The most important thing Bill James did for baseball, in my opinion, was to question the assumptions that were prevalent in the game and determined how it was played. His statistical methods were tools, and only tools, developed to help test the validity of those assumptions. Some analysts–myself included–have occasionally forgotten that point, and treated…
Game Report: Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox, June 24, 1999: Brad Radke versus Jaime Navarro I like to go to the ballpark with a few things on my mind. Sometimes they’re questions, and I see if the game gives me any clues about their answers. Sometimes I go just to see a player I’ve…
JIMENEZ NO-HITS D-BACKS “It’s unbelievable. I can’t explain it. I just want to fly tonight.” — Jose Jimenez, Cardinals pitcher “If that doesn’t thrill you, then you should be doing something else for a living. He really had tremendous movement on his pitches. He has Kevin Brown-type movement.” — Tony LaRussa, Cardinals manager “Since I…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Re-signed manager Terry Collins to a contract extension; activated SS Gary Disarcina from the DL; designated UT Tim Unroe for assignment. [6/22] Disney rallies around its man, but it isn’t like they can’t afford to eat the contract should they finally realize that Collins is part of the problem. It’s been interesting to…
BALTIMORE ORIOLES Placed 2B Delino DeShields on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/20 (strained hamstring). [6/21] DeShields is well on the way to earning a "fragile" label. Between injuries he hasn’t exactly busted out to the kind of offensive season (.274/.355/.374) people might have expected from a guy coming into Camden Yards in what’s turning…
LARRY DIERKER “It was scary to hear that he might have a tumor. You couldn’t eat or sleep last night. It was great to see that he is OK. Now we can go out and do what he trained us to do the last three years, have fun and play hard.” — Derek Bell, Astros…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed CF Mike Colangelo on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/14 (torn thumb ligament); announced that INF Tim Unroe cleared waivers, and selected his contract back from Edmonton; transferred CF Jim Edmonds from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [6/16] The only surprise is that Colangelo was hurt worse than expected in his…
Are the Phillies for Real? For the second straight June, the Philadelphia Phillies find themselves on the brink of wild-card contention, just a game and a half behind the Cubs and Giants. As has been the case in most NL seasons since the wild card’s debut, this "race" pits a handful of .530 teams battling…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Purchased the contracts of OFs Mike Colangelo and Matt Luke from Edmonton; optioned 1B Chris Pritchett to Edmonton; designated UT Tim Unroe for assignment; transferred RHP Pep Harris from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [6/12] To add to this mess, as you should already know, Colangelo promptly got injured in his first…
EXPOS BEAT MARTINEZ “What an unbelievable game. Obviously the fans here love Pedro and they’re pulling for him but I think when it came down to it, they really wanted us to win.” — Mike Thurman, Expos pitcher “I just wanted to come back here and keep on rolling but they beat me. If I’m…
"Baseball is 75% pitching." "Pitching and defense are what win baseball games. " We’ve heard these cliches spouted countless times, but thanks to the work of analysts like Bill James, among many others, we know they don’t stand up to scrutiny. Scoring runs plays just as important a role in winning as preventing runs. However,…
Unexpected Results in Oakland The Athletics are in a virtual tie for second place in the AL West with a 30-29 record, while being outscored 296 to 275 (a Pythagorean record of 27-32). What’s strange about this is not that the A’s are outperforming their projection, but just what part of the team is responsible…
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Recalled INF Hanley Frias from Tucson; designated RHP Amaury Telemaco for assignment. [6/8] So Telemaco is lost on waivers twice in thirteen months; he didn’t help himself during his brief duty with the D’backs this year, but more importantly, he didn’t cost enough to draw attention to himself in a Colangelo operation. It…
Working Hard in Cincinnati Other than the teeth-gnashing fringe element of bitter Reds fans mourning the rise and fall of Jon Nunnally or Dmitri Young or Willie Greene, has anyone else noted how much Jack McKeon is using some of his relievers? Through the first 54 games of the season, side-armer Scott Sullivan is on…
Last July, I published an article here at Baseball Prospectus Online on the best teams in baseball history. At the time, the 1998 Yankees were plowing through the American league like Arnold Schwarzenegger through "Commando", and I noted that by my measurements, they could wind up as one of the best teams ever. "The Best…
For the past few years, it’s been difficult to write anything new about the San Francisco Giants. The same topics keep raising their heads: Brian Sabean, Barry Bonds, Dusty Baker and the new ballpark. A third of the way into the 1999 season, nothing has changed on this front. Sabean has been relatively quiet so…