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The Final Year of Fred Hutchinson’s Life
Fred Hutchinson accomplished as much in death as he did in life (via Bruce Markusen).The long grind of a baseball season is arduous under normal circumstances. The games come relentlessly, day after...
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Deep Thoughts About Joey Votto
Joey Votto needs a moment to contemplate how good at baseball he is (via Chris Miller). The randomness of life is truly something to behold, especially when you dig down to a granular level. I mean,...
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Marge Schott and Major League Baseball’s Quest for Peace and Quiet
Marge Schott, pictured on her famous Sports Illustrated cover, never hid her feelings.No hidden tape recorders were required to expose Marge Schott, former Reds owner and baseball’s most recent version...
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Let Athletes Be Athletes: Fast Hitters Don’t Have to Be Lefties
Are hitters really faster out of the left-side batter’s box? (photos via Keith Allison) When it comes to projecting and developing amateur and minor-league players, speed is completely overrated. I get...
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Cooperstown Confidential: The Enigmatic Life of Alex Johnson
Alex Johnson played for eight major league teams. The recent death of Alex Johnson brings to an end one of the most controversial and enigmatic chapters in baseball history. Even as we try to put the...
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On the Genealogy of Trades, Part I
Back in the day, minor-league teams used to make their own trades. (via Jason Prickett) Remember the old joke about the Unitarian who dies and on the way to heaven comes to a fork in the road? Pointing...
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A First-hand Report from Cincinnati and the (1970) All-Star Game
Tony Perez and the Big Red Machine factored heavily in the 1970 All-Star Game in Cincinnati. (via Brent Moore) It’s been 45 years since Richard Nixon and I went to the best All-Star Game ever, in...
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What’s a Most Valuable Player?
There’s more to Anthony Rizzo’s NL MVP case than meets the eye. (via Ben Grey)Let’s say you play in a baseball simulation league, something like APBA or Strat-O-Matic, and you have a choice between two...
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The Physics of Which Way the Wind Blows
AT&T Park has seen its wind decrease since 2007. It’s no Candlestick Park. (via Eric Molina)I wrote about the wind in the newly remodeled Wrigley Field a while back. In that article I examined not...
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The Record Underperformance of 2015
Josh Reddick and the A’s hit well in high-leverage situations, but they still underperformed. (via NickB149)As far as baseball goes, January is prime time for thinking about the future. The free agent...
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Card Corner Plus: 1966 Topps: The Difficult Life of Clay Carroll
Clay Carroll might be one of the most underrated relievers in baseball history. With spring training in full force, it’s a good time to turn our attention to the set of Topps baseball cards that came...
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Divergence: Two Paths Through the NL Central
The Cubs added free agents like Ben Zobrist to an already stacked roster. (via Arturo Pardavila III & Howell Media Solutions) In an upcoming year where every division in baseball has engaging...
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On Tim Lincecum and Labral Tears
Tim Lincecum’s hip injury has kept him out of action since the end of June. (via Dirk Hansen)Labral tears are, thankfully, relatively uncommon in major league baseball. Less well known than UCL...
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A Grand Tour, in Nine Innings
A display of ballcaps relating to all nine stops on the tour. (via Shane Tourtellotte)Baseball is fertile ground for establishing traditions, and I have managed to create a baseball tradition of my...
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The Big Red Machine Turns 40
Johnny Bench and the Big Red Machine knew how to hit the baseball. (via John VanderHaagen)Quick: can you name a starting pitcher from the 1976 Big Red Machine? On the 40th anniversary of one of the...
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From the Outhouse to the Penthouse, and Vice Versa
Cole Hamels was a big reason the Rangers surged during the second half of 2015. (via Arturo Pardavila III) I take as my text today the Gospel According to St. Matthew, chapter 19, verse 30: But many...
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Game Six, 2011 vs. Game Six, 1975: A Fifth Anniversary Challenge
David Freese was the hero of the 2011 World Series for the Cardinals. (via Dave Herholz) Five years ago today, on Thursday, October 27, 2011, baseball fans received a gift. Game Six of that year’s...
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An Elegy for David Ross, the Greatest Backup Catcher of His Generation
David Ross is one of the best game-callers in MLB history. (via Keith Allison) When Bill James developed his defensive spectrum of position players back in the 1980s, he declared that catchers were the...
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The Pyramid Rating System’s All-Time Cincinnati Reds
Barry Larkin is part of a very stacked Reds starting lineup. (via RDikeman) Paul Moehringer’s Pyramid Rating System & All-Time Teams Aug. 27, 2015: The Pyramid Rating System: JAWS on a Career Scale...
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Question: What Would We Name the Team Today?
The Seattle Salty Dogs has a good ring to it. (via Chelsea Nesvig)Some team names are absurdities, so ill-suited to their cities that they seem like jokes or blunders. Hi there, Pittsburgh Pirates!...
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