Today marks the latest release of Retrosheet’s event files, including 2009, the 1952 AL and some corrections to other years. This is a guide written for someone who already has an SQL database (MySQL, that is) set up and is comfortable with it. I am in the process of putting together a set of tutorials […]

Just a quick hit to share park factors for HR/FB rate. I used BIP data and the methodology from Baseball Reference to determine simple HR/FB park factors for 2009 and 4-year weighed factors (weights are 5,3,2,1). Update: My spreadsheet was thrown off by the Rays’ name change. I’ve corrected the numbers below Without further adieu, […]

Bill James has a couple of interesting articles up on his subscription site. The first one quickly chronicles the history and inexorable rise of the strikeout. To sum up: “Strikeout rates have increased in the majors in every decade since 1920, except for the 1970s.” The strikeout has gained ground steadily for many, many years […]

Kind of a weird topic, right? But I have my reasoning. News broke Friday of a potential three-way deal that would send Milton Bradley back to Texas from the Cubs. Chicago would receive second baseman Luis Castillo from the Mets as their reward for shedding the malcontent, with Kevin Millwood heading to the Big Apple […]

Keith Law didn’t vote for Chris Carpenter. Will Carroll didn’t either. Of course, according to the baseball fans on Twitter, both are saber-morons who are ruining the game. Hysteria indeed. A few interesting tweets/comments: Jon Heyman (@SI_JonHeyman): “i dont mean to pick on the voters. but how do 2 of them leave chris carpenter off […]

Here’s something I didn’t know, courtesy of Craig Wright’s excellent subscription newsletter, A Page from Baseball’s Past. The Alou brothers weren’t really Alou’s. Felipe Alou is really Felipe Rojas. A mistake was made on his first contract in which the scout put in the family name of his mother rather than that of his father. […]

The 2009 minor league free agent list is littered with former top prospects and number one picks. Some of these names should sound familiar; Josh Barfield, , Chad Cordero, Eric Duncan, Clint Everts, Ryan Harvey, Dallas McPherson, Greg Miller and several notable others are all free agents this year. As Dave Cameron over at Fangraphs […]

J.C. Bradbury: Though old players may not be what they once were, the evidence indicates they can still be valuable. According to my estimates, a hitter who has a .900 OPS at his peak would be expected to post around an .850 OPS at 35; a pitcher with a peak 3.5 ERA is expected to […]

Last week, I mused about where Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron and Mike Jacobs could end up. Today, I bring you two more potential fits. OMAR VIZQUEL Omar Vizquel is coming off what you could consider a career renaissance at age 42, serving as the Texas Rangers’ backup infielder after rubbing shoulders with Mario Mendoza the […]

What do the following 5 players all have in common: Jason Bay, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jermaine Dye, Brad Hawpe, and Adam Dunn? The answer: they were named in Matthew Carruth’s article over at fangraphs as being baseball’s 5 worst defensive players over the last 3 seasons. They are also either free agents this offseason or […]