Breaking Down the Initial Rumors of Free Agency

The hot stove league is in full effect, with free agents beginning the annual rites of visitation and haggling with prospective suitors. Already a number of interesting rumors have popped up regarding possible interest between players and teams. It is still too early to say if these rumors will turn into reality, but is the […]

19 to 21…Jose?

Volume 9, #15 Jose Bautista has become such a big name in baseball that, before every game, everyone in the park stands up and asks in unison how he was following the ball in BP. “Jose, can you see…?” Alright, so that’s a lousy joke. The more important issue is, what’s up with Jose Bautista, […]

A Composite Portrait of Barry Bonds Before He Reached the Majors

These items are pulled together from various articles in newspapers from 1974 to early 1986. They’re presented here to shed some light on Bonds’ early personality and the talent and power he displayed before reaching the majors, many years before the steroids talk began. In 1974, Barry Bonds’ father, Bobby, left the Giants for the […]

New Baseball Terminology

Last week my wife, Martha, and I came across the word atavism and neither of us knew the meaning.  I suggested that it meant “possessing the qualities of an ata.”  That was wrong.  We looked it up and discovered that it actually means “the tendency to revert to ancestral type.”  Kind of like what Brady […]

The Favorite Toy and…Babe Ruth

With the 2011 season still a few months away, I thought it was too early to bust out The Favorite Toy to determine what milestones we might see next year, so I thought I’d go retro and look at some of the game’s greats, not-so-greats and what-might-have-beens to see what odds The Favorite Toy gave […]

Brownsten finding his way

Cory Brownsten is right where he belongs. The Lockport, New York native will board an airplane with his destination set for Orlando, Florida – home of the Atlanta Braves training complex. He will spend the next few weeks in the MLB fall instructional league and prepare for the 2011 baseball season.

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 […]

Nidiffer making good on his chances

It was just a matter of time before Marcus Nidiffer earned a promotion. After leading the Houston Astros affiliate, Greeneville, of the rookie Appalachian League with 11 home runs, Nidiffer needed a new challenge. The former Kentucky Wildcat and Webster Yankee got his new assignment late last week. Judging by his early returns, Nidiffer is […]

The Kaline: Establishing a Mendoza Line For Hall of Famers

Introduction The purpose of this study is to establish a Mendoza Line for Hall of Fame hitters. After looking at the lifetime statistics of current Hall of Famers, Al Kaline began to stand out from the crowd. His .297 batting average, 3,007 hits, and 399 home runs seemed to be benchmarks for elite hitters. This […]

Dunn can be a big difference maker

What would you say if I told you that your team has just acquired Adam Dunn? You would probably sigh and say something like, “we better prepare ourselves for a lot of strikeouts,” or “another classic hit or miss player.” While those two things may be very true, Adam Dunn can be a very valuable […]

Brownsten Setting His Sights

Memorial Day will find Cory Brownsten waiting on the NCAA. After finishing the season 38-18, Brownsten and his University of Pittsburgh Panther teammates fell short of earning an automatic berth to the Regionals of College World Series. The Panthers will have to wait and see if their resume is enough to earn an at-large bid […]

These Are a Few of My Fav-o-rite Teams

Don’t worry, there will be no singing during the writing or reading of this article; Julie Andrews I’m not. As a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation you’d think my favorite teams are all Carmine Hose, but that’s far from being the case.  Of course, my favorite team of all-time is the 1977 Red Sox […]

Muoio In Familiar Territory

Steve Muoio may be over 900 miles from home, but the Webster resident finds himself in familiar territory. His Georgia College and State University Bobcats claimed first place and the number one seed in the upcoming Peach-Belt Conference tournament.  Success on the baseball diamond is something the Webster-Thomas graduate has known for much of his […]

Half of ’09 All-Stars Return, Some in New Uniforms; As Incentive, Former Players Setting a Hot Pace

Fans anxiously awaiting Thursday night’s season openers in the Atlantic League can look forward to the return of half of last season’s 14-man All-Star team although seven of the eight managers may not be quite so happy that three of them will be wearing the uniform of the back-to-back championship Somerset Patriots. In addition to […]

Gibbons On Exceptional Hitting Streak, Tom Cochran Very Stingy On Mound

It is difficult to imagine anyone wielding a hotter bat than veteran Jay Gibbons, who is going to make it increasingly difficult for the Los Angeles Dodgers to keep him out of the major leagues if he maintains anything close to his current pace. After starting the season 1-for-9 in three road games for Triple-A […]

Granderson, Happ and Mauer to Receive Prestigious 2009 Players Choice Awards

From MLBPA news releases: Joe Mauer to be Presented Players Choice Award as 2009 AL Outstanding Player In Joe’s honor, the Players Trust contributes $5,000 each to the Catholic Athletic Association, Friends of St. Paul Baseball, Gillette Children’s Foundation and Highland Friendship Club New York, NY, Friday, April 16, 2010 … In a pre-game ceremony […]

A Hurler Who Hit Better Than The Rest

A look at Louisville Colonels’ pitcher Guy Hecker’s 1886 season, when he became the first and only pitcher ever to lead a major league in batting. In the winter of 1885, it looked like a good bet that Guy Hecker would not be suiting up in a Louisville Colonel uniform for the 1886 season, a […]

Book Review: “The Baseball Talmud”

Howard Megdal’s The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-By-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players was a joy to read, even for an Agnostic like me.