And You Thought the Big Story was Home Runs The National League single-season record for walks drawn was set by the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, who worked their opponents for 732 free passes. This season, no less than three NL teams are on pace to shatter that record through the end of April: the Astros (845-walk…
Well, so much for baseball’s tightest division. The NL Central was supposed to be a three-team race with the Reds, Cardinals and Astros all closer than Angelina Jolie and her brother. Instead, the Cardinals have shot out of the gate like Secretariat, while the Reds and Astros are desperately trying to right their ships while…
They’re Similar in Everything but Religion With Randy Johnson‘s torrid start, his career won/lost record is now 164-88. There are those who think that despite his terrific winning percentages and his two Cy Young Awards, Johnson simply hasn’t won enough games to merit Hall of Fame consideration yet. To that, I say, "phooey." Check out…
Yeah, But You Should See Their Outfielders Despite 25 World Championships, the New York Yankees have usually gotten by with mediocre shortstops. Phil Rizzuto is in the Hall of Fame, but only partly on merit, and he was the Yankees’ only great shortstop. Until now. Derek Jeter‘s power is his weak link in comparison to…
It happens every year: some team sprints out of the gate like Ban Johnson on a ‘roid rage, and the media hordes trample one another trying to grab hold of the bandwagon before Tax Day. When it’s a team like the Cardinals, who were already a trendy pick to make the playoffs before the season…
Consistent Relief John Wetteland‘s name has been dropped from discussions of the game’s best closers, but his consistency in the most capricious role in baseball is still the standard for the new generation of relief aces. Wetteland has amassed 25 or more saves for eight straight seasons, and his low season of 25 saves came…
Among the biggest stories in baseball every spring is the emergence of a new crop of phenoms, those great talents that take the relaxed atmosphere of spring training by storm before they take their first legal drink–or their first swing in Double-A. This year, the name on everyone’s lips depended on the humidity: in arid…
The Best Young Offense Ever? Despite their 64-97 record last season, the Kansas City Royals set a franchise record with 856 runs, and did so almost entirely with youngsters. Mike Sweeney, who turned 26 last July, was the senior member of a group that included Jermaine Dye, Johnny Damon, Rookie of the Year Carlos Beltran,…
Last Friday, The Daily Prospectus contained a short sermon on the Hall of Fame worthiness of just-retired Tim Raines. Judging by the results of an ESPN.com poll that same day, not everybody was paying attention. It’s not worth our time to explain in exhaustive detail why more than 4% of 75,000 voters should have cast…
Ignore, for a moment, the question of how much Ken Griffey Jr. is going to add to the Reds’ lineup. Put aside the concerns of whether Pat Hentgen and Darryl Kile can regain their former glory. Cast away those doubts about whether Mitch Meluskey is healthy and ready to hit major-league pitching. All three contenders…
Continuing–and finally finishing–our discussion of last year’s great prospects, we conclude with the rest of the players who made only one Top 40 list, either that of Baseball America or John Sickels. There were eight players on Baseball America‘s Top 40 list who missed our own and John Sickels’s. Of those, three (Corey Patterson, Mark…
We’ve taken a fine-toothed comb to our own list of prospects from last season, but in order to get the complete picture, we need to look at the prospects who didn’t make our list, not just the ones who did. For every one of our Top 40 Prospects who neither Baseball America nor John Sickels…
The final segment of our review of the Top 40 Prospects from Baseball Prospectus 1999: 8. Jeremy Giambi, LF, Kansas City (BBA: #64, Sickels: #17) What we said last year: "If [Eric] Chavez doesn’t have a smooth transition to the major leagues, Giambi may be the next best bet to win AL Rookie of the…
Part 4 of our ongoing review of the Top 40 Prospects from Baseball Prospectus 1999: 16. Chad Hermansen, OF, Pittsburgh (BBA: #37, Sickels: #46) What we said last year: "A year ago he was one of the top five prospects in the game, and he recovered from a terrible start to hit 28 homers, and…
Part 3 of our ongoing review of the Top 40 Prospects from Baseball Prospectus 1999: 24. Peter Bergeron, CF, Montreal (BBA: #40, Sickels: #33) What we said last year: "…Bergeron is not the only prospect heisted from the Dodgers, but he may be the best of them…he has a terrific on-base percentage, his range in…
Part two of our ongoing review of our Top 40 Prospects from Baseball Prospectus 1999: 32. Rob Bell, RHP, Cincinnati (BBA: #35, Sickels: HM) What we said last year: "Bell had the best curveball in the Carolina League and led the circuit with 197 K’s last year…between Bell and Scott Williamson, and the addition of…