Beat the Streak Report: Weekend, May 14-16
I hoped this day would never come.
After 36 consecutive days of stellar selections, our pal and Canadian mentor, John “cruj” Gartshore, saw his streak snap thanks to Albert Pujols’ 0-for-4 performance.
My days of Bret Hart, poutine and Tim Horton’s references have officially come to an end.
John, it’s been a pleasure. Your 36-game streak will be tough to beat. Time to take a bow, eh?
On to the weekend picks.
Oh, hello there …
Friday
? Todd Helton: .465 AVG (33-for-71) lifetime vs. Nationals starter Livan Hernandez
? Alex Rios: .583 AVG (14-for-24) lifetime vs. Royals starter Gil Meche
? Manny Ramirez: .519 AVG (14-for-27) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland
Saturday
? Andre Ethier: .533 AVG (8-for-15) lifetime vs. Padres starter Kevin Correia
? Adam Lind: .500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Rangers starter Scott Feldman
? Delmon Young: .643 AVG (9-for-14) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte
Sunday
? Mark Teixeira: 1.000 AVG (6-for-6) lifetime vs. Twins starter Nick Blackburn
? Johnny Damon: .414 AVG (12-for-29) since ’05 vs. Angels starter John Lackey
? Brandon Phillips: .389 AVG (7-for-18) lifetime vs. Cardinals starter Brad Penny
Feeling kinda spicy?
Friday
? Reed Johnson: .700 AVG (7-for-10) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland. You realize Garland has a 1.71 ERA, right?
Saturday
? Brendan Harris: .471 AVG (8-for-17) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Andy Pettitte. You realize Harris is batting .203, right?
Sunday
? Omar Infante: .444 AVG (4-for-9) lifetime vs. D-backs starter Dan Haren. This one I actually like. Infante has six hits over his last four games and Haren has been very hittable as of late.
You’ll thank me later …
Friday
? Jayson Werth: .111 AVG (1-for-9) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Randy Wolf
? Matt Holliday: .056 AVG (1-for-18) lifetime vs. Reds starter Aaron Harang
Saturday
? Alex Rios: .083 AVG (1-for-12) lifetime vs. Royals starter Luke Hochevar
? Alex Rodriguez: .000 AVG (0-for-7) lifetime vs. Twins starter Scott Baker
Sunday
? Robinson Cano: .000 AVG (0-for-8) lifetime vs. Twins starter Nick Blackburn
? Chase Utley: .153 AVG (2-for-13) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Doug Davis
Leaderboard time!
With “cruj” swimming with the fishes, “kevinw23” is now ruler of the universe with a 26-game hitting streak and is officially 45.6 percent on his way to joining the LeBron sweepstakes.
Top MLB streakers
? Elvis Andrus: 13 games
? Miguel Cabrera: 12 games
? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)
? Troy Glaus: 8 games
? J.J. Hardy : 8 games (DL)
? Cristian Guzman: 8 games
? Adam Kennedy: 8 games
? Russell Martin: 8 games
Beat the Streak Report 
Heading up the lake for the weekend, gotta get some solid picks lined up form fri-sunday. Looking for some help….right now ive got:
fri: pedroia (was thinking helton, but livan is doing it this yr)
sat: ethier (had werth, but changed)
sund: werth (had m. cabrera but changed)
Just wondering if anyone had some stats or info that Im missing or waht other ppl are thinking. Worried about ethier jsut cuz i havent picked him yet and he cant go on hitting like this forever, can he?
TIP OF THE DAY – FRIDAY
Cubs back at Wrigley Field v. Pirates
Wind blowing W15 mph toward right field. Koske Fukadome may hit one out and I’ve got him im HR BTS.
Eitheir v. Garland – both are hot
I’m going with Ichirio.
Rocks in Survivor
Good Luck to all today
Grand Amigo – Great “Godfather” movie reference in your commentary today – keep up the great work! Does Lebron play baseball?
As Cruj’s younger brother, I have to take the time to commend him on the impressive streak….it was a helluva run bro! But often in life, the elder sibling passes the torch to the more youthful member of the family. I thank you for the opportunity and will now run with it….a mere 33 more consecutive correct picks is needed to meet you atop the leaderboard. I’m ready!!
PS- Youkilis to end my remarkable W3 streak today.
MLB Survivor now officially has more active players without streaks than with streaks. Yesterday, the MLB Terminator infiltrated and wiped out 83% of the entire field; leaving about 17% with streaks and the rest licking their wounds. I don’t recall seeing anything like that in the past years. Gotta be one of the all-time disasters in that game.
as a tigers fan i can say taking pedroia today is a good pick and ive been watching the phillies games all year and werth has been very hot so hes a good pick but i dont know about ethier i dont watch or pay any attention to the dodgers. i just know hes been hitting very well
Schenk, thanks for the input. I am a twins fan so I dont pay much attention to the N.L. I like picking phillies cuz they have been pounding the ball all yr but like you, I dont pay any attention to the dodgers. I dont think they got any better in the off season. Just hard not to go with the hot hand. M. Cabrera has been a solid so far this year. Tough to pick any twins players as they usually crap the bed in the bronx. Looking forward to a very tight race all year in the A.L central. Should go down to the wire.
Hey guys, I have Ethier tonight but I’m not too sure. He’s hitting awesome at night so I like him for tonight but willing to listen. I was thinking also either Helton, Cabrera, Werth or somebody completely different. Any suggestions or should I stick it out with Ethier?
Cruj, nice run! I’m envious of your success – it must been so amazingly awesome to be in double-digits! I dream of doing that…some day.
lets go mags. get me my 2nd 10 game streak this year.
Maybe it’s me being a cubs fan, but I’m taking Byrd today. He’s batting second,, he’s facing a lefty and even though he’s 1-9 (including 0-3 this year) against him, he’s batting 450 against lefties this year and over .350 at home. He’s still hot too.
Drag, Koske is not in the starting lineup, you might want to change.
Ive got nothing going after yesterday so im gonna go with Soriano this afternoon, PHI in survivor. Good luck to all.
M
Going with Pujols tonight against my better judgement — I just think he can’t go hitless in 2 in a row
jagx, also a cubs fan here (and also in Cubs Rule group), I’d be more tempted to pick Theriot. Lefties pitch to his strength: opposite field singles. But Cubs don’t hit well against Burress normally and I opted for a different game for my pick; hopefully Cubs get 20 hits today!
hey dragbunt104….I’d love to join your group but I need the password….email me at forcook@aol.com.
Good luck today!
Frosty
Frosty, you can join us all in the public group. Look for Bloggers under the group thing and join.
Vinny, I’m holding off on Ethier until tomorrow. Garland looks pretty tough of late (8 hits over his last three and 4 straight wins). In fact, I settled on Chase Headley of the Padres, although Ramon Ortiz is kind of an unknown factor.
Going with Ludwick in HRBTS.
i dont play the homerun streak game but ive never understood why if someone is going to take a player to hit a homerun then why not take him in the hit streak. if you think hes going to hit a homerun i just feel you should also then think he will extend your hit streak but thats just my opinion
forcook – The group is the bloggers and you should be able to join without password as it is a public group.
Schenk, I did that a few times and every time I did I lost my hitting streak because I picked the same person. I think it’s the kiss of death of you choose the same player for both.
forcook@aol.com
My error for some reason “The bloggers” group is set so that you have to be invited to join. Check your email as I invited you to join. Easy to do from there. If anyone else wants to join put your email address in a post and I will invite you to join.
“The Bloggers” Prize – There should be some kind of prize for the blogger who posts the longest streak of the year. Any ideas?
maybe the blogger with the high streak wins tickets to a game of his or her favorite team. the rest of the bloggers can pitch in some to get the tickets.
I picked Cabrera. Was thinking Austin Jackson but he’s on a mini “slump” since he’s hitting .316 over the last 7 days.
Not sure if Braun is playing today, so going with my 2nd favorite Brewer to pick, Casey McGehee, against soft-tossing Moyer.
Going with Pujols tonight against my better judgement — I just think he can’t go hitless in 2 in a row
wow 16.7% on alex rios. thats a gutsy pick especially with the way the white sox offense has been this year
Going with Mauer….he tends to be a little streaky but matches up well against Burnett….although Yankee Stadium scares me…..Braun would have been my next pick…Watch Braun go 4-4 against Moyer.
Thanks for the invite dragbunt….is there anyway for the group to email each other?
Well if we all exchanged emails Frosty than yes that is possible. My email is Vinny1979@msn.com to start.
Congrats Cruj, I was running neck and neck with Cruj for a while, til I picked BTS deathman Derek Jeter to bust my 26 game streak. Mccutchen just extended me back to 9 games, Ill be back. I have a feeling Alex Rios will go hitless tonight with 17% taking him. Hey Cruj dont forget you still have a good shot at winning $10,000.
I was just looking at the leaderboard and I saw something quite strange. Dantesthunder made no selection with an 18 game steak going, hmmm what a waste.
oneheartbeataway
if you scroll through the 1st few pages of the leaderbaord you will always seem to find a handful of no selections. ive never understood how you can go that many days in a row and then somehow forget to make a selection but i guess some people just dont have well functioning brains in their heads
if anyone wants to email me my email is sjs5430@psu.edu
I think they don’t make a selection because they have them picked for 10 days and forget what day it is supposed to end and than don’t make a selection and don’t realize they have a long streak.
I forgot to mention that Jeter got hit with a pitch yesterday and his pinkie is hurting so I don’t think he’s going to start tonight to give him rest for one day but I’m not sure not. He’s listed as Probable for this series with Minnesota.
true i never pick until the night before that way i can pick based off the way the players are playing at the moment cause a lot can change in 10 days. i do have my jumpstart pick available if anything goes wrong with my computer and i cant get on
Send me an invite to the group.
Email: \/ \/ \/
joseph you just need to search bloggers in the group directory its a public group. if you search the blogers it doesnt seem to come up but if you leave of the word “the” you will find it
Joe is in the group because I checked it and he is listed as being in the group.
NO INVITE is needed to join our group.
the bloggers doesnt work, but bloggers by itself does work. I have yet to figure that one out
I had McCutchen on Wed and he has an 0-fer v. Reds Homer Bailey who did pitch a great game. Today I watched the Cub game and McCutehen goes 5 for 5 with a walk.
I an snake bitten!
Come on Ichirio.
It’s ok Drag. I can’t seem to catch a break either but I’m hoping my fortunes turn over the next few days and OneHeartBeatAway what a pick with McCutchen.
6 game hit steak now !
Albert Pujols just hit a home runnnnnnnnn.
Only 51 more hit’s in a row now till I win the $ 3 million.
mags with a single and i am at 10 games for the 2nd time this year. hopefully this time my streak will continue pass 10
If the rays, Orioles, and the Giants all lose tonight, then the current highest win streak for Survivor will be like only 8.
“MLB Survivor now officially has more active players without streaks than with streaks. Yesterday, the MLB Terminator infiltrated and wiped out 83% of the entire field; leaving about 17% with streaks and the rest licking their wounds. I don’t recall seeing anything like that in the past years. Gotta be one of the all-time disasters in that game.”
I don’t get that, because 2 of my top 3 strongest analyzed games won yesterday?
But I do know that 89% of the field was eliminated either last summer or in 2008.
” I like picking phillies cuz they have been pounding the ball all yr”
Outside of Werth, most of the Phillies’ bats are cold right now.
“i dont play the homerun streak game but ive never understood why if someone is going to take a player to hit a homerun then why not take him in the hit streak. if you think hes going to hit a homerun i just feel you should also then think he will extend your hit streak but thats just my opinion”
Because there is a completely different analysis going into one contest VS the other.
For example, a player could be 2 for 12 with 2 HR off the opposing pitcher career and that might be a good HR pick, but not a good hitting pick.
Also, people sometimes go with extreme HR types like Mark Reynolds who had 40+ HR last year, but just a .240 batting average.
but if you think someone will hit a homerun that means you think they will get a hit so you might as well then take the same person. thats just my opinion but since i dont play that game my opinion really means nothing
“true i never pick until the night before that way i can pick based off the way the players are playing at the moment cause a lot can change in 10 days. i do have my jumpstart pick available if anything goes wrong with my computer and i cant get on”
the jumpstart pick only works for streaks at 3 games or less though right?
I have yet to figure out why they restrict it to 3 games or less for?
“If the rays, Orioles, and the Giants all lose tonight, then the current highest win streak for Survivor will be like only 8.”
Why would anyone put a long streak on the Orioles for? Don’t they have the worst record in the majors?
“but if you think someone will hit a homerun that means you think they will get a hit so you might as well then take the same person. thats just my opinion but since i dont play that game my opinion really means nothing”
well, for example, the best hitting picks generally don’t hit a lot of HR.
for example, Ichiro just hit his 1st HR of the season last night.
“the jumpstart pick only works for streaks at 3 games or less though right?
I have yet to figure out why they restrict it to 3 games or less for?”
No they restrict it to only working for up to 3 days that you missed making a selection. so if your streak was at 54 and you forgot to pick the next 3 days you would still have a chance to get to 57 if your jumpstart player got a hit those next 3 days. the length of your streak has no bearing on whether you can use a jumpstart pick or not
“but if you think someone will hit a homerun that means you think they will get a hit so you might as well then take the same person. thats just my opinion but since i dont play that game my opinion really means nothing”
“well, for example, the best hitting picks generally don’t hit a lot of HR.for example, Ichiro just hit his 1st HR of the season last night.”
I see your side of it but your still taking the person to hit a hr just because you think he will get a hit. you wouldnt take that player in hr beat the streak if you thought he would go hitless so you still think he will get a hit
I just hope that Cabrera gets another at bat in that game. 0-3 and my 4 game streak is on the line since I switched from Ethier.
I just didn’t feel Mags since his average isn’t that good and Cabrera was the hottest Tiger. I knew his hitting streak had to end eventually but I didn’t think it would be tonight. I know I’m mad as I can’t get back to 5 or even 10 but I’m hoping I can go on a nice long run with Ethier starting it off tomorrow.
vinny you took the wrong tiger today. mags was the best choice against buchholz
im not sure which player i want to take tomorrow. either braun or polanco. braun has the higher avg but polanco has been hot the last week and is hitting lefties very well this year
Alex Rios grounds out in 8th and this is probably his last AB.
KC leads ChiSox 6-1. MCabrera also has an 0-fer!
I can’t get back on track for iiisshhh! Am I the only one that always goes really cold in this game after a streak of a week or two?
rip2thecompetition – Welcome to the club. I’ve iced over also – can not make a good decision. Hanging in there though as each day can be the ‘new streak.” Make a few crazy picks to break out of it. Cubs DLee would be a crazy pick today. He is batting about .225 but had a hit on Friday and faces a lefty today at Wrigley Field.
who does everyone have today. im still debating between polanco and braun
I like Marion Byrd of the Cubs – has 48 hits already and hits almost .500 vs. Lefties.
Avoiding Braun for now seems prudent until his elbow heals.
im settling on polanco. blanton has struggled in his 2 outings but i can see him having a good game today while narveson struggles against the hard hitting phillies offense
Going with Victorino in HRBTS although Soriano is tempting since his last HR came off Maholm, but they might pitch around him and Shane’s been swinging a hotter bat.
Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio? Watching the Cub game and anouncers mentioned that today is the day 5/15
that Joe began his legendary 56 game hitting streak. Also mentioned that after he was held hitless in what would have been game 57, the next day he began a new 21 game hitting streak – so he hits in 78 our of 79 games.
Wind blowing in toward home plate today at Wrigley Field
it’s a pitchers kind of day. HR will be few if any. Wind has already knocked down 3 potential HR’s including one by Alphonso Soriano. Leader board is about as bare as the Mohave Desert.
there you go polanco 1st inning single and my streak is at 11
Damn, Ryan Braun is 0-3 so far.
Lol, Ryan Braun singles in the bottom of the 8th inning on the 10th pitch of a 3-2 count to end the day 1-4. The Giants also beat the Astros 2-1.
So I got a 7 game hit streak and a 2 game win streak now.
I’m feeling a thaw in the ice that is my unlucky streak.
—-DLee of Cubs, my crazy pick of the day on Sat., got a hit.
—-Ichirio got 2 hits v. my old nemisis, “Big Game” James of Rays.
I like Jayson Werth on Sunday in BTS and HR BTS.
I’m at wits end in Survivor!
Hey guys, I have Ethier to try to start my streak all over again and I have Teixeira tomorrow. He kills the Twins and Blackburn especially and I said May is the month he turns his season around and that is what he is doing.
Hope I didn’t talk you out of Ethier yesterday, Vinny. Good luck with him tonight.
Sunday – Zimmerman and Teixeira look good
today was a great day for streakers. none of the top 15 picks went hitless. i cant remember the last time that happened
taking austin jackson tomorrow against lackey. jackson hasnt gone hitless 2 games in a row this season and is hitting .395 versus right handed pitchers
Tomfootball knows of which he writes. He began the season with a 17-game streak, a Levi Ghetto Cat record. He’s up to eight with Byrd’s hit today. But he gave me a loser in the Preakness Stakes and he’s a Cardinals fan (and I a Reds), so we’re currently not speaking. For you Super BTS Nerds who play the other games, the Reds are a One Foot in the Grave and the other on a Banana Peel Dead Solid Abner Doubleday Lock of a Lifetime to beat the holy living cow **** out of the Cardinals on Sunday.*
?Professor Pete
*bear in mind that I’m biased by hope and realize I just guaranteed the equivalent of the result of a coin flip. Also, please forgive my language, Ms. Manning
I had Phillies and Jayson Werth, but I changed it up to the Yankees and Mark Teixeira because I didn’t want to wait for the 8 o clock game.
Hopefully it works out.
“today was a great day for streakers. none of the top 15 picks went hitless. i cant remember the last time that happened”
And yet I go 0 for 4 with Soriano, the only starting Cub to go 0 for.
I can see putting in that hour and a half is necessary, rather than just glancing at the probables.
Went with Ike Davis today.
Cub Report – wind again blowing in over the right field wall toward home plate. Fly balls will be knock down. Choose another game for HR BTS. champion_88 – stay away from Alfonso Soriano – his is “freaky streaky” and you never know what he will do. Professor Pete – I’m NOT taking the Reds today to give them a chance to win in Survivor.
Actually ngedc you did talk me out of Ethier on Friday. I picked Cabrera and he ended my streak on Friday. I wonder why Ethier didn’t play as I checked the starting lineup before the game and he was batting third. Than when the game started he wasn’t playing. Something must of happened to him to be taken out of the lineup. Very odd. I have Tex today to restart my streak again and Pujols in HR BTS but may change that and I have the Phillies in Survivor today.
Going with Polanco today vs. the good hit, no pitch Brewers and should do the same today. Look for 5 ABs for Placido today so like his chances.
The Reds- Cards has been a thriller with two great finishes. Saw both, thanks to the local cable which shows most Cardinal games.
vinny i was watching espn last night and they reported that ethier broken one of his fingers during batting practice. the dodgers arent sure how long he will be out but just stay away from him for awhile cause he wont be playing and when he comes back he will probably be rusty
going with hanley ramirez today what do u think?
I found out after I posted Schenk but thank you anyway. Schenk who do you have today in BTS? I have Teixeira like I said and I’m sticking with him but just curious to see who you have. I can’t believe Ethier broke a pinkie during BP. I had him against Garland later this week but switched him to Kinsler.
Mark Teixeira just got a hit in the 3rd and the Yankees are winning at the moment.
FYI: I was wondering how one gets a handle/nickname so that your email address doesn’t show up when you post (potential spam scenarios). Well, by accident I figured it out.
Open GameDay or At Bat, jump to bottom of window and find Support Forum link, click on it, provide a nickname when prompted. Now that will be used in your BTS, Survivor, HR streak games and here on the blog. You will now see my nickname of LaVolpe below vs. my complete email address.
I’m at 8 hits now since Tex just got a hit.
Hopefully the Yankees win, too.
There on TBS.
ive got austin jackson. he hasnt gone hitless 2 days in a row this year and has hit well in day games. also lackey has settled down a bit but the hit totals hes allowing is still high. texiera is a good pick with how hot hes been this month. im also taking the tigers to beat the redsox in survivor. i know that pick itnt anywhere near a lock but galarraga has been pitching well in AAA and i see that continuing today and after the way last nights game ended i can see boston coming out with no energy
vinny your not alone with teixiera today. goodluck with your pick
vinny your not alone with teixiera today. goodluck with your pick. well jackson isnt in the starting lineup for the tigers. now i have to pray i dont see him come in at all
Thanks man. I hope he doesn’t pinch hit either for you. I like Tex and he made an out in his first AB but he will come through.
he should blackburn will throw a good game but he will give up 7 or so hits during his few innings you got plenty of innings left. this is the 3rd time during my current streak where a player i took isnt playing. the last 2 times the game was rained out
Well Tex just hit a single so I’m back up to 1 and hopefully it goes for the next month or so. Going to stick with my current picks no matter what unless I know somebody is injured.
thats what i try to do. im a tigers fan so i take tiger players as much as i can. i didnt read anything saying jackson would sit today which kinda frustrates me. usually leyland lets the media know who will be in the lineup right after the prior days game
tigers up 5-1. i think that keeps me safe from seeing a austin jackson pinch hit at bat. im hoping i dont want to see my 11 game streak end that way
the mccutchinator extends my streak to 11. Quite a bit of people on the front page taking a phillies hitter tonight. I have a feeling the phillies will get no hit tonight. I felt the alex rios bomb coming when 17% picked him. Never put a streak over 5 games in the hands of Alex Rios. I joined the bloggers group last night, they reset my streak to 0 on there so im guessing my current streak and longest streak doesnt carry over. So whats the winner of the bloggers group get, may I suggest a giant lego chewbacca.
my 11 game streak may come to an end. jackson came in to replace damon. he will be up 5th in the 8th inning so im praying for a 1 2 3 inning by the tigers batters
Damn, Yankees lost. Back to 0 wins.
luckily the tigers went down 123 and jackson did not come up to bat. on to tomorrow with my streak still alive. looking at miggy or billy butler
oneheartbeataway – When you join a group you start out at zero for that group. Your streaks continue in the regualr BTS game. Pitching change tonight for Milwaukee it is now Bush as Davis has a heart problem. He give up alot of hits so I’m hoping that Werth come up with a hit.
Vinny – Who looks good on Monday?
drag/vinny – thinking about Miguel Cabrera for tomorrow – what do you think?
Nard/Drag, I have Jeter for tomorrow as he is hitting .379 at home and he hits Dice-K at a .429 clip. One of the problems I see is that Dice-K is very inconsistent. Will he have a good game tomorrow or a very bad game tomorrow? Another problem I see is that Jeter is hitting .180 over the last 7 days so I’m still trying to see who to pick. Cabrera could be a good pick but I lost a streak with him on Friday so I’m staying away.
I will say that Ichiro is hitting Oakland at a .179 clip for the year so I would stay away from him and he is also hitting lefties at .214 and a leftie is pitching for the A’s tomorrow so use him at your own risk.
going with scott podsednik tomorrow. no real reasons behind it except that hes hitting well and bergesen is giving up a ton of hits this year. watch the forecasts. it looks like rain can be a factor in a few of the games tomorrow