The Sidepodcast community will live comment its first baseball match at 19:00 (GMT +1), 14:00 (EST) today. Other than to enjoy the game the reason for this live session is to allow Mr C to get a grasp of the game and decide whether he should buy the app, subscribe to the TV station and see if he can figure out the on screen graphics and potential to create graphs from all the stats. I know there will be people watching their first ever game but it is far easier for those with some knowledge to explain the game as it happens rather than to try to do it all in this post. It is a simple game but with lots of complication and subtleties thrown in like most sports.
Credit: Keith Allison / CC:Flickr
B.J. Upton of the Tampa Bay Rays
The game
The game is the 4th of a possible 5 in the American League Division Series (ALDS). The baseball season has a regular season where each team plays 162 games. The teams are split into the American League and the National League with each league split into 3 divisions. The winners of each division and the second placed team with the best record qualify for the ALDS and NLDS. These series are contested over up to 5 games with the first team to win 3 going through to the next round of playoffs.
The teams
Texas qualified by winning the American League west division by winning 96 of 162 games. Tampa qualified by finishing second to the New York Yankees in the east division with 91 victories. The first two games were played at Texas with Tampa winning the first game 9 runs to 0 and Texas winning the second 8 runs to 6. The third and fourth games are played in Tampa with the fifth, if necessary, going back to Texas. The third game was last night with Texas winning 4 runs to 3 by so if Texas win tonight they go through to the next stage but if Tampa wins the series goes to the 5th game so tonight’s result is absolutely vital.
The winner of this series will play the winner of the similar series contested by the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. Detroit leads that series 2-1 just now and if they win one of the remaining two games the Yankees who had the best record in the American League regular season go out. Then the winner of that series will play in the World Series against the winners of the parallel serieseses in the National League.
The coverage
We are used to FOM/FIA providing us with very poor live data but baseball is on a whole different planet. Every pitch that is thrown is not only shown graphically but is accompanied by all the data you could ever need including the speed of the ball, the path the ball took etc. I won’t go in to much detail but you can find all the relevant info at atmlb.com
Everything else
Despite the fact that many players are involved in each game the theory is that pitching wins baseball games and each game is viewed as a contest between the starting pitchers. Tonight they are Jeremy Hellickson for Tampa and Matt Harrison for Texas. Each team starts with 9 players plus the pitcher but during the game there can be many substitutions. The only important rule here is once a player has been replaced he cannot return to the game. When a team is not batting it has a pitcher and 8 fielders. In the National League the pitchers bat but they do not in the American League. So each team has a player known as the designated hitter or DH who bats but doesn’t field.
heloooo baseball...
daft question, is there a stream?
162 games?!
Stream should be at http://www.firstrowsports.tv/watch/84377/1/watch-tampa-bay-rays-vs-texas-rangers.html
They are showing the end of football program just now
i like the 20 race f1 season!
awesome, cheers.
These guys make ridiculous money but they work for it. Sometimes they play two in one day
This whole 'American' vs 'National' thing in NFL and MLB seems purposely designed to confuse everyone.
Imagine Christine having to FBFB 162 games a season. And that only covers one team
Every time I post a comment the 'Submit Comment' button greys out after sending it, so I can't send another until I refresh the page.
can you explain why these two played last night and are playing again today?
They started off as entirely separate organisations
In dashboard too
realtime/dashboard/yeolde, chap?
Hmm, baseball. As in... if you build it,
theyhe will come?Playoff series. DOn't know if it's best of 7 or best of 5.
Plus, unless you're a pitcher, it's not really that hard to play baseball 2 nights in a row :)
They play the best of a series of 5 games. Texas are winning 2-1 so if they win tonight they go through to the next stage.
hmm, 2 secs.
Yes. Didn't know you were an expert
Stream live now
http://www.firstrowsports.tv/watch/84377/1/watch-tampa-bay-rays-vs-texas-rangers.html
Data etc
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_10_04_texmlb_tbamlb_1&mode=gameday
Hehe. That is, quite genuinely, the extent of my knowledge.
This is like the old days when F5 was the most used key on my keyboard
Dashboard. Sorry I try to say that but the computer hung (it does that on cold start).
All you need to know for now is the visiting team always bats first and once three players are out the team is out. Game is 9 innings unless the score is level in which case they keep playing extra innings till they get a winner
testing comments...
Home run on the second pitch. Incredible
1-0 Texas
The blue box shows the strike zone in front of the batter. If the pitcher throws 3 strikes (ball passes through the strike zone) the batter is out. Any pitch outside the strike zone is called a ball. 4 Balls and the batter gets a free walk to 1st base
testing dashboard comments too...
retro!
if you refresh this thread comments should be okay now: http://sidepodcast.com/post/live-rangers-at-the-rays-alds-game-4
dashboard also: http://sidepodcast.com/dashboard
sorry about that, upgraded the jquery library. must've broken something.
Now my stream has gone flaky
thanks
The blue box strike zone is for TV only. The umpire behind the catcher decides officially of a pitch is a strike or a ball. So sometimes the two disagree
*settles down to watch a ball game*
switched to this
http://www.vipbox.tv/watch/10455/1/mlb-playoffs---texas-rangers-vs-tampa-bay-rays.html
Now Texas have had 3 players out Tampa bats. When the visiting team bats it is known as the top of the inning and when the home team bats its the bottom of the inning. They also talk about half innings which is just confusing
i have video and stats, anything else i need?
You sound like you know all the lingo.
i consider this research so that i can understand moneyball ;)
The Rays 3rd baseman is called Evan Longoria and no opposing fan ever called him Eva - much
Is everyone having problems with the stream. I am trying to find something better
The reset the entire field every 3 players?
Just this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGws1yR0tg8
Don't think so
Yes
ahah!
The 'score' board in the top left of the screen shows the run score. Then they is a diagram showing the bases. When they are yellow there is a man on that base so now there are men on 1st and second
And then he gets out and ruins my explanation
For some reason new comments are coming into the dashboard but not scrolling up even though I have scroll selected
:)
Another home run. This game could be over fast
After the base diagram the score board shows which inning we are in. Just now it has a 2 with a little arrow above it pointing up so we are in the top of the second.
The numbers that appear in the next section are the pitch count. 2-0 2 ball 0 strikes
Then there are 3 little LED like lights which show how many players are out
The pitchers are not always trying to throw strikes. They also try to make the batter go for pitches outside the zone that are likely to get them in trouble
i like they squeeze ads into the stats window!
Never miss an opportunity to sell
it needs to be longer, i have more stats to read!
any idea what they call "postseason"?
Watch all live postseason action with MLB.TV.
ooops, broken camera!
If you point your mouse at any of the numbered pitches in the data you get some stats info on that pitch. Looks like they have simplified the data available and removed some of it. I assume they have a paywall version with more info
It has a Nasty Factor
League Division Series, League Championship Series, and the World Series
wha?
The regular season is 162 games per team. The playoffs that result from that are the post season. So now you are watching a post season game. All American sports have the same structure. This is why NASCAR introduced the race for the chase for the cup for the thing
ah-ha. so:
- season
- postseason
- offseason
?
That used to be more complicated. Looks like nasty factor replaces the data that showed how the ball moved threw the air. They used to describe the curve almost mathmatically
Exactly
Of course there is pre-season before season
They play games against other teams in a totally structured manner but they don't count for anything
oh!
OUCH!!
Any player on a base can run any time he likes. So you will see them try to get as far as they can from the base they are on but not so far that the pitcher can throw to the fielder and catch him out
Baseball is a contact sport
Must dash, enjoy the baseball!
Go Rays!
PS. I think once Mr C gets a grasp of the game, he might get interested in the statistics. Just maybe. :)
If the catcher had been able to get his foot on the base the batter is out but the ball arrived too late for that so he tried to tag the batter out
i'm clicking and clicking and there's more to click!
By Journeyer
If you're a statistics guy, then baseball is your game.
They even make crap up because they have to make it more interesting.
Have you tried the buttons at the bottom of the data page like box / summary etc. Lots more data there.
End of the second
Rays 1
Rangers 2
This is Tropicana Field in St Pete? That sits in the 'infield' of the IndyCar street/airport track.
Yes
http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/ballpark/index.jsp
Rangers lead off hitter didn't get a home run that time. Obviously hadn't read the script
Heh, they actually have a tank of rays behind the field.
"If a player hits a home run into the tank, then the organization will donate $5,000 to charity - $2,500 to the Florida Aquarium and $2,500 to the player's charity of choice."
Yes. I have seen a few games there and never seen anyone get near it
End of the 3rd
Rays 1
Rangers 2
love the dashboard video replays. that's good going.
Imagine Bernie doing that
this is miles away from bernie. light years :)
ANother home run for Beltran.
Texas are not bothering with the more traditional get a man on base and find a way to get him round
Apart from the home runs the pitchers are dominating. They will get tired in a couple of innings
Popping in as I can at the office. Watching the game live on TV, looks like the live feed online is 10 to 15 seconds off.
There is so much load on their throwing shoulder that there is a limit to how many pitches they can throw in a day. Starting pitchers work on a 5 day rotation so each team has 5 starters
hey ya! i have to keep looking away from the stats window cause it gives away the plays :)
how big is a team then?
They also have a bunch of other pitchers who will come in for various specialist reasons later in the game
I automatically went to the Yankees site. I am biased what can I say
http://yankees.mlb.com/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=nyy
Designated Hitter?
oh wait, i read that in the post. carry on.
They have a 40 man roster. DL next to a player means disabled list
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=nyy
Teams have a whole network of teams at lower levels of baseball. Imagine having a GP2 team, a couple of F3 and F Renault teams etc. They can call up or send down players to those teams as well so they have a ridiculous number of players available
:D
Designated hitter is exactly as it sounds: A player who's in the batting order strictly to hit. This is an American League position. In the National League, the pitcher bats, and there is no designated hitter. In the American League, the pitcher doesn't bat and is replaced in the order by the DH.
If a batter swings his bat beyond the straight ahead position it is a strike regardless where the pitch goes. That is what got the last guy out
I'm probably dense but can't figure out how to reply to comments.
If you go to sidepodcast.com/dashboard you just click on the comment to quote it
if you're using the dashboard, you just click the text you want to quote and it copies it into the comment box: http://sidepodcast.com/dashboard
on the main thread, you have to click the quote button and copy/paste, sadly: http://sidepodcast.com/post/live-rangers-at-the-rays-alds-game-4
Aha!
Mr C
Did you catch the blue line trailing the pitch on that replay?
Rays pick up a second run
on the video or stats page? i think i missed it.
End of the fourth
Rays 2
Rangers 3
On the video. Literally 5 seconds after it happened
damn no. i had a blue line on the stats.
Pitcher change. for the Rays. Seems early. Hellickson was doing OK
TV was saying it was his shortest start of the year. Not sure why they pulled him.
cool!
...i have no idea who i'm supporting mind you.
hey. yas marina track in an advert. #crossover
The only thing I can see is that he only threw 1 strike out where Harrison had 9 but it is not as if he was ever in trouble
I'm still trying to work out what's going on, although I did take a break
I think you are probably allowed a few games before you choose. You haven't seen the Yankees yet
Anything in particular you are struggling with?
The commentary talking in code rather than telling me what's happening
Rangers are a perennial underdog and have never won a World Series. Rays have only been good in the past, what, 5-7 years? Something like that.
Texas have a relief pitcher warming up too
sounds like my kinda team :)
the ads fill the lower third, hides the player's name. grr.
There is a lot of jargon.
They're from Texas, so they've got that going for 'em.
I click them away
Only YOU would say that ;)
awesome, dallas!
;)
heheh ;)
Arlington
oh.
:)
End of the 5th
Rays 2
Rangers 3
Mr C
Try clicking on the pitcher box that pops up on the data screen. Click on Hot/cold - velocity etc
I gotta say, there is a lot of information in the MLB Gameday feed. Seems like it would be overwhelming if you're trying to learn the game.
It is incredible how much information they generate
it is!
And how quickly!
Hard to argue against the pitching change now
erm, i saw that once... i have no idea how to get back to it!
That box pops up at the end of each half inning. It's there now
Must Say, Mr. StatesmanF1, I've read quite a few of your articles, hopefully the GP in Austin works out next year (Have a friend in Austin, I live in CO).
Pitching change for Texas now
ahh, the pressure. i know it's there, i just can't find it :)
Wait till Tampa get three players out and it will appear again. I can't find it otherwise
Especially when it is 15 seconds ahead of the video feed!
Hehehe, all I can hear is panic from the other desk.
i think it might not appear if i have other boxes open. screen cleared now.
Click on the pitcher's name on the left panel
woot! sliders...
:D
I love the idea of you live commenting Mr C
:D
i feel like this is more information than nasa needs.
Yeah, I really should be working. ;) We'll see how it all shakes out. Still on track as far as we can tell.
Probably more than NASA has
wonder if you could swing this as research? what f1 needs to do to improve coverage and keep up.
Actually, I do have to get back to work. Things is ahappenin'. Cheers, y'all!
End of the 6th
Rays 2
Rangers 3
Heh. We probably have a thousand good ideas in this thread when it comes to that.
What Austin could learn from other Texas sports organisations?
cheers sir!
was reading that nfl and mbl teams have their own tv studios. good lord, mclaren tv three times a week would be amazing.
Beltran hits a 3rd home run. Talk about someone having a good day
They should have plenty of space now. Lots of the top British football clubs have their own TV stations and have done for years
but nothing from f1 teams?
His name is Beltre. Why do I keep hearing Beltran?
Not that I know of. F1 teams don't cultivate fans the way football teams do
so if it's too early to sign up to MLB pass this year, when does the next season start?
That pitching was messy.
One of the odd things about baseball is coaches can just walk on to the field for a chat
April/May I think
ahh, shoot.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/?tcid=mm_mlb_schedule#date=04/04/2012
So do Audi
You still have the chance to see a few post season games
And Honda had something too
true. just realised the ATBAT free app is coving this game too.
more information...
Rays need to do something soon. If they lose their season is over
Pitching change for Texas
End of the 7th
Rays 2
Rangers 4
crowd seem kinda restless?
Their team needs to get their finger out or their season is finished
ah-ha.
Unlike here because of the distances involved most games have only home team fans present
for some reason i always had US sports down as needing lots of points per game, but so far 4-2 could be a football score.
This has been a very tame game where it has never got complicated. You could have had a far more interesting first game. Low scoring too
i reckon i need it to be on a bit later too. i could chill out and watch NFL at 3am, because i'm winding down. still lots going on at 9pm
The previous 3 games average ten runs. I think the low scores in baseball are why they are so keen on base hits, strike outs, etc etc
It can't have many viewers in the US with most at work
Most games are later but I thought this one would suit more people. Most games start at midnight / 1am
I suppose that's no different to cricket
I just don't understand why such an important game would be on at this time
makes sense.
When they get this late in the game you often get lots of quick pitching changes where a pitcher who is ideal to get rid of one batter will be brought in then replaced as soon as that batter is dealt with
You can also expect the Rays to start substituting batters. They will bring on batters who are more likely to get to first base but have other weaknesses then as soon as they get there they will be replaced by a specialist base runner
didn't realise that was an option. how odd.
They can substitute pretty much anyone at any time but once a player his replaced he is finished for the night. Of course you don't need to worry about removing one of your best fielders when their is only one inning left because if you can't get runs it doesn't matter how well you field
Have you seen the release point info on the pitcher data screen. Love it. Even lets you zoom in.
Imagine that for a line through a corner or a turn in or apex point
Beltre again. Wonder if he will get a 4th home run
yeah, i was obsessing over the slider. my only complaint about the data is the size. i need to zoom that up fullscreen.
Yes
ummmm
It had to stop sometime. 3 in one game is ridiculous enough. 4 would just have been silly
fair point. he was going for it though.
3 already got his name in the history books so he deserved the right to make his name a little bigger
it did? woah.
End of the 8th
Rays 2
Rangers 4
They showed a graphic earlier. It has only ever happened 6 or 7 times and 2 of those were Babe Ruth
eek, i had no idea. #payattentionluv
You were blinded by all that data
Stolen base due to the catcher dropping the ball
dang adverts. what did i miss?
It's now or never. Ray have to score at least two runs now or their season is over
blimey.
The player on 1st base ran for second as soon as the pitcher moved to pitch. The catcher was so busy watching him that he missed catching the ball. Normally he should catch it and throw it to second base to try to catch the player stealing and it tends to be touch and go who wins
First player strikes out
Second player gets a free walk to first because the pitcher threw 4 balls
That's how you steal second base
Now it gets interesting.
Rays need one to equalise
Only one out left
done!
Game over
Tampa's season is over and Texas play the winner of the series between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers
that was a fun finish.
It was just getting interesting. It was a very tame, simple game though
Disappointing for the first live game. We could have had a far more interesting game
aside from my confusion at the start, i think my only objection is that 3.5hrs makes for a long game. i need to watch more casually next time. i haven't got much done :)
That is the problem with American sports. Too much time lost for TV ads and coaches just wandering out to talk to players etc. I don't think Americans get speed sporting
i had no idea you could play baseball under a roof either.
Seems odd in Florida. I can understand it in Minnesota or the like.
A lot of these indoor stadia have both baseball and NFL football
hehe.
much appreciate the thread though. good times.
It didn't grab me and all the interruptions were distracting. Mind you I was never really settled in, I had to sort some dinner, and went for a shower.
Alternating fielding teams every 5 minutes was confusing as I never knew who was doing what. I think the TV coverage could've been better in terms of camera shots because I never knew who was where, the graphic up top was all fine but I want to see them.
There were some exciting moments though, when they dash off and try and beat the ball to the base.
Glad you enjoyed it. I will see what the next round of playoffs throws up in fixtures and see if there is a game at a time that more people can get involved
Bit hot there
They are completely different pitches though
Cheers for the thread Steven. It was interesting to see a game and compare it to other things. Now I know what 'bottom of the ninth' means. :)
And I learned a new (to me) TV network.
i need a better stream i think. i didn't get ads for models on channel 4 :)
There was that too, watching ball sports on a little lo-res web window didn't help me see what was happening. :) Maybe next time I'll get the iPad/netbook out to comment with and have monitor fullscreen
It didn't really grab me to be honest. It was such a straightforward game that it never really got interesting until the end
Coverage was poor. Most games get better coverage
That is when it gets interesting. Especially when a pitcher gets three men on base and has to stop them scoring and still get players out. But I don't think we even had two players on base more than twice all night and that makes for a dull game. That and the early home runs took the sting out of the game
Yes. You occasionally see football pitches with a thick browny/orange stripe through it. There is one stadium where they have seats that are used for one sport but have to be moved out for the other
I got into the sport when it was on Channel 5 so I know only had good pics but also commentary for dummies which makes it easier to understand
cheers again. must dash now. is the next live commenting qualifying?
Maybe FP1 if people are up late
see you there :)
I wish last night's game had been our first live game. The result went the wrong way so the Detroit Tigers play the Texas Rangers in the next round of the playoffs but the little bit I saw was unbelievably better than the game we watched.
The bottom of the 7th inning alone was magic.