Beat the Streak Report: Tuesday, May 18
I caught some flack yesterday from the bloggers, and perhaps deservedly so, for referring to Sunday as a rather uneventful day in Streakland.
As for Monday, well, you tell me what to call it when the day’s top two picks, Miguel Cabrera and Chase Utley, don’t record an at-bat, leaving a combined 20.3 percent of BTSers in neutral for another 24 hours.
Add in the fact that Hanley Ramirez, who recorded only one at-bat, was the lone member of the Top 15 most selected players to actually play in a game and go hitless, and you got quite the little Monday on your hands.
Anyway, I’ve always considered myself a man of the people, and with that said, I’d like to ask our great audience for an invite to the BTS group “bloggers,” which so many of our top users have joined. My e-mail address is david.feldman@mlb.com and I’ll post a little recap of my own personal trials and tribulations on a somewhat regular basis.
And with that said I’m going with Miguel Cabrera today. Mostly because I’m a Tigers fan and he is an Adonis at the plate, but also because he’s 5-for-11 lifetime vs. Freddy Garcia. Did I mention he’s facing Freddy Garcia?
Time for Tuesday’s picks.
Oh, hello there …
? Kelly Johnson: .400 AVG (4-for-10) lifetime vs. Marlins starter Josh Johnson
? Miguel Cabrera: .455 AVG (5-for-11) lifetime vs. White Sox starter Freddy Garcia
? Jose Guillen: .438 AVG (14-for-32) lifetime vs. Orioles starter Kevin Millwood
? Vernon Wells: .389 AVG (7-for-18) lifetime vs. Twins starter Carl Pavano
? Kevin Youkilis: .381 AVG (8-for-21) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia
Feeling kinda spicy?
? Julio Lugo: .500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Royals starter Zack Greinke. I double-dog dare you.
You’ll thank me later …
? Dustin Pedroia: .053 AVG (1-for-19) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia
? Ryan Braun: .125 AVG (1-for-8) lifetime vs. Reds starter Homer Bailey
? Mark Teixeira: .154 AVG (4-for-26) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Josh Beckett
? Brandon Phillips: .133 AVG (2-for-15) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Manny Parra
Leaderboard time!
Yesterday’s overall leader, “lukehartzheim,” saw the pause button pressed on his streak thanks to Chase Utley’s day off, while “blakerockwell” rode Justin Morneau to tie “lukehartzheim with 26-game streaks. They are now both officially 45.6 percent on their way to the big bucks and have a .03 percent chance at winning the John Wall lottery tonight.
Top MLB streakers
? Russell Martin: 12 games
? Jason Bay: 11 games
? Carlos Gonzalez: 11 games
? Orlando Cabrera: 10 games
? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (DL)
Beat the Streak Report 
its nice to see that the blog guy is also a tigers fans. well while your taking miguel ill be taking mags tonight. other good picks in my eyes are longoria werth polanco and braun
Going to stick with Werth tonight and hope the rain in Philly eases up. The forecast seems to show a 40% chance of rain in the evening. I will invite our Tiger Fan, Grand Amigo, to join the bloggers group. Detroit weather looks dicey too.
Not an exact science is it? Oh well, I’m holding steady now at one game….every great journey starts with the first step…I’m going with Miggie again today, even though be snapped my 8-gamer….let’s hope he can see the ball in the fog…
Frosty
today i have jayson werth in BTS to extend my streak to 3 and the rays in survivor to extend my streak to 5. it’s raining in philly so i hope tonights game doesnt get postponed.
it seems that hanley ramirez was pulled from the game because he non-chalantly ran after a ball that he booted
Gonna roll the dice with Ichiro today against Ben Sheets. Given a .292 BAA and decent control, I feel pretty good about Ichiro today.
The Pujols comments yesterday (from blog guy and beyond) are well-said. That’s what makes Ichiro such a good pick right now – Mariner offense is so weak, you could call it pitcher indifference. He may set a record for being left in scoring position. Me, I’m going spicy today – Carlos Gonzales.
Does anyone look at the trophies (mouse over results, click on trophy room)?
I notice that the game gives you ‘trophies’ for having a .300, .350 or .400 average in any given month. To date, since they started this feature, I have managed to get to over .350 in a month, but never .400.
I wonder if you were trying to go for multi-hit games and get the average over .400 if the strategy would be any different. Or, alternatively, if there was also a prize for beating Rogers Hornsby’s .424 average from 1924…..or even hitting .400.
Does anyone have a .400 average trophy in their case?
Trying something new. Jonny Gomes might not be your prototypical guy to go with in BTS but I’m hoping it works for a day.
I will say I love the blog guy for joining us. I have Werth today in BTS, Rays in Survivor and Victorino in HR BTS. I am trying to get to 3 in BTS. Drag, I saw u picked Werth for the 3rd day in a row. I will post more when I get home.
I got a trophy for having a .350 average in April. It is nice but a hollow kind of thing like a kids baseball league where “every player gets a trophy” at the end of the season. The name of the game is getting a hit in every game. I will take a .200 over all batting average for a 57 game streak as long as I can have one hit every game.
Took Phils in Survivor (where you get a trophy for 5 wins in a row.) and my nemisis Joey “The Black Cat Votto” aks “El Gato Negro” in HR BTS.
AHHH, I picked Miguel Canberra and he is 0-3 so far.
jcmoratto – I’m watching ChiSox v. Tigers. Freddy Garcia pitched a great game. Game is not delayed as is being reported at MLB site. Bottom of the 7th now – Maggs and Cabrera should each bat at least on more time. ChiSox just put in a new pitcher. Keep your fingers crossed. Twins pinch hit for DH Justin Morneau who had an 0-fer today as Jays are blowing out the Twins today.
of course maggs would walk in 3 of his 4 at bats. hopefully he will get a chance to bat again in the 9th
Votto goes deep – yes!
Freddy Garcia of ChiSox is someone to now watch when he pitches as he had done well in last 2 starts. How is the weather in Philly?
Can’t be any worse than it is in NY, doubt the yankee game gets going today. Lucked out picking Jackson over Maggs and Cabrera. I remember when that used to always happen; when a guy would go 0-1 with like 3 or 4 walks. Prolly the first time this year where that happened to a top 15 pick.
rip off…lose your streak because of a rain out…this game is a scam.
you don’t lose ur streak from a rainout. Do you mean yesterday’s game? Who did you pick yesterday and the day before and what was your streak yet?
I lost my streak because of a rainout. period. I had MCabrera for the Tigers on May 17th and they were rained out and MLB erased my streak. rip off………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Dragbunt – agree that the trophy is ‘hollow’, and not a stated objective of the contest. But what if it were reported on a regular basis, or even if there was some kind of nominal prize (a $25 gift certificate for a month over .400, or some world series tickets for hitting more than .424 for the season)? Wouldn’t that become more interesting? Would the picks become different? Perhaps there would be increased value to players with plate discipline, instead of picking guys who swing at everything and hope they go 1-for-5.
To me, this is an interesting potential ‘twist’ to the game. Right now, I would wager than most people don’t know what their cumulative batting average is of their beat the streak picks….but it would be interesting to see who would rank the highest, or just how many people there are with bts players that collaborate for a .400 average.
rookie – go to your results page and tell us who your pick was for May 16.
I had a modest 4 game streak erased by yesterday’s Tigers rainout..
oops…Robinson Cano 0-4, sorry..
How is the weather in Philly?
ohwow – I like your idea. It would be fun to see the top 25 cumulative batting averages for all the people playing BTS. It would be an easy thing to do and I’m hoping that our Grande Amigo reads your post and suggests it to MLB. I would not suggest posting the cumulative batting average of all contestants just the top 25. The prize could be as simple as a gift certificate at MLB.com for the winner at the end of the year with a certain number of total at bats. or if the “suits” in legal have to get involved with 3 pages of rules etc. just post the averages with no prize. We could do our own prize from the bloggers group to the winner.
Speaking of the longest BTS streak of the year for the bloggers group. I work for a sports oriented company and could have a trophy made with an appropriate name plate for the 2010 winner. I would mail it out and the winner keeps the trophy and passes it along to the 2011 winner via the mail. How does this sound to the bloggers group?
Drag – So the 2010 winner would send it back to you at the end of the 2011 season? 2011 winner would need his name on it before it’s sent to him.
drag – live the idea! Count me in – I’m honest and if I am lucky enough to win, I will happily pass it along!!
I say keep the BTS Blogger winner award simple.
The name plate could say: Blogger BTS Champion
This would allow the 2010 winner to mail it to the 2011 winner without any fuss. No need for name or year – The mere possession of the BTS Blogger champion trophy is the real prize! Using a hockey reference the trophy would be our “Stanley Cup.” What do you all think? Btle, Professor Pete, Vinny all all else weigh in here with your thoughts.
Werth singles in the 5th – vinny we live to streak another day.
i like the idea of a trophy for the winner. simple enough to make and sending it to the next year winner isnt hard at all.
Have been reading this blog for a few weeks now and joined your group a few days ago (unfortunately my current streak didn’t come over, so my streak is higher on the standings (7) page than our group page(3))
I make my picks usually 3-4 days in advance and rarely ever change them. I don’t read the picks the day but like to read your commentary. In my past, I tried doing research and my streak never was higher than 5 so I stick with fast decisions. Maybe I will do some research once I get past 10.
I surprisingly had an average of .400 for April, however, as long as I have played BTS I can’t get past 10 so that means nothing.
Currently at 7, BTS Career High is 10.
Now back to a 0 game win streak and a 0 game hit streak.
Looking at Micheal Young, Ryan Braun, Stephen Drew, Troy Tulowiczki for Wed.
any thoughts?
yanks22442 welcome aboard!
Yah, Shane takes me to 2. but the Phils lose which resets me there. I think that I’m going to stop with survivor. IF the game was who could go 1 win ,1 loss consecutively for two weeks i would win. Can’t put even two in a row together. Going back to how i started the season (17 BTS from opening day) and no HR or survivor.
Welcome aboard “Grande Amigo” and to all others that have joined, we’re now at 43 ppl.
As for group winner I would be down for anything, whatever the group consensus is.
M
Could you guys give me a hand here please?
Yesterday, I had Vladimir Guerrero to get a hit.
I had a streak of 12 going. Today it’s down to zero.
And yet, on the MLB stats section, it says Vladimir got a single and a double. He was At Bat a total of 4 times.
Texas beat the Angels 6-3.
What’s going on?
joey
I’m here guys and girls and I’m going to weigh in on the prize. I like the idea of the plaque with just who the winner is and I would definitely send it to the next person and Drag are we lucky or what. We lived another day thanks to Werth but I’m up to 3 in Survivor after Tampa won and have AJ and the Yanks to win tomorrow. Also I have Kinsler tomorrow as he is hitting Guthrie at a .364 clip and he has been hot since he came off the DL.
Longoria extended my streak to 13 today, half way to my previous streak now, if not for derek/BTS nightmare Jeter I would be at 39 games now, woulda shoulda coulda. Anyway as far as the trophy goes, Ill take the 10k/3million and you guys can fight over the trophy. LOL the blog guy joins the league, announces his selection of Miguel Cabrera and gets an 0-fer in his first game.
Going with Hawpe for Wednesday.
Longest streak this year 12, last year 26.
Never knew there were trophies for BTS, but I see I have the 10+ and the .350 for April 2010.
How could I join the group?
Leaning toward Ryan Braun.
Scott Rolen and Reds are red hot.
Vinny – I’m looking at Kinsler too.
smitfantas – post your email address and I’ll send you an invite to join The Bloggers group.
Any ideas in HR BTS?
Well Drag, it’s good to know that you and I are thinking alike again in BTS. Maybe we can help each other get to long streaks. Also I have Manny in HR BTS since wind is blowing out towards right in Dodger Stadium but I may change it. Drag, who do you like in HR BTS since your at a 2 game streak? I have the Yanks in Survivor to try to get to 4.
I meant to say wind is blowing out towards left field in Dodger Stadium.