extra stats: OPS leaders

Friday, July 13, 2007

extra stats: OPS leaders

OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) is a stat all the cool people like. So of course I like it. And they don't have it on the Cape League web site. So here are the OPS leaders, as far as I can tell.

PLAYER	TEAM	OPS
Yonder Alonso	Brewster	1.051
Conor Gilaspie	Falmouth	1.029
Gordon Beckham	Y-D	1.006
Ryne White	Cotuit	.960
Sean Ochinko	Y-D	.959
Dennis Raben	Orleans	.948
Shane Peterson	Hyannis	.941
Kevin Hoef	Bourne	.924
Matt Hague	Falmouth	.896
Caleb Joseph	Cotuit/Falmouth	.876
Cole Figueroa	Harwich	.872
Jermaine Curtis	Chatham	.864
Blake Dean	Wareham	.863
Brian Pruitt	Bourne	.850
Collin Cowgill	Y-D	.841
Dan Brewer	Hyannis	.828
T.J. Wise	Harwich	.815
Tony Delmonico	Cotuit	.807
James Darnell	Hyannis	.807
Ryan Babineau	Brewster	.804

No comments:

Post a Comment

as the fog settles in

The left-field sunset has faded. It is chilly now. You slip a sweatshirt on. The stat sheet you hold in your hands almost feels wet, the air is so damp. But the ink doesn't run. You can read it. That kid from LSU is still leading the league in home runs. That pitcher who they say throws 95 -- he's way up on the list in strikeouts.
The game is close, 3-2 through seven innings. You're staying till the end.
You look out at the field. Some fog has slipped in. It settles like smoke, just off the grass in front of the right fielder, like a cloud. When he runs through it to catch a fly ball, it looks almost magical, maybe even spiritual, like he's playing baseball in heaven.
Maybe he is.
The baseball is pure here. The players eager. The fans, maybe some of them don't know what they're seeing, maybe they just heard it was a fun night out, good for the family and everything -- but they know. They know somehow that this thing, this Cape League, is special.
Really, there's nothing like it.
I'm going to try and keep up.

Stop waxing poetic

The Cape Cod Baseball League is the top college summer league in the nation. Plenty of other leagues have cropped up of late, and some are having success, but the Cape League is still the model -- and the pinnacle. In 2006, 198 Major Leaguers had spent time in the Cape League.
The rosters are like a who's who of the best college baseball players. All the top prospects want to spend their summers on the Cape. The only better opportunity is Team USA. There are 10 teams in the league, divided into two divisions. Over the course of two months, they play 44 games. Scouts will watch many of them. They come because of the combination of talent and wood. Unlike college baseball, the Cape uses only wooden bats, providing an accurate picture of what players might do at the next level.
What else? Players live with host families. Some have part-time jobs (Jeff Bagwell worked at Friendly's). There's no admission charge at games. The level of baseball has been compared to Single A.
That should sum it up. If you have never experienced Cape League Baseball, you have missed out.

Friday, July 13, 2007