The Phillies are down three games to one in the World Series right now. What does the past tell us about their future? Well, they are the 44th team to lose three of the first four games. Of the previous 43 teams, 41 played in a best-of-seven series. (The others were Boston in 1903, who […]

I’m getting it started now, but I’ll be in and out (mostly out) for the first few innings. World Series Game 4

Joe Girardi costs his team 97% in Win Expectancy per game. The other 3% is the bridge to Mariano! Teh eighth inning!!! President Girardi replaces Secretary of State Clinton with AP History student because he “likes the matchup with North Korea better.” (Keith Law) Joe Girardi is the reason the band MGMT abbreviated its name, […]

Since the folks at the Book blog don’t seem to be around tonight, we’re gonna try the same liveblog thing here tonight. LiveBlog World Series Game 3 Bear with me if there are a few hiccups as we start.

Sean Smith has been kind enough to provide The Hardball Times with his Total Zone data for all minor league players in 2009 (for more information check minorleaguesplits.com). The Total Zone numbers are produced using play-by-play data and the results are similar to Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) or the plus/minus system. A more detailed explanation […]

It’s a popular topic. Let’s ignore the decision to bunt with two strikes – even Jeter admits that was a mistake – and look at the decision to start the PA bunting. So what’s the most salient fact about Derek Jeter bunting? He reaches base safely a third of the time when he lays down […]

This will be the second time the World Series stretches into November. I could be wrong if for some reason an early World Series started that late, but I was thinking only in the current 3 round playoff format could a series go this long. The latest dates for a final world series game: 11/04/2001 […]

With the Yankees strong favorites to win the world series, 60% before last night’s game according to Baseball Prospectus, the Phillies needed a strong start to the series to get them on the right track. And boy did they get that from Cliff Lee tonight. Against the best offense in baseball, he pitched nine innings […]

Milton Bradley has a lot of problems in life. He’s constantly getting injured, getting into fights with teammates and umpires and is coming off of a season in which he slugged under .400, threw a ball into the stands and got suspended for being a big fat jerk to teammates, fans and the media. However, […]

An idea came to me today during my microeconomics discussion section, and I’d like to flesh out my thoughts on it here for people to see and to possibly get some feedback. The section readings for today included one about Bunker Hunt, the Texas oil man who tried to corner the world’s market for silver, […]