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Extending Ryan Howard Is Not What Killed the Phillies
It’s not your fault, Ryan. Really. (via Matthew Straubmuller)The Phillies won five straight division titles from 2007 through 2011 but have been in freefall ever since. After winning 102 games in 2011,...
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Song for an Unsung Slugger
The Baker Bowl bleachers were packed in 1915, presumably to see Cy Williams. (via Bain News Service) If I asked you to name the first player in American League history to reach 200 home runs, you’d...
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Cooperstown Confidential: The Enigmatic Life of Alex Johnson
Alex Johnson played for eight major league teams. The recent death of Alex Johnson brings to an end one of the most controversial and enigmatic chapters in baseball history. Even as we try to put the...
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On the Genealogy of Trades, Part I
Back in the day, minor-league teams used to make their own trades. (via Jason Prickett) Remember the old joke about the Unitarian who dies and on the way to heaven comes to a fork in the road? Pointing...
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Trading Disgruntled Players
Rogers Hornsby was one of the most unlikable players of all-time. (via Time Magazine)In his new biography, A Terrible Beauty, Charles Leerhsen sets out to rehabilitate Ty Cobb’s reputation as a racist,...
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The Physics of Which Way the Wind Blows
AT&T Park has seen its wind decrease since 2007. It’s no Candlestick Park. (via Eric Molina)I wrote about the wind in the newly remodeled Wrigley Field a while back. In that article I examined not...
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National League Rookies and the Many Ways to Acquire Young Talent
Noah Syndergaard was tied for the fifth-best WAR among NL rookies. (via Arturo Pardavila III) During the 2015 season, rookies accumulated 133.9 fWAR, the most in modern history by a wide margin. The...
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The Most Fun, Shareable Moments of 2015
Andrew McCutchen had, easily, one of the coolest player-fan moments of the 2015 season. (via Blackngold29)One of my favorite things about baseball is that regardless of how long you’ve watched the...
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The Best Long Plate Appearances of 2015
Troy Tulowitzki had the longest, high-leverage plate appearance in 2015. (via Arturo Pardavila III) There is a beautiful poetry to the first sounds of baseball each spring that extends far deeper than...
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The Art of the Tank
The Astros got their rebuilding process started early by trading Roy Oswalt. (via Yeeland) A little over a month ago, Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Mike Sielski wrote a satirical story on the...
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The Big Red Machine Turns 40
Johnny Bench and the Big Red Machine knew how to hit the baseball. (via John VanderHaagen)Quick: can you name a starting pitcher from the 1976 Big Red Machine? On the 40th anniversary of one of the...
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Card Corner Plus: 1966 Topps: Power Plus
Introducing creativity to baseball cards started — in part — with alliteration.“Power Plus.” “Bird Belters.” “Buc Blasters.” These were all alliterative nicknames that the Topps Gum Company featured on...
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The First Great Season by a Rockies Pitcher
Before there was Ubaldo Jimenez (right), the Rockies had Marvin Freeman (left). (via Wikipedia Commons) The Colorado Rockies entered Major League Baseball’s National League in time for the 1993 season,...
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From the Outhouse to the Penthouse, and Vice Versa
Cole Hamels was a big reason the Rangers surged during the second half of 2015. (via Arturo Pardavila III) I take as my text today the Gospel According to St. Matthew, chapter 19, verse 30: But many...
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Question: What Would We Name the Team Today?
The Seattle Salty Dogs has a good ring to it. (via Chelsea Nesvig)Some team names are absurdities, so ill-suited to their cities that they seem like jokes or blunders. Hi there, Pittsburgh Pirates!...
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The Kings of Pain
Some seasons are more painful than others. (via John LaRue)Much was made of baseball’s championship droughts in 2016. That was the case all season long because of the Chicago Cubs’ success, but the...
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Calling All Catchers
Tim McCarver, seen here at famous baseball bar Foley’s, was the Phillies’ starting catcher in 1970. (via NJ Baseball) The 1970 Philadelphia Phillies suffered from the bigotry of low expectations. The...
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Scouting the Minors Pitch by Pitch: Dylan Cozens
Dylan Cozens can’t get no respect, no respect at all! (via Buck Davidson) Eli Ben-Porat’s Scouting the Minors Pitch by Pitch Series Nov. 22, 2016: Swinging Strike % Dec. 13, 2016: Power Feb. 22, 2017:...
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Baseball at the Movies: Captain America: The First Avenger
Capt. Rogers is feeling deja vu all over again. Captain America: The First Avenger was a really great movie. It was the fourth movie in what was then a still burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe. A...
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Remembering the First Major Leaguer to Die in War
Eddie Grant was the first MLB player to die in World War I. (via Charles M. Conlon)Achilles wanted to go home. He was pissed off at Agamemnon because he felt the Greek king had slighted him, so the...
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