Episode 1354: Cabin Ball

Summary[]

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Sam’s unusual plan to immerse himself in the beginning of the baseball season, watching games as a writer vs. watching games as a fan, two responses to previous listener-email answers, whether “ball” is synonymous with baseball, why baseball has hit a dry spell for single-season record chases, the most breakable unbreakable records, Ichiro Suzuki as an almost-record-setting pinch hitter, why no one has hit .400 for so long, why doubles are the most immutable hit type, the Royals’ strange spring training, string training effort level, Orlando Cabrera’s wildly improbable on-base streak, and more, then answer listener emails about whether analytics have been a net positive for players and the best stat to represent a player’s power output, plus a Stat Blast about the longest streaks of years in which one team topped a league or division rival.

Topics[]

Can these unbreakable records be broken in 2019
Will the Royals really be fun to watch
Can you make Spring Training worse
Division leader streaks
Orlando Cabrera's on-base streak
Is the rise of analytics bad for players
Best stat for power

Banter[]

Sam's plan to watch baseball this week
A new “baseball movie”
Sam's reclaiming “ball” for baseball
Follow up on the email from episode 1344
Follow up on best game for a 2-year-old in Episode 1349

Email Questions[]

Alex: In 2019, the Cardinals will try to finish ahead of the Pirates in the NL Central for the 20th straight year. That's currently the longest in-division streak and the longest such streak (by my research) in the wild card era. My question: What is the record? I know the Yankees finished ahead of the Blue Jays for 21 straight years from '94-'14 (again, by my research) but I figured the Yankees way back in the day would have maybe even a longer streak over a franchise like the Athletics or something when divisions were non-existent, but I wasn't sure. Also, as a Cardinals fan, should I even care about this? Because I must admit, I do find myself invested in it and I want them to beat the Yankees over the Blue Jays streak and whatever else streak might be out there.

Eric: On the whole, would you say the rise of analytics has been a net positive for Major League Baseball players? As a group, were they better off when front offices were, for lack of a better word, “dumber”?

Nate (Patreon): Curious what you guys think is the best or most telling power metric (in other words if you could only use one metric to highlight a player’s power in a given season which one would you use)?

Stat Blast[]

Longest streak of 1 team finishing above another team in the division is the 1932 - 1965 Yankees over the A's.
The longest current streak is Cardinals vs Pirates at 16 straight years, the other current streaks are at eight.

Notes[]

“It's basically The Shining of Baseball” - Sam
If you take the most doubles in the first half of a season ever, and the most in the second half ever, you still only have 1 more double than the all-time record.
During Orlando Cabrera's On Base Streak, he had an OBP of .372.