Wade Boggs chickened out before every game, but not COG voters, who boldly voted Boggs into the Circle of Greats by a wide majority.  Boggs becomes the twelfth COG inductee. More on Wade and the voting after the jump. Continue reading →

Lou Gehrig’s tragically ironic consecutive-games-played-record was broken by the certainly great, but happily less biographicallly dramatic, Cal Ripken. The famous season and career home run records were broken in the steroids era. With those records now less hallowed, the single most memorable remaining baseball record is surely Joe DiMaggio’s streak of 56 consecutive games with at least one base hit, from mid-May to mid-July, 1941. Lots more on hitting streaks after the jump. Continue reading →

One of the most prominent annual signs that baseball season is almost at hand is the onset of the NCAA college basketball tournament. If you would like to submit a bracket in a High Heat Stats group, I’ve set one up at Yahoo’s “Tourney Pick ‘Em” website.   Choose “Join a Group” and then enter Group ID# 79192 and password highheatstatspck.

This post is for voting and discussion in the twelfth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds those players born in 1958 who were not included in the first 1958 round. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Rickey Henderson, #1 in major league history in career runs scored and stolen bases, and #2 in walks, was a runaway winner in the most recent round of voting for the Circle of Greats. Henderson becomes the 11th inductee into the Circle.  More on Rickey and the voting will miraculously appear if you click on “Read the rest of this entry”. Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion in the eleventh round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round, and the next round, add players born in 1958. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

In a tight election that was close all week, Curt Schilling edged out a victory by seven votes over Tim Raines to become our tenth inductee into the Circle of Greats. Of the final eight ballots cast this round, Schilling appeared on seven and Raines on one — a late burst that assured Curt’s victory. More on Schilling, and the 1959 voting results, after the jump. Continue reading →

As noted by Raphy in the previous post, Baseball-Reference’s Play Index Split Finder is out of beta and now available in more polished form to the general Play index subscribership. One quick use of that new tool produces the following list of the players with the most career, regular-season major league home runs in a single ballpark: Continue reading →

This Circle of Greats vote is not to induct anyone into the Circle, but only to select two players who will restored back on to the main ballot after having been previously been dropped from eligibility. The intent is to help assure that deserving guys who have may have been dropped during a particularly talent-heavy era get another chance in a different context where they might be more competitive. Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion in the tenth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds players born in 1959. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →