Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic

Upon the conclusion of the 2017 World Baseball Classic (the fourth iteration of the tournament which began in 2006), I started to wonder how the rosters would have looked in previous years. Using stricter rules for roster construction (basing all rosters on birthplace alone, 20-year periods between tournaments and additional stipulations outlined in the Methodology […]

Creating a Season to Remember: The New Youth-Sports-Coaching Leadership Handbook by Jack Perconte

Following is an excerpt from my new book, Creating a Season to Remember: The New Youth-Sports-Coaching Leadership Handbook. I am not sure there was an old handbook but I do know that the current state of youth sports coaching needs a makeover. In this segment, I show a common complaint from people about their coach. […]

Cieradkowski Provides New Artwork to Seamheads.com

Our good friend, award-winning artist, and author Gary Cieradkowski has generously allowed us to feature some of his artwork on the site and we couldn’t be happier. Gary launched his fantastic web site, The Infinite Baseball Card Set, in early 2010 and it boasts more than 230 hand-drawn cards. His book, The League of Outsider […]

From the Archives: Remembering Denny Galehouse

The following was originally published on October 18, 2007. Tuesday night’s game reminded me of another tough decision a Red Sox manager had to make about who to pitch in a crucial game. Terry Francona chose rested, but still not completely healthy veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to face the Indians in Game 4 of the […]

Astros Fly High in May

The Houston Astros occupied uncharted territory in May winning 22 games while losing only 7.  They started the month in first place in the AL West Division, 3 games ahead of the second place Los Angeles Angels and steadily increased their lead to finish the month 11 games ahead of the second place Texas Rangers.  […]

Brooks, Still the Magician

This is a weird day for me, and probably many other similar-aged people, boys especially, who grew up in Baltimore in the 1960s and 70s. My childhood hero, Brooks Robinson, turns 80 today. 80! I knew that one day Brooks would no longer be playing third base for the Baltimore Orioles because I knew that […]

BABIP by Location

Are there any factors that influence batting average to various locations on a baseball diamond? Does batter or pitcher “handedness” provide any advantage? Can we identify traits among the leaders in each category? “Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) measures how often a ball in play goes for a hit. A ball is “in […]

Sitting in the Catbird Seat

The Washington Nationals find themselves in a National League East Division race suddenly bereft of cloase competition. The Mets’ embarrassing pitching riches have been squandered or become simply embarrassing. Matt Harvey has joined the lovelorn, but is at least healthy. That is something Noah Syndegaard, Jeurys Famila, Steve Matz, Seth Lugo, Lucas Duda, David Wright, […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1944 NNL & NAL

Check out the 1944 Negro leagues, newly added to the DB this week. Another wartime season, 1944 saw a large number of the most promising young players, as well as many players in the primes of their careers, off to the war. In the NAL, the Kansas City Monarchs struggled without sluggers Willard Brown and […]

From the Archives: Cup of Coffee—Cliff Lee

If you’ve hung around this site you’re no doubt familiar with our “Who, You Ask?” series of articles which celebrates the careers of largely forgotten ballplayers who fashioned excellent careers but slipped through the cracks of our collective memory. Every once in a while, however, I run across players who I’m unfamiliar with whose careers […]

“Leo Durocher, Baseball’s Prodigal Son,” by Paul Dickson–a Review

Paul Dickson’s wonderful book, Bill Veeck, Baseball’s Greatest Maverick, is a personal favorite. So when I sat down to read his newest work, Leo Durocher, Baseball’s Prodigal Son, it was with some trepidation. Like many, I do not remember Leo Durocher fondly, although for the life of me, I could not tell you why. Yet […]

Are the 2017 Nationals a Late Blooming Winner?

It’s been a long strange trip to pitchers and catchers for the Washington Nationals. It has been an off-season like no other and since we really haven’t had that many it is not much of a horse race. Remembering those first few off-seasons is instructive. Going back to the Jim Bowden years and watching he […]

Park-Neutral Home Runs

“The ways in which the ballparks alter the game and therefore the statistics of the players who play there are so massive that it is impossible to perceive the abilities of the players accurately without constantly adjusting the lens.” – Bill James, The Bill James Baseball Abstract 1983 The outcomes of batted balls in baseball […]

Lazzari’s Vault: Do You Remember?

Some good conversation starters for those, shall we say, “aging” baseball fans out there. Do you remember.………… –when $9.50 at a major league game bought you two decent tickets rather than ONE BOTTLE of beer? –the way John Boccabella was introduced over the P.A. system while playing for the Expos? –how great it felt when […]

OOTP 18 to Include Seamheads Negro Leagues Database!

Out of the Park Baseball 18 Releases Worldwide on March 24, 2017 Follow-up to Metacritic’s 2016 PC Game of the Year features a new Challenge Mode, Online Profiles and Leaderboards, real 2017 major and minor league rosters, historic Negro League teams, improved 3D mode, new tournaments, and much more OOTP 18 Available For Pre-Order Now […]

Metaphorically Speaking, The MLBPAA Has No Meat On Its Bones

If you’ve ever gone to Overland Park, Kansas, you know that Jack Stack, on Metcalf Avenue, is probably one of the finest barbecue restaurants in the country. The barbecue they serve is so tender, the meat just falls right off the bones. The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, out in Colorado, is nothing like that great barbecue place. […]

What Do You See When You Look in the Mirror, Mr. Clark?

From his rookie year, in 1995, through 2001, Tony Clark had 783 hits, including 156 homers, and knocked in 514 runs. Playing for the Detroit Tigers, he was one of the most feared and productive first baseman in the American League.  Clark was one of the players who succeeded Jason Thompson at first base. Similarly, Thompson succeeded […]

C’mon Steve, The Pre-1980 Players Need You To Become Their Captain America

During his playing days, former Montreal Expos ace Steve Rogers was a great pitcher. That’s undeniable. Oh sure, he gave up that game-winning home run to Rick Monday in the fifth game of the 1981 National League Championship Series,  but other than that, he had a great career. He’s been a lot less effective as […]

Introducing the New Negro Leagues Database

It’s been over five years since we originally launched the Negro Leagues Database. Over that time, there have been significant additions to the database, in terms of new seasons and statistics. But the website and the presentation of these statistics have largely remained the same. In May of 2015, I overhauled the Major League part […]

Why Branca? Assessing Dressen’s Options

Ralph Branca passed away at the age of 90 on the day before Thanksgiving. It was a singular moment in time—he was called in by Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen to protect a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth in the third and deciding game of a playoff to determine the National League pennant-winner […]

Five Changes For the Fans

When I left Sports Illustrated in 1986, I knew I’d be spending as much time in the stands as in the press box. So while baseball scribes like SI’s Tom Verducci suggest ways (see: lowering the mound) to improve play, I have my own five recommendations to enhance conditions for fans. Every time a pitcher […]

Playoff and World Series Observations – 2016

It doesn’t seem right when a team battles through a 162-game season to receive a wild card, that it can be eliminated in one game.  However, the wild card games are among the most interesting in the post-season. Buck Showalter’s reputation as a manager took a serious hit when he failed to use Zach Britton, […]

World Series Recap

It is finally happening. We have all seen the countless memes and useless facts about how the world has changed since this last happened, but we are all finally here. The Chicago Cubs will be hosting a World Series game at Wrigley Field. This is not a drill. The North Side of Chicago will be […]

Hardball Retrospective – The Worst In-Season Trades Since 1950

The in-season deal in modern baseball is typically proposed under the following circumstances: A team may wish to trade a potential free agent that will likely sign with another team in the upcoming off-season. The expected return is minor-league talent. Two teams wish to make a deal to upgrade at a specific position without weakening […]

Can the Same 2016 Nationals Realistically Beat the Cubs in 2017?

Yes, there are going to be big changes coming to Washington that spring from a fulcrum point in early November. But not THOSE kind of changes. There is a whole other kind of transition team that–beginning in November, after the last pitch of the 2016 World Series–will look to build a better future for the […]

A Tale of Two Cities

In the 1930’s two adolescent boys worked the score board at old Griffith Stadium: Bowie Kuhn and Ted Lerner.  Both grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs and both came up watching the slow demise of the old Washington Nationals as they went from perennial contender to the goats of baseball for thirty years.  Kuhn […]

Boston Red Sox Ending 2016 Regular Season on Many High Notes

The Boston Red Sox have put their fans in a glass case of emotions this year. The time is quickly counting down on the illustrious career of beloved slugger David Ortiz. Additionally, even though they are currently in first place in the American League East, the team is still fighting for their playoff spot with […]

Planting the Flag

The Washington Nationals have all but clinched their third National League East title.  Their 1-0 win at Nationals Park last night over the Mets planted a flag square among the throng of New Yorkers there for the game. With a scant 16 games left to play in the 2016 season, the Nats have a 10 […]

Why the Mets Signing Tebow Pisses on the Idea of Fairness in Baseball

One of the best reads in baseball is not a sports article but a 1975 law review article entitled “Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule” by William S. Stevens.  He connects the dots between common law and morality to baseball’s evolutionary attempts to be fair, evidenced with the 1890 infield fly rule preventing […]

Be Prepared To Wait For The Next 500th Home Run or 300th Win

Without counting steroid speculation, a player who hit 500 home runs or recorded 300 wins was a lock for the Hall of Fame. The last pitcher to record his 300th win was Randy Johnson in 2009, while last season David Ortiz was the latest player to join the 500 home run club. If you look […]

Hardball Retrospective – The Journey From Expansion to Competitive Team

In the comments section from one of my recent articles, “nocaBall” posed the following query: “I would like to ask your opinion of how many years it takes an expansion team to develop a complete team? I do not mean using players who were part-timers, or who pitched less than a full season, but a […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1941 NNL & NAL

For the second year in a row, the Negro Leagues’ best player, Josh Gibson, played in the Mexican League instead of with the Homestead Grays. For the standings at least, it didn’t matter as Homestead finished first for the fifth consecutive year. The Grays were a very veteran team by 1941. Thirty-three year old first […]

Mike Rizzo Gives Nationals Chance to Win it All on Back Nine

The Washington Nationals got their man today when they traded for Mark Melancon of the Pirates. The trade is not yet official, but apparently Washington has dealt Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn to Pittsburgh for Melancon. The trade constitutes is a Coup d’etat right here in Washington, DC.  The ruling elite who predicted that Washington […]

The Best Pitchers Who Never Threw A No-Hitter

The no-hitter remains one of the rarest feats in Major League Baseball as only 237 complete game no-hitters have been hurled since 1901 (roughly 1.5 no-hitters per year). Let’s examine a group of pitchers who have never twirled a no-no despite possessing excellent hits-to-innings pitched ratios. The register includes pitchers with Hall of Fame credentials, […]

Big Papi and the Iron Horse—Best World Series Performers Ever?

In 2016, David Ortiz may end up with the best season anyone has ever had as a 40-year old.  Papi is hitting .332 with 34 doubles, 22 home runs, and 72 RBIs.  His .426 OBP and .682 slugging percentage means that he has an OPS  of 1.107, which not only is the best in baseball, […]

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