With apologies to James Joyce, here’s a post on the Cy Young Award, to be awarded this season, for the sixtieth time, to the best pitcher in each league, as voted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The idea for this post, and most of the content, are courtesy of commenter No Statistician But. More after the jump.
Continue readingHere’s a group of accomplished pitchers who enjoy the distinction of a certain career accomplishment of which no other retired modern era pitcher can boast. More specifically, they did something twice in their careers that every other pitcher has done only once or, in most cases, not at all. The list and a clue are after the jump.
Continue readingJust uncovered this unlikely list of pitchers for you to ponder. More after the jump.
Continue readingContinuing my post on exceptional pitching seasons, Part 2 looks at most exceptional pitcher seasons for rate statistics. More after the jump.
Continue readingMost players can point to one season in their careers as their “career year”, when everything clicked, most of their luck was good, and their stat line was clearly head and shoulders above every other season of their careers. Last year I presented a post on everyday players whose best season by various statistical measures showed the largest difference from their second best season by that same statistical measure. With this post I’m presenting the same analysis applied to pitcher metrics. More after the jump on pitchers with the most “exceptional” seasons of their careers.
Continue readingLast season, Justin Turner hit the first walk-off home run of his career, a two-run pinch-hit blast against the Orioles on August 3rd that kept the Cubs just two games back of the division-leading Brewers. What the 40 year-old Turner may not have known was that he had become the oldest Cubs player to hit a pinch home run. After the jump, more on pinch home runs by “experienced” players.
Continue readingThis post is for voting and discussion in the 145th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the second of two rounds of balloting adding to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1981. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Continue readingThis post is for voting and discussion in the 144th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the first of two rounds of balloting adding to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1981. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Continue readingWe’re through the wild-card round and almost through the division series. A brief snapshot of some of the more notable performances is after the jump.
Continue readingMost players can point to one season in their careers as their “career year”, when everything clicked, most of their luck was good, and their stat line was clearly head and shoulders above every other season of their careers. For this post, I’ll be identifying the most exceptional career years, with the largest improvement over the second best season in a number of offensive categories. And, everyone is eligible, as I’ll be looking at those career years for very short and very long careers, and for all the careers in between. More after the jump.
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