Looking at Statistical Leaders at the Half-Way Point

Most teams are at or around the 81-game mark, so the 2018 regular season is essentially half way over at this point. It is always fun to scan the leaders in various categories at this point in the season and do the easy math to see what we are on pace for. Some things don’t […]

On the 2017 MLB Records: Home Runs, Strikeouts, Complete Games, Relievers, and Time

The 2017 Major League Baseball season saw several records set — not season or career records for individual players, but rather records for MLB as such. The one that has understandably gotten the most attention is regarding Home Runs. Overall, more HRs were hit this year than in any season in MLB history — yes, […]

Giancarlo Stanton’s Impressive HR Lead

I was struck recently not only by the number of homeruns, 54, that Giancarlo Stanton has hit so far this season, but by the lead he has over the guys with the second most: Aaron Judge and Khris Davis had 39 each, until today when Judge hit two more for a total of 41. So […]

Regarding Prince and Cecil

In the latest of a flurry of retirement announcements, we’ve learned that Prince Fielder can no longer physically play major league baseball: he has had two spinal fusions, and that is the Doctor’s advice (ESPN story). Given his physique (5’11”, 275 pounds), I think most fans knew he wouldn’t play until he was 40 (Bartolo […]

How Many 20-Game Winners will there be in 2016?

Much has been said in recent weeks about Clayton Kershaw’s impressive start in 2016. And deservedly so, as he has an 8-1 record, 1.46 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, and 109 strikeouts and only 6 walks in 92.7 IP. But beyond Kershaw, there seem to be a lot of pitchers having outstanding seasons so far. As we […]

The Pirates Can Contend in 2016, but Only If…

The Pittsburgh Pirates, the team I chose as my favorite when I was a six-year old in 1979, have finally become a consistently good team these past few years. They’ve not been able to get to the World Series, and 2016 could be more of the same — since the National League has no shortage […]

2015 Dodgers – Mets Series a Unique No-Hitter Matchup

A friend recenty noted to me that the Mets are in the post-season this year, but had the embarrassment of having two no-hitters tossed against them this year. He wondered if there had ever been a similar team before? So I did a little research, and I think I’ve found that there have been only […]

Where do the Current Hall of Fame Snubs Rank According to WAR and JAWS?

With the 2015 Hall of Fame election results recently announced, we saw Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio get elected. Many commentators and voters are becoming increasingly vocal about the system, most notably complaining that because voters can only choose 10 players, some high quality candidates are being artificially kept from getting […]

Where does Derek Jeter Rank among All-Time Shortstops?

Now that his long and outstanding career is over, many are asking the fun question: where does Derek Jeter rank among all-time Major League shortstops? Answering this question is not easy, and not only because it is always difficult to compare players from across the 140+ years of MLB history. No, the first question we […]

At the 2012 All-Star Break, the Case for Andrew McCutchen for NL MVP

We are at the All-Star break, just past the half-way mark for the 2012 regular season. So naturally baseball fans are taking stock of the MVP and Cy Young candidates in each league. I was thinking about the National League MVP race the past few days, and until recently I wouldn’t have considered him the […]

2012 All-Star Rosters: Analysis in the Context of the Process

As I did last year, in this article I will again analyze this year’s All-Star team roster selections — but do so in the context of the complicated process involved.

Some Thoughts on Secondary Aspects of the Hall of Fame Voting Results

The 2012 Baseball Hall of Fame vote was recently announced, and only one player was elected, Barry Larkin. Fellow Seamheads author Andrew Martin wrote a good post dissecting this year’s vote. I’m not going to do the same, especially since I largely agree with his views: Larkin is marginal but I support his election; Bagwell and […]

2011 All-Star Rosters: Analysis in the Context of the Process

Each year casual and serious baseball fans alike enjoying critiquing the selections for the MLB All-Star game. Most often these amount to “snub lists” or selecting preferred rosters without consideration of the process that is in place for choosing the actual all-star squads. It is a separate matter to debate the pros and cons of […]

The All-Time Athletics (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Athletics (A’s) dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

The All-Time Giants (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Giants dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

The All-Time St. Louis Cardinals (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Cardinals dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

The All-Time Detroit Tigers (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Tigers dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

The All-Time Cincinnati Reds (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Reds dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

A Review of the 2010 All-Star Rosters

The All-Star rosters are (mostly) set — so how did the fans do? Who was snubbed?

The All-Time Pittsburgh Pirates (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Pirates dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

The All-Time Red Sox (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Red Sox dream team roster? And how have others answered this fun question throughout the years?

The All-Time Yankees (a draft book chapter)

Who would be selected for a mythical All-Time Yankees dream team roster? Who would be the starters and who the backups? Who gets snubbed, not quite good enough to make the squad? And how have other authors, as well as fan surveys and the like, answered this fun question throughout the years?

2000-2009 All Decade Team

Because we humans tend to talk about decades as being the 80s, the 90s, and so on, then the year 2009 just ended the first such “decade” of the 21st century. Like some others have done over the past several months, I thought I’d go through the exercise of picking an All-Decade team.

All-Time Infields: 2009 Yankees and Phillies Are in the Discussion

The 2009 baseball championship is underway, Yankees vs. Phillies. A few weeks ago the sports editor for my city’s local paper, Bob Matthews of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, noted how strong the Yankees infield is this year (defined as 1B, 2B, 3B, and SS — not including catcher). But now with the Phillies as […]

Adam Dunn, 29, Clearly on the Decline

Adam Dunn, now of the Washington Nationals, is clearly over the hill. He hit only 38 HRs in 2009, a noticeable decline from his past several years performances.

Triple Crown Winner in the NL in 2009?

While the chances are no doubt less than 50-50, could this be the year we see an offensive triple crown winner?

Could Ichiro Suzuki Break the All-Time Hit Record?

The title of this posting is meant to be provocative. Obviously Ichiro won’t break Pete Rose’s all-time MLB hits record of 4,256, given that he played his first nine seasons in Japan before coming the USA. But what if you combine his MLB and Japan statistics? I want to review Ichiro’s career numbers and consider […]

On Randy Johnson: Will he be the last to win 300 in the Majors?

On June 4th Randy Johnson became the 24th pitcher to win 300 games in major league baseball. Quite a select group, and one that is sure to see very few additional members in the years to come. The question I’ll ask in this posting is: will Randy Johnson be the last to join this elite […]

Thoughts on the Early All-Star Game Fan Voting

The early voting results are in for the 2009 MLB All-Star game. As usual, the fans so far are making some fine selections, but also some mind-boggling choices that I hope will get rectified before the voting ends.

Comments on Baseball’s Best 1,000 (Part 3)

In mid-2008 I picked up the 2008 edition of Derek Gentile’s fun book Baseball’s Best 1,000: Rankings of the Skills, the Achievements, and the Performance of the Greatest Players of All Time. At my personal blog I wrote a series of postings with commentary on Gentile’s selections, and I’d like to share those with Seamheads readers […]

Comments on Baseball’s Best 1,000 (Part 2)

In mid-2008 I picked up the 2008 edition of Derek Gentile’s fun book Baseball’s Best 1,000: Rankings of the Skills, the Achievements, and the Performance of the Greatest Players of All Time. At my personal blog I wrote a series of postings with commentary on Gentile’s selections, and I’d like to share those with Seamheads readers […]

Comments on Baseball’s Best 1,000 (Part 1)

In mid-2008 I picked up the 2008 edition of Derek Gentile’s fun book Baseball’s Best 1,000: Rankings of the Skills, the Achievements, and the Performance of the Greatest Players of All Time. (Apparently he had a 2004 edition as well, though somehow I missed that.) At my personal blog I wrote a series of postings with […]

Comments on The SABR Baseball List and Record Book, Part 11

Here is Part 11 of my postings (updated from original posting at my personal blog in 2007) on what I find interesting and worthy of comment while browsing through the 2007 SABR book, The SABR Baseball List and Record Book (available at Amazon). This last installment covers a wide range of areas, including some pitching, fielding, […]

Comments on The SABR Baseball List and Record Book, Part 10

Here is Part 10 of my postings (updated from original posting at my personal blog in 2007) on what I find interesting and worthy of comment while browsing through the 2007 SABR book, The SABR Baseball List and Record Book (available at Amazon). This time around I comment on one more hitting list, and then several […]

Comments on The SABR Baseball List and Record Book, Part 9

Here is Part 9 of my postings (updated from original posting at my personal blog in 2007) on what I find interesting and worthy of comment while browsing through the 2007 SABR book, The SABR Baseball List and Record Book (available at Amazon). This time around I comment on a variety of lists, including several about teammates.

Next Page »