THOSE WACKY CUBS FANS “A fan came down and hit one of our guys [Chad Kreuter] in the back of the head. Literally punched him in the back of the head when he wasn’t looking. And he took his hat. That’s how the whole thing started.” — Todd Hundley, Dodgers catcher “I was worried. I’m…
Running with the Pack For better or worse, "parity" has been a buzzword in the NFL for the last decade or so. It’s the result of league rules that reward poor performance with a creampuff schedule that enables perennial sad sacks to sign Arena League quarterbacks and win the Super Bowl. Baseball’s economic disparities and…
Taking advantage of the Yankees’ complete inability to put runs on the board, the Red Sox moved into first place in the AL East this week. While the 1999 wild-card team was often referred to–OK, mostly by me–as a two-man team of Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, the 2000 version is showing considerably more depth…
No, I’m not predicting anything, just taking a look at some of the things to watch for around baseball this weekend. The race is on to see which bullpen will actually spontaneously combust first, that of the Orioles or the Cubs. The Cubs have been victimized by their relief core for the entire season, and…
One of the more regular complaints about the staff of Baseball Prospectus is that we’re prospectaholics. It’s a fair charge, because I know that we as a group, and myself in particular, are hard-core believers in the idea that minor-league performance can tell us how well players can play at the major-league level. What we…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed SS Gary DiSarcina on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/9; recalled 2B Trent Durrington from Edmonton. [5/11] Placed LHP Kent Mercker on the 15-day DL (cerebral hematoma). [5/12] Outrighted C Bret Hemphill to Edmonton. [5/15] Optioned 2B Trent Durrington to Edmonton; purchased the contract of 2B Keith Luuloa from Edmonton. [5/16] Hats…
As everyone now knows, Tuesday night’s Cubs-Dodgers game was notable for more than just Don Baylor’s new formula for losing ballgames–leave the starter in to die. It also introduced America to what has been a long-term problem at Wrigley Field: lousy security and half-assed attempts by the Cubs’ organization to dodge responsibility for it. Just…
As we approach the quarter mark of the season, many people are starting to assemble "surprises and disappointments" lists. Some of these lists reflect a lack of careful analysis–such as any comments about Dante Bichette‘s inept performance–but another widely-ignored problem is whether the quarter of the season just played will be representative of the season…
Taking Their Chances with Lee Stevens Through May 14th, free-swinging superstar Vladimir Guerrero has drawn 16 walks–but 10 of them (62.5%) were intentional. The highest ratio of intentional walks to overall walks since statkeepers started differentiating between them in 1955 (minimum 400 AB): Name Year IBB BB Ratio Manny Sanguillen 1971 13 19 .684 Joe…
Ho-hum. Just another run-of-the-mill evening at North America’s ballparks: In Montreal, the Expos pulled off the unlikely feat of beating Randy Johnson, as Javier Vazquez continued his delayed emergence as one of the National League’s best starters. Vazquez tossed eight shutout innings in the 2-0 win, and since his demotion last June, has an ERA…
I’ve been fortunate to be involved with BP from its inception, and have written for every edition of the book and for the Web site since we launched it. I’m also the managing editor of both the site and the book, and I understand how difficult it is to achieve 100% accuracy in the millions…
Pat Burrell The recent injury to Rico Brogna highlights a baseball development that, until now, has been only surmised: Terry Francona and the Phillies front office are hopped up on goofballs. Are they waiting for Ron Gant to break his leg before announcing that Kevin Sefcik will now be the full-time starter because he can…
ATLANTA BRAVES Activated RHP Kevin McGlinchy from the 15-day DL; optioned RHP Kerry Ligtenberg to Richmond. [5/13] Just your basic good idea. Ligtenberg needs to regain control of his breaking stuff to pitch effectively in the majors, and not even the Braves can afford to fool around with a rehab project. Now that Kevin McGlinchy…
Ryan Anderson was the Seattle Mariners’ first-round pick in the June 1997 amateur draft out of Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Michigan. At 6’11 3/4", the hard-throwing southpaw cuts a figure on the mound unlike any seen before. Anderson’s first two professional seasons included a mix of dominant stretches and bouts with inconsistency. However,…
It’s fair to say that no one on our staff expected that, six weeks into the season, the Arizona Diamondbacks would have the biggest lead in any divisional race and sport the best record in baseball. We were mostly caught by surprise in 1999, when the D’backs rode Randy Johnson and a surprising veteran offense…
RICKEY SAGA… “I don’t anticipate releasing Rickey Henderson. I think what I’d say to him is don’t get caught up in all the nonsense.” — Steve Phillips, Mets GM “I don’t worry about it.” — Rickey Henderson, outfielder “It’s not acceptable, hitting a ball 400 feet and then pulling that [*%$!].” — Bobby Valentine, Mets…