Having just finished analyzing the Yankee’s pitchers and infielders, we now turn our attention to the Yankee outfielders and catchers. In the off season the Yankee acquired Carlos Beltran to play right field. He has already broken down at the age of 37. The starting outfield now consists of Ichiro Suzuki, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brett …
The All-Star game represents the symbolic half-way point in the MLB season. The half-time break is always a good time to evaluate your baseball team’s future. In a previous posting I declared there would be no baseball in October in New York. Nothing has changed my mind. But, what I would like to talk about …
The expression used by general managers is “you can never have enough starting pitchers” holds true for the 2014 New York Yankees. On opening day the 5-man rotation included CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, and Masahiro Tanaka. Yes, Tanaka was considered the fifth starter. After 43 games the Yankee’s record is 23-20 …
As we all look forward to the 2014 baseball season, one of the biggest changes to our beloved game is the introduction of instant replay. The reviewable callswill exclude balls and strikes (see my last blog posting on umpire errors), check swings, foul tips, interference calls, and the infield fly rule. Also, the neighborhood call …
On January 8, 2014, the voting results of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) for Baseball’s Hall of Fame were announced. Unlike 2013 when no player was elected, 2014 elected three new members to the HOF. They are Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. Maddux was the top vote-getter appearing on 555 of …
Before presenting the arguments given by the people who believe PED users do not belong in the Hall of Fame, let’s recall the only instructions given to the Hall of Fame voters are, “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player …
In March of 2006, the MLB appointed Sen. George Mitchell to investigate the history of PEDs in baseball. The Mitchell Report was released in December of 2007. Besides naming several offenders, the report said, “The illegal use of performance-enhancing substances poses a serious threat to the integrity of the game. Widespread use by players of such substances unfairly disadvantaged the honest …
My review of 2013 will follow the same format as the song Calendar Girl sung by Neil Sedaka in 1961. We will begin with January, 2013 and end with December, 2013. ESPN, in January, 2013, conducted a survey to see which teams are most and least improved before the start of the 2013 season. The …
I would like to begin by looking back at the predictions I made at the All-Star break on which teams would make the playoffs. These predictions were based on using the formula I developed to predict a team’s expected winning percentage based on their runs scored (RS) and runs allowed (RA). The formula is: A …
2014 marks the 75th anniversary of the Baseball Hall of Fame (HOF). There are no statistical guidelines for a player to meet in order to be chosen. Rather, members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) who are qualified to vote will vote based on the candidates’ abilities, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the …