As we approach the quarter mark of the season, many people are starting to assemble "surprises and disappointments" lists. Some of these lists reflect a lack of careful analysis–such as any comments about Dante Bichette‘s inept performance–but another widely-ignored problem is whether the quarter of the season just played will be representative of the season…
Taking Their Chances with Lee Stevens Through May 14th, free-swinging superstar Vladimir Guerrero has drawn 16 walks–but 10 of them (62.5%) were intentional. The highest ratio of intentional walks to overall walks since statkeepers started differentiating between them in 1955 (minimum 400 AB): Name Year IBB BB Ratio Manny Sanguillen 1971 13 19 .684 Joe…
Ho-hum. Just another run-of-the-mill evening at North America’s ballparks: In Montreal, the Expos pulled off the unlikely feat of beating Randy Johnson, as Javier Vazquez continued his delayed emergence as one of the National League’s best starters. Vazquez tossed eight shutout innings in the 2-0 win, and since his demotion last June, has an ERA…
I’ve been fortunate to be involved with BP from its inception, and have written for every edition of the book and for the Web site since we launched it. I’m also the managing editor of both the site and the book, and I understand how difficult it is to achieve 100% accuracy in the millions…
Pat Burrell The recent injury to Rico Brogna highlights a baseball development that, until now, has been only surmised: Terry Francona and the Phillies front office are hopped up on goofballs. Are they waiting for Ron Gant to break his leg before announcing that Kevin Sefcik will now be the full-time starter because he can…
ATLANTA BRAVES Activated RHP Kevin McGlinchy from the 15-day DL; optioned RHP Kerry Ligtenberg to Richmond. [5/13] Just your basic good idea. Ligtenberg needs to regain control of his breaking stuff to pitch effectively in the majors, and not even the Braves can afford to fool around with a rehab project. Now that Kevin McGlinchy…
Ryan Anderson was the Seattle Mariners’ first-round pick in the June 1997 amateur draft out of Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Michigan. At 6’11 3/4", the hard-throwing southpaw cuts a figure on the mound unlike any seen before. Anderson’s first two professional seasons included a mix of dominant stretches and bouts with inconsistency. However,…
It’s fair to say that no one on our staff expected that, six weeks into the season, the Arizona Diamondbacks would have the biggest lead in any divisional race and sport the best record in baseball. We were mostly caught by surprise in 1999, when the D’backs rode Randy Johnson and a surprising veteran offense…
RICKEY SAGA… “I don’t anticipate releasing Rickey Henderson. I think what I’d say to him is don’t get caught up in all the nonsense.” — Steve Phillips, Mets GM “I don’t worry about it.” — Rickey Henderson, outfielder “It’s not acceptable, hitting a ball 400 feet and then pulling that [*%$!].” — Bobby Valentine, Mets…
Keith Law: According to ESPN.com, Baylor just pinch-hit for Scott Downs … with Daniel Garibay. This, on top of a lineup without Eric Young, Henry Rodriguez, Mark Grace, or Shane Andrews, and that had Jeff Huson leading off until Nieves subbed for him in the third. Jeff Erickson (of Rotonews): Ugh… my guess is that…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Ken Hill on the 15-day DL (strained intercostal muscle); optioned RHP Ramon Ortiz to Edmonton; recalled RHP Mike Fyhrie and LHP Jarrod Washburn from Edmonton. [5/10] Its already been a fun spring for the Angels, as they’ve managed to stick with the pack in the AL West. And they may end…
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the media uprising concerning the number of home runs being hit. At the time, there was a growing clamor that "something" had to be done, with the two most-common remedies bandied about being altering the baseball and raising the mound. What I believed, and still do, was…
Terry Francona should be fired immediately and then run out of the City of Brotherly Love by a torch-wielding mob. He had Curt Schilling, anchor of the staff returning from major offseason shoulder surgery, throw 126 pitches in his second post-operative major-league start, sending him to the mound with a 6-0 lead to pitch the…
Come Back, Lance Johnson! All Is Forgiven! Through 33 games, the Chicago Cubs had yet to hit a triple. The teams with the fewest triples in history in seasons with at least 120 games played: Team Year 3B Baltimore 1998 11 New York (AL) 1988 12 Baltimore 1986 13 Oakland 1998 13 Los Angeles (NL)…
There’s a commonly held belief in sabermetric circles that catchers reach their offensive peak later that players at other positions. Presumably, the physical strain of playing catcher inhibits their development as hitters. The emergence of Darren Daulton at age 30 is typical of this phenomenon. However, to the best of my knowledge, there has not…
First things first: my well-intentioned tribute at the end of yesterday’s column went horribly awry when I mixed in the wrong Robert. It was public-address announcer Bob Sheppard who the Yankees honored with a plaque in Monument Park on Sunday. Robert Merrill is well known as well, and also closely associated with the Yankees: he…