Archive for October, 2009
Hot Stove Baseball Free Agent Tracker: 3B
Third basemen make up another fruitful class of free agents, perhaps the most fruitful of the entire 2009 class. The trade market for third baseman is also pretty bare, which should add intrigue, as most of the trade candidates have at least one serious flaw: Mike Lowell (injury-prone), Kevin Kouzmanoff (has gotten worse at the [...]
Hot Stove Baseball Free Agent Tracker: 1B
There aren’t many top first basemen available this year. Last year’s free agent class was led by Mark Teixeira, who was the top free agent according to the Elias rankings that determine pick compensation allocation for teams which sign multiple Type A free agents. Teixeira’s new team, the Yankees, signed three: Teixeira, CC Sabathia and [...]
The Cardinals 2009 Postseason And Some Notes on 2010
It’s been famously noted that the postseason is a crapshoot. While there is definitely some truth to that statement, for the St. Louis Cardinals the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers brought both old and new reasons for a hasty exit from October. There’s no doubt that the unexpected occurred in this [...]
My 2009 World Series Prediction
The Clash of the Titans For those of who who are not excited about this year’s Fall Classic between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies, think it over for a minute…and while you’re at it read this snippet from Adam Becker’s article over at Baseball Reflections called, “Get Over It!“. After you read [...]
Three Harry Kalas Video Tributes
With the Philadelphia Phillies heading to their second consecutive trip to the World Series, here are a few tributes to the late, Great Harry Kalas: A Phillies Legend! This first one is presented to you by Comcast… This one is the Harry Kalas tribute video 4/17/09 Citizens Bank Park… This one is slower with snap [...]
Get Over It!
Image via Wikipedia For those of us that are not Yankees or Phillies fans, perhaps we should simply put our disappointments and jealousies aside and enjoy what should truly be a Fall Classic. Believe me, as a lifetime Mets fan, I am as unhappy as anyone that I have to sit through another World Series [...]
Free Agent Tracker: 2B
The market for second baseman in the offseason is one of the few that have significantly more supply than demand. Last season, players like Orlando Hudson entered the offseason expecting a major pay raise, and didn’t get it because the economy caused several free agents to remain unsigned for most of the offseason. Hudson is [...]
BBA 2009 AL MVP Ballot
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Warning: most of this ballot is going to surprise you. How do I know, because it surprised me! You see, I didn’t just use my eyes or even the traditional method/statistics to make up this ballot. I used 11 statistical categories including defensive metrics & added some objective weight [...]
The Biggest WAR Bargains of 2009: Part 1
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr Currently in the MLB, the average player value, per win, is about $4.5 million. So, if a player’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in a season was 2.0, that player would have been worth about $9 million. Naturally, there are going to be a lot of players getting paid much [...]
Why Tim Lincecum will be your 2009 NL Cy Young winner
Image by Getty Images via Daylife After a year in which Cardinals starting pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright dominated the headlines, pitched their team to a division title and were expected to fight for some off-season hardware, it was the Giants’ Tim Lincecum who picked up the first post-season win amongst the trio. When [...]
Product Review: Akadema’s ProSoft 1B Mitt: AJJ 254
When my contact at Akadema asked me if I would do another review if sent another glove I jumped at the chance! This time I asked for a first baseman‘s glove as I have always been fascinated with them for reasons unknown to even myself. Maybe it’s because when I was growing up, my dad [...]
Joe Niekro Foundation and Arizona Fall League Partner To Strike Out Aneurysms
Natalie Niekro threw out the first pitch at the Houston Astros game on September 13, 2009. She will be throwing out the first pitch at three Arizona Fall League games between October 26-31 as part of “Aneurysm Awareness Week” at the Arizona Fall League. Unlike the deceptive and tricky pitch that her father used to [...]
Phillies Advance to the 2009 World Series
Congratulations to the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies who have beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 1 to advance to the World Series where they will probably face the New York Yankees! In tribute of the Great Harry Kalas! Help support Baseball Reflections and buy me a coffee with PayPal!
Has It Really Been 30 Years?
Image via Wikipedia As sports fanatics, we all use the events around our favorite teams and players to reflect back to our youth. When I think of growing up in Queens, NY in the seventies, I recall the lean years of the Mets and the resurgence of the once dynastic Yankees. The NFL and NBA [...]
Raul Ibanez on CNN’s Latino in America
Image via Wikipedia Please check out CNN‘s Latinos in America Series to be aired on October 21 and October 22 at 9pm (EST). This clip is part of the interview with Phillies‘ LF Raul Ibanez as he sits down with Soledad O’Brien for CNN Latino in America. Please watch CNN on these days to watch [...]
For the Reds, the Off Season Will Flow Out of LF
The biggest decision facing the Reds to begin the offseason is the choice of a left fielder. It is unlikely the Reds will spend money to go after a free agent like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay: instead, the choice is between which incumbent will get a commitment. The candidates: Jonny Gomes, Wladimir Balentien, Chris [...]
The Most Valuable Player in Baseball Might Surprise You
When you think of the best, most valuable players in baseball, what names come to mind? Albert Pujols, probably. Or maybe Chase Utley, Derek Jeter, Evan Longoria? There are plenty of big names out there that the average fans look at as the best players. This year, though, it wasn’t any of those guys. In [...]
BBA 2009 Cy Young Award Ballot
For starters, here is how I added up the numbers, showing you which stats I added more weight to and why. If you only care about who I choose, then you can skip over the next few paragraphs. My Methodology/Madness Wins + (4.00 – ERA) multiplied by 10 + Complete Games + Shutouts + Innings [...]
2009/2010 Free Agent Tracker: Catchers
Like last year, this year’s most fruitful market for catchers is the trade market, rather than the free agent market. The Texas Rangers, who traded Gerald Laird to the Tigers last season still have two worthy trade candidates in Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden, while Ronny Paulino could be on the move again. Especially in [...]
2009/2010 Free Agent Tracker: DH
The designated hitter only applies to the American League, sorry National League fans. Love the position or hate it, it exists, and warrants its own free agent category. I hate it. I grew up with Edgar Martinez, perhaps the best designated hitter in the history of the position (is it really a position?) and I [...]
2009 League Championship Series Predictions
OK, I admit I was 2 for 4 with my LDS predictions, but I thought I’d try it out again. ALCS Angels -vs- Yankees Angels ALDS recap: So who would have thought that the Angels pitching would both out pitch Boston’s starters AND completely shut down Boston’s offense for most of that series? Also, almost [...]
BBA Ballot: 2009 AL Rookie of the Year Award
This is the BBA ballot for the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year vote from Baseball Reflections. Honorable mentions include Tigers SP Rick Porcello who might have gotten a top 3 vote if he was better supported by the Tigers, likewise with Rays SP Jeff Niemann. Last but not least, Rangers SS Elvis Andrus who [...]
Mariners Griffey Present, Hernandez the Future
If this was the end, what an end it was. Two eras could end in Seattle very soon as both Felix Hernandez and Ken Griffey Jr. may have set foot on the grass at Safeco Field for the last time. The two players are on very opposite ends of the proverbial candle that represents their [...]
Sabermetrics and the Cy Young Award
I think we’re all aware of which stats voters use to determine Cy Young winners. For the most part, it’s stats like ERA, wins, K’s, losses, and WHIP. There are a number of reasons why using only those stats doesn’t come close to telling the whole story – each of them is seriously flawed. Let’s [...]
2009 AL Manager of the Year BBA Vote
In our first anniversary vote, the members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) have asked it’s members to vote for the major awards (Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award and MVP). To find out more about the Alliance please read our About the BBA page. Please help us to promote [...]
Who Really Created And Made Baseball “America’s Game”
If someone asked you who was the founder of the game of baseball? Well, if you are not a baseball historian or purist, you may just say Abner Doubleday. After all, the field at the Baseball Hall of Fame, Doubleday Field, is named after him. But the new book, “Live All You Can: Alexander Joy [...]
Friday Night Lights
We have two announcements to make tonight. First, any day now, Baseball Reflections will be moving to a popular sports network. A few months ago I was asked if I had ever considered joining one and I had, but only applied once and I never got a reply. The domain and overall look of the [...]
Many Yankee moments to remember in September
The last month of the New York Yankees‘ season could have been anticlimactic – they essentially clinched the AL East when they swept the Boston Red Sox in four games in August. But the Bombers still ended up turning it on throughout the stretch, even when they rested players to tune up for October. Here [...]
The Tommy John Interview: Part 3
Tommy John and His Thoughts on the Game Today I started off the conversation in part 1 talking about how he became affiliated with the increasingly popular children’s book, “A Glove of Their Own”. Part 2 was a conversation on Tommy’s great career (in my humble opinion, he should be inducted into the Baseball Hall [...]
Tigers Drop Finale, Division to Twins
Detroit 5, Minnesota 6 (box) Final Record 86-77 (second place) Devastation. That’s what I felt Tuesday night as the Twins celebrated following their 12th inning walk off, that’s what I’m feeling Wednesday morning as I write this. The back and forth nature of this game made it a classic. The stakes made it one of [...]
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