It took Tony Gwynn 15 rounds of voting and more total appearances on voter ballots than any other player so far (he never appeared on fewer than 20% of the ballots in any round and topped 40% five times), but he has finally made it, as the 23rd player inducted into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.  More on Tony, and on the latest voting results, after the jump. Continue reading →

The NL roster for the All-Star Game currently consists of 20 everyday players and 13 pitchers.

Going purely on total 2013 Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-reference version) for everyday players, 13 of those 20 everyday players are also in the top 20 in WAR among NL everday players this season: Molina and Posey at catcher, Goldschmidt and Votto at first, Matt Carpenter at second, Wright at third, Tulowitzki, Cabrera and Segura at short, and in the outfield the Carloses Gomez and Gonzalez, Domonic Brown and Andrew McCutchen.

Missing from the actual roster but in the top 20 in WAR are: Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion in the twenty-third round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round begins to add those players born in 1949.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

This Circle of Greats vote is not to induct anyone into the Circle, but only to select two players who will be restored back on to the main ballot after having been previously been dropped from eligibility.  This second “redemption round” (we also held one after the 1960 round of voting) gives voters a chance to reconsider past candidates that have been rejected.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Tim Raines emerged from a very close election as the 22nd inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.  After  the  lead in the voting  swung back and forth for much of the week, Raines nudged out Tony Gwynn with some late gains over the last couple of days.  More on Tim, and the 1950 round of voting, after the jump. Continue reading →

The three most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S., by far, are the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago areas.  The smallest of the three, the Chicago metro area, had a 2012 population estimated at about 9.5 million people, about 40% more than that in the fourth largest metro area, the Dallas/Forth Worth/Arlington area.

These three giant metro areas have been continuously represented by a total of six major league franchises since 1962.  Over that time, these six jumbo-market teams have, looked at collectively, been relatively successful, especially in recent years.  The six teams as a group have not had a collective winning percentage below .500 in any full regular season since 1999, and have been collectively over .500 in 34 of the 51 seasons from and including 1962 through and including 2012.  Their best years as a group have been 2008, when the six franchises produced a collective .564 winning percentage, followed by 1985 (.558), and 1998 (.554).  More after the jump. Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion in the twenty-second round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round adds those players born in 1950.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Bert Blyleven is the 21st inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats and, as a native of the Netherlands, our first inductee born in a nation with no major league team.

While it took 14 long years of voting with Blyleven on the ballot for the Baseball Writers Association of America to induct Bert into the Hall of Fame, COG voters have now inducted him at the first opportunity.  You picked Bert in preference to ten guys that the BBWAA elected while making Blyleven wait (Gwynn, Sandberg, Murray, Dawson, Winfield, Puckett, Rice, Sutter, Eckersley and Gossage).   More on Byleven and the 1951 round of voting is after the jump. Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion in the twenty-first round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round adds those players born in 1951.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Paul Molitor (Molly) very nearly won the 14th round of the Circle of Greats voting but a late trend in the balloting left him second by a single vote.   He’s had solid support each round since then but not quite enough to win induction.   Until now, that is, as he becomes our 20th inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.   His manner of election seems to echo his profile in the sport: never the dominant superstar, but consistently successful for a long, long time and multi-talented at a very high level, with a history of rising to the special occasion of the post-season.  More on Paul and the voting after the jump. Continue reading →