This post is for voting and discussion in the 69th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round completes the addition to the ballot those players born in 1916. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading
Continuing from an earlier post on the NL, here are some statistical oddities to watch for as the 2014 season winds down.
Betcha didn’t know that …
Game Notes is running on fumes … passed our innings limit … can’t find that sharp-biting slider. But here’s what we’ve got; hit it if you can!
As the season rounds the quarter pole and heads into the stretch drive, here’s a compilation of some of this season’s statistical oddities.
Betcha didn’t know that …
What to make of Kyle Gibson’s pattern of good and bad outings?
Game Scores aren’t a great measure of Gibson’s performance, because he isn’t a strikeout pitcher (which could be a factor in the pattern). But I’ll show that picture, then move on to my main point:
This post is for voting and discussion in the 68th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round begins to add to the ballot those players born in 1916. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading
Bob Feller had a quick impact on professional baseball: major leaguer at 17, star by 19, superstar by 21. He had a quick impact on our voting as well, appearing on nearly 60% of the ballots in his first round and now on over 70% of the ballots. This time it was enough to get him elected, by a wide margin, as the 67th inductee into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats. Most Happy.
More on Feller and the voting after the jump. Continue reading
Is the year gaining speed, or am I slowing down? Anyway, here’s what I got from Saturday through Thursday, Aug. 14 — going backwards:
This week’s piece at USA Today Sports Weekly mercifully wrapped up my series on the effectiveness of bunting. In the comments of past bunt-related screeds I’ve shared in this space, mosc has suggested that I look at this year’s bunting data through the lens of RE24, rather than WPA. I did so for USA Today, and I’ll share an edited version below.
Your narrator was overtaken by events, so here’s some scattered jottings. With apologies for any split infinitives…
@Mariners 4, Bravos 2 (Tues.) — Two M’s scored when Tommy La Stella dropped a two-out popup in the 4th, and one more right afterward, as Atlanta fell to King Felix and their cliff-dive reached seven games. But don’t you think Jason Heyward should have called him off? J-Hey was playing deep, but he closed quickly and was there in time. It’s one thing if the infielder is camped under it, but La Stella was weaving the whole way — a fact on which the A.P. story whiffed badly.