tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58884112024-03-17T21:03:57.061-06:00Dan AgonistesDan Fox shares his thoughts on Information Technology, .NET, baseball, history, and any other topics that are of interest.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.comBlogger1235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-41657047579082100232009-11-15T19:59:00.013-07:002009-11-15T20:55:19.741-07:00One Worth Remembering<div align="left"><em>Still, for all the tumult, it was a hell of a life, being a baseball player and a hell of a time to be a baseball player, and for the rest of their lives, they understood what a privilege it had been</em>. </div><div align="left">- Mike Vaccaro from <em>The First Fall Classic</em></div><br /><br />Baseball’s 2009 postseason was certainly one to remember. Over the course of 28 days and through 30 games fans were treated to some excellent baseball (the Angels dominating the Red Sox), thrilling finishes (the two extra inning games of the Yankees/Angels series), heroic efforts (Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley), and more than a little controversy (a handful of miscues by the men in blue). And in the increasingly crowded and competitive entertainment market, baseball did as well as it has in any recent season with television ratings higher than any since 2004, in no small part due to the presence of two teams from Los Angeles and one from New York among the final four left standing.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38WjIlAN82F0oBvBnkBCmNQlF98QPFPgz5pGY1M1Wauu2C7YKShQdrYxqfaUPDc6WUE7bq1_aKVk_oLaSl9MPfUCNcGZzqkj00OKi2SQxf5GBu8QM8AjV0KcwctFlyGB7Hkb_Ag/s1600/Vaccaro.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 133px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 206px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404534787947657090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38WjIlAN82F0oBvBnkBCmNQlF98QPFPgz5pGY1M1Wauu2C7YKShQdrYxqfaUPDc6WUE7bq1_aKVk_oLaSl9MPfUCNcGZzqkj00OKi2SQxf5GBu8QM8AjV0KcwctFlyGB7Hkb_Ag/s400/Vaccaro.JPG" /></a>But as good as this most recent version was, Mike Vaccaro in his new book, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Fall-Classic-Politicos-Re-Invented/dp/0385526245">The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, The Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912</a></em>, reminds us of two central facts of baseball history while providing an antidote to a still too common, but preciously incorrect, sentiment regarding baseball’s past.<br /><br />Regarding the former, Vaccaro’s tome aptly reminds us that thrilling finishes and controversy in October (and now November) are more than a century old, and through much of the 20th century baseball held <em>the</em> preeminent place in the nation’s professional sporting life.<br /><br />As for the remedy, for those who still hang on to the picture of baseball’s early history as simple and even innocent as compared to dim view of modern “baseball as a business” in a world of free agency, arbitration, PEDs, and the intense media spotlight, Vaccaro provides an education in how thoroughly professionalized the game was in every sense of the word. From the intense controversy over the size and source of the player’s share of the gate, to the newspaper columns that players (some of whom were involved in the series such as Christy Mathewson) penned to monetize their position, to the large sums of money that exchanged hands in bets both outside and inside the ballpark by fans, managers including John McGraw who wagered $500 on his team (to win of course), and players alike, and even extending to the interference of an owner in an attempt to extend the series thereby increasing his profits, there is very little innocence and simplicity to be found. Perhaps Fred Snodgrass, Giants center fielder in the series and the man who would be bludgeoned with the business end of the sport for the rest of his life, would say fifty years later, “We were professionals. And professionals get paid”.<br /><br />For those who aren’t familiar with the details of the series I’ll leave you to discover just how the elements of civic pride and rivalry, religion and the rift it caused in one of the clubhouses, and yes, the monetary interests of everyone involved all coalesce to make those nine days (that’s right, nine days in which eight games were played with a mostly alternating schedule – and you think modern travel is tough?) in October 1912 so interesting in Vaccaro’s retelling. One mark of the greatness of the series, as Vaccaro points out in the introduction is simply this: prior to 1912 baseball's postseason was known as the "world series" while after it was the "World Series".<br /><br />While the book focuses on the series itself, similar to Cait Murphy’s excellent <em><a href="http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2008/06/crazy-for-crazy-08.html">Crazy ’08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnets Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History</a></em>, the author does a good job of setting the scene of the times by primarily following two concurrent events; the attempted assassination of “Bull Moose” presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee on the day of game six, and the murder trial of New York City police officer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Becker">Charles Becker</a> in which Becker stood accused of ordering the murder of the gambler Herman Rosenthal. Suffice it to say the story ends well for one and not the other. Although Murphy’s book is a little broader in its social and historical context (not to mention its main subject matter as it deals with the entire season and not just the World Series) Vaccaro adds enough of the back stories of the players and coaches (particularly Mathewson, McGraw, Tris Speaker, Snodgrass, and “Smokey” Joe Wood), as well as the owners and “politicos” (Boston Mayor John “Honey Fritz” Fitzgerald, grandfather of JFK) to paint a picture of what it was like to live in that time. In addition, he focuses on the crowds gathered at the many sites, particularly throughout New York, where the rabid throngs could assemble and “watch” the progress of the game with as little as a six second delay through a mechanical version of MLBAM’s GameDay - a recreation sometimes complete with high tech lights and buzzers and moving figures. During the series baseball crazy fans in the tens of thousands without tickets to the Polo Grounds or the gleaming new Fenway Park would make their way to sites hosted by ten daily newspapers in New York and four in Boston to take in the action. Short vignettes of a few of those regular folks serve to complete the picture.<br /><br />The book is structured chronologically leading off with a recap of 1912 regular season where the Red Sox, led by Wood’s 34-5 record and 344 IP, dominated the American League with a record of 102-50 and outpacing the Senators by 14 games. The “Speed Boys” as they were known despite stealing “only” 185 bases (the Senators led with 274) and leading the league in homeruns with 29, led the league in runs scored and fewest runs allowed. In the National League the Giants, while not as dominant, won 103 games and finally shook off both the Pirates and Cubs in the final months of the season. For the Giants it was their second consecutive appearance in the series having lost to Connie Mack’s Athletics in six games in 1911 while the Red Sox were returning for the first time since the inaugural series played in 1903. From there the book offers a chapter for each of the eight games and an extra for the final day of the series along with a well done epilogue that wraps up the few loose ends that remain and provides a platform for a poignant commentary on how we remember our heroes. Perhaps the only nitpick with the presentation is the lack of an index, a feature most readers with baseball libraries would I’m sure find useful.<br /><br />If <em>The First Fall Classic</em> isn’t quite as comprehensive in its historical context as Murphy’s or certainly Josh Prager’s <em><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5746">The Echoing Green</a></em>, in terms of the style Vaccaro hits a homerun in his descriptions of the action on the field. He notes in the introduction that the bulk of his research was in reading contemporary news accounts and so given the colorful language and detailed play by play that newspapers of that time produced, perhaps some of that rubbed off as I found that the sense of drama and reality he portrayed was simply first rate. While prior to reading I had a summary knowledge of the series, although not all the particulars to be sure, several chapters had that “page-turner” quality that are inherent in well written books. If for no other reason than its readability and drama I'd recommend this book. Of course when coupled with the other reasons noted at the beginning of this review, picking up this book is simply a no-brainer for anyone with an interest in a truer picture of the game's past.<br /><br /><br />As a quick aside, as always books like this interest me because of their ability to contrast, knowingly or unknowingly, how the game was played in the past with its modern version. And of course those that describe play in the dead ball era, when the art of playing for one run was king and defenses weren't particularly efficient in turning batted balls into outs, are even more appealing. To that end, a crucial baserunning gaffe, or should I say base coaching gaffe, by one of the teams in game three grabbed my attention since it came at an interesting time in the <a href="http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2007/03/quantifying_coa.php">evolution of the practice of employing full-time coaches</a>. While the first fill time coach, Arlie Latham, was hired by the Reds in 1900, it would be 20 years before the practice was widely accepted. Not surprisingly it was McGraw who hired both Latham and Duke Farrell as full-time coaches in 1909 while other teams used either their manager or a rotating set of players. Although the gaffe from game three might have occurred if there were a full-time coach there or not, it illustrates how far specialization in the game has come and with it a higher overall level of play.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-12141149025590935362008-09-20T05:19:00.004-06:002008-09-20T05:29:22.870-06:00As Time Goes ByToday we'll run another tidbit from the errata of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Over-Til-Its-Prospectus/dp/0465002854/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213843117&sr=8-10">It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book</a></em>...<br /><hr><br /><br />During which decade did baseball fans enjoy the best pennant races? Bill James, in <em>The New Bill James Historical Abstract</em> says unequivocally that the 1940s was "The Best Decade Ever for Pennant Races". Our compilation of Race Score by decade agrees.<br /><br /><pre><br />Decade Aggregate Races Avg<br />1900s 375.5 12 31.3<br />1910s 234.9 9 26.1<br />1920s 423.6 12 35.3<br />1930s 226.1 13 17.4<br />1940s 390.9 11 35.5<br />1950s 371.5 12 31.0<br />1960s 385.1 12 32.1<br />1970s 310.0 17 18.2<br />1980s 354.1 20 17.7<br />1990s 247.0 16 15.4<br />2000s 431.5 27 16.0<br /></pre><br /><br />The 1940s pulled out the highest average Race Score although the 1920s came in a close second and actually included one more race. Interestingly, the 1930s included 13 races, the highest percentage at 65% of any decade, and nine of those were in the NL with only 1931 excluded. However, many of the races were only marginal with the 1934 NL race won by the Cardinals on the strength of a 33-12 record down the stretch taking the highest score at 29.9 and ranking 43rd. <br /><br />James ranks the races of the 1940s and so here is his list alongside our ranking.<br /><br /><pre><br />James Year Lg Score Rank Teams Winner<br />1 1940 AL 46.0 16 3 Detroit Tigers (90-64)<br />2 1944 AL 21.0 80 2 St. Louis Browns (89-65)<br />3 1948 AL 72.0 3 3 Cleveland Indians (97-58)<br />4 1946 NL 32.9 35 2 St. Louis Cardinals (98-58)<br />5 1949 NL 37.0 30 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (97-57)<br />6 1949 AL 37.0 29 2 New York Yankees (97-57)<br />7 1942 NL 50.9 15 2 St. Louis Cardinals (106-48)<br />8 1941 NL 36.5 31 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (100-54)<br />9 1945 AL 18.0 86 2 Detroit Tigers (88-65)<br />10 1945 NL 29.9 43 2 Chicago Cubs (98-56)<br /> 1947 NL 9.8 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (94-60)<br /></pre><br /><br />The only race from the 1940s that James doesn't include is the 1947 NL race which ranks 121st on our list in which the Dodgers overcame the Braves at midseason and held off the Cardinals, winning by a margin of five games. As James notes, the NL races of the 1940s were dominated by the Dodgers and Cardinals while in the AL the races were more diverse.<br /><br />This compilation by decade also reinforces the notion that modern races garner lower race scores overall as not only the average Race Score has declined but also the number of races that have positive scores has fallen from around 57% before divisional play to 44% after.<br /><br />But since our Race Score gives extra weight to races with multiple teams with good records, this trend can also be attributed to an increasing competitive balance over time. As shown in the graph below for the AL from 1901-2005, the standard deviation in winning percentage has noticeably declined over time (albeit with a number of bumps along the way and a small upturn in the past five years) as the dotted linear trend line indicates. As more teams are bunched closer together, it is statistically less likely that two or more teams will break away from the pack and therefore score very highly in the Race Score metric.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZgBrOGkW5L8QjBbda524m6mdVKWkQ0I0f1STJ-0vyNRM_VCqJtrIvcUYvAecytJvkuRR58eicXkkr2Qllpv8u_Qy8vSCSNXwYAn4MDHGZjUtJd2uYI6eMfX57m4djNUKn6Qzyw/s1600-h/stdwpct.GIF"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZgBrOGkW5L8QjBbda524m6mdVKWkQ0I0f1STJ-0vyNRM_VCqJtrIvcUYvAecytJvkuRR58eicXkkr2Qllpv8u_Qy8vSCSNXwYAn4MDHGZjUtJd2uYI6eMfX57m4djNUKn6Qzyw/s320/stdwpct.GIF" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248062509330872306" /></a><br /><br />Just why competitive balance has generally increased with time is another story. The most accepted notion, popularized by the late paleontologist and baseball fan Stephen Jay Gould in the context of the disappearance of the .400 hitter , wrests upon two pillars. First, as knowledge about how to play the game has improved and become standardized it has become more difficult for players and hence teams to take advantage of their less skilled competitors. Second, the general level of play has increased due to better athletes produced through a larger population from which the best players are chosen, better diet and training, and better technology, all of which moves the game closer to the limits of human ability providing less space for variation. In the end that leaves great players and great teams, in Gould's words*, less "space for taking advantage of the suboptimality of others". <br /><br /><br />* The 1996 book Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin by Stephen Jay Gould contains an extended discussion of Gould's argument. Also see my column <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5813">"Schrodinger's Bat: The Myth of the Golden Age"</a>.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-83093336454943754962008-09-16T04:22:00.002-06:002008-09-16T04:36:02.537-06:00The Wheel of ChangeWith the firing of Ned Yost yesterday with less than two weeks to go in the regular season, I thought it would be interesting to continue the errata from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Over-Til-Its-Prospectus/dp/0465002854/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213843117&sr=8-10"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sosasa01.shtml">It Ain't</a> Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book</a> with this tidbit on managerial changes and pennant winners.<br /><br /><hr><br />After dropping a 4-2 contest to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field on Tuesday August 2nd 1932, the Cubs under manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hornsro01.shtml">Rogers Hornsby</a> were sitting at 53-46 in second place staring up at the Pirates who held a 5-game lead. As in his three previous managerial jobs Hornsby rubbed the powers that be the wrong way and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/nonmlbpa/veeckbi99.shtml">William Veeck</a> (father of the more famous <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/nonmlbpa/veeckbi99.shtml">Bill Veeck</a>) ousted him and his $8,000 per month salary "for the best interests of the club" as the Cubs traveled on to Philadelphia. In his place he ensconced first baseman <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/grimmch01.shtml">Charlie Grimm</a>. After an off-day the team beat the Phillies 12-1 with the Pirates dropping a doubleheader to the Dodgers to shrink the lead to three and a half games. Under Grimm the Cubs went a sizzling 37-18 the rest of the way including a 14-game winning streak from the 20th of August through the 3rd of September. The Pirates meanwhile struggled to a 27-26 finish thereby propelling the Cubs to the pennant by a comfortable 4-game margin and coming in 132nd in our rankings.<br /><br />The distinction of the 1932 season was that it was the first time in the modern era that a team changed managers in mid season and went on to win the pennant. Perhaps inspired by the move owner P.K. Wrigley in 1938, with his team in third place with a record of 45-36 5.5 games out, fired Grimm at the end of July and replaced him with catcher Gaby Hartnett. In no small part the hiring of Grimm as the needed sparkplug was based on the results of a study performed by a University of Illinois professor Wrigley hired to psychoanalyze the team. While team chemistry is often derided, perhaps the professor was onto something. Down the stretch the Cubs posted a 44-27 record including a 10-game winning streak from September 22-28. And of course famously it was manager Hartnett who homered in the bottom of the ninth on September 28th with darkness threatening to give the Cubs a 6-5 win over the Pirates and the league lead which they would not relinquish. That 1938 race ranked 70th in our list and so in the span of six years the Cubs had twice replaced their manager well into the season and both times it paid dividends.<br /><br />Although these first two occurrences were wildly successful, it would take another 40 years and the advent of divisional play before the fateful summer of 1978 would see a similar occurrence. With the Yankees sitting at 52-43 in fourth place and behind the Red Sox by 10.5 games on the morning of July 25th, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lemonbo01.shtml">Bob Lemon</a> would replace Billy Martin (<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/howsedi01.shtml">Dick Howser</a> managed one game in the interim) who resigned after disparaging comments referencing star <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jacksre01.shtml">Reggie Jackson</a> and owner <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/George_Steinbrenner">George Steinbrenner</a>. Lemon is credited with calming the stormy sea and the team went on a 47-20 tear to tie for the AL East title and then…well, the rest as they say is history. <br /><br />It wasn't long after, that three teams in the fateful summer of 1981 would make the post season after having made a managerial change. <br /><br /><li>The <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smither01.shtml">Kansas City</a> Royals slumped badly in the first half after their 1980 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> appearance posting a 20-30 record under manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/freyji99.shtml">Jim Frey</a>. After opening the second half 10-10 Frey was dismissed in favor of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/howsedi01.shtml">Dick Howser</a> and the Royals went 20-13 the rest of the way winning the second half Western Division title.</li><br /><br /><li>The Montreal Expos were in a similar situation posting a 30-25 record in the first half under <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/willidi02.shtml">Dick Williams</a>. A 14-12 record to begin the second half led to his ouster and replacement by Jim Fanning who guided the team to a 16-11 finish and the Expos only post season appearance. </li><br /><br /><li>The Yankees led by <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/michage01.shtml">Gene Michael</a> won the AL East first half title with a record of 34-22. However, a 14-12 start to the second half led to Michael's replacement by the miracle worker of 1978, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lemonbo01.shtml">Bob Lemon</a>. This time though, the Yanks did not respond and went 11-14 the rest of the way before picking themselves back up and beating the Brewers and the A's enroute to the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a>. This was the only time in history that a post season team's replacement manager had a worse record than the manager being replaced.</li><br /><br />But none of these were, statistically speaking anyway, the biggest turnarounds correlated with managerial changes by post season teams. That honor goes to the 1989 Toronto Blue Jays. After enduring a 12-24 (.333) start under Jimmy Williams, General Manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Pat_Gillick">Pat Gillick</a> hired <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/gastoci01.shtml">Cito Gaston</a> on May 31st as the interim manager. That interim title was quickly forgotten as the Jays reeled off a 77-49 (.611) record with the help of acquisitions <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mazzile01.shtml">Lee Mazzilli</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wilsomo01.shtml">Mookie Wilson</a> from the Mets leading to a 20-9 August that saw them pull into a first place tie with the surprising Orioles as the month closed. After holding a slim lead most of the month of September, the Jays hooked up with the Orioles in a three game series at the new Sky Dome (opened in June and host to a new Major League attendance record of almost 3.4 million fans) on the season's final weekend with the Orioles one game back. The Blue Jays took the first two games of the series 2-1 and 4-3 to seal the deal and come in 129th in our rankings. The difference in winning percentage after the managerial change of .278 was the largest in history by a wide margin.<br /><br />All of the races already mentioned and a few more where post season teams have made managerial moves are shown in the table below and sorted by change in winning percentage.<br /><br /><pre><br />Year Team Lg Manager W L Pct Replaced By W L Pct Change<br />1989 Toronto AL Jimmy Williams 12 24 0.333 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/gastoci01.shtml">Cito Gaston</a> 77 49 0.611 0.278<br />2003 Florida NL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/torboje01.shtml">Jeff Torborg</a> 16 22 0.421 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/mckeoja99.shtml">Jack McKeon</a> 75 49 0.605 0.184<br />1981 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smither01.shtml">Kansas City</a> AL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/freyji99.shtml">Jim Frey</a> 30 40 0.429 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/howsedi01.shtml">Dick Howser</a> 20 13 0.606 0.177<br />1978 New York AL Billy Martin 52 43 0.547 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lemonbo01.shtml">Bob Lemon</a> 48 20 0.706 0.159<br />2004 Houston NL Jimmy Williams 44 44 0.500 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/garneph01.shtml">Phil Garner</a> 48 26 0.649 0.149<br />1932 Chicago NL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hornsro01.shtml">Rogers Hornsby</a> 53 46 0.535 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/grimmch01.shtml">Charlie Grimm</a> 37 18 0.673 0.137<br />1982 Milwaukee AL Buck Rodgers 23 24 0.489 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kuennha01.shtml">Harvey Kuenn</a> 72 43 0.626 0.137<br />1983 PhiladelphiaNL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/corrapa01.shtml">Pat Corrales</a> 43 42 0.506 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/owenspa99.shtml">Paul Owens</a> 47 30 0.610 0.105<br />1988 Boston AL John McNamara 43 42 0.506 Joe Morgan 46 31 0.597 0.092<br />1938 Chicago NL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/grimmch01.shtml">Charlie Grimm</a> 45 36 0.556 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hartnga01.shtml">Gabby Hartnett</a> 44 27 0.620 0.064<br />1981 Montreal NL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/willidi02.shtml">Dick Williams</a> 44 37 0.543 Jim Fanning 16 11 0.593 0.049<br />1996 Los Angeles NL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/lasorto01.shtml">Tommy Lasorda</a> 41 35 0.539 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/russebi01.shtml">Bill Russell</a> 49 37 0.570 0.030<br />1981 New York AL <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/michage01.shtml">Gene Michael</a> 48 34 0.585 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lemonbo01.shtml">Bob Lemon</a> 11 14 0.440 -0.145<br /></pre><br /><br />A few notes:<br /><br /><li>Fifteen years after his replacement by Gaston, Jimmy Williams was once again shoved aside in favor of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/garneph01.shtml">Phil Garner</a> who led the Astros to a playoff appearance in 2004 making Williams the only manager to capture such a "distinction". </li><br /><br /><li>"Trader Jack" McKeon captures the second biggest turnaround with the Marlins 75-49 finish on the way to their second World Championship. McKeon was no stranger to big turnarounds. On May 23, 1978 the A's were leading the AL West by two games with a record of 24-15 when manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/winklbo99.shtml">Bobby Winkles</a>, deciding he'd had enough of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/finlech01.shtml">Charlie Finley</a>, stepped down. McKeon replaced Winkles, who ironically had replaced him the previous season, and the A's went on to post a 45-78 record good for the largest drop in winning percentage after a managerial change at -.250.</li><br /><br /><li>The replacement in 1982 of Buck Rodgers by <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kuennha01.shtml">Harvey Kuenn</a> was told in colorful detail by Daniel Okrent in his classic 9 Innings. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/caldwmi01.shtml">Mike Caldwell</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/simmote01.shtml">Ted Simmons</a>, and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fingero01.shtml">Rollie Fingers</a> were among the most vocal of Rodgers critics. In fact, a public tirade by Fingers after he wasn't brought in against a lefty in the ninth inning of a May 31st loss sealed the coffin.</li><br /><br />From an analysts perspective the thing to note is that except in the cases of the first three teams listed in the table, all the rest were respectable to good teams who simply played better once their new managers were in place. The aggregate winning percentage of these thirteen before the change was .512 while after it skyrocketed to .616. In other words, these teams were already in a position to succeed.<br /><br />Aside from these teams there have been 276 others since 1900 (not counting the 1961-62 Cubs whose famous "college of coaches" experiment failed) that have employed multiple managers (with the 1937 Tigers and 1968 White Sox employing five managers each). Obviously the vast majority of managerial changes engender no such turnaround. Even so, considering only the 52 teams who already had a .500 record or greater when their first manager was replaced, we find that roughly 20% (13 of the now 65) of the teams equipped to win, went on to post season play after changing managers. Most front offices would take those odds. Knowing when to pull the trigger, on the other hand, is the tough part.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com170tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-83897045574749235252008-08-08T17:44:00.002-06:002008-08-08T17:49:39.856-06:00The More and the Less the MerrierThis is a continuation of the serialization of "The Great Pennant Race Abstract" from the book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Over-Til-Its-Prospectus/dp/0465002854/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213843117&sr=8-10">It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book</a></em>.<br /><hr><br />One of the three components of our methodology in ranking the races is to consider the number of teams involved. Obviously more teams typically leads both to more fan interest across the country as well as heightened drama. <br /><br />But what about the greatest two team race? That distinction belongs to the 1942 NL race won by the St. Louis Cardinals. The reason that race scores so highly is because it was so close, being decided by just two games, and both teams easily topped 100 wins with the Cards winning 106 and the Dodgers 104. There was also plenty of drama for good measure. On the morning of August 16th it was the Dodgers, featuring a pair of 23 year olds in Pee <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reesepe01.shtml">Wee Reese</a> and Pete Resier, who held a nine and half game lead over the Cardinals. But the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/rickebr01.shtml">Branch Rickey</a> built Cards, and second youngest team in the league with contributions from rookies <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/musiast01.shtml">Stan Musial</a> in left field and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beazljo01.shtml">Johnny Beazley</a> on the mound, would go on to win 35 of 41 games and 12 of their final 13 while the Dodgers finished 25-17 to take the pennant and eventually the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> over the Yankees in five games. <br /><br />That great Cardinal team, then nicknamed the "St. Louis Swifties", was also interesting in that they led the league in runs scored (4.84 per game, a fact that is often forgotten), batting average, on base percentage, and even slugging percentage despite hitting just 60 homeruns finishing sixth in the eight team league. To make up for their lack of homerun power which saw their infielders hit just 9, the team slugged 69 triples and 282 doubles both of which led the league. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/slaugen01.shtml">Enos Slaughter</a> racked up 17 triples and 31 doubles while 6'2" second sacker <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/marioma01.shtml">Marty Marion</a> hit 38 doubles. Sportsman's Park certainly played as a hitter's park but they also led the league in fewest runs allowed (3.09 per game) by a wide margin led by MVP <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/coopemo01.shtml">Mort Cooper</a> who twirled 10 shutouts on his way to 22 wins.<br /><br />On the other side of the coin the only five team race among the 165 that had positive Race Scores was the 1988 AL East race which ranked 23rd and was won by the Red Sox with a record of 89-73 with the five teams finishing within 3.5 games. This race scored highly despite the victor only garnering 89 wins in part because of the 30% bonus awarded to a five team race.<br /><br /><pre><br />Team Name G W L PCT GB RS RA<br />Boston Red Sox 162 89 73 0.549 - 813 689<br /><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/">Detroit Tigers</a> 162 88 74 0.543 1 703 658<br />Milwaukee Brewers 162 87 75 0.537 2 682 616<br />Toronto Blue Jays 162 87 75 0.537 2 763 680<br />New York Yankees 161 85 76 0.528 3.5 772 748<br /><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/">Cleveland Indians</a> 162 78 84 0.481 11 666 731<br />Baltimore Orioles 161 54 107 0.335 34.5 550 789<br /></pre><br /><br />The Orioles were out of the race early as losers of their first 21 games shattering the previous record of 13 and the Indians, while briefly in first place in April, soon turned mediocre. It was the Yankees and Tigers who then got hot and occupied the top two spots, 6 games in front of the rest of the pack as July dawned. Over the All-Star break the Red Sox, with a record of 43-42, fired manager John McNamara and promoted coach Joe Morgan (more on managerial changes below). The Sox then started the second half with a 12-game winning streak, picked up <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boddimi01.shtml">Mike Boddicker</a> at the trading deadline to fill out the rotation, and pulled into a tie with the Tigers on September 3rd. From there they built a five game lead by September 23st but then promptly lost seven of their last nine and just barely holding on.<br /><br />The Tigers were by then the oldest team in the league (more on old teams below) and their offense faded down the stretch as did the Yankees pitching, which was second worst in the league only to Baltimore. The Yankees had a managerial change of their own when Billy Martin, returning to the job for the fifth and final time, was fired in late June when the Yankees slipped from first.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com105tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-79656697157683310942008-08-08T17:30:00.005-06:002008-08-08T17:43:20.638-06:00What Have You Done For Me LatelyThis is a continuation of the serialization of "The Great Pennant Race Abstract" from the book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Over-Til-Its-Prospectus/dp/0465002854/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213843117&sr=8-10">It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book</a></em>.<br /><hr><br />Many readers will be interested in which pennant races in the last few years rank the highest and so here are the top 10 races since the dawn of the new millennium. <br /><br /><pre><br />Rank Year Lg Div Score Teams Winner<br />1 2007 NL West 32.7 3 Arizona Diamondbacks (90-72)<br />2 2004 AL West 31.8 3 Anaheim Angels (92-70)<br />3 2002 NL West 30.0 3 Arizona Diamondbacks (98-64)<br />4 2005 AL East 28.0 2 New York Yankees (95-67)<br />5 2004 AL East 27.9 2 New York Yankees (101-61)<br />6 2006 AL Central 27.0 2 Minnesota Twins (96-66)<br />7 2002 AL West 26.2 2 Oakland Athletics (103-59)<br />8 2000 NL East 25.0 2 Atlanta Braves (95-67)<br />9 2001 NL Central 24.0 2 Houston Astros/St. Louis Cardinals (93-69)<br />10 2007 AL East 22.9 2 Boston Red Sox (96-66)<br /></pre><br />The most recent race to make the list is of course the excellent 2007 NL West race between the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies thanks to the improbable heroics of the Rox. But just two years ago, the 2006 AL Central race was very tight as the Tigers, after leading the division for almost the entire season, were passed by the Twins on the season's final day as the Tigers fell in twelve innings to the lowly Royals as the Twins beat the White Sox. <br /><br />The 2004 AL West race takes the second spot and the 38th overall as the Anaheim Angels finished one game in front of the A's and three games ahead of the Rangers. The Angels took matters into their own hands by beating the Rangers three out of four and the A's four out of six to close the season. Although the Diamondbacks in the 2002 NL West race were in sole possession of first place after July 15th, the race scores well since it tightened in the final week before Arizona swept a 4-game series with the Rockies to end the season and win by just 2.5 games over the Giants.<br /><br />The unbalanced schedule since the introduction of divisional play coupled with the fewer number of teams per division - especially since 1995 and the addition of two more divisions - makes it a bit more difficult for modern races to rack up really high Race Scores. When you consider that 176 of the 312 races occurred since the inception of divisional play in 1969, and yet only 12 of the top 50 races but 28 of the next 50 are from this period, you can see how the calculation of the Race Score favors the past. Traditionalists will no doubt agree that this is the way it ought to be.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-58741704211805070122008-07-12T07:25:00.002-06:002008-07-12T07:30:45.993-06:00Rookie Reporter Showdown<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggH-WROsVSrR1vNuvdqeud3IfOLjFR4q9RoebKrcxTKDXxrj7citiRLD_8tyYVegi6S2TFVOSM39R0L6RmKm4MkN4shyphenhyphenfcMdhXHqP2Xv5x_N7OqMcuR-v4U3ab8ZtqTtViccwSEg/s1600-h/worldseries08.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggH-WROsVSrR1vNuvdqeud3IfOLjFR4q9RoebKrcxTKDXxrj7citiRLD_8tyYVegi6S2TFVOSM39R0L6RmKm4MkN4shyphenhyphenfcMdhXHqP2Xv5x_N7OqMcuR-v4U3ab8ZtqTtViccwSEg/s320/worldseries08.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222119245763737714" /></a><br />Given that I think all of us have at one time or another thought that we could call a game better than this or that announcer, I thought <a href="www.MLB.com/GilletteReporter">this contest</a> was interesting. Gillette is offering fans the chance to join the MLB.com broadcasting team during the 2008 World Series.<br /><br />To enter you have to go to the site linked above and upload a video that proves you're better than they are. Gillette will then choose 48 finalists from across the country to compete in a series of "reporter" challenges hosted by ESPN baseball reporter Erin Andrews that will air during live local MLB telecasts. Viewers are then asked to vote for their favorite to decide who will be the Rookie Reporter. Good Luck!Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-84398456791479611572008-07-07T13:08:00.002-06:002008-07-07T13:12:28.887-06:00Dr. Stat Attacks!<a href="http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/07/06/dr-stat-attacks/">Very funny stuff</a> from Joe Posnanski. When I <a href="http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2007/04/rays-win.html">was at Tropicana last year</a> they had no such cartoon but given the atmosphere they're trying to create there and the ginormous video screen that dominates the venue, it doesn't surprise me.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-50692436700985859432008-07-05T18:48:00.008-06:002008-07-06T07:22:21.199-06:00Summit!In an ongoing effort to wear oursevles out completely before we move to Pittsburgh, my 12-year old daughter Laura and I ascended (and descended) Pike's Peak today.<br /><br />We were up at 4:30 armed with breakfast courtesy of my lovely wife and our backpacks loaded with great snacks and headed out to a place called The Crags campground which is on the back of the mountain at an elevation of <a href="http://www.localhikes.com/HikeData.ASP?DispType=2&ActiveHike=0&GetHikesStateID=&ID=5613">around 10,000 feet</a>. We disembarked and were on the trail at 5:50AM. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlG7YvnMlZC76O2eosvUj9-8f8VWq5WYId8osL0o4AXbE59qCmfYGjteXFi8I2JbXVqTKWFMmMa72jBNs8PDij_WXiZnlxc_KfpUyRNOnjYlneV4Vo2ymMq5desWfv3SmKpZDSQ/s1600-h/forest.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlG7YvnMlZC76O2eosvUj9-8f8VWq5WYId8osL0o4AXbE59qCmfYGjteXFi8I2JbXVqTKWFMmMa72jBNs8PDij_WXiZnlxc_KfpUyRNOnjYlneV4Vo2ymMq5desWfv3SmKpZDSQ/s320/forest.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219698713706310178" /></a><br />After hiking a couple miles through the forest you come out just below the tree line and then after a series of switchbacks have to ascend almost straight up the bluff to reach the saddle at just below 13,000 feet. That stretch was particularly trying for us and we had to stop frequently and used up a good portion of our water.<br /><br />Once we got to the saddle the hiking was easier and our spirits were better as evidenced by this photo where Laura shows the way to the summit:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_HeZTbzz5KLAG0_-EMBJ0KeB5hyphenhyphenTsuFfGgtzLXu6XaufRYmiAKnzdt9psSbzWe4QQNeB68vyJuV7yTfijZLMm2U8t_9LziQ9Wv4fSQGFeUQWgzzM8XOBFS8s3zEVzGo85CfZLRA/s1600-h/laura_up.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_HeZTbzz5KLAG0_-EMBJ0KeB5hyphenhyphenTsuFfGgtzLXu6XaufRYmiAKnzdt9psSbzWe4QQNeB68vyJuV7yTfijZLMm2U8t_9LziQ9Wv4fSQGFeUQWgzzM8XOBFS8s3zEVzGo85CfZLRA/s400/laura_up.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219698079874559026" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPRLzCL5J5TeNwhti2ncBNtWn4gsenxZ6elDYzzSWBhR17fRCo7xDBmdRuaGz_8nBb3P57YxXRK-PZ2pz1e7Gptv3d5tjoqj2AhEBgonStLj6TOFcR6d5eupyXlbawB90P7oO5A/s1600-h/summit.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPRLzCL5J5TeNwhti2ncBNtWn4gsenxZ6elDYzzSWBhR17fRCo7xDBmdRuaGz_8nBb3P57YxXRK-PZ2pz1e7Gptv3d5tjoqj2AhEBgonStLj6TOFcR6d5eupyXlbawB90P7oO5A/s320/summit.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219699420646971330" /></a><br />However, after crossing the road used by a gazillion tourists on this day and paralleling the road for a long ways, we came to the final boulder field to ascend the last 500 feet to the summit. We got off the trail a little and although our route was shorter it was not easy and by the time we reached the summit just before 11AM we were both spent. But still, we had to stand in line for about 10 minutes to get the obligatory picture taken (the walking stick isn't just for show, I needed it to hold myself up :)<br /><br />After the photo we had our lunch in the gift shop and hung around for about an hour drinking as much water as we could and digesting. We headed back at noon (kind of hoping someone in a truck or SUV would ask if we wanted a ride part way down to where the trail intersected the road) and although it was easier and faster going down, our calves and ankles got very sore from navigating the rocks and trying to avoid slipping (it rained starting about 3/4 of the way down). Anyway, we were back at the car at 4:30 and are now immovable in front of the TV and computer for the remainder of the evening. All told it was about a 12 mile hike and although we had gone on a few hikes in the preceding weeks, they were nowhere close to as long.<br /><br />It was harder than we both thought and I was so proud of Laura for sticking it out when early on she was having some trouble. She was quite a trooper and of course just spending the time with her was a treat.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-20719752571256776262008-07-04T07:03:00.003-06:002008-07-04T07:18:14.558-06:00Like Peas in a PodMore outtakes from <a href="http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2008/06/great-pennant-race-abstract.html">The Great Pennant Race Abstract</a>...<br /><hr><br />The 1950 NL race (ranked 54th) is certainly the more famous of the two races in 1950. That season the Phillies jumped out to a big lead and still held leads of 9 game lead over the Dodgers and 7.5 games over the Boston Braves as late as the morning of September 19th. The Dodgers roared back winning 13 of 16 while the Phiilies won just 3 of 12 to put the Dodgers one game back with one to play on October 1st. Tied at one into the tenth, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sisledi01.shtml">Dick Sisler</a> hit a three-run homer off of a tiring <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/newcodo01.shtml">Don Newcombe</a> (Sisler hit Newcombe's 127th pitch of the afternoon) to defeat Brooklyn 4-1 and finally secure the pennant for the Phillies. <br /><br />As great as that race was, the AL race of 1950 takes the second spot in our rankings. This is the case since the Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox, and Indians were all very good teams and all in the race at the beginning of September. All four teams would win 92 or more games and finish within six games of each other. The Yankees were helped by bringing up rookie southpaw <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fordwh01.shtml">Whitey Ford</a> in late June (9-1, 2.81 ERA in 112 IP) with <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dimagjo01.shtml">Joe DiMaggio</a> making a late season comeback. By contrast the Tigers were hurt by the injury to <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/truckvi01.shtml">Virgil Trucks</a> and the Red Sox by the fractured elbow of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willite01.shtml">Ted Williams</a> sustained in the All-Star game while the Indians were swept in a September series by the lowly St. Louis Browns to knock them out of the race.<br /><br />As with 1950, the 1964 NL race (Race #5 ranked 7th) is the more famous of the two races for that season but the 1964 AL race ranks just above it at number six. That race featured three teams with 97 or more wins including the Yankees (their last pennant until 1977), White Sox, and Orioles all of whom finished within two games of one another. <br /><br />1964 was Yogi Berra's lone season as Yankee skipper in the 1960s (he would also manage the team in 1984 and the beginning of 1985) and the Bronx Bombers found themselves un-customarily struggling, four and half games out on August 29th and trailing both the Sox and Orioles. Then they caught fire. Most attribute the turnaround of the Yanks to the famous "harmonica incident" where utility infielder <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/linzph01.shtml">Phil Linz</a>, "assisted" by <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mantlmi01.shtml">Mickey Mantle</a>, was reprimanded and fined by Berra for playing the harmonica on the team bus following a four game sweep at the hands of the White Sox on August 20th. While that makes for a good story, it should be noted that following the incident the Yanks immediately dropped two games to the Red Sox and won just 7 of their next 13 before reeling off 23 wins in their final 30 games (and an 11-game winning streak from September 16-26) to finish a game ahead of the White Sox and take the pennant*. No, the turnaround can more likely be attributed to the recall of Mel Stottlemeyre in August who would go on to win 9 games, and the purchase of Pedro Ramos from the Indians to shore up the bullpen on September 5th who would pitch 21.7 innings giving up 13 hits while striking out 21 and walking not a batter down the stretch. <br /><br />The natural corollary to the stories of 1950 and 1964 is to rank the years with the greatest total Race Scores and so here are the top 20 seasons where it could be argued that baseball fans enjoyed the best pennant races.<br /><br /><pre><br />Rank Year Races Score<br />1 1908 2 142.7<br />2 1964 2 132.7<br />3 1950 2 104.8<br />4 1928 2 90.2<br />5 1915 2 84.0<br />6 1980 3 79.8<br />7 1916 2 78.8<br />8 1977 2 78.4<br />9 1924 2 76.7<br />10 2004 3 76.5<br />11 1962 2 76.3<br />12 1985 4 75.1<br />13 1949 2 74.0<br />14 1948 1 72.0<br />15 1920 1 71.2<br />16 1978 3 71.2<br />17 1982 4 70.8<br />18 2007 4 69.4<br />19 1993 2 62.9<br />20 1909 2 62.2<br /></pre><br /><br />Special mention should be made here of 1981 whose eight "races" totaled a score of 71.2 which would have tied for 17th place. The first half races scored a 41.5 while the second half was at 29.7. The best of those was the first half AL West which placed 101st overall and which saw the A's finish 1.5 games ahead of the Rangers and two and half over the White Sox. Of course, neither the fans nor the players understood that the games completed before the strike would have such consequences on the postseason and so it is difficult to construe these as true races.<br /><br />1908 takes the top spot as the less famous AL race takes 13th in our rankings. Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago battled it out and finished within a game and half of each other. The Naps (as the franchise was then known in honor of their player-manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lajoina01.shtml">Nap LaJoie</a>) won 16 of 18 to edge in front of Detroit in late September punctuated by Addie Joss's perfect game on October 2nd against the White Sox whose hurler Ed Walsh himself struck out 15. The Tigers, however, would take the pennant by a half game on the final day with a win over Chicago. A controversy ensued because the Tigers were not required to make up a rainout causing the powers that be to establish a new rule requiring all ties and rainouts affecting a pennant race to be replayed.<br /><br />Well, sort of. <br /><br />The 1938 season was interrupted for several days in the wake of the strongest hurricane to hit New England in recorded history and that took an estimated 600 lives. Perhaps coincidentally or perhaps not, after play resumed on September 22nd the Cubs went on to win ten in a row on their way to the NL pennant (discussed below). What is not coincidental, however, is that on September 18th the approaching hurricane caused both the Cubs and Pirates to play tie games. Due to the hurricane the games were not able to be replayed and under the rules of the time the games were not allowed to be played after the last scheduled game of the season. The rule was changed in 1951 in the AL and 1955 in the NL making 1938 the last season in which un-played games affected the outcome of a race.<br /><br />Of interest here as well is the 1915 season in which the Federal League race (ranked 21st) edges out the AL race (ranked 22nd) 42.5 to 41.5 but that together rate the season as the 5th best. In the AL the Red Sox won 101 games by the pitching prowess of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ruthba01.shtml">Babe Ruth</a> and Smokey Joe Wood and edged out the Tigers by 2.5 games who themselves won 100 times. But in the Federal League something happened that had never happened before and didn't happen again until 2001 – the two teams at the top finished in a tie by the traditional method of measuring games behind. <br /><br /><pre><br />Team Name G W L T PCT GB RS RA<br />Chicago Whales 155 86 66 3 0.5658 - 640 538<br />St. Louis Terriers 159 87 67 5 0.5649 - 633 527<br />Pittsburgh Rebels 156 86 67 3 0.5621 0.5 592 524<br /></pre><br /><br />The Whales, led by player-manager by <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tinkejo01.shtml">Joe Tinker</a>, edged out the St. Louis Terriers and aging star pitcher <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/planked01.shtml">Eddie Plank</a> by .0009 as the winner was decided on percentage points since the league did not have a rule for the playing of tie breakers. 1915 was the second and final season of the Federal League as a settlement ensued whereby the Federal League owners of the Chicago and St. Louis franchises purchased the Cubs and Browns with the happy result that what would become Wrigley Field was brought into the NL.<br /><br />In 2001 the NL Central (ranked 67th) duplicated the feat of the Federal League when the Astros and Cardinals finished with identical 93-69 records. Of course, the addition of the Wild Card in 1995 has typically made the playing of tie breakers unnecessary although of course the tie-breaker between the Rockies and Padres last season for the Wild Card was a great end to a season which saw that 2007 NL West battle rank 36th (32.7). That unhappy result was duplicated in both the 2005 AL East (ranked 51st) and the 2006 NL West (ranked 107th). <br /><br />Since divisional play began in 1969 the best overall set of races can be said to be 1985 where all four races earned Race Scores greater than zero. In particular the AL East (ranked 45th) and the NL East (ranked 53rd) were excellent. In the AL East the Blue Jays, led by their outfield of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/barfije01.shtml">Jesse Barfield</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mosebll01.shtml">Lloyd Moseby</a>, and George Bell, captured their first flag winning 99 games and edging out the Yankees by beating them on the season's penultimate day 5-1. The AL West race was no slouch either as the Royals slipped past the Angels by winning three of four head-to-head matchups in the season's final weekend. In the NL East, the Cardinals edged the Mets by three games on the strength of a running attack that featured 314 stolen bases. In a 2005 article <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/whitey-ball/">yours truly calculated</a> that the version of "Whitey Ball" employed in 1985 contributed just over 30 runs to the Cardinals offense, a total that translates to about three wins and exactly their margin over the Mets. <br /><br /><br />* The White Sox eventually finished second on the strength of their pitching and the Orioles third on the performance of MVP <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/robinbr01.shtml">Brooks Robinson</a> but both teams were hurt by losses to poor teams down the stretch. The Sox dropped five of seven in one stretch to Washington, Cleveland, and Minnesota and the Orioles split a four game set with <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smither01.shtml">Kansas City</a> and two of three to Minnesota in the final weeks.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-31019317294972523492008-06-29T20:13:00.007-06:002008-07-04T06:59:00.233-06:00Ranking the RacesThis post continues <em>The Great Pennant Race Abstract</em> series started several weeks back and references the races discussed in the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Over-Til-Its-Prospectus/dp/0465002854/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213843117&sr=8-10"><em>It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book</em></a>.<br /><hr><br />Using the <a href="http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2008/06/great-pennant-race-abstract.html">definition in the introduction</a> there have been 312 races (counting the four 1981 races twice because of the split season's two halves as well as the Federal League's two races) beginning with the 1901 season. Not all of them, or for that matter a majority of them, have resulted in the kind of drama and excitement discussed in many of the chapters of this book. And it's difficult if not impossible to quantify what makes up a great race but of course that's exactly our task here. I'll kick off this abstract by ranking the top 100 pennant races of all time.<br /><br />Analyst Jim Albright, who over the years has been the most prolific analyst of Japanese baseball and writes for BaseballGuru.com, once developed a system for ranking the <a href="http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/analysisjalbright18.html">greatest Japanese pennant races</a>. With a few tweaks, that's the system employed here. <br /><br />Simply put and following Albright's lead, a great pennant race can be defined as one that contains three components; 1) it is close, 2) it is between good teams, and 3) the more teams involved the greater the excitement. <br /><br />The first component speaks for itself but the second is a bit more controversial. While some may argue that the 2006 NL Central race was a great race, the limping Cardinals losing seven in a row from September 20-26, almost blowing a 7 game lead with 13 to play, and especially winning the division with just 83 wins, starts to take on a more comical look than it does one characterized by great baseball. The Cardinals did go on take the distinction of the team with the fewest wins and winning percentage (.516) to ever win the World Series (the 1987 Twins at 85 wins and a .525 winning percentage were next) but their regular season race just doesn't rise to aesthetic level of a "Great Pennant Race". The same can be said for the 1973 National League East race as discussed in Race #8 where three teams finished within three and half games and another at give game behind the Mets but where none of those teams finished above .500. The 1984 AL West race detailed in Race #9 is yet another that falls into this category and the list goes on. <br /><br />The third component should also not engender much controversy as it's obvious that a five team scramble as in the 1964 NL race or the four team jostle in the AL in 1950 does much to add to the drama as the number of what if scenarios and outcomes multiplies. <br /><br />The methodology therefore comprises three simple steps to calculate a "Race Score" where the higher the score the greater the pennant race.<br /><br /><li>First, subtract the number of losses from the number of wins for each team in the race (excluding the winning team). Teams with better records will record higher numbers consistent with our first component mentioned above. Although this technique does not capture the dynamic nature of the race it turns out that the position at which teams end is arguably the best determiner of the "closeness" of the race. Using a more dynamic approach ranks races where teams hung around within striking distance but never really challenged the front-runner more highly but don't do as well with races where a furious August or September comeback brings a team back into contention.</li><br /><br /><li>Second, raise the number of games behind each team finished to the power of 1.65 and subtract it from the result of the first step. This has the effect of combining our first and second components since teams with better records who finish fewer games behind will receive higher scores. A team like the 2006 Astros who finished 1.5 games behind with a record of 82-80 receives a score of 0.048 while the 1927 Cardinals finishing an equal distance behind but with 92 wins receives a score of 29.05 (Albright originally squared the number of games behind but I found that raising it to slightly lower power allows us to consider more races and be a little more forgiving with regard to the second component).</li><br /><br /><li>Next, the teams with negative scores are eliminated and the totals summed up for each race.</li><br /><br /><li>Finally, add a bonus for the number of teams (excluding the winning team) in the race. For one team simply multiply the Race Score by 1, for two teams give a 10% bonus and multiply by 1.1, for three teams its 20% at 1.2, four teams 30%, and so on (Originally Albright gave bonuses in increments of 20%, 40%, 60% etc. but this pushed multi-team races too far to the top for my taste since good races like the 1942 NL race between the Dodgers and Cardinals and the 1993 NL West race between the Dodgers and Giants would otherwise fall precipitously in the rankings).</li> <br /><br />What that leaves us with are 161 of the 312 races or just over 50% that garner a positive Race Score. Without further ado then, here are the top 100 pennant races of all time with those discussed in detail in this book both bolded and italicized. <br /><br /><pre><br />Rank Year Lg Div Score Teams Winner<br /><strong>1 1908 NL 90.2 3 Chicago Cubs (99-55)</strong><br />2 1950 AL 77.8 4 New York Yankees (98-56)<br /><strong>3 1948 AL 72.0 3 Cleveland Indians (97-58)</strong><br />4 1920 AL 71.2 3 Cleveland Indians (98-56)<br />5 1962 NL 70.5 3 San Francisco Giants (103-62)<br />6 1964 AL 68.0 3 New York Yankees (99-63)<strong><br />7 1964 NL 64.6 4 St. Louis Cardinals (93-69)</strong><br />8 1977 AL East 62.6 3 New York Yankees (100-62)<br />9 1927 NL 61.5 3 Pittsburgh Pirates (94-60)<br />10 1956 NL 59.2 3 Brooklyn Dodgers (93-61)<br /><strong>11 1967 AL 57.4 4 Boston Red Sox (92-70)</strong><br />12 1924 NL 53.8 3 New York Giants (93-60)<br />13 1908 AL 52.5 3 Detroit Tigers (90-63)<br />14 1928 NL 51.7 3 St. Louis Cardinals (95-59)<br />15 1942 NL 50.9 2 St. Louis Cardinals (106-48)<br />16 1940 AL 46.0 3 Detroit Tigers (90-64)<br />17 1916 NL 44.7 3 Brooklyn Robins (94-60)<br />18 1955 AL 43.6 3 New York Yankees (96-58)<br />19 1993 NL West 43.0 2 Atlanta Braves (104-58)<br />20 1966 NL 42.8 3 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67)<br />21 1915 FL 42.5 3 Chicago Whales (86-66)<br />22 1915 AL 41.5 2 Boston Red Sox (101-50)<br />23 1988 AL East 41.4 5 Boston Red Sox (89-73)<br />24 1978 AL East 39.7 3 New York Yankees (100-63)<br />25 1904 AL 39.4 3 Boston Americans (95-59)<br />26 1907 AL 38.9 3 Detroit Tigers (92-58)<br />27 1928 AL 38.5 2 New York Yankees (101-53)<br />28 1906 AL 37.0 3 Chicago White Sox (93-58)<br /><strong>29 1949 AL 37.0 2 New York Yankees (97-57)</strong><br />30 1949 NL 37.0 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (97-57)<br />31 1941 NL 36.5 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (100-54)<br /><strong>32 1951 NL 36.0 2 New York Giants (98-59)</strong><br />33 1916 AL 34.1 3 Boston Red Sox (91-63)<br />34 1909 NL 33.1 2 Pittsburgh Pirates (110-42)<br />35 1946 NL 32.9 2 St. Louis Cardinals (98-58)<br />36 2007 NL West 32.7 3 Arizona Diamondbacks (90-72)<br />37 1980 AL East 31.9 2 New York Yankees (103-59)<br />38 2004 AL West 31.8 3 Anaheim Angels (92-70)<br />39 1930 NL 31.5 3 St. Louis Cardinals (92-62)<br />40 1922 AL 31.0 2 New York Yankees (94-60)<br />41 1980 NL West 30.9 3 Houston Astros (93-70)<br />42 2002 NL West 30.0 3 Arizona Diamondbacks (98-64)<br />43 1945 NL 29.9 2 Chicago Cubs (98-56)<br /><strong>44 1934 NL 29.9 2 St. Louis Cardinals (95-58)</strong><br />45 1985 AL East 29.9 2 Toronto Blue Jays (99-62)<br />46 1909 AL 29.1 2 Detroit Tigers (98-54)<br />47 1905 AL 28.9 2 Philadelphia Athletics (92-56)<br />48 1952 AL 28.9 2 New York Yankees (95-59)<br />49 1987 NL East 28.6 3 St. Louis Cardinals (95-67)<br />50 1935 NL 28.2 2 Chicago Cubs (100-54)<br />51 2005 AL East 28.0 2 New York Yankees (95-67)<br />52 2004 AL East 27.9 2 New York Yankees (101-61)<br />53 1985 NL East 27.9 2 St. Louis Cardinals (101-61)<br />54 1950 NL 27.1 3 Philadelphia Phillies (91-63)<br />55 1999 NL Central 27.0 2 Houston Astros (97-65)<br />56 2006 AL Central 27.0 2 Minnesota Twins (96-66)<br />57 1997 AL East 26.9 2 Baltimore Orioles (98-64)<br />58 1987 AL East 26.9 2 Detroit Tigers (98-64)<br />59 1979 NL East 26.9 2 Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64)<br />60 2002 AL West 26.2 2 Oakland Athletics (103-59)<br />61 1937 NL 25.9 2 New York Giants (95-57)<br />62 2000 NL East 25.0 2 Atlanta Braves (95-67)<br />63 1982 AL East 25.0 2 Milwaukee Brewers (95-67)<br />64 1965 NL 24.9 2 Los Angeles Dodgers (97-65)<br />65 1974 NL West 24.2 2 Los Angeles Dodgers (102-60)<br />66 1982 NL West 24.0 3 Atlanta Braves (89-73)<br />67 2001 NL Central 24.0 2 Houston Astros (93-69)<br />68 1991 NL West 23.0 2 Atlanta Braves (94-68)<br />69 1935 AL 22.9 2 Detroit Tigers (93-58)<br />70 1924 AL 22.9 2 Washington Senators (92-62)<br />71 2007 AL East 22.9 2 Boston Red Sox (96-66)<br />72 1938 NL 22.7 3 Chicago Cubs (89-63)<br />73 1918 AL 22.7 3 Boston Red Sox (75-51)<br />74 1914 FL 22.1 3 Indianapolis Hoosiers (88-65)<br />75 1921 AL 22.0 2 New York Yankees (98-55)<br />76 1926 NL 21.9 3 St. Louis Cardinals (89-65)<br />77 1919 AL 21.1 2 Chicago White Sox (88-52)<br />78 1973 NL West 21.1 2 Cincinnati Reds (99-63)<br />79 1954 AL 21.1 2 Cleveland Indians (111-43)<br /><strong>80 1944 AL 21.0 2 St. Louis Browns (89-65)</strong><br />81 1993 NL East 19.9 2 Philadelphia Phillies (97-65)<br />82 1969 NL West 19.8 3 Atlanta Braves (93-69)<br />83 2000 AL West 19.7 2 Oakland Athletics (91-70)<br />84 1939 NL 19.0 2 Cincinnati Reds (97-57)<br />85 1978 NL West 18.5 2 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67)<br />86 1945 AL 18.0 2 Detroit Tigers (88-65)<br />87 1952 NL 18.0 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (96-57)<br />88 2003 AL West 17.9 2 Oakland Athletics (96-66)<br />89 1951 AL 17.8 2 New York Yankees (98-56)<br />90 1921 NL 17.2 2 New York Giants (94-59)<br />91 1980 NL East 17.0 2 Philadelphia Phillies (91-71)<br />92 1985 AL West 17.0 2 Kansas City Royals (91-71)<br />93 1996 NL West 17.0 2 San Diego Padres (91-71)<br />94 2004 NL West 16.9 2 Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69)<br /><strong>95 1959 NL 16.5 3 Los Angeles Dodgers (88-68)</strong><br />96 1999 AL East 16.2 2 New York Yankees (98-64)<br />97 1923 NL 16.0 2 New York Giants (95-58)<br />98 1926 AL 15.9 2 New York Yankees (91-63)<br />99 1954 NL 15.8 2 New York Giants (97-57)<br />100 1977 NL East 15.8 2 Philadelphia Phillies (101-61)<br /></pre><br /><br />Nine of the thirteen races discussed in this book make the top 100 with the 1908 race (Race #4) taking the top spot by a fairly wide margin and three others finishing in the top eleven. The 1972 AL East (Race #7) finished 103rd, the 2003 NL Central (Race #6) placed 104th. That leaves only the 1973 NL East and 1984 AL West completely out of the 157 races that finished with positive Race Scores. In case you're wondering, the 2006 NL Central captured the 161st and final spot with a Race Score that rounds to 0.0.<br /><br />Some of you will no doubt quibble with this list and indeed some may detect a chronological bias which will be discussed later. Regardless of the methodology no list would be perfect and this list is offered more as a secondary look than as a definitive ranking. Arguing passionately about the minutiae of the game is one of the many aspects of baseball that we love as fans. Let the debate begin.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-58329791559769626842008-06-19T08:14:00.002-06:002008-06-19T08:20:18.918-06:00Steals and More StealsCaleb Peiffer of Baseball Prospectus has a nice article at the New York Sun on stolen bases titled <a href="http://www.nysun.com/sports/steals-have-become-more-precise-and-more-effective/80287/">"Steals Have Become More Precise and More Effective"</a> to which I contributed a very small part. Especially interesting are his stats on the Padres recent woeful record of catching opposing baserunners. Good stuff and similar to <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/increasingly-in-baseball-stealing-pays-173/">this piece by The Numbers Guy</a> at the Wall Street Journal online.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-57117320836445137782008-06-18T20:33:00.007-06:002008-06-18T21:19:48.436-06:00The Great Pennant Race Abstract<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWRBnojTrWaia_EiPsOAsYWQU_-vNrRopJi_muqZrHSR2daxuQhuGrAiplD2TQZ60t4CkHSwT1v1Zbiy7ki5sLU6fxf2PT4hf6HqY8Qo5KqPEizMT4ayB4-Oas3ZjVlJtl-ukSQ/s1600-h/AintOver.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWRBnojTrWaia_EiPsOAsYWQU_-vNrRopJi_muqZrHSR2daxuQhuGrAiplD2TQZ60t4CkHSwT1v1Zbiy7ki5sLU6fxf2PT4hf6HqY8Qo5KqPEizMT4ayB4-Oas3ZjVlJtl-ukSQ/s400/AintOver.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213417180197654594" /></a><br />Yes, it's a little early to get all excited about the coming pennant races but this is a topic I've meaning to visit ever since the Baseball Prospectus book, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Over-Til-Its-Prospectus/dp/0465002854/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213843117&sr=8-10">It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book</a></em>, came out in paperback a few months ago. In any case, I contributed to that book in the appendix titled "The Great Pennant Race Abstract" by creating a series of graphs that highlighted each of the thirteen pennant races that were discussed in the chapters of the book. <br /><br />The original vision for the abstract was a little more grand and included a series of mini-essays highlighting aspects of other pennant races not discussed in detail in the book. While I did in fact pen that longer version of the abstract that stretched to over 12,000 words, it couldn't be acccomdated in the book. So for the next few days I'll publish those mini-essays here beginning today with the introduction to the abstract. These are as they were originally written with the exception of updating them to include the 2007 season. Hopefully, you'll find them entertaining and it will spur you to check out the book if you haven't already. As is the case with the other books published by BP, this one combines good baseball writing with the kind of analysis you typically read in the work of Nate Silver, Joe Sheehan, Christina Kahrl et. al. over on the web site. <br /><br />As for myself, I'm a little biased to his turn of mind I suppose but Silver's chapter on the 1944 American League race featuring the St. Louis Browns ("The Home Front") is probably my favorite as it combines the narrative of the Brown's first and only AL pennant with the effect of the war on baseball and ending with a counterfactural 1944 race based on an estimate of how much talent each team lost and how it was replaced (hint: the Brown got off relatively scot-free enabling them to take the crown). <br /><br />So without further ado, here's the introduction of the Great Pennant Race Abstract...<br /><br /><hr><br />Historian Jules Tygiel has argued that the men who shaped baseball in the 1850s and 1860s fashioned it in their own image through the embrace of the "modern, rational, scientific, worldview that had grown prevalent in mid-nineteenth century America."* Consistent with that world view the chaos of various versions of "town ball" were replaced by the fixed boundaries of field, team size, and game length as baseball exploded in popularity immediately before and after the Civil War. <br /><br />Embedded in that desire for rationalization was the felt need to faithfully record the events of the game, hence the first box score, then termed an "abstract", appearing in the <em>New York Morning News</em> on October 22, 1845. From those humble beginnings quantification took root and with the pioneering <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/nonmlbpa/chadwhe99.shtml">Henry Chadwick</a> leading the way, baseball and numbers were forever intertwined. <br /><br />Such is our legacy as baseball fans. <br /><br />That legacy has been exercised, some would say with a vengeance, again and again throughout this book. Our authors have taken you on a journey through the ins and outs of thirteen of the greatest pennant races in the history of baseball. These were selected using Clay Davenport's methodology described in the introduction. But the mind of the baseball fan, obsessed as it is with quantification, probably won't rest there. Is there an alternate way to rank the races? What about all the races that didn't make the list of thirteen? How do they stack up? What do the distribution of great races look like over time? What are their numeric oddities and highlights? <br /><br />Look no further for in this abstract I'll present a series of topics brimming with analysis and information nuggets to satiate you the reader and fan. Each mini-essay touches on a theme embedded in one or more pennant races, which for our purposes here are defined as the American, National, and Federal League regular season races (including tie-breakers) beginning in 1901 and extending through the divisional races (thereby also termed pennant races) of 2007 and excluding 1994 where no post season teams were named and hence where there could be said to have been no race. Enjoy.<br /><br /><br />* <em>Past Time: Baseball As History </em>by Jules Tygiel. Oxford University Press, New York Date Published: 2000 ISBN: 0195089588Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-85144415766315628202008-06-13T15:23:00.004-06:002008-06-13T15:46:03.273-06:00Testing an Old Adage...AgainMike Fast has a <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/short-work/">great piece up over on The Hardball Times</a> researching the correlation between working quickly and effectiveness. While I <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6181">study I did on Baseball Prospectus last May</a> used average game time and was more historical in that it went back to 1970, Mike uses the time stamps that MLBAM is providing in its Pitchf/x data for 2008. <br /><br />What Mike found largely corresponds to what I concluded, namely that there doesn't appear to be any relationship between defensive support as measured by defensive efficiency (DER) and BABIP and time between pitches for team or individual pitchers measured relative to their teams (although I was using unearned runs instead of DER as I should have).<br /><br />He does find, however, that when looking at BABIP in terms of the number of seconds that elapsed since the previous pitch, the BABIP is lower for pitches thrown within 10 seconds and higher for pitches thrown in excess of 50 seconds since the previous pitch (he does throw out pitches that came in a minute or more after the previous pitch). As Mike notes, there are other factors to control for, not the least of which are hit type (line drive, fly ball, ground ball, popup) and pitcher quality and hitter quality. Still, it's pretty interesting stuff and just one of the many applications of Pitchf/x data.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-68903993020708602022008-06-08T10:13:00.005-06:002008-06-08T10:25:27.756-06:00Crazy for Crazy '08<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTyyeJkyIlQZ8CoupZk7suauEJD6mhUUdxYduhD9K2Ynu8T5a4h2lO-xQNHQg-etrgMibVWR55r6N7wde6BvXpCy903L4PCRtmjSeWy44H978dYiIXFqSMMD83dqwQ-2g_-GwKg/s1600-h/Crazy08.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTyyeJkyIlQZ8CoupZk7suauEJD6mhUUdxYduhD9K2Ynu8T5a4h2lO-xQNHQg-etrgMibVWR55r6N7wde6BvXpCy903L4PCRtmjSeWy44H978dYiIXFqSMMD83dqwQ-2g_-GwKg/s400/Crazy08.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209545894368581042" /></a><br /><i>”So grandly contested were both [pennant races], so great the excitement, so tense the interest, that in the last month of the season the entire nation became absorbed in the thrilling and nerve racking struggle, and even the Presidential campaign was almost completely overshadowed.”</i>– <i>Sporting Life</i>, October 17, 1908<br /><br />Before my attention and allegiance shifted <a href=”http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2008/04/heading-to-steel-town.html”>due to recent and happy events</a>, I was very pleased to receive Cait Murphy’s <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-08-Boneheads-Magnates-Greatest/dp/0060889381/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212928516&sr=8-1”><i>Crazy ’08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnets Created the Greatest Year in <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Category:History">Baseball History</a></i></a> as a Christmas present. Of course as a lifelong Cubs fan my main interest was in reliving and hopefully foreshadowing a time when, in the words of one Washington sportswriter of the time, they “were grizzlies these Cubs, <i>Ursine Colossi</i> who towered high and frowningly and refused to reckon on anything but victory.” And for Cubs fans perhaps there is something special in the symmetry of the centennial of the Cubs last <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> victory as this year’s edition took the league’s best record into June – a feat that more than one source reminds us was last accomplished by the franchise in yes, you guessed it, 1908. It remains to be seen however, whether Lou Pinella’s Cubs will be able to say as 1908’s manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chancfr01.shtml">Frank Chance</a> (known at the time as the “Peerless Leader” or simply “P.L.” for short) did, with that air of arrogance and without sounding ridiculous, “Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?”<br /><br />But even with my attention somewhat diverted, I shouldn’t have been surprised that in this book Murphy, an assistant managing editor at <i>Fortune</i> magazine, goes so far beyond the Cubs, the Merkle game and its aftermath, that any baseball fan or even history buff, will find it entertaining and a joy to read. Although the book focuses on the National League race it should not be forgotten that the American League race was almost its equal and Murphy devotes a chapter (“That Other Race”) to it as well.<br /><br />The book follows a mostly chronological course beginning with the events of the 1907-1908 offseason. From the now all-too-familiar inaction in the face of the growing problem of gambling to moves like the St. Louis Browns signing the enigmatic southpaw <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wadderu01.shtml">Rube Waddell</a> to rules changes including the sabermetrically questionable adoption of the modern sacrifice fly rule, and a rule prohibiting pitchers from soiling one of the half dozen or so new balls that enter play each game, Murphy does a fine job of providing context to the season and the times by periodically recalling events from the recent past. <br /><br />From a baseball perspective her description of the playing conditions in the chapter “The Hot Stove League” is excellent by recapping the evolution of the game on the field in all three primary dimensions and generating one of my favorite lines in the discussion on defense where Murphy quite correctly notes that baseball “is Darwinian in its results but Newtonian in its processes.” Those <a href=”http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6648”>Darwinian processes</a>, already well established in 1908 and applying their mode of selection, led to the development of relief pitchers, pinch hitters and runners, base coaches, platooning, defensive positioning and strategies, and much more. What accompanied them was <a href=”http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5813”>a march towards standardization</a> that worked together to contribute to a gradual perfecting of the craft of baseball that we modern fans are the happy beneficiaries of. In the end, she concludes that while there are many things the modern fan (“crank” or “bug” as they were called then) would find strange including whiskey in the stands and the occasional player smoking on the field, the game in 1908 would be entirely recognizable (hot dogs and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” which made its debut in 1908 to name a couple) in a way that other major sports with shorter pedigrees would not be. At the same time she argues that although in 1908 baseball is already big business and commands an air of respectability that it lacked just a few years before, the 1908 season – with the Merkle game and its aftermath including riots, legal wrangling and at least one death, acting as a catalyst – is when “baseball itself makes its turn into the modern era.” One sign of this new era is that 1908 was the final season for Pittsburgh’s Exposition Park (the site of which sits just east of present PNC Park on the banks of the Allegheny) and Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl, the former being replaced by Forbes Field and the latter by Shibe Park, the first fireproof park made of steel and concrete and built in French Renaissance style for a cool $457,000. Other owners were quick to follow with both <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/comisch01.shtml">Charles Comiskey</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/ebbetch99.shtml">Charlie Ebbets</a> buying up land that would eventually host their namesakes. <br /><br />Along the way the baseball that follows is also nicely setup through opening chapters on the Giants (“Land of the Giants”) and the Cubs (“Origins of a Dynasty”) Murphy takes a look back at how each of the primary combatants in the ’08 race were built (the Giants not so fairly it turns out in a seedy story of destroying the Orioles and using the Reds concocted by John Brush, Andrew Freedman, and John McGraw) interspersed with fascinating profiles of McGraw, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chancfr01.shtml">Frank Chance</a>, and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/eversjo01.shtml">Johnny Evers</a>. By the time the fourth chapter, titled “Opening Days”, rolls around the reader is well positioned to enjoy the drama that follows.<br /><br />Off the field the mood of the country and the times is set by the inclusion of six “Time-Outs” or sidebars that periodically appear at the ends of chapters. For example, “Chicago on the Make” closes out the chapter on the building of the Cubs and details the evolution of the city and its leaders in dealing with corruption at various levels that had become rampant by the turn of the century. In other time-outs Murphy recounts the grizzly affair of one of America’s first female serial killers, Belle Gunness, the Doubleday myth, the position and prospects of African-American ballplayers, the scare of early twentieth century anarchism, and finally an entertaining list of the things that some players did in 1908 to “court good luck and drive away hoodoos” (“hoodoos” being the term then in vogue and denoting curses and bad luck). Each is fascinating and provides just enough additional context to give the reader a feel for the place of the game in the first decade of the twentieth century.<br /><br />But of course the main thrust of the book is the narrative of the 1908 National League season and here Murphy does a fine job by breaking the season down into six chapters with two other chapters devoted specifically to Merkle games one and two with the latter chapter complete with a timeline beginning at dawn and running until game time that serves to build anticipation of the events that follow. But in the earlier chapters recounting the ups and downs of baseball’s long season, rather than focus only on the Giants and Cubs these chapters also take the time to highlight key moments and performers of other teams including Pirates shortstop <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wagneho01.shtml">Honus Wagner</a> who in 1908 had his finest season (.354/.415/.542) while his team fell just short in what became a three-way race after a furious run that saw the Bucs win (13 of 14) before losing to the Cubs at the Westside Grounds 5-2 on October 4th admidst a little controversy. We also here find vignettes featuring <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cobbty01.shtml">Ty Cobb</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lajoina01.shtml">Nap Lajoie</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chaseha01.shtml">Hal Chase</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wadderu01.shtml">Rube Waddell</a>, and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/y/youngcy01.shtml">Cy Young</a> among others not to mention other actors in the season’s ultimate drama such as Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bresnro01.shtml">Roger Bresnahan</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tinkejo01.shtml">Joe Tinker</a>, “Turkey” <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/donlimi01.shtml">Mike Donlin</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sheckji01.shtml">Jimmy Sheckard</a>, Merkle of course, and “Giant Killer” <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pfiesja01.shtml">Jack Pfiester</a> who is handed the ball in both Merkel games. And even though the story of the Merkle games and to a lesser extent the season itself, has been told countless times, I’d rather not spoil any more of it since every fresh reading brings a new perspective and Murphy adds plenty of detail that I had either forgotten or had never known. As a final treat and one that fittingly puts a bookend not only on the season but on the personalities that defined the era, Murphy includes an epilogue that tracks the destinies of the major players, managers, and magnates after that special season.<br /><br />For me, one of the supreme pleasures of being a baseball fan is the way the game connects the past with the present, not only through its numbers, but <a href=”http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5198”>through its places</a>, stories, and the way that its seminal events <a href=”http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5746”>are embedded in our culture</a>. Baseball fans, and not just those rooting for the denizens of Wrigley Field, would be well served to remind themselves of how those connections were built and in a sense to maintain them by reading about one special season on its 100th anniversary.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-49030912765314818972008-06-06T19:45:00.008-06:002008-06-06T20:07:07.222-06:00The Curious Case of Mark TeahenWith <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/mark-teahen-falls-down/">Craig Brown's excellent review</a> of Mark Teahen published a couple weeks ago, I thought it would be appropriate to re-publish my take on Baseball Prospectus regarding Teahen published around the same time as <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/mark-teahen-steps-up/">Brown's first piece</a> back in August of 2006. Obviously, things haven't turned out so well for Teahen and so far in 2008 the prognosis isn't really any better. Still, it's always instructive to look at what we got wrong and not just what we got right and so without further ado...<br /><hr/><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#666666;">August 31, 2006</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman, times, serif;font-size:100%;color:maroon;"><b>Schrodinger's Bat</b></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The Curious Case of Mark Teahen</span><br /><br /><i>"I think it's well-documented how I feel about [Teahen], and how I feel about him as a ballplayer. I don’t need to add anything to that discussion."</i> --Former Royals General Manager Allard Baird, perhaps with an "I told you so" when asked about the third baseman's breakthrough season.<br /><br />On August 22<sup>nd</sup> of this season, <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/teahema01.shtml">Mark Teahen</a></b>, Royals third baseman and former centerpiece of the deal that sent <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/beltrca01.shtml">Carlos Beltran</a></b> to Houston at the trading deadline in 2004, stepped in against the Indians' <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/leecl02.shtml">Cliff Lee</a></b> in the first inning. Teahen would blast a two-run home run, his 16<sup>th</sup> of the year. Rather than call it a day, Teahen would add two doubles and a single, steal two bases (one of third base), and score the go-ahead run in <a href="http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2006_08_22_clemlb_kcamlb_1&c_id=kc">a 5-2 Royals victory</a>.<br /><br />My, how times have changed.<br /><br />At this time last year, eight total bases in one game would have seemed like a pipe dream for a player many were starting to consider a bust, and nothing more than a product of overblown <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393057658/baseballprospect/ref=nosim/">Moneyball</a></i> hype. No longer: going into Tuesday's action, Teahen was hitting .296/.368/.535 overall, and had hit an especially robust .337/.421/.633 with ten home runs since the All-Star break. That adds up to a <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=193">WARP1</a> of 5.3 and an <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=61">Equivalent Average</a> of .305, two numbers that suggest that Teahen, at least, might heal one of the many wounds of Royals fans, and in a small way redeem <a href="http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2006/05/not-much-long-er.html">the reputation of former GM Allard Baird</a>.<br /><br />Beyond the raw performance, what we really want to know is what's behind his turnaround, and whether or not we can expect this kind of performance to continue. This week, we'll address both by revisiting the themes of an article I wrote last season.<br /><br /><b>Where He's Been</b><br />The primary question about Teahen, even before he was drafted, was when or if the 6'3" 210-pounder would develop power. Teahen had always hit the ball the other way with a swing he mastered in innumerable childhood wiffle-ball games played against his brothers. In <i>Moneyball</i>, Michael Lewis used Teahen as an example of the new thinking in player development by relating a conversation between then-scouting director Eric Kubota, a scout, and GM Billy Beane. In Lewis' version, Beane ends the speculation about Teahen by noting that "power is something that can be acquired. Good hitters develop power. Power hitters don't become good hitters."<br /><br />The A's drafted Teahen in the first round with the 39<sup>th</sup> pick of the 2002 draft, even though he had hit just ten homeruns in over 600 plate appearances during his three seasons at St. Mary's College of California. The A's attempted to help him develop power by getting him to pull the ball, according <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/magazine/24BASEBALL.html?pagewanted=6&ei=5088&en=dec97648807f5060&ex=1272081600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1156943055-tkIFKEawSpEa6TPqvVj8Wg">to Lewis</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>To teach him how to pull the ball, the Oakland staff took Teahen into a room and showed him tapes of <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/giambja01.shtml">Jason Giambi</a></b>. Giambi once had been just like him, they said: a third baseman who hit well but not powerfully. At the end of his first season, Oakland sent Teahen to a training center in Florida with instructions to gain 15 pounds and drop his body fat from 15 percent to 10 percent. He made a halfhearted stab at it—and put on fat. ("I'm not sure how you do that, gain 15 pounds and lose all that body fat," he says. "It'd be a lot easier if they didn't include the body-fat part of it.") The extra weight made him feel clunky. And the attempt to pull the ball felt wrong. He dropped the weight, and kept on hitting the ball the other way. He didn't want to be Jason Giambi. He wanted to be Mark Teahen.</blockquote>After that experiment failed and he was traded to the Royals in the Beltran deal, his new team also attempted to get him to pull the ball, sitting him down with no less an authority on hitting than Hall of Famer <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/brettge01.shtml">George Brett</a></b>. Brett introduced Teahen to the Charley Lau approach to hitting for a couple of days. At the time, that didn't seem to quite have the intended results either:<br /><br /><blockquote>For two days, with Brett looking on, Teahen went into the Triple-A batter's box and cantilevered backward, bat lowered and tucked tightly against his back shoulder. Just like George Brett! Then Brett left--and Teahen went right back to hitting a baseball the way he always had. "Two days!" Brett said, six months later, not knowing whether to laugh or scream. "That kid, he did what I showed him for two days…Then the moment I left he went back to doing it his way."</blockquote>As a result, up until this year Kubota's skepticism about Teahen seemed to be well-justified. In 1,468 <a href="http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/T/Mark-Teahen.shtml">minor league plate appearances</a>, Teahen hit a grand total of 18 home runs, one more than he has this season in a quarter of the plate appearances, although 14 of those came in 2004 while he split time between Double- and Triple-A. All told, he put up a career minor league slugging percentage of just .409. Annointed as the Royals' third baseman in spring training last season, he continued his light-hitting ways by hitting a meager .246/.309/.376 in 491 plate appearances.<br /><br />All of this led <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/pecota/teahema01.php">our PECOTA system</a> to list his top five comparables coming into 2006 a squad of non-stars:<br /><br /><li><b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/masonji01.shtml">Jim Mason</a></b></li><br /><li><b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/darrmi02.shtml">Mike Darr</a></b></li><br /><li><b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/smithbo06.shtml">Bobby Smith</a></b></li><br /><li><b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/stevele01.shtml">Lee Stevens</a></b></li><br /><li><b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/leetr01.shtml">Travis Lee</a></b></li><br /><br />That's not an impressive group, to say the least, although <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/edmonji01.shtml">Jim Edmonds</a></b> comes in as Teahen's seventh comparable, and <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/walkela01.shtml">Larry Walker</a></b> shows up at 11. In addition, the five-year forecast never had him above 12 home runs or a .448 slugging percentage, and he was given a dangerously high <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=Attrition+Rate">attrition rate</a> of 23%. At best, that forecast made him a serviceable player, worth around two to three wins per year, but certainly unspectacular. It was a projection of a player vulnerable to, in an evolutionary sense, being selected out of the majors as a third basemen or corner outfielder.<br /><br />Given this scenario and the similar low-wattage disappointments trailing another hyped third base prospect, <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/burrose01.shtml">Sean Burroughs</a></b> (who has since been released by the Devil Rays after hitting just .214 in 37 games at Durham), I wrote <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/a-tale-of-two-third-baseman/">a piece</a> last July that took a look at both of their performances up to that time, and tried to find comparable players using Isolated Power (ISO) to get a historical sense of just what they were up against. Basically, the idea was to use ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average, providing a measure of the number of extra bases a player generates) to see how frequently players that matched their profile (defined as 1,000 or more at bats plus walks before the age of 24) went on to develop greater than average power. I also normalized ISO to both park and league by creating Normalized ISO (NISO) for the comparisons.<br /><br />What I found was that there did appear to be some precedent for players like Teahen increasing their power, notably infielders <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/smallro02.shtml">Roy Smalley</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/whitalo01.shtml">Lou Whitaker</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/harrato01.shtml">Toby Harrah</a></b>, and <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/brettge01.shtml">George Brett</a></b>, and outfielders <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/puckeki01.shtml">Kirby Puckett</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/clemero01.shtml">Roberto Clemente</a></b>. I also found that players who made the largest gains in ISO after their Age-24 season typically make great gains between 24 and 27, and reach their peak performance by 28 before beginning a slow, gradual descent.<br /><br /><b>What He's Doing</b><br />As Royals fans well know, the change in Teahen correlates with his demotion to Omaha on May 6<sup>th</sup>. When sent down, he was hitting just .195 (15 for 77) with two home runs. Down in Omaha, he worked with <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/baseball/mlb/kansas_city_royals/15267651.htm?source=rss&channel=kansascity_kansas_city_royals">hitting instructor Terry Bradshaw</a>, providing strong support that in this case correlation is indeed causation:<br /><br /><blockquote>Omaha hitting instructor Terry Bradshaw made a video of Teahen’s good at-bats from last year. What better way to teach a stubborn student than to let him learn from himself? The mechanical changes were subtle. They shortened Teahen’s swing, kept his hands back, and made a minor adjustment with his hips that allowed him to hit inside pitches better.<br /><br />Once he did that, the Royals had no choice but to call him back up. He was 28 for 56 with a 1.107 slugging percentage and .606 on-base percentage in his last 17 games in Omaha.</blockquote>In addition, Teahen revealed in <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060727&content_id=1578400&vkey=news_kc&fext=.jsp&c_id=kc">an online chat last month</a> that Bradshaw emphasized that he start using his legs more. As Teahen himself says, "That has resulted in harder contact and ultimately pulling the ball more often."<br /><br />Although Brett may have thought that his advice had no effect, it now appears that Teahen absorbed what the Hall of Famer was teaching, and has been working on incorporating it into his approach:<br /><br /><blockquote>I took what he told me and tried to find out mechanically what I could do to get that same effect. I wasn’t going to look like George Brett at the plate, but I was going to try to use some of his ideas to get me in that same position.</blockquote><br /><br />The results are fascinating. Using data from the <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4511&position=3B">excellent FanGraphs site</a> we can see that the combination of subtle mechanical changes, more emphasis on using his legs to generate torque, and confidence has led to a sea change in how Teahen puts the ball in play.<br /><br /><pre><br />Year GB/FB LD% GB% FB% HR/FB<br />-------------------------------------------<br />2005 2.22 23.5% 52.8% 23.8% 8.6%<br />2006 1.39 14.6% 49.7% 35.8% 16.5%<br /></pre><br /><br />The result is that his line drives are turning into fly balls (up over 50%), and those fly balls are being driven out of the park or deep into the gaps. His profile has turned from one common to a contact hitter to one that looks more <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=2154&position=1B">like the Phillies' Ryan Howard</a>, albeit with a few more ground balls. In the meantime, Teahen's batting average on balls in play is at .336, somewhat higher than the league average (around .300). Coupled with his relatively low line-drive percentage, it remains to be seen whether his refinements will allow him to maintain a BABIP that high, or whether he'll regress somewhat. Keep in mind that we're still talking only about a few hundred plate appearances since he was recalled from Omaha.<br /><br />It's also clear that despite Teahen's self-proclaimed increased propensity for pulling the ball, he's still being true to his natural hitting style for the most part, and is not simply looking to yank the ball down the line at every opportunity. The following <a href="http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/individual_player_hitting_chart.jsp?c_id=kc&playerID=433597&statType=1">chart from MLB.com</a> tracking his home runs and doubles at Kauffman Stadium this season indicates that his power is to all fields, especially to left-center:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5jJESE5jeh6pgzfvb2rJpchZHA8XAw8gPrXpZJ8XZlEp-rEtnM1mdQFl_Ge_2S5y0Ad3s_6f8nrbLLcd_0GGlqxSh3bkeFaFPjg_O-enH1bOGZ-0Rn4i1u5aUdiT2z1QWK1tGQ/s1600-h/teahen1.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208952829284412834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5jJESE5jeh6pgzfvb2rJpchZHA8XAw8gPrXpZJ8XZlEp-rEtnM1mdQFl_Ge_2S5y0Ad3s_6f8nrbLLcd_0GGlqxSh3bkeFaFPjg_O-enH1bOGZ-0Rn4i1u5aUdiT2z1QWK1tGQ/s400/teahen1.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The following chart tracking 15 of his 17 home runs (two couldn't be located using the interface) provides a similar picture:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1u4eKf4OOPjWRicr4Wf89vTQvJ__YLGnhrUmAYblCc1tlSLiCsISWCaGXY4tLoBF6eAcDxap5WgE_MimHt8cIBR1Y5-M47n5qOqbeslyy_0bfoXRXnnfjuSvEDtVYuNn4CCm1fw/s1600-h/teahen2.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208952890613364482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1u4eKf4OOPjWRicr4Wf89vTQvJ__YLGnhrUmAYblCc1tlSLiCsISWCaGXY4tLoBF6eAcDxap5WgE_MimHt8cIBR1Y5-M47n5qOqbeslyy_0bfoXRXnnfjuSvEDtVYuNn4CCm1fw/s400/teahen2.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Where He's Going?</b><br />So given the apparent turnaround, can history provide any guide to what we might expect from Teahen from here on out?<br /><br />To help answer that question, I did what any good performance analyst might do: I looked for comparable players. I was particularly interested in whether Teahen's newfound power was a good bet to last. To try and get a feel for this, I created a list of players who'd had between 400 and 600 at-bats plus walks before their Age-24 season, who had debuted after the 1945 season, and who had in those opportunities recorded a Normalized ISO between 65% and 100% of league average. In other words, these were players who didn't show much power before their 24<sup>th</sup> birthday, but who had nevertheless accumulated a fairly significant number of at bats by that time. This produced a list of 90 players, ranging from <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/wardpr01.shtml">Preston Ward</a></b> (who debuted in April 1948) to Teahen and <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/hardyjj01.shtml">J.J. Hardy</a></b> (who both debuted last season). This is a more targeted study than the one done in the previous article. I used these particular criteria because Teahen sits squarely in the middle, with 487 at-bats plus walks and a NISO of .828 before his Age-24 season, figures that ranked him 36<sup>th</sup> on the list.<br /><br />Of the 88 players who debuted before 2005, 77 of them are no longer active but went on to play past their Age-23 season, and as a group they lasted an average of another 8.3 years and recorded an NISO of .869. As a group, here's a chart reflecting their aging pattern with regards to NISO; the yellow line is the three-year moving average:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimyPyASU4ox3u4Id2Dae_aCFb-8MbAwdgI9n4UrZzrl9dPwE4AtWBAWJ23L5BJHoH8myElnrL3RuuR-g9Nkr3qSRIksu8EK1N259s6ymEYRXkt9tqM9U2R9LxvgGkCkRpiJJ5RA/s1600-h/teahen3.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208952944393943458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimyPyASU4ox3u4Id2Dae_aCFb-8MbAwdgI9n4UrZzrl9dPwE4AtWBAWJ23L5BJHoH8myElnrL3RuuR-g9Nkr3qSRIksu8EK1N259s6ymEYRXkt9tqM9U2R9LxvgGkCkRpiJJ5RA/s400/teahen3.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Keep in mind that this graph includes a heavy dose of selection bias, as more players are included in the Age 24-31 categories, after which many of the players are out of the majors, finally leaving a core group of pretty decent players who continue to play into their late 30s. Beyond the pretty common observation that these types of players don't tend to last past their early 30s, the chart shows that these players as a group tend to increase their power a bit more slowly than is typical, and don't peak until around their 30<sup>the</sup> birthday, whereas the total population normally reaches their peak at ages 27-29. Unfortunately, it also indicates that as a group these guys never reach a league-average NISO.<br /><br />That grim observation aside, all is not lost. The good news is that in terms of increasing isolated power, Teahen's good enough to rank near the very top of the list. The following are the ten players among these Teahen comparables who ended with the highest NISOs through 2005:<br /><br /><pre><br />Name Bats Seasons AB+BB AVG SLUG ISO NISO<br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------<br />Todd Hundley B 11 3706 .239 .464 .225 1.477<br />Tony Batista R 9 4090 .251 .466 .215 1.341<br />Dave Duncan R 7 2560 .223 .373 .150 1.290<br />Daryl Boston L 9 2313 .253 .425 .172 1.284<br />Davey Johnson R 12 4772 .262 .412 .150 1.269<br />Mike Sweeney R 8 4182 .309 .513 .204 1.259<br />Torii Hunter R 6 3140 .269 .470 .201 1.242<br />Dmitri Young B 8 3900 .294 .491 .197 1.232<br />Dave Nilsson L 6 2585 .291 .480 .188 1.188<br />Nick Johnson L 3 1218 .278 .457 .179 1.136<br /></pre><br /><br />As you can see, there are some encouraging signs here, particularly in the cases of guys like <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/johnsda02.shtml">Davey Johnson</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/sweenmi01.shtml">Mike Sweeney</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/youngdm01.shtml">Dmitri Young</a></b>, and <b><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/johnsni01.shtml">Nick Johnson</a></b> making the list. At this point, Teahen would rank second, with a NISO past his Age-23 season of 1.37. This is much better company to be in than the preseason PECOTA comparables we listed previously, or even most of the rest of the 88 comparables found by this method.<br /><br />There is certainly no magic that will tell us the future, but from a historical perspective, what we can say is that there is some precedent for the kind of transformation we seem to be witnessing, although the magnitude of Teahen's big step forward is not exactly typical. Combined with the anecdotal and statistical evidence of his changed approach, Teahen's improvement is therefore not likely a mirage predicated on small sample size. If he continues performing even close to the level of his last three months, he'll finally fulfill the expectations of Billy Beane and Allard Baird.<br /><br />I think Royals fans can be cautiously optimistic, with the hope that in the years to come the controversy surrounding Teahen will not be whether he'll develop power, but how the team will accommodate two good young hitters at the hot corner once <b>Alex Gordon</b> is ready for the big leagues. That's the kind of problem everyone would like to have.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-21247237593219403992008-06-02T09:50:00.003-06:002008-06-02T10:02:02.793-06:00Colorado Springs Home for Sale<a href="http://ppmlslistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuyFul/PrtBuyFul.asp?prp=mls&AgentId=006450&EmailKey=19876594"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUd6o5a-I8gUQ7_vSd8iXDEiZXpp5kIuGO3Af9JrlQLfxBFhS2WkHib3Y9OfSMntq8WMBlWWKDG45W-z26hqIL5CJJD3Aq_lO6_jZKyYfbZD7YtP9nCi3nF_LbylZNT4i7YK4FHg/s1600-h/3250.GIF"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUd6o5a-I8gUQ7_vSd8iXDEiZXpp5kIuGO3Af9JrlQLfxBFhS2WkHib3Y9OfSMntq8WMBlWWKDG45W-z26hqIL5CJJD3Aq_lO6_jZKyYfbZD7YtP9nCi3nF_LbylZNT4i7YK4FHg/s400/3250.GIF" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207313705057481282" /></a></a><br /><br />As you can imagine, with the impending move to Pittsburgh one of the things that's been keeping my wife and I busy is the process of listing our home. Well, after waiting for contractors to finish projects and finishing a few of our own, <a href="http://ppmlslistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuyFul/PrtBuyFul.asp?prp=mls&AgentId=006450&EmailKey=19876594">the house is now on the market</a>. You can see more photos of the various rooms by clicking on the picture or on the link above. It's located in the Briargate area of Colorado Springs in the Windjammer subdivision and really has been a great house in a nice neighborhood and we'll be sorry to leave it. Between the previous owners and ourselves there have been a lot of improvements, some of which are...<br /><br /><br /><li>New Garage Doors, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>New Kitchen Appliances, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>Entire House Repainted, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>New Stucco and Stone Work, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>New Pella Storm Door, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>Upstairs Bathroom updated and repainted, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>Downstairs Bathroom updated and repainted, Spring 2008</li><br /><li>New Tile Flooring Downstairs, 2007</li><br /><li>Windows, Renewal by Anderson, 2004</li><br /><li>New Carpet Downstairs, Den and Bedroom, 2004</li><br /><li>New Back Door, 2004</li><br /><li>Kitchen and Front Hall Flooring, 2003</li><br /><li>Kitchen Counter Tops, 2003</li><br /><li>Three Zone Underground Sprinker System, 2002</li>Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-83209698556039875832008-05-22T18:51:00.003-06:002008-05-22T18:58:42.103-06:00PNCAs you can imagine I've been spending some <a href="http://danagonistes.blogspot.com/2008/04/heading-to-steel-town.html">time in Pittsburgh over the last few weeks</a> and so just a couple of photos today. The first looks back at PNC park from the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/clemero01.shtml">Roberto Clemente</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente_Bridge">bridge</a> and the second is of the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/stargwi01.shtml">Willie Stargell</a> <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/pirates/2001-04-07-stargell.htm">statue</a> that was unveiled in 2001 and sits on the Federal street (left field) side of the ballpark. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jr7aqYrMjRB3pkYP1uf_Ho8HwNa89Bn3kUJ1a3jj81ZNbDK0KaDXpDgIjTz80dDhX-F5O95C0RLNuojRxqUux2SZLsTcwlnqkmhhmv2U2ZdKHhiqYm-y48EBsvlSUhsdk-k5iw/s1600-h/pnc_sunny.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jr7aqYrMjRB3pkYP1uf_Ho8HwNa89Bn3kUJ1a3jj81ZNbDK0KaDXpDgIjTz80dDhX-F5O95C0RLNuojRxqUux2SZLsTcwlnqkmhhmv2U2ZdKHhiqYm-y48EBsvlSUhsdk-k5iw/s400/pnc_sunny.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203370048906424882" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhRdWwv0_RmFMIyU8np1uRxEQuxOIiQa0i7uSC4tO5QX7ze7bzeWHL3bZsku75ph1qmpMnKJAtJsZv2eplPzoXirQM5TO02UUNHCVnVD9FE4awyCE8LeDJP9D6TPYbJJJYHuYTNQ/s1600-h/stargell.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhRdWwv0_RmFMIyU8np1uRxEQuxOIiQa0i7uSC4tO5QX7ze7bzeWHL3bZsku75ph1qmpMnKJAtJsZv2eplPzoXirQM5TO02UUNHCVnVD9FE4awyCE8LeDJP9D6TPYbJJJYHuYTNQ/s400/stargell.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203369902877536802" /></a>Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-2105305652167055322008-04-22T18:18:00.019-06:002008-04-22T19:28:22.993-06:00Denver Bears - New York Yankees Reunion<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbfmU0S2J_yyks9aZxi-nxbsrSaLk1O2Sy8I_Tr9R5rUNWE5G2lqypO80Q8RiFSfR7FQIxKyDoDNC9Uy_yXi9HI0r-qARE2afFpxswVv9pMZrmfajW-bys3JLj7mKXVoYxr-0-g/s1600-h/BearsReunion.GIF"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbfmU0S2J_yyks9aZxi-nxbsrSaLk1O2Sy8I_Tr9R5rUNWE5G2lqypO80Q8RiFSfR7FQIxKyDoDNC9Uy_yXi9HI0r-qARE2afFpxswVv9pMZrmfajW-bys3JLj7mKXVoYxr-0-g/s320/BearsReunion.GIF" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192232475932586498" /></a><br />All baseball fans in the Denver area and beyond will want to check out the <a href="http://www.rmsabr.org/?page_id=132">Denver Bears - New York Yankees Reunion</a> being held May 3 at the <a href="http://www.denverathleticclub.cc/">Denver Athletic Club</a> in downtown Denver sponsored by the Rocky Mountain chapter of the <a href="http://www.sabr.org">Society for American Baseball Research</a>. <br /><br />Former Bears/Yankees who will be on hand include <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/larsedo01.shtml">Don Larsen</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/durenry01.shtml">Ryne Duren</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/plewshe01.shtml">Herb Plews</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blancjo01.shtml">Johnny Blanchard</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/terryra01.shtml">Ralph Terry</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/heldwo01.shtml">Woodie Held</a>.<br /><br />The event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will kick off at 10 a.m. with a player panel moderated by Denver radio host <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/brownwa01.shtml">Irv Brown</a>. The panel will be followed by a gourmet lunch with the players and after lunch the players will be available to sign autographs and continue the discussion. Participants will also have an opportunity to buy discounted tickets to that night's 6:05 p.m. game with the Los Angeles Dodgers.<br /><br />You can <a href="http://www.rmsabr.org/?page_id=132">reserve your spot at the event online</a> ($75 for SABR members and $85 for non-members) or download and print the registration form from RM SABR's web site. <br /><br /><strong>Here are a few notes provided by RM SABR on those who will be in attendance:</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4PkbHLXSWrtFO3VaiaSivDnAnswUJuDYZGmW4jdU9H7UA3GEr6tp4v91WO7zbIRajDLbigDfDH-KL0OIOolnIRdlJr-RxJ1JbpmbNFyyPLVmALdfLpppBOqiwtUr7eH80T0Y8qQ/s1600-h/held.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4PkbHLXSWrtFO3VaiaSivDnAnswUJuDYZGmW4jdU9H7UA3GEr6tp4v91WO7zbIRajDLbigDfDH-KL0OIOolnIRdlJr-RxJ1JbpmbNFyyPLVmALdfLpppBOqiwtUr7eH80T0Y8qQ/s200/held.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192238355742814866" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/heldwo01.shtml">Woodie Held</a></strong> – Infielder – 14-year major league career. He played with the New York Yankees in 1954 and 1957. Before the era of home run hitting shortstops Woodie hit 20 home runs in his 1957 rookie year. He averaged 21 homers per year from 1959 – 1964.<br /><br />In addition to his hitting skills, Woodie was a dominating defensive infielder with the Indians, averaging 136 games per season, between 1959 and 1962.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC4da0fjDAOoc0xrLQeUFPpSI-0rD5M1FCM43XzCD6JU4k4_juyMV5BjgpMwzV_T6wjPCibEirx76e0Imfvd6slkDVxDZAU2UTq50TQdRkOullk0rv_ZF1dRYcGUKMGTSh3U8KA/s1600-h/larsen.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC4da0fjDAOoc0xrLQeUFPpSI-0rD5M1FCM43XzCD6JU4k4_juyMV5BjgpMwzV_T6wjPCibEirx76e0Imfvd6slkDVxDZAU2UTq50TQdRkOullk0rv_ZF1dRYcGUKMGTSh3U8KA/s200/larsen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192238269843468930" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/larsedo01.shtml">Don Larsen</a></strong> – Pitcher – 14-year major league career. He compiled an 81-91 major league pitching record with a 3.78 ERA and was a Yankee from 1955 to 1959. Larsen had a 9-1 record with the Denver Bears in 1955.<br /><br />He is best known for pitching the only perfect game in <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> history in Game Five of the 1956 series. Using a no-windup delivery, Larsen used only 97 pitches to dispatch the mighty <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/">Brooklyn Dodgers</a> in one of the most famous games in baseball history.In 1956 and 1957 Larsen won a total of 21 games while losing only 9 and finished his career with a 4-2 record in <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> play. <br /><br />While pitching for the San Francisco Giants in the 1962 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a>, he defeated his former Yankee teammates on October 8 – which ironically was the sixth anniversary of his perfect game.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6MSy5EWyTvnw96Ho9FITyUcFlFWRyEfrdljX2UD4b6tNTio14z8WqhnR7hBQjy9qQMnB6r79LHFg6smZ-Id9fl2TWKq4Bz5yFoVWNasnBiDM-R4EK40SMQE1aZ1z5hyphenhyphenwLl7Qew/s1600-h/duren.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6MSy5EWyTvnw96Ho9FITyUcFlFWRyEfrdljX2UD4b6tNTio14z8WqhnR7hBQjy9qQMnB6r79LHFg6smZ-Id9fl2TWKq4Bz5yFoVWNasnBiDM-R4EK40SMQE1aZ1z5hyphenhyphenwLl7Qew/s200/duren.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192234391488000578" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/durenry01.shtml">Ryne Duren</a></strong> – Pitcher – 10-year major league career. He pitched for the New York Yankees from 1958 to 1961. He pitched first no hitter in Denver Bears history.<br /><br />As the most feared relief pitcher in baseball in the late 1950s, Duren led AL in saves – 20 in 44 appearances – in his first full rookie year in 1958. He was the hero of Game Six of the 1958 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a>, stopping a rally by the World Champion Milwaukee Braves in the late innings.As a bullpen specialist in 1959 he went 36 consecutive innings without allowing a run. From 1958 through 1959 he fanned 183 AL batters in 151 innings. <br /><br />Pitching for the Los Angeles Angels in 1961, Duren set a major league record by striking out seven consecutive batters on June 7.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmYlMLHFagqgwkfoHJjSVMkPC1tAMtiyGRwqSFCh69ghxC8UtEfPQtG3ubUeLicb_h1Z8h2xYUOsP1eIaduramqEJaBLN6wkfi9Q601c52rxjzxxVNNWN0XegveXYHac2JcwtOQ/s1600-h/blanchard.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmYlMLHFagqgwkfoHJjSVMkPC1tAMtiyGRwqSFCh69ghxC8UtEfPQtG3ubUeLicb_h1Z8h2xYUOsP1eIaduramqEJaBLN6wkfi9Q601c52rxjzxxVNNWN0XegveXYHac2JcwtOQ/s200/blanchard.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192238175354188402" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blancjo01.shtml">Johnny Blanchard</a></strong> – Catcher/outfielder – 8-year major league career. Johnny was on the New York Yankees roster in 1955 and 1959-1965.<br /><br />While sharing catching duties with All-Stars <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/berrayo01.shtml">Yogi Berra</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/howarel01.shtml">Elston Howard</a>, Johnny took full advantage of his opportunities. Between 1961 and 1963 he hit 50 home runs in only 707 at bats.In 1961 only one major league catcher (<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/berrayo01.shtml">Yogi Berra</a>, 22) hit more home runs than Johnny’s 21. Berra came to the plate 395 times while Johnny had 243 at bats. <br /><br />At one time Blanchard held the record for most <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> pinch-hitting appearances (9) and pinch hits (3).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aXjAsKeDYhyphenhyphenBWr9WV11rbjPJ3caDg81D0LNAdmiFaFpv1fP01aVDfWzVwCuzMeOC7bgYCxM2rAlMR1DtEHq5xXeHtpSp06u71eTMQNlPDILffI8lrNkvYBdIU9FvkO8LPk2Suw/s1600-h/terry.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aXjAsKeDYhyphenhyphenBWr9WV11rbjPJ3caDg81D0LNAdmiFaFpv1fP01aVDfWzVwCuzMeOC7bgYCxM2rAlMR1DtEHq5xXeHtpSp06u71eTMQNlPDILffI8lrNkvYBdIU9FvkO8LPk2Suw/s200/terry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192233893271794194" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/terryra01.shtml">Ralph Terry</a></strong> – Pitcher – 12-year major league career. Ralph pitched for the Yankees 1956-1957 and 1959-1964.<br /><br />Ralph was a workhorse for New York between 1960 and 1963, winning 66 games and logging nearly 921 innings.He led the American League in 1962 in wins (23), games started (39), and innings pitched (298). In 1963 he started the most games in the AL (37) and tied for most complete games (18).Ralph finished his career with 107 wins and a lifetime ERA of 3.62. <br /><br />In the 1960 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a>, Ralph gave up the home run to <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mazerbi01.shtml">Bill Mazeroski</a> that gave the Pittsburgh Pirates the championship. In the 1962 <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/">World Series</a> he led the Yankees to the title by beating the Giants twice (including a Game Seven, four-hit shutout) and posting a 1.80 ERA.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTKQDkV3eMZXj-580oXU3gdqjIHJ3oGLK4kDUTShAEDxeYW0if7JiyrzL_mlEIldA64ki3r9FEeg6Blg6W0Q0INxYn7MiLlp7xIi15AJoUHt6pWInoVYeWKj3LUAp7XpYSKmrRw/s1600-h/plews.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTKQDkV3eMZXj-580oXU3gdqjIHJ3oGLK4kDUTShAEDxeYW0if7JiyrzL_mlEIldA64ki3r9FEeg6Blg6W0Q0INxYn7MiLlp7xIi15AJoUHt6pWInoVYeWKj3LUAp7XpYSKmrRw/s200/plews.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192234296998720050" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/plewshe01.shtml">Herb Plews</a></strong> – Infielder – 4-year major league career with the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/">Washington Senators</a> and Boston Red Sox.<br /><br />A sure-handed defensive player, Plews tied an existing Major League record when he participated in five double plays while manning second base for the Senators on September 26, 1958. Plews, who would now be labeled a super-utility infielder, hit well in his first two major league seasons, averaging .270, while playing second, third and shortstop. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYBoiCrxKwW7P1Nygl7foX11OKCNH8H77DR-M3qpFMSUFsurvyJq4LUYWz05UpzuaxfwxMiWRWLSfbKcCqOFeGDYkIHgUOnJ2RcvkiVVu7fdzgUQFrHQLxPSjN1OA1ldiFQSnHw/s1600-h/siebern.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYBoiCrxKwW7P1Nygl7foX11OKCNH8H77DR-M3qpFMSUFsurvyJq4LUYWz05UpzuaxfwxMiWRWLSfbKcCqOFeGDYkIHgUOnJ2RcvkiVVu7fdzgUQFrHQLxPSjN1OA1ldiFQSnHw/s200/siebern.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192234211099374114" /></a> <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/siebeno01.shtml">Norm Siebern</a></strong> – Outfield - Had a twelve-year major league career with six teams. He played with the Yankees in 1956, 1958 and 1959. In his major league career, Norm hit .272 with 132 home runs. He was a three-time <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/">All Star</a> and also won a <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/">Gold Glove</a>. <br /><br />Norm signed with the New York Yankees in 1951, and made it to the majors before he was 23 years old. In 1956, Norm suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss much of the season. The next year, he starred in the minor leagues at Denver and was chosen by the Sporting News as their <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Category:Minors">Minor League</a> Player of the Year. He was a regular in the majors from 1958 to 1966. In his first full season with the Yankees, in 1958, he hit .300 with a .388 on-base percentage. <br /><br />After the 1959 season, Norm was traded to the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smither01.shtml">Kansas City</a> Athletics along with <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bauerha01.shtml">Hank Bauer</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/larsedo01.shtml">Don Larsen</a>, and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/thronma01.shtml">Marv Throneberry</a> in the trade that brought <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/marisro01.shtml">Roger Maris</a> to the Yankees. Norm spent four seasons with the A’s, hitting a peak in 1962 with numbers of .308/.412/.495 and 117 RBI. <br /><br />After the 1963 season, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gentiji01.shtml">Jim Gentile</a>. In 1964, his average dipped to .245, but he had 106 walks and thus still was able to score 92 runs. In 1966, he was on the California Angels, and although he hit .247, he drew enough walks that he was close to leading the team in OBP. He finished out his career in 1967 and 1968 with the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-89548267664627669692008-04-21T18:33:00.003-06:002008-04-21T18:36:45.722-06:00Infinite Pitcher Abuse PointsI'm sure many of you have seen this article related to Japanese high schoolbaseball but several folks sent it my way today and I hadn't...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUST28700020080418?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews">School team hit for 66 runs in two innings</a> </strong></span><br /><br />I especially like this quote:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="color:#000099;">The hapless hurler had already sent down over 250 pitches, allowing 26 runs in the first inning and 40 in the second before Kawamoto asked for mercy.<br /><br />"At that pace the pitcher would have thrown around 500 pitches in four innings," Kawamoto's coach was quoted as saying. "There was a danger he could get injured."</span></blockquote>Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-35314339090745821692008-04-17T23:56:00.004-06:002008-04-18T01:25:59.962-06:00Heading to Steel Town<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEmoeUkmKBs5agCZsoHV0nX2P6w-NOdzHGuFqBmwMEAfqDJC6pd7oLp0MBtkkX6bVerOaxFE54DEgqj5qkyeT9SgG3M-Mfx1smnPDmO8jlPIvN9S_lSMhrJAKYkHKtJidaehSa1A/s1600-h/pirate_logo2.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEmoeUkmKBs5agCZsoHV0nX2P6w-NOdzHGuFqBmwMEAfqDJC6pd7oLp0MBtkkX6bVerOaxFE54DEgqj5qkyeT9SgG3M-Mfx1smnPDmO8jlPIvN9S_lSMhrJAKYkHKtJidaehSa1A/s320/pirate_logo2.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190480404107744738" /></a><br />Today my column on Baseball Prospectus did not feature any new analysis or the usually endless tables overflowing with numbers and headed with three-letter acronyms. No, today marked the 100th and (at least for now) final <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=122">Schrodinger's Bat</a> column, marked with the title "<a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7380">Opus 100</a>". <br /><br />The column does not require a subscription and so you can read it for yourself but in the final section I briefly discuss the reason that this centennial edition is the last in the series.<br /><br />To borrow from that bit...I'm leaving BP to join the front office of the Pittsburgh Pirates to become their Director of Baseball Systems Development. In that capacity I'll be assisting the excellent staff--including Kyle Stark, Bryan Minniti, Greg Smith, and Joe Delli Carri, under the direction of General Manager Neal Huntington--in building systems to support and inform the decision-making process of the baseball operations staff. All of those individuals mentioned, and many others, have made me feel more than welcome, and I'm thrilled to start the process of integrating the array of quantitative and qualitative information in a way that makes both even more instructive.<br /><br />While I'm very excited at the new challenges and opportunities, I'm also a little sad as I say goodbye to <a href="http://www.compassion.com">Compassion International</a>, where I've worked as a software architect for the last three years. Beyond the successes of the team in building a service oriented infrastructure that I've been blessed to be a part of, working at Compassion has truly been a wonderful experience. The dedication, intelligence, and vision of the organization and its employees to release children from poverty in Jesus' name is truly inspiring. It really is a great place to work and hey, I hear they might be looking for someone :)Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-4321053231709415282008-04-16T17:10:00.002-06:002008-04-16T17:21:13.519-06:00Get Your SFR Data!<p>So I realized that I hadn't mentioned that in <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7346">my column last week</a> (no subscription required) I extended SFR for infielders to include 1986-1987 and 2000-2002. So now I have results for infielders for:<br /><br />1957-1983<br />1986-1998<br />2000-2007<br /><br />All told I've posted several spreadsheets on BP, the links to which follow:<br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/images/SFR.1957-2007.infield.zip">All Major League Infielders in the time frame above</a></li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/images/SFRv1.0_OF_2003_2007.zip">All Major League Outfielders 2003-2007</a>. Note that I haven't yet modified the algorithm for outfielders to extend beyond the full datasets available for 2003-2007.</li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/images/SFRv1.0_2005_2007.xls">All Major League Infielders 2005-2007 and Minor Leaguers 2007</a> (note that the numbers in this spreadsheet are not based on the latest version of the algorithm that includes pitcher handedness in the context. That said, last week I talked about that and it turns out that adding it didn't really improve the accurracy very much).</li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/images/SFRv1.0_OF_Minors_2007.zip">All Minor League Outfielders 2005-2007</a></li><br /></p>Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-12850486703374580502008-04-09T08:33:00.003-06:002008-04-09T08:45:34.057-06:00Santana and the ChangeupAfter a little exchange Ken Davidoff at Newsday wrote a little about <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/santajo02.shtml">Johan Santana</a> and his reliance on his changeup <a href="http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spken065640192apr06,0,6425998.column">in his column on April 6th</a>. The relevant section reads like this:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="color:#000099;">According to Fox, MLB.com charted 11 of Santana's outings last year, including his relief effort in the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/">All-Star Game</a>. Of 1,033 pitches, Santana threw 61 percent fastballs, 27 percent changeups and 12 percent sliders, which comes close to Bill James' full-season tally (58-29-11). Not surprisingly, Santana used the changeup far more against righty hitters (he threw it 33 percent of the time) than lefties (7 percent).<br /><br />Just as Morris suggested, Santana does love using the pitch for strikeouts. Of 269 situations that Fox charted in which Santana had a hitter at 0-and-2, 1-and-2 or 2-and-2, he threw the changeup 123 times. Of the 86 strikeouts Fox witnessed, the changeup produced 53 of them.<br /><br />Interestingly, of the 11 home runs Santana surrendered on non-full, two-strike counts on Fox's watch, just two came on the changeup, with eight from fastballs and one off a slider.</span></blockquote><br />It turns out that <a href="http://mvn.com/mlb-stats/2008/01/09/tales-of-the-changeup-an-analysis-of-johan-santana/">Mike Fast did a nice analysis of Santana back in January</a> and as you would imagine found essentially the same thing albeit in much more detail. From a start by start basis the mix of Santana pitches in 10 of his starts and his All-Star appearance last season can be seen below.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkuq2fwIC1QaANEslAXMQeoHgD8LYkKTF9UG1-IBCL9uqdM9AFTJhEVcXmyqZALA_A1sH99k8RAqKt5c9_o-HkUF2-qNDB8AsvCY6rsi-FlvJoNfi_bgFkCiFdCQ5j4bf1HKdyw/s1600-h/Santana.GIF"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkuq2fwIC1QaANEslAXMQeoHgD8LYkKTF9UG1-IBCL9uqdM9AFTJhEVcXmyqZALA_A1sH99k8RAqKt5c9_o-HkUF2-qNDB8AsvCY6rsi-FlvJoNfi_bgFkCiFdCQ5j4bf1HKdyw/s400/Santana.GIF" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5187256603850853986" /></a><br /><br />From this it is not apparent that he increasingly used his changeup as the season wore on and in fact it shows a trend where he used his fastball a bit more as the season progressed.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-42346725649700149672008-04-03T11:23:00.000-06:002008-04-03T11:01:03.272-06:00Filling in the Gaps<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPVRHzFKgD9DvlbUjXsfkHhyphenhyphen-gm8A8U6QTZasQEoHyiixxd2yO3XH8sBpKC32Z0-K2rHVO4xfd8kye8gTyJCZXTbLRV0h-yW29eOzEA-BUsALywmjHeON7wpQGX7akSzpFFOb_g/s1600-h/brooks.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185010370314784338" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPVRHzFKgD9DvlbUjXsfkHhyphenhyphen-gm8A8U6QTZasQEoHyiixxd2yO3XH8sBpKC32Z0-K2rHVO4xfd8kye8gTyJCZXTbLRV0h-yW29eOzEA-BUsALywmjHeON7wpQGX7akSzpFFOb_g/s400/brooks.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7309">This week on Baseball Prospectus</a> I make a few changes to the algorithm for Simple Fielding Runs in order to run it on the Retrosheet data set encompassing 1957 through 1983 (there are issues with 1984-1987, especially 1984 and 1985 where the identification of the fielder is more frequently absent). One of those changes involves the addition of pitcher handedness as a variable and the other, like the scientists at Jurassic Park who filled in the missing dinosaur genetic code with that of a frog, uses probabalities to estimate the missing pieces.<br /><br />Overall, the SFR system is analagous to the work that Sean Smith has been doing on TotalZone and our results are fairly similar. For example in SFR <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/robinbr01.shtml">Brooks Robinson</a> (shown right) comes out at +293 runs during his career (easily the career leader) while TotalZone has him at +269. Likewise <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/belanma01.shtml">Mark Belanger</a> SFR is +198 while TotalZone is +232 runs. There are certainly places where it differs, however, as SFR doesn't rate <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/whitefr01.shtml">Frank White</a> or <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hernake01.shtml">Keith Hernandez</a> nearly as highly as TotalZone seems to. In the column I also show detailed data for <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/whitalo01.shtml">Lou Whitaker</a>, Pete Rose, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/belanma01.shtml">Mark Belanger</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/robinbr01.shtml">Brooks Robinson</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithoz01.shtml">Ozzie Smith</a>, and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mazerbi01.shtml">Bill Mazeroski</a>.<br /><br />One of the iron gloves discussed a little in the piece is <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/allendi01.shtml">Dick Allen</a>, who managed to show up in the bottom 10 in our rate statistic at both third and first base. His career line is shown below.<br /><br /><pre><br /><strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/allendi01.shtml">Dick Allen</a></strong><br />Year Pos Balls Runners Diff SFR Rate<br />------------------------------------------------------<br />1964 Third 575 137 -23 -17.6 0.83<br />1965 Third 515 123 -34 -26.3 0.72<br /> Short 1 1 0 -0.3 0.24<br />1966 Third 329 86 -23 -17.8 0.73<br />1967 Third 437 122 -35 -26.9 0.71<br />1968 Third 37 17 -9 -6.7 0.48<br />1969 First 234 52 -19 -16.6 0.64<br />1970 First 177 26 -2 -2.5 0.91<br /> Third 121 38 -12 -8.9 0.70<br />1971 First 56 6 1 1.0 1.22<br /> Third 230 64 -16 -12.7 0.74<br />1972 First 261 28 6 4.6 1.21<br /> Third 7 3 -2 -1.3 0.47<br />1973 First 132 18 -2 -1.5 0.89<br /> Second 6 1 0 0.1 1.11<br />1974 First 212 29 -4 -2.8 0.87<br /> Second 1 1 -1 -0.5 0.27<br />1975 First 227 40 -13 -10.5 0.66<br />1976 First 158 25 -6 -4.4 0.78<br />1977 First 93 13 1 0.9 1.09<br /><br /> 3809 830 -192 -151<br /></pre><br /><br />Enjoy. And no, I don't yet have a spreadsheet with the full results but expect to do so in the near future.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-16588380321665759622008-04-03T09:11:00.001-06:002008-04-03T09:14:09.544-06:00An 8-Letter Word for the Ultimate Sport<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/28/AR2008032802822.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns">Amen</a>.<br /><br />I particularly love this part:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="color:#000099;">For you who wasted the winter by not studying such stuff, the answers are below. The rest of you probably are SABRmetricians. Tim Kurkjian of ESPN (do you know that more than 10 American children have been named Espn?) recalls a convention of the Society for American Baseball Research:<br /><br />"'Who from SABR might know where I can find the all-time list of pinch-hit, extra-inning grand slams?' I asked the very first man I saw at the convention. The man smiled and -- I am not making this up -- pulled the list from his breast pocket. 'I have it right here,' he said."</span> </blockquote>Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888411.post-3774346815645705612008-03-29T12:11:00.004-06:002008-03-29T12:39:27.852-06:00Historical SFRA couple days late in my summary of this week's effort on Baseball Prospectus but this week <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7277">I ran the Simple Fielding Runs (SFR) system</a> against Retrosheet data from 1988-1998. This was possible without modifying the system since the relevant hit type and fielder data is present for those eleven seasons (in the same ratios as available for 2003 through 2007 for the major leagues and 2005-2007 for the minor leagues). <br /><br />Although you'll need to read the piece to get all the details, suffice it to say that <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithoz01.shtml">Ozzie Smith</a>, Cal Ripken, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lemkema01.shtml">Mark Lemke</a>, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sandbry01.shtml">Ryne Sandberg</a>, Matt Williams, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/o/olerujo01.shtml">John Olerud</a>, and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gracema01.shtml">Mark Grace</a> all come out looking pretty good as you might expect. <br /><br />A reader asks, however, how <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alomaro01.shtml">Roberto Alomar</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/vizquom01.shtml">Omar Vizquel</a> look and so here's a look at their complete data calculated for SFR thus far. <br /><br /><pre><br /><strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alomaro01.shtml">Roberto Alomar</a>, 1988-2004 at Second Base</strong><br />Year Team Age Balls Runners Diff SFR Rate<br />1988 SDN 20 624 126 8 5.9 1.06<br />1989 SDN 21 672 153 -4 -2.8 0.98<br />1990 SDN 22 593 138 -9 -7.2 0.93<br />1991 TOR 23 744 192 10 7.2 1.05<br />1992 TOR 24 619 167 -4 -3.3 0.97<br />1993 TOR 25 650 161 -6 -4.8 0.96<br />1994 TOR 26 395 101 -3 -1.9 0.97<br />1995 TOR 27 564 127 2 1.7 1.02<br />1996 BAL 28 605 130 15 11.1 1.11<br />1997 BAL 29 383 76 19 14.0 1.25<br />1998 BAL 30 587 144 15 10.9 1.10<br />2003 CHA/NYN 35 523 148 -22 -16.7 0.85<br />2004 ARI/CHA 36 125 37 -6 -4.4 0.84<br /><br /> 7083 1699 13 9.6 1.01<br /></pre><br /><br />Interestingly, while SFR didn't like Alomar much in San Diego and Toronto, it did in his three years in Baltimore. Keep in mind that for infielders SFR does not take into account park effects and that both the shortstop and first baseman have an impact on the second baseman since the system parcels out balls assigned to each via overall distributions. Both of these may play a factor here although I haven't researched Baltimore particularly although I did note that Sean Smith's system <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/images/uploads/tz19562007.xls">incldues a similar disparity</a>. Overall Alomar rates out at +9.6 runs and a rate (computed as the ratio of expected runners reached to actual runners) just above average at 1.01. <br /><br /><pre><br /><strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/vizquom01.shtml">Omar Vizquel</a>, 1989-2007 at Shortstop</strong><br />Year Team Age Balls Runners Diff SFR Rate<br />1989 SEA 22 557 130 9 6.6 1.07<br />1990 SEA 23 356 90 0 0.1 1.00<br />1991 SEA 24 609 152 13 9.5 1.08<br />1992 SEA 25 656 189 1 1.0 1.01<br />1993 SEA 26 719 188 3 2.6 1.02<br />1994 CLE 27 293 70 10 7.3 1.14<br />1995 CLE 28 570 133 18 13.4 1.13<br />1996 CLE 29 655 168 5 4.2 1.03<br />1997 CLE 30 633 142 15 11.2 1.10<br />1998 CLE 31 656 185 14 10.5 1.08<br />2003 CLE 36 295 59 14 10.4 1.24<br />2004 CLE 37 597 159 -3 -2.6 0.98<br />2005 SFN 38 654 153 13 9.4 1.08<br />2006 SFN 39 590 147 9 7.0 1.06<br />2007 SFN 40 639 134 38 28.5 1.29<br /><br /> 8478 2097 159 119 1.08<br /></pre><br /><br />Vizquel is predictably excellent for most seasons and rated highest last year although once again, his third baseman certainy had some influence. <br /><br />Those interested in this topic should definitely check out <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/measuring-defense-for-players-back-to-1956-part-2/">Sean Smith's work at The Hardball Times</a> where he expands his TotalZone system and provides lots of interesting results.Dan Agonisteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863051818485888739noreply@blogger.com12