I admit that I haven’t read many discussion boards about this subject, and I’ve only heard some of the commentary on TV. I’m sure there are angles here that I haven’t considered. Having said that, I would go against my instincts and give Armando Galarraga the perfect game. I’d take away Jason Donald’s single, declare […]

Lost in all the controversy about yesterday’s (im)perfect game was the sleepy retirement of Ken Griffey Jr. Here’s a look at the pitchers he took deep throughout his career.

Rotten as the bizarre finish to Armando Galarraga’s imperfect game was, there is this to consider: by not being credited with a perfect game, Galarraga will very likely be better remembered decades from now than if that play had been (correctly) called as out. The best historical comparable to this circumstance is that of Harvey […]

Tigers 3, Indians 0: So, did anything notable happen in this game? Mariners 2, Twins 1: Between a tornado warning (see the Cubs-Pirates recap at the bottom) and the Armando Galarraga stuff I was unable to pay any attention to Ken Griffey’s retirement before this game.  I will remedy that later today. Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks […]

“Come sit on my lap and let me tell you why your great-grandfather is the reason Baseball finally adopted full instant replay.” –Jim Joyce, 2038. Hey, you have to search for the silver lining, right? Craig Calcaterra at NBC Sports’ Hardball Talk has it right: It is absolutely imperative that baseball implement some form of […]

Carlos Santana: AAA Columbus .318/.456/.571, 11 HR, 6 SB (0 CS), 42 BB, 33 K – We’ve reached the first player that legitimately has a place in the minors (sort of). As I mentioned in the Posey article, catcher’s defense is kind of really important. With Santana, there are legitimate concerns about his receiving skills. […]

Rays 7, Blue Jays 6:  Holy schnikes, that was a wild ending. Kevin Gregg had a meltdown, walking five guys, Joe Maddon got tossed after Carlos Pena wasn’t granted time out at the plate and Sean Rodriguez hit a go-ahead, three-run double to seal a come-from-behind victory.  The wildest thing though? Pena later said that […]

Hisanori Takahashi throws his shuuto against the Nationals on March 7, 2010. (Icon/SMI) Here’s my theory on the shuuto: it’s Japanese for “inshoot”, and it can describe any pitch that tails to the pitcher’s arm side, including the two-seam fastball, the circle change-up, the screwball, and the split-finger fastball. I came to this conclusion after […]

Tommy Bennett has a thought-provoking piece today at Baseball Prospectus on the nature of baseball analysis. It’s a fascinating article that has me thinking. There exists, I think, a certain set of analysts in baseball who adhere to a sort of logical positivism. That belief is demonstrated by the drive to completely separate outcomes from […]

On the flight to Seattle after Sunday’s win over the Texas Rangers, the Minnesota Twins faced a dilemma. The team’s starting second baseman, Orlando Hudson, had been injured in a cartoonish collision at the end of the night’s game. The logical backup, Alexi Casilla, is still nursing a bad elbow. Of his status, Casilla says, […]