I was ready to write a 6-4-3 this week that gave Cam Bonifay as fond a farewell as possible, focusing on his tremendous deal that brought Brian Giles to the Pirates in exchange for Ricardo Rincon. It was an absolutely masterful deal, one that could have been the cornerstone for a very successful franchise. Mr….
I spent most of Thursday battling Bay Area traffic, largely because my wife and I had tickets to go catch the Padres/Giants finale out at Pacific Bell Park. Pac Bell is really a great place to see a ballgame, and would pretty much be perfect if it weren’t for the fact that I loathe its…
When I was growing up in Half Moon Bay, California, I went to school "over the hill" in nearby Belmont (for elementary and junior high) and Atherton (for high school). As a result, I didn’t really know anyone in Half Moon Bay (my friends lived close to school), and spent a lot of time on…
We’re getting close to this year’s Cooperstown festivities, when the media’s attention turns to grainy footage of the newly enshrined and the current travails of Peter Edward Rose. And what of Pete these days? Rose has been trying to build public support for his enshrinement nearly non-stop for more than a decade. Well, perhaps not…
A few months back, I was a guest on a radio program, and the topic of conversation was "the problem of baseball economics." This topic quite naturally came about because the evil Alex Rodriguez had decided to sign a mammoth contract to spend the next decade in Arlington, Tex. Terms like "competitive imbalance" and "small…
Joe Kennedy is a left-handed starter in the Devil Rays system. He has been incredibly successful throughout his minor-league career, and was recently promoted to Triple-A Durham from Double-A Orlando. At Orlando, Kennedy posted a ridiculous 0.19 ERA, with 52 strikeouts, three walks, and 29 hits in 47 innings over seven starts. Joe was kind…
I’m not a particularly great baseball analyst. I’m constantly fascinated and amazed by how little we really know about the game, and the limitations inherent in any analysis of the game, be it evaluation of performance data or by observation. I tend to get caught up in the problems with our tools, and the poor…
About 10 days ago, Yankee second baseman/left fielder/Sergeant York impersonator Chuck Knoblauch was greeted rudely by Twins fans sitting in the left-field bleachers. Knoblauch was showered with currency, pork products, and words normally used to summon cabs in New York City by Twins fans, apparently distraught over Knoblauch’s request for a trade after the 1997…
(Ed. note: BP co-founder and starting second baseman Gary Huckabay launches a new column this week. Look for 6-4-3 here at Baseball Prospectus Online every Friday.) When it comes to any organized endeavor, there are a number of things that can cause a much-deserved sinking feeling in the pit of one’s stomach. In baseball, the…
The dark time between the end of the World Series and the time pitchers and catchers report has mercifully come to an end. Arms have been dragged to Arizona and Florida, and beat writers, pundits, and integrated B2B/B2C Baseball Content Provision Weasels (read: us) are looking to fill space until games start being played. There’s…
Ballots for the Hall of Fame were recently mailed to voters. Over the next few days, we’ll comment on the candidates, their merits, and their chances, and follow that up with the second Internet Hall of Fame ballot to be hosted by baseballprospectus.com, where you can vote for your candidates. Chris Kahrl I’m in favor…
Previous articles in this series: Introduction Second Base Third Base Shortstop Left Field This is the fifth in a series of rankings of major-league defenders, highlighting the top ten and bottom five at each position. The ratings are a combination of Zone Rating, Range Factor and my best (and admittedly mammothly flawed) assessment of the…
Previous articles in this series: Introduction Second Base Third Base Shortstop This is the fourth in a series of rankings of major-league defenders, highlighting the top ten and bottom five at each position. The ratings are a combination of Zone Rating, Range Factor and my best (and admittedly grossly flawed) assessment of the job they’re…
This is the third in a series of rankings of major-league defenders, highlighting the top ten and bottom five at each position. The ratings are a combination of Zone Rating, Range Factor and my best (and admittedly grossly flawed) assessment of the job they’re doing. Today, we prepare for a huge amount of angry e-mail…
Bill James wrote, some time ago, that the Hall of Fame can’t really honor players any more–it can only insult them. I don’t believe that’s true; ballplayers already in don’t care too much who gets honored after them, and anyone who gets in is generally pretty damn happy to be there. But what can happen…