But how old is he?

As we all recover from our Jamie Moyer win hangover, Buster Olney (and others) have taken it upon their broad shoulders to let us know just how old Jaime Moyer really is. Some tidbits:

: Elias: Jamie Moyer has pitched to eight percent of all hitters in major league history.

: Moyer made his debut against Carlton, who made his debut against Larry Jackson, who pitched in his debut against Hank Sauer, who Sauer, who played in his debut against Paul Waner, who played his first series game in 1927 against Babe Ruth. Moyer/Ruth…FIVE degrees.

: Jamie Moyer’s first start — June 16, 1986. Opposing starting pitcher was Steve Carlton, who is now 67 years old.

Well, I don’t have Elias at my back, but I do have Baseball-Reference. And, here is the definitive six degrees of separation:

The oldest player in baseball in Jamie Moyer’s first season (1986) was Pete Rose.

The 2nd oldest player in baseball in Pete Rose’s first season (1963) was Stan Musial.

The oldest player in baseball in Stan Musial’s first season (1941) was Charlie Root.

The oldest player in baseball in Charlie Root’s first season (1923) was Babe Adams.

The oldest player in baseball in Babe Adams’ first season (1906) was Patsy Donovan.

The oldest player in baseball in Patsy Donovan’s first season (1890) was Cap Anson, who started his career in 1871.

Bow to me Olney. Bow.

Is Matt Kemp Going To Be Baseball’s First 50/50 Man? Absolutely not.

Words saved: 722

Should The White Sox Try Something Different At Closer? The White Sox, and all other teams, shouldn’t have a pre-defined closer.

Words saved: 650

Could The Mets Keep Surprising Us? Is a 7-3 record over a 10 game span a sample size large enough to create surprise? The answer to both their question and mine is, “no.”

Words saved: 1034

What’s Wrong With Tim Lincecum? He is hurt, and we don’t know it. Or, nothing.

Words saved: 779

Total words saved: 3185

John:

Yesterday’s lock: Rockets/Jazz under 197 – – Total ends up being 194, scarier than I am guessing Johnny boy though, but still a win.

Today’s lock: Boston Bruins – 180 over Washington

“Two words. Braden Holtby. See you at the bank.”

Marty:

Yesterday’s lock: Yankees -1.5 over Baltimore – – Yankees 6-4 in 10. Sneaks by.

Today’s lock: Cubs/Brewers under 7.5

“Garza vs. Greinke, a cool April day at the Friendly Confines, one of the three worst offenses in baseball (hello, Twins and Astros!). What am I missing here? [Bonus bet: Bo Van Pelt -170 to finish better than Aaron Baddelley at the RBC Heritage]“

Billy:

Yesterday’s lock: Tigers over Tampa -173 – – Verlander pitches 8 scoreless, then blows up in the 9th. Whatever, didn’t want to try to calculate the winnings anyway.

Today’s lock: Giants -120 over the Rockies

“A 49 year old, with a 76 MPH fastball, is pitching against a 22 year old in Colorado today. What else really has to be said?”

Current +/-

John: $10 (1/1)
Marty: $10 (1/1)
Billy: -$10 (0/1)

7-4 loss to Milwaukee: Malholm shelled early, hitters can’t recover.

2-1 loss to Milwaukee: Dempster good, Gallardo better.

Blame Points:

April 10th:

Starting Pitching: 3 – Malholm sucked big titties

April 11th:

Hitting/Baserunning: 3 – 1 run? Come on.

Current Tally:

Defense: 0
Management/Coaching: -1
Starting Pitching: -2
Hitting/Baserunning: -3
Bullpen: -6

Defense takes the lead, by default.

Castro Error Meter:

Throwing error in the 1st inning of yesterday’s game. Next play was a double play to end the inning. Crisis averted, again.

Current Tally:

Game outcome effecting errors: 0
Non-Game outcome effecting errors: 2

Around the Minors:

Wellington Castillo goes yard, Josh Vitters is raking, and Randy Wells got rocked. More to come in future posts.

John: Rockets/Jazz under 197.

“One team’s leading scorer is Kevin Martin. The other team’s leading scorer is Al Jefferson. Unless Tom Chambers and Vernon Maxwell are suiting up this game isn’t going north of 185.”

Marty: Yankees -1.5 over Baltimore.

“That’s right, I am taking the spread in baseball. Somebody call the pit boss over. Yankees and the rest of the AL East predators will spend all year getting fat on the O’s “pitching.” Might make a nice parlay with the over.”

Billy: Tigers over Tampa -173.

“When Verlander pitches, bet the Tigers. Enough said.”

Current +/-

John: $0
Marty: $0
Billy: $0

Big Club Recap:

7-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers

Blame points:

Starting Pitching: 1 – if you can’t muster a quality start, you probably did your team a disservice.

Bullpen: 1 – 4 runs in 4 innings. That is not a magical night.

Management/Coaching: 1 – Soto/Byrd 7/8 with Soriano, Barney, Stewart and DeJesus in the lineup is hilariously poor. I don’t know what Soto did to deserve to be in the bottom third of the lineup, but it needs to stop. Leaving Camp in for two innings, using Jeff Samardzija as a pinch runner (forget speed, how about putting a starting pitcher and trade asset at risk for no reason), and using Johnson/DeWitt/Clevenger as pinch hitters when the only reason Mather is on the roster is because he was “hot” in spring training also factor into this point being doled out.

Current Tally:

Starting Pitching: 1
Hitting/Baserunning: 0
Defense: 0
Management/Coaching: -1
Bullpen: -6

Castro Error Meter:

No new errors.

Current Tally:

Game outcome effecting errors: 0
Non-Game outcome effecting errors: 1

Around the Minors:

Iowa Cubs (PCL): 10-6 win over Albuquerque. Anthony Rizzo 3-3 with 2 HR’s. Josh Vitters: 2-4. Brett Jackson 1-5.

Tennessee Smokies (SOU): 3-2 win over Chattanooga. Brooks Raley, 6 1/3 – 2 ER.

Daytona Cubs (FSL): 4-3 loss to Dunedin. Greg Rohan 2-2, 4 RBI’s.

Peoria Chiefs: 8-3 loss to Quad Cities

Joe Sheehan has continued writing Newsletters. I have just been delinquent in pimping them. I still have 9 free Newsletter subscriptions to give away though. If you are interested, please see this post. I swear to you, there is almost nothing better to read on a daily-ish basis.

I will reference this giveaway on all posts going forward, until the remaining free subscriptions are taken.

From today’s Newsletter:

27. Chicago Cubs (68-94, fourth place NL Central (tie), 674 RS, 792 RA). This surprised me, as I thought they’d look better when I got into the roster. The bullpen could be absolutely awful, as Carlos Marmol continues his descent and the rest of the pen is just bad. The lineup is kind of old for a team theoretically rebuilding. Theo Epstein absolutely has to trade Matt Garza, because Garza’s performance the next two years is pointless to the Cubs, but he could bring back a very strong package that helps the team in 2014 and beyond. There might be one player on the current 25-man Cubs roster, Starlin Castro, who will play in a future postseason game with the team. Your eyes don’t deceive you, by the way: I think three of the four worst teams in baseball are in the NL Central — and two of them are large-market teams.

Pretty hard to argue any of that. Get a subscription and see what Joe is saying about the rest of baseball.

Cubs fandom has always been one where blame is freely given. I am not immune. In fact, I was one of the first to bemoan Dusty Baker, hate on Juan Pierre, and angst against Hendry after letting DeRosa go and then signing Bradley.

In that vein, I have decided to dole out blame and credit after every Cubs game, going forward. Here is how it will work. Each game will have three blame/credit points. The points can be given to any of the following categories:

Management/Coaching
Fielding
Starting Pitching
Bullpen
Hitting/Baserunning

Three blame points will be given out after each loss. Three credit points will be given out after each win. The total points will always equal (total wins x 3) – (total losses x 3). The running tally of which should give you a good indication of who to blame, or credit, for the Cubs success or failure. In a season we are destined to fail in, this is for pure sport. Feel free to disagree with the point distribution in the comments.

Here is how the points will be doled out for the first three games:

Game 1:

2 blame points to bullpen
1 blame point to hitting/baserunning

Can’t score one run and put all the blame on any pitchers

Game 2:

3 blame points to bullpen

Game 3:

2 credit points to starting pitching
1 credit point to hitting/baserunning

Current Tally:

Starting Pitching: 2
Hitting/Baserunning: 0
Management/Coaching: 0
Defense: 0
Bullpen: -5

Since the Cubs aren’t making the playoffs this year (something, apparently 100% of you agree with), I am not going to get myself that worked up over the back to back blown saves.

In fact, I am going to take this opportunity to actually praise the Cubs. Instead of f’ing around with their pen, they did what they were supposed to, bring their best pitchers in at the most important spots. Friday, it was during a tie game. Today, it was with one run up and runners all over the bases.

For, at least, 2012 and 2013, it should be really easy for Cubs fans to focus on process, over results. Here is a time when we got the process right. Be happy with that advancement, Cubs brethren.

Now, the lineup construction… That is for another day.