The Play’s the Thing

With the 2011 season upon us, we are guaranteed that we will see something occur on the diamond that we have never seen before. The strangest play that I ever saw came in a game at First Horizon Park in Greensboro, NC on July 7, 2006. We were in town for a wedding the next […]

Ballparks Database Updated!

Last month we rolled out the online version of the Seamheads Ballparks database, which contained descriptive information about every park ever used as a major league stadium, plus calculations of the impact on batting components for LH and RH batters beginning in 1950. Today we’ve released an update to the original data.   The latest detailed […]

Measuring a Pitcher’s Ace Factor

Below is a statistical collection of the seasonal performances of every starting pitcher between 1950 and 2010. Each pitcher’s season, represented by a blue diamond, was measured by a calculation that didn’t consider any of the usual suspects typically used in measuring a pitcher’s effectiveness, such as ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, shutouts, or even ground ball percentages, contact […]

Touring The Bases With…Julia Janssen

Julia Janssen is the Director of Marketing for the Lansing Lugnuts located in Lansing, Michigan. They have been affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays since 2005.  They are in the Midwest League.  Website: www.lansinglugnuts.com SEAMHEADS:  When did you discover your love for baseball? How did you wind up on your team? Julia Janssen: I’ve always […]

Canadian Black History Month Part Two: Jackie Robinson

We have just wrapped up Black History Month in Canada, and, interestingly enough, baseball played a major role in at least two of our nation’s many celebratory moments. A stamp was issued in honour of Ferguson Jenkins on February 1 and at the end of the month a commemorative plaque was placed on the Montreal […]

On Seeing Elvis in Florida

Bryce Harper’s appearance in right field at Osceola County Stadium Thursday night occasioned a rush of fans to the wall alongside that would have made Elvis blush.  A fan beside me said it, “The king is in the house again.”  The stadium is the Astros’ spring home, but the hero carrying the scarf of the […]

Ferguson Jenkins and Jackie Robinson: Canada Celebrates Black History Month

We have just wrapped up Black History Month in Canada, and, interestingly enough, baseball played a major role in at least two of our nation’s many celebratory moments. A stamp was issued in honour of Ferguson Jenkins on February 1 and at the end of the month a commemorative plaque was placed on the Montreal […]

Umpires: How Do They Impact Total Line Betting in Baseball?

Introduction I recently read an article about NBA referees and their ability to impact the over/under in total line betting. If more fouls are called, teams shoot additional free throws and play less than optimal defense. MLB umpires may also have the ability to impact the over/under in total line betting. If they call more […]

Ian Desmond, Linchpin to the Future

There was an interesting note in a post recently by Nationals beat writer, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  He said that if manager Jim Riggleman could build the Nationals from scratch, he would start that team with one player–shortstop Ian Desmond.  Ryan Zimmerman is widely thought to be Washington’s franchise player, especially with Stephen […]

Born in August? Welcome to the Majors

Fun fact: since 1965, players born on July 31 have spent a combined 30 years in the Major Leagues. Fast forward 24 hours to August 1, where players born that day have spent a combined 71 years in the majors. How could 24 hours make such a difference? It has been argued for some time […]

Touring The Bases With…Molly Radcliffe

Molly Radcliffe works in Ticket Sales and Alumni Relations for the St. Louis Cardinals. SEAMHEADS: What was your first job working in baseball? How did you obtain the position? How did that first job help you get to where you are today? Molly Radcliffe: I started working in baseball in 2007 when I was hired […]

Is Josh Beckett tipping his pitches to the Yankees?

Another View from the Lone Red Seat It looks like the Yankees have figured out Josh Beckett, so much so that he’s tipping his pitches to them.  Over the last two seasons Josh Beckett’s ERA versus the Yankees is a lofty 7.45.  He has pitched into or beyond the 7th inning only twice and has […]

Seamheads.com Boasts Most Comprehensive Ballparks Database on the Internet

We at Seamheads.com are proud to announce the launch of the new Seamheads.com Ballparks Database, created by Seamheads.com co-founder Kevin Johnson and designed for the Internet by Dan Hirsch, fellow Seamhead and founder of TheBaseballGauge.com. This database has been a long time coming and something Kevin and I have wanted to implement since the earliest […]

Touring the Bases With Peter Bock of the Coastal Plains League

College baseball is set to go off this week.  Wood bat leagues like the Coastal Plain League will be evaluating college talent before their start-up in late May.  Here is a behind-the-scenes look at that league with one of the league founders, Peter Bock. The Coastal Plain League operates in three Atlantic Coast states.  The […]

Touring the Bases With: Bob Luke, Negro Leagues Author

The first “Outta the Parkway” Podcast on Thursday, February 17 at 7:30 pm will feature Bob Luke, noted author of The Baltimore Elite Giants,  and Dwayne Sims, founder and CEO of the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame.  I had the pleasure of talking to Bob Luke this weekend and he was kind enough to […]

Reflections on Ron Piché

Ron Piché, the man they called “Monsieur Baseball,” passed away a few days ago. Ron Piché was one of only a very few Quebecers to have enjoyed a career in major league baseball. Born in the Montreal suburb of Verdun, he was a hard-throwing right-hander who toiled with the Milwaukee Braves from 1960-1964 and later […]

Part II of the Rob Nelson Interview: Playing for the Portland Mavericks, a Game Called Boku, Et Cetera

I earlier posted the portion of my talk with Rob Nelson in which he talks about co-creating Big League Chew and his 30 years managing one of the legendary bubble gums. In this part, Rob Nelson describes how he came to be a Portland Maverick, what it was like to be on the team, and […]

Talking With Rob Nelson About Big League Chew

The story of the creation of Big League Chew in the Portland Mavericks’ bullpen in 1977 is told in shorthand on the back of every package of “the ballplayers bubble gum,” and Rob Nelson, the co-creator, along with Jim Bouton, has told the longhand story on a few occasions. I talked with Nelson recently about […]

Pitchers and Catchers and Other Warm Thoughts

Pitchers and catchers report in a month. There will be a few more trades such as Vernon Wells going to Los Angeles, but rosters are pretty well set and it is time to start looking at the results. This early look at the NL East by Mark Zuckerman provides an early chance to disagree with someone, […]

Jim Riggleman, Still Light on His Feet

Baseball personalities rarely lead lives connected to their home communties, which is what makes Jim Riggleman’s tenure as manager of the Washington Nationals so unique.  This morning Jim was introduced to a breakfast crowd by a local Bethesda, Maryland woman who said “Jimmy” was the first boy to ask her to dance, back when they […]

Ripeness as a Baseball Concept

With the signing of Adam LaRoche, the Nationals ownership group is making a statement.  The Lerner family who own the Washington franchise are just beginning to introduce themselves, but for those who don’t know, they are real estate Mughuls. They have created an empire valued at somewhere between $3 billion and $4 billion by buying […]

The Catch-22 Of Baseball

For a non-baseball fan, it seems ridiculous that a bunch of men holding a wooden stick can make millions of dollars for hitting a piece of leather stuffed with yarn. For a baseball fan, on the other hand, it’s all relative. If Alex Rodriguez makes $32 million, that’s fine; but how does that affect, say, […]

Murphy’s Law: 2 MVP Trophies, 4 Silver Slugger Awards, 5 Gold Gloves, and 7 All-Star Games May Not Get You Into the Hall of Fame

Introduction The purpose of this study is to compare Dale Murphy to other Hall of Fame position players from the same era (1976-1993). His .265 batting average, 2,111 hits, and 398 home runs seem to be on par with other Hall of Fame hitters. This study will identify how many Hall of Famers performed below […]

The Favorite Toy and…Bob Feller

In the wake of Bob Feller’s death on Wednesday, many a tribute has been paid to the man they called “Rapid Robert,” including one by our very own Arne Christensen, who wrote “Bob Feller in His Own Words,” in which the Hall of Fame hurler states, “A lot of folks say that had I not […]

Bob Feller in His Own Words

A few months ago I went through newspaper archives from the past 30 years or so to gather up some of Bob Feller’s remarks on his life, his baseball career, and many other topics. Feller was one of the last surviving stars who’d played major league baseball before the U.S. entered World War II. Besides […]

A Cameo Appearance for Family Values in Sports

Jayson Werth said in his press conference in Washington, DC today that a big part of the deal for him was the stability that a seven-year contract gave him, further guaranteed by a no-trade clause. “You finally get to free agency, you have a chance to do something special for yourself and for your family. […]

Phils to Have Best Rotation of the Live Ball Era?

On my way in to work last evening, one of the talking heads on local sports talk radio insisted the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies have the best rotation he’s ever seen, and this before they’ve even thrown a pitch as a unit. Bringing Cliff Lee back to a threesome that includes two-time Cy Young Award winner […]

The Best Pitcher Ever is?

Who is the best pitcher of all-time?  This is a difficult question to answer due to the vast changes in the game over the past century.  For the purpose of this exercise, relief pitchers, such as Mariano Rivera, have been eliminated from contention to increase the value of innings.  Meanwhile, qualifiers must have played for […]

The 1928 Negro Leagues – The Two Leagues

The Negro National League (1920-1931).   Also known as the Western League. The Eastern Colored League (1924-1928).   Also known as the Eastern League. The Product How they played the game: (Negro Leagues Data from National Baseball Hall of Fame) In the 1920’s, the two Negro Leagues had both Batting Averages and Slugging Averages slightly lower than […]

The Favorite Toy and…Tony Conigliaro

Since I went with all-time greats, Babe Ruth and Grover Cleveland Alexander, in my first two articles in this series, I figured I’d shift gears and go with a should-have-been great in Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro whose potentially brilliant career was derailed on August 18, 1967 when he was struck in the face by […]

The Favorite Toy and…Grover Cleveland Alexander

Those of you who read my last Favorite Toy article about Babe Ruth probably noticed that the second installment was supposed to be about Ted Williams. Well, after giving it some thought I realized that I wanted to go deeper with Williams than most of the others I have in mind, mostly because of the […]

Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2010?

Numerous methods have been devised to measure offensive performance. The most common are batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average. Since none of these averages provides a complete picture by itself, a more comprehensive measure of offensive performance is useful. Such a measure would include the following elements: 1. The ability to get on base. […]

A Big Step Forward

Mike Rizzo announced that the signing of highly prized free agent Jayson Werth was just the beginning of Phase II–competitive baseball for the Washington Nationals. It will hopefully mark the turning of the corner, where the Nationals can compete in the National League East on a daily basis. No one believes that a seven-year contract […]

Catch a Falling Star

Lastings Milledge was non-tendered by Pittsburgh yesterday. It is just another benchmark in the descent of a once promising talent that was briefly with the Washington Nationals. Jim Bowden traded Ryan Church and Brian Schneider to the Mets for Lastings Milledge during the off-season before the start of 2008.  The rumblings of his unpopularity in […]

The Favorite Toy and…Babe Ruth

With the 2011 season still a few months away, I thought it was too early to bust out The Favorite Toy to determine what milestones we might see next year, so I thought I’d go retro and look at some of the game’s greats, not-so-greats and what-might-have-beens to see what odds The Favorite Toy gave […]

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