Roy first Streaker to approach 40 games in 2011
With a cameo from the Yankee Clipper himself ...
In 10-plus years of Beat the Streak play, only 31 Streakers have reached the 40-game plateau. I’ve never been there myself, but I hear you can just barely see the hulking pile of cash that is 57 games at the edge of the horizon.
With jonroy73 just one correct pick from expanding Club 40 to 32 members, we sent out the BTS Report P.I. Squad to dig up some dirt on our season leader. And by that, I mean that I emailed him some probing personal questions and he was kind enough to respond.
Our main man is Jonathan Roy. He lives near Boston and works for a food company that makes falafel and rangoons. Here’s a free falafel tip, Jon: the answer is more hummus. And then even more hummus.
Mr. Roy admitted that he’s something of a baseball polygamist, rooting for the Red Sox but naming Don Mattingly as his all-time favorite player. Some of you may consider this a sports sin of the highest order, but the relevant authorities have determined that fans of any team were allowed to root for Donnie Baseball under the “Dynamite Lip Sweater” corollary.
In other Red Sox-fan-admiring-Yankees news, Jonathan once spotted streak king Joe DiMaggio at a Florida airport while catching a flight home from Spring Break. “Just seeing him gave me the chills, legend,” he said. Considering the things that happen in Daytona Beach during Spring Break, I’m skeptical that it was the sight of the Yankee Clipper giving you chills. Ether way, this Streak is clearly star-crossed.
So how did our leader go from ogling Joe D on the tarmac to chasing his 56 games? Surely he’s relied on years of BTS experience and a complex mathematical formula.
Or not: “Until 25 games I just picked blindly — logged in and randomly selected a team and then selected one of their better players. Since 25 I have been looking at matchups and flipping coins when it comes down to two choices.”
To the commenters who spend hours each day agonizing over stadium wind speeds before making a pick: Stop selling your possessions. Cancel the plane tickets to South America. It’s going to be OK. As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to build a streak while skinning a cat.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Jonathan’s favorite food is his Nana’s lazy pierogis. Which have a Wikipedia page in Polish.
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Thursday’s picks:
Another Interleague short slate means we’re going no-frills — no spicy feelings, no future thankings. Below are today’s only Report-authorized selections. You can leave the beaten path if you so choose, but doing so definitely voids your extended warranty.
(Make a BTS pick)
Oh, hello there …
Robinson Cano: 1.000 (1-for-1) since vs. Brewers starter Randy Wolf
Ian Kinsler: .692 (9-for-13) since ’06 vs. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez: .333 (1-for-3) since vs. Brewers starter Randy Wolf
Adrian Gonzalez: .364 (8-for-22) since ’06 vs. Phillies starter Cole Hamels
Miguel Cabrera: .333 (2-for-6) since vs. Mets starter Mike Pelfrey
Victor Martinez: No history vs. Mets starter Mike Pelfrey
Paul Konerko: No history vs. Rockies starter Aaron Cook
Jose Bautista: No history vs. Pirates starter Jeff Karstens
Matt Holliday: No history vs. Orioles starter Brian Matusz
Hunter Pence: .333 (1-for-3) since vs. Rangers starter Matt Harrison
Andrew McCutchen: No history vs. Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil
Lance Berkman: No history vs. Orioles starter Brian Matusz
Dustin Pedroia: .500 (5-for-10) since ’06 vs. Phillies starter Cole Hamels
Adam Lind: .000 (0-for-4) since ’06vs. Pirates starter Jeff Karstens
Jemile Weeks: No history vs. Marlins starter Chris Volstad
Leaderboard time:
Now that we’re all acquainted with Jon Roy, what about bclark2779? Our current No. 2 extended his streak to 35 games yesterday thanks to Miguel Cabrera, making him a definite Streaker of interest for the P.I. Squad. Stay tuned …
Top MLB streakers
Ryan Braun: 19 games
Nick Markakis: 18 games
Prince Fielder: 11 games
Pablo Sandoval: 10 games
Home Run Beat the Streak pick:
Jose Bautista: (23 HR this season) vs. Pirates starter Jeff Karstens
Beat the Streak Report 
Lol. I think Ian just took a poke at me!
Well I might as well stay consistent, mile high today for me with the wind blowing out to right at 14mph and should be about 90 degrees come gametime. Also I can’t ignore the 400 daytime batting average.
GL guys.
Mark, I don’t have access to ESPN’s leaderboard. Could you be so kind & post when the SFTStash leader falls. Needs to make 4 picks today to win this month. If he doesn’t fall by end of my shift, I’ll catch up when I get home. Thanx
He’s 3 away now and has taken Canada win or draw against France win.
Hey Lav- he has Canada to win or draw against France and right now France is winning as the second half has just started. He must be starting to get nervous. I’ll keep you updated as well.
France just scored again so it is really not looking good for Canada or the guy in second.
3-0 France!
Thank you all. Looks like the stash is safe this month
YGD – High fives for Holliday
@ken Good luck!
Let’s Go Holliday! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Let’s Go Holliday! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Let’s Go Holliday! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Let’s Go Holliday! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Let’s Go Holliday! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
4-0 now, and France is just demolishing the Canadians!
Miggy looks to have maybe just 1 more AB and 0-fer right now. That is a major reset in the making.
That should do it for Miggy, Left on deck in the 8th, at home, leading by 3 & bottom of NYM lineup due up.
And done. 8 Miggies on page 1
Surprised to see Paulie sitting in Denver
Unless hurt, if game is close, he’ll see an AB I’m sure
8th inning down by 2. Beckham up & pitcher follows, 1 out. If Beckham doesn’t hit in doubleplay, think we’ll see Konerko PH for the pitcher. Pierzynski & Quentin already PH.
And those that picked Konerko may have lucked out. Intentional walk. Barring extras, they survive and hit the pause button.
I was wondering how that’d work. I picked him literally last second for like no reason except he looked really good. Now I’m feeling OK about that “mistake”.
Phew. I’ve been running all the possibilities since Carlos pinched last time pitchers spot come up, and thankfully Beck advanced on his single leaving 1rst base open.
I’m pretty sure they’ll keep him in the game based on who’s been PH for already. Due up 7th in the 9th & tied game; there is a possibility he’ll see another AB in the 10th (if tie stays) or CWS keep their bats hot: 10 team hits & 6 BB so far.
Well let’s just see a run here in the ninth so I don’t have to worry about it at all. I’m A-Ok with a pause considering my 2 other choices for today (miggy and a-gon ) have both already O-fered.
A few scenarios left, among those
1. COL wins in bottom of 9th
2. Extras & Konerko (due up 4th) doesn’t bat & COL wins in 11th
3. Konerko bats and a) walks again, b) gets a hit, c) out or sac fly
4. Game goes into extra extras & he sees a couple more ABs
I’m routing for the walk-off here.
Walk-off? Just like my Cubbies. What a wasted season!
In previous post, I said 11th, meant 10th
Good luck Mark.
Should’ve been Scenario #3a above, but pitcher punted the bunt attempt.
So, it’s Scenario #3c. Now it’s a matter of hoping for Scenario #4 too.
Yeah, that didn’t help.
Of all the way to get reset, 0-1 is second worse I think. The worse being 0-0 (sac fly)
Well what can ya do besides start again and hope the leaders fall eventually? Sucks, I know.
Mets and Liber that sucks when that happen. Liber I feel for you man. That sucks big time he had a Fielder’s choice. The leader will fall by the time the weekend is over along with the other top 2.
Leader falls this weekend? Gotta be, can’t discount the Interview Jinx
And the leader is at 40 with a Pierre single…
LaV’s List
Thursday’s Top Picks of the current Top2500,
94 Batters picked overall
Batter, Times Picked, Percentage
Miguel Cabrera 403 16.12 (3rd)(4th)O-FER
Matt Holliday 291 11.64
Victor Martinez 290 11.60 (2nd)GOOD
Paul Konerko 219 8.76 PH?
Michael Young 157 6.28
Adrian Gonzalez 92 3.68 O-FER
Starlin Castro 76 3.04 GOOD
Ian Kinsler 72 2.88
Ryan Braun 67 2.68 GOOD
Andrw McCutchen 56 2.24
Juan Pierre 13 0.52 (1rst)GOOD
David Freese 10 0.40 (4th)
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Highest “No Selection” 😛 pg# 8 with streak of 17 back to zero.
Yesterday’s Top2500 Reset rate was 32.96% with THE GRANDYMAN reseting the most.
There was also 5.36% PPD due to players not playing. These streakers do not reset, but did not increase either.
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Got Pinched OR 1/2 AB Wonders
TOP2500 saved or reset by PHA (going to include any pinch hitters and/or double switch, 2 AB or Less)
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M Maier KC, RESET 1 WAS 11 GAMER
B Butler KC, RESET 1 WAS 10 GAMER
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Bloggers Group Top2500
UserName, Streak, Page#, Rank, Pick, (Times picked in top2500)
YanksGiantsDevils33, 17, pg 6 , 138, HOLLIDAY (PICKED 291X)
Kenfucious, 17, pg 7, 138, HOLLIDAY (PICKED 291X)
ChiSox07, 14, pg 16, 370, MIGGY (PICKED 403X) O-FER
dave55, 14, pg 16, 370, MIGGY (PICKED 403X) O-FER
00LIber, 12, pg 30, 712, KONERKO (PICKED 219X) PH?
trixiewright, 11, pg 72, 1093, MIKE YOUNG (PICKED 157X)
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Bloggers Reset Yesterday
heyya, 16, RESET by MIKE CUDDYER
tomfootball17, 12, RESET by MIKE YOUNG
Jagx, 10, RESET by MIKE YOUNG
GL to all
M
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For those that’ve already played, not much to left in the later games to practice our jinxing sklls on, is there? Holliday for sure, maybe Pence too? Pierre would’ve been nice, but Miggy’s 0-fer helped trim off a lot of 20-something gamers today; about two dozen of them.
If one is curious as to why Vlad Guerrero is well-picked today among the field, it was due to his 350+ average vs Westbrook. But STL changed pitchers after last night’s game & not many people got the word. He hasn’t seen Jamie Garcia before & Garcia is not an easy one to hit off of. To those… break out the rabbit’s feet ’cause I’m sure you were a bit shocked to not see Westbrook on the mound.
Been interesting to look at the discussion of wives picks. My wife had a 27 gamer snapped by Konerko today. In the discussion of luck versus skill, all I can really say is that the best players have a 75-80% chance of getting a hit each day, and even if the ‘skillful’ analyst picks Player A, how much increased chance of getting a hit does that really represent? However, when player A (even though they are hitting over 320) gets only one at bat, then the chances are pretty poor.
So, does your wife own a better season streak than you? Mine almost did, in my case. We’re tied, but I’ve been playing for 3 months longer than her, as she reminds me 😉
Yeah, a one AB day is a killer. Don’t survive a many of those.
27-gamer snapped by Konerko? Condolences to jojocaruana, aka, Ms. OhWow
Losing on pinch hitting is one of the 3 worst ways to lose in my book. The other 2 is your pick getting injury/ejection without a hit. However losing on a pinch hit in extra innings is even worse since in this case if the game had not reached extra innings it would not have occurred. Paul Konerko came into pinch hit in the 8th inning but he was intentionally walked so that would have still been a pause. However he got up in the 10th (extra inning) and hit into a fielder’s choice. Usually I root for extra innings if my guy is endanger of an O-fer but if he is on the bench that is whole nother story. I am sending my condolences too. -YanksGiantsDevils33-
I think I have been over 30 once, back when the prize was $50,000. Aside from that, I haven’t even been close to 27. And this year has been pathetic, because I haven’t learned that Ichiro is past his prime and now getting hits in only 70% of his games (as evidenced by my season-high streak of 6).
Matt Holliday just doubled in the 3rd inning so I am welcoming myself to 18 for the first time, congratulations to ken on making 18 as well! I’m finally less than 40 away from the summit.