2015 MLB Predictions

N A T I O N A L    L E A G U E
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB
Nationals	102	60	.630	- -
Marlins	85	77	.525	17
Mets	80	82	.494	22
Braves	74	88	.457	28
Phillies	65	97	.401	37
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB
Cardinals	93	69	.574	- -
Pirates	83	79	.512	10
Cubs	79	83	.488	14
Reds	74	88	.457	19
Brewers	71	92	.438	22
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB
Dodgers	91	71	.562	- -
Giants	86	76	.531	5
Padres	82	80	.506	9
Rockies	75	87	.463	16
Diamondbacks	62	100	.383	29
A M E R I C A N    L E A G U E
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB
Orioles	94	68	.580	- -
Blue Jays	85	77	.525	9
Red Sox	81	81	.500	13
Yankees	78	84	.481	16
Rays	71	91	.438	23
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB
Indians	88	74	.543	- -
Tigers	85	77	.525	3
Royals	85	77	.525	3
White Sox	78	84	.481	10
Twins	65	97	.401	23
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB
Angels	93	69	.574	- -
Mariners	92	70	.568	1
Athletics	86	76	.531	7
Rangers	75	87	.463	18
Astros	72	90	.444	21

PLAYOFFS

NL Wildcard

5-Marlins over 4-Giants

AL Wildcard

4-Mariners over 5-A's

NLDS

3-Dodgers over 2-Cardinals

1-Nationals over 5-Marlins

ALDS

3-Indians over 2-Angels

1-Orioles over 4-Mariners

NLCS

1-Nationals over 3-Dodgers

ALCS

1-Orioles over 3-Indians

WORLD SERIES

Nationals over Orioles

2014-15 Statistical College Basketball Rankings, Vol. III

First blog post of the year, but this is my third set of ratings on the season. Rankings are valid through games played on Sunday, 2/22.

Rank	Prev. Rank	TEAM	Record	Weighted Metric	AP Rank	*Statistical Mean Rank
1	1	Kentucky	(27-0, 14-0)	-3.051	1	1
2	3	Wisconsin	(25-2, 13-1)	2.755	5	3
3	2	Virginia	(25-1, 13-1)	3.932	2	2
4	5	Villanova	(25-2, 12-2)	4.052	6	7
5	6	Arizona	(24-3, 12-2)	5.234	7	5
6	4	Utah	(21-5, 11-3)	7.578	13	8
7	10	Gonzaga	(28-1, 16-0)	11.319	3	4
8	7	Ohio St.	(19-8, 8-6)	12.500	30	16
9	8	Duke	(24-3, 11-3)	14.916	4	5
10	16	Wichita St.	(25-3, 15-1)	19.706	11	15
11	18	Baylor	(20-7, 8-6)	21.681	19	16
12	15	Kansas	(22-6, 11-4)	21.871	8	8
13	12	Iowa St.	(20-6, 10-4)	21.908	12	11
14	21	SMU	(22-5, 13-2)	22.640	21	26
15	26	Northern Iowa	(26-2, 15-1)	24.828	10	18
16	17	Michigan St.	(19-8, 10-4)	27.139	27	19
17	11	Butler	(19-8, 9-5)	28.737	23	22
18	22	Louisville	(22-6, 10-5)	30.188	17	13
19	9	North Carolina	(19-8, 9-5)	31.411	15	10
20	25	VCU	(21-6, 11-3)	34.548	22	25
21	14	Texas	(17-10, 6-8)	37.208	36	23
22	29	Oklahoma	(19-8, 10-5)	38.408	16	12
23	28	Iowa	(17-10, 8-6)	38.743	NR	29
24	13	Maryland	(22-5, 10-4)	40.946	14	28
25	34	Georgetown	(18-8, 10-5)	41.971	26	21
26	23	Dayton	(20-6, 10-4)	46.925	NR	39
27	42	Arkansas	(22-5, 11-3)	48.894	18	24
28	19	Notre Dame	(24-4, 12-3)	51.918	9	14
29	41	Xavier	(18-11, 8-8)	52.023	NR	27
30	46	Purdue	(18-9, 10-4)	54.898	NR	35
31	27	North Carolina St.	(16-11, 7-7)	55.468	NR	33
32	37	Providence	(19-8, 9-5)	56.796	25	31
33	31	Georgia	(17-9, 8-6)	56.802	NR	34
34	36	Illinois	(17-10, 7-7)	57.268	NR	40
35	43	Colorado St.	(23-5, 10-5)	57.410	NR	45
36	20	West Virginia	(21-6, 9-5)	58.009	20	20
37	NR	Boise St.	(20-7, 10-4)	58.671	NR	41
38	NR	Syracuse	(17-10, 8-6)	63.855	NR	42
39	NR	Texas A&M	(19-7, 10-4)	65.611	32	36
40	48	Oklahoma St.	(17-10, 7-8)	65.628	29	30
41	40	Cincinnati	(18-9, 9-5)	66.433	NR	43
42	47	Mississippi	(19-8, 10-4)	66.881	NR	32
43	35	St. John's	(19-9, 8-7)	66.950	NR	37
44	38	Miami FL	(17-10, 7-7)	67.301	NR	38
45	NR	Georgia St.	(19-8, 12-4)	67.597	NR	NR
46	24	TCU	(16-11, 3-11)	68.591	NR	50
47	45	Old Dominion	(20-6, 9-5)	68.647	NR	NR
48	NR	UTEP	(19-7, 11-3)	68.949	NR	NR
49	NR	Arizona St.	(15-12, 7-7)	70.081	NR	NR
50	NR	New Mexico St.	(19-10, 11-1)	70.690	NR	NR

*Mean of the 5 statistical rankings I consider the best (Pomeroy, Massey, TeamRankings, Sagarin, ESPN BPI)

Dropped from Top 50: Florida, Seton Hall, Stanford, George Washington, Minnesota, Wyoming, South Carolina
Teams Rising towards the Top 50: Valparaiso, Sam Houston State, San Diego State, Stephen F. Austin, BYU, Rhode Island, UCLA, LSU, Tulsa, Indiana, Murray State, Central Michigan, Oregon, Davidson, Toledo, Iona, Pitt, Harvard, Clemson, UC Davis

60 Seasons, 60 Orioles - 1958: Gus Triandos

"They called me the slowest player of the decade, but it was more like the century. Of course, I thought I was runnin’ like hell – except that the scenery didn’t pass by too fast."  - Gus Triandos (Source: http://bsun.md/1n8GBHZ)

Gus Triandos was slow - but strong. In 1958, he had a career season, slugging 30 homers as catcher for the O's. He was named the starting catcher for the 1958 All-Star Game held at Memorial Stadium, which ended a streak of eight consecutive starts for Yogi Berra.

Towards the end of the season, Triandos caught a no-hitter by knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. Triandos homered for the game's lone run. Speaking of Wilhelm, the photo above shows the oversized mitt that Triandos used to catch Wilhelm's knuckleball, and how that compares to the mitt he used against other pitchers. Later in his career, Triandos (catching for the Phillies) caught a perfect game by Jim Bunning in 1964.

In 1960, Triandos faced Dick Stuart in the television show 'Home Run Derby'. I remember watching reruns of this when I was a kid - either on ESPN or HTS, but I do not recall this episode. Fortunately, Hulu has the entire series available free to watch, including Gus Triandos vs. Dick Stuart (http://www.hulu.com/watch/166976). In a candid interview later in life, Triandos admitted he was embarrassed by his appearance on the show since he did not do as well as he hoped.

Gus Triandos would play for the Orioles through 1962, then was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1981, become the 5th Oriole to achieve that honor.

Other recommended links:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/triangu01.shtml
http://www.camdenchat.com/2014/1/1/5262244/orioles-top-40-greatest-gus-triandos
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/29/rip-gus-triandos/
http://www.hardballtimes.com/tht-live/remembering-gus-triandos/

2013-14 Winter on the Wasatch Bench

April Climate Summary

It was a wintry start to April, with 2.3" of new snow after the first two days. However a lengthy mild stretch had me thinking once again that winter was over. Once again I was wrong. A strong storm system that arrived on the 26th brought easily the rainiest day I have seen thus far in Utah. In its wake, colder air filtered into the region. A weaker shortwave arrived the evening of the 27th into the pre-dawn hours of the 28th, bringing rain changing to wet snow. I measured about 3/4" of wet snow early that morning. Later in the morning, the best lake-effect snow band of the season set up over the central Salt Lake Valley, however it did not reach my house. That band produced mainly graupel and rain, with some snow mixing down. Now that it is May 1st, I want to say winter is finally over now - hopefully the third time of saying that is the charm.

The cool down at the end of the month allowed for a monthly departure of only +1.63°F, as it was closer to +5 heading into the final week of the month. Average high was 58.9°F and average low was 40.7°F. For the first time in the 2013-14 cold season, temperatures at GFK were comparable to those here at the Wasatch Bench. This probably speaks to the fact, that although summers are hotter in Salt Lake City, the elevation difference allows for a slower transition into the warm season than many locations east of the Rockies. I will make sure I enjoy May, because after that it is game on for triple digit high temperatures each day. Having grown up in a warm and humid climate, I am interested to see how my body reacts to a hot and dry climate. I will be working outside a lot this summer, so I guess I should buy sunblock in bulk.

Day	CW8826 High	CW8826 Low	CW8826 Mean Temp.	SLC Mean Departure	Snowfall	12z Snow Depth	Wasatch Bench Monthly Snow
1	45	33	39	-1	0.2”	0.5”	0.2
2	45	30	37.5	-2	2.1”	0.5”	2.3
3	49	31	40	-2	0.0”	1”	2.3
4	53	37	45	3	0.0”	Trace	2.3
5	49	40	44.5	2	0.0”	0”	2.3
6	49	38	43.5	3	0.0”	0”	2.3
7	57	40	48.5	6	0.0”	0”	2.3
8	70	48	59	13	0.0”	0”	2.3
9	71	53	62	15	0.0”	0”	2.3
10	67	49	58	8	0.0”	0”	2.3
11	72	52	62	12	0.0”	0”	2.3
12	65	53	59	10	0.0”	0”	2.3
13	54	38	46	-4	0.0”	0”	2.3
14	54	30	42	-7	0.0”	0”	2.3
15	65	37	51	5	0.0”	0”	2.3
16	55	38	46.5	-1	0.0”	0”	2.3
17	70	42	56	3	0.0”	0”	2.3
18	69	52	60.5	6	0.0”	0”	2.3
19	68	48	58	8	0.0”	0”	2.3
20	66	52	59	9	0.0”	0”	2.3
21	73	45	59	7	0.0”	0”	2.3
22	71	36	53.5	6	0.0”	0”	2.3
23	50	34	42	-6	0.0”	0”	2.3
24	65	39	52	0	0.0”	0”	2.3
25	63	46	54.5	3	0.0”	0”	2.3
26	47	36	41.5	-9	0.0”	0”	2.3
27	48	37	42.5	-10	0.0”	0”	2.3
28	47	33	40	-11	0.7”	0.5”	2.8
29	51	34	42.5	-10	0.0”	0”	3.0
30	59	40	49.5	-7	0.0”	0”	3.0
April 2014	58.90	40.70	49.80	1.63	3.0”	N/A	N/A