Adjusting for Military Service
Many fans have wondered over the years about those players who lost playing time to military service – and how that may have impacted their total careers. One interesting aspect of win shares and the...
View ArticleShould Cooperstown Welcome Al Oliver?
Before starting this article, I would like to say, I am sure we all know some fans that become very passionate when one of their favorite players is not in the Hall of fame. Sometimes the so-called...
View ArticleKid Blogger Interviews MLB’s Official Historian
Hey baseball fans! I just received the answers to the interview questions that I sent to…. John Thorn, the Official Historian for Major League Baseball! Thorn was appointed Official Baseball Historian...
View ArticleKid Blogger Interviews the President of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Hey baseball fans! I have another interview for you! This time, I interviewed National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum President Jeff Idelson! I talked to him a couple of days ago and he was a very...
View ArticleProficient Pitchers – Part Two
Hey baseball fans! Here’s part two of my blog of the Proficient Pitchers greatest nicknames ever: The Rocket - Roger Clemens Clemens is called “The Rocket” for a reason. His blazing fastballs were a...
View ArticleBooming Batters
Hey baseball fans! Now that I’ve blogged about Proficient Pitchers nicknames (part one and part two), it’s time for the hitting nicknames. Here they are: The Splendid Splinter - Ted Williams Ted’s goal...
View ArticleAll-Around Athletes
Hey baseball fans! As I promised in my Booming Batters post, today I will be blogging about some of the greatest all-around athlete nicknames in baseball history. Hope you enjoy: Stan the Man - Stan...
View ArticleThe Powerful Pachyderms
Hey baseball fans! Here’s the next blog about one of the greatest rosters in baseball history: Have you ever heard of the great manager Connie Mack? In case you haven’t, Mack managed the Philadelphia...
View Article2013 Vote for the Hall – the Writers Got It (Mostly) Right
For the eighth time since the Hall of Fame elections started and for the first time since 1996, no player has been elected to the Hall of Fame. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. Better to elect...
View ArticleAnalyzing the 2013 Hall of Fame Vote
For the first time since 1996, the Baseball Writers Association of America did not elect any players to the Hall of Fame. Craig Biggio, in his first year on the ballot, led the voting with 68.2% of...
View ArticleStarting Pitchers and Hall of Fame Numbers
Jack Morris’ Hall of Fame candidacy has generated a discussion about HOF numbers for pitchers which I feel is very useful – partly because it raises the question of whether there is a “sabermetric” way...
View ArticleWhitey is Mighty
Hey baseball fans! Today’s post is about one of my favorite players of all time. He is one of the only Yankee pitchers in the Hall of Fame, and he is considered one of the greatest clutch pitchers of...
View ArticleChanging the Rules at the Hall of Fame
In the aftermath of the BBWAA pitching a shutout in the 2013 Hall of Fame election, I have immersed myself in the quasi-social media more than ever before (and, I hope, ever after), drinking in the...
View ArticleHall of Fame Voting –“If it Ain’t Broke, …”
On Jan. 9, 2013, it was announced that the baseball writers (BBWAA) had not elected anyone to the Hall of Fame. This is the first time that this had happened since 1996. This result drew more...
View ArticleHall of Doubt
In light of the recent Hall of Fame voting and the questions raised regarding a number of the candidates, perhaps the following poem is timely The Hall of Doubt? Michael Hoban I Baseball is our...
View ArticlePaul Molitor – The Ignitor
Hey baseball fans! I have no idea why I haven’t blogged about this guy in the past. Why do I say that? Only because he is my favorite American League player in the history of baseball! I’ll give you a...
View ArticleWhat Kind of Word is “Poosh”?
Hey baseball fans! Today is Babe Ruth‘s birthday! To be specific, he was born on February 6, 1895. So, if the Sultan of Swat were alive today, he would be 118 years old. Anyway, in honor of the Babe’s...
View ArticleNJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: New Jersey Baseball Hall of Famers
Hey baseball fans! I just wanted to inform you all that I have started guest-writing for a cool website: New Jersey Baseball Magazine! It’s an online magazine that serves New Jersey, but focuses on...
View ArticleMy First Trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Hey baseball fans! I am off this week because of spring break, so naturally I took a baseball-related vacation… to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York! If you can...
View ArticleSABR, Bud Fowler and a Taste of Cooperstown
Last Thursday I made my way to Upstate New York for the fifth annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference. I have gone each year so that means it has been five times that I have...
View ArticleBranch Rickey: Utmost Loyalty or Vehement Dislike
I have been enjoying the fine bio “Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman by Lee Lowenfish. While doing so, an internal debate has erupted in my mind. The object of discussion is the polarized...
View ArticleIf Not Jack Morris, Then Who?
The sabermetric question that remains with Jack Morris left out of the Hall of Fame Jack Morris supporters frustrate the sabermetrically inclined because he is a symbol of the anecdotal evidence they...
View ArticlePumped Up Charges Against La Russa
There Should be No Debate about the Hall of Famer’s Induction on Sunday. More sad and troubling repercussions from the Steroid Era are contentions that La Russa’s Hall of Fame honor is hypocritical or...
View ArticleRoger Clemens and Barry Bonds Deserve Hall of Fame Induction
Chances are Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are not going to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame next summer in Cooperstown, NY, but they deserve the honor. The argument against Clemens...
View ArticleWhere do the Current Hall of Fame Snubs Rank According to WAR and JAWS?
With the 2015 Hall of Fame election results recently announced, we saw Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio get elected. Many commentators and voters are becoming increasingly...
View ArticleTrevor Hoffman’s Hall of Fame Status Anything But Certain
Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman are the headline first-timers next year on the Baseball Writers of America Hall of Fame ballot. Griffey Jr. is a slam dunk. Hoffman is not. The long-time San Diego...
View ArticleRating the 2017 Hall of Fame Candidates Based on Win Shares
One of the first items of business in baseball each year is the announcement of players elected to the Hall of Fame. This leads to lots of speculation and a little analysis prior to the announcement...
View ArticleKoufax and Kershaw and the Hall of Fame
Consider a pitcher who recorded the following distinctions during his career: Won the Cy Young Award three times Won the ERA title five times Was an All Star seven times Was voted MVP (Most Valuable...
View ArticleThe Four CAWS HOF Benchmarks for Pitchers
In a previous post re Koufax and Kershaw, I mentioned one of the benchmarks created by the CAWS Career Gauge to help establish whether a pitcher posted HOF numbers during his career. As a result of...
View ArticleA Problem with WAR = Defensive Value
My primary research interest has always been determining which players had the best seasons—and the best careers. That is why (since the publication of WIN SHARES in 2002) I have used win shares as...
View ArticleWAR and JAWS – Exaggerating Fielding Value
In an earlier post, I pointed out that Matt Chapman’s WAR value for 2018 (8.2) seemed to indicate that he had the third best season of any major leaguer – behind only Mookie Betts and Mike Trout. Of...
View ArticleThe BBWAA “Report Card” for the 21st Century
The CAWS Career Gauge (CCG) has ranked all of the outstanding players of the modern era (since 1920) according to the numbers that they produced on the field. (CAWS is an acronym for Career...
View ArticleWAR and Win Shares and Charlie Blackmon
It appears that WAR, in attempting to assign a single number to represent a player’s season, has a problem with fielding. And the problem is not so much with the player’s defensive WAR score – but...
View ArticleAnalyzing the 2012 Hall of Fame Vote
Barry Larkin was the only player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers this year. Larkin received votes from 86.4% of the writers, well above the 75% required for election....
View ArticleDEFINING 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...
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