A Visit From the Coach

This week's "Baseball Notes" from the Coach over at CaptainandCoach.blogspot.com (used with permission)

a.Thursday's SunTrust Business Fan special made for a wild afternoon at The Ted. In the Braves history they have played 19,935 games dating back to 1876 and according to the Elias Sports Bureau Thursday afternoon marked just the second time they have won a game which they have trailed by six or more runs in the ninth inning or later.
b. Conrad became the first rookie to hit a walk off grand slam since Cleveland's Ron Lolich on April 22, 1973. Conrad also became the seventh different Brave to hit a game-winner in eight final at-bat victories this season.

c. On Saturday, the Mets scored more runs (5) against the Yankees than they had scored in the previous 5 Subway Series games combined (4).
d. There were a couple crazy plays at Nationals Ballpark this week. For one on Wednesday night when the Mets were in town the team from Flushing had both an inside the park home run and turned a triple play. Then on Saturday Adam Jones hit another inside the park home run. Thus, the Nationals are the first team to allow 2 inside-the-park HRs in the same week since the Rays on 8/1/2003 & 8/3/2003.
e. The inside the park home run for Angel Pagan was the 26th inside the park Home Run in Mets' history. Pagan has the last two (also 8/23/09 vs. Phi). Adam Jones hit the first inside-the-park HR by an Orioles player since David Newhan on 7/21/2004.
f. There was an ugly situation this week in Florida after Hanley Ramirez dogged a play in the outfield he was pulled by manager Freddi Gonzalez. Which in return Ramirez ripped the manager and his other 24 teammates.
During Ramirez’s rant, he said he didn’t respect Gonzalez because Gonzalez never played in the major leagues. Ramirez might like to know there have been 117 managers in the big leagues, including Gonzalez, who never played in the big leagues. The list not only includes current managers Jim Leyland of Detroit, Jim Riggleman of Washington and Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay, but also Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy, Earl Weaver and Frank Selee.g. Am I the only surprised that the list of managers who did not play in the big leagues is that large?
h. Coming into Sunday's action both Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia were both hitting .267.
i. I knew Andre Ethier was leading the NL in batting average, home runs and RBI's but I had no idea he was hitting .392. Ethier who is currently on the DL with a broken pinkie hopefully returns soon to make a run at .400 and the triple crown.
j. Interesting note: Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes allowed 41 foul balls against the Mets Saturday -- the most in almost five years(Jon Garland vs. Twins,'05, 42). When did they start keeping track of this stat?
k. The next time I complain about the Braves hitting into double plays remind me that the Orioles have hit into 50 double plays while their opponents have only hit into 28 dp's.
l. This weekend marked the 14th (really 14 years already) year of Interleague play. An idea I absolutely love as seeing new teams at Turner Field is always fun. However, interleague play can create some schedule oddities that are pretty interesting.
m. The Orioles play 12 games against the NL East (Nationals, Mets, Marlins), while the Blue Jays play only three against the East (Phillies). The Braves play just three games against the AL East (Rays), while the Phillies play 12.
n. How about the Dodgers interleague schedule? The Dodgers play 12 of their 15 interleague games against teams that made the playoffs last year (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels) -- and the other three games against a team (the Tigers) that didn't get knocked out until the 163rd game. It has to be noted that the Padres play no teams that were in the playoffs last season.
o. On the other end of the spectrum; The Reds dodge the entire 2009 playoff field, and their five interleague series are against teams (Cleveland, Kansas City, Seattle, Oakland) that are a combined 30 games under .500.
p. I really like this stat: The Phillies play 12 games against last year's playoff teams, 15 games against teams that currently have a winning record and nine games against the Red Sox (six) and Yankees (three), while three of the other four teams in their division play no games against those two teams.
q.The Yankees were the last team to win a one-run game this season when they beat the Mets Friday night, 2-1. They are now 1-4 in one-run games this season after going 22-16 in one-runners last year.
r. Last season for the Nationals only John Lannon (9-13) won more than five games. This season, reliever Tyler Clippard is 7-1 with a 1.80 ERA pitching for the Nationals in part because he’s allowed 12 of 23 inherited runners to score (55%).
s. We received sad news Sunday morning when news broke that former Astro Jose Lima died of a massive heart attack. It is hard to believe Jose Lima was only the only Dodger pitcher with a playoff win from 1989-2007.
t. I remember a trip to Turner Field that Ben, Brice, Les and myself took in high school when we were able to get box seats. Ben went down to the Astros dugout and got a picture taken with Lima and Lima also signed a towel for Mr. Ross. Good times.
u. Monday marks this 75th anniversary of MLB's first night game.
w. Trevor Hoffman has now appeared in 1,000 career games. Not bad for a former SS who couldn't hit in A-ball and tried pitching out of desperation.
x. Sunday in Philly Tim Wakefield pitched eight shutout innings while picking up his first victory since July 8, 2009. He was an all-star last season right?
y. Joe Posnanski gives us a great look at Jose Lima and Lima Time. What a great personality.