I have a problem with the expansion of the roster in baseball from 25 to a maximum of 40 after September 1. This process is called the September Call-ups. In watching the Yankees against Tampa Bay on September 15, Tampa Bay was batting in the seventh inning. During that inning the Yankees used three pitchers while …
The embarrassment of the 2002 All-Star game which ended in a tie because both managers ran out of players led to controversial rule change making the All-Star game the deciding factor for awarding home advantage in the World Series. Before 2003 home-field advantage in the World Series was rotated between the two leagues. Starting in …
Baseball historians analyze the great baseball feats established by very special players. In my book “Sandlot Stats” I devote two entire chapters to two of these feats both accomplished in 1941. That year Ted Williams (.406) was the last player to bat over .400 for a season and Joe DiMaggio accomplished his 56-game hitting streak. …
The idea of the designated hitter was first suggested as far back as 1906 by Connie Mack. The real impetus came about from the pitching dominance in the late 1960s. In fact, Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in batting with a .301 batting average in 1968 and Denny McLain won 31 games in 1968. …
As the 2012 baseball season is gradually drawing to a close, fans are already speculating on the MVP Award and the Cy Young Award winners for each league. Both awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers of America before post-season play begins. The MVP Award has never been really defined and is left to …
As a huge Yankee fan I remember Melky Cabrera as a good fourth outfielder when he played for the Yankees. That fourth outfielder, I watched play for the Yankees, is now a superstar for the Giants. He was chosen to the NL All-Star team and was selected as the MVP of the All-Star game. He …
Gradually baseball is adding instant replay to its game. Today, instant replay can be used to determine whether the call on a home run is correct. Baseball is now talking about adding instant replay to calls made on balls hit down the foul-lines, deciding whether a ball is trapped or caught on a fly, and …
Having discussed in my prior blog whether a player’s individual record should have an asterisk or even not count if that player took part in steroid use, I now turn my attention to a much bigger debate. Whereas an individual record is just one achievement, voting a player into the Hall of Fame represents a …
Since 1900, the game of baseball had undergone many changes. In 1909, Ty Cobb led the American League by hitting nine home runs. In 2001, Barry Bonds set the record by hitting 73 home runs. Before 1920, pitchers were allowed to doctor the baseball. After 1920, many new and legal pitches have been developed to …