2012 NFL Predictions

NFC East	NFC North	NFC South	NFC West
NY Giants (4)	Green Bay (3)	Atlanta (2)	San Francisco (1)
Dallas	Chicago (5)	New Orleans	Arizona
Philadelphia	Detroit (6)	Carolina	Seattle
Washington	Minnesota	Tampa Bay	St. Louis

AFC East	AFC North	AFC South	AFC West
New England (2)	Baltimore (1)	Houston (3)	Denver (4)
Buffalo (6)	Pittsburgh (5)	Tennessee	Kansas City
NY Jets	Cincinnati	Indianapolis	San Diego
Miami	Cleveland	Jacksonville	Oakland

NFC Playoffs

Wildcard: (3) Green Bay def. (6) Detroit

    (5) Chicago def. (4) NY Giants 

Divisional: (1) San Francisco def. (5) Chicago

     (3) Green Bay def. (2) Atlanta 

Conference: (1) San Francisco def. (3) Green Bay

AFC Playoffs 

Wildcard: (3) Houston def. (6) Buffalo

    (4) Denver def. (5) Pittsburgh 

Divisional: (1) Baltimore def. (4) Denver

     (3) Houston def. (2) New England 

Conference: (3) Houston def. (1) Baltimore

Super Bowl XLVII

(A) Houston def. (N) San Francisco

Off To A Great Start: Austin Jackson

Most of the attention surrounding the Detroit Tigers this year has revolved around the trio of Cabrera, Fielder, and Verlander. However, perhaps no player has been more important to the team than Austin Jackson. He is truly having a remarkable breakout season at age 25, hitting at a .314/.397/.514 clip and leading the AL in triples with 8. Although he spent some time on the DL earlier in the year, he has still managed to put up 4.2 WAR according to b-r.com, and is on pace for about 5.9 at season's end. Somewhat surprisingly, he had already put up 4.8 WAR in each of his first two seasons, primarily due to his center field defense. This gives him three seasons at the start of his career with 4+ WAR, something only ten other players have ever done. Read on to see the list:

Getting On Without Getting Hits

Players with BA less than .240 and OBP greater than .350 (min. 3000 PAs):

Rk		BA	OBP	PA	H	BB
1	Eddie Lake	.231	.366	3199	599	546
2	Eddie Joost	.239	.361	6789	1339	1043
3	Wayne Garrett	.239	.350	3917	786	561
4	Joe Ferguson	.240	.358	3624	719	562

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 8/5/2012.

Lake was an 11-year infielder who played for the Cardinals, Red Sox, and Tigers from 1939-1950. He drew over 100 walks from 1945-47; in 1945 he led the AL in OBP at .412, receiving MVP votes for his efforts.

Joost was a 17-year veteran shortstop who came into his own with the Philadelphia Athletics in the late 1940s. He drew over 100 walks each season from 1947 to 1952. He was an all-star in '49 and '52, and received MVP votes 5 times.

Garrett played 10 seasons in the big leagues at third base, mostly with the New York Mets. He played in the 1969 and 1973 World Series with the Amazins', hitting two homers and drawing five walks in the latter.

Ferguson spent 14 seasons behind the plate, primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played in the 1974 and 1978 World Series with LA, and in 1973 he received MVP votes with a career best 25 homers and 88 RBI. 

Ike Davis's Three Homer Game

Tonight Ike Davis hit three home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks, in a 6-3 loss. It is the first time that Davis has hit three in a game, and on only two other occasions has he hit even two:

Rk	Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1	2012-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
2	2010-07-17	4	4	2	2	0	0	2	3	0
3	2010-05-07	4	3	3	2	0	0	2	2	1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/29/2012.

This game was just the ninth 3-homer game in Mets history (interestingly, all including Ike's have come on the road):

Rk	Player	Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1	Ike Davis	2012-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
2	Carlos Beltran	2011-05-12	5	5	3	3	0	0	3	6	0
3	Jose Reyes	2006-08-15	4	3	3	3	0	0	3	4	1
4	Edgardo Alfonzo	1999-08-30	6	6	6	6	1	0	3	5	0
5	Gary Carter	1985-09-03	4	4	3	3	0	0	3	6	0
6	Darryl Strawberry	1985-08-05	5	4	4	4	0	0	3	5	1
7	Claudell Washington	1980-06-22	5	5	3	4	0	0	3	5	0
8	Dave Kingman	1976-06-04	5	5	3	3	0	0	3	8	0
9	Jim Hickman	1965-09-03	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	4	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/29/2012.

Finally, it should be noted that all three homers were of the solo variety, and that Ike also added a single. As a result Ike joins this list of players with at least 4 hits and 3 homers, with HR=RBI:

Rk	Player	Date	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1	Ike Davis	2012-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
2	Alfonso Soriano	2007-06-08	6	5	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
3	Barry Bonds	2002-08-27	5	4	4	4	1	0	3	3	1
4	Mike Cameron	2002-05-02	6	5	4	4	0	0	4	4	0
5	Ellis Burks	2001-06-19	7	7	3	5	1	0	3	3	0
6	Barry Bonds	2001-05-19	5	5	3	4	1	0	3	3	0
7	Mo Vaughn	1997-05-30	5	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
8	Geronimo Berroa	1996-05-22	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
9	John Valentin	1995-06-02	5	5	4	5	1	0	3	3	0
10	Tuffy Rhodes	1994-04-04	5	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
11	Dan Ford	1983-07-20	5	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	1
12	Eddie Murray	1980-09-14	6	6	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
13	Dave Kingman	1979-07-28	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
14	Bill Melton	1969-06-24 (2)	5	5	3	4	1	0	3	3	0
15	Duke Snider	1950-05-30 (2)	4	4	3	4	0	0	3	3	0
16	Bill Terry	1932-08-13 (1)	5	5	4	4	0	0	3	3	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/29/2012.

Welcome to the Big Leagues, Matt Harvey!

Matt Harvey made his major league debut last night for the New York Mets. The 7th overall pick of the 2010 draft had gone 20-10 with a 3.48 ERA and a 9.8 K/9 rate in about 246 minor league innings. Yesterday, Harvey pitched 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 11, setting a new club record for a debut. He also collected 2 hits in 2 trips to the plate, the first of which was a double. Here are some quick notes about his performance:

Worst of the Worst: 1962 Mets vs. 2003 Tigers

If I were to ask the casual baseball fan who the worst team ever was, the usual response would be the 1962 New York Mets. Technically speaking they would be wrong, as that honor belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, a team that lost 134 games and at one point endured a 24-game losing streak. In terms of modern baseball, however the Mets are a pretty decent choice for worst of the worst. But are they really at the very bottom? Personally, I believe that the 2003 Detroit Tigers are actually below the Mets. Read on to find out why.