January 9, 2009
Now shipping The 2009 Hardball Times Annual is now available. You can read about it here, but just make sure you order it directly from ACTA today. 
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Monday, February 28, 2005Thirteen and countingPosted by Matthew NameeI was leafing through my copy of the 2005 Bill James Handbook tonight, and I noticed that Marquis Grissom had, to my surprise, hit at least 10 home runs every season since 1992. Even in the homer-happy era in which he's played, that's a rare accomplishment. The only other guys to match that feat: Barry Bonds (10 homers every year since 1986) Rafael Palmeiro (1990) Jeff Bagwell (1991) Gary Sheffield (1992) Tino Martinez (1992) Jeff Kent (1992) Reggie Sanders (1992) So Grissom's streak of 13 seasons is tied for the 4th-longest in the major leagues. That's better than Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, and Larry Walker (among others) -- all guys who also reached double figures in homers in 1992. Friday, February 25, 2005Baseball Analysts and Bird KillersPosted by Dave StudemanEarlier this week, Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith opened a new website called Baseball Analysts. Rich and Bryan are two good friends of The Hardball Times, and their writing is always excellent. Be forewarned, however -- Rich is slightly obsessed with Bert Blyleven and Jered Weaver. You also might be interested in the attached PDF file about baseball's bird killers, from Alex Reisner's baseball site. Just in case you were wondering which baseball players have killed a bird with a baseball. I was once watching batting practice at Fenway in late 1976 when Jim Rice picked up a ball and threw it against the scoreboard as hard as he could, leaving a decent dent in it. Luckily, there were no birds in the way. That was the day he was moved from left field to DH for the rest of the season. Monday, February 21, 2005Black AcesPosted by Matthew NameeThere's an article on MLB.com today called "12 Black Aces," discussing the dozen African-American pitchers who had 20-win seasons in the majors. Here's the list: Don Newcombe Toothpick Sam Jones Bob Gibson Mudcat Grant Earl Wilson Ferguson Jenkins Al Downing Vida Blue J.R. Richard Mike Norris Dwight Gooden Dave Stewart Notice some missing names? When I hear the phrase "Black Ace," two of my first thoughts are Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal. And aren't we missing some other black 20-game winners, like Pedro's brother Ramon, and Jose Lima, and Bartolo Colon? Oh, there are more... of course, those guys were born in Latin America, which excludes them from this list. But Pedro and Ramon are as black as any of those dozen aces, and I have always found it odd when that sort of thing is ignored. I'm not disputing that black players have been given the short end of the stick in terms of pitching opportunities, and that's obviously unjust and needs to change, but I can't help wincing when I see a list like that that doesn't include some of the greatest black pitchers in baseball history. It reminds me of the spring of 1997. That was the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut, and I read an article somewhere that said something along the lines of, "Sadly, fifty years later, the Dodgers have just one African-American on the roster -- bench player Wayne Kirby." Which I guess was technically true, but horribly misleading. Other black players on the '97 Dodgers included Raul Mondesi, Wilton Guerrero, Roger Cedeno, Ramon Martinez, and Pedro Astacio. My point of all this being, while we're paying well-deserved respect to outstanding black baseball players, it'd be nice if we could avoid always drawing lines between "United States citizens of African descent" and "Latin Americans of African descent." Top Ten Most Lopsided TradesPosted by Dave StudemanMike Carminati has updated his list of the most lopsided trades in history, with a new leader as the most lopsided trade of all time. Check it out. Thursday, February 17, 2005More about TradesPosted by Dave StudemanMike Carminati has posted a quck look at some of our Win Shares/Transaction data. I particularly like the table of biggest contributors to their team after a midseason trade. Few transactions have inspired more emails to me than the Doyle Alexander/John Smoltz deal, which I hope to review in-depth at a later time. Wednesday, February 16, 2005Sickels’ New HomePosted by Aaron GleemanIf you haven't already, make sure to go check out former ESPN.com minor league analyst John Sickels' new blog. It has already forced its way into my daily reading routine after just a few days of existing. Tuesday, February 15, 2005Santana’s New ContractPosted by Aaron GleemanI've been accused on devoting a little too much of THT's cyberspace to Johan Santana in the past. So rather than thrust another Santana column on the many unsuspecting non-Twins fans who frequent this site, I'll direct those of you interested in reading about Santana's new contract to my blog (where complaints about "too much Santana" are met with deaf ears). Sunday, February 13, 200522-year-old World Series catchersPosted by Matthew NameeThis weekend, Ken Rosenthal wrote a column in which he discussed the fact that St. Louis will be starting 22-year-old Yadier Molina at catcher. Rosenthal quoted an AL GM as asking, "How many teams have ever won a World Series with a 22-year-old catcher?" The question is clearly rhetorical, implying that it's pretty difficult for a team with a young backstop to win it all. The actual answer to the question is two, and one of those young catchers was a Cardinal. In 1964, Tim McCarver had a nice .288/.343/.400 year as a 22-year-old, and followed it up with a phenomenal .478/.552/.739 World Series line to help the Cardinals beat the Yankees in the Fall Classic. The other 22-year-old catcher on a World Champion was the Dodgers' Mike Scioscia, in the strike-shortened 1981 season. Scioscia appeared in 93 of the team's 110 games that year, and hit a respectable .276/.353/.331 (followed by an unimpressive 5-for-32 postseason). As far as I could tell in my 5 minutes of searching, those guys are the only 22-or-under starting catchers for World Champs. It's also worth noting that in 1970, 22-year-old Johnny Bench led the Reds to the NL Pennant with a 45-homer, 148-RBI, MVP-winning performance. Wednesday, February 09, 2005US, Canada May Be Back in 2005 World CupPosted by Craig BurleyNews always seems to travel slowly when it comes to amateur baseball, so a decision last month by IBAF (the governing body for international baseball) escaped my eye until just now. It seems that both the U.S. and Canada will be given a last-minute shot to qualify again for the 2005 World Cup. This is the world championship of (amateur) baseball, not to be confused with MLB's plans for the "Super World Cup". Both the U.S. and Canada had pulled out of the qualifiers last fall in Colombia due to security concerns and kidnapping threats. The CBC has reported that the tournament is supposed to take place this spring in Florida and that four other countries who did not qualify the first time around (Italy, the Czech Republic, Nigeria (!?) and Guam) will also take part. Thursday, February 03, 2005Whither Barry Zito?Posted by Craig BurleyI have some brief thoughts on Barry Zito over at Batter's Box, nothing conclusive in any way but it got me to thinking what THT's readers think of his chances to bounce back. If anyone who saw a lot of Barry Zito last year has an opinion on his disappointing 2004 and his prospects for 2005, I'd love to hear from you at . |
 Baseball NewsFrom USA TodayHurlers change teams: Hoffman to Milwaukee, Smoltz to Boston Pitchers Trevor Hoffman and John Smoltz, longtime icons in their communities with Hall of Fame credentials, severed ties Thursday ... Former big-league pitcher Dave Roberts dies at 64 David Arthur Roberts, a left-handed pitcher who played for eight Major League teams including the 1979 World Series champion ... California woman finds baseball card from 1869 Somewhere amid her collection of worn jukeboxes and slot machines, a 72-year-old California woman recently discovered an antique ... Twins owner remembered as family man, businessman Carl Pohlad rose to the pinnacle of the business world, earning billions and gaining a measure of fame as owner of the Minnesota ... Hairston re-signs with Reds for $2 million Jerry Hairston Jr. stayed with the Cincinnati Reds, agreeing Wednesday to a $2 million, one-year contract. Cooper ready to lead Astros on smoother trip Cecil Cooper's first full season as a major league manager turned into a wild six-month ride that ended with questions about ... Teixeira, Yankees seal $180 million deal Mark Teixeira and the New York Yankees completed their $180 million, eight-year contract Tuesday, announcing the deal in perhaps ... Pitchers Pavano, Park, Marquis get new homes The Cleveland Indians have signed free agent pitcher Carl Pavano, who was a four-year bust with the New York Yankees because ... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||