NJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: Sam McDowell

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine. This one is about Sam McDowell, a pitcher on the Indians in the 1960′s and 1970′s. If you want to read more about Sam, just click here. Check back in a couple of days for more of [...]

The Daily Stream: #WhoYagot

It is Saturday and today I am taking a second look at my daily transaction leagues and seeing where I need to make up some ground and in what categories I need to target. I like to first do this on Wednesday or Thursday and then look again on Friday night or Saturday morning. Something [...]

We Declare Peace on War

The 2013 Major League Baseball season begins Sunday night. In preparation for another exciting campaign, the founders at 60ft6in.com has introduced a new pitching metric called Pitcher Evaluation ACE (PEACE). This new tool compares each pitching season to the average historical season. The structure of PEACE is similar to Factor12. However, adjustments have been made to account for [...]

The Glory Days: Six Pitchers with Hall of Fame Credentials

Okay, I’m just going to throw some numbers out there for you. They are pitching numbers, the heart of them etched in the 1960s and 70s. Before we start, keep in mind that three of the six pitchers statistically chronicled here are in the Hall of Fame. (a) 14 years, 209-166, 2.95, 49 shutouts, 3432 [...]

Bob Gibson’s 1968 Season Is Overrated

The 1968 MLB season featured the greatest pitching statistics in the live ball era (since 1920).  However, thanks to the Factor12 (F12) Rating on 60ft6in.com, baseball fans can delve deeper into the statistical minutia and uncover the real truth. Bob Gibson 1968 F12:   22-9 / 1.12 ERA/ 0.85 WHIP / 28 CG / 13 SHO / 304.67 IP [...]

An Interview with Minnesota Twins Prospect B.J. Hermsen

Although the Minnesota Twins often seem to find success no matter how flashy their roster or how little they spend in free agency, there is little doubt that they are currently in rebuilding mode. In particular their pitching staff is in dire need of an infusion of talent. The team hopes that some answers can [...]

Jim Neidlinger: No Regrets

The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have had a string of legendary pitchers during their existence, earning accolades, World Series victories, and Hall of Fame enshrinements. Many young hurlers have imagined themselves being part of that group upon signing with the Dodgers’ organization, but few have accomplished such lofty goals. During the summer of 1990, Jim Neidlinger [...]

Someone Please Tell Cole Hamels Older Isn’t Necessarily Better

With one pitch and a few poorly chosen words, Cole Hamels proved two things on Sunday; older is not necessarily better, and there are no intelligence requirements to make $15 million a year. As reported in a story by ESPN, Hamels hit Washington Nationals super rookie Bryce Harper with a pitch and then proudly told [...]

A Flood of Riches

The rain is falling in Washington and it will mean that there is no chance to sweep the Marlins today. There is nothing cloudy or damp, however, about the superlatives being used to describe the Washington Nationals pitching staff. It is dedicated Nationals fans who are most aware of what it all means as they behold [...]

Clearing The Bases

I love to play fantasy sports, whether it be baseball, football, or hockey, but I do understand that it’s just a game and not the most important thing in life.  That’s not to say that I’m not a more pleasant human being when my teams are doing well.  I do have a tendency to go [...]

Factor12 Top12 Last12

Over the last twelve MLB seasons, there have been some legendary pitching performances.   The Factor12 Rating is able to quantify each successful season or failure.  Where does your favorite pitcher rate against the competition? Since 2000, there have been 7569 pitching seasons. Of these occurrences, only 12 times has a pitcher recorded an F12 Rating over 33.000. [...]

DEFINING GREATNESS: A Hall of Fame Handbook

One third of the players in the Hall of Fame do not have the credentials to be there.  Or, to be more precise, 35% of the 20th century major league Hall of Famers do not have the performance records (on the field in the regular season) to merit a place in Cooperstown. After the BBWAA [...]

When Is The Fan Going To Think About These Things?

“They are governed by private associations or corporations by a minimum number of promoters or sports clubs or both classes, to promote, sponsor and organize a sport and will boost programs of public and social interest”. The above is the concept of “League”, so it cannot include the Negro Leagues as this kind of association—simply [...]

An Interview with Texas Rangers’ Prospect Cody Buckel

Since Nolan Ryan became president of the Texas Rangers in 2009, they have become known as one of the tightest run organizations in baseball; combining savvy roster building with cultivating a deep farm system. Because of Ryan’s Hall of Fame pedigree as a pitcher, he has added pressure to develop a stable of dominant young [...]

The Day of the (Starting) Pitcher

So we’re one day into the new baseball season, and most of what we’ve seen is great starting pitching. Even though the Mets moved in the outfield fences at Citi Field, the Mets and Braves managed to scratch out one puny run between them. Kyle Lohse didn’t allow a hit to the Marlins until the [...]

Audio Interview With Chattanooga’s Aaron Miller

On April 3rd, I had an opportunity to interview Chattanooga Lookouts pitcher Aaron Miller. He was a first round selection in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft. Prior to the 2011 season, Aaron was ranked as one of top ten pitchers in the Dodgers organization. This interview focuses on the injury he suffered last year and [...]

The Factor12 Rating Returns

The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. F12 consists of the following twelve statistics incorporating every aspect of pitching. Innings Pitched (IP); Strikeouts Minus Walks (SO-BB); Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP); Earned Run Average (ERA); Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched [...]

Thinking About Jamie Moyer at 49

Jamie Moyer is old enough to have helped prompt the Chicago Cubs to trade Dennis Eckersley to the Oakland A’s in the spring of 1987, when Moyer was a rising prospect displacing Eckersley as a starter, and to have been traded along with Rafael Palmeiro to the Texas Rangers for Mitch Williams before the 1989 [...]

Mariners Win With Montero Trade Too…

Last night saw the rare exchange of top young players, when the New York Yankees traded catcher/designated hitter Jesus Montero and pitcher Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. So far the reaction seems to be focused on what a terrific deal this was for the Yankees, and how [...]

Produced Before Steroids: Happy Felsch’s Great Clouts in 1914

Oscar “Happy” Felsch was a Milwaukee boy who came to the American Association Brewers in August 1913, after playing with the Milwaukee/Fond du Lac Mollys of the Wisconsin-Illinois League. In the W-I League Felsch had hit .337, including 10 home runs, in 49 games—mostly as a shortstop. He only managed to hit .183 in for [...]

2012 Milestones (And Beyond): Runs Scored

Ten days ago I wrote that we won’t be witnessing any real milestones in wins for a long time unless Jaimie Moyer makes a successful comeback, and even that’s no guarantee.  Using Bill James’ “Favorite Toy” at ESPN.go.com (called “Career Assessments” now), I deduced that CC Sabathia has a 45% chance of reaching the 300-win [...]

Guillen Es La Mejor Adquisicion (Up To Now, Guillen Is The Best Acquisition)

Todo lo que los Marlins puedan hacer para la venidera temporada, está en las manos de Ossie Guillen: los jugadores de disciplina probada, como Gaby Sánchez o Logan Morrison; o los considerables en el rango de “mala influencia”, como Hanley Ramírez o José Reyes. Se ha filtrado que Ramírez no quiere jugar en el campocorto [...]

Catching Up With Former Yankee Johnny James

If there is anything more difficult in baseball than making it to the major leagues, it is making the roster of a successful team. Thus imagine the upward climb that pitcher Johnny James had as he worked his way through the New York Yankees farm system in the 1950′s, the golden age of the game’s [...]

NORMALIZING NEGRO LEAGUE STATISTICS

Most baseball fans are familiar with the concept of ‘normalizing’ statistics. For MLB statistics, the most basic adjustment is to normalize for park effects. The simplest park normalization calculation takes the impact of a team’s park on runs scored then divides that number, either positive or negative, in half, and then that calculation is applied [...]

And your 2011 World Series Winner is…

About 30 years ago, Bill James introduced a prediction system that picked the World Series winner with 70% accuracy. He wrote about the system for Inside Sports magazine in 1982, then expounded on it in his 1984 Baseball Abstract. He developed the system in 1972 and it accurately predicted the World Series winner at a [...]

With Another 84 Contracts Sold and Some Postseason Players, Indy Game Continues to Produce for Majors

While the next few months before most Independent teams throw a pitch that counts is certain to bring a ton of headlines about franchises struggling and some welcome news on emerging markets, league executives can continue to boast about what a strong source the non-affiliated operations are in providing talent for major league organizations. At [...]

The Pitchers: The 4 Levels of Greatness – Part 1

In a previous series of articles, I presented the 5 Levels of Greatness for the 20th century position players who posted Hall of Fame numbers during their careers – according to the CAWS Career Gauge.  We saw that there are one hundred sixteen (116) such players. In this series of articles, I will present the [...]

The Hall of Famers: The 5 Levels of Greatness – Part 1

Consider the following statement: One third of the players in Baseball’s Hall of Fame do not have the credentials to be there. Or, to be more precise, 35% of the 20th century major league Hall of Famers do not belong in Cooperstown according to their performance records (on the field in the regular season). This [...]

The Most Egregious Cy Young Award Snubs of All Time (at Least on Paper)

I recently listed the most egregious MVP snubs of all time and thought it was time to give the pitchers a little love (although not the ones who were awarded a Cy Young they didn’t deserve based on my WA2RB formula).  Rather than plagiarize myself and explain my thoughts and formula, you should head over [...]

Koufax or Ryan? Tough choice for Torborg

Don’t ask Jeff Torborg to choose between Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan. The only man to catch no-hitters thrown by both can’t make up his mind. A former back-up catcher for the Dodgers and Angels, Torborg caught a perfect game thrown by Koufax in 1965 and no-hitters thrown by Bill Singer in 1970 and Ryan [...]

2011 All-Star Rosters: Analysis in the Context of the Process

Each year casual and serious baseball fans alike enjoying critiquing the selections for the MLB All-Star game. Most often these amount to “snub lists” or selecting preferred rosters without consideration of the process that is in place for choosing the actual all-star squads. It is a separate matter to debate the pros and cons of [...]

A New “Rule of Thumb” – 300 Win Shares

When fans talk about who belongs in the Hall of Fame, mention is often made of the three “rules of thumb” that have been around for some time.  That is, a player “deserves to be in the Hall of Fame” if he Has 3000 hits or Has 500 home runs or Has 300 wins as [...]

All Phillies…All the Time — The Catchers

Herewith is the first installment of the All-Time Greatest Phillies Team. Before undertaking this endeavor, some ground rules… This is one version of the “Greatest Phillies of All Time.” The key word is “great,” and it will be used in the larger meaning of the word, that is, beyond pure statistics. This is sort of [...]

St. Louis vs. Cincinnati

How exactly did we get here?  How did we come from St. Louis and Cincinnati having just a passing thought in each other’s minds to a knockdown, dragout rivalry between the two squads and the two fan bases?  And, honestly, why is there such a rivalry, Johnny Cueto notwithstanding? The history of Cardinals and Reds [...]

In Memoriam Patato Pascual

Aquel comienzo de 1969 había sido muy movido para la pelota venezolana. Magallanes había clasificado a la final de cuatro equipos pero hasta allí llegó. Una vez terminada la temporada hubo más movimientos. Magallanes fue vendido a un grupo de Valencia. A medida que pasaron los días les pregunté a mis hermanos quién sería el manager. Me dijeron: Carlos Patato Pascual. “El mismo que dirigió a los Tigres de Aragua la temporada pasada”, dijo Felipe con cierta esperanza. Jesús Mario mantuvo su habitual escepticismo. “Esperemos que no deje tanto a los pitchers como Napoleón Reyes”.

Next Page »