Monthly Archives: November 2013

2013 Situational Hitting Stars

One of the metrics for evaluating situational hitting is RE24. For those of who aren’t familiar, that stands for Run Expectancy in the 24 base-out states.

RE24 is calculated as the difference in run expectancy before and after a PA, plus any runs that score as a result of the PA. The run expectancies in that calculation are based on empirical results for each base-out state, from nobody on, nobody out to bases loaded, two out. Run expectancy means how many future runs would expect to score in an inning starting from each base-out state, assuming a team of identical average hitters facing identical average pitchers. The run expectancies are pretty intuitive: the more runners on and the fewer the outs, the higher the run expectancy, and vice-versa.

RE24 for a PA can be positive or negative and thus can be summed over a game, a season, or a career. The results apply to both pitchers and hitters. Thus, a positive RE24 for a batter in a given PA is a negative RE24 for the pitcher, and vice-versa. One caveat is that RE24 scores are not adjusted for inning, game score, batting order position, platoon advantage, park effects, or anything else. Thus, RE24 is often most useful when comparing players on the same team.

More on 2013 situational hitting results after the jump.  Continue reading

Hall of Famers by Final Year in the Majors

208 players have been inducted into the Hall Fame based on their playing careers in the major leagues. The following is a breakdown of how many of those played their final year in the majors in each decade:

2000 through 2009: 5 players
1990 through 1999: 16 players
1980 through 1989: 19 players
1970 through 1979: 19 players
1960 through 1969: 15 players
1950 through 1959: 17 players
1940 through 1949: 23 players
1930 through 1939: 34 players
1920 through 1929: 13 players
1910 through 1919: 19 players
1900 through 1909: 15 players
1890 through 1899: 13 players

The 2008 and 2009 final year guys have not even been eligible yet (the 2008 guys are just being voted on for the first time now, results to be announced in January). But this breakdown might provide a sense of what might be expected to ultimately be the number of guys that will be inducted whose careers ended between 2000 and 2009.

In the clutch – Up with Upton, or Raking with Markakis

Derek Jeter has long had the nickname Captain Clutch, a moniker usually attributed to his post-season performance. Indeed, that post-season career reads pretty much like a a full season stat line. A very good stat line.

Year G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB
16 Yrs (33 Series) 158 734 650 111 200 32 5 20 61 18 5 66 135 .308 .374 .465 .838 302
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/25/2013.

But, for regular season play, who are the top clutch performers in today’s game? I’ll tell you after the jump.

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The Rundown: Clouds are Brewing in Philadelphia

With our first busy week of the offseason in the books, the 2013-14 Major League Baseball spending spree is on. We’ve seen Jhonny Peralta and Brian McCann reel in buku bucks by signing long-term deals with franchises that historically view themselves as contenders. Josh Johnson and Dan Haren have managed to nab some pretty pennies from NL West ball clubs, the Phillies made some interesting moves, and of course who could forget the monumental Prince FielderIan Kinsler swap. Why don’t we take a quick swing through some of last week’s newsworthy notes:

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Quiz – Trend-setting Batters (solved)

These are the only players since 1901 with a particular seasonal batting feat, first introduced by Jim Wynn. A batter before his time, Wynn had been out of baseball for a decade before any of these other hitters had played a full season.

What is the seasonal batting feat Wynn pioneered that is now coming into vogue?

Player
Rickie Weeks
Carlos Pena
Curtis Granderson
David Dellucci
Jim Edmonds
Mark McGwire
Ray Lankford
Jim Wynn
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/21/2013.

Congratulations to Richard Chester! He correctly identified that these are the only players since 1901 having a qualifying season with more strikeouts than hits, and with a run total exceeding 80% of the hit total. This combination of modest hits and immodest strikeouts surprisingly resulting in lots of runs is, aside from Jim Wynn, a very recent phenomenon.

More after the jump.

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Building a Balanced Roster with Texas and Detroit

After spending the better part of the past few seasons climbing baseball’s Mount Everest only to run out of steam just shy of the peak, the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers have decided enough is enough. Those 90-95 win seasons and deep playoff runs that don’t quite bear fruit will no longer be tolerated. The time to go for it is now, and no move quite emphasizes that mindset than the Prince FielderIan Kinsler swap.

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Circle of Greats: Redemption Round #3

This Circle of Greats (COG) vote is not to induct anyone into the Circle, but only to select two players who will be restored back on to the main ballot after having been previously been dropped from eligibility.  This third “redemption round” (we also held such rounds after the 1960 and 1950 rounds of voting) gives voters a chance to reconsider past candidates that have been rejected.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading

Circle of Greats Round 36 Results: Rose Picked, Despite Thorny Issues

Having fallen short of induction by the smallest of margins in the 1941 and 1940 Part 1 rounds of balloting, Pete Rose broke through with the narrowest of victories in the 1940 Part 2 round.  After a chaotic finish to the voting, including an unprecedented recount and a barely disqualified late vote, Pete becomes the 36th inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Great.  More on Rose and the voting after the jump.   Continue reading