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7/6 @ the Evil Empire (and the Evil Umpires?)

Jayhawk Bill
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Jayhawk Bill First Round Pick

Jayhawk Bill

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This evening Tim Wakefield starts for the Red Sox and Joba Chamberlain starts for the Yankees.

 

The Yankees are 20-6 their last 26 Sundays.

 

***

 

All of this might matter. Over the past week, though, what's seemed to matter most are the umpires. Accordingly, let's check out who's behind the plate. The scheduled umpire for tonight's game is Laz Diaz.

 

Laz Diaz, a former Marine, came to umpiring late in life, graduating from Umpiring School in 1991. He was one of the guys who got his chance in 1995 with the umpires' walkout. He earned a reputation as a no-nonsense umpire, a reputation enhanced when he was confronted with an enraged, drunken fan who charged him on the field at Comiskey Park in 2003:

 

Immediately after Carlos Lee flied out to end Chicago's eighth inning, a man ran on the field and tried to tackle Diaz.

 

Security and players rushed to the aid of the 40-year-old Diaz, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The fan was quickly taken away and Diaz, who was not hurt, finished the game.

 

"When I looked over, there was one of the fans from the stands and I just got him off me," Diaz said. "I just turned around and got him off me. The good hand-to-hand combat they taught me worked."

 

http://sportsmed.starwave.com/media/mlb/2003/0415/photo/a_fan2_i.jpg

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0416/1539745.html

 

Laz Diaz is, very slightly, a pitcher-friendly umpire. Pitchers have a 4.44 run average with Diaz calling balls and strikes, placing him 32nd among 81 MLB umpires in that respect. His 2.61 SO/BB ratio, however, is fourth-highest among MLB umpires, and second-highest among regular MLB umpires. (The top two results are three-game samples from AAA umpires filling in.) Notably, despite the pitcher-friendly SO/BB ratio, Diaz is 36th among MLB umpires in batting average allowed, suggesting that his strike zone, while pitcher-friendly, is well-located.

 

Boston is 7-3 in their last 10 games called by Laz Diaz. The Yankees are 4-6 in their last 10 games called by Diaz. In two games I can find where Diaz called Wakefield, Timmay was 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA.

 

***

 

I've followed umpires for about three years now. If Diaz is calling tonight, I'm happy: if he follows his past tendencies, he'll give both teams a fair chance to win. :thumbsup:

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riverside sluggers Boston Red Sox

riverside sluggers

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Happy Birthday :thumbsup:

 

Tim Wakefield (45 games vs New York, 9-16 & 1 save with a 5.03 ERA---Career at Yankee Stadium in 20 games, 5-7 with a 3.66 ERA)

Brett Gardner ---

Derek Jeter, 28 for 90 (.311 avg) Double, Triple, 3 HRs, 9 RBIs, 5 Walks, 15 Ks, 9 SBs

Bobby Abreu, 6 for 19 (.316 avg) 2 Doubles, 3 Walks, 3 Ks, 3 SBs

Alex Rodriguez, 18 for 68 (.265 avg) 6 HRs, 9 RBIs, 10 Walks, 19 Ks, 5 SBs

Jason Giambi, 15 for 82 (.183 avg) 4 Doubles, Triple, 4 HRs, 9 RBIs, 18 Walks, 18 Ks

Jorge Posada, 14 for 61 (.230 avg) 4 Doubles, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs, 13 Walks, 10 Ks

Robinson Cano, 9 for 29 (.310 avg) 3 Doubles, Triple, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs, 4 Ks

Melky Cabrera, 2 for 4 (.500 avg) Double, 2 RBIs, Walk

Jose Molina, 2 for 9 (.222 avg) RBI, Walk

 

Joba Chamberlain (3 games vs Boston, 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA---Career at Yankee Stadium in 22 games, 2-1 & 1 save with a 2.35 ERA)

Jacoby Ellsbury, 0 for 1

Dustin Pedroia, 1 for 2 (.500 avg) Double, K

J.D. Drew, 0 for 2, 2 Ks

Manny Ramirez ---

Mike Lowell, 2 for 2 (1.000 avg) HR, RBI

Kevin Youkilis, 2 Walks

Coco Crisp, 0 for 1

Kevin Cash ---

Julio Lugo, 0 for 1, K

///

Alex Cora, 0 for 1

 

Wakefield last season vs New York in 3 games, 0-3 with a 10.93 ERA. At Yankee Stadium in 2 games, 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA. This season on the road in 10 games, 1-4 with a 4.02 ERA

 

Chamberlain this season at home in 13 games, 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA

Jayhawk Bill First Round Pick

Jayhawk Bill

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Wakefield last season vs New York in 3 games, 0-3 with a 10.93 ERA. At Yankee Stadium in 2 games, 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA. This season on the road in 10 games, 1-4 with a 4.02 ERA

 

Chamberlain this season at home in 13 games, 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA

 

Yes, but the reason for those 2007 splits for Wakefield were walks. In those three games he gave up 17 walks in 14 IP (1.21 BB/IP). Excepting those three games, Wakefield had 47 walks in 175 IP (0.27 BB/IP). Wakefield's top three games allowing walks were all against the Yankees.

 

Yankees batters do walk frequently, but they don't walk 4.5 times as often as the norm for 28 other MLB teams. There's another factor at work. It might be the umpires. If I had Pitch f/x for these games, I'd check the pitch locations, but it wasn't yet installed for any of these games.

 

Which may not have been a coincidence. :dunno:

VA Sox Fan Boston Red Sox

VA Sox Fan

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You know - Cash is not that bad looking either!!

 

Puhlease! It has nothing to do with that for me. I love this TEAM and it's painful to watch any one of them struggle.

 

Hoping Timaaay is on tonight and we win this series. I hate the Sunday night ESPN game, we'll be lucky if it ends by midnight! Not to mention Miller and Morgan. <_>

das11209 Draft Eligible

das11209

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Before the series started - I would have settled for a split given how bad we were playing. Now I would like to win tonight - but it will not be easy.
das11209 Draft Eligible

das11209

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Puhlease! It has nothing to do with that for me. <_>

 

OK - I have a question. Who is the worst looking player in MLB?

 

I vote for Tavarez and Shelly Duncan.

yeszir MVP

yeszir

Site Manager
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Make Joba the Fatass work tonight so we can get into the bullpen early. And please don't screw Wake over by scoring him like 1 run.

 

Well, now they're just gonna go ahead and do the complete opposite

schillingouttheks All-Star

schillingouttheks

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I'm still pissed they ran into ANOTHER f***ing out.

 

I'm still trying to decide what was going on there. It looked like a hit and run that was butchered beyond belief, but it looked SO BAD that I don't even know if that's what was going on...

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