Here’s the list -

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About a half-dozen guys could join the club in 2012.

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It’s a gang of 55!

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Icons, eh?

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Since 1901, there are 189 players with 2,100+ career hits.  Which teams have had these players on their roster, at one time or another, the most?  Here is the list:

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(more…)

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Here is the story.

Don’t feel bad Yankees fans. Look at the Red Sox, they lost Heidi Watney. I’m sure that YES can find another field reporter who is willing to eat meat on a stick.

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Well, he knows the town…since his father played there.

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Via Joey Nowak -

[Jorge] Posada is one of five players in baseball history to record at least 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 homers and 1,000 RBIs while playing at least half of his games behind the plate.

Here’s the gang of five -

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Here is the story.

From a baseball fan perspective, I totally get it. Why not go for the total reboot when they switch leagues? However, if I were a fan of the team, I think I would be upset over this possible change. They’ve been called the Astros for the last 47 years. That’s a lifetime for some fans. Granted, it’s not the greatest name ever for a baseball team. But, it’s been their name for almost a half-century. It’s hard to sweep that under the rug.

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Casey Kotchman and Zach Duke say “Com’on, sign already!”

Vladimir Guerrero and Jon Garland probably feel the same way.

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Here’s the list…of pitchers to do this:

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I don’t think anyone is ever going to top Pettitte’s number here.

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It’s a tough call, eh?

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Gotta be in it, to win it, right?

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Need a baseball fix to carry you over from Super Bowl madness to the start of Spring Training?   Or, are you always up for checking out a unique baseball book?  In either case, I recommend The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2012.

First, this year’s edition is much more “handy” as they’ve gone from a “8 1/2 x 11” inch format to a “7 x 9” inch format. This makes the book much more portable. But, more so, the book is full of commentary, analysis and historical features.

To be candid, some of the sabermetric stuff in the book is over my head. (O.K., most of it is over my head.)  But, that’s more of a reflection on me than the authors. Yet, you don’t need to understand the math – at least I don’t – to enjoy what’s in there. (I’m fine with leaving the egg-head confirmation and debate tasks to those who are more into that type of metric-exercise.)

For example, in Michael A. Humphreys’ “Simple Fielding Runs Estimates” feature, in the sidebars, it lists the “Defensive Regression Analysis” (DRA) all-time leaders for each position. And, I don’t need to know how the math works on these to appreciate the fact that Paul Blair and Gary Pettis are listed as the 4th and 5th best center fielders, respectively, after Andruw Jones, Willie Mays and Tris Speaker. I saw Blair and Pettis and it’s great to see them get their due in a study. (Ditto seeing Roy White as the 4th best left fielder – per DRA – after Rickey Henderson, Willie Wilson and Barry Bonds.)

Also, in Max Marchi’s “People Will Most Definitely Come” study, I don’t need to waste time trying to follow that the “adjusted R-squared is a statistical coefficient measuring the proportion of variability accounted for by the model” to enjoy that the results tell us that, from 1947, more people attended games when Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver or Vida Blue were pitching.

There’s something for every baseball fan in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2012. For the hardcore sabermetric crowd, there’s more than enough math in there to give their minds a rush. And, for those who just enjoy baseball commentary and or interesting revelations on baseball history, that’s there as well.

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Minimum 800 games at SS before turning 28:

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Jim Fregosi, today, reminds me of Oliver Reed – but, I don’t know why?

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It’s scary when you compare 1963 and 2011, isn’t it?

Most career HR, RH-Batters, through 1963 -

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Most career HR, RH-Batters, through 2011 -

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I wonder what the list will look like 50 years from now?

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Of all the retired players, with stats since 1901, who have at least 1,000 career hits but less than 2,000 career hits, who were the best?  Here’s one take on it -

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Now, here’s the guys from the above list who are not in the Hall of Fame (yet) -

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If not for that stupid air conditioner, Grich may have been in the Hall by now.

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Now, this is a great idea.  Every major league team should do something like it.

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He really looks unhappy here.  Then again, I would probably have the same reaction.

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From 1901 to 2011, players with the most seasons where they had 35+ HR, 100+ BB and BB>SO and they were age 27 or younger:

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Mel Ott was really something.  Shame that he died so young.

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Bernie’s only boy to make the big leagues. I wonder if he played his home games at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center? (That’s where I was told they played…back in the day.)

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Teams since 1919 to lose 4+ games (of 9 innings or less) in a season where they scored 10+ runs in the contest -

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Must have been fun to watch a game in that Philly band-box.

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Sean Forman will be on Clubhouse Confidential on the MLB Network. He is taping this afternoon and is pretty sure it will be broadcast tonight. The show typically airs 5:30pm and 7:30pm ET. Check it out!

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I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m a raving fan of the Bill James Handbook which is produced annually by the good folks at Baseball Info Solutions and Acta Sports.

That said, I was wondering if I would like The Bill James Handbook 2012 - since good things sometimes lose their luster through the years.

Well, I can now share that I still love this book!  As in the past, it contains the following along with the career stats of every current big league player:

• The Fielding Bible Awards
• Runs Saved and Plus/Minus Leaders
• Pitcher Projections
• Hitter Projections
• Baserunning Analysis
• Manufactured Runs
• Team Efficiency Summary
• Player Win-Shares
• 2011 Leader Boards
• Manager’s Records
• Instant Replay Records
• Hall of Fame Monitor

However, new, this year, it also includes a (1) Pitch Repertoire Section detailing pitch type breakdowns for all pitchers in baseball and (2) Rotation vs. Bullpen team charts showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of each team’s pitching staff.

My favorite part of having this book? Thumbing through the pages and landing, at random, at a player’s career stats or some leader board or another part of the book. And, then using what you find to get your baseball thoughts going – where you then look up something else that the data forces into your head…and you keep doing it over and over from there. You can get lost for an hour, easy, each day, doing that with The Bill James Handbook 2012.  It’s a wonderful off-season baseball fan companion.  And, it’s handy to refer to during the season too.

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This is very funny.  The end – after the credits – is pure LOL stuff.

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Looking at this club, see how close Damon and Alomar are:

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If Damon was a middle infielder, he would have been a lock for Cooperstown, no?

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Of all the players with at least 2,000 hits – but less than 3,000 – in their career, which were the worst players (in that club)?  Here’s one list -

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Any surprises here?

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Better than A-Rod!

Maybe the Packers can use the time off now to go get some haircuts?

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Are they a match? Well, if you use: Pitchers post-1900, From Age 21 to 23, During first season, Throws RH, with 28+ GS, 170-220 IP, and 100-110 ERA+, then they are a match:

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Of course, Pineda is much more of a swing and miss pitcher.  But, is in interesting that both were acquired by a New York team in their somewhat early 20′s.  Betcha the Yankees hope Pineda turns out to be more like this guy.

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It’s pretty close -

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Of course, there’s the difference in the eras in which they both played…

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Funny, just this morning, I read this in a Richard Justice column regarding the Yankees off-season plans and their prospect Jesus Montero -

“First and foremost, people say it’s the quietest winter the Yankees have had,” [Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman] said. “Remember last winter was quiet, too. We tried to do something with Cliff Lee, and once that passed, the old Yankee way would have been to do something.”

Cashman runs down a list of players — Dave LaPoint, Andy Hawkins, Danny Tartabull — signed, in part, as a reaction to moves made by other teams in years past.

“I’ve tried to condition the Yankees to be proactive and smart, and not react,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re smart. We just want to play smart. We missed on Cliff Lee. It wasn’t for lack of effort or money. He made a decision he felt was right for him.

“The Red Sox had an incredible winter last year [Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez], and there was a lot of media pressure for us to do something. We held our ground, said no, resisted the temptation. At the Trade Deadline, people said we had to get Ubaldo Jimenez. We didn’t like the price tag.”

“People thought we were taking a step back on [Jesus] Montero when we got Russell Martin. We did the same thing with [Jorge] Posada. It was three or four years until we fully handed it over to him. When people saw Montero at the end of last year, they said, ‘Holy cow, that’s a middle-of-the-lineup bat.’

And, now, we have these two pieces of news -

New York has finally made its move for a pitcher, agreeing to trade for right-hander Michael Pineda from the Mariners in exchange for top prospect Jesus Montero, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reports. The Mariners will also get right-hander Hector Noesi, while right-hander Jose Campos goes the Yankees, Heyman reports. The deal is pending physicals.

Big night for the Yankees. They have agreed to a 1-year deal with [Hiroki] Kuroda, pending a physical. Deal will be between $10 and $11 million.

So, the Yankees add two starting pitchers. Does this mean that A.J. Burnett is on his way out? And, why would the M’s give up Michael Pineda for a player who’s best position is D.H.?

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Pitchers, since 1901, with 3+ seasons of an ERA+ of 170 or better where they qualified for the ERA title:

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King Felix could join the list some day…he’s knocking on the door with two.

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