 | 115 | 23 | 0.183 |
gigglingone | DNP | -- | 16 | 20 | 117 | 8 | 0.225 |
vegAN ryAN | DNP | -- | 4 | 51 | 27 | N/E | 0.185 |
diehardoaklandfan22 | DNP | -- | 16 | 24 | 106 | 12 | 0.202 |
Walton711 | DNP | -- | 1 | 77 | 9 | N/E | 0.214 |
JLeverenz | DNP | -- | 19 | 17 | 130 | 11 | 0.208 |
travdog6 | DNP | -- | 2 | 95 | 1 | N/E | 0.013 |
Boonee | DNP | -- | 3 | 56 | 19 | N/E | 0.174 |
RayJEdd | DNP | -- | 12 | 25 | 104 | 3 | 0.252 |
A'sBowlingLeague | DNP | -- | 2 | 56 | 19 | N/E | 0.244 |
elephantbaseball | DNP | -- | 19 | 18 | 126 | 14 | 0.200 |
brian.only | DNP | -- | 4 | 68 | 14 | N/E | 0.096 |
robertmelvin | DNP | -- | 6 | 42 | 41 | N/E | 0.188 |
OaktownPower | DNP | -- | 15 | 26 | 101 | 20 | 0.196 |
Flashfire | DNP | -- | 1 | 87 | 6 | N/E | 0.143 |
designatedforassignment | DNP | -- | 3 | 66 | 16 | N/E | 0.145 |
tresselfan | DNP | -- | 4 | 84 | 7 | N/E | 0.046 |
KMoAsFan | DNP | -- | 4 | 55 | 20 | N/E | 0.137 |
Gallagher's Watermelons | DNP | -- | 1 | 73 | 10 | N/E | 0.238 |
GreenOctober69 | DNP | -- | 1 | 80 | 8 | N/E | 0.190 |
SLOtown | DNP | -- | 10 | 36 | 60 | 26 | 0.174 |
baseballnut020 | DNP | -- | 9 | 40 | 51 | N/E | 0.173 |
MaineAthletic | DNP | -- | 12 | 32 | 73 | 22 | 0.187 |
j_rich36 | DNP | -- | 1 | 84 | 7 | N/E | 0.167 |
scutaroknowstheway | DNP | -- | 1 | 91 | 3 | N/E | 0.071 |
FormerHuntsvilleStar | DNP | -- | 9 | 33 | 71 | N/E | 0.247 |
jay_sensei | DNP | -- | 6 | 41 | 44 | N/E | 0.227 |
easyraider | DNP | -- | 12 | 29 | 89 | 10 | 0.213 |
Athletix Man | DNP | -- | 9 | 37 | 59 | N/E | 0.199 |
A'sfaninNC | DNP | -- | 25 | 5 | 183 | 9 | 0.222 |
Athletics fan and runner | DNP | -- | 6 | 51 | 27 | N/E | 0.133 |
Holy Toledo! | DNP | -- | 1 | 91 | 3 | N/E | 0.083 |
Nico | DNP | -- | 1 | 73 | 10 | N/E | 0.278 |
EddieVegas_NRAF | DNP | -- | 1 | 99 | -1 | N/E | -0.028 |
JLaff | DNP | -- | 1 | 90 | 4 | N/E | 0.111 |
WaddellCanseco | DNP | -- | 5 | 50 | 28 | N/E | 0.164 |
crb29 | DNP | -- | 11 | 34 | 70 | 19 | 0.196 |
eastcoasta'sfan | DNP | -- | 4 | 54 | 23 | N/E | 0.161 |
Oaktownflav | DNP | -- | 3 | 62 | 17 | N/E | 0.156 |
Future Ed | DNP | -- | 6 | 42 | 41 | N/E | 0.197 |
JediLeroy | DNP | -- | 1 | 80 | 8 | N/E | 0.222 |
Dalesman | DNP | -- | 2 | 87 | 6 | N/E | 0.083 |
nateh37 | DNP | -- | 7 | 44 | 39 | N/E | 0.174 |
anomaly_kat | DNP | -- | 3 | 59 | 18 | N/E | 0.173 |
sprtsnwyn | DNP | -- | 2 | 62 | 17 | N/E | 0.250 |
VORP is too nerdy | DNP | -- | 4 | 46 | 32 | N/E | 0.234 |
asyouwish33 | DNP | -- | 1 | 80 | 8 | N/E | 0.250 |
jeffro | DNP | -- | 4 | 59 | 18 | N/E | 0.150 |
Cutthemullet | DNP | -- | 3 | 53 | 24 | N/E | 0.238 |
stabbin_mcadams | DNP | -- | 1 | 73 | 10 | N/E | 0.312 |
jasonthea | DNP | -- | 4 | 48 | 30 | N/E | 0.219 |
fruitattack | DNP | -- | 11 | 47 | 31 | 36 | 0.086 |
Helloooo 1st | DNP | -- | 6 | 45 | 34 | N/E | 0.165 |
King Richard | DNP | -- | 2 | 70 | 13 | N/E | 0.203 |
jpl | DNP | -- | 8 | 39 | 55 | N/E | 0.222 |
baseballgirl | DNP | -- | 1 | 73 | 10 | N/E | 0.286 |
whiteshoes40 | DNP | -- | 18 | 35 | 68 | 35 | 0.116 |
walkoff baltimore chop | DNP | -- | 1 | 84 | 7 | N/E | 0.200 |
spiffyjwc | DNP | -- | 2 | 70 | 13 | N/E | 0.194 |
samljm | DNP | -- | 1 | 77 | 9 | N/E | 0.265 |
pam5981 | DNP | -- | 7 | 37 | 59 | N/E | 0.276 |
Gaijin_Suketto | DNP | -- | 1 | 68 | 14 | N/E | 0.424 |
harenshair | DNP | -- | 11 | 27 | 97 | 2 | 0.258 |
tosk | DNP | -- | 5 | 49 | 29 | N/E | 0.179 |
mikev | DNP | -- | 1 | 62 | 17 | N/E | 0.515 |
Leopold Bloom | DNP | -- | 1 | 95 | 1 | N/E | 0.029 |
ElQuesoCapitan | DNP | -- | 3 | 59 | 18 | N/E | 0.194 |
Trainman | DNP | -- | 2 | 91 | 3 | N/E | 0.049 |
OptimistPrime | DNP | -- | 1 | 89 | 5 | N/E | 0.179 |
dtownmbrown | DNP | -- | 3 | 62 | 17 | N/E | 0.167 |
chillicothe20 | DNP | -- | 1 | 77 | 9 | N/E | 0.265 |
ChadGod | DNP | -- | 1 | 70 | 13 | N/E | 0.382 |
SamYam | DNP | -- | 3 | 56 | 19 | N/E | 0.186 |
JLopez | DNP | -- | 1 | 91 | 3 | N/E | 0.088 |