The Dugout Opening Days ’12: Baltimore Orioles

04.11.12 Written by Brandon

Vladimir Guerrero arrested

He’s not technically a Baltimore Oriole anymore, but when the O’s disassociate themselves from you you’re an Oriole until proven otherwise. From an AP report:

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) Former major leaguer Vladimir Guerrero said he has surrendered to police after authorities contend he attacked a police officer in a disco. Guerrero denied being part of an attack.

Police said no charges have been filed against Guerrero following the mayhem in Nizao, about 40 miles from Santo Domingo.

Maximo Baez Aybar, a spokesman for the police in the Dominican Republic, maintained Guerrero “physically attacked” police officer Renato Pena Rojas after a brawl broke out in the disco. Baez Aybar asked that Guerrero turn himself in “so the case can be put in the hands of the justice system.”

Thanks to chatroom technology we can jump to the moment of the arrest and find out exactly what happened, pending my ability to remember Spanish. Today’s Opening Days Dugout (which was originally just the above picture with FLAGGERERRO written at the bottom) is after the jump.

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The Dugout: Greatest Night

09.29.11 Written by Brandon

Tampa Bay Rays New York Yankees MLB Playoffs Kyle Farnsworth

Today at With Leather and across the sports-o-sphere has been a celebration of the “greatest night in baseball history”. If you aren’t up to speed, you can check out some of the amazing statistics or take a look at the emotional faces of men who both played in and watched the games.

The Tampa Bay Rays are going to the playoffs, and that works out well for The Dugout — that be-goggled gentleman in the photo is Kyle Farnsworth, relief pitcher and folk hero of the Official Chatroom For Major League Baseball. He pitched nearly a full inning against New York’s Scott Proctor, and if you’re a Dugout historian (and I know you are) you’ll know important that is to our epic, long-term storytelling.

Regardless, please enjoy today’s Dugout, which is technically the first in our semi-annual, semi-daily recapping of the MLB playoffs. (And drop us a comment, would you?)

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Baseball: Not What You’re Expecting

09.29.11 Written by Brandon

Rays Red Sox playoffs Evan Longoria

Last night was one of the greatest nights in the history of the American League, and maybe baseball itself. Evan Longoria was hitting a walk-off homer to push the Tampa Bay Rays into the playoffs … and at almost the exact same moment, Robert Andino of the Baltimore Orioles was singling to left to pull the Boston Red Sox out.

One of the reasons baseball and the moments that make it great are so engaging is that there’s a stat for literally everything; if you look hard enough, you could probably find a website listing caught-stealing ratios explaining how the amount of drug vials in Tim Raines’ pockets effected his baserunning.

What you see on the left is a pair of amazing charts from Sports Club Stats — the one at the top is titled “Tampa Bay Rays Chance Will Make Playoffs”. The one on the bottom, “Boston Red Sox Chance Will Make Playoffs”. They become even more fun when you play with the interactive versions, which allow you to hover over each little circle and find out what was going on and why it’s so high or low on the chart. Compare and contrast them for yourself:

Boston Red Sox Chance Will Make Playoffs
Tampa Bay Rays Chance Will Make Playoffs

Wonderful. I’m guessing Baltimore’s has been a straight line tracing the bottom since 1997.

[h/t Matt Ufford]

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