Colin Wyers wrote an excellent article for Baseball Prospectus in response to the BBWAA not electing a single player on a ballot that had more than 10 qualified Hall of Famers. the Hall is dedicated to preserving history, honoring excellence and connecting generations of baseball fans. The debate over the latest slate of players focuses on the second point, and …
Poll: DH or 8-man lineup
While Myles and many other NL fans are opposed to the DH coming to the National League, I'm fairly certain its arrival is inevitable. I'm also fairly sure it will happen soon (within the next 5 years). The polls below assume that this is true so even if you oppose the DH, please vote. [poll id=”2″] If you voted for …
The worst first ballot hall of famers vs. the best ones not make a 2nd ballot
Good stuff. SP Sandy Koufax 50 C Johnny Bench 72 1B Willie McCovey 61 2B Jackie Robinson 59 3B Paul Molitor 73 SS Ozzie Smith 73 LF Lou Brock 43 CF Kirby Puckett 48 RF Dave Winfield 59 Total: 538 SP Kevin Brown 64 C Ted Simmons 47 1B Jon Olerud 54 2B Lou Whitaker 71 3B Buddy Bell 62 …
Hall of Fame ballot updates on BTF
Repoz has a running total for Hall of Fame ballots. So far, nobody would get in. Biggio and Bagwell are close. Only about 13% of the total ballots from last year so a long way to go yet.
Copying what other sucky team’s bloggers do
Having difficulty thinking of something to write about, I decided to look to other bloggers for teams that suck for ideas. The first idea came from a Royals blog that was comparing all the starters at each position in the division. Previous positions: Catcher We'll go around the diamond so 1st base is next. The starters for the NL Central …
Copying what other sucky team's bloggers do
I was trying to think of something to write about. I had an idea, looked into it, lost interest and left a brief comment summarizing what I found. I've done this many times over the past 6 to 8 months. Then I had an idea last night that couldn't fail. It's so simple I'm surprised my dumbass hadn't thought about …
Walking someone when it doesn't matter (as much)
For each pitcher from 1993-2011 with at least 5,000 Batters Faced, I've added up the average growth in run expectancy per NIBB. The average increase in RE for an NIBB over that period was .323 runs, which jives with Tango's findings here. There were 175 pitchers in the sample, with a standard deviation of .013. The pitcher who gave up …
Will a salary cap come to baseball because of these new billion dollar tv contracts?
Over the last couple years the Angels, Rangers, Astros and Padres have each signed billion dollar contracts with a network. The Dodgers appear to be on the verge of signing the most lucrative contract of them all. It’s rumored to be worth between $6-7 BILLION over 25 years. For the mathematically challenged, that’s about $240-280 million per year. We’ve already …
Cubs interested in Brandon McCarthy and Yunel Escobar
The Cubs are reportedly one of the teams interested in A's free agent Brandon McCarthy. There's a lot of competition though. The A's have been in contact with another of their free agents, starter Brandon McCarthy, but expected that there would be strong competition for the right-hander and they're right: The Chronicle has learned that among the clubs already expressing …
The Hall of Fame is worthless
Who knows what happens with the voting for this year's class, but I think it's a safe bet that at least a few of the guys more than deserving of getting in will not. In the end, this is what we can say about the Hall of Fame. The position player who is arguably the best player of all-time will …