The promised run through the NL stats: The NL MVP race: PA AVG OBP SLG EqA RARP VORP R RBI Luis Gonzalez 438 .342 .435 .725 .363 58.8 68.6 83 94 Barry Bonds 403 .290 .474 .778 .399 73.1 75.5 72 78 Barry Bonds still gets my vote, but his slight decline since June at…
I know we went around the AL last Friday, and I’d planned to look at the NL today, but I’m pushing that back for a day. I want to point out some mediocy from last night’s A’s/Royals game. Down 4-2 in the top of the ninth with no one out and Jeremy Giambi on first…
DUDE, WHERE’S MY WALK? "I’ve thought for a while that he’s the best player in the history of the game. Name someone better." —Brady Anderson, Orioles outfielder, on Giants outfielder Barry Bonds "Bonds is way better. Look at the walks, dude." –Anderson, responding to ‘Willie Mays‘ "It’s all about on-base percentage. That’s the most important…
Just riffing as I look at the AL stats: I haven’t mentioned him in a while, so here’s a Garret Anderson update. He’s walked 15 times–just 12 times on his own–in more than 400 plate appearances, and his OBP is once again under .300. Here’s some perspective: Anderson is playing every day and taking no…
Who’s more crack-addled? The Detroit Tigers for offering Roger Cedeno a three-year deal worth $4.5 million annually, or Cedeno for turning it down? Cedeno is 26, with career numbers of .277/.356/.370, and he’s perhaps a 50/15 SB/CS guy. How does this guy push your club towards a championship at that price? As a fourth outfielder,…
This week’s question comes from Nate Calvin, who also happens to be an old college buddy of mine: Sandy Alderson is in hot water for trying to get the umps to drop game pitch counts from 285 to 270 by calling more strikes. I believe pitchers average a little over five pitches per out, so…
The A’s have moved to within six games of the wild card after a terrible start, and are looking like the team we all thought would be the scourge of the American League. With the team playing great baseball, ESPN.com is reporting that Oakland A’s co-owner Steve Schott is pushing for the team to trade…
Sean Burroughs is not content with being one of the best hitting prospects in all of baseball. He also wants to make his mark in the field of sabermetrics. In an interview with David Schoenfield, ESPN.com editor and one of the most underrated members of the sabermetric revolution, Burroughs gave a novel answer as to…
Readers of this column often raise questions about our use of the term "prospect." There appears to be some confusion as to how a player may project to make the majors and yet not be regarded as a prospect. Last week’s Triple-A All-Star Game in Indianapolis game offered some illustrations that might clarify the distinction….
Lost in the hoopla, the All-Star balloting, the RBIs, and the Sports Illustrated spread has been one small detail regarding Bret Boone‘s good first half: he hasn’t been the best second baseman in his league. That title belongs to Roberto Alomar. Alomar, who hit two home runs last night, has outplayed Boone by a not-insignificant…
We’re splitting the column to open the week, as Keith Law has submitted something for everyone’s perusal. I went to dinner last night with family, so I only saw small pieces of the games ESPN and ESPN2 were televising, and I didn’t catch who was calling the Angels/Padres game. What I did catch was some…
THOSE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT "I played it the way I play here when the wind is blowing in, as it was today. We played ‘small ball.’ Sometimes, when you do that, all you need to get a good rally going is a walk and a sacrifice bunt or two."…
(Ed. note. Derek Zumsteg spent a few days last week taking in the All-Star Week festivities at Safeco Field. This is his report.) "The Star Spangled Banner" is a march. It should be over in two minutes. Preferably it’s sung loud, defiantly; it’s not as good a piece of music as, say, "O Canada," but…
Is the American League still the hitters’ league? It may seem that the Junior Circuit has always been the league of inflated offense, as a result of–take your pick–weaker pitching, cozier ballparks, weaker pitching, smaller strike zones, and weaker pitching. That’s not the case. Prior to the installation of the DH in 1973, the two…