Thanks to Adam D. for this poster concept.

Throughout the winter months, this site has been primarily devoted to history.  We’ve dissected Hall of Fame cases, debated the relative merits of Circle of Greats candidates, and mulled over the value of the stats we use to measure value.  With meaningful baseball on the docket for tomorrow, let’s get back to the present.

Thirty men will take the mound in their teams’ first tilts of 2013, each representing said team’s greatest hope.  Someday we’ll dissect the Hall cases of eight to twelve of these guys, making sure to properly adjust for parks and eras and defenses.  But tomorrow is not about objective analysis and advanced metrics- it’s about baseball.  Let’s celebrate (after the jump) by slicing and dicing the 30 opening day starters by their rankings in a few categories, some more meaningful than others.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the fourteenth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds those players born in 1956. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

In a closely contested election that sparked much sharp discussion — even lapping over into a whole separate thread — Larry Walker ultimately prevailed (in his 11th appearance on a COG ballot).  Larry becomes the 13th player inducted into the Circle of Greats. The voting also concluded in startling fashion as last-hour voting pushed two holdovers and one newcomer off future ballots by the slimmest possible margin. More on the former Montreal Expo Walker, and the voting, apres le saut Continue reading →

Virgil Trucks, who won 177 games from 1941-58, mainly for Detroit, died last Saturday at the age of 95. (Click for obituaries from the Detroit Free Press, Washington Post, New York Times; read his SABR Bio.)

Trucks might be known best for a trio of quirky feats:

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“Game Score” is a Bill James invention that assigns a formula-based number to every start by a starting pitcher, based on his innings pitched, runs and hits and walks allowed, and strikeouts racked up, during that particular game. For more detail on the Game Score formula you can check here: Game Score – Wikipedia .

The idea behind Game Score is to have a single number that summarizes the level of “dominance” a starter achieved during his appearance. A Game Score of 100 might be achieved with, say, a complete-game one-hitter with two walks and 17 Ks. In contrast, a zero Game Score might be a one-inning start giving up nine runs on seven hits and three walks with no Ks. After the jump, the highest Opening Day Game Scores achieved for each franchise since 1916. Continue reading →

In an announcement on fangraphs.com, it’s been revealed that they and Baseball-Reference.com have unified the replacement level used for WAR calculations, meaning that bWAR and fWAR will now be the same.

I just chatted with our old friend @Neil_Paine about this and got some info:

• Previously, B-R used a win level of 51-52 per 162 games as the replacement basis.
• The new level is 47-48 wins per 162 games, which will be used by both sites.
• Thus fWAR levels for all players are going down, and bWAR levels for all players are going up.
• Previously, the longer a player’s career was, the larger the discrepancy existed between the two values.
• This means that players with long careers (like Jack Morris….sigh) will get larger bumps up in rWAR or bumps down in fWAR.

In response to a question I was asked on Twitter, I figured out the age at death for all of MLB’s Hall of Famers. Click through for the info.

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