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. […]

NJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: Tony Gwynn

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine. This one is about Tony Gwynn, one of the greatest hitters of all time. If you want to read more about Tony, just click here. Hope you like the post and thanks for reading it. Check back […]

James Brown and Phil Niekro: Not Knuckling Under

On The Good Foot …  Phil Niekro was feeling good. It was Sunday, July 9, 1978 and in two days he’d be in San Diego, pitching for the National League All-Stars. Three days earlier he had pitched a strong eight and a third innings against the defending National League Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Niekro […]

The Baseball Historian’s Notes for April 14, 2013

The 2013 baseball season has gotten off to a rollicking start. From Yu Darvish’s near-perfect game to the exciting emergence of young players like New York Mets’ pitcher Matt Harvey, there has been a lot of good stuff for fans to digest. For all the fun baseball provides, the game also sometimes has a darker […]

Chatting with the Royals’ Christian Colon

A long spate of losing seasons has put the Kansas City Royals in the position of drafting high in the MLB drafts over the past two-plus decades. However, it has only been recently that the organization has been recognized for accumulating one of the best collections of prospects in the game, with the hope that […]

Clearing The Bases

Tonight we will continue with another Top 9 list with a look at a few players that have gotten off to a hot start that can’t possibly keep up this pace all season long.  For fantasy purposes these are players that you probably selected in the later rounds of your draft and that are paying […]

Creighton Gubanich: Making a Grand Entrance

Drafted in the 6th round of the 1990 baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics, Creighton Gubanich’s 6-3 200 pound build represented his identity as a power hitting catcher. Also playing a little third and first, Gubanich posted solid numbers everywhere he went in the minors, but was blocked at the major league level by All […]

Clearing The Bases

There was no column last week as I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and needed a few days to recover.  I’m back now and with the non-waiver trading deadline just 12 days away it seems prudent to talk about some of the players that might need to send a change of address to the post […]

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 Pre-Season Preview: NL West – Colorado Rockies

Colorado Rockies (2010 record: 83-79) Notable additions: RHP Matt Lindstrom, INF Jose Lopez, C Jose Morales, INF/OF Ty Wiggington Notable subtractions: 2B Clint Barmes, RHP Octavio Dotel, SP Jeff Francis, 3B Melvin Mora, C Miguel Olivo The offense: Catcher: Chris Iannetta Infield: Todd Helton (1B), Eric Young Jr (2B), Troy Tulowitzki (SS) and Ian Stewart […]

2011 Pre-Season Preview: NL West – Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda Los Angeles Dodgers (2010 record: 80-82) Notable additions: C Rod Barajas, RHP Jon Garland, RHP Matt Guerrier, C Dioner Navarro, LF Marcus Thames, 2B Juan Uribe Notable subtractions: C Russell Martin, LF Scott Podsednik The offense: Catcher: Rod Barajas Infield: James Loney (1B), Juan Uribe (2B), Rafael Furcal (SS), Casey […]

2011 Pre-Season Preview: NL West – San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres (2010 record: 90-72) Notable additions: SS Jason Bartlett, 1B Jorge Cantu, RHP Aaron Harang, 1B Brad Hawpe, 2B Orlando Hudson, CF Cameron Maybin, SP Dustin Moseley, C Gregg Zaun Notable subtractions: 2B David Eckstein, RHP Jon Garland, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, CF Tony Gwynn Jr., SS Miguel Tejada, C Yorvit Torrealba, RHP Chris […]

2011 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Top Ten Sleepers (Part III)

Different editors/writers have differing definitions of the term, “sleeper”. The concept has been watered down in the current fantasy baseball lexicon, probably because there are writers who can’t be bothered to do the analysis required to uncover real “sleepers”. In my opinion, rookies have no place on a sleeper list. They aren’t sleepers. They are […]

2011 MLB Power Rankings, The Ides of January Edition (Part I, #21-#30)

  With most of the top free agents now signed and teams starting to take shape as we approach spring training, I thought I would share my pre-pre-season pespective on the relative strengths (and weaknesses) of all 30 major league teams. I have broken the article down into three installments, and will publish one of […]

Boston Finally Gets Their Man

The Boston Red Sox held a press conference early Monday morning to make an announcement that has been in the works for over two years. Joined at Fenway Park by principal owner John Henry and General Manager Theo Epstein, newly acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was introduced to the Boston media for the first time. To his […]

MLB Team Snapshots

The Beautiful Mind level insanity around the AL Previews formula I’ve been tinkering with and referred to in these two posts should (hopefully) be done today. In an effort to not let the homework slow down our production, we thought it would be fun to take another stroll around the Major Leagues and see what each […]

Pete Rose: Justice Delivered, But Only Temporarily And Only In Theory

Twenty five years ago today one of the most hallowed records in baseball history was broken when Pete Rose singled to left field against San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show (who’s tumultuous life and death were chronicled by ESPN’s Outside the Lines) for career hit number 4,192, passing the legendary Ty Cobb. Fireworks instantly went off […]

Pitching Helps Optimism for Both Early Second-Half Leaders

A head-to-head series between Lancaster and Bridgeport presented an ideal opportunity to check the pulse of these second-half division leaders.     Both managers, Tom Herr of the Barnstormers and Willie Upshaw of the host Bluefish, believe their starting pitching has gotten better as the 140-game season has progressed, and that fact alone could keep them […]

2010 midseason awards

MVP: Robinson Cano It’s hard to deny Cano’s talent the most valuable player award for the first half. Despite his numbers — his batting average is fifth in all of baseball — Cano has been the center piece of a Yankee team that holds the best record in baseball. With Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and […]

Touring The Bases With…Randy Jones

Former major league hurler Randy Jones spent only 10 years in the bigs and lost more games than he won, going 100-123 for the San Diego Padres and New York Mets, but for two magical seasons, he was among the best pitchers in the game.  After leading the National League in losses with 22 in […]

A Humorous Look at Recent Baseball News

The Indians were expecting close to 35,000 fans to attend Sunday’s game against the Nationals, the team’s highest attendance since Opening Day. I think it’s great that so many Indians fans are excited about seeing highly touted prospect Carlos Santana play. Hear he plays a mean guitar.  Or maybe they are excited about the rejuvenated […]

Touring the Bases With…Craig Breslow

Relief pitcher Craig Breslow has been referred to as “the smartest man in baseball” because of his degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry earned at Yale University, and his performance on the field has been equally impressive, boasting a 2.78 ERA in 172 career games.  Breslow was drafted out of Yale by the Milwaukee Brewers […]

Remembering Baseball’s Heroes on VE-Day

As we celebrate the 65th anniversary of VE-Day, let’s take a moment to remember the 58 professional baseball players who lost their lives in the fight against Nazi Germany. As you look through the list of names you will notice Herman Bauer, brother of Hank Bauer; Lefty Brewer, a promising young left-hander who spent some […]

Senate Bill 1070 and Baseball’s Role in the Coming Storm

There’s a storm brewing in the southwest.  It doesn’t matter how strong the retractable roof that intermittently hangs over Chase Field might be, this tempest will flood baseball in Arizona.  This inclement weather threatens to do more than delay a first pitch or wash out a baseball game.  Instead, we’re talking about a new definition […]

Straight To The Show

After pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning of his major league debut, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake settled down and pitched seven innings, allowing only one run against the Chicago Cubs. Leake’s debut was a unique one; not only was it his major league debut, but the game doubled as his […]

PCL Opening Day: 1953

It was the opening of the baseball season in America. As major league teams wrapped up their respective spring trainings and prepared to throw their opening pitch of the 1953 season in a few weeks time, the Pacific Coast League was ready to start now. Warm west coast weather allowed the PCL season to start […]

Padres to Honor Nay Hernandez

Baseball historian Bill Swank is a guy who doesn’t give up easily. In fact, he’s the kind of person who never lets go once he’s got his claws into something. In this case, its Bill’s long fought dream to have Manuel P. “Nay” Hernandez recognized by the San Diego Padres baseball club. I’m guessing the […]