Great Articles at Baseball Digest Daily

Here are just two examples of the great writing you’ll find at Baseball Digest Daily.

If you’ve been around Seamheads.com, you probably know that we joined the Baseball Digest Daily family not long ago, and if you haven’t been around and this is your first time visiting the site, you can clearly see the BDD banner waving proudly overhead. When you get a chance, you should click on that banner and visit Baseball Digest Daily to get a taste of what they have to offer.

While Seamheads.com offers baseball mostly from an historical perspective, we’ve expanded our focus to include current events as well. Baseball Digest Daily focuses on current events, but also delves into the game’s history.

For example, Dave Rouleau made a wonderful discovery recently (Branch Rickey’s scouting report on Don Drysdale) and posted an article about it. Here’s an excerpt:

It is incredible what you can find in the Library of Congress. While making a quick search on another topic this morning (see Roundup - Wednesday), I found this scouting report on Hall of Fame pitcher, Don Drysdale.

The right-handed thrower broke in the majors on April 15th, 1956, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, two years after the scouting report was written. In his first 10 innings pitched, he allowed 9 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. That year, the New York franchise won the National League pennant with a 93-61 record.

He went to win 209 games and lose 166, with the following career line in the majors: 3432 IP, 3084 H, 1124 ER, 855 BB, 2486 K, 2.95 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.

His best season came in 1964, when he threw 321.3 innings, allowed 242 hits and 62 walks, but struck out 237 batters for a 2.18 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.

There’s also a fantastic article in which Chris O’Leary analyzes Mike Hampton’s mechanics and speculates whether or not that had anything to do with Hampton’s pectoral injury he suffered recently. Here’s an excerpt:

Because he has been so good in the past, but has been such a mess in the last few years, I have spent a lot of time looking at Mike Hampton’s mechanics and thinking about his injury problems. However, I have yet to come up with a solid explanation for his problems.

His mechanics don’t exhibit any really obvious flaws (other than some locking of the Glove Side knee) and do show some good things. In terms of what may be going on with Mike Hampton’s current problem with his pectoral muscle, this is a fairly unusual injury. I don’t see an obvious timing problem in his mechanics which would suggest that this could be a shoulder problem in disguise.

That suggests that the problem is primarily muscular and may reflect a lack of conditioning, which is a problem that can be fixed relatively easily. As an aside, let me say that Mike Hampton’s experience post Tommy John surgery points out that it is not a perfect procedure. Somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of patients have significant problems.

The above are just two of many examples of the fine writing you’ll find at Baseball Digest Daily. Be sure to visit both sites on a regular basis; You won’t be disappointed.