Last year I ran a tournament of the greatest teams in MLB history. The '95 Cleveland Indians prevailed with a win in the finals over the '39 New York Yankees. I quite liked that tournament, and with the College World Series nearly upon us I'd like to try it again. The format is fairly simple. The 64 team field is divided into 16 four-team brackets. Each bracket is double-elimination. The 16 winners advance to Super Regionals, which are best-of-three affairs. The eight winners advance to t
As some of you may know, Major League Baseball has a system where teams can earn draft picks from other teams as compensation for lost free agents. Typically, teams trade impending free agents mid-season in order to get something in exchange for them rather to let them walk. Often however this results in a worse return than simply losing the player at the end of the season. In 2002 for example, the Chicago White Sox dealt Ray Durham to the Oakland A's in exchange for Jon Adkins. The same mon
Portland Sea Dogs @ Reading Phillies
When it comes to minor league baseball, no park can beat FirstEnergy Park in Reading for pure ambiance. There's talk of replacing the park with a new downtown stadia, which would be a huge mistake in my opinion. The corporate name belies the park really. The park is over 50 years old now. Recent renovations make the park comfortable but it retains an old-time feel unlike modern parks. The concessions have a carnival-like atmosphere. There are seemi
Who were the best team in the history of the St. Louis Browns? Most fans would assume the 1944 club. That team won the only league championship in the club's history. A better choice however would be the 1922 club. Contrary to what you might think, the Browns were not always non-contenders. In 1922, the Browns finished 93-61, a scant game behind the champion New York Yankees. The Yankees that season traded for Joe Dugan mid-season. That trade, coupled with the NY Giants' midseason trade f
No game today, but I wanted to post some quick thoughts regarding Josh Hancock. Hancock died early this morning in an automobile accident. Besides his Major League career, Hancock spent most of 2003-04 pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. Hancock came over in the Jeremy Giambi deal and while he looked like a decent pitching prospect, but the Phils dealt him for Todd Jones late in the '04 campaign. I would like to say I remember Josh Hancock on the mound, and while I believe I d
After a dismal start the Phillies' season turned around nicely. As of this writing, the Phils actually own a better record than the New York Yankees. When I mentioned this to a spectator last night, another spectator took the opportunity to note the Phillies had just one World championship. I don't like to get into pissing matches about my team. First off, I'll lose. Second, I don't think a franchise's success is integral to enjoying the game of baseball. When you go to a Yankee game, do yo
My mission this season is to watch five different Phillies teams. Within range are the major league Phillies, the Reading Phillies (AA), the Lakewood Blueclaws (Low A) and the Williamsport Crosscutters (Short Season A). The AAA Phillies play in Ottawa, but they'll play road games in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lakewood is 2 1/2 hours away, but a free day and the promise of a 70 degree, sunny day near the shore provided more than enough temptation to make the drive.
FirstEnergy Park in Lakewoo
There Were Others
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson showed class and courage in dealing with the conditions of his time. He was not the only player, however. Four other african-americans played Major League Baseball in '47. They faced the same obstacles, but not all experienced similar success.
Larry Doby: The Cleveland Indians became the second MLB team to desegregate, and the first American League
I'm sure a lot of Yankee fans are anxious for the arrival of Phil Hughes. Seeing him pitch in Scranton, I honestly can not say I witnessed anything impressive. Hughes gave up five runs in five innings, two walks and one strikeout. I wouldn't have considered him notable if not for the name. That said, it was one start, it was cold and most of the game was played in a light rain. I don't trust performances in these conditions. For what it's worth, Hughes throws a low-90s fastball.
The g
You want boring baseball? Come see the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Yankees as a successful organization preach plate discipline throughout their system. Last night some poor defense led to a five-run third inning from the Richmond Braves, and the Braves added two more in the fourth. With the game effectively out of reach at this point, you hope to see the teams play to the end in a crisp manner. To say these teams limped to the finish line is an understatement. To give you an idea o
One of the troubling aspects of professional sports in the last twenty years ago is the rush for profits. Inevitably it would filter down to the minor leagues, as operators realize there is more money out there. It is great for the bottom line and well-heeled fans, but for the average fan it creates a more sterile environment. Last year you could go to a Red Barons game, buy a ticket at the window and sit up close. This year the team has sold out the entire lower deck for season tickets. Wi
Top Prospects - International League
SP Phil Hughes, NYY
SP Homer Bailey, Cin
SP Matt Garza, Min
SP Adam Miller, Cle
SP Jeff Niemann, TB
OF Adam Lind, Tor
1B Joey Votto, Cin
OF Ryan Sweeney, CWS
3B Josh Fields, CWS
SP Glen Perkins, Min
SP Kevin Slowey, Min
These players made the Top 100 in either the Baseball America or Baseball Prospectus Top 100 list (in fact, all made both lists). This month, the only top 100 prospect set to come through is Philip Hughes, and my fr
As some of you might know, I have a side engagement scoring baseball games for a company called Baseball Info Solutions. I score occasional games in Scranton, mark hit locations and trajectories, and send them in via computer afterwards. I get to watch the game from a good vantage point for free and I get some money on the side. This is my third year. The first two years Scranton was the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. This year however Scranton is now the affiliate of the New Y
Since I recently subscribed to WWE 24/7, I thought this would be good to write up. For those of you who have accessibility, I highly recommend it. A full compliment of wrestling programming, some changing over from week to week. Old house shows, Pay-per-views, television programs, etc. I honestly do not have enough time to watch it all.
A short forward. I do not pay much attention to psychology, workrate, etc. I tend to take a historian's viewpoint of wrestling. I will note bad wrest
Last time out I looked at players who led MLB in Runs Created Above Position over a ten year span. Most of the players are obvious. Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, etc. Some of the names however seemed surprising. In this entry I hope to shed some light on the lesser lights of the list.
Fred Dunlap (1876)
As I mentioned in the previous entry, Dunlap's position rests entirely on the strength of a single season in the Union Association, undoubtedly the
Who would you take to start a franchise? This is a popular question for baseball arguments. The idea is to choose not only the best player, but the player who will continue to produce in the future. Barry Bonds was a dominant hitter in 2004, but would you take him to start a team knowing he was 40 and a few years (we presume) from retirement? With that premise in mind, I sought to devise a list of the players who would answer that question throughout history. For example, if you were starti
Recently an ESPN Sportsnation poll stated that approximately 83% of respondents do not believe Tim Raines was a Hall of Fame caliber player. This is extremely unfortunately. Tim Raines was not only a Hall of Famer, but if left out he would clearly stand as the most deserving player left out. On statistics alone, he rates higher than Mark McGwire. In making this argument I am going to attempt to avoid bogging down the argument with too many sabermetrics. Runs Created Above Average and WARP3
Tony Oliva: Impressive career OPS+ of 131 over a 15 year career. Oliva made eight All-Star teams, finished sixth or higher in MVP votes four times, and won three batting titles. Oliva played his prime in an extremely tough offensive era. His peak is fairly impressive. However, Oliva does not rank in the top 100 of any offensive category except intentional walks. Only one of Oliva's ten most comparable players is in the Hall. That player, George Kelly, is considered one of the worst players
Before I begin, another word on Joe Gordon. Despite a short career, Gordon is one of only four second baseman to hit 25+ home runs in five seasons. The others are Rogers Hornsby, Ryne Sandberg and Jeff Kent.
Mickey Lolich: Lolich's inclusion on the ballot is frankly puzzling. Lolich compiled a 217-191 record, not a great percentage for a candidate with that few wins. His sole qualification seems that for a two year stretch he compiled a 47-28 record with a 2.73 ERA. Using Lee Sinins' R
With the Baseball Writers making their decision, the Baseball Hall of Fame discussion turns to the Veterans' Committee ballot. The Veterans ballot occurs every other year, and is voted on by all living Hall of Famers, as well as writers and broadcasters. Currently, I believe the system is ill-constructed. There are too many vaguely qualified candidates on the ballot and no way to reach a consensus. The system would be much improved by taking the top ten vote getters and running a second, run
Listening to sports talk radio, the only baseball discussion occurring right now regards the Hall of Fame. Invariably, someone will mention that Joe Dimaggio was not elected on the first ballot This is true, Dimaggio received only 44% of the vote. However, two key facts are missed.
1. That ballot was the 1953 ballot. Dimaggio retired following the 1951 season. The 1953 ballot, submitted in December '52, was the FIRST election since Dimaggio retired. I've searched some sources and I ca
I'm posting this here because I didn't feel like beating a dead horse in the MLB thread. There is a legitimate argument that Bagwell is not only Hall of Fame worthy, but he is the best first baseman in the history of the National League. Blasphemy? Check out the leaderboards. Minimum 5000 Plate Appearances for rate statistics.
DOUBLES 2B
1 Mark Grace 511
T2 Cap Anson 488
T2 Jeff Bagwell 488
Tony Gwynn- Since World War II, only Ted Williams hit for a higher batting average than Tony Gwynn. Gwynn hit .338 over his career, and .368 over a five year stretch from 1993-97. Eight batting titles makes Gwynn as sure a candidate as anyone in the history of the balloting.
Cal Ripken- What surprised me in looking up the statistics is that Cal doesn't appear on many lists of shortstops in terms of percentages. His case is based largely on longevity. Nothing wrong with that, as Cal's pe
I don't know how many of you are in college. I'm pursuing a double major in History and Political Science. I'm in my last semester, working on completing a classed called Political Science Seminar. Generally the purpose of these courses is to compile one sizeable paper, 20 pages in this case. I did it last semester for History. History is my first love. I originally had a minor in Political Science, but I decided to go for the major because it took just nine more credits (3 classes). For
Some down time today allows me to fool around with the Sabermetric Encyclopedia.
-Over the last two seasons, Chase Utley has hit 60 home runs, driven in 207 runs, and stolen 31 bases. Only twelve other players in baseball have compiled numbers better in their age 26/27 seasons. Eleven of those twelve are outfielders, and none are second basemen. That should put Chase's ability into perspective. Just for assurances, I removed steals, and Utley still remains the only second baseman on the
