Trevor Hoffman’s Hall of Fame Status Anything But Certain

Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman are the headline first-timers next year on the Baseball Writers of America Hall of Fame ballot. Griffey Jr. is a slam dunk. Hoffman is not. The long-time San Diego Padres closer locked down saves for the better part of sixteen seasons, compiling a whopping 601 in his 18-year career. […]

The Predecessors to Mariano Rivera

Hey baseball fans! Sadly (for Yankee fans) Mariano Rivera has finally called it quits after playing 19 seasons in the Bronx. In honor of him, I want to talk about other great relievers in Yankee history. Johnny Murphy Murphy was one of the first relievers in the live ball era and he did a pretty good job […]

An Interview with Trevor Hoffman

Hey baseball fans! I have another interview for you today! It’s with the great former closer Trevor Hoffman! It was arranged and recorded by the really cool web site, Sqor.com. By the way, Sqor (www.sqor.com) is a new sports and social networking web site that brings athlete content to fans from over 1,200 professional and amateur athletes, […]

The Baseball Historian’s Notes for July 22, 2013: Teams Must Be Careful to Not Over-Extend Themselves

In these heady days of nine-figure contract extensions, it is becoming increasingly less likely to see a player spend their entire career with the same team. Those who do, like the New York Yankees’ Mariano Rivera, can achieve icon status. However, teams seeking to retain their signature players have to be careful not to make […]

Call to the Pen: My All Time Foreign Dream Team

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post for Fan Sided’s Call to the Pen. This one is a position by position analysis of who I think are the greatest MLB players ever who weren’t born in the United States. If you want to read more about this, just click here. I hope you enjoy […]

An Interview with Yankees Reporter Ken Davidoff

Hey baseball fans!I have a really cool interview for you today! It’s with BBWAA member, Ken Davidoff! “Ken Davidoff?” you ask. “Who is Ken Davidoff?” Well, if you read the following paragraph and interview, you will find out.Ken has been a member of the BBWAA since May 2001 (and was even its President).  He now […]

Seamheads Podcasting Crew Fantasy League

Perhaps there should be age-appropriate fantasy baseball leagues, the real world equivalent of over-fifty baseball leagues. Some of the Seamheads writers play in those leagues I know–not to name names. Bill Gilbert and I ventured forth this season as the wise sages of the Seamheads Podcasting Crew fantasy league. We are likely a few years […]

Clearing The Bases

Today we are going to start a debate.  We are going to talk about fantasy players on the New York Yankees and New York Mets.  Rather than just talk about different players and why they are fantasy worthy, we are going to rank Yankee and Met players in the order of which they should be […]

Driving Mr. Yogi

In the recently released book, Driving Mr. Yogi by Harvey Araton, the front seat is occupied ably by Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry, but the back seat is filled with the Pantheon of modern day Yankee heroes. Characteristically, George Steibrenner spills over into the front and tries to take the wheel. But Yogi Berra is too much […]

Get Well Soon Mariano Rivera from Mariners Nation

I vaguely recall seeing the young Rivera pictured above for the first time during the 1995 playoff series with the Yankees. Rivera did not become the closer for the Yankees till 1996 but he did see action in games 2,3 and 5 of that thrilling playoff match-up that was perhaps the highlight of my many […]

A Brief Dissection of the 2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

First off, congratulations are in order for the Baseball Hall of Fames’ newest member, Barry Larkin. His selection today caps off an excellent 19 year major league career that was spent exclusively with the Cincinnati Reds. With 86.4% of the votes, Larkin was the only player on this year’s ballot to garner the necessary 75% […]

A Real Dandy

Juan Marichal won more games than anyone in the 1960s. That’s some accomplishment for the “Dominican Dandy” who began playing ball using branches for bats and socks wrapped around golf balls for baseballs. “We just loved the game so much that, as a kid, anywhere you saw other kids playing, you wanted to be there,” […]

Gracias Terry (Tito). (Many thanks Terry (Tito))

Ver a Terry Francona bajar la cabeza y descender los escalones hacia el club house  de los Medias Rojas de Boston en Camden Yards, luego de perder el último juego de la temporada y toda oportunidad de ganar el comodín de la campaña 2011; me hizo regresar a una noche de octubre de 2004. Los […]

Consummate Captain

If Sandy Koufax is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, why not Don Mattingly? OK, OK, maybe that’s like comparing apples to oranges. How about Kirby Puckett vs. Don Mattingly? Take a look at this and more in “Donnie Baseball” by longtime journalist Mike Shalin. Read this book because: 1. Nobody worked harder than Mattingly. […]

José Mesa fue un salvador de infarto

A propósito de las grandes actuaciones de Mariano Rivera ya a punto de arribar a sus 600 salvados, y de la recuperación del “Kid” Rodriguez,debemos recordar a los pioneros latinos en ese tan difícil trabajo de apagar la luz de los juegos de béisbol. El Dominicano José Mesa fue un pionero en eso de intimidar […]

Clearing The Bases: Closers

The old axiom when it comes to relief pitchers, is never pay for saves.  I follow this mantra somewhat, especially in mixed leagues, but in NL or AL only leagues I want to have one solid closer.  I don’t like to spend a big part of my budget on more than one, but I want […]

2011 AL East Positional Analysis And Ranking: Closer

I am in the midst of a series examining the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the AL East, on a position-by-position basis. The players at each position are being ranked in relation to their peers within the division, with each team being assigned points based on where their player ranks in comparison […]

The Class of 2010 – the New Hall of Famers

At the beginning of the 2010 baseball season, there were eight active major league players who had already earned obvious Hall of Fame numbers during their careers.  Here are those players: Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey, Jr., Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Jim Thome, Jason Giambi and Mariano Rivera. By the end of the 2010 […]

Yankees Can Look Forward to a Busy Offseason

With the Yankees’ quest for a repeat championship crushed by a hungry and talented Rangers team, the Bronx Bombers face a long offseason of uncertainty. It’s amazing how many leaks can spring up in what was supposed to be a $213 million juggernaut. Unable to fend off the low-budget Rays for the division title, the […]

They Are Two Stepping in Texas

There is dancing in Texas tonight.  The Texas Rangers played the best two teams in the American League and beat them both in convincing fashion to win the first American League Championship for the franchise after fifty years of frustration.  The anticipation of history in the making gave drama to a game that was decided […]

Rafael Soriano, Brian Wilson Dominate Goose Gossage Award Voting

For an inaugural vote, it wasn’t much of a contest. Tampa Bay closer Rafael Soriano and San Francisco closer Brian Wilson handily won the Baseball Blogger Alliance’s first-ever Goose Gossage Award, handed out to the best reliever in each league. Soriano and Wilson, besides leading their teams to the postseason, posted numbers that well-distanced themselves […]

Joe Girardi’s Crucial Mathematical Error Costs Yankees Game

Picture this: a game lasts over four hours, uses 41 players, features 374 pitches, has two blown saves, and ends in a walk-off hit by pitch — by Mariano Rivera. Welcome to Yankees-Rangers, September 11 (and part of 12), 2010 It was a peculiar game to say the least, and it was no surprise that such […]

The story of Joba Chamberlain: Frustration, frustration and more frustration

Believe it or not, Yankee fans can be frustrated too. Hard to believe considering they have won 27 championships and are in the playoff race year in and year out. But occasionally, Yankee fans find something to complain about, something to criticize. And once you get Yankee fans going, there is no stopping them. This […]

Just How Good is Mariano Rivera?

“Mariano Rivera is the best reliever in baseball history.”  If I were to make such a claim, there would surely be some fans who would agree with me and many who would not.  And, of course, all would want to know on what basis I made such a claim. Bill James’ Win Shares system is […]

Steiner Sports Steps To Plate With Original Babe Ruth Bat

Ultimate “Bambino” Collectible Now Available in Yankees Legends Auction; One of Fewer than 20 Known to Exist NEW YORK, March 16, 2010 — An original, near-pristine, and extremely rare autographed Babe Ruth model bat is now available as part of the “Yankees Legends Auction” at Steiner Sports (www.steinersports.com).  The brown bat, a promotional model circa […]