The Hardball Times

How many guys do you need to keep your fantasy bench appropriately warm?Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

As you'll probably notice, a lot of my visuals contain very few numbers. I'm trying to push the envelope in how to communicate what matters WITHOUT numbers, since the sport is currently so numbers-heavy. Here's a visual I created during the ALDS to shed some light on the David & Goliath nature ...

In God we trust. All others bring data. -W. Edwards DemingAlong with Zack Greinke's 2009 American League Cy Young Award came a widely-circulated article by Tyler Kepner in the New York Times. In the article, Brian Bannister is quoted, "So a lot of times, Zack would pitch for a fly ball at our ...

In a piece at River Ave. Blues yesterday, Mike Axisa wrote at length about the Yankees DH situation. There's a faction of the fan base that would like to see the team promote from within, and make Cuban defector Juan Miranda the regular DH next season, while giving frequent half-days off to the o...

Pop quiz, hot shot: There's a catcher who wins the Gold Glove, the batting title and leads the league in on base and slugging percentage. What do you call him?MVP.That is, unless you're the (presumably) Detroit-area voter who put Miguel Cabrera in front of Mauer in first place, costing him the un...

Had my last Monday morning staff meeting this morning. Next Monday: it's me, my cat, my Ipod, my pajamas, a pot of coffee and a big bowl of Count Chocula. Until then:Omar Vizquel is Snake Eyes to Ozzie Guillen's Storm Shadow.Comment of the day comes from Len over at NBC: "Hey, Frenchie might hit ...

In another sneak preview from his new book, Chris examines the greatest manager you never heard of: Pat Moran.Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

Where have all the Heinies gone?Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

What does clinical psychology have in common with Sabermetrics? Quite a bit, as it turns out.Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

Baseball has been around for awhile. Over a hundred years, with a VAST treasure chest of information and history. As a baseball fan I’ve often wondered why there was so little visualization of stats and other information. It seems like most of baseball’s rich history has been communicated thro...

Hi there. I'm a new blogger here at The Hardball Times and wanted to introduce myself and a topic that I hope you'll find interesting. It's called Visual Baseball and it's about the intersection of two things I love - baseball and infographics (the visual display of information). Over the next...

Just a quick hit to share park factors for HR/FB rate. I used BIP data and the methodology from Baseball Reference to determine simple HR/FB park factors for 2009 and 4-year weighed factors (weights are 5,3,2,1).Without further adieu, here's the list:Team Park 2009 4 ...

Bill James has a couple of interesting articles up on his subscription site. The first one quickly chronicles the history and inexorable rise of the strikeout. To sum up: "Strikeout rates have increased in the majors in every decade since 1920, except for the 1970s."The strikeout has gained grou...

Kind of a weird topic, right? But I have my reasoning.News broke Friday of a potential three-way deal that would send Milton Bradley back to Texas from the Cubs. Chicago would receive second baseman Luis Castillo from the Mets as their reward for shedding the malcontent, with Kevin Millwood headi...

This has nothing to do with baseball at all, but this story sent to me by MooseinOhio is so cool that I gotta post it somewhere.* After the Celtics won the 1986 championship, [Bill] Walton sat alone in Bird’s kitchen drinking Wild Turkey until after the sun came up.I told Bird I didn’t believe t...

So I get to take the kids for their H1N1 vaccinations today. That should be a barrel of laughs. On the bright side, they're spending the night at my folks' house, so I'll only have to hear their complaining about it until I drop them off around dinner time. After that, Mrs. Shyster and I grab so...

Do batters time a breaking pitch in their first at-bat, then crush it when they see it on their second trip to the plate?Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

I know it's basically just been a string of MMIE's lately, and for that I apologize. Wrapping up one's legal career and preparing to jump right into a new one really has a way of taking up the afternoon. Still, six new posts a day ain't exactly chopped liver as far as baseball bloggers go. You ...

Adapting the Power/Speed number to see who's contributed most to both halves of the game. Outfielders and catchers get ranked in this installment.Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

A pitcher's ace status is irrelevant.Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

Here's something I didn't know, courtesy of Craig Wright's excellent subscription newsletter, A Page from Baseball's Past. The Alou brothers weren't really Alou's.Felipe Alou is really Felipe Rojas. A mistake was made on his first contract in which the scout put in the family name of his mother ...

One of the best pitching prospects in the 2007 June draft, Porcello did nothing but impress in 2009. However, despite all the success, is he ready to contribute to your fantasy team?Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

In the wake of my many threats to grow the greatest Grizzly Adams beard the world has ever seen once I start blogging full time next month, my wife emails me this post written by famed blogger Heather Armstrong and says "you married the wrong woman!" Which, while I see her point, is totally not t...

Everyone knows about Ichiro Suzuki's crazy 2004 season, but Brad Wilkerson deserves some love of his own.Click the title to read more.Read more great baseball stuff at The Hardball Times.

The 2009 minor league free agent list is littered with former top prospects and number one picks. Some of these names should sound familiar; Josh Barfield, , Chad Cordero, Eric Duncan, Clint Everts, Ryan Harvey, Dallas McPherson, Greg Miller and several notable others are all free agents this yea...

J.C. Bradbury:Though old players may not be what they once were, the evidence indicates they can still be valuable. According to my estimates, a hitter who has a .900 OPS at his peak would be expected to post around an .850 OPS at 35; a pitcher with a peak 3.5 ERA is expected to post around a 3.7...

What Chris Jaffe's new book has to say in his new book about the controversial late manager.

What do the following 5 players all have in common: Jason Bay, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jermaine Dye, Brad Hawpe, and Adam Dunn? The answer: they were named in Matthew Carruth's article over at fangraphs as being baseball's 5 worst defensive players over the last 3 seasons. They are also either free...

In a bit of a surprise, the Cincinnati Reds have brought back Ramon Hernandez on a one-year, $3 million contract to function as their starting catcher. The reason I say it was a surprise is because popular notion has been that the team is looking to slash payroll. In such a situation, the more ad...

New house, new duds:Plans for the new uniforms and logos unveiled today include: Primary Home Uniform - The "Twins" script has been slightly altered and updated for 2010 and beyond. Secondary Throwback Uniform - Twins players will wear a circa 1961 throwback uniform on Opening Day as well as ever...