Monday, August 11, 2014

In-Game Report: Jays at Mariners - Gm 1, Aug 11, 2014 - top of the 1st Inning

After last night's 19 inning spectacle - and after the first 2 outs at the beginning of tonight's game, could the Blue Jays be thinking,

'We're so tired that all we can do is just hit the ball as far as the pitcher?'

The Fly Out to medium-deep Centre Field was a great relief.

:)

M Kawasaki SS




M Cabrera DH



J Bautista RF





1-3



1-3



FO8 /


Jays at Mariners - Gm 1, Aug 11, 2014 - top of the 1st Inning


Image is a screen shot captured at 10:11pm edt - of ESPN Box Score - Jays at Mariners Aug 11, 2014 - http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=340811112



mh

Jays win in 19 Innings, Take series; Kick stuffing out of Detriot pitching - and Theirs


The 19 inning affair, lasting six hours and 37 minutes was the longest game in Blue Jays history, both in terms of duration and the number of innings.

But the longest game in Blue Jays history was not a boring affair.

The Detroit's had runners at 1st and 3rd in the 13th and the 16th; had runners at 1st and 2nd in the 12th, 14th and the 18th. The Jays had the bases loaded in the 13th, the 15th, and the 19th; they had runners at 2nd and 3rd twice. The Jays' had the winning run 90 feet away holding last at-bats 5 times in extra innings!


My earlier synopsis here that the Jays were a Second Division team outside of the American League East, was proved wrong this weekend. The Toronto Blue Jays played the first division Detroit Tigers tit-for-tat - in a just-like-September run for the Pennant --- which IS what this already is.

The American League west-coast to east-coast is so close that it is not obsequious to state that the Pennant race has already begun. The local media fetish for the Wild Card standings is not vain or provincial - it is real.


Even considering - that the game turned on a line drive base hit by Velencia to David Price's groin in the 5th (which he blocked with his knee cap) after which a 2-run home run by Dioner Navarro - that lead to his removal in the next inning - that then lead to a 2-run inning in the 7th to make it a 1-run game, that lead to the tie game in the 9th.

It was after all that - Detroit's 6-man bullpen was the deciding factor after both teams shut each other out for a further 9 innings. Finally in the 19th it ended, with a walk and an error and a hit - to decide the series.


Factoids:

ESPN Box Score: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=340810114

MLB Box Score: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_08_10_detmlb_tormlb_1&mode=box



mh

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Is the Blue Jays Pitching Good Enough to get them to the Post Season?

Baltimore Orioles (64-48) at Toronto Blue Jays (60-54)
August 6, 2014

Toronto Blue Jays
Pitchers               IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   HR   PC-ST    ERA
D Hutchison (W, 8-9)   8.2  1   1   1    1    8    1    115-76   4.39
C Janssen              0.1  0   0   0    0    0    0    4-3      2.83


This is what I wrote in real time:

Hutchison: off-speed, slider, and a change wild enough to set up the other 2.
Great game calling; execution.


Kawasaki is the player of the game; for both situational hitting and defense.


ESPN Box Score - http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=340806114


mh

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Jays are a 1st Division team in AL East - 2nd Division in AL West

The Houston Series - and the previous two series against the AL West teams, the Athletics and the Angels - has made something apparent: The Jays are a 2nd Division team in the American League - a 1st Division team in the American League East.

Once again tonight the Jays played head-to-head against a .404 team.

Immaculate baseball once again in this scintillating game - with the 4th place AL west team trumping this night with their late homer to win a one run game in late innings.

The Jays must win tomorrow night to take the series - and differentiate themselves from this second division AL West team.

Due to computer problems (which I am attacking from 4 different vectors) I am unable to score with the HTML5 scorecard - so tonight I scored the game in analogue. I apologize for the incredibly unreadable script and the incredibly amateur scoring craftsmanship; this is the first analog scorecard I have written in 20 years.

But all the same - an intriguing odyssey - analog is as important to our understanding of the IofT+Humans as anything - therefore I accept the challenge that this problem/opportunity has placed before me. I imagine a writing interface as thin as a piece of paper; one that can search the internet, hear the spoken word, and feel the tip of a pencil.

Jays Innings:



Astros Innings:



ESPN Box Score - Toronto Blue Jays at Houston Astros, Game 2 of 3 - evening of Friday, August 1, 2014 - http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=340801118




mh

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Boston Red Sox's extreme Defensive Shift on Colby Rasmus


In this series Boston is Playing a shift against Rasmus that has the 3rd baseman, with runners at 2nd and 3rd, playing pick-off depth from the 2nd Base bag. (The 2nd baseman is playing a regular 2nd base position, short and towards the line; the Shortstop is playing shallow right, shaded to the right field foul line; and the first baseman is playing on the baseline, shaded towards the bag - so a triangle the base of which draws a line starting half-way between 1st and 2nd.)

Diagram of the Boston Red Sox's extreme Defensive Shift on Colby Rasmus in the Top of the 5th in game two of a three game set played in Boston on the evening of Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 Outs, Toronto leading 3-1.

In the top of the 5th Bautista is down the line about half-way to home, but he could come further than that - the safe lead-off in this situation, is how fast the 3rd baseman can run from near second base over to 3rd base to take a pick-off throw from the pitcher; so theoretically Bautista could lead-off 3rd about as far from 3rd Base as the 3rd baseman is from 3rd base! (See the line I marked on the sketch above.)

So even playing it safe,one could imagine that the runner could stand so close to home that they could just start running and score as soon a the pitcher stepped on the rubber.

As play-by-play announcer Buck Martinez points at the moment the situation revealed itself - what if the runner with a lead like that tried to steal home?

At approximately 30 feet from home, even with a left handed batter at the plate (so standing in the 1st base side batter's box, therefore not blocking the view - or partially inadvertently blocking the catcher's path to the top-left corner of the plate), the runner could likely succeed at a steal of home by just breaking for home as soon as the pitcher comes set on the mound!


Michael Holloway
Toronto


ESPN Box Score: Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox, Game 2 - Play-by-Play, 5th Inning -  http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=340729102&full=0&inning=5



mh

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Herald! The New Era of Defensive Baseball!


After watching a defensive juggernaut last night between the Jays at Yankees that included lots of successful shifts by the Yankees and that included 6 straight innings of scoreless ball; and inspired by a conversation between Rogers Sportnet's play-by-play man Buck Martinez with colour commentator Pat Tabler on the subject of the shift; I decided to write this short historical, 'What time is it?' piece.

Yankee Stadium, New York, New York, July 25, 2014 - 7:05 PM ET
INNING                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9   R H  E
Toronto Blue Jays(54-50)   3  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0   4 10 0
New York Yankees (54-48)   0  2  4  0  0  0  0  0  -   6 11 0


Nobody talks about the history of the 'juicing' of the ball a various moments in major league baseball, but the times in the history of the game where the windings of the official ball were tightened or loosened are document-able and marked great turning points in the way the game was played. In 1920 major league baseball introduced the jack-rabbit ball into the game. In the great era of pitching of the 1960's did major league baseball loosen the windings? Or did the league finally adjust to the jackrabbit ball? - a combination of the slow spread of Branch Rickey's codified farm system and a rise in the gene pool of the population of the country as a whole - resulting in a more physically fit generations one after the other coming to the ranks of the majors?

The answer is not certain.

After the revenue distribution troubles of the 1990's Major league baseball again it appears, juiced the ball once again. This was obfuscated by the introduction of performance enhancing drugs into the cultre of sport gererally and gradually into game of baseball as well. Players and coaches interviewed in the early 2000's phrased it this way - they said the ball came off the bat faster than before. They called it the "Nuclear" Baseball.

That Nuclear Ball is still in play today - now with-out the steroids that mess up any statistical analysis of the era.

Are we seeing today the culture of the game's response to the Nuclear Baseball?

In the early 2000's Joe Maddon took over as manager of the Tampa Bat Devil Rays - and he began to work with the general manager to craft a small-market-team-economic-metric that could win it all though drafting athletes rather than by drafting players by the position they played before they were drafted - and along side that, instituting a farm training system that stressed baseball fundamentals.

The idea was that the nuclear baseball got through the infield quicker, go to the gaps quicker - and also that as such, the run was less worth less than it was in the game as it existed before the nuclear ball - and conversely defense was worth more. Games we saw a lot of in the 1960's that were 3-2 affairs were now 7-5 tilts. Line drive home runs were a new thing. Line drive doubles to the wall were way more prevalent - and as such they plated more runs because there were more runners on more often when they happened.

So a double or a triple held to single was worth much more than the same defensive play made in the jack-rabbit ball era of the 1920's-1980's.

A successful team in the field in the nuclear ball era was a team that had three centre fielders, in left centre and right; as well, a winning team on the infield couldn't afford the slugger with suspect defense at 3rd - or in left. Concurrently the centre defense had to have incredible range - a centre defense on the infield erased line drive base hits, they erased ground ball base hits - and turned then into outs.

Add the digital revolution and the science of recording that new data in baseball, Sabre metrics - to add mathematical probability to defense in the form of pitching to shifts - and all of a sudden the 5-pitch pitcher with command and control becomes something a winning team must have in order to play the shift.

And there you have it a small market team Oakland and the the Rays in their turn have revolutionized the game - with the help of the cotton mill's ability to add tightness to a flying thread of cotton.


Michael Holloway
Toronto
July 25, 2014

Game Box Score via ESPN Box Score: http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=340725110



mh

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Jays lose Encarnacion; and a 'swing-moment' Appeal in the 8th


The Toronto Blue Jays meet an Ace pitcher with his A game; but the 1-5 score doesn't reflect the nature of this game. Many bloops fell in for the Elephants, and key bloops for the first place Athletics, found their way into gloves.

One Ace meet another tonight - and the vagaries of chance spelled another loss in this series for the Jays.

Lind's three dropped balls - one in fair territory and 2 in foul ground - made a massive difference in this game as close as it was. But for Encarnacion's quad pull in the first, Lind would not have even been playing the field tonight.

Most notably in the order of bloop plays made/not-made - Oakland's third baseman Josh Donaldson risked his career slamming head-long into the rolled up tarp on the west side of the field for a pop-up out on Munenori Kawasaki`s lead-off at-bat in the eighth with a 1-1 count.

It's worth noting that a review of the play at the plate resulted in a run erased in a 2-run game in the eighth, and the end of the inning - all with-in a millisecond of a moment after a long wait on New York's decision.

All video reply the public saw indicated the sweep tag never touched the runner - with some compelling angles of the play.

How much did the signing ace Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija (who toured the dugout in the 4th inning) have in the demeanor of this game? Quite a lot I think - as the retort was - as it turned out - the Jays' announcement before the game of their usurpation of OF Cole Gillespie off waivers from Seattle.


Weeks ago I stated that the Jays' batting order was not the problem, that the bats were fine as long as they didn't face great pitching. But as we all know - in the the play-offs it's all about .300 hitting - great pitching destroys power hitting.

The only way a power hitting line-up can win in September - can win in October - is with light's out pitching. Oakland proved that today - and with all the issues facing the Jays line-up and plus Encarnacion going down tonight - this line-up under pressure - struggles.

Yes another 1 or 2 pitcher is essential; but so too is another .300 hitter.

Kawasaki should been seen as an essential part of that solution - but his defense lacks the consistency for it - off the bench in a platoon situation is probably his path to a winning season. As a nine-hitter tonight he turned over the line-up twice.



mh

Friday, June 27, 2014

Game Scorecard - June 27th: White Sox at Jays - Gm 2

Scored the game:
Internet Baseball Scorecard | June 27th: White Sox at Jays - Gm 2 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/06/june-27th-white-sox-at-jays-gm-2.html

Watch me pull a win outta my hat

Lots of notes in the at-bat boxes about batter approaches, pitching  strategies, and shifts - how they were pitched and how the batter dealt with them.

Jays floated a line-up designed to hit a lefty - very weak at the bottom I thought.  With Lind hot as a hot potato, I don't see the reason to create this weak right-lefty line-up unless Lind needed the day off as his injury continues to heal.

Jays almost pulled a win out of their hat* with some adroit PH-ing in the ninth - and a lot of mistakes on the field by the Sox - and one I thought, in the dugout by Chicago Manger Robin Ventura in the 8th (see Chicago 8th, batter #4).

With slugger phenom  Jose Abreu coming up next the Chicagos hit and run - which leads to a stike out and a stolen base - the Jays immediately signal 4 balls for the slugger. Could have blown the game wide open if it hadn't gone down that way.

Don't know if it was a play from the dugout or not.

* Watch me pull a win outta my hat:






mh

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Game Scorecard - June 25th: Yankees at Jays - Gm 3

Scored the game:
Internet Baseball Scorecard | June 25th: Yankees at Jays - Gm 3 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/06/june-25th-yankees-at-jays-gm-3.html

Game Notes


Summary

Yankees prevent a sweep with great pitching - and fine management of their pitching in the middle to late innings - plus a 5-out Save from Yankees' closer, David Robertson - who's pitches were more perfect than I have ever seen. Rivera incarnate.


Notes from within the at-bat boxes:

E Encarnacion at-bat in the 8th against Adam Warren:
6-3
Yankees are sifted left with Jeter behind 3B in shallow left (deepest short) - pitching away - the hit ball was a slider in - sharply hit ground ball right at Jeter - long throw beats Encarnacion

M Kawasaki in the ninth against David Robertson:
Ks
Kawasaki is talking to himself, zoning in on pitches that are strikes, he seems to be saying to himself (after the ball 1 waste pitch - that was in the dirt), don't swing at that one - don't swing at that one - in the zone in - the zone...
Out pitch is a 6-12 slider that drops off the dish with Kawasaki swinging over it.



mh

Monday, June 23, 2014

Game Scorecard - June 23rd: Yankees at Jays - Gm 1

Scored the game.

Internet Baseball Scorecard | June 23rd: Yankees at Jays - Gm 1 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/06/june-23rd-yankees-at-jays-gm-1.html

Game Notes

Jays bat-around in the 2nd - Marcus Stroman has scintillating night - shuts down the Yankee order for 8 Innings on 114 pitches.

Despite losing Bautista and Lawrie this line-up is HOT ... for now. Cabrera remains Hot; Lind remains Hot. "Double E" has been Hot for a week; D Navarro is Hot right now. (Rasmus was hot in his first games back. Tonight: 0 for 4 with a walk.)

In this observers opinion, more good pitching is key to this order's long term success.

Toronto Blue Jays
Pitchers                  IP   H  R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC-ST   ERA
Marcus Stroman (W, 4-2)   8.0  3  1  1   1   7   1   114-73  4.25

I like Gibbons' managing with the parts he has this year.

With Lawrie on the DL and Bautista out of the line-up indefinitely (for now) with a right hamstring issue, the Jays sent down Erik Kratz (C) and brought up Kevin Pillar (LF, RF, CF) and Anthony Gose (RF, CF, LF). Steve Tolleson (2B, 3B, RF, CF, SS, P) remains on the team's active roster off the bench.


mh

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Game Scorecard - June 22nd: Jays at Reds - Gm 3

Internet Baseball Scorecard |  June 22nd: Jays at Reds - Gm 3 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/06/june-22nd-jays-at-reds-gm-3.html

Jays lose Lawrie and Bautista.

Jays lose another series - back home against NYY Monday.

Game Notes


Reds are wearing desert camouflage tops, and a group of volunteers was initiated into the US army in a ritual ceremony before the game.

Baseball is like war; but war is nothing like baseball - except in the paying public's mind after this game today perhaps.

Is it patriotic to the Republic to celebrate signing up volunteers for the Imperial Army?

I think not.


When folks say getting rid of the DH would make the game boring, I've always taken a negative approach in my retorts ... like,

'HR's are boring! Besides that, their fascist.' *

But today while watching this National League game I think I've come up with a better retort than that: ...

"The game is interesting enough without it." (actually much more interesting)

The DH only remains because American League fans don't know that, because they never see it. Could inter league play change that?

To DH or not to DH is the question. A resolution is coming - one way of the other. MLB will become all one thing; or all the other thing. The two games cannot stand in one house for very long.

* Crash Davis - 'Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist." - Bull Durham (1988)


Bottom 6th Inning:
Announced that Lawrie has a broken index finger - on the 15 day DL (for now).
Baustista has right hamstring tightness - will evaluate back in Toronto.


mh

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Friday, June 13, 2014

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Jays Win the Series! Jays Win the Series! (against Oakland - in May)

Complete Game Scorecard for Saturday, May 24, 2014, Athletics at Blue Jays - Gm 2 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/05/may-23rd-athletics-at-blue-jays-gm-2.html

Dickey goes 8.1

Athletics Errors costly

Toronto Pitching        IP    H    R    ER    BB    SO    HR    PC-ST    ERA
R. A. Dickey (W, 5-4)   8.1   5    2    2     1     4     1     113-72   3.95


mh

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Game Scorecard - "May 11th: Angels at Blue Jays - Gm 3"

#Jays lose third in a row against this very strong #Angels team.

Angels go for the sweep tomorrow at Rogers Centre Toronto. First pitch: 7:07 pm edt.

Complete Game Scorecard: Internet Baseball Scorecard | "May 11th: Angels at Blue Jays - Gm 3" | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/05/may-11th-angels-at-blue-jays-gm-3.html



mh

Friday, May 9, 2014

Angels pitching better than Jays pitching

Their starting pitching was better than our starting pitching. Their relief pitching was better than our relief pitching.

Angels plated a run in the top of the ninth off Jays' best relief pitcher of late, Brett Cecil.

Angels 4 - Blue Jays 3

Complete game scorecard - "May 9th: Angels at Blue Jays - Gm 1" | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/05/may-9th-angels-at-blue-jays-gm-1.html

Summary:
Los Angeles Angels
Starting Pitcher        IP      H    R    ER   BB   SO   HR   PC-ST   ERA
G Richards              7.0     5    2    2    2    6    0    95-56   2.80

Toronto Blue Jays
Starting Pitcher        IP      H    R    ER   BB   SO   HR   PC-ST   ERA
D McGowan               5.0     7    2    2    2    2    1    96-59   4.63


Los Angeles Angels
Relief Pitchers         IP      H    R    ER   BB   SO   HR   PC-ST   ERA
J Smith(W, 2-0; B, 2)   1.0     2    1    1    0    1    1    25-16   3.21
E Frieri (S, 4)         1.0     0    0    0    0    2    0    12-9    5.87

Toronto Blue Jays
Relief Pitchers         IP      H    R    ER   BB   SO   HR   PC-ST   ERA
S Santos                1.2     1    1    1    2    2    0    30-15   9.00
S Delabar               1.1     0    0    0    1    3    0    25-15   3.21
B Cecil (L, 0-3)        1.0     1    1    1    2    0    0    19-10   4.02


That is all.



mh

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Scorecard for April 22th: Orioles at Blue Jays - Gm 1 - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Summary:

In the 5th Gibbons thought Gonzalez was using something to scuff the ball that he had secreted away inside his glove somewhere - and in the middle of the inning he went out and asked the Umpires to check it out.

As the cameras came back they were doing that - and found nothing.  It was a pitchers duel at that point but as I noted in the scorecard - it might have been a tell that the Jays were worried they couldn't hit him. The battery was seen laughing about it - and the Baltimores hit their 3 runs in their next at-bats.

RA Dickey thought that the Umpire Seth Buckminster, was squeezing him in the 6th, and it seemed to continue in the 7th.

In the sixth the Baltimores hit a 3 run homer and then batted around, filling the bases which Dickey barely working his way out of it.

To be fair to the Umpire (if not the official scorer), the inning did start with a bloop double that landed between Reyes and Cabrera in shallow left. If Cabrera had taken charge of his position he likely would have made the catch. Both players seemed to give up on the play at the last moment - both thinking that the other had it. An Error in attitude perhaps - but it's hard to score something like that an actual error as the official scorer I expect. I would have though - playing the whole game means you play every advantage on every play - and then that kind of stuff never happens.

But if Dickey's suspicion about the Umpire's strike zone was so in the top of the sixth; then the Ump seems to have been squeezing the other pitcher too in the bottom of the frame. It was in the 6th as well when Gonzalez gave up his 3 run homer - and the Jays came within one batter of batting around too.

In the 7th Dickey gave up a base hit followed by a double that would have scored the run if not for the ground rule (hopped the fence in CF). That was it for the Starter - Game tied 3-3.

In the Jay's eighth, the inning mirrored the Jays sixth - but this time they completed the mirror of the mirror inside the mirror - and hit a second 3 run homer to make it 3-9.

In the ninth Gibbons started to see the mirror of the mirror inside the mirror happening for the Orioles - and sent out his pitching coach to tell Esmil Rogers to stop trying to hit the corners with a 6 run lead - and just throw fast/slow on the plate.

That was what the battery did at any rate --- and it broke the mirror. Two shallow Fly balls off changes, right down the middle ended the game.

Jays won with 9 runs to the Orioles 3.

They do it again for two more nights.


Check out the key plays in this game at the scorecard:

Internet Baseball Scorecard - A DIY html baseball scoresheet for scorekeeping baseball games in Blogger - April 22th: Orioles at Blue Jays - Gm 1: http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/april-22th-orioles-at-blue-jays-gm-1.html



mh

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Complete Game Scorecard: April 19th: #BlueJays at #Indians - Gm 2

Summary:

Image - Toronto Pitching, Buehrle, Rogers - April 19th Blue Jays at Indians - Gm 2


Internet Baseball Scorecard - A DIY html baseball scoresheet for scorekeeping baseball games in Blogger | April 19th: Blue Jays at Indians - Gm 2 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/april-19th-blue-jays-at-indians-gm-2.html

Image URLhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NBuam4OOxI0/U1LcSDbLpmI/AAAAAAAAF2k/y1aJbl-t7QI/s1600/Toronto+Pitching+Buehrle+Rogers+April+19th+Blue+Jays+at+Indians+-+Gm+2.JPG



mh

Friday, April 18, 2014

Complete Game Scorecard: April 17th: #BlueJays at #Twins - Game 3

Game Summary: 'The Strangest game I have ever seen.'

Jays had a 2 run lead going into the bottom of the 8th - Steve Delabar was tapped to start the inning. He walked 2 and then 7-hitter Eduardo Nunez (3B) sac bunted them over. That's when Blue Jays' manager John Gibbins decided Sergio Santos the stopper, had better come in and try to get himself a 5-Out Save with two runners in scoring position.

It didn't work.

Santos walked his first batter with the pitches looking wild. Then the nine hitter - pinch hitter Kurt Suzuki - waited for his walk while watching two wild pitches tie the game. One-hitter, Brian Dozier watched another wild pitch plate the go-ahead run before he too walked. That was the end of Santos as J.A. Happ was brought in.

But that wasn't the end of it. Happ walked his first batter to load 'em up - and then the next one as well, for the starting-to-get-predictable RBI Base-On-Balls. Then Happ gave up the landmark first Hit of the inning(!) plating two more to put the icing on the blow-out, eighth inning cake.

All told, the Twins sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning; walked 7 times and plated 6 runs on 1 hit. Half the runs scored via wild pitches by Santos.

The strangest game I have ever seen.


On a bright note - I was able to keep up while scoring the crazy eighth, with the new Canvas scorecard, which was fast and responsive. 'Tight' would be the word I would use to describe it. I was able to publish the eighth inning about 30 seconds after the last out.

In fact, I was having so much fun early on in the night - that in the 3rd inning I shot another video of me scoring the game Live in the Blogger Compose Interface. This one was an update on how to easily score using the colour coded base-runner notation functionality that this new Canvas Mark-up of the Internet Baseball Scorecard affords. The interface is now so quick and easy that I was able to shoot and post a video of me scoring in the 3rd ... and now in the 7th (when I wrote this part), write this blog while scoring the end of the game at the same time.(little did I know what was coming!).

Speed is key - because the whole point of scoring the game on the computer, is to also write baseball copy about the game at the same time - because as baseball copy hacks have done since the late 1800's - filing their stories with their editor quickly is paramount. It's usually expected about an hour after the game ends.

(This one's a little later than that standard because the turning point in the game happened late - and was tumultuous. Plus the game ended just minutes after the long chaos ceased - with a 1,2,3 Jays top of the ninth.)


Read every play in an html5 Canvas Scorecard for Blogger - with text and colour-coded base-runner-progress notation.

Internet Baseball Scorecard | April 17th: BlueJays at Twins - Gm 3 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/april-17th-blue-jays-at-twins-gm-3.html


Her's the Video I shot of me scoring in the 3rd - showing the excellent functionality of the Blogger Compose Interface with this coding (best practice gleaned so far - this is only the third game I've scored with the new Mark-up).

Scoring Demonstration - Internet Baseball Scorecard, April 17th Blue Jays at Twins Gm 3



From under the video:
How to use the Blogger Compose interface to colour code base-runner notations in the Internet Baseball Scorecard - Canvas Version, using high-light double-clicks and the Blogger colour pallets for Text Color and Text Background Color buttons.


An addendum:

I want to talk about a scoring notation that I did in the eighth during Kurt Susuki's At-Bat. This particular situation has never occurred for me in 25 years of scoring ball games.

Here's an image of the 8th Inning and the At-Bat Box in question - the ninth batter in the order:

Note the mess of notations in the first line of the southeast quadrant of the 9th batter's at-bat box in the 8th Inning. Below is that copied out of the box at the scorecard and simply pasted into this page.

ph/WP#5,6,8-IB/pr(#8)WP6,8-1B
BB
pr

The first line of the At-Bat box is reserved for events that happen before the batter hits the ball into play - or in the case of this particular at-bat - (in fact he did not put the ball in play) - before he walked;

ph followed by a forward slash. The forward slash separates one event from another. "ph" This is the first event that happened after that batter stepped into the at-bat box. 'ph' stands for "pinch hitter". It denotes that the batter in the line-up so far in this game, has at this point been replaced by a different batter. By checking the far left of the scorecard you can see that K Susuki pinch hit for E Escobar in the 8th. (" 8th PH K Suzuki")

Next event that happens before the completion of the at-bat (not including pitches thrown, fouls, balls, strikes called, swings) : "WP#5,6,8-IB"  'WP' means "Wild Pitch" The next set of notation right after WP indicate runners movements on the base-paths. The bases are loaded. #5 means the 5th batter in the order - and then to save space I just add a comma directly after the 5 and add 6 and 8 as well - then dash, and then "1B". 1B means all those base-runners - #5, #6 and #8 - moved one base. So in this case the #5 batter-runner went from 3rd Base to Home Plate. The #6 batter-runner moved from 2nd base to 3rd base and the #8 batter-runner moved from 1st base to 2nd base.

Then a slash separating events and then, "pr(#8)". 'pr' means "Pinch Runner" followed directly by (#8) which notes that the #8 batter-runner has been replaced (he's now at 2nd base remember - now in scoring position, and importantly late in the game, he represents the 'go-ahead' run). Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire replaced the #8 batter-runner with his fastest man in order to give his team the best chance they have to win the game.

(I forgot to add a slash here) The next element in this scoring - the next thing that happens is "WP6,8-1B". Again you recognize this from the second element, it's another wild pitch "WP" - immediately followed by "6,8" (the #6 batter-runner and the #8 batter-runner) and than a dash, and then "1B". Meaning of coarse, the 6 batter and the 8 batter advance one base each. In this case the 6 batter scored a run and the 8 batter moved from 2nd base to 3rd base.

The nest line down is the usual scoring notation for Base on Balls ("BB"). Once Susuki is on base the manager replaces him with a pinch runner - in order to give his team the best change they have to score an 'insurance run' if they should take the lead in the game by plating the #8 batter-runner now on 3rd base; and, also to make turning a double play by the defence harder by having a fast runner at 1st base.

And that's it. :)



mh

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Complete Game Scorecard: April 15th: #BlueJays at #Twins - Game 1


In the 3rd inning I shoot a video of me explaining how I'm scoring the game in Blogger - Live.

Read every play in an html5 Canvas Scorecard for Blogger - with text and colour-coded base-runner-progress notation.

Internet Baseball Scorecard | April 15th: Blue Jays at Twins - Gm 1 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/april-15th-blue-jays-at-twins-gm-1.html

Game Summary:

Jays good enough - then in the ninth - 3 walks in a row and then a homie for Lawrie erases Save opportunity.

Brandon Morrow an't find it - just 3.2 IP.

Bullpen gives up one run over 5.1 IP


 Watch me scoring the game Live in the Blogger Compose Interface, shot in the 3rd and posted on the scorecard in the 6th inning:

Scoring a Baseball Game Live in the Internet Baseball Scorecard





mh

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Complete Game Scorecard: #BlueJays at #Orioles - Game 3

Read every play in an html5 Canvas Scorecard for Blogger - with text and colour-coded base-runner-progress notation.

Internet Baseball Scorecard | April 13th: Blue Jays at Orioles - Game 3 | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/April-13th-Blue-Jays-at-Orioles-Game-3.html

Summary:

Jays batting comes alive.

Mark Buehrle 3-0 with 0.86 ERA.

Ubaldo Jimenez off to shaky start - loses 3rd in a row.



mh

Monday, April 7, 2014

New HTML5 Canvas Baseball Scorecard gets put through her paces - and passes with Flying Colours!

Complete Game Scorecard: Internet Baseball Scorecard | "April 7th: Orioles at Yankees - Game 1" | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/april-7th-orioles-at-yankees-game-1.html

Scored Live by the author.
Internet Baseball Scorecard
A DIY html baseball scoresheet for scorekeeping baseball games in Blogger

Via the brand new HTML5 Canvas Baseball Scorecard mark-up written by Michael Holloway.

New HTML5/JavaScript coding works like a charm.



I encourage baseball scorekeepers to give it a try.

Use the code from the page source and lay it into a Blogger blog tailored with a 4000 pixel height and a 2000 pixel width.


Creative Commons License


Condition of Use: On publish, Attribute the "Internet Baseball Scorecard by Michael Holloway" and add a link to where you found it - and stipulate this Condition of Use whenever you publish. This is Open Source code - feel free to re-code it for any style, design or purpose you wish.



mh

Friday, April 4, 2014

An HTML5 Canvas At-Bat Box with colour-notation scoring capability for the Internet Baseball Scorecard

This HTML5 Canvas At-Bat Box is three layers. The bottom layer is the outline of the At-bat box and the outfield icon coded in JavaScript in a canvas box. Layer two is a couple of elements: five text boxes and the keyholes that hide their scroll bars; and colour notation boxes equipped with 'span' tagged text areas that allow one to use the Text Background Color pallet in the Blogger Compose Interface - in order to colour code the progress of base-runners around the infield icon diamond. The third layer is a canvas drawing of the infield icon diamond - which is positioned directly over the 'span' boxes in layer two.

The sizes of the Span text areas are regulated by font-size elements for height; and five 'periods' for width (the smallest text character there is).

A background color widget would be nice so I could create properly sized boxes under the infield icon.

The Compose interface does not show any part of the canvas drawings - all that shows before any text background color is added - is the outfield-icon-colour-green, that is preloaded into the upper colour notation boxes so that it matches the outfield icon behind it. Also I have the top text areas (northwest & northeast) set to render a dashed line along the bottom of their extent - so I can see where they are in Compose. Like-wise, in order to indicate the top and bottom borders of the At-Bat Box in Compose, I set the Pitching notation box to render a dashed line along it's right border.

It will work but it doesn't look very good on publish - as you can see. I'll keeping working on it - but at least I can score ball games now.

Blogger is not HTML5 ready - which is a little disappointing, considering they just spent 2 years rebuilding it.



Your browser does not support the HTML5 canvas tag.

.....

.....

.....

.....














RS
RBI









3BH9
#7 2,H



Your browser does not support the HTML5 canvas tag.
]




Here's a screen shot of how what you're reading looks like for me writing it in the Blogger Compose Interface:


















Cross-posted at Internet Baseball Scorecard | "At-Bat Box - span TEST"  | http://internetbaseballscorecard2013.blogspot.ca/2014/04/at-bat-box-span-test.html



mh

Thursday, April 3, 2014

At-Bat Box Example for Blogger Feedback

Blogger isn't HTML5 ready.

#1


































Feedback sent:
I've coded a 'div' element with a style property 'background-color' that surrounds a 'div' element with a 'border' property - in order to change the background-color via the "Text Background Color" button in the Blogger Compose Interface.

In Firefox 3.8 and earlier - it worked (as well as in early Chrome versions).

Now, when the element is high-lighted, and the "Text Background Color" button is employed - the Compose Interface simply erases the 'background-color' property from the 'div' element in the html.

I believe the fix is to add a 'Change Background Color' button to the Compose Interface menu.


Thanks for your help,
Michael Holloway
Toronto, Ontario
michaelholloway111[at]gmail[dot]com



mh

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Change backgroundColor - Baseball Scorecard, At-Bat Box in HTML5 Canvas - part 3






So now the CSS I added to this post is in a file somewhere (I can't look at it - no CSS file source is posted in the blog html) ... and the change colour still doesn't work in the Compose Interface (but in the published version, the coding does produce the desired result (try clicking the green square above).

This is what I meant 2 years ago when I opined to the Blogger in Draft Team, that Blogger could be so much more (than just a innovative integration of Blogger and WordPress).

Blogger needs to be a web page - everything that one can do with your own domain needs to be do-able in Blogger. That would mean that there is no longer any need for personal domains ... and Google could then capture a massive new data base of content as people innovate with the increasingly friendly interoperability of deeper programming language - such like that which HTML5 is ushering in.

Time for some real investment in Blogger - HTML5 Blogger.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Baseball Scorecard, At-Bat Box in HTML5 Canvas - part 2

Blogger's Compose Interface creates issues with all the scorecards for Blogger that I have built.

The Compose Interface is the place where bloggers compose their writing (or score baseball games). It is equipped with all kinds of html shortcuts that write html for you via javascript enabled buttons along the top of the Compose window - just like your Email Compose Box.

When I create the markup for the baseball scorecards in a text editor - and then view the results in my browser - the results are radically different when I then take that code and paste it into the Blogger Compose widow set to 'HTML' - and then switch over to Compose mode tab. And then differently again when I publish it and look at the result on the Blog.

In this version of the html baseball scorecard for Blogger - which I guess I'll call the "Canvas Series" (ending the "Minima Series") - the Javascrpt that creates the box outline; the separation between the pitching notation area and scoring notation area; and the infield and outfield icons - are all produced via script - and that doesn't render in Bloggers Compose Interface at all!



Your browser does not support the HTML5 canvas tag.


BBBB
BBBB





BBBB
1234567
2
3
4
5
6
7
1234567
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
BBBBBB
3
4
5
6
7
#1,#2-1B
2
3
4
5
6
7

That's why I added dashed lines to the text boxes - so I can see which quaderant I'm going to write in, and on which line in that quadrant. Below is an image I took of what I see in the Blogger Compose Interface, that you see rendered just above, as a baseball scorecard 'At-Bat box'.


The next step in this Canvas Baseball Scorecard is to get the colour coding going. I've never seen the coding that makes the Compose shortcuts go ... I'm wondering if I can create some javascript that will allow me to use the text background colour pallet in the Compose Interface to colour code around the infield icon to indicate the progress of a base runner.


Next post is an experiment to see if I can get one javascript 'ChangeStyle' function to render one colour change in a background area in the Compose Interface box.



(Re-posted from Michael Holloway's FilterBlogs | "Baseball Scorecard, At-Bat Box in HTML5 Canvas - part 2" | http://filter--blog.blogspot.ca/2014/03/baseball-scorecard-at-bat-box-in-html5.html)



mh

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Internet Baseball Scorecard - Saturday, March 22, 2014

Los Angeles at Arizona - Game 2
- a scorecard -




(click to embigulate - or click on the link at the top to see the real thing: a full sized, scrolling notations, complete game baseball scorecard - for this game.)



mh