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Book Review - Empires of the Sea

Empires of the Sea describes the Mediterranean sea battles between the Christian and the Ottomans between 1521 and 1580.  The Ottomans, under Suleiman the Magnificent (Suleiman I), used their overwhelming numbers in both men and ships to assert their claim to the eastern Mediterranean.  They announced their arrival by sacking Rhodes (Siege of Rhodes).

Rhodes

Reading Notes

The Christians kept Malta but lost Cyprus in the Ottoman-Venetian war.  How the hell did Venice still control Cyprus in the 1570's?  Suleiman had died and Selim II was in charge of the Ottomans at this point.  Much like the siege of Rhodes the Ottomans were just too much for the island population (especially when the Holy League AKA Phillip II dragged their feet again) and after 11 months the two sides reached an agreement on surrender.  However, unlike the Knights Hospitaller who were allowed to leave under Ottoman protectorate back to Italy, the Venetian leader Marco Antonio Bragadin was not so lucky.

 

The Ottomans first took the town of Nicosia and followed up with the 11 month siege of Famagusta.  Here is a sweet picture of Nicosia:

I can only assume the Battle of Lepanto (in the Gulf of Corinth) is to come which should be good for the Christians.  

Me - Hey Bragadin, you became a Martyr and a hero, how do you feel?

Bragadin - Well... Those two weeks with the festering wounds from my cut off ears and nose weren't very sweet.  Didn't really enjoy being dragged around the walls of the town with bags of dirt and rocks on my back.  Being hoisted up to the yard arm of a Turkish ship and taunted by solders was less than ideal.  None of it was as bad as being tied naked to a column in the center of the city and being flayed alive.  I hear that I was then drawn and quartered only to be put back together and stuffed.  They put me on an ox and marched me around the city.  Then they sent me to the Sultan as a trophy.  But when they brought me back to Italy almost a decade later I was a hero.  Yeah, I guess that makes up for the Venetians not coming to my aid.  Totally square guys. 

Reading Notes

1/9/16

The Japanese were obviously successful in their attack on Pearl Harbor but failed in finding the US carriers.  Yamamoto felt like a second wave of attacks would have slammed the door on the US but Nagumo felt it was prudent to return home with the entire fleet unharmed.  Kimmel felt that Yamamato's plan of a second waive could have debilitated the US oil reserves which were above ground.  Alas, the second wave never occurred and I'm pretty sure the US is about to kick some ass at midway.

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Suleiman is leading the siege of Malta.  Unlike the siege of Rhodes, Malta is a much more desolate island which makes siege warfare more difficult.  Also, the local Maltese soldiers were bad ass.  The Ottoman empire had been basically gaining territory for the past forty years and this was a big little W for the Christians.  Finally.  Excited to see how this turns out.

Barbarossa was Suleiman's right hand man.  After he died the Christians started to gain a little ground.  Basically ruled the Mediterranean until his death.

Charles the V gave way to Philip II and although Charles was kind of a G (expept for the inbreeding and weird freak face) it seems like Philip and his new world wealth might get the W.  This just happens to be the same Philip that ended up doing the Tango with Elizabeth I and Drake.

16th century Maltese soldier.

Will Martin Perez beat the Astros?

Meeting Martin

The post-hype 22 year old Venezuelan seems to have a tenable rotation spot as the season nears its home stretch.  The 6’ Lefty was the 15^th ranked prospect in 2010 according to Baseball Prospectus but the scouts slowly soured on him as he ranked 33^rd in 2011, 36^th in 2012 and 59^th in 2013.  He got six starts and six relief appearances after being called up in 2012 posting a less than stellar 5.45 ERA with a 1.63 WHIP.  His K% came in at 14.1 with an 8.55% BB percentage.  His 2013 numbers have been better with an ERA of 3.81 and a WHIP of 1.39 matched with a K% of 15.1% and a BB% of 7.4.  However, his FIP has actually regressed in 2013 currently at 4.29 compared to his 4.15 in 2012.  Yet his xFIP is now at 3.98 compared to his 2012 mark of 4.67.  But still… Yuck. 

But, he’s playing the Astros so it should be a no brainer to start him, right?

Well… the Astros aren’t the whipping boy one might expect and are actually showing some signs of being a middle of the pack offense against LHP.  Their wOBA is 15^th at .304 and their wRC+ is 16^th at 92.  Should you start a less than average pitcher against a middle of the pack offense?  Tough call.  There is one juicy apple hanging from the tree.  The Astros lead the league in K% against LHP at 27%.  Yes, over one in four batters heel turn and head back to the dugout. 

Misc Nonsense

I guess it all comes down to how lucky you feel.  He’s currently slated to throw opposite Dallas Keuchel who was sent to the pen after giving up 6 runs over 7.1 innings against the Blue Jays on 7/27.  He didn’t do very well in the pen either giving up five runs over his last 2.1.  Keuchel will most likely get shelled.  It’s also interesting to note that the Astros have the 2^nd highest BABIP against LHP @ .325 so there might be some (four letter word omitted)… well, we won’t go that far but you have the number so do with it what you will.  I also heard Ron Shandler say he was concerned with Perez’s K% so who knows if you’ll even cash in on those K’s. (Note – Not even sure if that was Ron Shandler but I’m fairly sure I heard that on one of the 900 podcasts I listen to)

Final Verdict

I think he gives up less than two runs (screw ER), K’s 5+ and gets the illusive W.

Interesting Series for the Weekend

Kansas City @ Pittsburgh

These two teams seem a bit like polar opposites.  Kansas City came into the year as a trendy pick to challenge the White Sox Tigers for the A.L. Central.  Pitching was supposed to be an issue for the Royals but the narrative seemed to hint at a maturation of the offense into a formidable force.  For KC, the pitching has been an issue but so has their offense which has scored the second fewest runs in the American League.

Speaking of not scoring runs, the Pirates came into the season seemingly battling Houston to avoid relegation (woops… too much futbol).  However, Pittsburgh is only two behind Cincinnati in the N.L. Central hot off taking two of three from the Reds in Cincinnati.  They have been riding an unexpected wave of incredible pitching.  They Pirates have allowed the second fewest runs this season at 201 (second to Washington at 182).

For no particular reason other than to create my own shitty narrative, it seems like this will be the start of some better baseball for Kansas City.  Playing one of the N.L. Central’s lesser teams seems like a good enough reason for me.   It also seems like the Pirates might be about to face a “coming back to earth” (or a “back to giving up runs because we have friggin’ Pedro Alvarez paying 3B”).

Phil Hughes Leads us Down the Rabbit Hole of Game Score (GSc)

Phillip Joseph Hughes

Who is Phil Hughes one might say?  Who fucking cares one would probably answer.  But not this one!  Not today.  We’re going to look at a bunch of under-understood stats and maybe some inane social issues to learn absolutely nothing about Phil Hughes.  To prove this, the first thing I looked at was Game Score (GSc).  Here’s how you figure GSc if you care:

·         Start with 50 points.

·         Add 1 point for each out recorded, so 3 points for every complete inning pitched.

·         Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th.

·         Add 1 point for each strikeout.

·         Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed.

·         Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed.

·         Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed.

·         Subtract 1 point for each walk.

In his last start (6/3/12 v Det), Hughes earned a GSc of 80.  For no real reason I went back to see if he had any other GSc’s of 80 or better.  He had achieved that mark twice before:

4/21/10 @ Oakland (GSc: 80).  Useless game info: Joba Chamberlain came to earn a hold with two inherited runners.  Joba was awesome in holds leagues that year (25).

5/25/09 @ TEX (GSc: 81).  Hughes gave up three hits and a walk over eight scoreless.  Useless game info: Alfredo Aceves came into the game in the 9^th up 11-0 and gave up a run.  Useless game info take two:  I totally forgot Marlon Byrd (LF-CF) played for the Rangers.

I suppose you could say 80+ Game Scores are an outlier for Mr. Hughes.  Just for shits and giggles I ran the career Game Scores of six other pitchers chosen at random to see how many each starter had at and over 80:

                Clay Buchholz:        3

                Gavin Floyd:           5

                Brandon Morrow:   5

                Stephen Strasburg:  0

                Roy Halladay:         32

                Jamie Moyer:          16

So with this information we find that Phil Hughes and Clay Buchholz are absolutely identical pitchers with nary a difference.  Oh yeah, and don’t forget that Stephen Strasburg stinks.