It’s been awhile since I checked in here. I took a vacation to see my folks in Salt Lake City, caught a couple of minor league games in the process — the first two I’ve seen in Utah since the late 1980s — dropped a couple of Pinstriped Bible entries, and farmed the Hit List …
Another busy week at Baseball Prospectus. On Wednesday, I examined the Hall of Fame’s announcement of new voting procedures to consider manager, executives, umpires and long-retired players — basically a rebranding of the unloved Veterans Committee in any of its forms, including the expanded format one which begat us hearing that Reggie Jackson didn’t think …
Continue reading ‘Friday’s Child: The Trade Deadline Approacheth’ »
Well, that was quite a week of baseball, so much so that I didn’t get a chance to update this blog amid all of the happenings, particularly due to Ken Griffey Jr.’s retirement and Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game. Running down what I gots: • On Wednesday, amid a three-game series between the two teams, I …
Before I catch up with this week’s batch of Baseball Prospectus links, a just wanted to give a quick shout-out for a book I haven’t yet read but am looking forward to cracking, Dan Epstein’s Big Hair and Plastic Grass. Earlier in the week a friend of mine suggested I hit the book release party …
Keyed by Tim Kurkjian’s observation that there are no currently active starting pitchers who are locks for Cooperstown, today’s Prospectus Hit and Run is devoted to examining which active pitchers have the best shot, using both JAWS and more traditional credentials. Before digging into the names, consider the following: The Baseball Writers Association of America …
In the wake of Joe Mauer agreeing to an eight-year, $184-million contract extension with the Twins, I wrote a piece on Mauer’s Hall of Fame chances vis-à-vis JAWS, using his PECOTA projections to fill in the blanks because his major league career consists of five seasons and change. Amazingly, he’s already 31st in all-time WARP …
Over at Baseball Prospectus’ new One-Hoppers blog, I’ve expanded and revised my take on Willie Davis to include some comments from the New Bill James Historical Abstract as well as my own JAWS-flavored take: “He was sort of the Mike Cameron or Kenny Lofton or Devon of his day — a fine supporting player whose …
At Baseball Prospectus, I’ve got a lengthy take on Nomar Garciaparra’s retirement, placing him in the context of the “Holy Trinity” of shortstops: Back in the mid-1990s, a trio of young shortstops burst onto the American League scene. Soon dubbed the “Holy Trinity,” Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra were part of an elite …
Having delved too deeply into Frank Thomas’ career to deal with two Hall of Fame cases in one piece, today I’ve got a look at Tom Glavine’s case for Cooperstown. Even with his 305 wins, I was actually surprised at the strength of his case on the traditional merits: Glavine made 10 All-Star teams, and …
Last week, Frank Thomas officially called it quits, not a huge surprise given that the 41-year-old slugger, who bopped 521 home runs in his career, didn’t play at all in 2009. Today I’ve got a column at Baseball Prospectus celebrating his career, his Hall of Fame case, and his place in history: It’s no stretch …