GOG 2009 #39

Well, I thought that I would have plenty of time to whip up an awesome GOG, considering that I'm stuck in the Santiago airport for pretty much the whole day. But the internet ended up much spottier than the last time I was here, and I forgot to include a plug converter in my carry-on, so about half a GOG is all you'll get.

The A's start a series tonight against the Yankees, who have taken over the AL East by winning 23 of their last 30 games. After starting the season slowly, with ARod injured, they have been pretty much unstoppable over the last couple months. Literally the only significant problem I can find with the team from the Bronx is their rotating fifth starter situation (which will lead to the A's facing Chad Gaudin on Wednesday!). I know that a million frightened Red Sox fans are hoping that Oakland pitching will shut down New York's big bats. But is there really any chance for Tomko tonight?

Links

• Probable pitchers
• Yankees stats
• Haven't graded GOG #38 yet. You'll have to wait until I'm back in the good old U-S-of-A.

GOG #39 :: Can Anyone Stop the Yankees? (26 points possible)

Three game series vs New York Yankees -- August 17-19

UPDATE -- answers, courtesy of doctorK, are posted below in bold

1. Series outcome [3 points] 2-1 Yankees
2. Possibly the most anticipated debut of the year :: Predict Tomko's IP/ER/K for his first start as an Athletic [2 points each] 5 IP, 0 ER, 1 K for our ace
3. On Wednesday, Chad Gaudin will face the A's for the first time since he left the team. Predict his ER/BB/K [2 points each] 4.1 IP, 5 BB, 5 K... that sounds like Gaudin to me
4. The average hitter in the Yankees lineup has 16.5 home runs. The average hitter in the A's lineup has 7.2. Predict the home run differential for the series (i.e. Oakland hits 10 more home runs than New York) [3 points] Oakland +2 for home runs
5. Scott Hairston's slugging numbers are pretty decent, but the sub-.300 OBP is kind of brutal. In his 133 plate appearances since coming to Oakland, Hairston has drawn only 5 walks (and he was hit-by-pitch twice). How many times does Hairston get on base this series from an outcome other than a hit? [3 points] 1 BB for Hairston
6. The Yankee with the most Wins Above Replacement so far this season isn't ARod or Teixeira (though Tex is having a pretty nice season). It's actually Derek Jeter, who has already been worth 5 wins, thanks to a rebound at the plate and the first season ever where UZR rates him as above average. After last year, many people were sure that he was on the decline, so age 35, this might be the closest that he has even been to underrated. Will the Yankee captain reach base in each game of the series? Will his overall contribution to the Yankee's win probability be positive or negative for the series? [+1 for each right answer, -1 for each wrong] Jeter got on base every game (he had three multi-hit games, in fact) and his WPA was positive
7. How many innings will the A's bullpen have to handle? [3 points] 10 innings

First pitch is coming up in about 8 hours. With the Burnett-Tomko matchup, all signs point to a 1-0 nailbiter.

Results

High scores on this one, despite the small number of questions. And also despite the fact that no one saw that Tomko start coming.

Overall scoring statistics

• mean = 7.27273 points
• standard deviation = 3.71728 points
• mode = 5 points

via cfcp.uchicago.edu

Your Scores

All hail nevermoor, the first member of the 300 points club. And I think it is a safe bet that zaniac75 makes it into the club on the next round...