Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart killed in car crash.

[custer]

Pitched last night.

Not sure if they'll play the game, or which way this will affect market if they do.

Sobering shit.

[custer]

game cancelled

[The Chaperone]

IIRC, you're supposed to fade the team with the guy who died... Hey, this is a gambling forum...

[PerpetualCzech]

Cards went into a tailspin after one of their pitchers died a couple of years ago if I remember right.

[WarDekar]

Seems like we got sample size issues here.

[Rudy1957]

Sad to say, PC, that Darryl Kyle died nearly 7 years ago already. And the tailspin part wasn't exactly correct, although they did lose the 1st game back. Their next 10 games AD (After Darryl) went: LWLWLLWWWW. They subsequently went on a 7-game losing streak about a month after he died, immediately followed by a 12 of 15 winning streak. In September, they won 21 of their last 25.

Sample size is an issue. The previous time an active player died during the season was Thurman Munson in 1979. The Yankees went LLWWLWLLWW in their next 10 games. Before that, it was Lyman Bostock in 1978, and the Angels went WWWLLW to finish the season. No other baseball player has died mid-season since the 1930s. When Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch in 1920, the most notorious baseball death, the Indians went LWLLWLLLLW in their next 10. When minor-league first base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed by a foul ball in 2007, the team won its next game, but went to lose the following three.

So, bottom line, in these examples, the team has lost the next game 3 out of 5 and there's no discernable trend for the following week or so.

[Rudy1957]

BTW, one player, Dick Wantz, a rookie with the 1965 Angels, made his major league debut on April 13, pitching an inning in relief. Shortly afterward, he reported severe headaches and was soon diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He died exactly one month after his only major league appearance.

[LVHCM1]

Cardinal reliever Josh Hancock died April 29, 2007 when he drunkingly drove his car into a truck.

After a grieve day, Cards got swept in a 3 game set in Milwaukee before returning home and righting the ship.

[Prop Man]

Yankees won back-to-back World Series in 1977 and 1978.
Thurman Munson died at the All-Star break. The Yankees were 49-43 at that time. They finished 89-71 ... or 40-38 without Munson.

I'm not sure that means too much though. One difference is that Munson was probably a bigger factor for the Yankees than Adenhart was to the Angels, although we'll never really know how good Adenhart would have been.

[PerpetualCzech]

Cardinal reliever Josh Hancock died April 29, 2007 when he drunkingly drove his car into a truck.

After a grieve day, Cards got swept in a 3 game set in Milwaukee before returning home and righting the ship.

Yeah, that's the one I was thinking about. Awesome research by Rudy though on the other ones.

[Cutter]

Josh Hancock was not the one i was thinking of.

on a weekend series with the Cubs, i believe one of the Cards pitchers failed to wake up in his hotel room. he was a starter, so i know it wasn't Hancock. And for all purposes he died of natural causes in his sleep. Joe Girardi announced this fact to a gaggle of cubs fans just before the time of the scheduled game, which was postponed.

i don't remember who it was, but he was young, good, and a starting pitcher. he was not scheduled to start the day of the postponed game. just along for the road trip waiting his start i believe.

damn i can't remember his name.

[Cutter]

ah Daryl Kyle!


http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/23/sports/baseball-darryl-kile-cardinals-pitcher-is-found-dead-in-hotel-room.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[Railbird]

cum hoc ergo procter hoc

[LVHCM1]

Here's a few more:

Harry Agganis of the Boston Red Sox died on June 27th, 1955. The Red Sox went on to win 9 of their next 10.

Ernie "Tiny" Bonham died September 15th, 1949. The Pirates finished the season with an 11-5 run.

Tom Gastall, a backup catcher with the Orioles, died on September 20th, 1956 when a plane he was piloting crashed into the Chesapeake Bay. A poor Oriole team finished the season 7-2.

Here's an interesting one - starting catcher Willard Hershberger of the Cincinnati Reds committed suicide on August 3rd, 1940, and the Reds went on to win their first World Series in 21 years.

[The Chaperone]

Here's a few more:

Harry Agganis of the Boston Red Sox died on June 27th, 1955. The Red Sox went on to win 9 of their next 10.

Ernie "Tiny" Bonham died September 15th, 1949. The Pirates finished the season with an 11-5 run.

Tom Gastall, a backup catcher with the Orioles, died on September 20th, 1956 when a plane he was piloting crashed into the Chesapeake Bay. A poor Oriole team finished the season 7-2.

Here's an interesting one - starting catcher Willard Hershberger of the Cincinnati Reds committed suicide on August 3rd, 1940, and the Reds went on to win their first World Series in 21 years.

After further review, might be worth fading the anti-Angel steam if there is any...

[custer]

Jabjazz, a poster with excellent thinking and skills, thinks that it may be harder for the Angels to hit Wakefield than a more 'normal' pitcher due to needing extra concentration vs. Wakefield. Both my baseball guys laughed me out of the room when I suggested that to be a factor. Is the idea that silly?

[Rudy1957]

Can't believe I didn't remember the Hancock episode happening during the season. For some reason it was in my craw that it was during the offseason, so I didn't bother looking it up.

LVHCM found a better list than I. Another story on Hershberger: he was hitting .309 when he offed himself, supposedly because teammates were riding him for being an inferior replacement for the injured Ernie Lombardi and costing them a game in the Polo Grounds a few days earlier. The Reds briefly retired his number, but his number 5 was later worn by another catcher named Bench.

As far as the relative merits of the game today, I took a small position on the Angels under the Would-I-Feel-Stupider-If.... credo. Seems like there's at least 20 cents in there for Adenhart.

[WarDekar]

Jabjazz, a poster with excellent thinking and skills, thinks that it may be harder for the Angels to hit Wakefield than a more 'normal' pitcher due to needing extra concentration vs. Wakefield. Both my baseball guys laughed me out of the room when I suggested that to be a factor. Is the idea that silly?

I don't know about an entire team, but it stands to reason that certain players might have difficulties with knuckleballers.

If someone is trying to argue the whole team doesn't hit him because he's not "norma" - well then that should already be accounted for in Wakefield's stats vs. all the other teams.

But as I said I definitely think certain players excel vs. certain types of pitchers and struggle vs. others, so I don't see why *some* of the Angels might not hit Wake as well as they should otherwise appear.

Then again that means there is also the possibility they have some hitters that *like* knuckleball pitchers? So whatever, averages out in the end...