(from press release)

USA Baseball has announced 23 of the players who will represent the United States at the 2009 International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Baseball World Cup in Europe from September 9-27, 2009. Players eligible for selection were those not currently on 25-man Major League Baseball (MLB) rosters. The 2009 World Cup is the 38th installment of the IBAF’s biennial world championships.

USA Baseball will name a 24th and final player for the roster prior to September 1. Team USA is the defending World Cup champion, having defeated Cuba, 6-3, in the 2007 final in Taiwan. It was the first World Cup title for the U.S. since 1974.

Six alumni of past USA Baseball teams are among the 23 players selected for the World Cup Team. These players include IF Pedro Alvarez (2006-07 Collegiate National Team), IF/OF Ike Davis (2003 16U and 2004 18U National Teams), LHP Kasey Kiker (2003 16U National Team), IF Trevor Plouffe (2002 16U National Team), IF Justin Smoak (2007 Collegiate National Team), and most recently, IF Terry Tiffee, a veteran of the bronze medal winning 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team.

Also selected to the team were C Jason Castro and LHP Trevor Reckling who, along with Alvarez, represented Team USA in the 2009 XM All-Star Futures Game. The Chicago White Sox Triple-A affiliate Charlotte Knights led all minor league clubs with three players on the World Cup roster, including RHPs Lucas Harrell and Ehren Wasserman, and IF/OF Josh Kroeger.

“We have what we think is a solid mix of young players and veterans on this team,” said Bob Watson, USA Baseball General Manager of Professional Baseball Operations.

“For the first time in over 30 years we head into a World Cup as the defending champion, and we think this team is more than capable of returning to the medal stand.”

Twenty countries will begin IBAF World Cup competition in five groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the second round (the top-four third-place teams also advance). Once there, they will be joined by Italy and the Netherlands – the two hosts of Round 2 – to form a 16-team quarterfinal. The top-eight teams from the quarterfinals advance to the third round, which will be held exclusively in Italy, where they will be split into two pools and advance to the finals based on best pool-play record. The U.S. will kick off World Cup play on Sept. 10 in Regensburg, Germany in Pool E and will be joined by China, Germany and Venezuela. In addition to Regensburg, the World Cup will also feature first round pool play in Barcelona; Prague; Sundbyburg, Sweden; and Zagreb, Croatia.

The World Cup Team will first gather in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex where it will train from Sept. 2-6. It will work out on Sept. 2 and square-off against the Canadian World Cup Team Sept. 3-6. Last week USA Baseball announced the coaching staff for the 2009 World Cup, with Eddie Rodriguez being named manager of the club. Joining Rodriguez are pitching coach Kirk Champion, hitting coach Ernie Young, 3rd base/bench coach Jamie Quirk, bullpen coach Rolando “Roly” de Armas, and auxiliary coach Jim Bowie. Rodriguez (2000 Olympic), Champion (2001 World Cup and 2006 Olympic Qualifier), Young (2000 Olympic and 2003 Olympic Qualifier – both as players), and de Armas (2006 Olympic Qualifier, 2007 World Cup and 2008 Olympic) are all veterans of past USA Baseball teams.

The gold-medal winning 2007 World Cup Team finished with a 9-1 record and was made up of some of the best minor league players in baseball who have since advanced to the big leagues, including Tampa Bay Rays All-Star 3B Evan Longoria; OF Colby Rasmus of the St. Louis Cardinals; 2007 World Cup MVP and Chicago White Sox 2B Jayson Nix; and IF/OF Brian Bixler, C Jason Jaramillo, RHP Jeff Karstens, 3B Andy LaRoche, IF/OF Steve Pearce, and IF/OF Delwyn Young, all of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Overall, the 2009 roster is made up of 15 Triple-A and eight Double-A players. Reckling is the youngest player on the roster at 20 years old and RHP Jason Childers is the oldest, at 34. The Philadelphia Phillies join the White Sox as the MLB organization with the most players on the team with three, and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers are each represented by two players.

Okay, cheesy title, I admit.  But David Archer’s blog post on “immaculate innings” (when a pitcher strikes out the side on nine pitches) got me to thinking about some of the conclusions drawn.

Archer offers a graph to suggest that the frequency of immaculate innings occurrences has increased over the decades.  While it is true that the total number of immaculate innings per year has increased, the number of innings pitched has, too, increased, as has the number of strikeouts per innings pitched.  (Archer does note that “a lot more teams play today, meaning more innings pitched and more opportunities for immaculate innings.”)

As one of the commenters on the blog noted, perhaps it would be more accurate to “normalize” per total innings pitched:

So, perhaps an increase indeed in frequency…but is it a statistically substantial one?  I truly do not know.  Maybe some of you more credible statisticians can weigh in.

The blog post also (sort of) offers one possible reason as to the increased frequency of immaculate innings”:

As one friend pointed out, the best explanation for the increase in recent decades appears to be the advent of the modern reliever, especially the flame-throwing, one inning closer (more immaculate innings have been thrown in the 9th inning (eight) than in any other inning)…

I am not sure about this assertion, either, given the following graph:

Since 1950, 18 immaculate innings have occurred after the fifth inning, 15 before the fifth inning, and one in the fifth inning.  This does not seem to be a huge difference between early- and late-game occurrences.

As far as starter vs closer, I made a feeble attempt at categorizing the pitchers who have tossed immaculate innings since 1950:

I concede that the primary pitching role may not be entirely accurate, but it seems like only about half of the late-inning immaculate innings were thrown by true closers.

My uninformed take on all of this is that any increase in the frequency of immaculate innings is most likely a factor of the increased frequency of strikeouts in general.  As to why that is the case, please discuss!

Still, the idea of an immaculate inning is fun, and I appreciate David Archer bringing up the topic.

Disclaimer:  I know nothing about statistics and significance.

(from press release)

The Class A California League Stockton Ports are excited to announce that they will welcome three-time Major League All-Star and 1993 American League Cy Young winner Jack McDowell to the 6:05 PM game against the San Jose Giants on Sunday, August 23, 2009.

McDowell, who was nicknamed “Black Jack” by White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game against San Jose. He will also sign autographs for free for fans (limit two autographs per person) from 6:15 PM to 8:15 PM in the breezeway at Banner Island Ballpark.

“Jack McDowell was a tremendous athlete and we are excited to host him here on August 23. He had a terrific collegiate and Major League career, and we’re excited to present our fans with top notch former Major Leaguers for appearances and autograph opportunities,” said Ports President and General Manager Pat Filippone. “The Ports are proud to welcome Jack McDowell to Banner Island Ballpark, and to honor a California baseball star.”

McDowell is a native of Van Nuys, California. After being drafted in the 20th Round by the Boston Red Sox in 1984 out of Notre Dame High School, McDowell declined signing a professional contract and went to Stanford. He helped lead the Cardinals baseball team to the 1987 College World Series. Stanford defeated Oklahoma State that season for the CWS championship crown.

The right-hander was a first-round pick (fifth overall) of Chicago White Sox in the 1987 amateur draft. He made waves in his first season in the majors by throwing 13 scoreless innings to begin his career, following his debut on September 15, 1987. He went 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA that season. McDowell was known in his MLB career, which spanned for 13 years, for consistency and dependability. He pitched more than 250 innings and was named an All-Star in each season from 1991 to 1993.

He led the American League with 15 complete games in 1991, tossed 13 complete games in 1992, and garnered Cy Young Award honors in 1993. In 1993, he led the league with a 22-10 record, and pitched a league-leading four shutouts that season. He was the ace on the White Sox staff, and recorded 15 or more wins from 1991 to 1993.

In addition to playing for the Chicago White Sox, he played for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Anaheim Angels. Over his career, he appeared in 277 career games, and finished his career in 1999 with a 127-87 career record. He also posted a career 3.85 ERA and 1,311 strikeouts.

For more information, please contact the Stockton Ports front office at (209) 644-1900.

(from press release)

The U. S. Census Bureau’s Profile America feature for Monday, August 17, 2009:

Some sports are known to be more dangerous than others — there have been a number of drivers killed in various car races, and many high school football players have died, either from heat stroke or injuries during games and practice. But there have been only two game-related deaths in major league baseball.

The first happened on opening day in 1909, when Philadelphia Athletics catcher Michael Riley “Doc” Powers crashed into a wall chasing a foul pop-up, suffering internal injuries. He died two weeks later.

The second occurred on this day in 1920, when popular Cleveland Indian shortstop Ray Chapman was hit on the head by a pitch from New York Yankee Carl Mays, dying the next day. In 1920, just over 9 million fans went through the turnstiles of major league baseball parks. Now, attendance is nearly 81 million a year.

You can listen to the broadcast here.

Profile America is a daily, 60-second public service feature that uses interesting vignettes from key events, observances or commemorations for that day to highlight information collected by the U. S. Census Bureau.

(from press release)

Science has proven what baseball players have known for more than a hundred years, the curveball is more powerful than the brain.

At the fifth annual international Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest, first place went to a mind-boggling entry called “The Break of the Curveball.”  The entry challenges the human visual system and brain to predict the movement of a spinning disk.

The popular illusion contest is led by two visual neuroscientists at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona.  Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde and Dr. Stephen Macknik launched the contest five years ago as part of their ongoing research into the human brain’s relationship to visual perception.

“As scientists and medical researchers, we learn from these visual illusions every year.  The knowledge that we will eventually get from studying the ‘Curveball’ illusion may be applied throughout our research and far beyond baseball,” says Martinez-Conde, who heads the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience at Barrow.

From the demonstration narrative:

In baseball, a curveball creates a physical effect and a perceptual puzzle.  The physical effect (the curve) arises because the ball’s rotation leads to a deflection in the ball’s path.  The perceptual puzzle arises because the deflection is actually gradual but is often perceived as an abrupt change in direction (the break).  Our illusions suggest that the perceived “break” may be caused by the transition from the central visual system to the peripheral visual system.  Like a curveball, the spinning disks in the illusions appear to abruptly change direction when an observer switches from foveal to peripheral viewing.