NORMALIZING NEGRO LEAGUE STATISTICS

Most baseball fans are familiar with the concept of ‘normalizing’ statistics. For MLB statistics, the most basic adjustment is to normalize for park effects. The simplest park normalization calculation takes the impact of a team’s park on runs scored then divides that number, either positive or negative, in half, and then that calculation is applied […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1933

This week we’re making a slight break with chronological order and adding the 1933 Negro leagues to the DB. Many thanks to Scott Simkus, the creator of the Strat-O-Matic Negro leagues set, who did most of the heavy lifting on this. The year 1933 marked something of a fresh beginning for the Negro leagues, with […]

While Early, Attendance Is Strong With Numerous Crowds of 7,000

Joke all you want about how everything seems bigger in Texas, but there is a certain truth in the early weeks of the Independent Baseball season with El Paso luring the biggest single game crowd (7,823) and Sugar Land reaching the 7,000 plateau in each of its first six home games. Lone Star State teams […]

Economics of MLB Ballparks

Several sources in the literature provide general and specific economic and financial data and basic sport statistics about each current and former Major League Baseball Ballpark (MLBB). These sources, as a group, include academic studies, articles in books, journals, magazines and newspapers, industry reports, and websites. With respect to MLBBs, authors focus on and analyze […]

Albert Pujols is a Bargain

In order to understand why the Los Angeles Angels are getting a bargain by signing Albert Pujols for $250 million over 10 years, it is important to stop thinking like a fan or a sabermetrician or even a general manager. In order to understand a contract like this, you have to think like an accountant. […]

Surprise, Surprise! It Is Early October And Three Indy Leagues Already Seem Set for 2012

Some uncertainties over league makeup often dominate the news this time of year, but at least three of the five primary Independent leagues seem to have their plans in order.  One result is that travel teams which the Atlantic and Can-Am Leagues had to endure this season are gone. The Atlantic League is already out […]

Unleashing the Loudon Hounds

Newest Atlantic League team name reflects culture and history of Loudoun County, Virginia DULLES, Va., September 21, 2010 – VIP Baseball, the partnership bringing professional baseball to Loudoun County, VA, is proud to introduce your Loudoun Hounds, the newest member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Hounds were introduced at a major press […]

Why Is A.J. Burnett So Inconsistent?

To say the least, 2010 has been a season of inconsistency for A.J. Burnett. After his first start of the season, his ERA was 5.40. By his sixth start, it was 1.99. 10 starts later, it was 5.25. Now, after his 27th start, his ERA stands at 5.15, and unless he can bring that down […]

Have-Nots Would Benefit From Realignment

It’s a known fact that attendance at the Toronto Blue Jays’ home games has been dwindling for some years, even more so in the last couple of years. Many reasons have been brought up to try to explain the situation but one thing is clear: lots of fans have lost any hope of watching a […]

The Pittsburgh Americans? It Almost Happened

Over the first 30 years of the modern era, Barney Dreyfuss’ Pittsburgh Pirates battled John McGraw’s New York Giants for National League supremacy, but had Ban Johnson gotten his wish, the Pirates might have been the class of the American League instead. On October 11, 1899 a group of executives from the Western League, including […]