About three weeks ago, the A’s made the weirdest trade of the year, swapping left fielder and OBP guy Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies for fringe major leaguer John Mabry. There seemed to be little justification for the trade; the stated reasons-defense, Mabry’s clubhouse presence, the desire to clear at-bats for Adam Piatt-were weak, and…
With interleague play opening today, Keith Woolner assembled some data on how pitchers and DHs have done over the four seasons of cross-circuit play.
With interleague play opening today, Keith Woolner assembled some data on how pitchers and DHs have done over the four seasons of cross-circuit play. There’s some fun stuff here, so I figured I’d pass it along: As you’d expect, The National League’s pitchers have hit better in IL play, with a .150/.169/.196 line over the…
Joe Sheehan shares his thoughts on a number of topics, including Minute Maid Park, Alex Rodriguez and paranoid umpires.
Some days, the thoughts just don’t come in clean… I’m watching the Devil Rays/Blue Jays game, and home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley has screwed it up royally. In the fourth inning, Luke Prokopec beaned Aubrey Huff with a fastball right off the earflap. It didn’t look intentional-there’s no history of bad blood, and purpose pitches tend…
The First-Year Player Draft concludes today. The annual allocation of teenaged baseball talent is a decidedly inexact science, especially in a year, like this one, with no clear top tier of players.
Just for fun, let’s take a look at the first round of last year’s draft and get an idea of how well that crop is doing.
The First-Year Player Draft concludes today. The annual allocation of teenaged baseball talent is a decidedly inexact science, especially in a year, like this one, with no clear top tier of players. Just for fun, let’s take a look at the first round of last year’s draft and get an idea of how well that…
(Ed. note: The following is a reprint of an article that ran one year ago, on the day of the 2001 draft.] Right now, 30 major-league organizations are making decisions that will impact the success of their franchise over the next few years, and in some cases, for a decade or more. Unlike the football…
So, what’s this whole humidor thing about, anyway? What are the effects of storing baseballs in a 40% humidity environment?
The biggest effect you would expect is that heavier balls hit in the air wouldn’t carry as far, and that appears to be the case. The most obvious impact is in the home-run rate at the park:
(Note that the numbers for the last five seasons do not include interleague games. I was working with the STATS Major League Handbook’s park data, which sensibly excludes those games.)
So, what’s this whole humidor thing about, anyway? What are the effects of storing baseballs in a 40% humidity environment? The biggest effect you would expect is that heavier balls hit in the air wouldn’t carry as far, and that appears to be the case. The most obvious impact is in the home-run rate at…
The Padres aren’t going to win anything without Nevin, so it’s time for them to focus on 2003.
Yesterday, I went down to San Diego to take in the Padres/Rockies game. As I’ve mentioned many times, I love day baseball, and really enjoy taking the opportunity to catch a game on a weekday afternoon. As as been the case with each game I’ve attended this year, this one didn’t have much going for…
Two weeks ago, newly-retired Jose Canseco claimed that 85% of major-league baseball players were steroid users.
Let the piling on begin. Two weeks ago, newly-retired Jose Canseco claimed that 85% of major-league baseball players were steroid users. Now, newly-retired Ken Caminiti admits that he was using steroids during his 1996 MVP season and estimates that half of the game’s players are juiced. Newly-retired Chad Curtis also chimes in with a guess…
I’ve been going to baseball games for 26 years. In that time, the closest I’ve come to a ball was losing a scrum for one during batting practice at Yankee Stadium.
I wouldn’t say I’m going through the motions on this one, but I know that half the country is already gone for the weekend, and the other half is just waiting for the boss to give the signal. I’m headed to Fresno myself, in part to see my friends and their new baby, in part to catch the Grizzlies in their new park on Saturday. I’m writing this as packing activity goes on around me.