https://baseballrealitytour.com/ Baseball views combining memories, math, and love for the game. en-us Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:33:00 -0400 https://baseballrealitytour.com/2020/10/vestigial-echoes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2020/10/vestigial-echoes/ Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:33:00 -0400 Editor's note: this was an unfinished 2017 draft; posting now with neither edits nor additions... Torco sign on Sheffiled in 1987... By: Mark Susina via flickr Here's what Sheffield looked like more recently... By: Mark… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2017/04/2017-mlb-season-preview/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2017/04/2017-mlb-season-preview/ Sun, 02 Apr 2017 10:34:00 -0400 The reader's enjoyment of a blog post is negatively correlated with the length of the introduction. This is our season preview. AL West Predicted Standings Houston Astros Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Texas… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/10/untitled/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/10/untitled/ Sat, 22 Oct 2016 11:00:00 -0400 The Cubs are one win away from their first World Series since 1945. The palpable tension of 1984, '89, '98, '03, '07 & '08 has yet to take effect on the current iteration of the Chicago Cubs National League Ballclub.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/10/rose-arod-big-hurt/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/10/rose-arod-big-hurt/ Sat, 22 Oct 2016 01:16:00 -0400 Pete Rose got 4,256 hits in the Major Leagues, the most all time. Frank Thomas , a first ballot Hall of Famer, began his career with seven straight inner-circle Hall of Fame seasons. Alex Rodriguez hit 696 home runs in… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/10/2016-mlb-awards-ballot/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/10/2016-mlb-awards-ballot/ Tue, 04 Oct 2016 18:50:00 -0400 MLB Awards ballots are due at the end of each regular season, so that post-season performance doesn't skew voters' opinions. I actually started this early Monday morning, but work (as usual) got in the way, so I won't… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/08/mlb-pennant-races/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/08/mlb-pennant-races/ Thu, 18 Aug 2016 21:31:00 -0400 The clarity of pennant races is always fun to look into this time of year. American League There's a virtual dead heat between the Toronto and Boston to win the AL East, with the Blue Jays up by a slight margin. In the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/04/2016-mlb-season-preview-nl-east/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/04/2016-mlb-season-preview-nl-east/ Sat, 02 Apr 2016 23:53:00 -0400 Baseball begins on Sunday. Rather than blasting an overwhelming tsunami of information on our faithful readers, we are going to release our 2016 MLB Season Preview in more digestible installments. The first one explores… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/01/2016-hall-of-fame-ballot/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2016/01/2016-hall-of-fame-ballot/ Tue, 05 Jan 2016 02:30:00 -0500 The BBWAA will announce the players they elected to the Hall of Fame at 6pm ET tomorrow. Let's get our faux ballot on the record before it's too late. Since we started doing this six years ago, below is a list of the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/12/yonder-alonso-late-bloomer-or-lame-duck/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/12/yonder-alonso-late-bloomer-or-lame-duck/ Wed, 02 Dec 2015 21:42:00 -0500 Earlier today, the Oakland A's traded pitchers Drew Pomeranz , Jose Torres , and a player to be named later to the San Diego Padres for first baseman Yonder Alonso and reliever Marc Rzepczynski . Initial reactions lean… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/11/warming-up-hot-stove/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/11/warming-up-hot-stove/ Fri, 06 Nov 2015 22:33:00 -0500 For fans of teams that didn't partake in serious contention of a title, and that's most teams, this is their favorite time of year. They say Opening Day brings optimism, but it's really the hot stove league that can… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/11/2015-16-mlb-free-agent-tiered-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/11/2015-16-mlb-free-agent-tiered-rankings/ Fri, 06 Nov 2015 00:30:00 -0500 Credit: Bruce Hemmelgarn/Getty Images At the moment, I believe the top free agents to be Jason Heyward , Yoenis Cespedes , David Price , Zack Greinke , Justin Upton , and Alex Gordon . That would be my top tier,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/10/2015-mlb-award-ballot/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/10/2015-mlb-award-ballot/ Tue, 06 Oct 2015 15:38:00 -0400 Voters shouldn't allow postseason performance to skew their voting for regular season awards. With the same caution we now present our 2015 MLB Award Faux ballots... No-one was hurt in the making of these choices.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/07/mlb-starting-pitching-trade-market/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/07/mlb-starting-pitching-trade-market/ Wed, 29 Jul 2015 23:57:00 -0400 This started off as a simple tweet about Andrew Cashner's career FIP as a starter. As you can see, it became much more than 140 characters, when we wanted to add the context of other starting pitchers who have been… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/06/kung-foo-panda-and-red-sox-angst/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/06/kung-foo-panda-and-red-sox-angst/ Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:14:00 -0400 Photo by Brandon Wade / AP Unclogging our writer's block... On twitter this Sunday afternoon, the legendary Michael Schur bemoaned how much the Red Sox owe Pablo Sandoval : “Don't worry, Sox fans -- we only have to pay… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/01/yankee-prudence/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/01/yankee-prudence/ Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:44:00 -0500 "Hal Steinbrenner" by Paul J. Bereswill Living in New York for most of the past decade, it's easy to pick up the rhythms of the metropolis's professional sports teams. It's well known the Yankees have changed since the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/01/2015-hall-of-fame-suspense/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2015/01/2015-hall-of-fame-suspense/ Mon, 05 Jan 2015 11:55:00 -0500 There's a lot of talk about the suspense surrounding tomorrow's announcement as to who will get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this Summer. Unfortunately, I'm not really on the edge of my seat on the matter.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/12/team-off-street/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/12/team-off-street/ Mon, 22 Dec 2014 22:33:00 -0500 We built a team of Hall of Fame Outsiders this morning. Now, we are looking at present day team construction. How good could a team fully comprised of late December free agents be this year? Let's see what's available… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/12/hall-of-fames-best-outsiders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/12/hall-of-fames-best-outsiders/ Mon, 22 Dec 2014 14:21:00 -0500 We did this once in 2010 and again at this time last year . The point is to construct the best team of players who have been eligible for at least one Hall of Fame vote. In other words, guys who retired after 2009, like… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/08/bienvenidos-javier/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/08/bienvenidos-javier/ Wed, 06 Aug 2014 09:01:00 -0400 We're not sure how long MLB lords allow this video online, ominously dreading that moment, whereas we may auspiciously enjoy this here and now, or, um, after a :03-second Pepsi ad: Welcome to the big leagues, Javier… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/06/todays-lesson-in-volatilty-of-pitching/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/06/todays-lesson-in-volatilty-of-pitching/ Mon, 09 Jun 2014 00:30:00 -0400 It's been a long night, and just for fun, we checked in on the leaders in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) metrics at the moment, morning of June 9, 2014. The Top 10 of FIP leaders, with at least 10 innings pitched… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/05/poof-its-gone/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/05/poof-its-gone/ Tue, 13 May 2014 12:22:00 -0400 Elite pitching with World Class velocity will be short lived. The human arm is not built to accelerate and decelerate at the speeds and angles required to throw a baseball over 90 mph. The risks to ill effects increases… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/05/fun-with-mlb-leaderboards/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/05/fun-with-mlb-leaderboards/ Mon, 12 May 2014 15:35:00 -0400 Some really scary news about Antarctica melting was in the New York Times today. A radical climate shift is most certainly upon us. I'm sitting in a sweltering office in midtown Manhattan. There was snow in these parts… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/05/players-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/05/players-of-fortnight/ Sun, 04 May 2014 13:09:00 -0400 Lots of changes happening at the HQ of the ol' blog. I quit my job on Friday, which was a unique experience. Saturday, my baby daughter turned one fortnight old, which we celebrated with a brief walk in the park. As we… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/04/on-jp-arencibia/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/04/on-jp-arencibia/ Mon, 14 Apr 2014 06:54:00 -0400 While considering J.P. Arencibia for my Hacking Mass team on Baseball Prospectus, I wondered how he managed to get 497 plate appearances with a .227 on-base percentage. After a quick spin of the Baseball-Reference Play… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/04/mets-legend-desi-relaford/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/04/mets-legend-desi-relaford/ Tue, 01 Apr 2014 22:50:00 -0400 This happened yesterday, but in this Mets fan's defense, Desi Relaford 's best season was with the Mets. According to Fangraphs, Desi Relaford earned -0.7 WAR over his 11-year career, in spite of 2.0 WAR in his one… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/2014-mlb-season-preview/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/2014-mlb-season-preview/ Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:36:00 -0400 It's been a brutally cold winter across most of the Northern hemisphere this year, with feeble warmth from the hot stove. We are ready for warm weather and ballgames. At least the ballgames start this week. Let's look… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/fun-with-spring-stats/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/fun-with-spring-stats/ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 15:57:00 -0400 We like to have fun with all kinds of stats over here. Usually, we look for something more valuable than a minuscule sample size of Spring Training stats that are almost meaningless because of varying competition levels… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/cleveland-indians-2014-season-preview/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/cleveland-indians-2014-season-preview/ Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:11:00 -0400 Our series of interesting* team preview posts begins on the shores of the Cuyahoga River. In his first season at the helm of the Cleveland clubhouse, Terry Francona exceeded most expectations. The 2012 Indians went… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/handsy-grandsy/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/03/handsy-grandsy/ Sat, 08 Mar 2014 10:05:00 -0500 Thanks to our friends at reddit for the GIF https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/02/baseball-organizational-replacement/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/02/baseball-organizational-replacement/ Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:22:00 -0500 As Vince Genarro wrote seven years ago , "A team’s location on the win-curve—their absolute level of wins—has a dramatic impact on the value of a win." Every year, we draw a line for replacement level at each position,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/02/who-said-mike-trouts-not-perfect/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/02/who-said-mike-trouts-not-perfect/ Tue, 04 Feb 2014 23:38:00 -0500 A special "thank you" goes out to Sam Miller for mentioning, on Effectively Wild , that he sometimes goes to BrooksBaseball.net for a quick snapshot of a player. Sam is right. It's great. It succinctly tells you a lot… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/02/how-may-we-compare-slash-line-trends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/02/how-may-we-compare-slash-line-trends/ Sat, 01 Feb 2014 11:20:00 -0500 Former Mariners' Prospect, Wladimir Belentien , has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. While reviewing historical free agents available this late in the offseason , I stumbled across his… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/mlbs-most-underrated-team/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/mlbs-most-underrated-team/ Wed, 29 Jan 2014 23:06:00 -0500 In response to Brian Kenny... 2013 All-Underrated Team: 1b: Belt 2b: Infante SS: Lowrie 3b: Seager C: Lucroy LF: Nava CF: Rasmus RF: Venable — Brian Kenny (@MrBrianKenny) January 27, 2014 ... below are some thoughts on… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/yankee-third-base-options/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/yankee-third-base-options/ Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:48:00 -0500 As soon as Alex Rodriguez 's 162-game suspension was announced, baseball writers and bloggers speculated as to who'd play 3rd base for the Yankees. Jay Jaffe summarized internal and free agent candidates to replace… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/rambling-on-revisited/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/rambling-on-revisited/ Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:15:00 -0500 Buster Olney reported in his column today that, contrary to trade speculation earlier in the season, David Price will likely stay with the Rays this season. " Ninety percent chance he stays ," one rival executive said.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/walking-from-philly-to-oakland_7/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/walking-from-philly-to-oakland_7/ Tue, 07 Jan 2014 15:14:00 -0500 Have you ever heard of a ballplayer from the 1920s and '30s named Max Bishop ? More than likely, you have heard of the '27 Yankees, with their menacing nickname: Murderers' Row . Max Bishop was not a member of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/of-win-shares-and-war/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2014/01/of-win-shares-and-war/ Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:36:00 -0500 Does it mean anything if WAR does not align with Win Shares? Working on a project for another site, had me doing an analysis of Orel Hershiser , Bret Saberhagen , and Steve Garvey . avWAR * Bret Saberhagen 59 (4.6 per… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/2014-hall-of-fame-ballot_31/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/2014-hall-of-fame-ballot_31/ Tue, 31 Dec 2013 10:15:00 -0500 We began this post a couple of months ago. We've written thousands of words about whom we would, and would not, vote for if we had a Hall of Fame ballot. For the sake of our readership, we've decided to strip this down… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/2013-holiday-season-now-playing-ranked/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/2013-holiday-season-now-playing-ranked/ Sat, 21 Dec 2013 14:51:00 -0500 It's been a long time since we've had a not-baseball post. With the best time of the year to go to the movies upon us, below is a humbly ranked list of cinema options this holiday season: American Hustle Inside Llewyn… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/hall-of-fames-best-outsiders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/hall-of-fames-best-outsiders/ Sat, 14 Dec 2013 10:14:00 -0500 Earlier this week, I emailed Graham Womack my submission for Baseball: Past and Present 's fourth annual " 50 Best Players Not in the Hall of Fame " project. Back in the Summer of 2010, we assembled our first occasional… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/fangraphs-spray-charts-are-here/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/12/fangraphs-spray-charts-are-here/ Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:32:00 -0500 Baseball fans were given a late Hanukkah / early Christmas present today, when David Appelman announced that Fangraphs now has batted ball and fielded ball spray charts for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, courtesy of Inside… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/11/reasons-run-scoring-is-so-low/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/11/reasons-run-scoring-is-so-low/ Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:56:00 -0500 AL and NL runs scored/game were both at their lowest level since 1992. — P (@Toirtap) November 19, 2013 People have differing reactions to the statement above. First, some context... Average Runs Scored per Game 1919:… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/11/3-year-batting-pitching-and-fielding/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/11/3-year-batting-pitching-and-fielding/ Sun, 17 Nov 2013 22:31:00 -0500 Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox on winning their third World Series in ten years. Narrative and praise can be bestowed upon any player, manager, coach, or executive, for their success the past decade. Many in the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/10/shortstop-by-jose-iglesias/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/10/shortstop-by-jose-iglesias/ Thu, 17 Oct 2013 21:36:00 -0400 This Jose Iglesias catch is too good to leave off the reality tour. Get ready for a decade of comparisons to Andrelton Simmons https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/all-re24-teams/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/all-re24-teams/ Thu, 26 Sep 2013 05:07:00 -0400 Joe Posnanski, wrote about RE24 three weeks ago : "The statistic is called RE24 because, as you might know, there are 24 different possibilities when a batter comes up in any given inning. There are eight “states.” They… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/royals-fever/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/royals-fever/ Mon, 16 Sep 2013 23:03:00 -0400 This was worthy of more than a simple #subRetweet. Kansas City has Royals fever. Thanks to Ben Badler and Ryan Fagan. @BenBadler A vine for now ... http://t.co/0MQzaG8vFv — Ryan Fagan (@ryanfagan) September 17, https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/2013-ex-cub-factor/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/2013-ex-cub-factor/ Sun, 15 Sep 2013 10:48:00 -0400 Flipping through the games on TV this past Wednesday night, we saw the Orioles' Scott Feldman strike out New York's Alfonso Soriano just moments before the Rays' David DeJesus worked a walk against Boston's Ryan… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/enjoying-pennant-races/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/09/enjoying-pennant-races/ Sun, 08 Sep 2013 01:03:00 -0400 Talking baseball pennant races around the hype and hysteria of fantasy football madness is about as quaint as asking someone if they've taken a chance to stop and smell the roses lately. A few weeks ago, it seemed like… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/08/dodgers-magic/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/08/dodgers-magic/ Thu, 15 Aug 2013 09:33:00 -0400 It's been a month since our last post. So sad, but necessary. All the Biogenesis and Aroid talk from the past month has pushed me away from the computer. The horribly preachy sportswriting of others, the distraction of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/best-and-worst-of-mlbs-first-half/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/best-and-worst-of-mlbs-first-half/ Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:22:00 -0400 The Major League Baseball All-Star break is upon us. It's a good time to take a deep dive into a specific analysis because first-half stats are set for a few days. We'll likely get into something this afternoon that… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/everyone-is-now-dumber-for-having/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/everyone-is-now-dumber-for-having/ Sun, 14 Jul 2013 21:26:00 -0400 I don't think I've ever done this before. So, I'll get on the soapbox without apology, as I have to vent at the stubborn establishment of baseball media. Put me in the group of those fed up with these statistics that… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/trade-deadline-dreaming-is-believing/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/trade-deadline-dreaming-is-believing/ Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:35:00 -0400 We took a look at the trade target for contenders a bit earlier last year, at the start of June. We are only three weeks from this season's non-waiver trade deadline, which gives us a different perspective. Let's see if… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/manny-machados-throw-in-yankee-stadium/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/manny-machados-throw-in-yankee-stadium/ Sun, 07 Jul 2013 16:52:00 -0400 The Baltimore Orioles' Manny Machado turned 21-years old yesterday, while in New York for a weekend series with the Yankees. On Manny Machado's 21st birthday, he received word that he made the American League All Star… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/chicago-cubs-and-greyber-allstars/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/chicago-cubs-and-greyber-allstars/ Wed, 03 Jul 2013 00:23:00 -0400 The Chicago Cubs had a banner day retooling their farm system. In a few years, when the Cubs are looking good and have a surplus of power arms in the organization, we can look back on July 2, 2013. The international… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/colletti-bets-on-marmol/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/07/colletti-bets-on-marmol/ Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:04:00 -0400 The Dodgers traded for exiled Cubs closer Carlos Marmol this morning, sending Matt Guerrier to Chicago. Today is a somber day for Cubs' fans. The team DFA'd Marmol a few days ago, but many expected him to simply end up… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/whats-up-with-matt-moore/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/whats-up-with-matt-moore/ Wed, 26 Jun 2013 22:52:00 -0400 A month ago, Matt Moore was 8-0 with a 2.21 ERA and looked like a good bet to start the All Star Game. He has arguably been the worst pitcher in the American League since then. It would be a shame if Matt Moore never… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/prospecting-for-arms-ft-kyle-gibson/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/prospecting-for-arms-ft-kyle-gibson/ Sun, 23 Jun 2013 21:23:00 -0400 Rumors abound that the Minnesota Twins may be charting out a course for Kyle Gibson to join the Major League team's rotation. He's probably one of the five best starters in the Twins organization, but how much of an… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/rookies-on-rise/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/rookies-on-rise/ Fri, 21 Jun 2013 09:58:00 -0400 This season is shaping up to have a fantastic rookie class. While the American League boasts a couple of baseball's most elite prospects, in Jurickson Profar and Wil Myers , it's been the National League rookies that… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/beaning-and-fisting/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/beaning-and-fisting/ Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:42:00 -0400 On Monday afternoon, Jacob Peterson of @JunkStats pointed out an anomaly with Doug Fister 's propensity to hit batters this season. As some of you may know, Doug Fister leads the league with 12 HBP. Jacob pointed out… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/green-wave-arms-race/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/green-wave-arms-race/ Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:16:00 -0400 It's nice to see a pitching prospect at Tulane with a sense of humor. Two months ago, in a piece on Hall of Fame basketball coach Greg Popovich , Joe Posnanski relayed a tale you may remember: Someone asks him how he… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/midweek-musings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/midweek-musings/ Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:30:00 -0400 This could be the year the Pittsburgh Pirates break their 20-year old postseason drought. It will most certainly be the year they break their 20-year run of finishing below .500. Break the Curse of Sid Bream 's Slide… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/2013-mlb-draft-recap/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/2013-mlb-draft-recap/ Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:29:00 -0400 In case you missed it, we're recapping the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft for posterity. Once again, MLB Network is doing a fine job without the help of Kevin Millar or Mitch Williams . The real treat in listening to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/50-ways-to-pick-all-star-team/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/06/50-ways-to-pick-all-star-team/ Thu, 06 Jun 2013 05:48:00 -0400 Major League Baseball released the All Star Ballots obscenely early this year, about 3 weeks into the season. Below is a link from April 24th. @ mlbonfox @ allstargame it's too early — Bobby Aguilera (@BobbyAguilera)… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/bashing-dudas-gotta-end/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/bashing-dudas-gotta-end/ Tue, 28 May 2013 20:13:00 -0400 Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images For over a month now, I've noticed media members covering the Mets will disturbingly criticize Lucas Duda for taking too many pitches. On April 24th, Gary Cohen, one of the Mets' TV… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/player-of-fortnight/ Fri, 24 May 2013 10:10:00 -0400 With no games until this evening, it's as good a time as any to honor the most locked-in players in Baseball. About 20 years ago, a scout told me the best way to quickly see which players are on top of their game is to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/memorable-tuesday-night-baseball/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/memorable-tuesday-night-baseball/ Wed, 08 May 2013 03:14:00 -0400 Matt Harvey was unstoppable tonight. The White Sox never had a chance against him. As just about anyone reading this knows, Harvey went 9 innings, facing 28 batters, retiring 27. After 20-straight outs, Alex Rios ran… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/mlb-attendance-trends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/mlb-attendance-trends/ Wed, 01 May 2013 10:02:00 -0400 One month into the season, let's check out the early returns from box offices around the league. Similar to other statistical analysis, we are dealing with a small sample that could potentially skew results, for… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/surprising-season-stats-small-sample/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/05/surprising-season-stats-small-sample/ Wed, 01 May 2013 01:01:00 -0400 Red Sox pitchers have the highest K% and BB% in the American League. Neither statistic is particularly surprising, but the duality of the records is rare. Since 1990, it has happened twice, both by the Cubs: In their… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/mlb-ballplayers-on-vine/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/mlb-ballplayers-on-vine/ Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:34:00 -0400 A couple of weeks before getting traded from Oakland to Houston, Travis Blackley set off his first Vine. It was a simple film, six stages of his iced coffee. In other clips, Blackley shares candid moments with his A's… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/penguins-visit-tampa-bay-rays/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/penguins-visit-tampa-bay-rays/ Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:40:00 -0400 Penguins visited the Tampa Bay Rays' clubhouse today, reinforcing the fact that Joe Maddon is a progressive thinker. FWIW, I wouldn't leave Kyle Farnsworth alone with one of those things. Go Rays! I checked with Elias.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/mlb-team-by-team-at-glance/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/mlb-team-by-team-at-glance/ Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:29:00 -0400 More than half of today's games are matinees, including a couple of 12:35 ET starts in Baltimore and Cincinnati. So, we don't have all afternoon to craft a comprehensive This Moment in Baseball post. Instead, let's run… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/2013-leadoff-hitter-power-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/2013-leadoff-hitter-power-rankings/ Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:45:00 -0400 The importance of batting order construction is a polarizing debate. I tend to lean towards evidence that batting order construction ultimately means very little. The one spot in the lineup that tends to be the most… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/quick-notes-around-baseball/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/quick-notes-around-baseball/ Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:45:00 -0400 Starling Marte , of the Pirates, has 2 hits in 4 straight games. Colby Rasmus has 4 this year, 3 of which are home runs. He'll probably hit 20+ HR's and hit .220 for the Blue Jays. Make no mistake, Matt Harvey is a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/what-happened-last-night/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/what-happened-last-night/ Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:38:00 -0400 In honor of MLB's first 15-game day, and as we did in June of '09 , we present our brief notes from perusing the box scores, attempting to answer 'What happened last night?' Cubs 0 at Pirates 3 Caught much of this game… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/baseballs-season-of-gif/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/baseballs-season-of-gif/ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:31:00 -0400 We have yet to determine the finest GIF from Sunday night's game, but Monday had A.J. Burnett messing around with a white powder . Tuesday night, at a Blue Jays game, a fired up fan caught a bat that flew into the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/aj-burnett-and-things-fall-apart/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/04/aj-burnett-and-things-fall-apart/ Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:46:00 -0400 Courtesy of something called DeckersDelight on the burgeoning /baseball subreddit, we get an Opening Day gif for the ages , starring the Pittsburgh Pirates' A.J. Burnett and his resin bag. Is it rosin bag? Or, resin… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/03/the-tantalizing-style-and-tools-of/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/03/the-tantalizing-style-and-tools-of/ Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:15:00 -0400 The Texas Rangers' toolsie teen prospect, Jairo Beras, is suspended until July 1st but still allowed to play in unofficial, minor league Spring Training games. By the looks of his @jairoberas twitter profile pic, Beras… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/03/position-by-position-at-glance/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/03/position-by-position-at-glance/ Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:19:00 -0400 Only a couple of weeks away from Opening Day, let's check in on each position around Major League Baseball. **Catcher** Entering a new golden age, the catcher position boasts top-tier talent: Yadier Molina and his world… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/03/small-sample-size-much_4/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/03/small-sample-size-much_4/ Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:57:00 -0500 How 'bout this insignificant sample size ? #Royals 1B Eric Hosmer with two swinging strikeouts so far after going three for three in Saturday's victory. — Bob Dutton (@Royals_Report) March 3, 2013 The day before, we got… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/02/to-stubbs-or-not-to-stubbs/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/02/to-stubbs-or-not-to-stubbs/ Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:58:00 -0500 The Cleveland Indians made news last week by signing Michael Bourn to a deal worth at least $48 million over 4 years. The new-look Tribe now boasts one of the best defensive outfields in the game, featuring Michael… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/02/cherry-picking/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/02/cherry-picking/ Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:14:00 -0500 Today's cherry picked numbers of the day belong to top prospect, turned middle relief star, Brian Matusz of the Baltimore Orioles. Brian Matusz 2012 Split Stats Split G R H BA OBP SLG as Starter 16 59 107 .305 .370 .504… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/the-under-300-obp-over-500-slg-club/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/the-under-300-obp-over-500-slg-club/ Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:31:00 -0500 Recent Scott Hairston rumors have him deciding between the Braves, Phillies, Cubs, or either New York team any day now. I took a quick glimpse at his stats and thought "The under-.300 OBP and over-.500 SLG Scott… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/tim-raines-underrated-for-over-30-years/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/tim-raines-underrated-for-over-30-years/ Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:45:00 -0500 It's no secret that Tim Raines was underrated during his playing days. During his time on the Hall of Fame ballot, his case for induction has gained steam, similarly to Bert Blyleven 's mostly blog-fueled campaign a few… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/let-cano-spread-his-wings-and-fly-huh/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/let-cano-spread-his-wings-and-fly-huh/ Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:12:00 -0500 Robinson Cano 's impending contract extension or free agency, has been a recurring theme in the minds of Yankees fans over the past year, or so. A rising number of Yankees fans are growing tired of Cano's salary… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/2013-hall-of-fame-ballot-part-ii/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/2013-hall-of-fame-ballot-part-ii/ Wed, 09 Jan 2013 07:31:00 -0500 Most baseball fans above the age of 10 have been waiting a long time for this year's Hall of Fame ballot. Later today, the Baseball Writers Association of America will release their yearly Hall of Fame voting results.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/wrigley-fields-vestigial-torco-sign/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2013/01/wrigley-fields-vestigial-torco-sign/ Fri, 04 Jan 2013 10:30:00 -0500 The famed Torco sign on Sheffiled in 1987... By: Mark Susina via flickr Sheffield, behind the bleachers, began changing... By: Mark Susina via flickr This photo is dated May 26, 2010... By: Mark Susina via flickr… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/2013-hall-of-fame-ballot-part-i/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/2013-hall-of-fame-ballot-part-i/ Sun, 30 Dec 2012 22:05:00 -0500 This year's Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame ballot is the most crowded in over 65 years, when 95 players received votes in 1945 . Before we get to this year's fun, here's a glimps at the 1945… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/hall-of-fame-potential-by-game-score/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/hall-of-fame-potential-by-game-score/ Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:40:00 -0500 There are six Starting Pitchers on this year's Hall of Fame ballot: Rk HOFs JAWS 1 Roger Clemens 73 99.0 2 Curt Schilling 46 61.4 3 David Wells 40 39.1 4 Jack Morris 39 35.1 5 Woody Williams 14 24.2 6 Aaron Sele 15 17.5… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/exciting-times-for-mets-and-blue-jays/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/exciting-times-for-mets-and-blue-jays/ Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:15:00 -0500 It sounds more and more likely that this Travis d'Arnaud for R.A. Dickey trade is going to happen. d'Arnaud: power and a strong arm Travis d'Arnaud is a top quality prospect, and the Mets fans should be pleased to land… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/last-night-of-winter-meetings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/12/last-night-of-winter-meetings/ Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:17:00 -0500 This can be one of the best nights of the offseason. The following is our attempt to document the evening for posterity. *** According to this Jeff Wilson piece in the Fort Worth Star Telegram , Nolan Ryan thinks… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/rumors-transactions-and-winter-ball/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/rumors-transactions-and-winter-ball/ Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:47:00 -0500 Here's what's been happening lately in the world of baseball... Julio Teheran gave up 1 hit & 1 walk in 5 2/3 innings two nights ago for Tigres del Licey. licey.com/archivos/Boxsc… #Braves — Bobby Aguilera… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/ichiros-next-stage/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/ichiros-next-stage/ Sun, 25 Nov 2012 01:09:00 -0500 The day Ichiro Suzuki gets inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, will be a bright day for Baseball History. Ichiro has been a classy gentleman and ambassador for the game of baseball to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/whats-up-with-mike-scott/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/whats-up-with-mike-scott/ Thu, 22 Nov 2012 10:02:00 -0500 Surely, there are others who woke up this Thanksgiving morning and started looking at pitching stats from 1982. I'm starting a pitching project from 1982-present, and thought I'd share some early morning musings. Thirty… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/aramis-and-composition-of-cano/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/aramis-and-composition-of-cano/ Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:07:00 -0500 Over the past few weeks, a bunch of stuff has been on my mind, and occasionally I'll try to document it somewhere, so that I won't forget it. Sometimes, it's a solitary tweet, like my shout out to Aramis Ramirez on… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/the-robinson-cano-dilemna/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/the-robinson-cano-dilemna/ Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:55:00 -0500 A debate among New York Yankees fans has been heating up over the past few days: the debate to trade Robinson Canó , or extend his contract, to a nine-figure deal, keeping him in the Bronx for the next several years.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/2010-2012-all-defensive-teams/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/11/2010-2012-all-defensive-teams/ Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:57:00 -0400 Last time around , we looked at the 2012 All Defensive Teams when ranking players by various defensive statistics, such as Fielding Percentage, Defensive Runs Save, Ultimate Zone Rating, and more. Sadly and insatiably,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/2012-all-defensive-teams/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/2012-all-defensive-teams/ Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:29:00 -0400 Major League Baseball announced the 2012 Gold Glove award winners last night. As a suggested prerequisite to the information below, please check out Joe Posnanski's brilliant juxtaposition of the Gold Glove and Fielding… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/pitching-under-radar-in-2012/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/pitching-under-radar-in-2012/ Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:27:00 -0400 Armed with a 97 mph fastball, Pedro Strop achieved the 2nd highest Groundball rate and 3rd highest GB/FB rate ratio among 263 pitchers who threw over 1,000 pitches in 2012. His fortunate-to-lucky 83.2% LOB% and .275… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/justin-verlanders-velocity-chart/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/justin-verlanders-velocity-chart/ Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:45:00 -0400 Courtesy of Brooks Baseball , via the essential Getting Blanked , we present Justin Verlander 's velocity chart from last night: While this may not be out of the ordinary for the bionic Justin Verlander, please keep in… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/hunter-pence-and-rbi/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/hunter-pence-and-rbi/ Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:14:00 -0400 Entering the 2012 campaign, Hunter Pence had been around a 3 to 5 Wins Above Replacement guy, throughout his five year career. This season, Hunter Pence combined career lows in Batting Average, On Base and Slugging… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/so-whats-scenario/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/so-whats-scenario/ Sun, 07 Oct 2012 11:39:00 -0400 "Funny how falling feels like flying, even for a little while." - Bad Blake Bud Selig should be ashamed of himself. Losing the One Game Playoff is cruel to emotionally invested baseball fans. If what happened to the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/postseason-brackets/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/10/postseason-brackets/ Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:31:00 -0400 Sitting in my office, minding my own business, and messing around with 2012 Park Factors , my colleague asks me for help filling out his MLB playoff brackets for a pool he's in. Not many people do baseball brackets, and… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/09/wins-above-replacement-600-plate/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/09/wins-above-replacement-600-plate/ Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:18:00 -0400 Look in the mirror. You'll see a person who would click on an article titled: Wins Above Replacement / 600 Plate Appearances . Anyone with an opinion on what it is "to blog" will say that readership numbers vary… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/09/defensive-runs-saved-per-9-since-2010/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/09/defensive-runs-saved-per-9-since-2010/ Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:04:00 -0400 This post could simply be an excuse to expand on a tweet like: " Maicer Izturis has cost the Angels more than .53 Runs per 9 innings at Shortstop this season. http://bit.ly/izturis #DRS " Simplicity is one reason we… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/who-should-win-mvp/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/who-should-win-mvp/ Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:31:00 -0400 Buster Olney got it started early this morning... In the wide open AL Cy Young race, the frontrunners from here look to be: 1. Felix Hernandez. 2. Verlander. 3. Weaver. As of today. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/cutting-it-in-mexican-leagues/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/cutting-it-in-mexican-leagues/ Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:22:00 -0400 In 1974, David S. Ward won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for The Sting , and was nominated in 1994 for Sleepless in Seattle . The Sting has to be David Ward's best work, but in many ways, Major League was his… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/prepping-hot-stove/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/prepping-hot-stove/ Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:22:00 -0400 At this time of year, baseball fans of leading teams spend a few minutes now and then daydreaming of postseason possibilities. Summer is easier to let go of when Autumn strikes if your baseball team is in contention.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/grading-trade-deadline-of-2008/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/08/grading-trade-deadline-of-2008/ Wed, 15 Aug 2012 01:53:00 -0400 Everyone says you can't judge trade deadline, or draft class, winners and losers immediately, but baseball pundits still crank them our for major publications, like Sports Illustrated or ESPN . The reasons for the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/2013-hall-of-fame-ballot/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/2013-hall-of-fame-ballot/ Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:05:00 -0400 There's a lot of exciting stuff we could be talking about right now. Namely, Ichiro Suzuki was just traded to the Yankees. Ryan Dempster was almost traded to the Braves. Perhaps most notably, the Tigers upped the ante… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/player-of-fortnight/ Sat, 21 Jul 2012 10:49:00 -0400 We're a little more than two weeks past the All Star break. So, it's as good a time as any to hand out some virtual hardware. About a month ago , our winners were Carlos Beltran , R.A. Dickey , Trevor Plouffe , and Yu… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/fun-with-platoon-splits/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/fun-with-platoon-splits/ Fri, 13 Jul 2012 08:30:00 -0400 We still have time for one more All-Star break statistical post before the second half of the season begins with this afternoon's Diamondbacks/Cubs game at Wrigley Field. The other day, someone on Twitter asked if… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/mlb-attendance-trends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/mlb-attendance-trends/ Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:52:00 -0400 Since the All-Star Game is the proverbial midway point of the season, let's take a look at per game attendance trends of each Major League club, compared to last season. After the chart below, we'll try to make some… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/first-half-mlb-awards/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/first-half-mlb-awards/ Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:26:00 -0400 It's the All-Star Break. Time to see how our MLB Awards ballots would look if voting on performances of the first half. AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award 1. Mike Trout , Angels Trout has many reasons to smile… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/stars-shine-brightly-in-mlb-futures/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/stars-shine-brightly-in-mlb-futures/ Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:44:00 -0400 The greatest part of the MLB All-Star break in recent seasons has been the Future's Game. With the boredom of Home Run Derby, and occasional apathy towards the All-Star game, this rare look at the best prospects in the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/heaven-help-tim-lincecum/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/heaven-help-tim-lincecum/ Sun, 08 Jul 2012 18:56:00 -0400 A couple of weeks ago, in the Czech Republic / Portugal match, Cristiano Ronaldo clanked an open shot off the post at the tail end of the first half. Visibly frustrated, the well known footballer and model looked and… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/checking-in-on-oops/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/checking-in-on-oops/ Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:56:00 -0400 A year ago, we looked at leaders in Opponents' OPS , then again with historical perspective . Recapping what we learned last season: Opponents OPS Leaders (ERA Qualifiers) 2000 AL: Pedro Martinez , Red Sox .473 NL:… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/clearing-notebook/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/clearing-notebook/ Thu, 05 Jul 2012 11:28:00 -0400 It's hard to believe the first time we cleared the notebook of random thoughts was almost three years ago, in July '09. About twenty months later, in March '11, we did it again . We're officially accelerating at glacial… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/freddie-freemans-line-drives/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/freddie-freemans-line-drives/ Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:35:00 -0400 Freddie Freeman 's rate stats this season are just a bit off. A .259 batting average and .313 on-base percentage pale to his rookie .282 and .342 rates. Aside from that minor blip, things are looking good for the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/should-jesus-montero-be-sent-down/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/should-jesus-montero-be-sent-down/ Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:37:00 -0400 In June, Jesus Montero played in 23 games - catching 8, serving as designated hitter 14 times, and drawing a pinch-hit walk on June 24. Unfortunately, his June splits are a crime scene. In June: 2 BB, 24 K's, 1 RBI, 0… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/evaluating-final-vote/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/07/evaluating-final-vote/ Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:16:00 -0400 All Star Game 2012 Final Vote time is upon us ( ballot here ). The only politics we like to discuss are voting for baseball (Hall of Fame, Gold Gloves, etc., not the ESPY's) and entertainment awards (Oscars and Golden… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/player-of-fortnight/ Sat, 23 Jun 2012 11:08:00 -0400 As a professional scout told me years ago, to check which players are playing at the top of their game, all one needs to look at are stats from the past two weeks. While Major League Baseball announces winners of Player… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/20-under-20/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/20-under-20/ Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:33:00 -0400 Faithful readers will know this is the fourth time we've looked at ballplayers with favorable prospects and are under-owned in most fantasy leagues. The first time we did this, in April 2010 , we unearthed Jose Bautista… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/trade-targets-for-contenders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/trade-targets-for-contenders/ Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:46:00 -0400 The new playoff format gives more teams hopes of making the postseason, which decreases the number of sellers at the trading deadline. If there is a silver lining for truly terrible teams, like the Cubs and Twins, it's… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/icymi-last-night-was-draft-night/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/icymi-last-night-was-draft-night/ Tue, 05 Jun 2012 08:22:00 -0400 The grammar police are taking the night off. There's not much form here, just free flowing notes I took down during the first night of the 2012 Rule 4 Draft. Great moment for Houston The rumors of Carlos Correa… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/mlb-pitchers-with-best-stuff/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/mlb-pitchers-with-best-stuff/ Sun, 03 Jun 2012 11:41:00 -0400 The quantitative bounties found in Fangraphs linear weights help us understand most of the who, what, how, or why certain things happen on the field. It is important to remember that pitch values are not a predictive… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/june-swoons-and-stars-or-how-i-learned/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/06/june-swoons-and-stars-or-how-i-learned/ Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:33:00 -0400 It's June 1st, and that can mean many things. for one: regression. Below are a couple of arrangements of players, as squads, whose April/May performances stand out from the norm. Potential June Swoons C: Carlos Ruiz ,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/change-of-pace/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/change-of-pace/ Wed, 30 May 2012 10:11:00 -0400 We did this a few times last year, and it seems to have fairly decent predictive qualities for future success. We are looking at which pitchers have the largest discrepancy between their fastball and change-up average… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/best-and-worst-with-stats/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/best-and-worst-with-stats/ Fri, 25 May 2012 21:44:00 -0400 It started this morning. Checking out a few things on leaderboards, I noticed that Jamie Moyer , a personal favorite, had an unsightly 1.75 WHIP. Yet, his BB/9 was a better than average 3.14. Naturally, his H/9 was… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/state-of-disabled-list/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/state-of-disabled-list/ Mon, 21 May 2012 13:43:00 -0400 Jason Martinez, of the remarkably comprehensive website MLBdepthcharts.com , tweeted a keen observation on Sunday: According to my calculations, there are 166 players on the DL. #Padres lead league with 14. #Rangers… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/thoughts-from-air/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/05/thoughts-from-air/ Sat, 05 May 2012 12:16:00 -0400 A view from the cockpit. It's Saturday morning, and I'm flying from New York to Chicago, with aspirations to see the Dodgers at Wrigley this afternoon. Thinking back on recent days around baseball, developments have… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/ny-mets-clowning-out-west/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/ny-mets-clowning-out-west/ Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:03:00 -0400 Fans of the New York Metropolitans haven't had much to celebrate in recent seasons. Their last winning record was 89-73 in 2008, after Jerry Manuel took over for Willie Randolph midseason. Compared to the doom and gloom… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/pujols-knows-futility/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/pujols-knows-futility/ Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:21:00 -0400 It's been well documented that Albert Pujols is struggling to adapt to the American League. Most of us know he has yet to hit a homerun. After a base on balls in the 8th inning of tonight's game, he's currently in an… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/mlb-facts-and-opinions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/mlb-facts-and-opinions/ Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:30:00 -0400 Statistical observations of this young season should all be accompanied with a small sample size warning, and this exercise is no different. Today, we're checking the pulse of Major League Baseball, in power rankings… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/2012-mlb-predicitons/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/04/2012-mlb-predicitons/ Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:11:00 -0400 Spring is the time of rebirth and hope. This is the most hopeful time of year. Baseball is Spring. Hope is in the air, unless you're a realistic fan of teams from Houston, Oakland, Chicago, or Baltimore. In towns all… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/non-displaced-fracture-of-orbital-floor/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/non-displaced-fracture-of-orbital-floor/ Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:44:00 -0400 From Lynn Henning's update on Miguel Cabrera 's injury: Neither the Tigers, nor Cabrera, expect that last year's American League batting champion will miss Opening Day, April 5 at Comerica Park. Am I in the minority… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/spanning-blogosphere/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/spanning-blogosphere/ Sun, 18 Mar 2012 09:28:00 -0400 Featuring quotes and whispers from sites around the globe. Freddy Garcia could use an attitude adjustment, as he does not at all appear to be pleased that his team is trying to get better by bringing back one of the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/notable-recent-mlbtrs/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/notable-recent-mlbtrs/ Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:44:00 -0400 Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Don't mix grain and grape. While reading the indispensable Mlbtraderumors.com , I jotted down notes from tidbits that for one reason or another jumped off the page. As they say on Tosh.O ,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/fantasy-baseball-catchers/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/fantasy-baseball-catchers/ Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:11:00 -0400 At this time last year, I was readjusting to life in NYC after a three-week holiday in rural Bali. Two years ago, I wrote this piece from Valdelagrana, Spain. It's easy to miss Valdelagrana... Our criteria this year… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/miami-dade-baseball-alumni/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/03/miami-dade-baseball-alumni/ Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:03:00 -0400 A discussion at work, about collegiate sports in Florida, had me saying that Miami Dade Community College was a really good baseball school. With a little digging on baseball-reference , something completely pointless… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/blake-beavans-poor-pitch-selection/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/blake-beavans-poor-pitch-selection/ Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:17:00 -0500 Reconnaissance work on Starting Pitchers for the upcoming season brought me to Blake Beavan of the Seattle Mariners. Beavan is not, yet, expected to win a spot in big league rotation, but he’s 6’7” 240 lbs. and he… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/college-hoops-top-5-from-1990-now/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/college-hoops-top-5-from-1990-now/ Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:54:00 -0500 All right folks, it's not baseball, but it adds to another favorite sport: College Hoops. We are doing this. Please add to the discussion. What is your Top 5 lineup for NCAA hoops of players from 1990 - today? This is a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/jesus-montero-in-tools-of-ignorance/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/jesus-montero-in-tools-of-ignorance/ Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:39:00 -0500 Yahoo posted this AP picture on their site from yesterday: Mariners fans, and Jesus Montero fantasy owners, hope he protects his bare hand on defense. There was no corresponding story on yahoo, but at least we see Jesus… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/what-will-braves-do/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/what-will-braves-do/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:27:00 -0500 The Braves had a terrible collapse last September. People outside of Atlanta don't hear much about it because (a) the Red Sox had a worse collapse, (b) the media loves to report on Boston teams, and (c) even Braves fans… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/favorite-catcher-wilson-ramos/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/02/favorite-catcher-wilson-ramos/ Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:09:00 -0500 Anyone who follows on Twitter or knows me personally knows we are big fans of Wilson Ramos and were on edge for the two days he was kidnapped. We were fans when the Twins foolishly traded him for Matt Capps . We… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/bo-jackson-home-to-home/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/bo-jackson-home-to-home/ Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:31:00 -0500 One of today's SB Nation pieces by Rob Neyer sent me to his final ESPN.com piece from a year ago, which brought me childhood memories of Bo Jackson. Neyer included a Youtube link with amazing Bo Jackson footage, but… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/few-good-stats/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/few-good-stats/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:51:00 -0500 The Society for American Baseball Research celebrates SABR Day each year on the Saturday before the Super Bowl. We took part by spending a little time on Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs, ultimately sharing a quick… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/prince-and-his-power/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/prince-and-his-power/ Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:26:00 -0500 One of my stranger collections are the undeveloped ideas, explorations, and arguments that lay in the tenuous existence of this blog's nebulous Saved Drafts folder. Archived like time capsules, these drafts may house a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/mlbs-24-under-24/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2012/01/mlbs-24-under-24/ Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:21:00 -0500 Some of you may have participated in a Major League Soccer promotion called 24 under 24 . As the name implies, MLS is highlighting 24 of their brightest young stars, under the age of 24. Fredy Montero is a beacon of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/if-twitter-had-deleted-scenes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/if-twitter-had-deleted-scenes/ Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:55:00 -0500 Have you ever watched deleted scenes to any of your favorite movies? There's a reason the scenes didn't make it into the final cut of the film. Usually, they're mundane scenes that are either poorly written, don't quite… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/coal-for-hot-stove/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/coal-for-hot-stove/ Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:45:00 -0500 We did this 367 days ago . It was so much; we had to do it again. Below is our suggestion for a 25-man roster comprised solely of current free agents, as of Dec 31, 2011. Pos: Player SP: Edwin Jackson Roy-O PHOTO… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/basic-appreciation-for-edgar-martinez/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/basic-appreciation-for-edgar-martinez/ Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:08:00 -0500 As we noted in our last post, one stat never tells the whole story. Nonetheless, it is widely believed that the most important offensive statistic is On Base Percentage. As readers of Moneyball may remember, outs are a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/last-years-best-roster-additions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/last-years-best-roster-additions/ Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:14:00 -0500 The final days of December are just a bit past the midpoint of baseball's hot stove season. Many big purchases have been made, while a few marquee prizes still shine in the sales brochures produced by their agents. This… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/extra-base-hit-leaders-by-position/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/extra-base-hit-leaders-by-position/ Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:49:00 -0500 Below are the 2011 batting leaders for each position, as measured by extra base hits. For historical significance, we included the last person at his position with more in a season. Check out the "best since" surprises… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/brief-moment-in-why/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/brief-moment-in-why/ Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:43:00 -0500 A few curiosities on this Thursday lunch hour: Why is Coco Crisp being considered for Left Field? If his defense has deteriorated to the point where ha cannot effectively play Center Field, why would a team be… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/shopping-for-hitter/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/shopping-for-hitter/ Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:51:00 -0500 A few numbers on a couple of free agents: Over the past 11 years (since 2001) Player A: .272/.343/.451, 141 HR, 415 xBH Player B: .285/.367/.510, 273 HR, 675 xBH Player A: 111 OPS+, .345 wOBA, 111 wRC+ Player B: 127… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/remains-of-willis-and-cabrera/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/remains-of-willis-and-cabrera/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:52:00 -0500 Shortly after news broke of the Marlins' most recent transaction - trading Burke Badenhop to the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league catcher Jake Jefferies , the estimable Keith Law tweeted : Badenhop is tough on righties… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/average-game-scores-for-2011/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/average-game-scores-for-2011/ Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:46:00 -0500 Messing around on baseball-reference, on the second night of baseball's winter meetings, I ranked starting pitchers by average Game Score in 2011. "Unhiding non-qualifiers for rate stats" makes the list particularly… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/tuesday-morning-winter-meetings-update/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/tuesday-morning-winter-meetings-update/ Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:31:00 -0500 Earlier this Summer, I thought the days leading up to the trading deadline in late July was the best time of year to read mlbtraderumors . Whenever I thought that, I was mindlessly forgetting about the Winter Meetings.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/2012-hall-of-fame-sneak-peek/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/12/2012-hall-of-fame-sneak-peek/ Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:31:00 -0500 The unofficial kickoff to the Winter Meetings was today, when the Golden Era Veterans Committee submitted their ballots on the Hall of Fame candidacy of ten individuals: former players Ron Santo , Gil Hodges , Ken Boyer… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/royals-add-broxton-fail-to-improve/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/royals-add-broxton-fail-to-improve/ Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:29:00 -0500 This past summer, the inside scoop from of LA was that Jonathan Broxton was a country bumpkin. He hated it in LA and would embrace free agency as a chance to relocate to more comfortable surroundings. You know you're a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/stolen-bases-against-lefty-pitchers/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/stolen-bases-against-lefty-pitchers/ Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:48:00 -0500 From today's Buster Olney column , his Stat of the day : " Ted Lilly allowed the most stolen base attempts in 2011, with baserunners swiping 35 bags in 37 chances off of the Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw. The remaining… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/al-east-notes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/al-east-notes/ Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:55:00 -0500 We shared our droning on the NL East a couple of weeks ago. Springing forth in spite of a remarkable lack of creativity, below are a few quick thoughts on recent developments in the AL East. Unlike last time, these will… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/options-for-yankee-rotation/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/options-for-yankee-rotation/ Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:02:00 -0500 As we learned from Ben Nicholson-Smith's engaging summary of the NYY portions of Joel Sherman's column from Friday : The Yankees have “looked into” Matt Garza, but a Cubs official downplayed the likelihood of any deal… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/thoughts-on-nl-east/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/thoughts-on-nl-east/ Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:05:00 -0500 On an evening subway ride and a couple lonely bar stools, recently, I wrote about my feelings (about the NL East)... Philadelphia Phillies do not like In light of Jonathan Papelbon 's record-setting deal with the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/2011-mlb-award-ballots/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/2011-mlb-award-ballots/ Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:14:00 -0400 During the 3rd week of November, Major League Baseball will unveil their Major Award winners, as voted on by the BBWA. This is fun to do; we suggest you try this at home. If we could vote on the awards, our ballots… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/random-thoughts-early-november/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/random-thoughts-early-november/ Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:50:00 -0400 Theo Epstein and Ben Cherington discussed potential new managers for the Red Sox before Theo left for Chicago. So, they're working off similar lists of candidates. For sure, I'm biased, but why in the world would… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/all-free-agent-team/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/11/all-free-agent-team/ Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:52:00 -0400 It's that time of year again. Warming up the hot stove, it's time for the All Free Agent Team. Since the end of the World Series, the only transaction that may have affected this roster was CC Sabathia re-signing with… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/top-5-hitters-of-past-30-years/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/top-5-hitters-of-past-30-years/ Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:56:00 -0400 Last month, when Manny Ramirez shamefully made it back into the news, our Already Missing Manny blog post received a bunch of page views. It was mostly a quick tour of humorous photographic moments of Manny being Manny.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/curse-of-theo-epstein/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/curse-of-theo-epstein/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:43:00 -0400 Maybe the Red Sox are asking for "something real" because they are afraid of selling another team asset and falling into an 86-year title-less abyss. Larry Lucchino, who is in charge of the negotiations, and was spoken… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/quick-look-at-final-four/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/quick-look-at-final-four/ Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:04:00 -0400 Just a few weeks ago, it was a widely believed that baseball's Final Four would include the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and a team the Phillies would defeat. After Chris Carpenter pitched himself into eastern Missouri… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/contact-and-power-in-postseason/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/contact-and-power-in-postseason/ Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:33:00 -0400 There are four playoff games today, which should be great fun to follow. In anticipation of the excitement, we thought it would be fun to check in on the players in the postseason to see which batters have the lowest… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/lets-not-blame-umpire-too-soon/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/lets-not-blame-umpire-too-soon/ Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:22:00 -0400 Buster Olney, sent off a tweet a earlier today saying: "Gerry Davis is the home plate umpire. In his career, Sabathia is 6-0 with a 2.19 ERA when Davis is the home plate ump." Well, that is interesting and all, but what… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/mlb-division-series-sunday-recaps/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/10/mlb-division-series-sunday-recaps/ Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:01:00 -0400 Friends and visitors, let's try something a little different today. Tigers 5, Yankees 3 Series tied 1-1 Heroes: Max Scherzer silenced the Yankee bats and his critics who claimed his inconsistencies suggested he couldn't… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/2011-ex-cub-factor/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/2011-ex-cub-factor/ Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:28:00 -0400 The playoffs begin today. Since my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs, tanked and haven't been competitive in years, all I can do is watch and fight my jealous feelings. We're not really into gambling over here, but… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/landing-spots-for-juan-carlos-oviedo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/landing-spots-for-juan-carlos-oviedo/ Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:40:00 -0400 When Leo Nuñez was placed on the Restricted List for a personal reason late last week, people expected it was a family emergency or visa problem. In actuality, he was involving himself in the process of reassuming his… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/player-of-fortnight/ Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:06:00 -0400 We haven't handed out any hardware since August 1st, when Justin Upton , Clayton Kershaw , Hideki Matsui , and Justin Verlander won Player of the Fortnight for their on-field contributions at the end of July. With less… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/al-wild-card-race/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/al-wild-card-race/ Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:12:00 -0400 Red Sox fans in New York, presumably everywhere, are freaking out over the team's recent play and sheepish 2.0 game lead over the amazing Tampa Bay Rays entering play today. Worries over a sweep at the hands of the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/power-without-strikeouts/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/power-without-strikeouts/ Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:09:00 -0400 Often times, when discussing baseball or evaluating the performance of players, we talk about rate stats and insightful ratios. For example, scribes and announcers will quickly mention a pitcher's strikeout-to-walk… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/2011-all-twitter-team/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/2011-all-twitter-team/ Mon, 05 Sep 2011 23:27:00 -0400 It's doubtful, but it might be fun to keep tabs of the best team of players on Twitter. Below is our squad: C: Russell Martin @russellmartin55 1b: Albert Pujols @PujolsFive 2b: Robinson Cano @RobinsonCano SS: Jimmy… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/obsessed-with-yu/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/09/obsessed-with-yu/ Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:23:00 -0400 For Cubs fans, the 2012 Hot Stove season began about two years ago. It's actually been a bit more of the 2009-2012 hot stove season for the starving franchise. Many of us have been fixated on Japanese standout Yu… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/2011-american-league-mvp-race/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/2011-american-league-mvp-race/ Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:01:00 -0400 We had so much fun last week, checking in with the contenders of the 2011 National League MVP , that we couldn't resist checking the pulse of the American League MVP race. Lately, the AL MVP race has garnered more… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/strange-findings-in-war/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/strange-findings-in-war/ Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:50:00 -0400 While calculating the average Wins Above Replacement scores as research for our upcoming AL MVP race post, we stumbled across a peculiar comparison between Boston's ace, Josh Beckett , and former Boston pitcher, Justin… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/best-hitters-against-pitch-type/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/best-hitters-against-pitch-type/ Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:17:00 -0400 An occasional glance at a few numbers on Fangraphs can quickly freshen up your bar stool baseball talk tremendously. Case in point, let's look at the best hitters against certain pitch types. For a larger sample size,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/20-under-20/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/20-under-20/ Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:26:00 -0400 There's about a month left to this year's regular season, meaning it's crunch time for competitive owners of fantasy teams. The last time we dusted off the 20 under 20% gimmick was during the first week of the season.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/checking-in-on-national-league-mvp-race/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/checking-in-on-national-league-mvp-race/ Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:19:00 -0400 So far this season, I haven't read an article discussing NL MVP candidates, but I've heard chatter for Matt Kemp , Justin Upton , Troy Tulowitzki , Reyes, McCutchen, defending winner Votto, and... I guess that's about… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/cubs-opportunity/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/cubs-opportunity/ Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:08:00 -0400 In the aftermath of Jim Hendry's dismissal, it's clear the Cubs are looking for a big name that is respected, from a winning background, and able to instill what he has learned into Cubs culture. Quite a few candidates… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/prepping-stove/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/prepping-stove/ Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:33:00 -0400 Cubs fans have basically been stuck in Hot Stove forever, having not gone to the World Series in the past sixty-five years. As current fans have likely noticed, the team hasn't contended since being swept out of the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/rare-and-coincidental/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/rare-and-coincidental/ Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:29:00 -0400 Speaking of rare triple plays*, makes me think of my old playing days. Let's go back 19 years, to 1992, in Highland Park, IL. I'm playing the unfamiliar position of catcher, mostly by default, but also because of the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/best-of-scrapheap/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/best-of-scrapheap/ Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:14:00 -0400 The month of August is a good time to keep tabs on Ben Nicholson Smith's continuously updated Players Who Cleared Waivers post. Reading it on the Subway tonight after work, a handful of pitchers stood out: Chris Capuano… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/mentality-of-zambrano/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/mentality-of-zambrano/ Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:00:00 -0400 This story feels so familiar. We've been through this before with Carlos Zambrano. Heck, the cubs organization has went through something similar with Sammy Sosa and Milton Bradley. Of course, Carlos Zambrano will not… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/2011-mlb-attendance-trends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/2011-mlb-attendance-trends/ Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:14:00 -0400 The last time we took a look at Baseball-Reference 's nifty " 2010 vs. 2011 Attendance " page, the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays had the most improved attendance, while crowds for the LA Dodgers and Seattle… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/ugliest-pitcher-wins-of-2011/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/ugliest-pitcher-wins-of-2011/ Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:13:00 -0400 On Friday night, Jered Weaver and Aaron Harang exemplified what pitcher "Wins" are worth. Weaver wound up with a no-decision in his team's 1-0 extra inning victory over Seattle. He pitched 9 shutout innings, scattering… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/tim-lincecum-fresno-grizzlies-april-23/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/tim-lincecum-fresno-grizzlies-april-23/ Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:21:00 -0400 Earlier today, I went to Youtube for some office background music, and Youtube suggested a video , called " Tim Lincecum ". It doesn't happen a lot, but in this instance, Youtube was right. In a couple of minutes, I… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/our-return-to-dontrelles-bandwagon/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/our-return-to-dontrelles-bandwagon/ Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:19:00 -0400 Dontrelle Willis is four games into his comeback. Carrying a 3.52 ERA and 0-1 record into his start in Houston on Wednesday night, D-Train fans have reason for optimism. According to Fangraphs , Dontrelle Willis has… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/08/player-of-fortnight/ Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:34:00 -0400 The last time we checked player rankings for the past two weeks, on July 10th, our Players of the Fortnight were Jose Bautista , CC Sabathia , Aramis Ramirez , and Madison Bumgarner . Let's take another look now; on the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/corey-patterson-and-damage-done/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/corey-patterson-and-damage-done/ Sun, 31 Jul 2011 09:39:00 -0400 In essence, this is a Corey Patterson post, but I'm really just throwing together a bunch of memories, emotions, and feelings, to see if it gets us anywhere. Going back to the 2nd of June 1998, Corey Patterson came to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/change-of-pace-update/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/change-of-pace-update/ Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:01:00 -0400 About 12 weeks ago, the day after the Wedding of the Year, we did this study to see which pitchers have the largest difference in average velocity between their fastball and change-up. Today, we are increasing the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mlb-pitchers-with-best-stuff/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mlb-pitchers-with-best-stuff/ Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:02:00 -0400 We did this a few months ago, when there was such a small sample size, it was almost a waste of time. Tonight, we'll be looking at the Fangraphs Pitch Value Leaderboards to determine who has the best stuff. No hyperbole… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/looking-back-at-opponents-ops-leaders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/looking-back-at-opponents-ops-leaders/ Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:10:00 -0400 Expanding on our last post , looking at pitchers’ Opponents' OPS, here is a historical look at Oops leaders of this millennium. In our constant quest to find the best pitching in baseball, this time, only pitchers… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mlb-opponent-ops-leaders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mlb-opponent-ops-leaders/ Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:11:00 -0400 Joe Posnanski published an inspired blog post on Friday. If you're into looking at baseball from different point of views, or just wonderful writing, check it out . In his usual enlightening and entertaining prose, Joe… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mark-worrells-pitching-motion/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mark-worrells-pitching-motion/ Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:08:00 -0400 The Orioles called up Mark Worrell for their bullpen the other day. He didn't fare very well in his first game, versus the Red Sox, allowing two hits and a walk, without retiring a batter. I hope he gets another chance… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/is-brandon-morrow-elite/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/is-brandon-morrow-elite/ Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:50:00 -0400 He shut down the Yankees We've been fans since he was a prospect in the Mariners organization. A flame throwing right-hander who threw strikes with a plus slider? Sure, let's go check him out. He had some arm trouble,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/regards-to-brett-anderson/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/regards-to-brett-anderson/ Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:24:00 -0400 Get Well Soon, Brett Anderson . He's one of our favorites, as is the awesome Susan Slusser. From her SF Chronicle piece : Genevieve Ross / AP Brett Anderson's left elbow didn't respond to rest, rehab and platelet-rich… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/jose-reyes-no-hay-amigo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/jose-reyes-no-hay-amigo/ Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:09:00 -0400 Jose Reyes shows a different side here. Hey, it's a contract year. He's gotta show every tool, if he's going to take his talents somewhere to get more than $140 mill. Have you heard Jose Reyes drop Reggaeton rhymes? Big… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/best-free-agent-position-player/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/best-free-agent-position-player/ Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:33:00 -0400 Last week, Adam Bernacchio of Ghost of Moonlight Graham fame penned a piece titled " The Five Best Free Agent Bargains From This Offseason " on MLB Daily Dish . Casey Kotchman was a good catch for the Tampa Bay Rays… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/grounders-and-popups-in-first-half/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/grounders-and-popups-in-first-half/ Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:03:00 -0400 We did this a couple of weeks into the season , and hope to have more meaningful data to share when looking at pitchers from the entire first half of the 2011 season. We're looking at pitchers with a minimum of 50… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/player-of-fortnight/ Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:01:00 -0400 It's been over two months since we gave out any hardware, so we're overdue for another edition of Player of the Fortnight. For the uninitiated, here is a link to our last entry , where the winners were Lance Berkman ,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mixed-emotions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/mixed-emotions/ Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:50:00 -0400 This could get personal and may ramble on, but in the meantime, I'll try to be concise while struggling through the mixed emotions of joy, pain, sadness, sorrow, hope, and something extra. Joy Livan is getting larger...… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/masato-watanabe-hit-inside-park-homerun/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/masato-watanabe-hit-inside-park-homerun/ Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:01:00 -0400 Once again, thank you to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker for keeping us informed about Japanese baseball. Regular readers of this space know we are enamored with Yu Darvish. We hope the Cubs eschew the desire to take… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/cubs-war-by-acquisition-type/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/cubs-war-by-acquisition-type/ Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:36:00 -0400 Last Monday, Adam Darowski, of Beyond the Box Score , tweeted the Baseball-Reference WAR data of Red Sox players acquired via Free Agency. Most valuable Red Sox (B-R WAR) who were acquired as FAs: Ortiz (2.3 WAR),… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/hyperbole-i-has-it/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/hyperbole-i-has-it/ Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:39:00 -0400 Walked into the office this morning to see Hall of Fame writer, Peter Gammons, tweet this : From one who knows pitching:"The command and stuff Pineda gets from that angle is uncanny. He could end up better than Felix"… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/cubas-modern-baseball-centennial/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/cubas-modern-baseball-centennial/ Mon, 04 Jul 2011 19:13:00 -0400 One hundred years ago, on this day in baseball history, according to NationalPastime.com : 1911: Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida become the first Cuban natives to appear in a major league game as they both make their… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/john-buck-abuses-his-prerogative/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/07/john-buck-abuses-his-prerogative/ Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:51:00 -0400 Up here in New York, the city is already buzzing with locals rushing to get out of town, while tourists from around the globe ask for directions to the Fulton St Subway or Central Park. People are embarking on their 4th… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/happy-83rd-birthday-yo-yo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/happy-83rd-birthday-yo-yo/ Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:18:00 -0400 Pompeyo "Yo-Yo" Davalillo was born in the oil producing town of Cabimas, Venezuela 83 years ago today. He was 8 years old when his brother, Vic, was born in the more agricultural and picturesque Churuguara. Vic… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/looking-for-arms/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/looking-for-arms/ Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:38:00 -0400 The last time we publicly looked for arms , we used our 12-team H2H league as a case study and concluded with the decision to stick with Marc Rzepczynski . He didnn't last long on the team and turned into Carlos… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/respecting-honus-wagner/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/respecting-honus-wagner/ Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:45:00 -0400 One hundred years ago, Honus Wagner was a 37-year old shortstop on the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would still be very productive for a couple of more years. No doubt the Yankees are hoping their 37-year old shortstop, Derek… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/darvish-vs-murton-2011/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/darvish-vs-murton-2011/ Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:00:00 -0400 Nothing says "Saturday Night" like two-week old video from a Japanese baseball game. The following shows the promising Yu Darvish facing the established Matt Murton . https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/kemp-and-lopes-2020-first-half/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/kemp-and-lopes-2020-first-half/ Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:26:00 -0400 Earlier today, I tumbl'd this tweet from @STATS_MLB : Matt Kemp joined Davey Lopes (1979) as only #Dodgers w/ 20HR & 20 SB before All-Star break since team moved to LA in 1958. #MLB I was 8 when rooting for this guy… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/mccourt-lifestyle-put-it-on-underhills/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/mccourt-lifestyle-put-it-on-underhills/ Mon, 20 Jun 2011 23:39:00 -0400 From Larry Behrendt’s awesome work , sharing the inside scoop on the Dodgers debacle... There is no doubt: Commissioner Selig should reject the Dodgers-Fox contract, seize control of the Dodgers, and sell the team to a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/cubs-outfield-defense-misnomer/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/cubs-outfield-defense-misnomer/ Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:43:00 -0400 Photo by Bob Busser In the shadowy right-field corner of Wrigley Field, Jeff Baker tepidly reached out with his glove for a high flyball off the bat of Mark Teixeira . Since there is next-to-no foul territory in the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/cheryl-miller-looks-like/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/cheryl-miller-looks-like/ Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:08:00 -0400 The SATs were a month or two ago, I think. For all the young adults out there who've been thinking about this stuff, here's something: Cheryl Miller is to Lois Einhorn as Chris Rock is to Mr. Finkel. Finkel is Einhorn.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/time-to-shine-andrew-miller/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/time-to-shine-andrew-miller/ Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:59:00 -0400 Earlier today, we started hearing whispers and rumblings that Andrew Miller was going to get called up. He has a contract clause allowing him to opt-out of his deal if he's not in the Majors by June 15th. What we don't… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/cuban-preselections/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/cuban-preselections/ Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:32:00 -0400 This is an exciting time for über cyber-scouts out there, especially when talking about the difficult to chronicle Cuban talent. Courtesy of a website called "CUBADEBATE. Contra el Terrorismo Mediático: Círculo de… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/2017-future-star-daniel-vogelbach/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/2017-future-star-daniel-vogelbach/ Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:23:00 -0400 Yesterday, we took a brief look at the Cubs' 2nd Round selection from the June Draft: Dan Vogelbach. He's still just an unsigned amateur, and may end up accepting a scholarship from the University of Florida if the Cubs… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/have-you-seen-dan-vogelbach/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/have-you-seen-dan-vogelbach/ Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:29:00 -0400 Chicago Cubs 2nd Round pick, Dan Vogelbach, is an 18-year old first baseman from Bishop Verot High School in Florida. Looking at the MLB site of the Cubs' Draft , we see Vogelbach is listed at 250 lbs, and he won't turn… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/love-and-baseball/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/love-and-baseball/ Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:36:00 -0400 For all you youngsters out there, this is the only way it's acceptable to propose at a ballgame... Goosebumps. As Harry Caray would say, "Ah, young https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/my-own-private-mississippi/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/my-own-private-mississippi/ Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:01:00 -0400 This was an interesting weekend. One of my best friends, Colonel Mustard , visited with his lady-friend, Honey Mustard, on Friday night. We went to an outstanding new Thomas Keller restaurant in the Lower East Side… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/drop-kid-take-cannoli/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/06/drop-kid-take-cannoli/ Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:43:00 -0400 One line that has always stayed with me is oddly lovable and disarming Clemenza's "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." The following video is not at all reminiscent of any moments in The Godfather , but non sequitur seem… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/looking-for-arms/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/looking-for-arms/ Mon, 30 May 2011 23:26:00 -0400 Sorry we've been silent all week over here. Last weekend, I started a research exercise on players by age yet have gaps in the under 23 and over 33 groups. We still share some of our favorite photos, books, and films,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/next-big-hitting-debuts/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/next-big-hitting-debuts/ Sun, 22 May 2011 20:03:00 -0400 Over the past three weeks, we've seen the MLB debuts of Eric Hosmer , Brandon Guyer , Julio Teheran , Jose Iglesias , Pete Kozma , and about nine other guys. Baseball-Reference, of course, keeps a record of Major League… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/why-not-travis-banwart/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/why-not-travis-banwart/ Sat, 21 May 2011 19:03:00 -0400 The Oakland A's rotation has taken a big hit in the last few days. We've been picking the A's to win this year since the start of the season. They lost Dallas Braden for the season over a month ago. In the past couple… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/minute-maid-madness/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/minute-maid-madness/ Thu, 19 May 2011 09:17:00 -0400 While the Astros are not good this year, the hits just keep on coming from Minute Maid Park. Just last week, we shared this video of the Astros fan escaping from security after running on the field . Soon after that,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/mlb-bullpen-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/mlb-bullpen-rankings/ Wed, 18 May 2011 11:05:00 -0400 In February, we judged every Major League bullpen from the micro perspective . We looked at individual player stats like FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), HR/9, and K:BB ratio from 2008, '09, and '10, plus Marcel… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/first-cubs-game/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/first-cubs-game/ Tue, 17 May 2011 11:32:00 -0400 It's hard to believe that this is when it started getting serious. This is the first Cubs game I ever attended: May 9, 1986 San Diego Padres Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS WPA Bip Roberts 2B 4 0 3 0 0 1 .206 .515… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/rolling-stones-happy-70th-bob/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/rolling-stones-happy-70th-bob/ Tue, 17 May 2011 11:28:00 -0400 And now, for something completely different... Happy Birthday! This month's cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine has a Happy 70th Birthday cover for Bob Dylan, with a headline that promises an article on the 70 greatest… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/pork-chop-baseballs-homerun-king/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/pork-chop-baseballs-homerun-king/ Mon, 16 May 2011 15:40:00 -0400 This is a bit blurry, but it is an awesome example of the little tidbits and anecdotes that we embrace from the game of baseball. This comes from the outstanding Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Source: Jeff Idelson's… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/great-fan-escape-astros-game-may-13/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/great-fan-escape-astros-game-may-13/ Mon, 16 May 2011 12:04:00 -0400 It's unclear how long the powers that be will allow this video to exist, so we took 2 minutes from our normal itinerary to share. I'm paraphrasing, but as loyal Astros fan Osh put it, "Looks like that hill in center… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/doormats-of-national-league/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/doormats-of-national-league/ Mon, 09 May 2011 22:26:00 -0400 It is early in the season, but this Cubs fan feels no optimism. At the moment of this writing, the Cubs are sitting comfortably in 4th place of their division. They are one and a half games ahead of Milwaukee and two… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/pitch-value-leaderboards/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/pitch-value-leaderboards/ Mon, 09 May 2011 00:06:00 -0400 No time nor use for rhetoric tonight. The following are current 2011 leader boards for Fangraphs' Pitch Type Linear Weights , Pitch Values. The statistic shown is total runs saved above average. Best Fastball Tim Hudson… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/cubs-lineup-is-for-byrds/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/cubs-lineup-is-for-byrds/ Sat, 07 May 2011 10:30:00 -0400 Mike Quade's lineup card for today's game has Marlon Byrd batting third for the 22nd time this season. Your third spot is traditionally used for your best hitter. How am I supposed to get excited for the Cubs, when… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/two-cubans-and-german-walk-into-bar/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/two-cubans-and-german-walk-into-bar/ Thu, 05 May 2011 08:50:00 -0400 Old photographs are great. They provide a grasp on history that fosters the telling and retelling of stories that should never die. We found this great piece of history on Tumblr, but it's from Dave at Shorpy . It is a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/more-on-royals-sensation-aaron-crow/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/more-on-royals-sensation-aaron-crow/ Wed, 04 May 2011 08:37:00 -0400 And the hits keep coming from Aaron Crow . Last night, he pitched a scoreless eight inning in a tie game, striking out 1 and allowing 1 hit, keeping his season (and career) ERA at 0.00. What I really wanted to share was… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/streaming-pickups/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/streaming-pickups/ Tue, 03 May 2011 18:16:00 -0400 One of the things we've been trying to do a lot around here is differentiate this space by trying different things. Well, let the track record be darned as we try another renewable post topic.* Presumably, the best… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/baseballs-most-underrated-players/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/05/baseballs-most-underrated-players/ Sun, 01 May 2011 22:12:00 -0400 An Eduardo Perez tweet yesterday asked "Who do you guys believe is the most underrated player in the majors?" This discussion is overrated and needs a fresh take. Without showing any boring math, we feel the need to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/change-of-pace-review/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/change-of-pace-review/ Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:51:00 -0400 This is not new, but it's alarming how more and more discussion topics must be relevant to the moment, and the moment is constantly shortening. Years ago, we could discuss something that happened in the first week of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/2011-team-attendance-trends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/2011-team-attendance-trends/ Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:51:00 -0400 The invaluable baseball-reference.com has a little-known page that compares team attendance from 2011 and 2012 on a game-to-game basis . As the B-R writers explain on the page: "We take the number of home games through… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/astros-future-wallace-bros/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/astros-future-wallace-bros/ Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:05:00 -0400 The Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League are one of the more exciting teams in all of minor league baseball and probably the most prospect rich club in the Houston Astros' organization. Notable prospects on… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/player-of-fortnight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/player-of-fortnight/ Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:50:00 -0400 We're sufficiently into the season now to aptly resume our favorite sporadicly recurring Player of the Fortnight series. The background of the Player of the Fortnight Award is recapped in its inception post . To recap… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/ryan-zimmermans-dl-stint-wcharlie-sheen/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/ryan-zimmermans-dl-stint-wcharlie-sheen/ Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:16:00 -0400 The Washington Nationals have an 8-7 record in this young season.* They have managed to actually have a better record since Ryan Zimmerman went down with an abdominal injury. They went 3-5 with Zimmerman and 5-2 without… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/3-pitch-stars-nl-edition/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/3-pitch-stars-nl-edition/ Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:14:00 -0400 We're looking at Fangraphs's remarkable pitch value data today in an effort to find pitchers with the highest cumulative score of their three best pitches. Although we're still in the midsts of small sample size… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/grounders-and-pop-ups/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/grounders-and-pop-ups/ Sun, 17 Apr 2011 08:38:00 -0400 It's still a bit early for any 2011 statistic to mean very much in the grand scheme of things, but it can be insightful to get a head start looking at certain statistics that aren't printed in The Sporting News . In… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/change-of-pace/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/change-of-pace/ Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:18:00 -0400 Which pitchers have had the largest difference in average velocity between their fastball and change-up? According to fangraphs : National League Travis Wood , Reds 90 - 78 = 12.1 Daniel Hudson , Diamondbacks 94 - 83 =… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/chatty-subway/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/chatty-subway/ Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:16:00 -0400 The fourth car of the #5 express train this morning was abnormally chatty. A few individuals encroached on my commuting solitude with their annoying and incessant pre-8am conversations. I don't really have much baseball… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/old-expos-roundup/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/old-expos-roundup/ Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:06:00 -0400 Like many things in life, I never appreciated the Expos as much as I should have while they were around. I'm glad there is baseball in the Nation's capital, but did it have to come at the expense of the beautifully… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/replacing-ryan-zimmerman/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/replacing-ryan-zimmerman/ Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:18:00 -0400 Often times, we'll hear fantasy pundits opine as to whom look to as a replacement for a recently injured player. We do it a lot over here, too. This time, it's personal, as Ryan Zimmerman was the 2nd Round pick of our… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/already-missing-manny/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/already-missing-manny/ Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:53:00 -0400 It was only three days ago. Manny Ramirez just retired this past Friday, and we already miss him. Manny, you may have been a selfish jerk, a cheater, and a first-class weirdo, but you were always interesting and one of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/baby-steps-with-peripheral-stats/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/baby-steps-with-peripheral-stats/ Sun, 10 Apr 2011 10:53:00 -0400 It's too early in the 2011 season to find much meaning in comparing player statistics, especially pitchers, the league leader in Innings Pitched has just 16. Predicting future pitching performance is one of the more… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/recent-seats/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/recent-seats/ Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:09:00 -0400 I've been fortunate enough to go to the Knicks/Nets game last Wednesday and the Yankee game this past Saturday . I'm just sharing here, but these were the views from my seats. I won't bore you with any more incessant… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/and-with-that-volstad-is-dropped/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/and-with-that-volstad-is-dropped/ Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:27:00 -0400 Public out of respect announcement: this is a relatively boring and self-centered fantasy baseball "my team is so, blah, blah, blah, ish" rant. It beats working at Sears. Patience is, um, a virtue. Patience is a rare… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/20-under-20/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/20-under-20/ Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:18:00 -0400 Last season, our highly esteemed 20 under 20% post unearthed such luminaries as Gio Gonzalez , Colby Lewis , and the incomparable Jose Bautista . Together, we set sail, in search of rare finds that may help any fantasy… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/procrastinators-guide-to-season-preview/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/04/procrastinators-guide-to-season-preview/ Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:34:00 -0400 The Almost-1-Week-In look at 2011 Some of this is old news to many people, although we've updated a few points here and there recently. We're simply identifying moments or themes to anticipate and appreciate this… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/spring-training-load-out/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/spring-training-load-out/ Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:01:00 -0400 We've really taken to this free-flowing style of writing, since clearing our notebook a couple of days ago. Before we get to any reading, a quick heads-up, our next rotoprofessor post should probably be posted sometime… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/ranking-pitchers-by-win-projections/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/ranking-pitchers-by-win-projections/ Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:41:00 -0400 Awesome reader Gavin emailed a question in today. He writes... In a real simple season long pool. All it is, is u take 20 pitchers, u get 1 point per win and whoever has the most accumulated wins at the end wins. Have… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/clearing-notebook/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/clearing-notebook/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:52:00 -0400 Here is a quote I read that struck me as a poignant piece of advice to writers, particularly if you're like me and you have an idea, think about it, read about it, maybe write a little bit about it, then leave it. And,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/root-for-local-kid-mark-trumbo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/root-for-local-kid-mark-trumbo/ Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:07:00 -0400 An awesome reader on Rotoprofessor , named John, left an enlightened comment on our Rookies post. He writes : "What about Mark Trumbo ? Had a good spring. Has an opportunity. Any chance he sticks with the Angels after… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/inaugural-post-on-rotoprofessor/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/inaugural-post-on-rotoprofessor/ Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:20:00 -0400 Hey folks, so we've never done this before... The Braves are reloading, and Freddie Freeman is a big part of it. I wrote a fantasy article, for Rotoprofessor.com, taking an in depth look at the projected 2011 Major… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/todays-birthdays-vol-2/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/todays-birthdays-vol-2/ Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:35:00 -0400 We got such a positive response to our birthday post last week, and today is a monumental birthday, that we decided to do it again. This is going to be a long one, September 23rd is a monumental day for the great game… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/notes-flying-to-hong-kong/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/notes-flying-to-hong-kong/ Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:34:00 -0400 The following is a collection of notes that I typed into my blackberry a couple of weeks ago amid a 30+ hour trip to the first stay of our trip in Nusa Dua, Bali. Earlier today, my friend asked for details about the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/todays-birthdays/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/todays-birthdays/ Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:39:00 -0400 In our most recent latent form of narcissism, here's a quick glimpse at people who share a birthday https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/seven-stories-with-branches/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/03/seven-stories-with-branches/ Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:25:00 -0400 "Did you ever hear of the Seattle Seven? That was me... and six other guys." - The Dude, The Big Lebowski , 1998 There are seven active Major League managers with less than four years of experience. They're a tight… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/2011-roto-sleepers-and-busts/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/2011-roto-sleepers-and-busts/ Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:39:00 -0500 A quick note before we get started. We'll likely be offline for the next couple of weeks because we'll be going on a two-week before-the-season-starts getaway to the other side of the world. I'm not sure if they have… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/keep-your-nose-clean-miggycab/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/keep-your-nose-clean-miggycab/ Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:05:00 -0500 Earlier this evening, I read about Miguel Cabrera's apology from Tribune New Services. It sparked me to comment right away that I hope Cabrera cleans himself up and resumes his Hall of Fame career. As a courtesy to you,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/patience-power/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/patience-power/ Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:51:00 -0500 We were looking for active players who are patient, have dynamic batting skills, and are young enough to be relatively dependable. So, the criteria we chose were: - Minimum 500 career Plate Appearances - Minimum 13.5%… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/traveling-man/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/traveling-man/ Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:34:00 -0500 Sitting on a balcony in South Beach, Miami, staring across the Atlantic Ocean, with a purple haze funk in the air, my thoughts take me to Spring Training. I'm looking forward to my good friend's wedding this weekend,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/roto-top-100-board-wip/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/roto-top-100-board-wip/ Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:24:00 -0500 It's a lazy Saturday morning. The Albert Pujols drama is still somersaulting from the sounds inside my mind. I've been trying to put my thoughts on why it would be good for the Cubs if he resigned with the Cardinals for… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/pirates-manager-before-picture/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/pirates-manager-before-picture/ Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:10:00 -0500 Some of you may have seen this in Jason Stark's NL Central report card article . We don't agree that " when all a team does is pretty much stand pat, it's grade needs to reflect that. " The Reds were a good young team.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/mlb-bullpen-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/mlb-bullpen-rankings/ Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:24:00 -0500 Editor's Note: These were our preseason rankings. Our updated team rankings can be found here . Where does your team rank in our preseason rankings of every bullpen in Major League Baseball. Off and on, the past few… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/super-bowl-xlv-props/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/super-bowl-xlv-props/ Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:00:00 -0500 If you're having a little get together for the game today, or are even watching it with more than one person, you may find enjoyment in creating a quick prop pool that everyone can fill out. I've done this before for… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/looker-better-than-belly-itcher/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/02/looker-better-than-belly-itcher/ Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:05:00 -0500 Overcoming the inertia of our humble, little blog space can often be embarrassingly challenging. We're usually lucky enough to find a few minutes each day to look into something, but finding a way to entertainingly… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/last-minute-team-off-street/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/last-minute-team-off-street/ Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:53:00 -0500 The last time we brought in some coal for the hot stove was December 29th. It's even colder here in New York the last week of January. When we discussed the hot stove late last year, we were able to put together a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/2011-fantasy-rankings-catchers/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/2011-fantasy-rankings-catchers/ Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:52:00 -0500 The silver lining surrounding the Bears season ending today, is that we're one step closer to baseball season. This offseason, we've focused more on baseball history and hot-stove circumstances. Very little time has… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/stark-underrated-response/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/stark-underrated-response/ Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:50:00 -0500 Jayson Stark unveiled his All-Underrated team of active players today on ESPN.com. Stark is a modern-day BBWAA icon for his baseball musings on ESPN's website, magazine, and TV networks. He's into nuances of the game… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/throwing-strikes-or-effectively-wild/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/throwing-strikes-or-effectively-wild/ Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:25:00 -0500 Warning: This post includes a lot of numbers, some observations, and unfortunately very few conclusions. Last month, we looked at pitchers with extraordinary abilities at missing bats in the zone . Tonight, in the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/remembering-pavano-yankee/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/remembering-pavano-yankee/ Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:38:00 -0500 Yankee fans have many reasons to have negative feelings towards Carl Pavano . Even fans who do not embrace advanced baseball statistics in general, or Wins Above Replacement in particular, can agree that… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/no-pressure-starlin/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/no-pressure-starlin/ Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:24:00 -0500 Is it fair to compare 20-year old Starlin Castro with 36-year old, 5-time World Champion, future Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter ? Well, Jeeze, um, I guess we'll pick, um... Castro? It's quite likely that we will not see… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/bored-have-fun-with-wpali/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/bored-have-fun-with-wpali/ Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:03:00 -0500 Since an anonymous poster recently said our Managerial Coaching Tree study seemed "kind of boring", we thought we'd liven things up with a fairly advanced stat, Situational Wins. How could anyone find Stump Merrill… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/hit-king-matt-murton/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/hit-king-matt-murton/ Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:08:00 -0500 Many of us always wanted the Cubs to give Murton a chance to blossom as a lefty mashing 4th Outfielder. They gave him a chance to play, but I think the team should have shown just a bit more patience with Matt Murton .… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/baseballs-managerial-trees/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/baseballs-managerial-trees/ Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:07:00 -0500 It was over a month ago that we started taking an in-depth look at managerial trees. We've heard much about the NFL coaching trees of Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Chuck Noll, and even Marty Schottenheimer. For a while,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/2011-hall-of-fame-voting-results/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/2011-hall-of-fame-voting-results/ Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:32:00 -0500 Congratulations to Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven ! Blyleven for the Hall peeps could start backing Raines I suspect that many of the people who fought for years to get Blyleven into the Hall will now use their… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/triple-slash-triple-crown-winners/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/triple-slash-triple-crown-winners/ Mon, 03 Jan 2011 23:18:00 -0500 The last time someone won the Triple Crown was over forty years ago, when Carl Yastrzemski did it for the Boston Red Sox in 1967 with a .326 average, 44 Homeruns, and 121 RBI. A year earlier, Frank Robinson had just won… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/phish-meatstick-throwdown-sneakin-sally/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/phish-meatstick-throwdown-sneakin-sally/ Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:53:00 -0500 This isn't sports related, but here is how we brought in 2011... IMHO, Allen Toussaint's " Sneakin' Sally through the Alley " was the best song from the following night, 1.1.11. All the other Meters fans in the audience… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/beat-green-bay/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2011/01/beat-green-bay/ Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:26:00 -0500 Phish was spectacular, ringing in New Year's last night. It was so good, in fact, that we're going back again in about an hour. Before heading to the Garden, we need to get out our picks for the final regular season… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/coal-for-hot-stove/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/coal-for-hot-stove/ Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:35:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/least-most-run-support/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/least-most-run-support/ Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:07:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/week-16-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/week-16-nfl-picks/ Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:40:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/missing-bats-in-strike-zone/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/missing-bats-in-strike-zone/ Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:05:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/popping-your-20-hr-cherry/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/popping-your-20-hr-cherry/ Thu, 23 Dec 2010 13:37:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/foreshadowing-riddle/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/foreshadowing-riddle/ Wed, 22 Dec 2010 02:11:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/week-15-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/week-15-nfl-picks/ Fri, 17 Dec 2010 23:11:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/need-starters-whos-left/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/need-starters-whos-left/ Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:57:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/whats-up-with-tom-gorzelanny/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/whats-up-with-tom-gorzelanny/ Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:02:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/virtual-gambling/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/virtual-gambling/ Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:16:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/readings-thoughts-and-deviations/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/readings-thoughts-and-deviations/ Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:16:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/week-14-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/week-14-nfl-picks/ Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:09:00 -0500 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 @… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/good-friend-pat-hughes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/good-friend-pat-hughes/ Sat, 11 Dec 2010 11:20:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/where-have-you-gone-leon-durham/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/where-have-you-gone-leon-durham/ Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:56:00 -0500 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 .… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/2011-hall-of-fame-sneak-peek/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/2011-hall-of-fame-sneak-peek/ Sun, 05 Dec 2010 20:45:00 -0500 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/coaching-trees-week-13-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/coaching-trees-week-13-nfl-picks/ Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:28:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/stock-rising-aaron-harang/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/stock-rising-aaron-harang/ Sat, 04 Dec 2010 01:00:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/distraction-of-worlds-colliding/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/12/distraction-of-worlds-colliding/ Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:57:00 -0500 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/quick-hot-stove-thoughts/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/quick-hot-stove-thoughts/ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:12:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/best-players-in-their-prime/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/best-players-in-their-prime/ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:09:00 -0500 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/players-in-their-primes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/players-in-their-primes/ Sun, 28 Nov 2010 01:23:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-12-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-12-nfl-picks/ Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:47:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-day-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-day-nfl-picks/ Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:18:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/victor-martinez-bo-diaz-catching-101/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/victor-martinez-bo-diaz-catching-101/ Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:02:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/jamie-moyer-new-greybeards/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/jamie-moyer-new-greybeards/ Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:21:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/shackles-of-hope/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/shackles-of-hope/ Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:52:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-11-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-11-nfl-picks/ Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:17:00 -0500 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/hot-stove-notes-benoit-nishioka-red-sox/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/hot-stove-notes-benoit-nishioka-red-sox/ Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:04:00 -0500 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/king-felix-as-jules-winnfield/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/king-felix-as-jules-winnfield/ Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:08:00 -0500 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/rookie-of-year-ballots/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/rookie-of-year-ballots/ Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:24:00 -0500 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/best-teams-to-miss-world-sereis/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/best-teams-to-miss-world-sereis/ Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:19:00 -0500 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-10-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-10-nfl-picks/ Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:13:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/top-100-mlb-free-agents/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/top-100-mlb-free-agents/ Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:06:00 -0500 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/best-jersey-shore-yankee-fans-gif/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/best-jersey-shore-yankee-fans-gif/ Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:38:00 -0500 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 https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/nl-gold-glove-ballot-prediction/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/nl-gold-glove-ballot-prediction/ Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:17:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/another-world-series-challenge/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/another-world-series-challenge/ Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:22:00 -0500 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/greatest-years-in-worst-lineups/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/greatest-years-in-worst-lineups/ Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:08:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/posnanskis-every-run-average/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/posnanskis-every-run-average/ Sat, 06 Nov 2010 17:03:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-9-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/week-9-nfl-picks/ Sat, 06 Nov 2010 17:02:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/sf-giants-chapmionship-parade/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/sf-giants-chapmionship-parade/ Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:34:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/stop-smoking-weed-bill-walton/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/11/stop-smoking-weed-bill-walton/ Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:35:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/week-8-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/week-8-nfl-picks/ Sat, 30 Oct 2010 13:26:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/best-shortstops-before-my-time/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/best-shortstops-before-my-time/ Sat, 30 Oct 2010 01:40:00 -0400 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 ,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/world-series-preview/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/world-series-preview/ Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:30:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/1900s-cubs-photos/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/1900s-cubs-photos/ Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:39:00 -0400 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 https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/week-7-nfl-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/week-7-nfl-picks/ Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:50:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/perceptions-of-yankee-fandom/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/perceptions-of-yankee-fandom/ Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:56:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/adrian-beltre-sweepstakes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/adrian-beltre-sweepstakes/ Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:56:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/new-breed-of-yankee-fans/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/new-breed-of-yankee-fans/ Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:01:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/2010-ex-cub-factor/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/2010-ex-cub-factor/ Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:35:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/gambling-with-george-costanza/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/gambling-with-george-costanza/ Sun, 17 Oct 2010 11:04:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/bobby-cox-tattoo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/bobby-cox-tattoo/ Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:46:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/best-free-agents/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/best-free-agents/ Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:14:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/halladay-in-history-books/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/halladay-in-history-books/ Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:39:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/2010-mlb-postseason-picks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/2010-mlb-postseason-picks/ Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:38:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/in-brief-nl-playoff-preview/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/in-brief-nl-playoff-preview/ Wed, 06 Oct 2010 07:40:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/2010-mvp-cy-young-awards/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/2010-mvp-cy-young-awards/ Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:17:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/major-league-clearance-rack/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/major-league-clearance-rack/ Sun, 03 Oct 2010 21:31:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/bright-future-of-logan-morrison/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/bright-future-of-logan-morrison/ Sun, 03 Oct 2010 10:29:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/sizing-up-al-playoffs-part-iii/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/sizing-up-al-playoffs-part-iii/ Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:02:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/happiness/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/10/happiness/ Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:10:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/mlb-team-snapshots/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/mlb-team-snapshots/ Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:29:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/sizing-up-al-playoffs-part-ii/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/sizing-up-al-playoffs-part-ii/ Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:49:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/who-hasnt-seen-grandmas-boy/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/who-hasnt-seen-grandmas-boy/ Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:33:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/sizing-up-al-playoffs/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/sizing-up-al-playoffs/ Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:56:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/why-dont-you-arbitrate-deeeze/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/why-dont-you-arbitrate-deeeze/ Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:45:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/were-all-counting-on-you-lucas-duda/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/were-all-counting-on-you-lucas-duda/ Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:58:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/three-link-thursday/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/three-link-thursday/ Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:33:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/ugh-pitcher-wins-is-this-1972/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/ugh-pitcher-wins-is-this-1972/ Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:27:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/valvoline-11-probably/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/valvoline-11-probably/ Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:49:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/chris-sale-closer/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/chris-sale-closer/ Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:15:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/old-school/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/old-school/ Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:53:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/roids-aging-pride-of-goldpanners/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/roids-aging-pride-of-goldpanners/ Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:11:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/nl-west-fever-catch-it/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/nl-west-fever-catch-it/ Sun, 12 Sep 2010 19:00:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/player-of-fortnight-vol-4/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/player-of-fortnight-vol-4/ Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:52:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/position-players-of-future-2010/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/position-players-of-future-2010/ Sat, 11 Sep 2010 14:31:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/2010-nfl-predictions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/2010-nfl-predictions/ Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:10:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/britney-spears-2010-pitching-debuts/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/britney-spears-2010-pitching-debuts/ Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:42:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/how-west-will-be-won/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/how-west-will-be-won/ Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:19:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/steve-phillipsomar-minaya-post/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/steve-phillipsomar-minaya-post/ Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:44:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/war-memo-on-belated-labor-day/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/war-memo-on-belated-labor-day/ Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:51:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/while-were-away/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/while-were-away/ Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:05:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/our-2010-celebration-of-sprps/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/our-2010-celebration-of-sprps/ Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:05:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/aroldis-chapmans-fantastic-pitch-fx/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/aroldis-chapmans-fantastic-pitch-fx/ Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:13:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/eureka-its-peggy-ad/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/09/eureka-its-peggy-ad/ Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:35:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/aug-31-mlb-predictions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/aug-31-mlb-predictions/ Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:16:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/happy-aroldis-chapman-day/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/happy-aroldis-chapman-day/ Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:58:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/fantasy-football-post/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/fantasy-football-post/ Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:37:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/player-of-fortnight-vol-3/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/player-of-fortnight-vol-3/ Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:22:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/now-this-is-dui-photo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/now-this-is-dui-photo/ Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:16:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/hall-of-fames-best-outsiders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/hall-of-fames-best-outsiders/ Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:59:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/party-like-its-1995/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/party-like-its-1995/ Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:49:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/derrek-lees-replacement/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/derrek-lees-replacement/ Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:28:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/pictures-nl-rookies/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/pictures-nl-rookies/ Sat, 14 Aug 2010 10:53:00 -0400 We've been blessed with exciting rookies this year. Just the National League has a https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/happy-friday-13th/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/happy-friday-13th/ Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:01:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/happy-anniversary-tigers-fans/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/happy-anniversary-tigers-fans/ Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:01:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/2010-mlb-power-poll-vol-2/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/2010-mlb-power-poll-vol-2/ Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:48:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/its-prime-time-for-betemit/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/its-prime-time-for-betemit/ Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:19:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/whos-your-chris-johnson/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/whos-your-chris-johnson/ Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:30:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/are-you-not-entertained/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/are-you-not-entertained/ Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:17:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/sox-sample-sale-stinks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/sox-sample-sale-stinks/ Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:24:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/white-sox-on-sale/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/white-sox-on-sale/ Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:17:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/big-ups-to-phat-albert/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/big-ups-to-phat-albert/ Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:22:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/mets-saluted-by-truwarier/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/mets-saluted-by-truwarier/ Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:36:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/quick-looks-at-glance/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/quick-looks-at-glance/ Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:56:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/nerd-alert-fip-pitch-fx-xfip/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/08/nerd-alert-fip-pitch-fx-xfip/ Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:23:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/player-of-fortnight-vol-2/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/player-of-fortnight-vol-2/ Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:44:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/yankee-puma-austins-power/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/yankee-puma-austins-power/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:26:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/so-long-cd-aloha-kila/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/so-long-cd-aloha-kila/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:52:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/fistfull-of-trades/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/fistfull-of-trades/ Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:55:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/garzas-no-no-galarraga/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/garzas-no-no-galarraga/ Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:53:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/prospect-spotlight-wreggie/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/prospect-spotlight-wreggie/ Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:46:00 -0400 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 ,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/50-worst-mlbers/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/50-worst-mlbers/ Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:08:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/599/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/599/ Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:58:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/top-50-omissions-revisions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/top-50-omissions-revisions/ Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:13:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/top-50-mlb-players/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/top-50-mlb-players/ Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:40:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/fun-trading-with-rzips/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/fun-trading-with-rzips/ Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:24:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/trades-in-balance/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/trades-in-balance/ Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:24:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/2014-future-star-aaron-hicks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/2014-future-star-aaron-hicks/ Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:13:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/player-of-fortnight-awards/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/player-of-fortnight-awards/ Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:04:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/recent-rumors-reactions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/recent-rumors-reactions/ Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:28:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/omar-infante-is-in-news/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/omar-infante-is-in-news/ Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:28:00 -0400 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:… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/just-ramble-on/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/just-ramble-on/ Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:47:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/world-cup-elite-8/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/07/world-cup-elite-8/ Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:08:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/top-100-sports-books/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/top-100-sports-books/ Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:08:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/2010-mlb-power-poll/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/2010-mlb-power-poll/ Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:11:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/midweek-players-of-week/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/midweek-players-of-week/ Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:44:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/colonel-mustard-strikes-again/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/colonel-mustard-strikes-again/ Sun, 20 Jun 2010 10:30:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/whats-up-with-yonder-alonso/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/whats-up-with-yonder-alonso/ Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:27:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/unlikely-all-stars/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/unlikely-all-stars/ Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:23:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/another-natural-carlos-santana/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/another-natural-carlos-santana/ Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:57:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/hanging-with-silver-hawks/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/hanging-with-silver-hawks/ Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:37:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/irasshaimase-jose-tabata/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/irasshaimase-jose-tabata/ Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:48:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/jopos-strasburg-live-blog/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/jopos-strasburg-live-blog/ Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:59:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/best-picks-by-decade-cubs/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/best-picks-by-decade-cubs/ Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:51:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/public-enemy-jim-joyce/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/public-enemy-jim-joyce/ Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:38:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/intriguing-trade-chips/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/06/intriguing-trade-chips/ Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:57:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/newest-good-friend-buster-posey/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/newest-good-friend-buster-posey/ Sat, 29 May 2010 09:50:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/pti-knockoff-fortune-teller/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/pti-knockoff-fortune-teller/ Tue, 25 May 2010 06:25:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/all-appreciation-team/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/all-appreciation-team/ Sun, 23 May 2010 21:35:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/why-we-dont-pay-for-saves/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/why-we-dont-pay-for-saves/ Sun, 23 May 2010 14:18:00 -0400 We're going to try something different today. Below is a photographic exhibit of why we don't pay for https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/expecting-good-things-brandon-morrow/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/expecting-good-things-brandon-morrow/ Fri, 21 May 2010 16:56:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/willkommen-drew-storen/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/willkommen-drew-storen/ Mon, 17 May 2010 08:39:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/powerspeed-elite/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/powerspeed-elite/ Sat, 15 May 2010 22:36:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/updated-relief-pitcher-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/updated-relief-pitcher-rankings/ Thu, 13 May 2010 18:27:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/get-well-soon-juan-cruz/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/get-well-soon-juan-cruz/ Thu, 13 May 2010 16:39:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/working-some-trades/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/working-some-trades/ Wed, 12 May 2010 13:21:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/belated-players-of-month/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/belated-players-of-month/ Sat, 08 May 2010 23:25:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/looking-ahead-along-way/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/05/looking-ahead-along-way/ Sat, 08 May 2010 11:16:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/juan-cruz-to-cubs/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/juan-cruz-to-cubs/ Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:47:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/drew-storens-best-teammate/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/drew-storens-best-teammate/ Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:09:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/managerial-rise-of-enyr-grebdnas/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/managerial-rise-of-enyr-grebdnas/ Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:16:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do/ Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:39:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/does-bad-hitting-beat-bad-pitching/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/does-bad-hitting-beat-bad-pitching/ Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:04:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/super-bowl-xx-naked-gun-wimbledon/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/super-bowl-xx-naked-gun-wimbledon/ Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:05:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/2010-power-arms-pro-debut/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/2010-power-arms-pro-debut/ Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:16:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/85-available-all-stars/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/85-available-all-stars/ Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:57:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/oh-man-sorry-sammy-g/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/oh-man-sorry-sammy-g/ Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:09:00 -0400 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,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/new-favorite-non-closer/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/new-favorite-non-closer/ Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:31:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/opening-day-channel-surfing/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/opening-day-channel-surfing/ Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:01:00 -0400 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.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/blue-jays-moving-on/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/blue-jays-moving-on/ Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:32:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/2010-mlb-predictions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/2010-mlb-predictions/ Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:18:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/20-under-20/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/20-under-20/ Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:13:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/mister-michael-brantley/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/mister-michael-brantley/ Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:46:00 -0400 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 https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/rotisserie-pillars/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/04/rotisserie-pillars/ Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:18:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/03/last-minute-player-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/03/last-minute-player-rankings/ Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:27:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/03/oshs-intriguing-list/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/03/oshs-intriguing-list/ Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:29:00 -0400 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/spanning-blogosphere/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/spanning-blogosphere/ Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:18:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/fantasy-baseball-catchers/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/fantasy-baseball-catchers/ Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:48:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/stroll-down-memory-bowling-lane/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/stroll-down-memory-bowling-lane/ Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:26:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/coop-dunc/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/02/coop-dunc/ Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:21:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/best-free-agents-left/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/best-free-agents-left/ Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:33:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/anyone-got-hendrys-number/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/anyone-got-hendrys-number/ Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:37:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/rookie-stuff/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/rookie-stuff/ Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:23:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/single-season-homerun-record/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2010/01/single-season-homerun-record/ Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:03:00 -0500 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… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/its-over/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/its-over/ Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:11:00 -0500 I've never said this before. I've always been a supporter, but this is too much. It is time to fire Jim Hendry. It's over. For Christmas, Jim Hendry gave Cub fans the disaster that is Carlos Silva. Why? To save money in… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/hall-of-fame-voting/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/hall-of-fame-voting/ Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:16:00 -0500 Now is a great time to read baseball articles from around the country, as Hall of Fame voters often write columns announcing and defending their ballots for next spring's induction. Voters get to vote for a maximum of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/good-friends-keepers-sleepers/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/good-friends-keepers-sleepers/ Sun, 27 Dec 2009 07:24:00 -0500 As most of our loyal readers know, I've been living in New York for about 20 months... To let you know where I'm coming from, literally, I'm a Chicago guy, who "colleged" in New Orleans, and since them has lived in… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/beauty-of-hee-seop/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/beauty-of-hee-seop/ Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:35:00 -0500 The life around the Cubs hot stove is desperate and lonely. We, fans, are starving for feelings of pride and splendid anticipation for the upcoming season. Rumorville brings us no hope, as the foreseeable future brings… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/oh-noooooooo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/oh-noooooooo/ Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:48:00 -0500 Hope does not spring eternal. There is no hope for the Cubs next season. From the AP, via ABC News ... A baseball official with knowledge of the trade says the Mariners have acquired mercurial outfielder Milton Bradley… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/get-well-soon-jose/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/get-well-soon-jose/ Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:30:00 -0500 Jorge Arangure ( on Twitter ) recently broke the news that Jose Arredondo will miss the 2010 season, due to Tommy John surgery. That's terrible news for one of our two favorite setup relievers from the 2008 season.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/best-team-money-can-buy-full-throttle/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/best-team-money-can-buy-full-throttle/ Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:52:00 -0500 We referenced in our recent post on The Best Team Money can Buy that we weren't going to purchase an entire 25-man roster. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Here is our money-is-no-object best team money can buy... Keep in… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/millwood-trade-reaction/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/millwood-trade-reaction/ Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:36:00 -0500 Congrats to the Rangers who just traded Kevin Millwood and $3 million to the Orioles for Chris Ray. Most importantly, they saved $9 million in the deal... Meaning, they can go get a pitcher who will likely be better… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/best-team-money-can-buy/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/12/best-team-money-can-buy/ Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:52:00 -0500 We hear the expression all the time. Usually teams with stars that win titles and have high payrolls, like the Yankees, Red Sox, and in other sports the Lakers or Real Madrid. But, building powerhouse teams is of course… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/contracts-a-teams/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/contracts-a-teams/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:15:00 -0500 I was thinking about how columnists and reporters often write about which "bad" contracts teams are trying to move. It makes sense, since trade rumors are fueled by what can happen. Teams usually don't want to move… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/2010-hall-of-fame-ballot/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/2010-hall-of-fame-ballot/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:10:00 -0500 The 2010 Hall of Fame Ballot has been released. A look at the hopeful candidates... Roberto Alomar Kevin Appier Harold Baines Ellis Burks Bert Blyleven Andre Dawson Andres Galarraga Pat Hentgen Mike Jackson Eric Karros… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/free-agent-predictions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/free-agent-predictions/ Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:01:00 -0500 Happy Black Friday, everyone. I hope none of you are being trampled by a bunch of idiots at Wal-Mart. Sometimes this country really makes me question mankind. Anyway, I can't believe we I forgot this in our Top 50 Free… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/top-50-free-agents/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/top-50-free-agents/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:55:00 -0500 Our scouting trip to the deep south concluded with thoughts on the "Top 50 Free Agents" in baseball. There are several writers supplying their lists, so I thought I'd throw in our two cents. This hot stove league looks… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/rookie-of-year-ballot/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/rookie-of-year-ballot/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:34:00 -0500 The Seamheads Postseason Award Ballots that we shared last month didn't ask for Rookie of the Year votes. Here is our unsolicited Rookie of the Year ballot for the ol' blog. American League Rookie of the Year 1.) Elvis… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/varitek-valued/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/varitek-valued/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:45:00 -0500 In the expected news of the day department, the Red Sox will not pick up Jason Varitek's option . Jason Varitiek has five days to exercise his $3 million option (plus $2mm incentives) to return to the Red Sox as… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/prospect-spotlight-tommy-manzella/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/prospect-spotlight-tommy-manzella/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:42:00 -0500 This is the first in our long anticipated Prospect Spotlight series. If you enjoy this post, please email mosquito @ keeping me up half the night [dot] com. "How about a shout out for Tommy Manzella of Tulane fame.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/canyon-of-heroes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/11/canyon-of-heroes/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:42:00 -0500 Loyal readers, it has been an honour touring the wonderful game of baseball since this season's Opening Day. Our highly anticipated hot stove league coverage should begin soon. (teaser: tommy m.) Here is an extensive… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/10/baseball-reality-tour-animal-style/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/10/baseball-reality-tour-animal-style/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:30:00 -0400 First, let's get this awkwardness out of the way... The ol' blog has been silent for, gasp, more than a month. I am sorry to the gaggles of brilliant readers who've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Still, my… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/09/rockies-imploding/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/09/rockies-imploding/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:07:00 -0400 It's a long night over here, working with computer programmers on the other side of the globe. I just tuned in to the Giants v Rockies game to watch Franklin Morales turn into Andy Pratt. The Rockies are having a… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/09/where-have-we-been/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/09/where-have-we-been/ Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:53:00 -0400 So, here we sit on Saturday, September 5th, and we didn't do a Sept 1st update to our season predictions. How embarrassing. If it weren't for the cries of a few loyal readers, we'd just be moving right along with posts… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/position-players-of-future/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/position-players-of-future/ Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:38:00 -0400 Well, that was fun... looking at the Top 25 pitchers who made their debut this season. Let's waste some time now, looking at the hitters. Please note, this is an exercise that should be fraught with flaws because we are… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/power-arms-of-future/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/power-arms-of-future/ Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:58:00 -0400 This post began as a prospect report on Giants' farmhand, Madison Bumgarner . We started out thinking about him but couldn't find anything to really write about. Well, other than he's a tall, hard-throwing lefty. It… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/fare-thee-well-mr-latos/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/fare-thee-well-mr-latos/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:50:00 -0400 Warning: I expect no-one to care about this quick post. Still, our imaginary sponsors thank you for your support. I'm trying to keep the creative juices flowing... trying to get back in the swing of posting the thoughts… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/value-overunder/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/value-overunder/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:16:00 -0400 Today's exercise looks at some of baseball's most overpaid and underpaid players, based on their '09 performance. Hopefully, this will be informative, fun, or at the very least: tolerable. Special thanks to Fangraphs… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/monthly-pulse-august/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/08/monthly-pulse-august/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:51:00 -0400 Yesterday's trading deadline has solidified the rosters of most contenders. We can expect more movement than usual in August trades this season because more teams will be wary of claiming a player on waivers, due to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/cansecos-claim/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/cansecos-claim/ Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:33:00 -0400 So, Jose Canseco has made another "outrageous" statement that will unfortunately probably wind up being true. From ESPN... "And I'll tell you this, Major League Baseball is going to have a big, big problem on their… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/future-stars-busts/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/future-stars-busts/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:28:00 -0400 This will be brief. Late last night, I was watching the Blue Jays/Mariners game and rooting for Marc Rzepczynski, who was starting for our fantasy team last night. A few thoughts came to mind that I needed to share with… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/mark-this-is-theo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/mark-this-is-theo/ Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:23:00 -0400 My written response to this rumor is a bit late, as I first heard it on Sunday... from the very end of Nick Cafardo's lengthy Sunday column ... At this time of year, one takes trade information with a grain of salt, but… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/fridays-notepad/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/fridays-notepad/ Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:22:00 -0400 Below are a few random thoughts from having free MLB Extra Innings on this Friday afternoon... Starting Pitchers for today's two matinees... Jose Contreras, White Sox @ Justin Verlander, Detroit... and... Aaron Harang,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/halladay-to-mets/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/halladay-to-mets/ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:35:00 -0400 Peter Abraham is a writer whom I've come to respect a bit recently, since he criticized the Yankees' handling of Alex Rodriguez about a month ago. On June 20th, he wrote about how the Yankees hadn't rested Alex as often… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/clearing-notebook/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/clearing-notebook/ Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:40:00 -0400 I'm using this Sunday evening explore the evolving trade market & examine the untapped potential of young players like Mat Latos, Brett Wallace, and even Andy Marte... who's fighting to avoid being the Gary Scott of… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/live-from-new-york/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/live-from-new-york/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:14:00 -0400 This post was spawned from notes taken on my incredibly nerdy legal pad, while I sat in the 500 level of CitiField, directly behind (and above) home plate. In my opinion, it does not appear that CitiField has very much… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/all-star-eve/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/all-star-eve/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:49:00 -0400 In advance, please know that this in no way encapsulates all of my thoughts over the past week around baseball. I'll have another post soon clearing the notebook, which will include highlights from my first trip to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/delayed-reaction/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/delayed-reaction/ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:33:00 -0400 Sorry again for the delay between posts. We just moved to a new apartment in Manhattan and do not have Internet, TV, phone, or any of those domestic communication devises. In the week, since our last post, we've… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/inaugural-power-rankings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/inaugural-power-rankings/ Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:10:00 -0400 In lieu of the traditional format of our 1st of the month look at MLB predictions, we will take an at-a-glance look at each team with our first annual July 1 power rankings. We will count them down... There are 30… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/posnanskis-latest/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/07/posnanskis-latest/ Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:39:00 -0400 We'll have our highly anticipated July 1 post up later today. Here is something to hold you over, if you're sitting in your office with not a lot to do. As we've said here many times, Joe Posnanski is the best. If you… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/evaluating-everth/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/evaluating-everth/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:25:00 -0400 Last night, we dropped Kaz Matsui and picked up Everth Cabrera, to play in out Middle Infield position. We gave Matsui about two weeks, where he provided a below average OBP, three runs, two RBI, and no HR's or SB's.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/all-star-ballots/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/all-star-ballots/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:54:00 -0400 A few weeks ago, I started a draft for a column entitled "Appreciating Lincecum" . After writing out some thoughts on that subject, I tried to build an All Appreciation Team from players around major league baseball.… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/cocktail-party-ammo/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/cocktail-party-ammo/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:51:00 -0400 In case anyone has plans to attend a cocktail party in the next couple of days, here are a few conversation starters that are sure to keep your fellow party goers entertained and enlightened. - It looks like the Yankees… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/case-of-mondays/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/case-of-mondays/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:43:00 -0400 It's a slow day around Major League Baseball, as there are only four games on the docket. Cubs @ Atlanta Ryan Dempster vs Javier Vazquez This is a makeup game, due to a rain out. So, the Cubs had to fly from Chicago to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/browsing-interweb/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/browsing-interweb/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:07:00 -0400 So, the Cubs are sitting in a rain delay at Wrigley Field, hosting Cliff Lee and the Cleveland Indians. I thought it'd be nice to share a look at what's been out their on the ol' www... The Cubs currently sport a 31-31… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/backes-back/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/backes-back/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:22:00 -0400 Just a quick shout out to Brandon Backe , making his first start of the season for the Astros in a few minutes. To me, Backe was always the 4th or 5th starter on the Astros team with Roy Oswalt, Roger Clemens, and Andy… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/its-over-for-sammy/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/its-over-for-sammy/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:54:00 -0400 The New York Times just ruined Sammy Sosa's evening . From the Michael S. Schmidt article... Sammy Sosa, who joined with Mark McGwire in 1998 in a celebrated pursuit of baseball’s single-season home run record, is among… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/fun-with-pecota/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/fun-with-pecota/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:51:00 -0400 In a recent blog post , Rob Neyer included a link to the PECOTA Post-season Odds . PECOTA forecasts future baseball player and team performance by utilizing comparable player data, peripheral statistics, probability… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/mid-june-leaders/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/mid-june-leaders/ Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:28:00 -0400 Spending some time this afternoon on the Baseball Reference 2009 MLB Advanced Batting stats page , gave us an enlightened look into the first ten weeks of the season. We were looking at individual stats, and the two… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/interleague-madness/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/interleague-madness/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:19:00 -0400 The Yankees and Mets are meeting up at the new Yankee Stadium tonight, and both teams have seen better times. The M.A.S.H.'ing Mets are limping into this weekend's subway series four games behind the Phillies and even… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/yankee-opportunity/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/yankee-opportunity/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:46:00 -0400 With all the talk about the Yankees not being able to beat the Red Sox , there are just a couple of things that people fail to mention. This is a quick post; we aren't trying to mention everything that is germane to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/who-are-these-guys/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/who-are-these-guys/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:26:00 -0400 Thoughts from watching the first round of the MLB draft on the MLB Network... Bud Selig is such a bad public speaker. He's such an old curmudgeon, and he comes off as an absolute dinosaur who's never cared for anything… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/anticipating-tonight/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/anticipating-tonight/ Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:46:00 -0400 Pittsburgh @ Atlanta Ross Ohlendorf vs Derek Lowe I had forgotten Ohlendorf was a former Yankee prospect. The only thing that really interests me about this series is if Nate McLouth is taking any former teammates or… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/its-draft-day/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/its-draft-day/ Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:09:00 -0400 Tonight's the night. Steven Strasburg, Dustin Ackley, and their peers will be getting drafted tonight and tomorrow based on their physical tools, statistics, projections, and signability . This past weekend, Peter… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/what-happened-last-night/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/what-happened-last-night/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:23:00 -0400 The question in the title used to refer to what exactly happened after someone blacked out, passed out, or simply needed help compiling the bits and pieces of memories that remained from a night of partying. Going to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/act-two-begins/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/act-two-begins/ Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:50:00 -0400 If the baseball season can be looked at as a three act play, we would take each two months as an act. In your basic three act structure, Act One is used to introduce the audience to the characters of the play. The… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/back-from-jamaica/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/06/back-from-jamaica/ Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:52:00 -0400 Sorry for the long delay since posts. We went on a "scouting" trip to Jamaica and just got back last night. We will try to be more proactive to announce the potential for a longer-than-usual break. There is a lot to… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/david-y-los-muchachos/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/david-y-los-muchachos/ Tue, 19 May 2009 08:50:00 -0400 Before my time, the 1969 Mets had the storybook postseason that eluded the careers of Cub greats Ron Santo , Billy Williams , Fergie Jenkins , and "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks . On a fun note, all-time great afro grower, Oscar… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/this-could-be-first-time-weve-checked/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/this-could-be-first-time-weve-checked/ Mon, 18 May 2009 09:24:00 -0400 This could be the first time we've checked with ESPN's MLB Draft Blog , but we found something remarkable in Sunday's post by Jason A. Churchill . One assistant scouting director's expectation for the top half of the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/greetings-from-mahopac/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/greetings-from-mahopac/ Sun, 17 May 2009 09:43:00 -0400 We are spending the weekend with friends in Mahopac, NY. Quickly, I wanted to make note of a few things that we've noticed the last few days. Rich Hill is Back! Congratulations to the Orioles. Rich Hill came back… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/return-of-good-friends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/return-of-good-friends/ Thu, 14 May 2009 12:08:00 -0400 Early this morning, while reviewing today's starting lineup for our team, I felt the need to create a stir. So, as we periodically do, we went back to "Good Friends", and our photo went from being a smiling Chris Young,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/last-chance-hochevar/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/last-chance-hochevar/ Tue, 12 May 2009 14:11:00 -0400 As any regular readers to this space can guess, we are very excited for tonight's season debut by Kansas City Royals starting pitcher, Luke Hochevar. Back in 2005, Hochevar capped off his collegiate career at the… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/painstaking-roto-moves/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/painstaking-roto-moves/ Mon, 11 May 2009 15:47:00 -0400 Yes, this is embarrassing. I am publicly announcing that I care enough about our roto team to think about whether or not it was wrong to cut Juan Pierre and George Sherrill last night. As we've mentioned before, our… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/bowden-bard/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/bowden-bard/ Mon, 11 May 2009 14:48:00 -0400 We previously wrote in this space about how impressed we were with Red Sox pitching prospect, Michael Bowden. (I heard it pronounced "Bo-den" instead of "Bow-den", like Bobby Bowden.) Over the weekend, Bowden's… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/in-rotisserie-baseball-there-comes-time/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/in-rotisserie-baseball-there-comes-time/ Sun, 10 May 2009 08:16:00 -0400 In rotisserie baseball, there comes a time when you have to cut someone that you thought would be a key to your squad. It is critical to be correct when recognizing the difference between a player who will bounce back… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/in-box-scores/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/in-box-scores/ Thu, 07 May 2009 07:15:00 -0400 I'll admit that I didn't watch any baseball last night, but still here is a quick recap of last night's action, straight from one of our Nation's free gifts to the world, daily box scores... First, what we were looking… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/walk-in-park/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/walk-in-park/ Wed, 06 May 2009 16:27:00 -0400 Was our anticipation to Tuesday's matinees rewarded with results matching up to our prognostications? I doubt it. However, our expectations were exceeded by a few memorable surprises. Let's recap. What Happened to Roy… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/tuesday-matinees/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/05/tuesday-matinees/ Tue, 05 May 2009 10:19:00 -0400 Here are a few things that I will be looking for in today's action. 12:35pm EST Houston Astros @ Washington Nationals Roy Oswalt vs Scott Olsen I'm looking for Roy-O to have a very good game. He was winless in April,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/monthly-predictions-may-1/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/monthly-predictions-may-1/ Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:57:00 -0400 We thought it could be fun to do a monthly revisit of our season predictions. (Not to mention that gimmicks like these are some of the easier ways to get columns started.) For the record, we will stick with our Opening… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/getaway-day-afternoon-notes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/getaway-day-afternoon-notes/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:02:00 -0400 As a quick summary of the rest of last night's game... the Cubs cruised to an 11-3 win... Zambrano hit the 17th home run of his career... Tom Gordon pitched a perfect Top of the 9th, retiring the Cubs on 9 pitches. I… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/cubs-live-bloggin/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/cubs-live-bloggin/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:24:00 -0400 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 I’ve always enjoyed a running diary of live games from writers like Bill Simmons and the Deadspin.com guys. So, as I get ready to watch my first… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/sunday-morning-musings/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/sunday-morning-musings/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:51:00 -0400 Let's turn back the clock about nine days. I just got back from Chicago two Friday's ago. That evening, I was about to leave the house to pick up some take out we'd ordered. While getting my stuff together (shoes,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/no-outline-no-rough-draft/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/no-outline-no-rough-draft/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:44:00 -0400 We usually try to be somewhat buttoned up on these posts. Usually, there is an outline or rough draft that we reread and spell check. Since it is 12:45 AM on Sunday morning, I'm just going to jot down a few quick… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/risk-of-cc-hut/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/risk-of-cc-hut/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:18:00 -0400 Please accept my apologies for the long posting break. Perhaps, the sad news that the King Kaufman column at salon was ending threw me off. Anyway, I've returned from Chicago and am back to the land of the Metropolit… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/is-piazza-next-mcgwire/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/is-piazza-next-mcgwire/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:34:00 -0400 When considering the historical impact of the times we are living, I believe it’s important to take a step back and try to put things in perspective. We are either in the post-steroid era, or more cynically speaking we… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/its-been-busy-morning-with-lot-of/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/its-been-busy-morning-with-lot-of/ Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:13:00 -0400 It’s been a busy morning with a lot of complications, so here are some quick random thoughts after one week of the season. I still have no idea who will win the AL Central, but I wish I hadn’t picked the Indians. Every… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/april-11/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/april-11/ Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:09:00 -0400 Twenty-one years ago today, April 11, 1988, I was eleven years old and stayed home from school even though I don’t think I was actually sick. My Mom called the school and told them I was sick & couldn’t go. In my… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/homestate-turf-wars/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/homestate-turf-wars/ Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:07:00 -0400 This post starts with a guess that the three best states to recruit high-school baseball players are California, Texas, and Florida. (Not to mention Georgia, Arizona, and Oregon.) We suspect it’s the same in football,… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/good-friends/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/good-friends/ Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:00:00 -0400 “So, who’d you get?” In the context of fantasy sports, very few questions are more polarizing than the one above. The recipient to such question is usually pleased to have a chance to talk about something fun, that is… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/opening-day-eyes/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/opening-day-eyes/ Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:27:00 -0400 Yesterday was a wonderful Opening Day: Cubs win, Cardinals lose. As most people know, there is a bit of a struggle among some baseball minds to choose a side, or find the right balance, between "scouting" and… https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/2009-mlb-predictions/ https://baseballrealitytour.com/2009/04/2009-mlb-predictions/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:01:00 -0400 In all of these projections, we are looking at potential regression or improvement off the last couple of seasons, for each team. We can get into more of the math in future posts, but this is really just supposed to be…