The Kid from the Old School

Whether or not the Philadelphia Phillies rebound from their slow start to the 2012 season, remains to be seen. But if we are watching the changing of the guard in the NL East, then the May 6 evening that Cole Hamels plunked Bryce Harper, claiming it was “Old School,” will certainly be seen as a […]

Remember the Northwest League Seattle Rainiers, 1972-1976?

A couple months ago I saw a comment on a post I’d done about the infamous Portland Mavericks. I came to learn that the commenter, Bruce Baskin, remembered the Mavs because he’d grown up cheering on the Seattle Rainiers, the Mavs’ counterpart in the Northwest League, playing from 1972 through 1976. Bruce acknowledged that “people didn’t […]

PureSim Baseball 3 Smacks a Hard Double to the Gap

I was recently contacted by the folks at Wolverine Studios and asked if I wanted to take a look at PureSim Baseball 3, the latest version of the PureSim Baseball franchise. I’ve been playing baseball simulations since 1985 when I stumbled across MicroLeague Baseball in my Street & Smith’s season preview magazine, so I was […]

Word Gets Around

There’s a bruhaha brewing in Los Angeles, where GM Ned Colletti called center fielder Matt Kemp on the carpet this week and told the press it was because he wondered whether Kemp was resting on his laurels after signing a long-term, eight-figure contract, rather than giving 100% effort on the field. The esteemed ESPN.com columnist […]

How A Baseball Simmer Challenged History

Robert Bofors’ study of caught stealing estimates during the Deadball era proves to be illuminating.