Crashburn Alley Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

by Bill Baer on July 5th, 2011
Posted in MLB, Philadelphia Phillies | Print | 20 Comments »

Crashburn Alley has befallen financial hardship as a result of some risky betting on Twitter.

It all started on July 1, when Ryan Howard came to the plate with runners on second and third with no outs.

Then, tonight when Michael Martinez came to the plate in the ninth inning with the bases loaded:

There’s a lesson in all of this, kids: gambling is bad. Don’t gamble.

  1. 20 Responses to “Crashburn Alley Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy”

  2. By Tiffany on Jul 5, 2011

    Sounds like a lesson that should also be taught by Cohen.

  3. By Giving_Chase on Jul 5, 2011

    Please keep doing this for the sake of the team.

  4. By Anonymous GM on Jul 5, 2011

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgxvf0Z0M2Y

    He’s Coming…..

  5. By Anonymous GM on Jul 5, 2011

    Also the Phillies 55 wins before the All Star Break are the 3rd most in team history since 1962. The 1976 Philies had 56 wins and the 1993 Phillies had 58 wins, which is the team record.

  6. By Taco on Jul 5, 2011

    So you are filing for chapter 11 so you can re-organize your corporation and repay your creditors? What is your plan, once re-organized, to pay $250 million?

    I think what you really want is chapter 7.

  7. By Rich on Jul 6, 2011

    We’ll have to bail you out like they’re bailing the Mets out now… Anyone want 49 percent of Crashburn Alley for $250 million?

    Way to go, you’re broke!

  8. By Josh B on Jul 6, 2011

    Emotional hedges are always win, win.

  9. By Jay on Jul 6, 2011

    You should never bet against Ryan Howard’s ability to pile up on RBIs, even though everyone knows a high OPS is really what wins games, not bringing runs across the plate.

  10. By Phylan on Jul 6, 2011

    An RBI can win one game. A good OPS can win many.

  11. By LTG on Jul 6, 2011

    So, I did a little research into the Howard RBI-machine hypothesis. I looked at B-R’s Baserunners Scored Percentage. According to that Howard, over his career, drives home 19% of baserunners (regardless of base occupied and whether an RBI is credited). The MLB average is 15%. Howard sees between 450-500 baserunners per year so he is driving in about 18-20 more runners per season than the average player in his spot in the Phillies’ order. Also, his 19% is higher than the career averages of Alex Rodriguez, Adrian Gonzalez, and David Ortiz; and equal to that of Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols. This could be evidence that Howard is particularly good at driving in runs or that he is a little luckier than others in those situations. I don’t have measurements that would discern the difference.

    But let’s suppose Howard is better than most at driving in runs due to some inherent skill. This skilled benefit is counterpoised by his lower OBP (compared to similar players) and lack of speed on the bases. The result is that Howard scores fewer runs than guys playing his role and making his money. This balance between driving in runs and scoring runs is reflected in his OPS, as Phylan argued.

  12. By Anthony on Jul 6, 2011

    Howard probably has a much better BABIP with RISP than with nobody on base because the teams can’t apply the shift.

  13. By Jonny on Jul 6, 2011

    LOL!!!

    And btw, Howard is just different. Some people call it clutch, which is tough to gauge. The fact is with a team with darn near average obp skills he manages to lead RBI’s time, and time again. There is something there not measurable by numbers.If you need a specialized clean-up batter with decent “D”. He’s your man. Clean up well he does. Indeed. Keep driving them in Ryan.

  14. By Jon on Jul 6, 2011

    Some people call him the space cowboy, some call him the gangster of love, some people call him Big Piece…

  15. By Taco on Jul 6, 2011

    @LTG:

    its pretty obvious why ryan howard can have dismal on base and batting average but still somehow seem to have a knack for driving in runs. Can you guess?

    think about what is different for ryan howard when runners are on base as opposed to when the bases are empty.

  16. By Taco on Jul 6, 2011

    @johnny:

    its not called “clutch” and Ryan Howard is not different. I mean, there is a very easy explanation as to why he does so much better with runners on base…

  17. By Taco on Jul 6, 2011

    Final hint:

    it starts with a “d” and it rhymes with “efensive alignment”

  18. By Pete on Jul 6, 2011

    @Phylan

    “An RBI can win one game. A good OPS can win many.”

    Sounds like a Zen koan. Do I need to achieve enlightenment to understand what this means? And if an RBI can win one game, how many games can 140 RBI win?

  19. By LTG on Jul 7, 2011

    Taco, if you read what I wrote more carefully then you would have noticed that I wasn’t interested in explaining why Howard hits better with men on base. You’re right, that’s obvious, but also beside the point. The point is that despite being above average at driving in runs, his lack of OBP skill drives down his run-producing ability, which in turn lessens his value in the offense compared to other players with his role and making his money. For my point it doesn’t matter why that is the case; it only matters that it is the case. All of this arose within the context of (provisionally) evaluating the claim that RBI data is just as good as, if not better than, OPS data at demonstrating a hitter’s contribution to his team’s wins. At no point does your snide response to my comment address this question. What was it that you thought you were doing exactly?

    Worse yet, comparing Howard with men on base to Howard with the bases empty gives no explanation of the somewhat interesting fact that Howard does marginally better with men on base *than other excellent run producers in MLB.* I never used as a bit of data that Howard has a bigger upswing in production with men on base than other comparable players, which would have been irrelevant to the question I was addressing. However, your response indicates you thought I did. I’m not sure how you came up with that reading.

  20. By LTG on Jul 7, 2011

    Also, I want to clarify that the data I evinced does not relate to any plausible conception of “clutch.” If “clutch” refers to anything, it refers to performance in high leverage situations, and the data I used did not distinguish high leverage from low leverage, which seemed how it should be since the question of Howard: RBI-machine is different than Howard: best when we need it most. Perhaps this was the source of confusion since one conception of clutch is that the player performs better in clutch situations than *he* does in average everyday situations. (Another is that the player performs better than *most others* in those situations. These are importantly different and might need to be combined in some way in order to generate a rigorous conception.) If clutch is interpreted as the former then the defensive alignment might seem relevant to explaining Howard’s (purported) clutch-i-osity. But I wasn’t talking about that.

  21. By Maestrobe on Jul 12, 2011

    No one is likely ever to see this comment, but some of the previous comments seem a little blindered to me. This season is a small sample size, but look at Howard’s increasing OPS and slugging as the number of RISP increase. Someone whose OPS goes up that significantly with RISP is the IDEAL clean-up hitter. If you flipped those numbers, even if you increased each of them by (say) .075, I’d still prefer to have Howard–even if the explanation is defensive alignment. He may be a less skilled hitter than the other guy, but his left-hitting tendencies actually help him and his team with runners on base.

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