2010
175 posts
Coal for the Hot Stove
The frigid weather around the northern part of Earth has been so cold lately that we feel it's only right to huddle around the hot stove. To open the discussion, here are a few players recently recently rumored to be…
Least & Most Run Support
So, on Christmas, I went to Madison Square Garden for the Knicks/Bulls matinée game. One of my very good friends invited me to the game by scalping a couple of tickets off craigslist, but they turned out to be a…
Week 16 NFL Picks
Merry Christmas, everyone. Yesterday was pretty interesting, to say the least. More on that in our next post, coming soon. For now, here are our picks for the rest of Week 16. Breaking news: Mo Jo Drew is Out. Rashad…
Missing Bats in the Strike Zone
Here are just a couple of views at one distinctive pitching statistic we don't often talk about but is pretty telling. Tonight, we are going to look at two leaderboards for the percentage of swings and misses inside the…
Popping Your 20 HR Cherry
In the past week, I had the pleasure of meeting Lorraine Bracco and Greg Kelly at separate occasions. They were both very nice, even after I may have allegedly ganked Lorraine Bracco's seat at Diane von Furstenberg's…
Foreshadowing: a Riddle
Alright, let's be quick. This has nothing to do with our Baseball Managerial Trees post, which has hit a bit of a wall. I guess it's more of a steep incline. It's not wall, but it's a very big research project, and…
Week 15 NFL Picks
Before we get to our NFL picks, I just want to say that Kerry Wood passing on a 2yr/$10 million offer from the Yankees, at this stage in his career, to rejoin the Cubs on a 1yr/$1.5 million deal makes all the sense in…
Need Starters? Who's Left?
The subtitle of this post could be " Who's left?! Who?? That's It?! Uh-Oh." The baseball hot stove is winding down as most big time free agents have signed their new deals. Adrian Beltre and Rafael Soriano are probably…
What's Up With Tom Gorzelanny?
Why is Tom Gorzelanny seemingly getting pushed out of the Cubs clubhouse? He's still relatively inexpensive, left-handed, and actually sort of good. Does Mike Quade not like him? How about new pitching coach Mark…
Virtual Gambling
Friends and regular readers know we make it a habit to warn others of the dangers of gambling addiction. Who said the NBA is Fixed? It can happen to anyone, and the story has been told a thousand different ways. It…
Readings, Thoughts, and Deviations
It's been a bit too quiet around these part the past few days, but we've struggled to find a compelling narrative. Without an interesting thesis, or unique insight, this post will consist of interesting nuggets we've…
Week 14 NFL Picks
No time for a real post today. Seeing "A Christmas Carol" at the Paper Mill Playhouse before kickoff. Browns +1 @ Buffalo Lions +6.5 vs Packers Steelers -8.5 vs Bengals Raiders +3.5 @ Jacksonville Falcons -7.5 @…
Good Friend, Pat Hughes
It has been a somber fortnight over here, what with the recent losses of Leslie Nielsen and Ron Santo . At least yesterday, we were able to hear the uplifting and often humorous, touching, and heartfelt words of Pat…
Where Have You Gone, Leon Durham?
The Cubs need a first baseman, and there are rumors of interest in trading for James Loney , signing Carlos Peña , trading for the Rangers' Chris Davis , or the fall back option of platooning Tyler Colvin / Jeff Baker .…
2011 Hall of Fame Sneak Peek
The Winter Meetings begin tomorrow in Orlando, and one of the more lasting developments which could take place is the induction of some potential Hall of Famers. Marvin Miller could be in for an exciting Monday Morning.…
Coaching Trees & Week 13 NFL Picks
Our current research project consists of looking at baseball coaching trees, which we find neglected by baseball lore. We hear about coaching trees, sometimes in basketball, and often in professional football. The…
Stock Rising: Aaron Harang
In our Top 100 Free Agents post last month, we included a picture of Aaron Harang; the caption said he'd be outstanding or terrible. Breaking news out of the Friarhood (via MLBtraderumors ) sounds like Harang and his…
The Distraction of Worlds Colliding
This is obviously an old photo, but I don't remember seeing it before. It's been a sad day in Cubdom, with the passing of legendary good friend, Ron Santo . I think Ron would want us to try to find something, somewhere,…
Quick Hot Stove Thoughts
The baseball Free Agent spending economy looks healthy again with the Tigers recent signings and this ludicrous 3 year / 21 million dollar contract from the Dodgers for Juan Uribe . I knew Uribe was making millions with…
Best Players in Their Prime
We introduced the topic of players in their prime this past weekend. We analyzed 109 position players, younger than 29 at next year's All Star Game, with Major League experience. In Sunday's Players in Their Prime post,…
Players in Their Primes
Let's begin with what this is NOT. This is not a quasi mock fantasy draft. We're not ranking players with a view on fantasy baseball. We are not necessarily arguing that any of these players will be better in 2011 than…
Week 12 NFL Picks
We don't have much time for NFL talk this weekend. We're a bit involved in a project for friend of the blog, Graham Womack , of Baseball Past and Present . Graham got in touch with me after reading our " Hall of Fame's…
Thanksgiving Day NFL Picks
This week, we've been working on a pretty neat analysis of baseball players in their primes. There should be some interesting new tidbits on guys ranging from Miguel Cabrera to Brett Wallace . As we look at today's…
Victor Martinez, Bo Diaz, & Catching 101
This morning, Ignacio Serrano of El Nacional newspaper in Venezuela broke the story that Victor Martinez was leaving Boston to sign a 4yr/$50 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. There is some confusion that V-Mart…
Jamie Moyer & The New Greybeards
Last week, we found out that Jamie Moyer was shut down from the Dominican League because of his 2nd elbow injury since July. Many expect Moyer to retire, but he intends to pitch again, even if he needs Tommy John…
Chris Archer & The Shackles of Hope
Being a Cubs fan is an exercise in futility. From somewhere deep within, there is hope. Outside circumstances surrounding the Chicago Cubs may make it so that our hopes are more, or less, noticeable. During the Jim…
Week 11 NFL Picks
Last night, the Bears avenged 1985 as both Weino and I predicted. The Bears are 7-3, but I'm not a believer. I used to believe in the Bears, even when they were terrible. Then, I became a realist, especially on defense.…
Hot Stove Notes: Benoit, Nishioka, Red Sox
As we showed during last week's unveiling of our Top 100 Free Agents post, we thought very highly of the Tigers' new relief pitcher extraordinaire Joaquin Benoit. $16.5 M buys a lot in Detroit We listed him at #12,…
King Felix as Jules Winnfield
Have you seen these photos? Courtesy of @ OctagonBaseball , here are shots from an ESPN Mag shoot of the Mariners' Garrett Olson and Felix Hernandez dressed as Pulp Fiction 's Jules and Vincent. Felix is the best.…
Rookie of the Year Ballots
It occurred to us last night that at the conclusion of this year's regular season, we posted our picks for the Cy Young and MVP winners but failed to enter a ballot for the AL and NL Rookies of the Year. I guess R.O.Y.…
The Best Teams to Miss the World Series
Last week, we took on the challenge of finding the best team to miss out on playing in the World Series . When looking at teams of the past 100 years, the discussion begins and ends with the 2001 Seattle Mariners.…
Week 10 NFL Picks
Last night's Ravens @ Falcons game got us into an 0-1 hole to start our Week 10 Picks. The point spread was not even an issue, as I got this tweet out a couple of hours before game time: "Although I love the "You are…
Top 100 MLB Free Agents
About a month ago, we listed the Top Free Agents by position . Our opinions haven't changed much in the past month, but here we are going to try and rank the whole group. Go grab a drink and settle in, here we go... No.…
Best Jersey Shore Yankee Fans GIF
Since these Yankee fans became folk heroes, there have been a few GIF images created of the moment. I think I liked this one the most ( let's hope this works ): Update: Click on image to open a new page with GIF
NL Gold Glove Ballot & Prediction
Just about everyone was dumbfounded to see Derek Jeter win his fifth Gold Glove yesterday. Do the National League Gold Glove awards have any surprises in store for us this afternoon? The results will be released at…
Another World Series Challenge?
So, who's the best team to miss out on a World Series appearance? It could be the same question as which are the biggest postseason upsets, but we're going to look at it from this perspective. Which are the best teams,…
Greatest Years in Worst Lineups
Not to get all cyber stalkerish on JoeBlogs , but there was a quick thought in the Weakest World Series Winners since WWII post that we mentioned in our EvRA post , that we thought was worth looking into. Joe's counting…
Posnanski's Every Run Average
This past week, our favorite writer, Joe Posnanski had a great run. He produced more than a handful or columns, including four that really stood out. Here is Joe's Sparky Anderson eulogy , a ranking of the weakest World…
Week 9 NFL Picks
For the record, we think gambling is stupid and dangerous. That being said, here are our Week 9 picks! Ndamukong Suh!!! Lions +4 vs Jets Texans +2.5 vs Chargers Bucs +8.5 @ Atlanta Saints -6.5 @ Carolina Bills +3 vs…
SF Giants Chapmionship Parade
Last year, we were lucky enough to attend the New York Yankees championship parade in the Canyon of Heroes. Here is a link to our photographic retrospection from 12 months ago. It felt cool because I took all of the…
Stop Smoking Weed, Bill Walton
Sorry about the required sourcing, but we clicked on this tweet from @ yardbarker " Bill Walton: Carmelo Anthony is not 'a great player' http://bit.ly/diYRZc (via @ BallJunkie_com ) ", linking to this post from…
Week 8 NFL Picks
Addiction is a terrible disease. Gambling addiction ruins lives. Norm MacDonald would joke that the problem with his gambling habit isn't even the thousands of dollars he's lost on bad bets, but rather, the thousands…
The Best Shortstops Before My Time
A little less than four weeks ago, we contemplated the bright future of Logan Morrison . That verbal jaunt took a handful of first basemen from throughout history and attempted to see how LoMo stacked up. His numbers ,…
World Series Preview
The only thing we know for sure is that Bengie Molina will be winning a World Series ring this year. Most of you probably know this by now, but it bears repeating because it's pretty cool. After everybody's…
1900's Cubs Photos
Special thanks to Bill Burgess, who shared these photos on Baseball Fever back in 2003. 1902 Chicago Orphans 1903 Chicago Cubs 1904 Chicago Cubs 1906 Chicago Cubs 1907 Chicago
Week 7 NFL Picks
Just for fun because, as Drew Magary said... "because making brutally incorrect predictions never stops being enjoyable. Plus, if one of these predictions stumbles bass ackwards into being correct, then I can totally…
Perceptions of Yankee Fandom
Editorial note: this may lead nowhere, no hard feelings if you stop reading what I think may be a nonsensical and misguided diatribe. Thanks for stopping by. Jealousy * (n.): resentment against a rival, a person…
Adrian Beltre Sweepstakes
The Detroit Tigers signed Brandon Inge to a 2-year $11.5 million contract extension this afternoon. Inge is known for being versatile and playing very good defense at third base. Adrian Beltre is by far and away the…
A New Breed of Yankee Fans
I have two friends from college who are from Baltimore, were Orioles fans, and somehow adapted and became Yankee fans. At different times, I've given them each grief over the matter. I mean, those are bitter rivals.…
2010 Ex-Cub Factor
There's reason for hope in Philadelphia. Although Roy Halladay lost game one of the NLCS, the infamous ex-Cub factor, which was orignially penned by Ron Berler in the Boston Herald on October 15, 1981, gives hope to the…
Gambling with George Costanza
Sometimes with playoff baseball, I think you just need to let the games speak for themselves. We can try to write our feelings over what's been happening on TBS and Fox, but the game doesn't need just more noise.…
The Bobby Cox Tattoo
A picture is worth a thousand words. What about a picture of a 23-year old's Bobby Cox tattoo on his leg? h't PTI. This has left us speechless. All we can say is that Wilbon was right when saying that this kid needs to…
The Best Free Agents
W're working on a few things over here including: a revised Game Score formula that sort of feels more right, with IFFB data our look at 1973 awards Mark Prior Sandy Alderson's next move I'd think that at least two of…
Halladay in the History Books
Quick, think of the best pitching performances you've ever seen or heard of. What comes to mind? Roy Halladay tonight? Roy Halladay's perfect game? Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series? Koufax in '65? Jack…
2010 MLB Postseason Picks
As loyal readers of this space know, we spent a lot of time calculating comparisons of expected outcomes for the postseason teams. The rewards of that exercise are hard to quantify, which is a euphemistic was of saying…
In Brief: NL Playoff Preview
We're going a different route with this than we did with the AL Playoff Preview, which took parts one , two , and three . That took us three weeks to complete, this going to be quick. Readers, please take it for what…
2010 MVP & Cy Young Awards
Everyone else is doing it, so here are our predictions. These are not predictions of who will win, but rather whom we believe should win. American League Most Valuable Player Josh Hamilton, Rangers In my heart of…
Major League Clearance Rack
Here's a quick look at a few relatively expensive players rumored to be available via trade, with the trading team likely to eat a bit of the players upcoming salary. Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs Before the world changed…
The Bright Future of Logan Morrison
We can't be the only ones who are beyond excited about the prospects of Logan Morrison's future. Can we? Sure, his friends and family are thrilled for him. There are probably about eleven thousand hard core Marlins fans…
Sizing Up the AL Playoffs, Part III
Anticlimactic (an-ti-cli- mac -tic) adj: of, relating to, or marked by an outcome that is strikingly less important than expected. Ouch. We have been hoping that dabbling with baseball statistics for the Yankees, Rays,…
Happiness
Getting my mind around this involved Sizing Up the AL Playoffs project that I've gotten myself into has been a bit frustrating, if only because I'm just not happy with it. I think it was fun for a while, and could be…
MLB Team Snapshots
The Beautiful Mind level insanity around the AL Previews formula I've been tinkering with and referred to in these two posts should (hopefully) be done today. In an effort to not let the homework slow down our…
Sizing Up the AL Playoffs, Part II
We're taking this one step at a time. In Part I of this series, we broke down the first steps towards constructing a recipe to see which teams will perform better in the relative crapshoot that is baseball's postseason.…
Who Hasn't Seen "Grandma's Boy"?
How fast was Cool Papa Bell? Faster than that! I'm still recovering from the quasi mini-heart attack I got when my wife called from work, starting the call off with a somber, "I have some terrible news." Now, my mind is…
Sizing Up the AL Playoffs
We don't usually show our math work like we did when figuring Cubs' arbitration numbers in our last post . When looking at predictions , we traditionally do no math at all. Of course, I'll look up stats to see what's…
Why Don't You Arbitrate Deeeze?
Most people around the Cubs know that they prefer to settle arbitration cases than have a hearing. As fans, I think we mostly like that. Arbitration cases have a likelihood of creating bad feelings between the player…
We're All Counting on You, Lucas Duda
Not that anyone cares, but we're battling in our rotisserie league to finish in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. Today's MLB schedule is light due to many off days, so this was a day to grab hitters off the waiver wire and get…
Three Link Thursday
There were a few items on the InterWeb the last couple of days that we wanted to share, and since it's thursday and we're suckers for alliteration, then voilà, it's Three Link Thursday. First, former Miami Dolphin…
Ugh, Pitcher Wins? Is this 1972?
How bad can things get in Cleveland? LeBron is gone, so the Cavs are terrible. The Indians are playing out the string. The Browns are ranked 32nd on most power polls, including ESPN's. They don't even have a hockey…
Valvoline: 11? Probably
As most regular readers of this space know, my "day job" involves marketing, media, advertising, etc. Just as we have an occasional NFL post , please excuse the occasional media commentary. We'll keep the subjects…
Chris Sale the Closer
I just read on CBS Sports the breaking news about our favorite White Sox pitcher, Chris Sale...... Guillen calls Sale his Closer " From The Sports Xchange notes: RHP Bobby Jenks (elbow) was still unavailable during the…
Old School
There’s not a lot of baseball in this post, sorry. This is more of a big mess of psychological nonsense about feeling old. I actually recommend not reading it. Please move on. There is nothing to see here. When I turned…
'Roids, Aging, & The Pride of the Goldpanners
It has been twenty years since this photo was taken, yet I saw it for the first time yesterday. Why is this photo not more celebrated? Anybody know where I can get a fake ID? Perhaps, I'm exaggerating the comedic value…
NL West Fever: Catch It!
How great is the NL West? This is turning out to be an all-time great race. It's keeping my attention, as I check the standings daily and don't even really care who wins. Rookie & Comeback Players of the Year: Posey and…
Player of the Fortnight vol. 4
Sunday morning is a good a time as any to paraphrase. A wise baseball man once said, "Just give me their stats for the last two weeks, and that'll tell me who's going good," or something to that effect. Thinking of that…
Position Players of the Future 2010
Brett Wallace looks like a nice boy. Last year, when we posted our first Position Players of the Future post, we did it in late August. So, we missed out on some September callups, notably: Buster Posey, Tyler Flowers,…
2010 NFL Predictions
Drew Magary says it best in his Week 1 NFL Jamboroo (NSFKids): “I do this every year, because making brutally incorrect predictions never stops being enjoyable. Plus, if one of these predictions stumbles bass ackwards…
Britney Spears & 2010 Pitching Debuts
Remember last year, when we wrote this piece called Power Arms of the Future ? We wanted to celebrate how impressed we were with performances from young pitchers like Mat Latos, Tommy Hanson, and Neftali Feliz. The next…
How the West will be Won
The National League West race is getting better every day. While the Rockies refuse to concede anything, much will be determined over the next four days, as the Padres host the Giants for four games starting tonight at…
The Steve Phillips/Omar Minaya Post
At one point two Fridays ago, I was hit with a douse of inspiration to explore something that I knew would require a bit of exploring baseball-reference.com . ( No hard feelings if you don’t read this. It’s a lot.) As…
WAR Memo on Belated Labor Day
Happy Belated Labor Day, everyone!!! We'll get back to actual posts hopefully later today. Falling off the wagon does not affect WAR In the meantime, I wanted to inform you that until further notice, whenever we cite…
While We're Away
We're going to be heading to the lovely LaGuardia Airport for a flight to the city of my birth, Chicago. I'm actually not taking my laptop because it's a quick trip for the wedding of dear friends of ours, and we'll be…
Our 2010 Celebration of SP/RP's
We say "Don't Pay for Saves". Let other suckers waste perfectly good mid round draft picks on closers coming off good seasons. Even if you get the best closer, you could have gotten someone almost as useful much later…
Aroldis Chapman's Fantastic Pitch f/x
The last time I tried to copy and paste a graph from Texas Leaguers Pitch f/x database , the information didn't translate. Let's see if this works. Here is supposed to be the side angle of Aroldis Chapman pitches from…
Eureka! It's the "Peggy" Ad
We found a clip with the Discover Card commercial we reference in our most recent post . Thanks to Brandweek, for the link . As many of the regular readers of this space know, we're better with photos than videos. Let's…
Aug 31 MLB Predictions
It's late in the season, and it's a shame that it looks and feels like a good number of teams really have no chance at the postseason. According to coolstandings , Eighteen teams have less than a 5% chance at the…
Happy Aroldis Chapman Day
Since this past weekend, I started a post that is currently approaching 8,000 words. I'm not quite sure what to do about it because it takes a rare breed to want to read that much about what I was thinking on Friday…
The Fantasy Football Post
It is understandable, since fantasy football is more popular that fantasy baseball, most readers of this space have fantasy drafts coming up soon. For what it's worth, here are a few players we feel are currently being…
Player of the Fortnight vol. 3
It’s been a few weeks since we handed out any hardware , so we’re excited to present our third edition of Players of the Fortnight. (All stats courtesy of the inestimably valuable Fangraphs .) AL Hitter of the Fortnight…
Now This is a DUI Photo
The St. Louis Cardinals are in the news again for drinking and driving almost three and a half years after Tony LaRussa embarrassed himself and his family by falling asleep at a red light after dining on a vegetarian…
Hall of Fame's Best Outsiders
Below is our image of the best team composed of players who have been eligible for at least one Hall of Fame vote. In other words, guys who retired after 2005, like Kevin Brown and Rafael Palmeiro, are not yet eligible…
Party Like it's 1995
Because I have an unhealthy fascination with the game of baseball and its history, I dvr’d and watch a program on MLB Network called “ Baseball Seasons ”. The show dedicates an hour to examining one season from the…
Derrek Lee's Replacement
Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan mentions in his piece from yesterday’s paper that most people believe Derrek Lee will be playing elsewhere in 2011. Sullivan cites “ his age, his numbers and the fact the Cubs need a…
Pictures: NL Rookies
We've been blessed with exciting rookies this year. Just the National League has a
Happy Friday the 13th
On today's worldwide holiday of superstitions, we wanted to celebrate the odd rituals of some of baseball's quirkiest players. There was an old Larry Stone article that had some tidbits about Larry Walker's compulsion…
Happy Anniversary Tigers Fans
We're a little late in the day, but 23 years ago, on August 12, 1987, the Tigers traded a prospect named John Smoltz to the Braves for 36-year old Doyle Alexander . John Smoltz, of course, went on to a legendary career.…
2010 MLB Power Poll vol. 2
I spoke with my Dad yesterday, and he said he read one of my posts and liked it. It was the one with the John Candy reference and picture. He liked that one and has been meaning to check the blog again. That was our one…
It's Prime Time for Betemit
We used to be really high on Wilson Betemit . He was sort of a cult favorite of ours because he had little fan fare, but we liked the way he looked. He looked a bit overweight in his early 20's, and he was a…
Who's Your Chris Johnson?
Fresh off our most recent post , brilliant reader Osh went on a much appreciated Chris Johnson rant. We loved it. Our favorite part was the very beginning: "Less Cubs talk, more Chris Johnson. Thanks." Loved it! Here is…
Are You Not Entertained?
It's never easy to make your Major League debut. Think about how nervous, excited, or anxious you may get for your first day of school, or first day at a new job. Now, imagine that there are 40,000 people around you and…
Sox Sample Sale Stinks
Well, that didn't work. In his highly anticipated* Major League debut, the White Sox Chris Sale came on to start the bottom of the 8th of a 1-1 game versus the Orioles . * at least here He proceeded to walk Brian…
White Sox on Sale
No, we're not talking about getting six pairs of socks for $3.99. We're here to take a quick look at the first player from the 2010 Draft to make it to the big leagues, the 13th pick of the 1st round, Chris Sale of the…
Big Ups to Phat Albert
We often like to have fun at the expense of the White Sox and Cardinals. We've always had respect for guys who do great things in those organizations, like Dave Duncan and Don Cooper . There is deep seeded animosity…
Mets Saluted by TruWarier
This goes out to a very special friendly reader. There are many reasons my Facebook url username is RonArtest91. ( http://www.facebook.com/RonArtest91 ) He's been one of my favorite players since I saw him play intense,…
Quick Looks at a Glance
Ever since I was a kid, I'd use the term 'quick look' for when I'd see someone who looked like someone we knew or a famous person. The idea is that if you turn your head back and forth really quickly, so you only catch…
Nerd Alert: FIP, Pitch f/x, & xFIP
Since the All Star Break, Stephen Strasburg had two starts and went on the Disabled List with "shoulder inflammation". Coincidentally, Josh Beckett just came off a long DL stint of his own to start two games since the…
Player of the Fortnight vol. 2
The All-Star Break ended two weeks ago, last night, which means we may welcome back one of Baseball's most prestegious awards: the BAseball Reality Tour Player of the Fortnight Awards. The last time we handed out some…
Yankee Puma & Austin's Power
The Yankee clubhouse just got a whole lot classier . If Lance Berkman does not fit in with the Yankees, it will be because there is something wrong with the Yankees. I think guys like Cap'n Jetes, Swish, AJ & CC,…
So Long CD, Aloha Kila
The Jorge Cantu/Chris Davis platoon lasted zero days, as Davis was sent packing to Oklahoma City right after the trade with the Marlins. Chris Davis is stuck. He has nothing to prove in Triple A, but hasn't been able to…
A Fistfull of Trades
Roy Oswalt to the Phillies for J.A. Happ , Anthony Gose *, and Jonathan Villar Our reaction is that Oswalt is more than capable of being an elite pitcher in the postseason. If they make it, the Phillies will be very…
Garza's No-No & Galarraga
Matt Garza just no-hit the Detroit Tigers in front a thrilled home faithful. There was another interesting spectator, a member of the Detroit Tigers: Armando Galarraga. As you might recall, Galarraga almost threw a…
Prospect Spotlight w/Reggie
Back in the glory days of Sports Talk radio in the mid-90s, we would sometimes try to make White Sox fans sound even more like complete morons than they really are. Before the days of caller ID, and thus before spoof ,…
50 Worst MLB'ers
Good friend and brilliant reader, Jason, comment on our Top 50 Baseball Player series: “Bad contracts can [be] almost as harmful as good contracts can be helpful.” Since this will always be a place for the readers,…
599*
Alex Rodriguez hit his 599th homerun tonight, but a couple of days ago, in his latest blog post , Ken Rosenthal raised an interesting point about Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod, with each homer, gets closer to $30 million in…
Top 50: Omissions & Revisions
Whenever sharing opinions of who’s better, who’s best in baseball, like in the very good reading & reference book: Elliot Kalb’s “ Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Baseball? ” , debate will be sparked. Last night, at…
Top 50 Baseball Players
ESPN.com's Bill Simmons does an NBA column like this every season. He calls it the NBA Trade Value column, and he decides to rank the Top 50 most valuable players in the NBA. Age, future performance, and contract status…
Fun Trading with rZIP's
This morning, we glanced at a couple of guys' Rest-of-Season ZIPS Projection numbers from the invaluable Fangraphs site. One player we looked at is in his prime, the other appears to be having more of a renaissance. In…
Trades in the Balance
Is this a fair rotisserie baseball trade? The league scoring is standard 5x5, except we use onbase percentage rather than batting average. The Randy Randos trade: Clay Buchholz Brandon Phillips Hunter Pence Desmond…
2014 Future Star: Aaron Hicks
According to this report from Minneapolis , the Twins offered Seattle Wilson Ramos and Aaron Hicks for Cliff Lee. Twins prospect Wilson Ramos, a major league-ready catcher with Joe Mauer ahead of him, is the name most…
Player of the Fortnight Awards
A couple of weeks ago, in this post , we tried differentiating the ol' BAseball Reality Tour by awarding Midweek Players of the Week. On July 4th, in between exasperating moments of heat and isolation on Governors…
Recent Rumors & Reactions
July is the best month of the year for MLB trade rumors, and thus mlbtraderumors.com . To keep up with the pace, we will try to pull the highlights from recent posts... Miguel Tejada to the Phillies I actually like this…
Omar Infante is in the News
Apparantly dozens of writers have already beaten this drum, so we'll let it be. The only thing we'd like to point out is as follows: Omar Infante Games: 57 Plate Appearances: 177 Strikeouts: 29 Walks: 9 BA/OBP/SLG:…
Just Ramble On...
I've been working on a piece analyzing MLB players rumored to be available in trades. We know Cliff Lee is the top prize. Roy Oswalt will be good wherever he is, and then, of course, there's everyone else. I've been at…
World Cup Elite 8
The Elite Eight of the 2010 World Cup begins right now! And Robinho scores. Goooooooooool! To further underscore the Games' legacy and heritage, we will provide a couple of lists of the remaining teams... Team Most…
Top 100 Sports Books
Over the weekend, Joe Posnanski was inspired by this , and wrote this , where he mentions that he will be putting together his list for top 100 sports books. Asking for reader nominations, here are the rules... 1. All…
2010 MLB Power Poll
About half the season is over, and although we very recently revisited our predictions, we have not given much thought to who's better and who's best, regardless of which division they're in. The Andy Pratt Bunch 30.…
Midweek Players of the Week
Before we get to the usual seamhead talk, can we take a minute to discuss the World Cup? I love this event. The first World Cup I remember was the summer after the Bears won the Super Bowl: 1996. When I was a kid, the…
Colonel Mustard Strikes Again!
We use our Preseason Predictions as the standard to review at the end of the year. Still, we like to take another look at what our crystal ball would forecast from different times during this season. Let's take the…
What's Up with Yonder Alonso?
When we were in High School, a couple of my buddies and I would call local (Chicago) and National sports talk radio programs and assume the personalities of many, many characters. We were sort of like the "sports jerky…
Unlikely All-Stars
I went to the Yankees game on Memorial Day, which was the first time this season I got an All-Star ballot . As usual, I rode the fence between the players with the best performances and my favorite players. Let's take a…
Another Natural: Carlos Santana
Just a quick note this evening... Doesn't Carlos Santana "look" like a good hitter? I'm not talking about the gaudy minor league stats , his minor league MVP awards (plural), nor his successful start in his first three…
Hanging with the Silver Hawks
When I was about 15 or 16 years old, I went to South Bend, Indiana to attend a week-long baseball camp at the University of Notre Dame. This was when Pat Murphy was coaching the Irish. Murphy would leave Notre Dame the…
Irasshaimase, Jose Tabata
This week may be remembered as the time the Blackhawks won their 4th Stanley Cup AND one of the great weeks of Major League debuts in history. We already celebrated everyone's All-American, Stephen Strasburg , demolish…
JoPo's Strasburg Live Blog
Blog favorite, Joe Posnanski, is doing a live blog for Stephen Strasburg's debut. We were thinking of doing the same but are more than happy to sit back, relax, and enjoy Poz's thoughts on the inning-by-inning action.…
Best Picks by Decade: Cubs
This past Friday, I was inspired by Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle who highlighted the top draft picks by the Astros, by decade. In his piece , he lists Cliff Johnson (1960s), Greg Gross (1970s), Brian Hunter…
Public Enemy: Jim Joyce
As Joe Posnanski eloquently alluded to after Roy Halladay's perfect game on Saturday , perfect games and near-perfect games are all the rage. Tiger fans should be celebrating the franchise's first ever perfect game…
Intriguing Trade Chips
In light of today's two trades, Dontrelle to the D'Backs and Dana Eveland to Pittsburgh , we thought it would be fun to look at two intriguing trade chips in each division that we believe are flying a bit under the…
Newest Good Friend: Buster Posey
We dropped Matsuzaka and picked up Gerald Demp "Buster" Posey . According to Andrew Baggarly, of the San Jose Mercury News ... A very good source just told me that the Giants will recall a position player before…
PTI Knockoff: Fortune Teller
Derrek Lee is two (2) home runs away from getting to 300 for his career. He won the World Series with the 2003 Florida Marlins, but had most of his best personal season with the Cubs. Most notable, Lee shined as a Cub…
All Appreciation Team
This list is subject to change on a daily basis. It is simply a list of the player we appreciate the opportunity to watch play at each position. We could, I guess, also call it our favorite player team, but it’s more…
Why We Don't Pay for Saves
We're going to try something different today. Below is a photographic exhibit of why we don't pay for
Expecting Good Things, Brandon Morrow
We're not exactly expecting greatness yet, but we like what we're hearing about something clicking with Morrow after his teammate, Shaun Marcum, gave him a tip that helped him find his release point and feel more…
Willkommen, Drew Storen
The not so big news from last night is the Nationals' decision to call up rookie relief pitcher, and #10 overall pick in the 2009 draft: Drew Storen . We've hinted at this guy's talents since last June, so regular…
The Power/Speed Elite
The Bill James Power/Speed formula is 2*(HR*SB)/(HR+SB) We looked through players' 2009 numbers and production from this young 2010 season, to come up with the best team made up of power/speed guys. As if you needed…
Updated Relief Pitcher Rankings
For you fantasy baseball players out there... Mariano Rivera, NYY Jonathan Broxton, LAD Jonathan Papelbon, BOS Jose Valverde, DET Heath Bell, SD Joakim Soria, KC Francisco Rodriguez, NYM Carlos Marmol, CHC Francisco…
Get Well Soon, Juan Cruz
Yesterday, Buster Olney tweeted the news that Juan Cruz is having season-ending surgery. Upon further tweeting by Mr. Olney , we discover that due to a cyst in his shoulder, he''s having that cleaned up and should be…
Working Some Trades
This post sprung from a chain of emails that started with our good friend, Mulhearn, emailing me the following: "What was more impress last night. Dice-K pitching 3 hit ball with no walkers, or the Celtics destroying…
Belated Players of the Month
We wanted to get this post out over a week ago and even avoided news of who was actually selected as MLB Players of the Month for April. Based on our recollections and brief look at last month's stats, here are some…
Looking Ahead, Along the Way
Due to our recent silence, it's going to be a busy next few days here on the ol' blog. I was going to do one long, rambling Clearing the Notebook column covering a myriad of topics, but instead think it'll work best to…
Juan Cruz to the Cubs?
Over the past week, the Kansas City Royals have taken the steps required to release blog favorite Juan Cruz . Fangraphs' R.J. Anderson raises some good points, while wondering aloud why the Royals made this move. From…
Drew Storen's Best Teammate
Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen were drafted in the 1st round by the Washington Nationals last June. We expect both of them to contribute with the big club in Washington later this year, but they have begun the season…
The Managerial Rise of Enyr Grebdnas
Harry Caray, bless his heart, had a fascination with names. Players, teams, countries, no-one was safe from his imagination. He would criticize people who's last name sounded better to him as a first name. For example,…
Breaking Up is Hard to Do...
Ever since I started playing fantasy sports, I've had a compulsive habit of adding and dropping players. I despise having open slots on my roster, when normal starters have days off. I love spotting and riding a hot…
Does Bad Hitting Beat Bad Pitching?
The old adage is "Good pitching beats good hitting." We usually see it in the playoffs and All Star Games , when potent lineups are held to reasonably low run totals. Today, fans have a chance to watch the opposite…
Super Bowl XX, Naked Gun, & Wimbledon
I have journals (usually travel journals), but I don’t have a diary. So, there will be times when I have to use this space to get some personal stuff off my chest. This season’s first installment of introspective…
2010 Power Arms Pro Debut
Today was a memorable day due to the professional debuts of Mike Leake , Stephen Strasburg , and the mysterious Aroldis Chapman . All three performances were impressive. Here are a few notes from those that are in the…
85% Available All-Stars
In Matthew Berry’s column this past Thursday, he lists (in his words): “The first non-pitchers that I would pick up for each position that are available in at least 85 percent of leagues.” I thought it would be a good…
Oh Man, Sorry Sammy G!!
Less than 24-hours after taking the early season lead as our 2010 Lester "The Molester" Lancaster Award Winner, Sammy Gervacio is going on the 15-day DL with posterior rotator cuff starin in his throwing shoulder,…
New Favorite Non-Closer
Warning notice: I'm sorry. This post should only interesting to me and, maybe, longtime friends. Proceed with caution... For some reason, I've always been a fan of flame-throwing relief pitchers who don't get the glory…
Opening Day Channel Surfing
The following consists of a few rambling observations while flipping through the MLB package on Timer Warner Cable in Manhattan. What can be said about Albert Pujols? He starts the year with four hits and two homeruns.…
Blue Jays Moving On
Shaun Marcum is going for a no hitter, with 1 out in the 6th inning. Elvis Andrus shows a bunt on the 1st pitch, fouls off the 2nd pitch, eventually running to count to 2-2 before striking out looking. The no-no is…
2010 MLB Predictions
This post was started on March 29th, on a Path train to Hoboken, and a NJ Transit train from Hoboken to Millburn. It was continued on a Metro North train roundtrip between Grand Central and North White Plains. My thumbs…
20 under 20%
The other consideration for title of this post was the sophomoric How Deep is Too Deep . As is commonly said, in "shallow" leagues teams need big time studs to win, and in deeper leagues teams need to find lesser known…
Mister Michael Brantley
If your fantasy team needs steals, Michael Brantley might help. He'll be starting in Left Field for the Indians on Opening Day. Last season in Triple-A, he stole 46 bases in 51
Rotisserie Pillars
Anticipation for the new season is abundant. As the creative juices of the ol' blog percolate on the hot stove, we should have a few blog posts in the next several days. This is just a collection of quick notes to, as…
Last-Minute Player Rankings
For everyone having a late Spring draft this week/weekend, here is a quick rundown of our latest player rankings with no comments or photos. Enjoy... Catcher Joe Mauer Victor Martinez Brian McCann Matt Wieters Jorge…
Osh's Intriguing List
So, Brilliant Reader Osh's fantasy draft is tonight. He emailed me yesterday asking if I'd be around as a lifeline during his draft. At the end of the email, he sent a list of players he found "intriguing", and I found…
Spanning the Blogosphere
It's been a busy day on the ol' blog, as I attempt to calm my nerves before my cross-continental flight tomorrow. Has travel anxiety ever affected any of you? I used to travel all the time, for vacation, as a kid. When…
Fantasy Baseball: Catchers
We're coming to you live from a coffee shop/bar in Valdelagrana, Spain . Keeping up with our tab has us at one cafe con leche . Per the request of a new, loyal reader, we are beginning our series of fantasy baseball…
Stroll Down Memory (bowling) Lane
This is not a baseball post. In fact, there is no originality on my part. I just want to share a recent Posnanski blog post, which I enjoyed very much. My favorite part: " My father worked in a factory, brutal work, six…
Coop & Dunc
It has been an unseasonably long break between posts because I have been forced to leave the country. I am in Spain for a covert scouting mission that is still covert, since only about five (5) people read this blog. In…
The Best Free Agents Left
Most of the guys from our Top 50 Free Agent post two months ago have been signed, leading to a potential discussion of "Who are the best free agents left out there?" We know that the Mariner's have about $5 to $10…
Anyone got Hendry's Number?
Note: I wrote this on my blackberry and apologize for any formatting malfeasance. Jason Stark has the impression that the Cubs have set aside their interest in Ben Sheets as they pursue a bench bat and a setup man. Who…
Rookie Stuff
So, my buddy Weino tells me all the time that he prefers shorter, quick-hit posts to long, rambling posts about six dozen ballplayers, their agents, and hyperbole. Personally, I like to have something to say before I…
Single Season Homerun Record
No time for Hot Stove or Sleeper analysis today, but in anticipation of Mark McGwire's impending public castigation, I would like to provide my interpretation of the actual single season home run records, without Big…
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