Medlen’s Misfortune is Everyone’s Misfortune

As the 2012 season drew to a conclusion, Stephen Strasburg’s absence from the rotation of the Washington Nationals was one of the more hotly debated issues. Often those heaping abuse on the Nationals decision to bench their prized right-hander contrasted their decision with that of the Atlanta Braves where Kris Medlen was still taking the […]

Strasburg Redux

Washington has many fine sportswriters. Atop the list are Tom Boswell, Tim Kurkjian, and until recently John Feinstein. Last season Feinstein was one of the louder voices calling for the Nationals to keep sending Strasburg out every five days in September. And now he is using the failure of the Nationals to make the playoffs […]

Nolan Sanburn: Oakland A’s Pitching Prospect Talks Baseball

The Oakland Athletics have displayed a knack for producing quality Major League pitching in recent years, with the likes of Tim Hudson, Trevor Cahill, A.J. Griffin and Sean Doolittle just to name a few. Young Nolan Sanburn is hoping he can be one of the next in line to emerge from their system. Sanburn is […]

Are 1800s Innings Pitched Totals Valid?

Should the enormous innings pitched totals of hurlers in the nineteenth century be adjusted based on the distance thrown? In order to compare eras, let’s take a closer look at the progression of distances from the pitching “box” to home plate since 1876. 1876-1880: 45 feet 1881-1892: 50 feet 1893-2013: 60 feet 6 in In […]

Kazmir Gets Headlines as Indians’ Fifth Starter, And Dylan Axelrod Earns Same Job With White Sox

While disappointments always show up this time of year as major league teams trim their rosters to the 25-man Opening Day limit, Independent Baseball got a double dose of good news this week in learning that two of its recent pitchers have nailed down No. 5 starting roles in rotations. Scott Kazmir has drawn so […]

Breaking Down the 2012 N.L. Cy Young Race

Pitching in the National League this season has seen its fair share of surprises; both the good and the bad. Former stalwarts have seen injury (Roy Halladay) and inexplicable decline (Tim Lincecum), but into those voids have stepped other hurlers looking to establish their own legacies. The result has been some inspired pitching, contributing to […]

Hornell continues streak; defeats Rochester, 9-4

WEBSTER, N.Y. – Hornell’s Dodgers came north on route 390 toting a four-game win streak along with them. The NYCBL Western Division leading club left town adding another victory to their streak. Matt Calhoun (Harding) connected for a three-run home run in the pivotal fifth inning as the Dodgers came from behind to defeat the […]

New Grip Helps Brock Peterson Slug Eight Homers in Nine Games And Climb to Top of Atlantic League Ladder

Brock Peterson remembers one time when he banged out something like 17 consecutive hits. But that was as an American Legion player, and he was using a metal bat. His latest streak was much more vital to his career because eight home runs in nine games in a 10-day period in the Atlantic League is […]

Can They Keep Up Their Hot Starts?

The first third of the baseball season is just wrapping up and has already been marked by numerous injuries, slow starts, and surprises galore. In particular there are some players who have come out of relative obscurity and are well on their way to posting seasons beyond what even the most optimistic analysts predicted during […]

Texas Rangers Ink Oswalt to One-Year Deal

Texas Rangers ink Oswalt to one-year deal (via AFP) Roy Oswalt, a three-time Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher, has signed a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers, according to a posting on the team’s website. The 34-year-old right-hander is expected to make several starts with developmental-league teams before joining the Rangers, who lost starter…

Humble Phil, Powerful Paul

April 26, 2012 Philip Humber will always be associated with perfection. He just won’t always pitch that way. One start after throwing a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners, the White Sox right-hander plummeted back to reality Thursday night at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, surrendering nine earned runs in a 10-3 loss to the Boston […]

Factor12 Top12 Last12

Over the last twelve MLB seasons, there have been some legendary pitching performances.   The Factor12 Rating is able to quantify each successful season or failure.  Where does your favorite pitcher rate against the competition? Since 2000, there have been 7569 pitching seasons. Of these occurrences, only 12 times has a pitcher recorded an F12 Rating over 33.000. […]

Fireworks in the Steel City

With the Pittsburgh Pirates resurgence this summer, I’m reminded of one of the most abysmal pitching performances I’ve ever come across in all my years as a baseball fan. Unfortunately, it happened to my grandfather, Nelson Greene, in the only game he ever pitched in the Steel City. It’s difficult to imagine any modern day […]

Wilhelmsen, Almonte Step Up, Give Indy Game 14 on Opening Day Rosters

     Erick Almonte’s unexpected jump onto the Milwaukee Brewers’ bench grabbed much of the Independent Baseball attention during spring training, but now that the reality of Opening Day is here the 32-year-old, who has not been in the major leagues since 2003, has to share the spotlight with a quartet of pitchers who also have […]

Fantasy Baseball Outlook: Top Five (Starting) Pitching Prospects For 2011

Tampa Bay’s Jeremy Hellickson is targeted for stardom. By the end of 2012 he will slide into the #2 spot in the rotation to create a dynamic duo, along with David Price. In articles such as this, many websites give readers a list of the best overall prospects at a given position, but the intention […]

Baseball Cards as Life

This week, Josh Wilker puts a sweet and sour blend of nostalgia on to simmer in “Cardboard Gods.” All of us remember the ritual of opening a fresh pack of cards. This task could only be handled with held breath and a pair of rubber gloves to ensure corners remained perfect and legends’ faces un-fingerprinted. […]

Indies Have Banner Day With Five Taken In Draft

While Boston’s apparent signing of Carl Crawford seemed certain to steal the spotlight on the last day of the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Thursday also was a banner day for Independent Baseball. No fewer than five former Indy players, including three who signed during or after the season, were taken by new organizations during the […]

Was The Vazquez Trade Worth It?

Ever since Javier Vazquez made a name for himself in 2004, after giving up a grand slam to Johnny Damon in the American League Championship series, Yankee fans have dreaded the sight of the right-hander on the mound. When the Yankees traded for Vazquez in the 2009 offseason, mixed feelings were going around. He was coming […]

Jurik Enjoying the Journey

From Vestal, New York to Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia and stops in between, Dan Jurik blazed a trail through minor league baseball this summer. The former St. John Fisher Cardinal and Webster Yankee listened to the Major League draft with his parents. When the moment came, and he heard his name called, Jurik embarked […]

Gardner and Webster turn back the Thunder

WEBSTER, N.Y. – In just 24 hours, Dave Brust’s Webster Yankees have gone from hunter to the hunted. After losing seven of ten games, the Yankees found themselves on the outside of the NYCBL playoff picture.In the last two nights, the pinstripes have climbed the ladder to a potential post-season spot.

That’s Just Me, I Like to Get the Question Right

Armando Galarraga should have pitched a perfect game.  He should have retired twenty-seven batters in a row.  He should have joined the twenty other pitchers in Major League history to have accomplished this feat. He didn’t.  Instead he got screwed.  This was a once-in-a-lifetime, overwhelmingly improbable, shockingly emotional screw-job comparable to when Vince McMahon and […]

The Sixth Tool: Measuring the Mind

Of all the prospects Pittsburgh received in its 2009 fire sale, possibly the most alluring was 25-year-old right-hander Charlie Morton.    Morton came armed with a knee-buckling curve, a swooping slider, and a darting fastball that blazed past hitters at 95 miles-per-hour.   He dominated Triple-A in 2008 and 2009.   Word was he was the ideal pitcher […]

Bluefish Lose All-Star Jesse Hoorelbeke, But Replacement Josh Phelps Has Better Power Numbers

It could not have been two weeks ago when we heard all-star first baseman Jesse Hoorelbeke and Bridgeport were in negotiation for the 32-year-old slugger to return for a fourth season with the Bluefish.  But news came down Thursday that both Jesse and younger brother Casey have signed to play with Fargo, ND of the […]

Minor Happenings: White, Gardner Off To Great Starts

“Minor Happenings” is a weekly column which covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that […]

Home Cooking

Chemical additives have played havoc with athletics and our food.  Cooking at home is a good place to start to combat both concerns.  Some teams, notably the Braves, emphasize drafting amateurs from close to home in Georgia, then slow cook them into quality professionals in their minor leagues.  The Nationals could use a little of […]