Clearing The Bases

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles sent down SP Jake Arrieta to AAA after another subpar performance on Monday. Arrieta has good stuff but doesn’t seem to have figured out how to control it within the strike zone…..Speaking of SPs, Dylan Bundy is going to get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews about his ailing elbow. […]

There’s Optimism Over Red Sox Newfound Mound Speed

The guy I like best from Red Sox spring training is the guy who brought the stopwatch to the bullpen. Maybe it was Manager John Farrell or Pitching Coach Juan Nieves. I don’t care. But someone brought the stopwatch as a teaching aid for Red Sox starting pitchers, and that person deserves a Duck Boat […]

Bob Gibson’s 1968 Season Is Overrated

The 1968 MLB season featured the greatest pitching statistics in the live ball era (since 1920).  However, thanks to the Factor12 (F12) Rating on 60ft6in.com, baseball fans can delve deeper into the statistical minutia and uncover the real truth. Bob Gibson 1968 F12:   22-9 / 1.12 ERA/ 0.85 WHIP / 28 CG / 13 SHO / 304.67 IP […]

Why Davey Johnson Is So Unhappy

One thing about Bryce Harper’s steal of home a few days ago, it brought a smile to the face of his manager Davey Johnson. Johnson has otherwise found too little to smile about during the first month of the 2012 season, despite the overall good performance of his team. Davey was a hitter. That is […]

It’s Always ‘Springtime’ in DC

The flowers remain in full bloom; the weather as gorgeous as a quad full of coeds; and the Nationals took three of four from a good Cincinnati team to move their record to 7-3. There was a billboard near the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta for many years that read, “It’s Always Springtime at Bulldog […]

Clearing The Bases

We always say at draft time don’t overpay for saves, and that piece of advice seems to be especially important this season.  Closers normally take a beating as it is the one spot on a baseball team that is sure to have the biggest turnover year after year.  Not every relief pitcher is capable of […]

The Factor12 Rating Returns

The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. F12 consists of the following twelve statistics incorporating every aspect of pitching. Innings Pitched (IP); Strikeouts Minus Walks (SO-BB); Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP); Earned Run Average (ERA); Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched […]

When Will Girardi Learn?

The Athletics and the Yankees endured quite an intense battle Tuesday night. The Yankees, after trailing 6-0 going into the eighth inning, scored five runs and ultimately lost by just one run. The game ended with the bases loaded and a fly ball just four or five feet shy of a walk-off grand slam. The […]

Bostick and Webster walk off with another victory

WEBSTER, N.Y. — Another day and another win in the last at-bat for the Webster Yankees. And a familiar surname again takes the honors. Ben Bostick (St. John Fisher) dropped a two-out, bases-loaded bunt down the first base line, and Nick Flemister scampered home as Webster came from behind in extra innings to defeat the […]

Audio Interview With Braves Prospects Cory Harrilchak and J.J. Hoover

On May 14th, I had an opportunity to interview Cory Harrilchak and J.J. Hoover of the Mississippi Braves. According to Baseball America, Cory has the best strike zone discipline and outfield defensive skills in the Braves organization. J.J. is a top ten pitching prospect. This is his second season as a starter in the Mississippi […]

Red Sox Poor Start The Result Of A Lack Of Discipline And Poor Execution

Home plate ump Dale Scott tells a chagrined Jason Varitek the play at home plate required a tag because Youk had tagged the third base bag The Red Sox put forth an embarrassing effort last night and, in the process, saw their record fall to 0-5… just the sixth time in the franchise’s history that […]

Derek Jeter: The Curious Downfall

When you glance at Derek Jeter’s .261 batting average in 2010, the first thing you ask yourself is: do I need glasses. Why? Because, barring an extremely unprecedented surge, Jeter is on pace to hit below .300 since 2002. More concerning, it will be his lowest batting average since 1995, his first season, when he […]

Touring the Bases With…Dave Baldwin

The confrontation between batter and hitter defines baseball.  No one understands the scientific dynamic of those opposing forces better than Dave Baldwin, late sixties bullpen stalwart for the Washington Senators, a geneticist and engineer who studies batters and pitchers as mechanical and neurological entities.  His insights are fascinating and offer some important instructive insight into […]

The Kids Were Alright

I can’t say I loved every minute or every game of my brief umpiring experience, but I did love the idea of being out there on the field and close to the action of the game. I also can’t say that I was noticeably above average at umpiring. To this day, I’m still hazy on […]

Are the Astros Really This Bad?

Anyone who saw the first two games of the Cincinnati series last week and the Washington game on Monday would obviously answer yes. The Astros are on a pace to lose 108 games this year after never having lost 100 in their 48-year history. After getting in a hole with an 8-14 record in April, […]

Remembering Steve Howe

The accident scene was so eerily similar to his reckless existence. Steven Roy Howe lay dead on a California highway with his late-model vehicle resting on top of him; a witness told cops that Howe’s truck simply drifted off the roadway. When I first read of the death of this once-promising athlete from Michigan, I […]

Two-Thirds of Players Who Start in Independent Play And Reach the Majors Are Pitchers

Among all players who would like to be the next success story by playing their first professional game in an Independent league and later making it to the major leagues, pitchers Aaron Crow, Pete Parise and Tanner Scheppers have to be the three leading candidates. It is pretty basic reasoning since they are in big-league […]

“Ted Williams and the 1969 Washington Senators, the Last Winning Season”

The author’s second book, Ted Williams and the 1969 Washington Senators: The Last Winning Season, is scheduled to be released by McFarland Publishing on February 24, 2009.