Saturday, 19 November 2016
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Ukrainian baseball on European level
Baseball, the most popular of all sports in America, has been rapidly gaining acceptance in other countries as well. Ukraine is one of such states. This country has some strong baseball teams which can become rather dangerous competitors to European and even American teams. Thus the “BioTexCom” team is a multiple Ukrainian champion and during 22 years it lost the game, Ukraine Baseball Champion, only once. Baseball players of "BioTexCom" show high sport results and have very strong players in the team.
The Life of Ukrainian Baseball
The Head coach of Ukrainian national baseball team, Boyko O.M, suggested to send him lists of the best players and candidates on the post of coaches.
It is widely believed statistics shows best of all who is the best player. In terms of Ukrainian baseball reality it almost clearly forms the national team. It is because there are only the best players in it.
Oleg Boyko tells how it works in fact. He offered coaches to send lists of their candidates to gather teams for upcoming year. These are U18 (juniors), U23 (youth) and adults teams. In this case coaches recommend best players and as a result take responsibility for agreement and desire of players to take part in the selection and training for the European Championship.
About Statistic
More than a century ago it was witty noticed about three kinds of lie: the first is untruth, the second is a blatant lie and finally the last one – statistic, which is the most terrible lie. Oleg Boyko has been being in baseball for more than two decades in a row. He believes statistic is really a big advantage for this kind of sport. Earlier Oleg Boyko was a football coach. As a result of his football past he could unconsciously comment towards the baseball game using terms which were understandable only for him. But in baseball there is a clear statistic with understandable to all terms and meanings: AVG, ERA, RBI.
However, at the beginning of this century the new science has been developed which is called sabermetrics. It absolutely put aside validity and information content of previous classical terms. Instead it represents some new ones: wOBA, WAR, UZR and others.
Ukrainian statistics
Probably not all only a few people know two years ago it was a hot discussion between the Major League Baseball management towards the issue of number of teams reducing. And that was not about a business or lack of fans. The main reason was a lack of talented players to complete 30 teams. In other words the main intrigue of the league cannot be keep and it is obvious who will be the winner in particular games. Today the main reason not in favor of blind usage of Ukrainian statistic is clear – during many years in most games (more than 50%) there is no such question. The League is uneven and practically all victories are predictable. Moreover the teams are not on the same level and it means their trainings are different and it undermines the unification to record the events. If one team has hit it means that another one will have out. Baseball fields are so different that it can be easy to conduct hit on the one field, and out on another. Home run on one field can be boring fly on another. And other important thing statistics experts keep in silence – if coach knows team will probably loose players feel it and as a result they is no interesting fighting on the playing field. And if there is no fight on the field there will not be rates and interesting statistics as well.
Irish joy tinged with sadness as All Blacks finally vanquished
Irish joy tinged with sadness as All Blacks finally vanquished
Irish fans all over the world celebrated the side’s electrifying first-ever victory over the All Blacks, but the historic triumph was tinged with sadness following the recent death at just 42 of former international Anthony “Axel” Foley.
“Ireland creates history with stunning victory over the All Blacks,” was the online headline of the Irish Independent newspaper after Saturday’s 40-29 victory in Chicago.
The Irish Times chimed in with “Irish warriors take down All Blacks at Soldier Field”.
The Irish have been close before – sometimes painfully – but this time, after 111 years and 29 test matches, they held firm, despite a late surge from the mighty All Blacks, who had won 18 games on the trot before this shock defeat.
“It’s an awesome day for the Irish, not just for this team but for the 28 teams that have gone before us,” elated Irish full-back Rob Kearney said after the final whistle.
With Chicago Cubs having broken their 108-year hoodoo by winning baseball’s World Series last week, the stage was set in the Windy City, and Ireland duly ran in five tries to secure a famous first victory.
For Ireland, the occasion was made even more emotional by the recent death of former player and Munster coach Foley, who died as Munster prepared for a European Cup game just two weeks ago.
As the All Blacks performed the Haka, the Irish, led by Foley’s former Munster players, stood in a figure-of-eight formation on the pitch in memory of the enormously popular back-row forward.
From the off, the Ireland pack displayed plenty of the spirit that Foley embodied as a player and a coach, thundering into the All Blacks and never giving them time to settle.
“New Zealand isn’t used to that sort of treatment, everybody just stands back and respects them,” said former international Neil Francis.
“Over the years one of the problems we have had is that we have feared sides like New Zealand,” Francis explained.
“But over the last six or seven years, that fear has gone.”
New Zealand will have their chance for revenge in Dublin in two weeks but Captain Rory Best believes that the fear of the All Blacks is now a thing of the past.
“We’ve created history by going and attacking New Zealand, they’re a quality side and it shows how good they are, how important this win was to us,” Best said as tears welled in his eyes.
Rubric: Bulls-eye Statements by Famous Baseball Players
Peter
Edward "Pete" Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his
nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional
baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from
1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989.
Rose, a
switch hitter, is the all-time MLB leader in hits (4,256), games played
(3,562), at-bats (14,053), singles (3,215), and outs (10,328). He won three
World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two
Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at
an unequaled five different positions (second baseman, left fielder, right
fielder, third baseman, and first baseman). Rose won both of his Gold Gloves as
an outfielder in 1969 and 1970.
In August
1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to
permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on
baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds, including claims that
he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to
ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after
previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. In 2004,
after years of public denial, Rose admitted to betting on baseball and on, but
not against, the Reds. The issue of Rose's possible reinstatement and election
to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball.
On June 22,
2015, ESPN concluded an investigation and determined that Rose bet on baseball
while still a player-manager, from 1984 to 1986. The investigation also made
public the existence of records of bets made by Rose on baseball, which had
been seized by US federal authorities from an associate of Rose.
In 2016,
Rose was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
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