The full results of the voting are in.
Just one week ago, the New York Mets seemed in firm possession of the National League wild-card spot, a position they had held for several months. There was even a solid chance at a National League East title, with six games against Atlanta looming. Despite the formidable schedule, it seemed like they had little to…
The three days of the All-Star break present a rare opportunity for baseball fans to catch their breath. Here at Baseball Prospectus, we’re just like the rest of you, looking both back at the three months past, and ahead to see what we can expect over the stretch run. Over the next week, we’ll be…
Joe DiMaggio died Monday morning. His place in history went beyond baseball, as he became one of those players whose myth grew so large that it often obscured any rational evaluation of his play. Especially now, it is hard to discuss DiMaggio with many fans because he, like Sandy Koufax and only a few others,…
The Prospectus Projections Project began last February, when we asked about 40 people to make "human" projections of how 100 hitters and 25 pitchers would perform in 1998. We wanted to see how people would do compared to the computer formulas that appear in such publications as Baseball Prospectus and STATS’ Major League Handbook. In…
The full results of this year’s IBA voting.
OFFENSE The Red Sox offense somehow outscored the Indians this year, but they did it with mirrors that are unlikely to work as well in the playoffs. The only position at which the Red Sox are clearly better offensively is shortstop, with MVP candidate Nomar Garciaparra. Comparing lineups, you see so many strengths for the…
Virtually everybody involved in baseball analysis believes in using park factors in evaluating player performance. However, its a lot more difficult to get anyone to agree on how to calculate park factors. The major dispute revolves around how many years of data are needed to calculate park factors. Some people argue that you need multiple…
TOP TEN TEAMS Yankees – Amazing depth, they can lose anyone and keep right on rolling. But new playoff system will make it much less likely that the Yanks will be champs. Braves – Same old story, plus the emergence of Chipper Jones as a superstar and Andres Gallaraga’s career year. Padres – This almost…
Many baseball observers expected an offensive explosion this year as a result of expansion. It has been true in the past that expansion years have coincided with seasons that have featured significant increases in overall offensive levels. These increases have been “explained” as the result of the weak pitching expansion brings into the major leagues….
Top Ten Teams 1. NY Yankees: Incredibly deep team which can afford to lose almost anybody because their talent base. They will run away with the division. 2. Atlanta Braves – Same old story. What will we tell our grandchildren about this starting staff? 3. San Diego Padres – Last year the pitching staff pitched…
Surprises are what provide much of the drama of a baseball season. There are too many unknowns in baseball for there not to be surprises, so not even the best analysts can make predict every development in an upcoming season. Here we check in on players who did the unexpected during the 1997 season, and…
This year’s Hall of Fame ballot is considered weak by many observers. Indeed, several players who should have been elected have seen their eligibility dry up in recent years, and it’s not until next year that such luminaries as Robin Yount, Carlton Fisk and Nolan Ryan will appear on the ballot. But this year’s ballot…
The full results of this year’s IBA voting.
Welcome to the presentation of the 5th annual Internet Baseball Awards,
as voted on by the denizens of the Usenet rec.sport.baseball newsgroups
and other cyberspace baseball fans.
Our efforts to more widely publicize the vote this year lead to a
record number of ballots this year, with 120 distinguished respondents
taking the time to vote. The great majority of voters this year took
the time to fill out complete or nearly-complete ballots.