I used to blog a little bit about baseball on this site. In order to keep the focus here more on tech (and to encourage myself to write more about baseball), I launched another site, BaseballTwit, just for my baseball obsession in late 2008. I also launched a companion Twitter account: @baseballtwit.

A bit over a year later, I have to admit that BaseballTwit is my favorite place to blog. I love writing about catchers, relief pitchers, and especially my new favorite stat, Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

Now, in addition to writing at BaseballTwit, I’ll be writing for my favorite baseball blog—Beyond the Box Score. Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore on Twitter). A great deal of baseball research focuses on projecting future performance. I like analyzing the past, comparing players across eras, making Hall of Fame debates, etc.

This past weekend, my first post went up. I drew them in with Alex Rodriguez, then quickly went all 19th century on them, talking about Cap Anson. The post is called “Inevitable in 2010: Alex Rodriguez and 100 WAR” and discusses the fact that Alex Rodriguez will not only leapfrog Anson into the Top 20 all time in career WAR (for hitters), but he’ll also be the 20th hitter to reach 100 WAR for a career. I then talk about how remarkable Anson’s total is, given he played exclusively in the 1800s and dealt with smaller schedules, league volatility, and—quite frankly—a life expectancy (at the time) not much higher than his final playing age.

There’s no set schedule for when I’ll write, but I’ll try to stay on a somewhat weekly schedule. I have to say, I’m really enjoying the new gig! The first post already generated quite a few interesting comments. What will I write about next? Let’s see… the post will discuss a pool of 14 players that includes Ken Griffey, Scott Rolen, Mike Cameron, and Eric Chavez (among others). Care to guess?

Same thing with my Twitter stream. If I’m watching a Sox playoff game with many other folks in my stream, I have no problem tweeting about it. But every once in a while I find a random stat or fact and I want to tweet it. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I choose not to bore the vast majority of my stream with it. Again, I don’t want to tweet less about baseball than I already do, I figured I’d tweet more. Elsewhere.

Introducing BaseballTwit: Blog posts and Twitter tweets about baseball stats and history by Adam Darowski

Not only is BaseballTwit the new home for my stat-and-history-related baseball blog posts and tweets, it also marks the first blog powered by my recently-released Tabigail WordPress theme.

So, if you’re into this sort of thing, please subscribe to the blog feed and follow @baseballtwit on Twitter.

I rescued this post from an old blog that I’m not updating anymore. It has become a handy piece to point folks to when I try to tell them about my baseball simulation league. This post was originally published June 16, 2006.

I never understood fantasy baseball.

I have all the symptoms of a fantasy baseball addict. I love baseball. I love baseball statistics. I love tracking how my favorite players are doing. I love putting myself into the shoes of Major League general managers, debating what I would have done in a particular trade or signing situation. I love drafts. I’m web savvy and online a good chunk of the day. I enjoy making a deal.

But I have picked a different kind of poison. My drug is not fantasy baseball. Instead, I am addicted to baseball simulation.

There are very important differences between fantasy baseball and baseball simulation. One of my problems with fantasy can be summed up in an example that I often use.

Let’s say my brother in law is sitting at a bar with his friend, watching the Red Sox game. Their fantasy teams are facing each other this week. Jason Varitek lifts a sacrifice fly. David Ortiz tags up and scores. The friend shouts, “Ha! There’s a point for me! I have Varitek!” My brother in law replies, “Yeah, but I have Ortiz. We’re even.”

I have three very big problems with this scenario. The first is “this week.” A baseball game that is one week long? What is this, football?

Secondly, in fantasy baseball when your player drives somebody in, he’s (usually) not driving in a fantasy teammate. In simulation, when my player drives someone in, he is actually driving in a teammate and I am watching that run add to my score.

And finally, say I don’t have Jason Varitek on my fantasy team. Say I do have Kevin Millwood and he’s facing Varitek. I’m a big Jason Varitek fan. I could never root against him. It would just feel wrong. So, I’d find myself not rooting, just sitting there… torn.

Baseball simulation is, at the very least, a great way to avoid these problems. The games are not dependent on the Major League Baseball season. It is all run in a software program. In simulation, Jason Varitek is not the real “Jason Varitek”. He is a software model of Jason Varitek at one point in is career. From that point on, the simulated Jason Varitek can evolve differently than he does in Major League Baseball.

At this point, I’ll invoke the Back to the Future comparison. Remember when 2015 Biff finds the sports facts book in an antique shop, hops into a time machine, and gives the book to 1955 Biff? (Don’t lose me, now.) That action ended up creating an “alternate 1985″ in which all events after young Biff received the book deviate from the original history.

I am the Commissioner of a baseball simulation league. For my league, The Ted Williams Memorial League, our “1955″ (the point where the alternate history deviates from the original) is 2000. The league begins with the 2000 season and the players are generated from a database of all players and prospects from 2000. From the point that our league begins, however, players can evolve differently than they do in Major League Baseball.

Here are three examples:

In 2000, Rick Ankiel was the hottest prospect in all the land. He ran into post-2000 problems in Major League Baseball and has since given up pitching. In my league, he is looking like one of the best pitchers in history (certainly the best in our young league).

In 2000, Barry Zito was not a highly regarded prospect. So, in my league he never really panned out and recently retired with just three career wins.

Mark Teixeira was drafted in 2001. Therefore, he does not even exist in my league.

Trading is far different (and far more rewarding) in simulation. In fantasy, if you need a player, you trade for him, and his points are added to your totals. In simulation, you must find a player that appropriately fits into your lineup, into your payroll, and into your future. Many baseball simulation leagues span over multiple seasons (think “Career Mode” in console games). For example, in the TWML we are about to start 2013, our fourteenth season. Trading for a 37 year old star is great for the short term, but doesn’t make much sense if you’re not going for it all this year. With the exception of keeper leagues, In fantasy your roster is refreshed from scratch from year to year. Even keeper leagues only allow you to keep a few players.

Drafts are far more rewarding in simulation as well. In fact, this is the favorite aspect of many simulation owners. In fantasy, you draft a team of major leaguers from a pool of the top talent. In simulation, you have a very similar draft at the very inception of the league (in order to fill the rosters). Then, each year you have an amateur draft, just like Major League Baseball.

These drafts allow players to choose from a rookie crop of youngsters generated by the software model each season. Some rookie classes are better than others. Some prospects are studs while some are mediocre. Some will develop better than you thought—others worse. Where simulation drafts are really rewarding is when you draft a player, develop him in your minor leagues, and then watch him succeed. In fact, this one aspect of simulation is what I will base the rest of my article on.

After I took over a team in our simulated year 2000 (my original plans were to just act as Commissioner, but I adopted a team with an AWOL owner and dismantled it), I was inline for the third overall pick in 2001, our first rookie draft (our rookie drafts occur in the offseason). Right away, I knew who I wanted, and I got him.

Jack Gonzalez was a 21 year old catcher who was pretty much average in most aspects of the game. But Jack possessed two unique skills: a rifle of an arm and a bat with brilliant power potential.

Jack was sent to my Class A team to start the 2001 season (we have three minor league levels in my sim league). In 88 games, he hit 24 homers and drove in 58 runs while hitting .264 with a .873 OPS. He earned a promotion to AA. While in AA, he again hit 24 homers, this time in only 68 games. His average dropped to .250, but his slugging percentage skyrocketed to .617. His OPS was .934. He drove in 53 runs. For the two days of the season, he went to AAA, where he was 3-for-9 with a homer.

After hitting 49 homers at all three levels in his first minor league season, I wanted to see how my boy did with a full season at AAA. At this point, he was my top prospect and I had a very capable starter in Ben Petrick (.289, 12 homers, 61 RBI in 2001). There was no need to rush Jack.

My big league catching tandem of Petrick and Javier Valentiin was very good in 2002, allowing Jack to stay in AAA all year long. He showed he had nothing left to prove and blasted 57 home runs while driving in 138 in 159 games. He hit .269 with a .338 OBP and .596 slugging percentage (.934 OPS). Jack was ready.

At age 23, Jack was called up for the start of the 2003 season. Valentin departed as a free agent and Petrick would spell Jack and provide a solid bat off the bench, all while trying out some third base. Gonzalez, as expected, had some trouble with contact hitting, batting .230. He showed power potential, though, hitting 24 homers with 87 RBI. He even showed an element that wasn’t expected, stealing 11 bases. It was all a good start, but just a .285 OBP needed improvement and the low average brought his slugging percentage to just .399. Still, Jack ranked second in Rookie of the Year voting, collecting four of fifteen first place votes.

We hoped 2004 would build on 2003, but it didn’t. My team moved to our equivalent of the National League and the team average dipped from .272 to .247. Jack was one of the biggest offenders, dipping to just .193 with a .252 OBP and .373 slugging percentage. He did hit 20 homers and drive in 62 runs, but those averages were unacceptable. It was sad to see my homegrown “star” struggling like this. Alas, he was just 24.

The next season, Jack seemed to wake up a bit, getting his career highs in batting average (.234), homers (25), OBP (.309), and slugging percentage (.439). In a truly proud moment for me, he was selected as an All Star. At that point, he was just the second player ever created by the software to be an All Star.

In 2006, Jack gave me the type of season that makes a general manager proud. He hit .254—not stellar, but a career high again—and bashed 34 home runs. He slugged a robust .535 with a .312 OBP. His 26 doubles were a career high and his 82 runs batted in were his most since his rookie season. It is worth noting that Jack turned 27 in July of this season, essentially hitting his prime.

The team underwent a big change in 2007. After 2006, the team’s eventual Hall of Famer and franchise cornerstone Mo Vaughn opted for an early retirement at age 38. (It’s worth noting that MY Mo Vaughn had 2510 hits, a .295 career average, and 521 homers in his illustrious career). Vaughn homered 31 times and drove in 119 in his final season. His retirement sent the team into a tailspin and, eventually, a rebuilding phase.

During 2007, Gonzalez appeared to regress. He tied a career low with 20 homers and drove in a career low 53 runs as we fell from an 89 win team to a 72 win team. He hit just .224. Topping it all off, this was a contract year for Gonzalez. He was resigned at the beginning of the season for $1.6 million per season for six years. One thing to keep in mind is that the software’s financials look a little different than MLB’s. A good rule of thumb is that the software’s figures are about a third of what MLB’s would be, so Gonzalez was to be paid about $4.8 million per season—a bargain for a 34 homer hitting catcher, but a 20 homer, .224 hitter?

In 2008, he went from a .224 hitter to a .214 hitter, but he raised his home run total back to 25, making it a bit more acceptable. But still, it wasn’t enough. I was starting to wonder if Jack would get better. I was getting defensive of cracks on Jack’s hitting made on our league’s forums. One thing I did have was a great pitching staff all along, and Jack was one of the reasons. He was an excellent defensive catcher and always threw out a lot of runners.

2009 was an important season for Jack, as he turned 30 years old that July. The Battle Cats were a struggling franchise, but we got a boost when Jack got off to a huge first half. He was an All Star again for the second time. Unfortunately, his second half started off miserably. As we slipped even further, I did a lot of studying of our box scores and game logs. I found some interesting patterns.

I noticed that though I was resting Jack because his hitting was slumping, we were still losing. We actually seemed to do better when he was in there, whether he was producing or not. So I put him back in, and I put him in every day. He finished a bit better and posted a career high .255 average with 25 homers and 74 RBI. He slugged .459, his second best mark yet. And we won more.

It’s one of those things where you really don’t know how much goes into the software model. Astros pitchers love throwing to Brad Ausmus, so he always plays even if he’s not the best hitter. Could my digital pitchers feel the same for Jack? He seemed to have built the trust of my star pitchers. So, I decided to never take Jack out again.

In 2010, Jack started all 162 games of the season. He hit just .230, but he belted a career high 35 home runs and drove in a new career high of 103 runs. The season included his 200th home run.

We went from an 80 win team to a 93 win team. We won our first division title since leaving the old DH league. Though we were smacked around in the first round of the playoffs, it was a great step.

2011 was more of the same. Jack started all 162 games and we improved to 96 wins (winning the division again). Jack hit .234 with 34 homers and 100 RBI. We made it all the way to our very first World Series. Unfortunately, we lost both our top starters to injury in a dramatic 7-game LCS, so we were stuck calling upon a reliever, Billy Koch, to join the rotation. We went six games, but fell short. However, it was another big step for the franchise.

Gonzalez received one lone third place vote for Most Valuable Player. It’s not much, but it was another owner recognizing that while Jack didn’t post the average and OBP of some stars, he provided plenty that was valuable to his club. Teammate Billy Marty, a computer-generated star teammate of Jack’s, took the MVP award. The Battle Cats swept the awards that season (a league first).

I was starting to realize something. Jack hadn’t missed a game since August 25th, 2009 and we were about to start 2012. He had started every game since 8/31/09, as well. And we were winning like the old days. It was fun.

Then came 2012.

Jack was even better.

I’m the father of a toddler, so I’m not going to go overboard and say that watching what Jack did in 2012 is like watching your baby grow up, but man… I’ve experienced the sim baseball equivalent.

Jack was off and running right out of the gate in 2012. He had nine homers and 23 RBI by the end of April. Nice start, but I’d seen this before. He had just a .250 average in June (even that’s not terrible for Jack), but he gave us eight more homers and (get this) 29 RBI for the month. That’s 17 home runs and 52 RBI by the end of May. That’s okay… he’ll slow down at the All Star break, right?

Wrong. June came and Jack had his biggest month, hitting .309 with ten homers and slugging .778 for the month. He became an All Star for the third time. At about the statistical mid-way point of the season, Gonzalez had 27 home runs and 75 RBI. July came and so did ten more home runs and 22 more RBI. This was starting to get a bit crazy. Jack, with 37 homers, had already eclipsed his career high in homers. And there were two months left of the season.

In August, Jack “dipped” to eight homers, but hit .316. During the month, I decided to go ahead and extend him even though he was not due for a contract until the end of 2013. For $2.3 million per season (remember, about $6.9 million in MLB money), I had Jack signed up for five more years (six including 2013). He would be a Battle Cat through age 39.

Finally, in September, Jack showed signs of slowing down. He hit five homrers, giving him a grand total of 50 on the year. He hit just .238, but that only brought his average down to .275, still a career high. He still drove in 21 (meaning that in all six months, he drove in 20+ runs), giving him 141 on the year. He posted a .338 OBP and .590 slugging percentage, both career highs, and also reached new highs in hits (167), doubles (34), runs (97), and triples (4), while tying his high in walks (53).

In September, he also passed the 500 consecutive games started mark, simply remarkable for a catcher. His current totals are 515 consecutive games played, 511 consecutive starts. This season was also his tenth straight 20 homer season from the start of his career, a feat no other computer-generated player in the league can boast.

In addition to his gaudy numbers, Gonzalez posted numbers with runners in scoring position of .301/.343/.613 with 12 homers in 163 at bats. His Close/Late numbers were .311/.373/.622 with 6 homers in 74 at bats. These numbers, and his league leading home run and RBI totals, helped him win his first Most Valuable Player award. Gonzalez was named first on twelve of the twenty ballots. Needless to say, I was ecstatic.

We won our third straight division title and tied our club win record of 98 (originally set back in 2003). After dropping the first two games of the LDS, we unfortunately found ourselves with our backs against the wall in the playoffs. Jack had enough in him for one more dramatic showing. We pulled off Game 3 on a 2-run ninth inning homer by Jack’s teammate, Billy Marty. In Game 4, with our season still hanging by a thread, Jack hit a pair of two run homers to power us to an 8-0 win. However, we dropped Game 5, 3-0, ending what should have been a much better season.

As we’re heading into 2013, Jack’s 11th season with the club, he is 33 years old and is starting to build some impressive career totals. He is only batting .235, but with 1229 hits so far, he seems to have a good shot at 2000 (especially with playing every day now). He has 292 homers, making 400 for his career seem very likely. If he keeps hitting homers at a 50 homer pace, of course he could get more. He is under contract for six more seasons. If he averages 30 in those years (a dropoff of 20 from last season), that would put him at 472. Can’t complain about that.

This article was not meant to be a biography of Jack Gonzalez. But I think his story really illustrates my point about baseball simulation. In fantasy baseball, there certainly is some sense of pride if you draft a Justin Verlander and he dominates. But how much pride can you take? It was the scouting director that found him and the general manager that drafted him to the pros, not you. With simulation, you can take more pride in this because you did it yourself. Nobody did the dirty work of getting the player to the big leagues besides you.

There are many reasons why I prefer baseball simulation over fantasy baseball. But I have to say that #1 on the list is definitely Jack Gonzalez, and all that goes along with him. He’s my baseball pride and joy—the guy I’ve brought up. Can you get these types of feelings in fantasy baseball?

I never did.

This week, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia won the American League Most Valuable Player award.

This is big for me. You can see a history of my Pedroia infatuation by looking at Twitter’s archives or even seeing who I use as subject matter when unveiling redesigns.

So, why do I care? From the time I was ten, there was a certain player I gravitated towards certain types of players. One of those was the Pedroia mold. The bust-yer-ass dirt dog. These guys never had the raw talent, but always made the most of it. For this reason, they never really won awards. They just get pats on the ass when they do their job. And they’re fine with that. And I’ve always been fine with that.

But today, one of them (Pedroia) received a major award. I can’t help but feel like part of it.

Who else fits the bill of “My Guys”? Why, I’m glad you (might have) asked!

In the Pedroia “dirt dog” mold, the Red Sox have had quite a few. But let’s start with my favorite baseball player of all time.

My favorite baseball player of all time is Pete Incaviglia. I’ve always said that I love strikeouts—I love pitchers to get ‘em and hitters to get ‘em. Pete had mammoth power. He jumped directly to the major leagues after hitting (in three seasons) an NCAA record 100 home runs (a record that still stands… think about that) and being named the Collegiate Baseball Player of the Century. He crushed home runs with great frequency, but also piled up majestic strikeouts with even greater frequency.

My favorite Pete Incaviglia stories revolve around his hustle. Defensively, the guy was just a train wreck. But that didn’t stop him from trying. I like this tidbit from Baseball Library:

He showed that desire with the Phils in 1994 when he injured his shoulder crashing into the outfield wall on a ball he had almost no chance on.

That shows the type of guy he was. And… he always wanted to play. He may have skipped the minor leagues the first time around, but he certainly didn’t at the end of his career. During the strike in 1994, he went to play in Japan for his old manager (Bobby Valentine). In 1999, his AAA team loaned him to a team in the Mexican league. In 2000, he couldn’t get a job in affiliated baseball, so he played for three years in the Independent Leagues, the last season doubling as hitting coach (for his friend, manager Mitch Williams).

After three years as a minor league hitting coach in the Detroit system, he took a gig as a manager in 2008—also in the independent leagues. He reached the playoffs in his first year, though, and I’m quite proud of him.

Years and years and years ago, I even built a site for Pete. I was contacted by his personal assistant and the biography I wrote is even used on Pete’s own site.

Before there was Pedroia, there was Christopher Trotman Nixon. Trot Nixon is the original Red Sox dirt dog. He’s also the reason I will never, ever like J.D. Drew. Not just because he signed for big money and took Trot’s roster spot. But he had the nerve… the AUDACITY… to take his #7. Unforgivable, and I’ll never be comfortable with Drew in a Red Sox uniform because of it.

If you hear me say crazy things about how much money the Red Sox should give Jason Varitek this offseason, remember I’m just a panicked man in love. If I could have been a major league baseball player, I would have wanted to be just like Jason Varitek. Tek has something Inky and Trot don’t—appearances on MVP ballots. He ranked between 21st and 30th in the voting in the three years from 2003 to 2005.

Alas, Varitek and his agent (Scott Boras) are asking for a four year deal worth $52 million. What do I think he should get? I think he should get a two year deal worth $24 million. Also, he should have an option of a third year (at $12 million) that will be automatically triggered if he reaches certain stats. Like what? I’ll throw out 850 at bats between the two seasons. And if he is named to an All Star team or finishes Top 15 or so in the MVP voting (either year), it is automatically triggered.

Pedroia isn’t the only 5′9″ second baseman in Red Sox history that fits the scrappy dirt dog bill. A couple decades ago, I would tell you my favorite Red Sox player was Jody Reed (Also was a big Greenwell fan). Reed was awesome. Think Pedroia with a bushy mustache and less power. In 1990, Reed finished 18th in the MVP voting thanks to a .289 average and 45 doubles.

Sweet tidbit from Wikipedia:

An amusing sidelight to Reed’s career was his description on the back of one of his baseball cards: “Jody is a dangerous bunter.”

Dirt dogs aren’t the only type of player I gravitate towards.

Like I said, I’ve always liked the fireball pitchers. For that reason, my favorite major league pitcher today is Kerry Wood. I know he has not lived up to his MASSIVE potential (he’s never received a single Cy Young vote, but was a Rookie of the Year), but I’m a huge fan nonetheless. I’d love to see him in a Boston uniform.

One reason I immediately latched onto Kerry was because he was supposed to be the second coming of my favorite pitcher of ALL TIME—Nolan Ryan. While he was a crafty veteran (who could still bring it) later in his career, Ryan spent the early part of his career defining another “type” of player I’ve always loved—the pitcher who could throw a million miles an hour but had no idea where it was going. For a season emblematic of that, look at 1977. Ryan threw 299 innings and fanned 341 batters. He also walked 204 batters (second most all time to a 19-year old Bob Feller). Funny thing is… he only allowed 198 hits.

Many people remember Ryan for being the all-time AND single-season strikeout record holder. Some may know he’s first all time in fewest hits allowed per nine innings. But not many realize he is the all time walk record holder and the all time wild pitch record holder. And for good measure, he’s 11th all time in hit batsmen.

Ryan never did win a Cy Young Award, though he finished second once, third twice, fourth once, fifth twice, eighth once, and ninth once. He placed in the MVP voting seven times, peaking at 14th place.

Of course, what relief pitcher do I like? Well, it would have to be the “Wild Thing” himself, right? It’s Mitch Williams. Mitch, a teammate of Inky in both Texas and Philly, has the most career innings pitched (691) for any pitcher that has allowed more walks (544) than hits (537) in a career. I love his 1987 numbers—in 109 innings, he allowed just 63 hits and struck out 129 batters. But… he also walked 94 guys. Get this though… Mitch Williams finished Top 10 in the Cy Young voting twice, and even finished 10th in the MVP voting once.

We could go on and on. I used to feverishly collect baseball cards of Ozzie Guillen and Benito Santiago. Ozzie? Well, he just got no love. He was a wizard on defense… just happened to be the second best shortstop named Ozzie. Of course, now he’s a headline-grabbing manager. And Benito? Well, I was a catcher. Santiago could throw guys out from his knees. That’s pretty much awesome.

So, who were your guys?

Imagine if we never saw Manny Delcarmen pitch.

Okay, maybe that didn’t catch you. I’ll try again.

Imagine if we never had to face Mariano Rivera.

Thirty years before Dr. Bill Morgan sutured Curt Schilling’s ankle, Dr. Frank Jobe performed a procedure that altered the future of baseball. Dr. Jobe took a ligament from Tommy John’s right (non-pitching) arm and inserted it in his left elbow.

In an interview with WEEI on September 10th, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus mentioned that no pitcher who had Tommy John surgery is in the Hall of Fame (though either John Smoltz or Rivera will be the first). What caught my attention is that he went on to say that he believed Jobe himself should be in the Hall for this contribution to the game.

Sound crazy? It isn’t without precedent. There actually is an “Executives/Pioneers” group in the Hall. Of the group’s 26 inductees, most are executives. But there are some pure pioneers. Ware, MA native Candy Cummings, for example, was elected for inventing the curveball. Early sportswriter Henry Chadwick—creator of the box score and the first baseball statistics—is enshrined.

Jobe’s case goes beyond elbow reconstruction. In a CNN Money article, Chris Isidore writes “He also was an innovator in repairing shoulders and knees. And his innovation that gets no attention but has had great impact on the game was the rehabilitation process he and his partners devised for athletes recovering from surgery.”

Upon bringing Jobe back for a 44th season in 2008, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said “If ever a person had Hall of Fame credentials, it is this history-making medical pioneer.”

Not only are Delcarmen and Paul Byrd current Sox who have undergone the procedure, pitching coach John Farrell also did. Kyle Snyder, who appeared in two April games before being designated for assignment, had it as a minor leaguer.

Among 2007 Red Sox, Brendan Donnelly ended his short stint in Boston with an appointment for a Tommy John surgery. He returned this season with Cleveland.

Oh, and Eric Gagn√©, but let’s not talk about him.

Rivera and Smoltz aren’t the only big names. After his magical rookie year in 1998, Kerry Wood had it. Following his record of saves in 54 consecutive chances (while with the Sox), Tom Gordon needed the TJ. And let’s not forget it was against Boston (with Texas) that Jose Canseco took the hill to pitch the only game of his career. The appearance resulted in a 27.00 ERA and Tommy John surgery.

Many feel that Marvin Miller should be inducted for ushering in the era of free agency. Like Jobe, Miller never set a foot on a pitcher’s mound or in a batter’s box, but his influence on the game has been enormous.

If Jobe had devised the groundbreaking procedure just eight years earlier, imagine the career numbers we would have seen out of Sandy Koufax…

I’ve considered opening a Twitter account just for short little baseball facts, but the sabermetrician in me realizes I probably need a bit more. Turns out, WEEI (the local—and the nation’s top rated—sports talk radio station) is looking for “The Next Great Sports Blogger”. They just relaunched their website and rolled out a bunch of blogs—but are looking for two more.

I can totally do this.

The contest page states:

Starting on Sept. 2, contestants who believe they have the blogging chops can submit a sample post on WEEI.com. Entries can be up to 500 words and should focus on the Boston sports scene, reflecting the author’s wit, creativity, sports knowledge and unique perspective in a piece of work that will stand out from a sea of candidates. The deadline for submissions will be Sept. 30.

What do I bring to the table?

I’m not going to be a “current events” blogger. The last thing we’d need to read is one more story about how violent Dustin Pedroia’s swing is (as much as I do love him), another Jason Bay/Manny Ramirez comparison, or more injury updates. For example, in the past I’ve written about certain positions and their lack of Hall of Famers (such as catcher, relief pitcher, and third base), specific interesting characters of the game (such as Deacon McGuire and Rick Ankiel), the difference between fantasy baseball and simulation (it’s huge), and other more obscure topics.

What should I submit?

My first submission should be a reflection of what I plan to write. So, the themes of what I wrote seem to be:

• History
• Numbers
• Hall of Fame

I’d really like to touch on a couple of these in my entry. Given the 500-word limit, that could be tricky (for example, the catcher article was merely 4,469 words). So, I’m asking you what you think a good first topic would be. Let me throw out some ideas:

Ideas

• Rating Theo’s Drafts: With Michael Bowden getting the call recently, all five of the Sox #1 picks in 2005 have made the majors (Ellsbury, Hanson, Buchholz, Lowrie, Bowden). That probably would make it his best draft, but how do the others rank (so far) as well?
• What’s Rice Up Against?: Jim Rice will get his 15th and final try at the Hall of Fame this winter. Who is he up against? Who else is returning? Will he make it? Should he? Who else should?
• Reflecting on Dauber: Look at the franchise all-time leaders in slugging percentage. Lots of obvious names… Williams, Rice, Ramirez, Vaughn. Oh, but look who’s tied for tenth? Brian Daubach. I could recap some of the highlights from this fan favorite.
• The Slow Sox: Earlier, Jacoby Ellsbury looked like he was going to challenge Boston’s single season stolen base record. Of course, the season record of 54 looks more like a good two months for Rickey Henderson. Who are the top speedsters in Sox history? Seriously, who ARE these guys? Harper and Hooper? Werber and Wagner?
• Remember Bob Stanley: Bob Stanley’s name has come up a couple times this year—Tim Wakefield pitched in his 500th game with the Sox, second only to Stanley. Jonathan Papelbon moved into second place on the club’s all time save list—behind Stanley. I’d reflect back on his 13 year career (all with Boston).

Do any of these look any good? I’ll be honest. Just while I was making this list I came up with the stolen base one. I might be leaning towards that one. But I’m going to put it out to you, dear readers…

What topic (either listed above or not) should I use for my submission?

Comments incredibly greatly appreciated!

I’m kind of genetically configured to root for the underdog. I’ve been an Apple/Mac user since 1986. I’ve been a Red Sox fan for about that long (take out The Francona Era and that’s a lot of underdoggedness). I listen to indie rock. And I love baseball players that don’t have the god-given talent, but man, they make the most of what they have.

Pete Incaviglia had one god-given talent—raw, uncontrolled power. The man could bash a baseball. He skipped the minors (after clubbing 100 NCAA homers, still a record) and went right to the big leagues after he ripped a part of the wall down in spring training with a line drive. He clubbed 30 homers that rookie year. But he also struck out a rookie record 185 times. He’s swung as hard as he could in case he hit it. The problem is, pitchers figured out what he couldn’t hit.

But the man still tried. If he ran into a wall trying to catch a fly ball, he shook his head, got back up, and heaved the ball to the infield. There’s a reason teams kept giving him chances. If you’re a jackass, it’s much easier to let you fade into unemployement (see Bonds, Barry). Inky was a gamer.

For these reasons, I was a huge fan. Many years back, I built a small website dedicated to Inky, his college career, and his unheralded but entertaining big league career. More recently, I even recorded an episode for the Baseball History Podcast dedicated to Inky.

This year, after taking a year off following three years coaching in the Tigers system, Inky has his first regular season managerial gig. He’s at the helm of an independent team in the American Association, the brand new Grand Prarie AirHogs.

Last week, I got this email:

Adam:
Hello, I am the media relations director with the Grand Prairie AirHogs baseball team. We are a new independent league team in the American Association and Pete Incaviglia is going to be our manager for the first season. I stumbled onto your website searching for information on him, and noticed you had a very well pieced together biography on him (I assume you wrote it?). I wanted to know if I could get your permission to use that biography (or at least parts of it) in our inaugural game program. I would absolutely credit you for writing it and would even make sure to get you an autographed copy of the program (signed by Pete of course). Let me know if this sounds ok, your website looked real sharp.

Thanks
-Alan

I said yes.

How cool is that? Turns out that after all these years, that little web site I made ranks third on Google when you search for “Pete Incaviglia”, right after mega-sites Baseball-Reference.com and Wikipedia.

Hard to believe there aren’t more sites dedicated to the all time home run leader among players with names beginning with “I”…

This year’s ballot is seen as a weaker one (no Ripken/Gwynn slam dunks this time around) that will give some holdovers a chance of getting in. Before getting into those holdovers, I want to cover the players on the ballot for the first time. I’ll start with the players who do not get my “vote” first.

New Candidates: The “No” List

• Brady Anderson: Three exceptional seasons, but spread out and with the career totals not warranting much of a look. Excelled in the playoffs.
• Rod Beck: Died tragically this past June. Had some dominant seasons but is way down the non-Hall reliever chart.
• Shawon Dunston: Not much on offense, but a defensive treat.
• Chuck Finley: 200 game winners don’t grow on trees anymore. Good pitcher for a long time, but he’s no Hershiser and Hershiser is off the ballot after two seasons.
• Travis Fryman: 5-time All Star and 1-time Gold Glover had nice power for a 3B/SS. If he kept it going longer, he would warrant a look.
• David Justice: If he could have stayed healthy, he would have been a great candidate. But he and his .878 OPS and 129 OPS+ were always on the DL.
• Chuck Knoblauch: One of the better offensive second basemen and a solid defender until he developed a tic that made him unable to field his position. He retired too early to be considered.
• Robb Nen: Pitched the minimum number of years to get on the ballot. Five more like the ten he had would have made a great Hall case.
• Jose Rijo: Dominated when healthy. Too bad that was so rare. Posted fantastic ERAs from 1990-1993.
• Todd Stottlemyre: Another average pitcher that managed to throw 14 seasons as a big leaguer. Not an easy feat. That’s why these guys get on the ballot.

New Candidates: The Lone “Yes”

• Tim Raines: He didn’t get 3000 hits (“only” 2605). But that’s because the guy had a great eye and drew 1330 walks. (Neither Babe Ruth nor Ted Williams had 3000 hits.) The 3977 times on base give him a .294 average and a sweet .385 on base percentage. His .425 slugging percentage pushes his OPS+ to 123 (100 would mean he hit the league average). This is remarkable given the fact that he also stole 808 bases (and holds the record for highest success rate of anyone with 300 or more steals). His longevity, a streak of dominance, and impressive final totals makes him an overwhelming yes for me.

Here is where some may disagree with me. I believe the Hall shouldn’t be as hard to get into as some. Why? Well, it hasn’t been in the past. We have a lot of players in there that have already lessened the honor of getting in. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge honor. But I don’t think it should just be Babe Ruth and Ted Williams in there. I believe the Hall should welcome guys like Jim Kaat (283 wins and 16 Gold Gloves) and Bill Freehan (11-time All Star, 5 Gold Golves, excellent hitting catcher).

So, since the list is longer, I give you my “Yes votes” for returning candidates first:

Returning Candidates: The “Yes” List

• Rich Gossage (71.2%): I’d guess this is the year he gets in, and it’s way overdue. I mean, really. What’s the case against him? The only way you could be against Gossage getting in is if you are against relievers getting in altogether. And that’s crap. There are few in—and Gossage was actually a much better candidate than Bruce Sutter. He saved 300 when that was a big deal. He posted a 3.01 ERA. Sure Rollie Fingers had a 2.90 ERA, but you have to consider ERA+. Fingers posted a 119 ERA+ while Gossage was 126. Find the flaw with Gossage and let me know. He was intimidating. He dominated. He had longevity.
• Jim Rice (63.5%): For a while, nobody was more feared. Injuries took him down early, but what has stalled his induction more than that was his frosty relationship with the media. It was tough to love Jim Rice. But it was easy to respect him. Despite just 14 full seasons, he collected 2452 hits, 382 homers, 1451 RBI, a .298 average, a .502 slugging percentage, a 128 OPS+, and an MVP years in one of the most dominating campaigns ever (1978). I’m not just a homer on this. I have no emotional attachment to Jim Rice. He’s just a Hall of Famer.
• Andre Dawson (56.7%): I don’t feel quite as strongly about Dawson as some, and that probably has to do with his rate stats (.279/.323/.482). But one also has to remember, he played in some very offensively poor years, giving him an OPS+ of 119. And the defense. He had the kind of glove and arm (eight Gold Gloves) that pushes a borderline candidate over. The 438 home runs, 1591 RBI, and 314 stolen bases sure help. He’s also a Rookie of the Year and MVP Award winner.
• Bert Blyleven (47.7%): If I only got one vote (for new or returning candidates), Blyleven is it. This one stumps me. He won 287 games. Everyone ahead of him is either a Hall of Famer or a cinch to be one (except for 19th century pitcher Bobby Mathews—but I don’t know his story). He’s 13th all time in innings, with 12 HoFers ahead of him. He’s fifth all time in strikeouts (third when he retired). Again, all legends along there with him. Ninth in shutouts. Yup, 8 HoFers ahead of him (and the 13 pitchers after him). His ERA was 3.31 against a league ERA of 3.90, good enough for a 118 ERA+. Seriously, what’s the deal here? He was only an All Star twice? He never won a Cy Young Award? Maybe All Star and Cy Young voters were as clueless as the Hall of Fame voters.
• Lee Smith (39.8%): I’m in favor of more relievers being put in the Hall, so I must support the all time save leader (before Trevor Hoffman passed him), right? Well, yes and no. I don’t really care much about the save stat. It’s very empty and circumstantial. However, Lee Smith is a Hall of Famer. His 131 ERA+ (3.03 vs. 3.97 league average) dominates Gossage and Fingers. His strikeout ratio was just sick. 478 saves saves. That’s a gaudy number. He was a 7-time All Star. I just don’t get it. It can only be traced back to a reliever bias. Voters just don’t like ‘em.
• Jack Morris (37.1%): I go back and forth on Big Jack. I’m a big, big ERA (and ERA+) guy. Big time. So, how could I possibly support a pitcher who would become the HoFer with the highest ERA if inducted? That’s why I go back and forth. He won the most games of anyone in the 1980s. He has a great winning percentage. He dominated (I mean dominated) October. Perhaps my feelings of Morris are a bit skewed because I stayed up to watch Game 7. I’m not hurt that he’s not in, but I’d love to see this workhorse get in.
• Mark McGwire (23.5%): Last year, I wrote “I’m not a police officer. We don’t have a positive drug test (though I’m not naive, and supposedly the government has damning documents). But MLB has allowed him to reach the ballot, so I feel it is the voters’ responsibility to vote on the merit of his candidacy. They did not allow this debate to happen with Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. MLB needs to take this matter into its own hands and not let Hall of Fame voting be as vague as the enigma that is the MVP award.” I believe the playing career speaks for itself.
• Tommy John (22.9%): Why are some records not taken seriously? Like, playing 26 seasons. It’s considered a bad thing? Tommy John could keep a job in the bigs for 26 years. He won 288 games. He started 700 games. He won 20 games three times. He posted a 3.34 ERA compared with the league’s mark of 3.69 (110 ERA+). He ranks 15th all time in batters faced in a career (12 HoFers, Blyleven, and Clemens ahead of him). He was 6-3 with a 2.65 ERA in the postseason. He pitched until he was 46. He has a friggin’ surgery named after him. Can’t all of these things add up to a Hall of Fame career?
• Alan Trammell (13.4%): Another that I go back and forth on, I wouldn’t mind seeing Trammell get in. For a defensive shortstop, 2365 hits, 185 homers, 236 steals, a .285 average, three Silver Sluggers, and a 110 OPS+ are quite excellent. He also had four Gold Gloves and an MVP award. Some guy named Ripken overshadowed him throughout his career. He deserves more love than the 13.4% he got last year.

Returning Candidates: The “No” List

• Dave Concepcion (13.6%, and his last year on the ballot): He has his supporters out there, but every single one of them must have seen him in person. His offensive stats aren’t Hall-worthy at all. His OPS+ of 88 was well below the league average. But with five Gold Gloves, he must have been a treat to see.
• Dave Parker (11.4%): I will tell you this. I like Dave Parker, but he didn’t reach any of the magical milestones. And for a guy that didn’t do that, one number really jumps out at me: 339. He has both a .339 career on base percentage and 339 home runs. For him to have a chance, one of those would have to be much better.
• Don Mattingly (9.9%): His peak is as good as anyone, but injuries really dragged him down. I’ll tell you two things. First, I’m shocked he hasn’t gotten more support. Second, if he did get in, I’d have no problem with it whatsoever. It’d be one of those short-career-Puckett-type inductions. But alas, he has no chance at this point, and I’m not passionate enough about him to put him on the yes list.
• Dale Murphy (9.2%): While Murphy is on my “No” list, he’s the one on the “No” list that I support the most. In fact, if you catch me on a good day, I call him a “Yes”. Five Gold Gloves, four Silver SLuggers, back-to-back MVPs. I wish he had gotten those two extra home runs because I really think he’d be looked at differently if he was a 400 home run hitter.
• Harold Baines (5.3%): With 2866 hits and 1628 RBI, we have a new leader among eligible non-Hall of Famers in both categories. Baines played forever and was a really good player. That’s what he was. A really good player. Right below Hall status, in my mind. And for a really long time. That is nothing to take lightly. I’m a Baines fan. Over 22 seasons, he posted a 120 OPS+. That is very, very impressive. It’s much easier to do that in 12 years than it is in 22. I will say this, though. Baines (2866 hits, 384 home runs, 1628 RBI, .289/.356/.465, 120 OPS+) is no less Hall-worthy than Hall of Famer Tony Perez (2732, 379, 1652, .279/.341/.463, 122 OPS+).

So, there it is—my Hall of Fame ballot. If you’re going to make me rank the my choices in order, I’ll offer:

1. Blyleven
2. McGwire
3. Raines
4. Gossage
5. Rice
6. Smith
7. John
8. Dawson
9. Morris
10. Trammell

Yeah, that’s how much I like Blyleven. Of course, my favorite pitcher ever is Nolan Ryan and the two were actually quite similar. McGwire… since he made the ballot, I rate him on playing career alone. Then Raines, Gossage, Rice, and Smith round out my slam dunks.

So, tell me. Who is on your ballot?

And today is Ella’s third birthday. To celebrate, here’s a video of her celebrating her team’s latest work. Ella was born just a few days after what we now call around here, “2004”. Nice to know that a few days after every Red Sox World Championship, we’ll have something else to celebrate.

But on to another thing I wanted to write about. I actually wanted to write this post after Game 3 of the World Series, but didn’t have time before the boys pulled it off. But here it goes anyway.

An Open Letter to Terry Francona

Dear Tito:

I felt the need to get this off my chest once Game 3 of the World Series was in the books. I really can’t stand the amount of heat you take in this town. The nail in the coffin was an EEI caller (of course) the morning of Game 4 absolutely blasting you—for moving Dustin Pedroia down into the #2 spot. Never mind the fact that your normal #2 was not starting because of NL rules… or the fact that Dustin hit #2 most of the year… or that the new #1 (Tacoby) was red hot (and ended up with four hits). No, he though your head should roll over that.

I figured you needed someone to say what needs to be said. That for many of us, you are the greatest Red Sox manager in our lifetime. The only people that might not be able to make that claim were alive for Joe Cronin’s clubs.

It is not just this fan base that has this sick sense of entitlement since they jumped on the bandwagon three years ago. It is some atrocious members of the media that think the sky is falling with every loss. It is some of the personalities you have to deal with on the club itself—but you have been a master at making that no longer an issue.

Just remember that while the loudest ones out there are the ones that criticize, it is the quiet ones that truly appreciate what you have done for this organization and for the region as a whole. I sincerely hope you’ll manage in this town as long as you can put up with us.

Thanks,
adam

Oh, and one more complaint about Red Sox fans. I figured there’d be some good discussion on talk radio the day after the Sox won it. I turned it on. After three straight callers talking about A-Rod, I turned it off and flipped on a podcast about Red Barber.

My buddy Adam Kearns (owner of the Las Vegas Aces) has recently started blogging. Basically, I was tired of all his (admittedly funny) stories keeeeeling my cell minutes, so I told him to blog it. Apparently, this made sense (as he had to tell the same stories to folks over and over).

His latest post is about his TWML involvement. Just so you know, the kid uses my own site much more than I do. He got back from lunch today and decided to check in on his beloved Aces. I’ll let him tell it:

To my surprise, it was blocked. I called a techy I know, since the web site has always worked. He said if it got added to the blocked list and no one complained about it because it was offensive, it was blocked because of the total usage on the server. They don’t typically monitor individual computer usage. When I told him the nature of the site and that I was probably the only of the 66,000 or so people who access the work off the various servers, his only response was, “Wow…so you really got it blocked all by yourself, huh?”

Read the whole post. Good shit. Apparently the site has been blocked for all state employees in Ohio. Nice.

Holy crap. He did it.

You may or may not know that I run a baseball simulation league. Basically, starting with the 2000 season, we broke from Major League reality and carry our own baseball league out via software. In 2000, Rick Ankiel was the biggest pitching prospect since probably Dwight Gooden. Well, in our sim league (now in the year 2016 because software allows you to speed things up), Ankiel fulfilled his potential and is sitting with 300 career victories.

In real life, it didn’t really work out that way. At age 20 in 2000, Ankiel looked like he was going to live up to the hype. He won 11 games and posted a 3.50 ERA, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting. But it all fell apart in the playoffs. In four innings, Ankiel walked 11 batters. He simply lost all control. It hit rock bottom when he set a modern record by throwing five wild pitches in one inning.

He would never recover. He struggled mightily in 2001 and missed all of 2002 with an injury. 2003 was equally disastrous as he pitched poorly at the AA level. In 2004, he actually made his way back to the majors, posting a 5.40 ERA in ten big league innings. He looked like he may be back.

However, in the spring of 2005, he shocked the Cardinals by retiring. As a pitcher. He decided that he had tried it as hard as he could. But he was going to embark on another career… as an outfielder.

21 home runs and 75 RBI in 85 minor league games in 2005 made people think that maybe this wasn’t such a crazy idea.

Unfortunately, Ankiel missed the entire 2006 season again with an injury. I can’t imagine how deflating that must have been to his momentum. But he picked up right where he left off in 2005, starting 2007 in AAA, one level below the big leagues. He is currently leading the entire minor leagues in home runs with 32. And he just got “the call” for the second time in his life.

He’s coming back to the major leagues—as a hitter, instead of a pitcher. It is really an amazing story. I wish Rick all the luck in the world.

So, with all the different ways to sort, there was no ideal way.

Man, I could have used tags.

Think about it. If you were able to tag your physical objects (like baseball cards), instead of just having a 1987 Topps Nolan Ryan card in a binder, you could tag it as “1987 topps nolanryan houstonastros pitcher favorites ryan rhp sp hof”. Then, if you wanted to pull up all your 1987 Topps baseball cards, you just select the tags “1987″ and “topps”. If you wanted all your Astros cards, just “houstonastros”. If you wanted all your favorites, just “favorites”. And so on.

Man, that would have saved me an awful lot of sorting. But then again, perhaps that was a big part of the fun.

Photo courtesy of mlb.com

I’ve blogged before about baseball players blogging. Why am I so fascinated? Well, just like big corporations, baseball players have always been perceived as unapproachable by the average joe. Blogging breaks down that boundary. And it’s refreshing.

Even though I’ve visited these sites, I’ve never taken that step to add it to the blogs I subscribe to. It’s cool that they’re blogging, but I haven’t found that player who I want to read everything that he has to say (no, not even Schilling—I guess I have very high standards).

Well, I finally found one that I added to Newshutch. First, a little background…

Like many in Red Sox Nation, I simply adored Christopher Trotman Nixon. There’s really not enough space to elaborate on why… just that he was the ultimate dirt dog. Well, the Red Sox decided not to bring him back this season. That crushed me. Hell, I think I tried to get Ella’s middle name to be Trotman. But here we were this season, and some other guy was in right field. (Let’s not even get into the fact that “that guy” stole #7…)

There are lots of other Red Sox players I like. Tim Wakefield. Jason Varitek. Of course, Big Pap√≠. I had a lot of space in the ol’ heart to be filled though. And the player that slid in there was someone I’ve been rooting for since he was the “fat third baseman” in Moneyball, Kevin Youkilis.

Youk is a seriously good player, but he’s also a goofball. He would always take part in Bronson Arroyo’s musical antics, goof around in the dugout, whatever it took. I like a ballplayer that doesn’t take himself too seriously. When Curt Schilling started blogging, folks on WEEI were debating who would be a good blogger on the Sox. Steve Buckley through Youk out there. John Dennis disagreed, but I was very intrigued by the idea. Now he’s doing it.

One post in, the blog already looks like it is going to be a good one. He tells us about the inside-the-park home run and about how he and Dustin Pedroia (another new favorite) have a wager going about who is faster. I look forward to reading more.

Yooooouuuuukkkkk!

I’ve written before about blogging baseball players Curt Schilling and Pat Neshek. I’ve got another one to tell you about—C.J. Nitkowski.

These three blogs bring three very unique perspectives. Schilling, of course, is an absolute superstar. To see someone of his stature opening up like this (and leaving himself exposed) is downright rare. Neshek was blogging as a minor leaguer and brings the perspective of a youngster breaking into the big leagues.

C.J. brings something else. C.J. is a journeyman. Since he was drafted in 1994, he has been traded four times, signed as a free agent a dozen times, and released eight times—including four times in 2002 alone. He has played for eight big league teams (Detroit twice) and many more minor league teams. But it is the last transaction that makes C.J.’s blog so compelling.

This past offseason, he signed a contract with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan. He is documenting the experience on his site. It is interesting to see the perspective of an American player going overseas and learning the differences between the way the game is conducted in both countries. C.J. also is interviewed by MLB Radio from time to time, discussing baseball life in Japan, and of course, Daisuke Matsuzaka.

I find it interesting when anyone in the public eye—from Schilling to Zach Braff to John Edwards—takes the opportunity (and the risk) to open up and blog. While blogging is hard work, being able to connect with your fans/readers/followers on a more intimate level just has to be helping these people. Soon, I won’t be writing about who IS blogging. It will be finger-pointing about who doesn’t get it—who ISN’T connecting with fans.

Thanks to Uncle Mike and Auntie Shannon for getting Ella her first mitt for Easter!

Schilling photo courtesy of redperm on Flickr

Today, the buzz around Red Sox nation was that second year phenom Jonathan Papelbon would indeed not be moving the starting rotation, as Sox management had been saying all winter and spring. Instead, he’ll give an encore in the closer role that he dominated last season. Of course, none of this was confirmed… until Sox starting pitcher Curt Schilling blogged about it.

Schilling doesn’t even give an introduction to the issue at hand (the change in plans that involved Papelbon returning to the closer’s role). He just jumped right in:

No it wasn’t a rash decision brought about by uncertainty. I can promise you there were many meetings involving many people that occurred before this took place.

Curt Schilling is outspoken. This rubs a lot of people the wrong way. The traditional role for a baseball player is to shut up and play the game. But you know what? That was the traditional role for businesses as well. Things are changing. Pat Neshek gets it. And now Curt Schilling gets it.

On March 7th, Curt Schilling kicked off 38Pitches, his personal blog hosted at WordPress.com. He posts such topics as “Rest in Peace, Vuk” (in memory of John Vukovich), “Answering Random Questions”, and the classic “Why the media sucks“. While this may give some members of the front office headaches, I applaud this move.

The members of a baseball team blogging is not all that much different of the employees of a company blogging. When people are into something, they want to find out more about it. They don’t want the marketing stuff you’ll find on 37signals.com or Redsox.com. Well, they want that stuff too, but they want to dig deeper. 37signals (gotta bring up the Web 2.0 darlings) has their Signal vs. Noise blog that the employees contribute to. It gives an inside perspective of what their day to day jobs are like. It lets you know what is on their minds as they create great software.

Similarly, fans of a baseball team inevitably want to find out more about their favorite players. While there are some baseball gossip blogs out there, it is in players’ best interests to go ahead and start sharing what the fans want to hear. In fact, it is in the team’s best interest too, even if the content exposes some of the ugliness of contract situations and the like.

Boston Dirt Dogs archived bits of a Curt Schilling chat with Dennis & Callahan on WEEI. Schilling said there were half a million visitors in the first 11 days. He will no doubt find ways to monetize this traffic to help his noble charities: Curt’s Pitch for ALS and Shade.

For our final project, we had to do a 15-minute or so speech to try to elicit some emotion. So, I chose to talk about my favorite hobby: sim baseball. I recorded the speech and synced it up with the slides. I released it as an episode of our video podcast, The TWML Show.

Feel free to look at a few past episodes. Our 21 episodes of The TWML Show video podcast follows 57 episodes of TWML Radio, an audio podcast. Go figure, quick video clips are easier to produce.

From this year’s ballot, the new faces:

• Cal Ripken: There’s “The Streak”. There’s the MVPs. There’s the 3,000 hits. There’s really no question here. Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus called him “the best candidate on the ballot since Henry Aaron” this past weekend.
• Tony Gwynn: Never hit below .309 in a full year. .338 career average. 3,000 hits. Again, there’s no doubt here.
• Mark McGwire: I’m not a police officer. We don’t have a positive drug test (though I’m not naive, and supposedly the government has damning documents). But MLB has allowed him to reach the ballot, so I feel it is the voters’ responsibility to vote on the merit of his candidacy. They did not allow this debate to happen with Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. MLB needs to take this matter into its own hands and not let Hall of Fame voting be as vague as the enigma that is the MVP award.

Among the new faces, it is worth mentioning that Harold Baines will become the new all time hit and run batted in leader among eligible non-Hall of Famers. Also, I believe that Bret Saberhagen was on a Hall of Fame track before injuries derailed him. He gutted it out, but it no doubt affected his performance. Still, he retired with an ERA+ of 126.

And now, the returning candidates that I believe should be in:

• Bert Blyleven: A poor man’s Nolan Ryan. Blyleven played on similarly poor teams but won 287 games. His 3.31 ERA, 3701 strikeouts (5th all time), and 60 shutouts (9th all time) show his dominance. Then there’s the fact that he is tenth all time in games started and thirteenth in innings pitched. Call me crazy, but I think longevity is a good thing. Longevity AND dominance? Rare.
• Tommy John: Speaking of longevity, Tommy John pitched 26 seasons and won 288 games (most of any player not in the Hall). There’s the surgery named after him. Does a player get credit for taking that type of chance and coming back when nobody had ever done it before? Think of the doors he opened. Then again, how much is that worth to voters? Think of the doors Buck O’Neil opened. It’s not like all Tommy John did is hang on, too. He posted a 3.34 ERA in his career, won 20 games three times, and hurled over 4700 innings.
• Rich Gossage: Did Bruce Sutter deserve induction last year? Yes. Did he deserve induction over Gossage? No. I did a modern reliever analysis a while back. In fact, Gossage isn’t the only one I’d put in over Sutter. Gossage had 310 saves when they meant something. He posted a 3.01 ERA and was a multi-inning closer. If Gossage was elected, he’d be the second best reliever in the Hall, behind Wilhelm.
• Lee Smith: Now that the new closer role has been created by Eckersley, Lee Smith was really the first pitcher to make a definitive career out of it. It’s not just the 478 saves (#1 until Trevor Hoffman recently passed him) that made Smith so great. It was his 3.03 ERA when the league was posting a 3.99 ERA (giving him an obscene ERA+ of 132).
• Andre Dawson, Jim Rice, and Alan Trammell: Why is it that with some generations, the players have to be some sort of absolute superhuman to get inducted? I group these players together because it seemed that while they were active, everyone just assumed we were looking at Hall of Famers. Now, years later, our minds have been altered by the bloated stats of the modern era players. Hall of Famers need to be rated against their peers. These three players clearly stood out. Does the ticket to the Hall of 1980s players have to be 3000 hits? Robin Yount had an OPS+ of 115. Paul Molitor’s was 122. These guys had no problem. Rice’s is 128. Dawson’s is 119. Trammell’s is 110, but compare that to 1980’s shortstops (the elite, Cal Ripken, was 112).

As an endnote for the returning candidates, some say that Jim Rice’s relationship with the media (or lack thereof) has hurt him. Well, that’s nothing compared to Albert Belle. Kirby Puckett and Sandy Koufax had short careers and got in the Hall. Albert Belle’s play was on the same level as them, but he has not shot—he was really that much of a jackass. It’s very interesting that nobody is rallying to his defense.

There are a few players out there who are no longer eligible for the Hall that really should be in. Here are mine:

• Ron Santo: Let’s not screw this up like we screwed up Buck O’Neil. Santo is getting older and has been plagued by health problems. I’ve written about Santo and other third basemen before. Get this man in the Hall. There’s no reason he is not there already.
• Dan Quisenberry: My pet case. We already screwed this up. Dan passed away from a brain aneurysm. You’ll notice that I like the ERA+ and OPS+ stats (the ratio of ERA and OPS to the league average). Pedro Martinez has the best ERA+ ever with 160. Lefty Grove is behind him with 148. Then, four players are tied for third at 146—Walter Johnson, Joe Wood, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Quiz. Quiz’s ERA, 2.76, is better than all Hall of Fame relievers as well as Gossage and Smith—except Wilhelm.
• Bill Freehan, Wally Schang, and Ted Simmons: Compared to other positions, there are not enough catchers in the Hall. I did some research a while back attempting to see what players should fill the gap and these were the three I came up with. Simmons is the all time hit leader among catchers and somehow is not enshrined. The Schang vs. Schalk arguments are numerous. Schang was a dominant offensive player for man World Series winners. Freehan was a defensive wizard that holds many records for his glovework. he was a consistent power hitter with a great eye to boot.
• Buck O’Neil: Better late than never.

Thoughts?

Pat’s site, On the Road with Pat Neshek, isn’t just about baseball. He also writes about life, music, and autographs. In this day of inaccessible celebrities, it’s really nice to see a player stepping up to do this for his fans. Neshek may not yet be a celebrity (though judging by his minor league numbers, it’s just a matter of time), but he sets an example I hope more in his field follow.

This year (or maybe last year), Major League Baseball launched MLBlogs, a blog network with players past and present and baseball fans (the fans have to pay to have a blog hosted). Some players that have blogs on there include Tigers pitcher Nate Robertson, Devil Rays insanely-good second baseman Jorge Cantu, √ºberstud Met David Wright, and the Athletics’ Danny Haren. These blogs are great to see, although they don’t have the post frequency of Neshek’s. This, I’m guessing, is because blogging is a project that MLB approached these players about. They are trying it out, seeing how it is. For Neshek, this is something he was passionate about on his own.

It’s great to see Neshek step up and do it on his own, realizing the benefits it can do for both his fans and for developing his own following. Some entertainers get it (Zach Braff is a great example) while others can’t be bothered. There are a lot of young talented Twins pitchers over there in Minnesota. This one just got one more fan.

1. iTunes. I used to tout this as quite simply the most elegant application ever. It still is, despite some quirks as features are added (I don’t think they have quite master the podcatching, for example).

I was a big SoundJam fan in the past and thought it was a bummer when they were bought out by Apple. iTunes 1 was nice, but lacked a lot of SoundJam’s features. But then, it got better. Repeatedly. I don’t miss line-in recording direct to MP3 anymore because the user experience is so gosh darn good.

2. Macromedia Fireworks. Very rarely do I open Adobe Photoshop. Don’t get me wrong, Photoshop is a great application. But rarely do I do any work for print anymore. I find that I can better get a grasp of color within Macromedia Fireworks (I used to open the same file in Fireworks and Photoshop all the time and the color would be different. When looked at in a browser, it looked like the Fireworks file. Not sure why, but that made the decision pretty easy for me.)

I often don’t use Fireworks for what others use it for, too. Lots of folks like to slice up big images to build HTML from (argh! where are the standards!) or make dynamic drop-down menus (I hear Fireworks is using CSS now). I use it for design—not just actions and optimization.

For example, when I need to build something like this mockup, I do it in Fireworks.

3. iMovie. I used to make movies of my cat in iMovie. That was fun. Then I had a daughter. This is where the true power of iMovie comes in.

At six months of age and one year of age, I produced 45-60 minute movies of my daughter, Ella, complete with short video segments, animated photos, and music. Family members love it, I love it, and some day I hope Ella loves. it.

4. BBEdit, BBEdit Lite, TextWrangler. How the hell can a text editor change your life? Well, I can’t explain it, but when it is made by Bare Bones software, it can.

At my previous job, we had the full version of BBEdit (OS 9 days) and I had the Lite version at home. Well, at my new job, they bought me Dreamweaver so I felt bad about asking for a $199 text editor, so I started using TextWrangler, Bare Bones’ new free text editor.

How is this thing free? It is so good that I barely miss BBEdit. I actually have an old copy of BBEdit Lite installed just for the “Copy Lines Containing” and “Auto Number Rows” features. I bet if I looked a bit, I could get these into TextWrangler, but then I’d officially give up BBEdit Lite… which might make for a sad day.

5. Out of the Park Baseball 2. Well, the last app on the list is the only Windows app (I run it with Virtual PC) on the list. And the sheer amount of my time I give this app probably means this list is in “no particular order.”

I use OOTP2 to run my baseball sim league, the Ted Williams Memorial League. It is a (pretty much) text based baseaball simulator that has such features as career mode, a solid financial model, and an easy interface. There are a ton of new versions (including a Mac version of the latest), but upgrading about five versions is pretty much impossible for an existing league. Besides, I’ve used the new version and there’s just too daunting of a user experience. This version is simple, and while buggy, it gets the job done.