There’s a book out now by Phil Kaplan, who runs a very famous Web site called f—edcompany.com. His book is basically a re-hash of what has run on his site during the past couple of years, as lots of Internet companies predictably cratered. Kaplan’s basic premise is pretty simple–it’s ridiculous to expect to make money…
Then, all of a sudden, it happens: the player just collapses.
As the Month of Gory Managerial Death fades away, is there some sort of central lesson that can be learned from the various dugout purges? Were the decisions to hire Davey Lopes, Phil Garner, Tony Muser, and Buddy Bell just bad decisions from the outset, or were they good decisions that just didn’t have good outcomes? Is there anything at all to be learned from this wave of firings? What will a smart organization take away from all this?
One word thrown around a lot when a manager is fired is “accountability.” At the end of the day, managers are accountable for what happens on the field–the wins and losses.
Just running through the AL stats, a month into the season, we marvel at Garret Anderson’s consistency, and try to keep Chad Bradford–the submarine reliever–straight from Corey Bradford, the NFL wide receiver.
Just running through the AL stats, a month into the season: Garret Anderson isn’t nearly as good the Angels, or many Angels fans, think he is, but geez, the guy is consistent. He’s at .315/.336/.528, which makes him an above-average AL left fielder. Anderson is only good when he’s at or near the top of…
You never see it coming. Player X is having a solid career, peaking in the .300/.380/.540 range for a run-of-the-mill franchise. He has a minimal history of injuries–the average aches and pains, an occasional stint on the DL, but nothing worse than that. He hits the other side of 30 as an accomplished player and…
Yesterday, ESPN.com ran a piece I wrote making the case that the National League has become the superior circuit. To bolster my argument, I included a chart that showed that at most positions, the NL had more of the top hitters.
There was little joy in watching the final, desperate days of the Tony Muser Era arrive at their inevitable conclusion. Nor was there any sense of anger or frustration from knowing how much opportunity has been wasted while we waited for the axe to fall.
I suppose one way to generate column ideas is to screw up. Yesterday, ESPN.com ran a piece I wrote making the case that the National League has become the superior circuit. To bolster my argument, I included a chart that showed that at most positions, the NL had more of the top hitters. Many people…
Finally. There was little joy in watching the final, desperate days of the Tony Muser Era arrive at their inevitable conclusion. Nor was there any sense of anger or frustration from knowing how much opportunity has been wasted while we waited for the axe to fall. There was only relief. Relief, and closure. The players…
After four-plus seasons of really bad baseball, Tony Muser was fired last night by the Royals. The move wasn’t a surprise, and it wasn’t unwarranted: Muser had a success-to-tenure ratio envied by the people who run network television.
After four-plus seasons of really bad baseball, Tony Muser was fired last night by the Royals. The move wasn’t a surprise, and it wasn’t unwarranted: Muser had a success-to-tenure ratio envied by the people who run network television. It’s important to point out that this is just a first step, albeit a long overdue, very…
THE BIG STORY "I do." —Derek Zumsteg, Baseball Prospectus writer, to his new bride, Jill Ed. note: Congrats, Derek and Jill, from everyone here at BP.–JSS] MANAGING "He’s testing me. That will be taken care of." —Don Baylor, Cubs manager, noticing outfielder Sammy Sosa taking batting practice with an untucked jersey "My head was completely…
One of the first places I look now when a “surprise” team gets my attention is at the defense. This, I guess, is the big lesson from last year’s Twins and Mariners, and a good thing to think about going forward. We can project pitching and hitting pretty well because our tools for handling past performance in those areas are sharp; it’s harder to say from year to year which teams are going to have the best defenses because we can’t say with certainty from year to year who the best fielders are. At the extremes, we’re OK–Andruw Jones is good, Jose Canseco isn’t–but there’s a big middle ground in between, and knowing who’s having a good season with the glove in May is less simple than knowing which hitters are shocking us.