October 15

October 15.  It brings up some emotions.  If I had been old enough to appreciate October 15, 1988, it probably would have been the greatest day of my life.  Number 4 Notre Dame was hosting number 1 Miami in the afternoon.  Catholics vs. Convicts.  But of course, as Lou Holtz said, “They called it ‘Catholics vs. Convicts.’ I didn’t like that. Because not everyone on our team was Catholic.”  It was the fifth game the two teams had played in six years.  In the previous four games, Miami won all four by a combined score of 133-20.  Wow.  I hadn’t even realized that until I started working on this post.  But this day would be different.  It started with the pregame fight and Lou’s pregame speech (Rocket Ismail's version is the best, see the first video below).  Miami scored with 45 seconds left to make it 31-30.  Pat Terrell batted down the pass to preserve the win for the Irish, who would go on to win the National Championship.

The day was just getting started.  It was Game 1 of the World Series at night.  The A’s led 4-3 at Dodger Stadium with the best relief pitcher in baseball on the mound for the ninth.  Dennis Eckersley got the first two guys out.  Baseball Reference says that the A’s had a 96% chance of winning at that point.  But Mike Davis drew a walk, which brought up Kirk Gibson as a pinch hitter.  He hit a 3-2 slider out to win the game for the Dodgers and they would go on to win the World Series in five games.  This is probably my second sports memory.  My first is going to Shea Stadium in September 1988 for a Dodgers-Mets game that was rained out.  I probably didn’t watch Gibson’s home run live.  In fact, I might not have watched any of that World Series live.  But I do remember knowing that it happened.

I had no knowledge of Notre Dame-Miami in 1988 and as I said, I probably didn’t watch Gibson’s home run when it happened.  But I do remember another October 15 much better.  It was ten years ago today.  Number 9 Notre Dame against number 1 USC at Notre Dame Stadium.  USC had won 27 games in a row.*  Miami’s regular season winning streak had been 36 until we beat them in 1988.  Tyrone Willingham had lost to USC three straight years by 31 points each year (he was consistent).  But with a new coach, we completely believed that we were going to win (it's hard to believe a Charlie Weis team played as well is we did that day).  I thought I knew the formula.  Charlie Weis was on Bill Parcells’s staff for Super Bowl XXV when the Giants upset the Bills.  The Giants dominated time of possession (40:33-19:27) and showed the Bills a defense they had never seen before (a 2-3 instead of their usual 3-4).  I also said that we'd win if we didn’t turn the ball over.  Not turning the ball over went out the window early as Brady Quinn threw an interception on our second possession.  Anthony Fasano had a big fumble deep in USC territory in the third quarter.  We did dominate time of possession, though (38:40-21:20).  But we did not show USC a defense that they hadn’t seen before.

Here’s what I remember about the first three quarters of that game (perhaps not in chronological order):  Seeing the grass blow in the wind because we had let it grow so long to slow down USC’s players.  Brady Quinn’s interception early.  Tom Zbikowski’s punt return.  Reggie Bush being the best player on the field.**  Chanting “Ballroom Dancing” after at least one of Matt Leinart’s two interceptions.  Anthony Fasano’s fumble.  Jeff Samardzija’s touchdown.

We took a 21-14 lead on Tom Zbikowski’s punt return touchdown in the second quarter.  USC tied it in the third.  We kicked a field goal to go up 24-21, but then Reggie Bush** ran for a touchdown to give USC the lead with 5:09 to play.  I was still confident.  I remember telling people that the Legend of Brady Quinn was about to start.  And he did lead a beautiful drive.  He scored on a quarterback draw with 2:04 left to put us up 31-28.  I remember thinking that we might have scored too quickly.

USC got the ball back.  Leinart threw an incomplete pass and then was sacked by Trevor Laws for a loss of ten.  On third and 20, Leinart completed an eleven yard pass to Reggie Bush**.  It was fourth and nine.  We were one play away from winning the game.  And then everything went wrong.  Leinart completed a 61 yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett that Ambrose Wooden was so close to breaking up.  Wooden caught him and made the tackle at the Notre Dame 13.  Obviously, he had to try to stop him from scoring, but we actually would have been better off if Jarrett had scored.  But we still had a chance.  An incomplete pass and two Reggie Bush** runs gave USC a first down at the Notre Dame 2.

Everybody remembers the Bush** Push two plays later, but it was the play before USC scored that still kills me.  Leinart scrambled and fumbled.  The clock ticked down to zero and I was among the students that stormed the field.  I saw Leinart’s fumble go out of bounds and I figured that time would be put back on the clock, but I wasn’t going to not storm the field when everybody was.  Of course, they put seven seconds on the clock and Bush** pushed Leinart into the end zone to give USC the win.  But let’s think about what could have happened when Leinart was hit on the play before:

Leinart holds on to the ball:  clock expires.
Leinart fumbles the ball in bounds and Notre Dame recovers:  we take a knee and the game is over.
Leinart fumbles the ball in bounds and USC recovers:  clock expires.
Leinart fumbles the ball out of the end zone:  touchback, we take a knee, game over.

All of those things would resulted in us winning the game.  Instead, the fumble went out at the one and stopped the clock.  USC benefitted from fumbling.  That’s what always killed me about the end of the game.

As for the push, I can’t get too upset about it.  Bush** had to try it.  They lose if he doesn’t.  If Darius Walker had done it to Brady Quinn, there’s no way that penalty gets called against Notre Dame in Notre Dame Stadium (well, maybe Big Ten officials would have called it).  I don’t even remember if I saw that play.  I was on the sideline in front of the student section after being ushered off the field.

I had my dad tape the game.  I rewatched it later, but I could only watch one quarter at a time.  It was too much to take all at once.  Even watching the highlights today was difficult.  I always said I needed to be there in person for us beating USC to get over that game.  In some ways, beating them in 2012 with a spot in the National Championship Game on the line for us was enough.  And I was there in 2013 for a win over USC (a really crappy game for both teams, but we won).  But I’ve only been to one other game that was comparable in terms of being a big game and we got blown out.  That’s what I still want to see in person.  I need to see a good to great Notre Dame team beat a great opponent (preferably USC, but I’ll take anybody).

So the Dodgers play another big game on October 15 tonight (the other thing I need to see is the Dodgers winning a World Series, but I’ll settle for watching that one on TV).  Notre Dame has another matchup with USC on Saturday.  Hopefully both will go my way.  Go Dodgers!  Go Irish!

*Wins 21-27 of that streak never happened.
**It must be noted that Reggie Bush was a professional football player playing college football.

Happy October!

I have some quick (or possibly rambling) thoughts on college football before I get to baseball.  The best thing about college football is also the worst thing about college football.  Notre Dame lost a game in early October and now we have no room for error.  Even going 11-1 might not be enough to make the playoff.  I'm not worried about 11-1 for now.  We just need to take care of business the next two weeks.  Beat Navy and USC and it can still be a really good year.  But I have a bone to pick with Brian Kelly.  He went for two after cutting Clemson's lead from 18 to 12 early in the fourth quarter.  I'm surprised the reaction to that decision hasn't been more negative.  Even though it hasn't been more negative, I haven't really heard anybody make a great case for going for two there (I think Herbstreit came the closest during the game).  Here's the case for going for two:

You've scored a touchdown and you have two more possessions left (it turned out to be three, but that's not a crazy assumption).  It's all about a fourth down in field goal range on the next possession.  I field goal only helps you if you can make an extra point and a two point conversion on two touchdowns.  So if you go touchdown, extra point, field goal, touchdown, and then miss a two point conversion on your last possession, that field goal was useless.  But if you go for it after the first touchdown and get it, the field goal makes it a seven point game.  If you don't get it, you avoid a useless field goal.  You know you have to score two touchdowns.

The chart said to go for two.  Here's my response:

The chart is wrong.  Nowhere in that line of reasoning does it take into account the fact that the other team can score again also.  The other team getting a field goal is a reasonable possibility (it's not like not going for two because a safety could mess up your plans).  And there's no guarantee that you're going to have a fourth down in field goal range on your next possession.  Don't go for two until you know you need to.  If you just keep scoring touchdowns (which you probably have to when you're down that much), either you go for two when you need to or if everything goes well, you don't need to worry about it at all.

Enough of that.  Let's talk baseball.  Clayton Kershaw had a fantastic finish to the season.  He had his second best start ever, a one-hitter against the Giants to clinch the division.  He might not win the Cy Young, but he's still the best pitcher in baseball.  Zack Greinke doesn't give you the last two starts against the Giants that Kershaw gave you.  Here are Kershaw's career numbers against the Giants:  16-7, 227 and a third innings pitched, 1.54 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 243 strikeouts, 5 shutouts (out of 12 in his career).  That's insane.  His WHIP against the Giants is the best all time for one pitcher against another team with at least 150 innings pitched (Koufax against the Mets is second, Koufax against the Astros is third).  His ERA against the Giants is the fourth best all time (Koufax against the Mets is first).

There's only one thing left to do for Kershaw.  It's time for him to dominate the playoffs.  Let's review his postseason performance.  He's 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA.  Not good.  But we do need to dig a little deeper.  We might as well throw out 2008 and 2009.  That's his rookie year and two years before his first Cy Young.  Then he wasn't back in the playoffs until 2013.  He had two starts against the Braves.  He went a total of 13 innings and gave up one earned run on six hits and four walks.  Very good.  Then he pitched two games against the Cardinals.  In the first, he went six and gave up one unearned run on two hits and a walk.  He came out for a pinch hitter because the Dodgers were losing 1-0 (which ended up being the final score).  So he had three very good starts and then Game 6 happened.  Four innings, seven runs, he was terrible.  Last year wasn't good, but again we need to dig deeper.  He started Game 1 against the Cardinals.  He gave up a run in the first and a run in the sixth.  Then he couldn't get out of the seventh.  You'd like Kershaw to be able to get out of that and he didn't get the job done, but Mattingly also left him in too long.  And Mattingly left him in too long because the bullpen was terrible.  I'm not excusing Kershaw, but that game wasn't as bad as his line in the box score would lead you to believe.  In Game 4, Kershaw was great for six innings (one hit, two walks, no runs).  And then he couldn't get the job done in the seventh.  If I remember correctly, Hanley Ramirez didn't get to a ball that a non-terrible shortstop would have gotten to.  Again Mattingly left him in too long because he didn't trust the bullpen.  He gave up two singles and a home run to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.  So really only one of his last six playoff starts was a complete disaster.  I hope this is the year that he wins a World Series MVP.

What about the Cy Young?  I broke it down a month ago.  Let's revisit it.  I went through the numbers today.  Here's some relevant information (with NL ranks in parentheses):

	Greinke	Arrieta	Kershaw
ERA	1.66 (1st)	1.77 (2nd)	2.13 (3rd)
WHIP	0.84 (1st)	0.86 (2nd)	0.88 (3rd)
Innings	222 2/3 (4th)	229 (2nd)	232 1/3 (1st)
Strikeouts	200 (11th)	236 (3rd)	301 (1st)
Opponents' BA	.187 (2nd)	.185 (1st)	.194 (3rd)
Opponents' OBP	.231 (1st)	.236 (2nd)	.237 (3rd)
Opponents' SLG	.276 (2nd)	.271 (1st)	.287 (3rd)
K/BB	5.00 (7th)	4.92 (8th)	7.17 (2nd)
Complete Games	1 (9th)	4 (1st)	4 (1st)
Shutouts	0	3 (1st)	3 (1st)
No-hitters	0	1* (2nd)	0
FIP	2.76 (5th)	2.35 (2nd)	1.99 (1st)
xFIP	3.22 (10th)	2.61 (2nd)	2.09 (1st)

The asterisk for Arrieta's no-hitter is because he gave up a hit to the Dodgers that was scored an error (it's amazing that one no-hitter was only good for second in the league and that Max Scherzer is clearly outside the top three Cy Young candidates).  Kershaw also threw a one-hitter.  So who wins?  I don't know.  You could make a legitimate case for any of the three.  And you could put any of the three in third place.  If you place a lot of emphasis on strikeouts, Greinke is in trouble (although it's interesting that he's a lot closer to Arrieta in total strikeouts than Arrieta is to Kershaw even though he's not as close in rank).  If you place a lot of emphasis on FIP and/or xFIP, then Greinke is in trouble again.  And Kershaw is probably your guy.  I don't place a lot of emphasis on those stats.  An out is an out.  A strikeout greatly reduces the risk of something bad happening (you're much more likely to reach base on a batted ball than a strikeout), but sometimes it's not the best thing (a double play is almost always better than a strikeout).  Strikeouts also drive up pitch counts.  As for FIP and xFIP, they're theoretical statistics.  They don't tell me about what actually happened in actual games (I include them because they're easy to understand).  The other thing going for Kershaw is that he's the only one that's in the top three in every category there (except for no-hitters).  But when you look at what actually happened in baseball games this year, Greinke was the best.  Greinke has the best ERA since Greg Maddux 20 years ago and the fourth best WHIP since 1920 (check this out for more information).  He also had in ERA under 2.00 after every start of the season.  And he pitched at least six innings in every start (something Arrieta and Kershaw can't say).  So here's my ballot:

1.  Zack Greinke

2.  Jake Arrieta

3.  Clayton Kershaw

I won't be disappointed if Kershaw wins though.  And I have no idea if that's how it will actually shake out.

I don't plan on posting again for a while.  Ideally, my next post will come after the Dodgers win the World Series.  But the Notre Dame-USC game and some other stuff could definitely lead to a post or two.

Go Irish!  Go Dodgers!

My Wrong Mistake

I woke up a week ago today and found out about Yogi Berra's death from my friend Vin on Facebook.  I was really sad as I had always liked Yogi Berra.  I mentioned him and his service to our country in World War II to my classes that day.  And I looked back at the blog and realized that I hadn't included him in my post of my favorite Cold War baseball players.  And then if you check out the post where I completed the All-Jim Team, I added Roy Campanella and Mike Scioscia.  How did I leave Yogi Berra out?  Terrible job by me in that scenario.  Mike Scioscia did play an important role on the 1988 Dodgers, but he's been the manager of the Angels long enough that he's getting bumped for Yogi.  So let me edit my favorite Cold War players list.  I like Joe Torre more for his role as a manager than as a player (although he did have a great line after hitting into a record four double plays in a game: "I'd like to thank Felix Millan for making of of this possible" after Felix Millan had four singles in that game).  And Duke Snider is one of the three greatest Dodgers of all time so he's staying at number 5.  I'll put Campanella at number 6 and Berra at number 7 in between Campanella and Torre.

Let's review the All-Jim Team:

Starting Lineup:

1.  Jackie Robinson 2B
2.  Derek Jeter SS
3.  Babe Ruth RF
4.  Ted Williams LF
5.  Lou Gehrig 1B
6.  Ken Griffey Jr. CF
7.  Joe Torre 3B
8.  Roy Campanella C
9.  Sandy Koufax P

Other Pitchers: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnson, Johnny Podres, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, Clayton Kershaw, Orel Hershiser

Other Outfielders: Stan Musial, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Torii Hunter Sr.

Other Infielders:  none

Backup Catcher:  Yogi Berra

That's 21 players.  I took Matt Kemp off because he's not on the Dodgers anymore.  Gil Hodges was my other infielder.  He's a great Dodger, but I have to give Keith Hernandez a spot.  I have to.  Jose Canseco was on the list, but he's permanently suspended and I gave Tony Gwynn his spot (I wanted to give Andre Ethier Kemp's spot, but I have enough outfielders).  I need a middle infielder and I want another pitcher.  I had added Don Drysdale, but if Zack Greinke helps the Dodgers win the World Series this year, he's getting that spot.  So that leaves one spot for a middle infielder.  It's too early to give it to Corey Seager (but that could change soon also).  It's between Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wagner, and Pee Wee Reese.  Rogers Hornsby is the best of them.  I think Honus Wagner was considered the anti-Ty Cobb and he has the most valuable baseball card of all time.  But Pee Wee Reese was a Dodger and he served in the Navy during World War II.  He gets the spot.  That gives me nine Dodgers and sixteen other players.

Here it is again in an easier form:

Pitchers:  Sandy Koufax, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter Johnson, Johnny Podres, Don Drysdale, Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera, Clayton Kershaw, Orel Hershiser (by the way, I think Kershaw's done enough to take the top spot from Hershiser on my list of favorite post-Cold War players, maybe I'll have another post on Kershaw before the playoffs start)

Catchers:  Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra

Infielders:  Jackie Robinson, Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig, Joe Torre (he played catcher more than any other position, but he played more combined games at first base and third base combined than catcher), Keith Hernandez, Pee Wee Reese

Outfielders:  Ted Williams, Ken Griffey Jr., Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Torii Hunter Sr., and Tony Gwynn

Anyway, let's get back to Yogi.  I have a Quote of the Week in my classroom every week.  I was planning on using one from Yogi in October for the playoffs.  I moved that up to this week and rather than just picking one, I picked as many as I could fit on my board.  Earlier this year, I did a post with my 19 favorite Winston Churchill quotes (which turned into 20 because I'm an idiot).  I'll finish this with my 14 favorite Yogi Berra quotes:

14.  "Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded."

13.  "We made too many wrong mistakes." (hence the title of this post)

12.  "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

11.  "Even Napoleon had his Watergate."

10.  "A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore."

9.  "I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."

8.  "I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."

7.  "I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4."

6.  "You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you."

5.  "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six."

4.  "If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."

3.  "It ain’t over till it’s over."

2.  "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

1.  "You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours."

Rest in peace, Yogi.  Jackie Robinson was safe.

Scully, Greinke, and Kershaw

Well, I planned on cutting back on blogging.  And then the Dodgers swept the Giants.  And Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw pitched fantastic games.  And I realized that I've only had one post this year about how much I love Clayton Kershaw.

Before I get to how awesome Greinke and Kershaw are, I need to talk about Vin Scully.  He's the best.  I've heard him described as the most popular person in Los Angeles.  It was recently announced that he would be back for next year.  Everybody was very excited.  And then he announced the next day that 2016 would be his last year.  He's been so good at what he does for 66 years.  If he wants to retire, he deserves it and I hope he lives for many more years and enjoys his retirement.  But I really hope he changes his mind.  If you have the MLB Extra innings package, watch while you still can.  If not, catch him on MLB Network whenever they carry the Dodgers' broadcast of the game.  I watch almost every game in the summer, but I have to cut back once school starts.  I usually try to watch when Kershaw pitches.  If they're still competing for something during the last week of the season, I will definitely watch more.  Other than that, I might watch a few innings and then go to sleep.  I think Vin has 17 more regular season games this year (home games plus at San Francisco).  He'll do the playoff games, but that will be on the radio.  Hopefully I'll be able to get the radio broadcast on my phone.  It's usually a couple of pitches behind the TV, so I won't listen to it the whole time, but I might turn it on right after a home run has been hit or at the end of the game.  He'll have a little less than 90 regular season games next year (if he keeps his schedule of home games plus San Francisco).  I have to get as much Vin Scully as I can.  The All Star Game is in San Diego next year.  Fox needs to have Vin Scully do the game.  There is no excuse for not making this happen.  If you asked any baseball fan to pick between Vin Scully (for one last All Star Game) and Joe Buck (again), only Joe Buck's family is picking Joe Buck (and even they might pick Vin).  Vin will be sorely sorely missed when he's gone.

Anyway, now it's time to ramble about how awesome Clayton Kershaw is.  Last year I had a couple of posts on how awesome he is (here was the last one).  And he is still the best pitcher in baseball.  He proved that once again last night.  Zack Greinke is having the best season of any pitcher (we'll get to that), but he's not capable of giving the Dodgers what Kershaw gave them last night.  Kershaw got off to a rough start this year.  He certainly was not at his best, but he also didn't get help from his fielders or the bullpen early on.  His ERA was 4.32 after his start on May 21, but it shouldn't have been that bad.  Starting with his start on May 26, his ERA is 1.26.  Since the All Star Game, it's 1.01.

Kershaw will probably make five more starts (it could be six, but unless they still haven't clinched going into the last weekend of the season, I think he'll make five).  Right now he has 251 strikeouts, which is already a career high.  It's been thirteen years since anybody struck out 300 (Johnson and Schilling).  I would say it's unlikely that Kershaw gets to 300 if he only makes five more starts, but it's not out of the question.

Last night was one of the best starts of Kershaw's career.  His best is obviously the no-hitter.  It should have been a perfect game (Hanley Ramirez is the worst) and he struck out 15 on 107 pitches.  He was untouchable that night.  But let's look at the context.  He was facing a terrible team in June and the Dodgers had an 8-0 lead after four.  The only question was whether or not he could pitch the perfect game/no-hitter.  There was no pressure as far as winning the game was concerned.  This game was very different.  They were taking on the second place team in September and the Dodgers weren't giving him much support.  Also, the bullpen had been taxed.  They pitched nine innings two days ago and Kenley Jansen had pitched four out of five days.  If Jansen was available, Kershaw probably doesn't pitch the ninth.  In a one-run game against the Giants without Jansen available, the Dodgers really needed him to pitch the ninth.  After completely dominating for seven, he had pretty much run out of gas in the eighth, but he was still the best option.  So despite a high pitch count, he came back out for the ninth and quickly got the first two outs.  Then he gave up two singles.  Mattingly came out to the mound and left Kershaw in.  At that point, I agreed with the move.  If Mattingly had wanted to take him out after the first single, I could live with that move.  But when he left Kershaw after that first single, it was his game to win or lose.  You couldn't bring in a reliever with two on.  I thought of this game from 2011.  Mattingly came out with two outs in the ninth and Kershaw convinced Mattingly to leave him in.  Then he gave up the lead (the Dodgers came back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth and then won in extra innings).  But not this time.  He struck out Marlon Byrd (a steroid user) to tie his career high in strikeouts (15) and pitches (132) to finish it off.  The Dodgers needed him and he came through with the pressure on.  The only way it could have been better (short of a no-hitter) would have been if he struck out Buster Posey to finish it.  He's had 11 shutouts in his career so far.  I've been there for two of them.  I'll put Opening Day in 2013 (shutout and home run to break a scoreless tie in the eighth) ahead of his performance last night.  I don't put the one that I saw in Citi Field this year ahead of last night (he was fantastic, but that Mets lineup that night was horrendous).  Of course, the no-hitter is ahead of last night.  He pitched a three-hit shutout against the Giants last year, but the Dodgers won 5-0.  I'll put that one ahead of last night.  It did put the Dodgers into a tie for first place with the Giants.  He had a five-hit shout against the Giants in 2012 that also put the Dodgers into a tie for first with them.  He had a two-hitter against the Tigers in 2011 with 11 strikeouts and one walk.  So I'm ranking last night as the sixth best start of Kershaw's career.

After his rough start, I figured he wasn't winning the Cy Young this year.  I had the same thought after his injury last year and then he won the Cy Young and MVP (the lesson, as always:  I'm an idiot).  But he's definitely in the mix.  I think you have three legitimate candidates:  Kershaw, Greinke, and Jake Arrieta.  Max Scherzer got off to a great start, but he's tailed off.  Jacob deGrom has been great, but he's way behind those three in innings pitched.  Lots of guys are having great seasons, but they don't compare to Greinke, Kershaw, or Arrieta.  So let's break it down.  They've all had 27 starts so far.  Greinke has a ridiculous 1.59 ERA.  Arrieta (2.11) and Kershaw (2.18) are next.  Kershaw leads in innings pitched with 194 and Greinke is second with 186 and two-thirds.  Arrieta is fourth at 183.  Kershaw has a big lead in strikeouts with 251.  Arrieta is fourth with 190 and Greinke is eighth with 169.  Kershaw and Arrieta both have three complete games and two shutouts (including the no-hitter for Arrieta).  Greinke only has one complete game.  Greinke leads in WHIP (0.846) followed by Kershaw (0.897) and Arrieta (0.940).  Kershaw is second to Scherzer in strikeout to walk ratio at 7.38 (Greinke is fifth and Arrieta is tenth).  Kershaw leads in FIP at 2.02 (FIP is one of those advanced stats that I ordinarily wouldn't like, but it's easy to understand because the league average FIP is the same as the league average ERA).  Arrieta is second in FIP at 2.50 and Greinke is third at 2.62 (although the idea that Greinke's FIP is that high does make the stat look a little silly).  Kershaw also leads in xFIP (the park-adjusted version of FIP) at 2.05.  Arrieta is second at 2.74 and Greinke is tenth at 3.21 (Greinke being tenth makes xFIP look a whole lot sillier than FIP).  Greinke leads in batting average against at .189 followed by Arrieta at .195 and Kershaw at .199.  Greinke leads in on base percentage against at .231 followed by Kershaw at .242 and Arrieta is fifth at .251.  And in slugging percentage against it's Greinke at .270 followed by Kershaw at .293 and Arrieta at .295.

So what's the verdict?  Arrieta is a legitimate candidate, but he's not really ahead of both Kershaw and Greinke in anything.  The no-hitter is a plus though (but really it shouldn't have been a no-hitter, there was an error that should have been scored a hit).  The ERA lead is so big that I thought Greinke was a no doubt choice.  But a lot of the rest of the numbers can be used to make a really strong case for Kershaw.  The batting against numbers are enough to put Greinke over the top, though.  Kershaw is still the best pitcher in baseball, but Greinke is having a better season.  Of course, there's still a month to play.  It's Greinke's Cy Young to lose, but Kershaw will be ready to take it from him if he stumbles.  And all I really care about would be seeing Greinke and Kershaw battle it out for World Series MVP.

And Happy Football!  I know Tom Brady got off, but so did O.J.  We must never forget this.  Also today is the tenth anniversary of the first college football game I ever went to.  It was awesome.  College football starts tonight and we are all Utah fans for the evening.  Tonight and tomorrow are pretty good appetizers for the main course on Saturday, which can't get here fast enough.  Go Irish!

Done?

I started this blog almost three and a half years ago.  The original purpose of the blog was to document how I spent my year not having a job.  Obviously, that year without a job never happened.  So the purpose of the blog shifted to documenting my travels around the country to achieve two goals:  getting to every Major League Baseball stadium (with two exceptions) and getting to all fifty states.  When I started, I had been to ten Major League stadiums and 21 states.  I had a lot of work to do.

And now? I've been to every baseball stadium I set out to get to and I've been to 44 states.  I wanted to thank everybody who helped make this possible by giving me a place to stay.  So thanks (in a somewhat chronological order) Sean, Tom and Erin, Jon (in two different cities), Dennis and Courtney (also two different cities), Uncle Gerry, Wilhelm, Pete and Katie, Nick and Amanda, and John and Liz (also thanks to John for suggesting that I start this blog).  And thanks to everybody who joined me on one of these trips to a different part of the country.  Thanks to Tom and Sean (they came with me on my first trip to Dodger Stadium which predates the blog by a year, Sean also came with me for Notre Dame-Michigan in 2012, he came to Dallas for the Shamrock Series at Jerry World in 2013, and he came to northeast Ohio last year), Andy, my dad, and Adam (he went to Toronto, so not actually a different part of the country).  And I even made a friend who lives in England last year in Detroit.  It was good to meet Rich and good to see him again this year at a Met game.

So am I done?  Not quite.  Let's go over the states I haven't been to from closest to farthest away:

Vermont- I wanted to get there this summer, but that didn't happen.  The idea was to combine it with a trip to the Franklin Roosevelt Library.  I'm not too worried about Vermont.  Hopefully it will happen next year.

South Carolina- I was hoping to get tickets for the Notre Dame game at Clemson, but I lost in the lottery (it was a long shot, anyway).  My brother just moved to North Carolina, but he's not all that close to South Carolina.  Notre Dame is playing a basketball game at Clemson this season, but they haven't announced the date yet.  If it's a Saturday in February or early March, I'll try to make the trip for that.  If not, South Carolina does have three minor league teams.  I combined Alabama and Cincinnati into one trip, so I suppose I could combine one of them with a visit to Tom in North Carolina.

Mississippi- I want to combine a minor league game in Biloxi with a trip to the next state.

Louisiana- If you know me, you know I hate Las Vegas.  I also don't care about visiting New Orleans.  Except for one thing.  New Orleans does have the National World War II Museum.  I don't know if there's a museum in the country that I haven't been to yet that I want to get to more than that one.

Alaska- I really want to get there, but I don't know what I would do there.  I would love to go to the Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, but that probably would never work with my work schedule.  If everything went my way, I'd get to five of these six states in the next year.  Alaska is the one that will probably have to wait a little longer.

Hawaii- I'm sure there's a ton to do in Hawaii, but the thing I really want to do is visit Pearl Harbor.  And I've always had the thought of combining a trip to Hawaii with a trip to Australia.  I'd still have some really long flights, but they wouldn't be as long as the Los Angeles-Australia flight that most Americans would take to get there.

Besides visiting all 50 states, I've also documented some international travel.  All three of my trips out of the country have been since I started the blog.  I have two (well really three) more countries I want to get to:

Australia- I just mentioned this.  I took Australian History in college and it was one of my favorite classes.  My professor was an Australian priest (my favorite professor in college).  We started by reading a travel book, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.  A lot of the book was about all the different wildlife in Australia that can kill you, but it still made me want to go there.  I wanted to go there for the start of the 2014 baseball season, but it just wasn't possible with my work schedule.  So I'm saying now that I want to get there next summer (which would unfortunately be winter there, but it doesn't get too cold).  It's not guaranteed to happen, but I hope I am able to do it.

Italy- I really want to get to Rome and the Vatican City, which is of course its own country.  The combination of the history and the Church makes Italy the only non-English speaking country that I really want to visit.  About two months ago, I heard in one of the many Notre Dame podcasts that I listen to that Notre Dame is likely to play a football game in Rome in the not too distant future.  I tried doing some googling and found this article from last year.  The guys on the podcast cover the team and they seemed convinced that it's going to happen, but I haven't heard it anywhere else.  If it does happen and it's Labor Day weekend like the game in Dublin was, I'm there.  Of course, this is all speculation at this point.  So we'll see.  I'd like to get to Rome even if Notre Dame wasn't playing there.  But if Notre Dame does play there, that's the perfect excuse to go.

So I'm obviously not done, but I think I'll be cutting back on the blogging.  Whenever any of these trips happen, expect a blog post.  I'll probably do a blog post about Notre Dame's hockey game at Barclays Center in November (the first time I'll be there for something other than basketball).  I'll definitely do one if I do in fact make it to the Shamrock Series game at Fenway Park.  And hopefully there will be a drunken blog post after the Dodgers win the World Series this year (such an awesome game last night, I stayed up until it ended at 3:39 Eastern).  But I probably won't be blogging about all the Met games I go to anymore.

Anyway, it's time for updated rankings of all the baseball stadiums.  These rankings are how I feel right now and might not match exactly how I had the stadiums ranked last season.  And they might not match what I said about the four stadiums I got to for the first time this year when I originally blogged about them.  But here we go:

32.  Tropicana Field- It's one of two stadiums with artificial turf and it's the only one with a roof that doesn't open.
31- O.co Coliseum- From what I hear, it was nice before the Raiders moved back.  They really need to move to San Jose, but the Giants won't let them.  I had always maintained that I didn't need to get to this one or Tropicana Field.  Now that I've been everywhere else, I'm reconsidering.  Maybe I'll combine the trip I want to do to New Orleans and Mississippi with a trip to Tampa for a Rays game.  And if I'm going to go across the country to visit Pete and Katie again next year, maybe I'll spend a day in Oakland to get to an A's game.  We'll see.
30.  SkyDome- It will always be the SkyDome to me.  I think they want to renovate it.  If they did a good job, I could easily see this one moving up the rankings.
29. US Cellular Field- It's a boring stadium.  I haven't been there in nine years, though.  I want to get back to Wrigley Field so if I do, I'll try to schedule it so that I can get to both Chicago stadiums.
28.  Marlins Park- It's better than playing in a football stadium like they used to, but it's too weird.
27.  Minute Maid Park- They're getting rid of the hill and moving in the fence in center field (the one part of the park where it wasn't easy to hit home runs).  I don't like this move.
26.  Turner Field- I won't miss this one.  Maybe I'll get to the Cobb County stadium at some point.
25.  Progressive Field- It's very similar to Oriole Park and Globe Life Park since all three of those were built around the same time.  This is the worst of the three.
24.  Angel Stadium of Anaheim- This was not built around the same time as Oriole Park, Globe Life Park, and Progressive Field, but it's kind of similar.  It's in southern California, so that's nice, but there isn't really much else that's special about it.
23.  Chase Field- The pool is cool, but it's air conditioned which greatly reduces the desire to be in a pool.
22.  Miller Park- This was one place where I was able to get a really good seat (second level, right in front of the press box) for a really cheap price.  I might have ranked this higher if I went to a game during the summer and the roof was open.
21.  Coors Field- A lot of people love Coors Field, but the biggest problem can't be fixed (the altitude).
20.  Shea Stadium- It was a dump and objectively, it's worse than any other stadium I've been to with the possible exception of SkyDome, but it was my home stadium for the first 20 years I went to baseball games.
19.  Comerica Park- If anything, this is a generous ranking considering it's in Detroit.
18.  Globe Life Park- There was good selection of Texas beer.  I like how the design incorporated some history stadiums, but unfortunately they've gone away from that a little bit.
17.  Citi Field- Citi Field is good, but it could be better.  The food needs work.  Shake Shack is great, but the line is always way too long.  The upper level needs better food options.  The easy solution to both problems would be to put in another Shake Shack on the upper level.
16.  New Yankee Stadium- They definitely need a better beer selection.  I really wish they had just renovated the old stadium.  But of course, Big Stein would never stand for the Mets getting a new stadium without the Yankees getting one.
15.  Oriole Park at Camden Yards- I moved this one ahead of the New York stadiums, but I still maintain that it's overrated by most people.
14.  Citizens Bank Park- They have all these little beer stands that have like two beers on tap (different beers at each one).  I wish every stadium was like that.
13.  Nationals Park- I think Nationals Park is very underrated by most people.  However I found one problem that could easily be fixed.  The whole stadium has this Nation's Capital/Red, White, and Blue theme going on.  That makes sense.  But then the outfield wall is green.  Why isn't it blue?
12.  Busch Stadium- I hate the Cardinals more than any team other than the Giants, but I respect their success.  The atmosphere and the area around the stadium are great, but I was expecting more on the inside.
11.  Safeco Field- It's easily the best stadium with a roof.
10.  Target Field- I went to two games there this summer.  The only other stadium at least that far away where I've seen more than one game is Dodger Stadium.  It's a very good stadium.  I can't think of anything I would change that could make it better.  Most of the stadiums ahead of it have advantages that couldn't be replicated in Minneapolis.
9.  AT&T Park- I hate the Giants.  And if you want to accuse me of being biased against their stadium, that's fine.  It looks great on the inside.  The long wait for food and beer keeps it from being higher on the list.
8.  Great American Ballpark- You could say that it's kind of a homeless man's version of AT&T Park (with the water beyond the outfield).  It definitely doesn't look as nice.  So how does it rank higher?  It had the best beer selection in baseball and there was a very good food selection without long lines.
7.  Kauffman Stadium- I loved everything about the inside of this stadium.  Being surrounded by parking lots is what is keeping this one from being ranked higher.
6.  Wrigley Field- I'm keeping this one where I had it ranked last year.  Is it a proper ranking?  I don't know.  It's been six years since I was there.  The only ones that I haven't been to more recently than that are US Cellular Field and the New York stadiums that don't exist anymore.  And they're in the process of renovating.  So I hope to get back.  I could see this one being ranked as high as number 3 or as low as 12 depending on what I think when I see it again.
5.  Petco Park- This is one I'd really like to get back to.  I'd love to see San Diego when the weather is nice (it was mid-60s and cloudy when I was there).  Maybe it will be combined with a future trip to visit Pete and Katie.  It was a great stadium, but I moved it down a spot last year because of the Bud Selig Hall of Fame Plaza.
4.  PNC Park- Another reason to move down Petco Park?  Atmosphere.  The Pirates have been good for a few years now (amazing) and the Padres have been pretty bad (Why aren't the Padres better with that city and that stadium?).  I think Pittsburgh is an underrated city, but everybody knows the stadium is great.  I'm happy that the Pirates are doing well (I'd be really happy for Pittsburgh if the Pirates made it to the NCLS...and lost to the Dodgers, of course).
3.  Old Yankee Stadium- I have it ranked very high, but I really wish I could go back in time to pre-renovation Yankee Stadium.  It might take the number one spot if I could.  Of course, I'd also go to Ebbets Field and I guess I'd even go to a game at the Polo Grounds.
2.  Dodger Stadium- A great setting, a beautiful ballpark, twelve no-hitters, two perfect games, eight World Series, the invention of the high five, Koufax and Kershaw, Pope John Paul II, and The Naked Gun.  There's still room for improvement, but I love Dodger Stadium.  The fact that my favorite team plays there makes be biased, but still, it's great.
1.  Fenway Park- It's such a wonderfully weird ballpark (unintentionally weird, unlike Marlins Park) that couldn't be duplicated anywhere else.  It was great to get back there this summer (most likely for my last game of the season).  Hopefully this November I'll see my third different sport played there.

And there you have it.  I finally got to the 30 Major League stadiums I wanted to get to, but I'm still not done.

It was a very good summer.  I'm hoping for an even better fall.  It's time for the Dodgers to win the World Series again.  And football season is almost upon us.  As much as I love baseball, I get to a point in August where football just can't get here fast enough.  This will be the first year since I graduated that I don't get back to Notre Dame.  But hopefully a great football season will mean that I do a little more blogging than I'm planning on doing.  Go Irish!

Hot and Humid Fenway

The last time I went to Fenway Park, the high temperature that day was 27 and the low was 2.  It was in the mid-20s for pretty much the whole day once it warmed up, but it was crazy (by the way, I would use a source that isn't named for these scumbags, but they had the easiest website to use with some quick googling).  Things were a little different on my latest trip to Fenway Park.

I drove up on a Monday morning.  I took the ferry from Orient Point, which was a nice ride.  I was staying with John and Liz at their new house.  John had a Summer Ale and some grilled meat waiting for me when I arrived.  He knows me well.  We didn't have time to do much during the day, so after relaxing for a while, I headed into Boston with John.  During our drive, we were discussing names.  I said how I'm no fan of the British monarchy, but I do like their names.  John's response was something like this:  "In the 11 years that we've been friends, you've made it abundantly clear that you don't like the British monarchy."  Anyway, when we got into Boston, John parked the car and he took me down to the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

John was not all that far from here when the bombing happened two years ago.

After that, we went to Fenway Park.  John has been working there for a few years now (something that he detailed in the only guest blog post here).  John got me in for the Notre Dame hockey game last year, but I hadn't been to a baseball game since he started working at Fenway (my last baseball game there was 2010).  And John is retiring from Fenway after this year.  I really wanted to get to a game while he could get me in.  So we just walked in before the park was open to the public.  John got his friend to give me a wristband that I could use to get on the field for batting practice.  We sat and relaxed for a little while before John had to start working.

Batting practice started shortly after John left to get to work.  I was able to stand in this small area on the warning track behind home plate.  It was pretty much the same part of the field where I was able to stand on a Dodger Stadium tour back in 2011.  So I've now stood on the field at my two favorite ballparks (updated rankings coming soon).  One thing I noticed was that Fenway still has the overhead screen behind home plate.  Shea Stadium and Old Yankee Stadium had that, but I can't think of any other current stadium that has the overhead screen.  Anyway, the Indians were in town so lots of fans were excited to see Terry Francona.  He was signing autographs for kids and he was about two feet away from me.  I kind of felt sorry for him.  He did sign lots of autographs and take some pictures with people, but at some point he's got things to do and he's going to stop before he gets to everybody who wants an autograph or picture.  If I were him, I wouldn't want to say no to anybody, but you kind of have to.

On the field for batting practice

I watched batting practice for a little bit and then walked around the stadium.  I went out to a section in right field that I might have sat in for my first game at Fenway Park back in 1995.  I also went up to the upper level.  Fenway is weird in that the vast majority of seats are on the lower level.  The upper level also isn't that high.  If you're close to home plate, it's a really good view.  But since the supply of those seats is so low, the price is pretty ridiculous.

The view I had for Twins-Red Sox in 1995 was something like this.

I didn't have a ticket so I decided to stay up on the upper level between home plate and first base for as long as I could (intentionally on that side so that I was facing the Green Monster).  I had a lobster roll for $13.50.  It's more than I would usually pay for food at a game, but it was something unique and I didn't have to pay for a ticket, so whatever.  It was good, but not something that I would spend that much money for if I went to games at Fenway with any regularity.  I was able to stay up there for the first two innings before people showed up and took their seats up there.

My view for the first two innings

Fenway didn't have a great beer selection, but they did have Sam Adams Summer Ale.  That's my favorite beer, but I might opt for something else if I'm visiting another ballpark early on in the summer.  I like to try some local beer that I've never had before.  But when I'm in Boston and it's the middle of August and my favorite beer is about to disappear until March, I'm perfectly happy with a Summer Ale on tap.

After being kicked out of my seat early in the game, I walked down to the lower level and found a seat a little bit down the right field line.  I stayed there for about an inning.  After that, I moved closer to home plate and just stood until I met up with John.  After trying a few different spots, I settled on standing directly behind the plate.  The high that day was 90.  It was humid and it didn't get much cooler at night.  There was a good breeze behind the plate.

I watched several innings from here while I waited for John to get done working.  It's a good view, but you can't see a lot of balls hit in the air because of the overhang.

John got done with work after the seventh inning and we took a walk to the Green Monster.  We watched the eighth inning from there and then went home.  It was not a competitive game anyway.

John and me on the Green Monster

Speaking of the game, it was Danny Salazar against Matt Barnes.  Going into this game, I think the Red Sox were 7-0 with me in attendance.  They were definitely 6-0 since 2005 (I know that thanks to my Ballpark app) and they won the game I went to at Fenway in 1995.  I know I didn't go to a game at Yankee Stadium from 2000-2004.  So unless I'm not remembering a Yankee-Red Sox game from the 1990s (or possibly a Mets-Red Sox game), they were 7-0 all time with me in attendance.  They took a 1-0 lead in the third on a home run by Travis Shaw.  But the Indians answered with five in the fourth, one in the fifth, and one in the sixth.  Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall both had two hits with a home run (three RBIs for Chisenall).  And Dodger fans are not going to believe this, but Hanley Ramirez misplayed a ball in left field.  Salazar pitched seven and only gave up one run.  Both teams scored a run in the ninth after we left for a final score of 8-2.  Attendance was listed at 32,701, but that didn't include me.

I was driving home the next day, but I had one thing I wanted to do.  John isn't all that far from Maine so I was planning on taking a drive up there.  John decided to join me and he brought the kids.  On our drive up to Maine, John told Jack where we were going.  Jack asked why and John's answer was, "Because that's what men do.  We cross things off of lists."  So Maine has been crossed off my list.  Jack has been mentioned on the blog before.  I haven't mentioned Teddy, but he was born the day I got a speeding ticket in Missouri last summer.  So we played man to man defense on the kids.  I took Teddy, who was really cool with me.  But believe me, if Teddy was driving hard to the basket, John was going to have bring the help defense to block the shot.  Teddy doesn't talk much yet, but he will ask "What's that?" about anything.  We went to eat a diner in Wells, Maine, which is near Kennebunkport.  The Bushes have been to this diner.  There was a crowd so we had to wait a little while.  We went to a gift shot next door and I was holding Teddy.  He pointed to some shot glasses and asked "What's that?"  So I told him that they were shot glasses.  For breakfast, I had Eggs Benedict served over cod cakes.  Really good.  And people definitely thought John and I were a gay couple with the two kids.  So that was my 44th state.

I feel like I held Teddy in check, but he might have been having an off day.

Breakfast in Maine.  I didn't have clam chowder there.

Thanks again to John and Liz.  I always love getting to Fenway (I plan on being back for the Shamrock Series game in November) and it was great to see John, Liz, and the kids.