ASK THE BASEBALL EXPERT
By Tony DeMarco
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 3:16 p.m. ET Aug. 16, 2011
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Baseball Expert Tony DeMarco has been covering the big leagues since 1987, and been casting Hall of Fame ballots for the last 12 years. He answers questions weekly here:
Q: The Milwaukee Brewers are in good position to make the playoffs. Do you think they are a team built to go far in the postseason?
? Dan Bradley, Milwaukee
A: For a handful of reasons, I think the Brewers can be a dangerous team in the postseason, the kind other teams will want to avoid.
First, in case you haven’t noticed, they are on one tremendous roll: 17-2 in their past 19 games to reach 20 games over .500 at the earliest point in a season since 1982 (and all Brewers fans know the significance of that year).
Second, they are devastating at home ? a major league-best 45-15 through Monday’s win over the Dodgers, which marked the first in 100-plus years of big-league baseball that a team pulled off a triple play, hit three home runs and threw a shutout.
As things currently stand, the Brewers ? with the second-best record in the NL ? would open a division series with the first two games at Miller Park against the wild-card Atlanta Braves. And if necessary, a Game 5 also would be at home.
That can be a big advantage in a best-of-five series ? and also could provide a momentum-building springboard into the NLCS, where they probably will run up against a heavily favored Phillies team.
But as an underdog, the Brewers could capitalize on that nothing-to-lose mentality. As you undoubtedly know, Dan, this is a Brewers team that has a swagger to it, and could relish that spoiler role.
The pitching staffs of the Phillies, Braves and Giants have better overall numbers. But the Brewers can run out four quality starters capable of winning a postseason game, and the bullpen has gotten very tough with the addition of Francisco Rodriguez and return to form of LaTroy Hawkins. In the last four games of their current homestand, Brewers pitchers have allowed only three runs in 37 innings for an 0.72 ERA.
And of course, Prince Fielder is in position to capitalize hugely in the free-agent market with a big postseason. I’m thinking he will be up to that challenge, rather than shrink from it.
Everybody is going to be picking the Phillies in the NL, and rightfully so. But the Brewers, if things break right, are capable of winning a pennant.
Q: This has been bugging me for days. If a is doing very well to start the season, and then suffers a season-ending injury, does he have another shot at being a rookie again next season?
? Jeffrey, San Diego
A: It depends on how long he was on the major-league roster, and how many at-bats or innings pitched he accumulated before the injury.
You lose rookie status if you accumulate any of the following in a season: 45 days on the major-league roster excluding time on the disabled list, 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched.
Todd Hollandsworth doesn’t quite fit your scenario, but he was an example of a hitter who stayed just under the limits one year (1995), then won the NL Rookie of the Year the next (1996).
Hollandsworth made his debut with the Dodgers on April 25, 1995, played 41 games, totaled 103 at-bats and hit .233 with five home runs before suffering hand and thumb injuries.
Then in 1996, he batted .291 with 12 homers, 59 RBIs and 21 steals in 149 games to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award over Florida’s Edgar Renteria and Pittsburgh’s Jason Kendall.
Incidentally, Hollandsworth was the final member of the Dodgers’ impressive run of five consecutive rookies of the year in 1992-96, following Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi and Hideo Nomo.
Q: Why is a new ball brought out when a pitched ball goes into the dirt, but a hit ball to the infield dirt stays in the game?
? Jerry Nordling, Indialantic, Fla.
A: Seems like I get this question in various forms every year, and I always have the same answer: It’s not really a big deal, but I don’t get it, either.
To me, it’s an over-reaction by umpires who knee-jerk respond to a ball potentially getting a scuff mark on it by as it scrapes the dirt.
It used to be that the hitter would have to ask for the ball to be checked, and the umpire would decide if it needed to be thrown out of play. Now, it’s automatic.
That does remove any possible judgement call by the umpire ? and maybe that’s justification enough to just toss out every ball that scrapes the dirt.
? 2011 NBC Sports.com? Reprints
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44163125/ns/sports-baseball/
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