OK, folks, as spring training approaches, it’s time to familiarize yourself with some of the lesser-known things you can do with Baseball-Reference.com. Continue reading →

Just another nice baseball photo to get the juices flowing…

Jayson Werth homers, 9/8/2011 / Icon SMI

Werth did indeed homer on this swing, and you can tell he got all of it. Notice how his bat is ever-so-slightly bent after making square contact.

If Werth can rebound to have a good year–even .270/.370/.470–the much-improved Nationals should win at least 85 games in 2012.

Baseball pictures don’t get better than this… Continue reading →

Here are the 10 most valuable hit-by-pitches in 2011, ranked by Win Probability Added for the team whose batter was plunked. Continue reading →

On Twitter, @Minor_Leaguer (who writes for Bluebird Banter) asked about players who have been traded twice or more together. He cited Jeff Kent and Jose Vizcaino, who were both involved in the following trades:

July 29, 1996: Traded by the New York Mets with Jeff Kent to the Cleveland Indians for Carlos Baerga and Alvaro Espinoza.

November 13, 1996: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with a player to be named later, Jeff Kent and Julian Tavarez to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later and Matt Williams. The Cleveland Indians sent Joe Roa (December 16, 1996) to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade. The San Francisco Giants sent Trent Hubbard (December 16, 1996) to the Cleveland Indians to complete the trade.

Can you think of any other examples of players who were traded together two or more times?

A few quick news items:

• I have added a mobile theme that makes the blog easier to read on your mobile device. You also have the option to revert to the standard desktop theme if you wish.
• I have asked the ad server to stop with the pop-up full-page ads and videos and they have agreed. Please do not block ads otherwise on the site–I have made them unobtrusive and it’s important that they get displayed to maintain our traffic numbers.
• I’ve implemented spam filters for comments and most should get blocked now. You still might see the occasional spam comment make it through…just ignore them.

Lou Brock / Icon SMI

Lou Brock played 18 seasons in the majors. He took over the career lead for stolen bases from Billy Hamilton in 1978 and led until 1991 when Rickey Henderson passed him.

Brock was a 6-time All-Star, received MVP votes in a staggering 10 different seasons, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985, his first year of eligibility.

I don’t actually have any problem with Brock being in the Hall of Fame–regardless of what the numbers say, he was held in extremely high regard during his era as the preeminent base stealer of the day as well as one of the best leadoff batters.

However, a pretty good devil’s advocate case can be made that he doesn’t deserve to be enshrined. Continue reading →

The biggest impact the designated hitter has on the game is detaching the link between a pitcher’s performance and what his own team is doing on offense. In the NL, without the DH, it’s not uncommon for a manager to have to decide whether to pinch-hit for a pitcher who comes to bat in a key situation. Continue reading →

Brian Giles batting about 2 weeks before the end of his playing career / Icon SMI

Yesterday we saw that Brian Giles had one of the very worst seasons as a defender of all time. That 2009 season of his, though, is not quite the worst overall for a batter who also played defense. Continue reading →

Brad Hawpe drops a fly ball / Icon SMI

Recently (you know, on the only other real post I’ve written on the new blog so far) a couple of readers mentioned Brad Hawpe’s awful 2008, which was worth -41 Fielding Runs. That is, in fact, the worst defensive season of all time as measured by Baseball-Reference.com’s data set. Click through for a full list, including a number of other fascinating seasons. Continue reading →