The All-Star game marks the halfway point in the season. Honestly, for the past few years I had very little interest in the game. As a Yankee fan, this year I really looked forward to seeing Mariano Rivera pitch in his last All-Star game. I was also intrigued by the thought of the Mets young …
This posting will use four baseball statistics, batting average (AVG), in-play batting average (IPBA), strike-out average (SOA) and home-run average (HRA). Their definitions are AVG = #H/#AB, IPBA = #H/(#AB−#SO), SOA =#SO/#AB and HRA = #HR/#AB. It turns out that AVG = IPBA*(1−SOA). The two figures below show these four statistics for the years 1901 thru …
Can Miguel be the first .400 hitter in 72 years? After playing in 45 games this year he had a BA = .391, an IPBA = .447 and a SOA = .133. Since his IPBA is 20 points higher than .427 all Miguel needs to do (Ha! Ha!) is for the rest of the season …
The first feat is ending a season with at least 502 plate appearances and a batting average BA ≥ .400. The second feat is accomplishing baseball’s Triple Crown by leading their league in HR, RBI and BA. This posting and the following posting will examine the chances of Miguel Cabrera achieving both these feats in 2013. …
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. …