All Entries in the "Baseball" Category
Baseball Tips On Hitting: Focusing On Just This One Thing May Lead To Your Success!
Wouldn’t it be great if in order to be a very successful hitter you were only required to do one simple thing. Guess what? There is only one thing for you to do to be very successful at the plate. That one thing is to consistently get the “sweet spot” of the bat on the [...]
Rundown of Mets alumni no-hitters
Phillip Humber threw a perfect game yesterday for the Chicago White Sox, adding his name to the list of former Mets pitchers who have thrown no-hitters. While a couple pitchers had accomplished the feat prior to joining the Mets, most have done it after they have left the team. Humber is the second former Met to ever [...]
Factor 12 Leaders Week 2
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Justin Verlander continued his dominating start to the 2012 season by pitching a complete game win against the Kansas City Royals. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner hurled 9IP / [...]
SMALLS TALK: The One Ear Flap Helmet
Nothing says Big Leagues like a one ear flap helmet. It’s unmistakable. Turn on the TV and see one of these babies, you know you’re watching the world’s very best. Its unusual lop-sided style is revered by all who play the game, not so much for its looks but its exclusivity. It’s the helmet that my generation saw [...]
A Special Insight into the difference between Baseball in Japan & the US
I recently had the honor of interviewing Takahiro Sato, a former college baseball player in Japan and has coached baseball and taught mental skills in U.S. as well as in Japan. He thought that Sport psychology was such an intriguing area where athletes can learn how to prepare for competition and how to handle pressure or stress, so he studied it & received [...]
Good Lamb-Hunting
Dancing between victory and heartbreak is a baseball routine Daniel Lamb-Hunt continues to learn. Recently, two days before he was due to fly out to Germany, his aspirations of a smooth travel were marred by an expired passport and a last-minute dash to Sydney making for “a very stressful day and a lesson learned” says [...]
Factor12 (F12) Rating Leaders: Week 1
Aroldis Chapman dominated National League batters during the first week of the regular season. The Cincinnati Reds’ flame-thrower tossed 5IP/ 2H/ 0R/ 0BB/ 10K of 17 total batters faced. Chapman currently leads all MLB pitchers with a Factor12 Rating of 37.537 after one week of play. Justin Verlander opened the season with a dominating [...]
Introducing The Factor12 Rating
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. F12 consists of the following twelve statistics incorporating every aspect of pitching. Innings Pitched (IP); Strikeouts Minus Walks (SO-BB); Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP); Earned Run Average (ERA); Walks plus Hits per [...]
Book Review: Wherever I Wind Up
R.A. Dickey is not a name that shoots to the front of most baseball fans minds when they think of players whose story they may want to hear. While he may not be the most well-known of players, Dickey, a starting pitcher for the New York Mets, has put together a very interesting story of [...]
April Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
The ending of Spring Training is supposed to be a time when all teams are still optimistic about their opportunities in the upcoming season. Despite promises in the media by players and coaches alike, many Indians fans are more than leery about the beginning of the season. The Indians finished Spring Training with the worst [...]
Baseball Tips On Hitting: How Practice Is Mandatory For Your Success!
You’ve got to go out and hit, hit, hit and then hit some more. Some professional players take 500 swings a day in the off season. It’s not by accident or good fortune that some of them bat .330 or hit 45 home runs. Maybe that’s why they are professional hitters, because they pay the [...]
Mark Melancon’s Struggles with Red Sox
During the 2011-’12 offseason the Red Sox and Astro‘s made a trade that brought the Red Sox their next set-up man, and the Astro’s an injury plagued, yet talented middle infielder who was looking for an opportunity in Jed Lowrie. There wasn’t a ton of reaction to this trade, but it’s proving rather significant through only [...]
Thirty Something: The Verducci Effect in Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy baseball owners are always looking for an edge. From the latest news to the latest stats, trying to get a leg up on your opponents is often enough to carry you to victory. Predicting the future would be ideal (although highly unlikely) so fantasy owners have to settle for indicators of what the future [...]
Phillies 2012 Predictions
Opening Day is upon us, so it is time for our 2012 Phillies predictions. If you haven’t already, check out the predictions for pitching and hitting. Phillies Run Differential Wins and losses generally come down to run differential: how many more(or less) runs did you score than you gave up? Last year, the Phillies had [...]
April Twins Reflection
Who is ready for some baseball, or at least regular season ball? Tell you what, I am. The Twins seem to be ready for it too. They are down to 27 on the roster with Baker going to the 15-day DL and Marquis hitting the bereavement list. The entire roster as listed on MLB right [...]
SMALLS TALK: O’s lose to college team – big deal?
It’s not out of the ordinary for a Big League team to face college competition at some point during Spring Training. It’s a tradition that several clubs have honored for years as both a showcase for fans and a special treat for the college kids. It is out of the ordinary, however, for a Big League team to lose to [...]
SMALLS TALK: Tito on Baseball Tonight – in over his head?
I love Terry Francona. I think he’s a great manager and an even better guy. I agree that it was time for him to part ways with the Red Sox, but his managerial career at Fenway will be argued as the best of all-time for years to come. As a broadcaster, however… To put [...]
Mets Roster Just As Set As When Camp Began
Most teams come in to spring training with several questions with regards to the composition of their roster. There are teams with many questions and others have only some. Seldom does a team know exactly how their entire roster should look before spring training starts. You can make a case that Sandy Alderson, Terry Collins [...]
SMALLS TALK: The Curtain Call
Just when you think a crowd can’t get any more hopped up, it happens. The hero that just brought the stadium to its feet pokes his head out of the dugout, jumps up on the top step, and offers a tip of the cap to the home town fans. And just like that, the steady [...]
Book Review: Summer of ’68 by Tim Wendel
For baseball, the 1960s were an extremely memorable decade. Every fall it seemed that there were heated series between historic teams who had a deep love for the game and a desire to call themselves the best. This decade also featured many polarizing and other not so popular, yet still interesting players. Author Tim Wendel [...]
DRSEA: Making a Difference in the Dominican Republic
DRSEA and FIU College of Law Sports & Entertainment Law Society (SELS) Present Special Screening of “El Play” Documentary on Dominican Baseball Florida International University College of Law April 19, 2012 3 pm The Dominican Republic Sports & Education Academy (DRSEA) will present a special screening of “El Play,” a documentary on Dominican baseball on [...]
DUGOUT LINGO: “Cage-Killer”
Sometimes, you just can’t get out of the cage. We’ve all been there – you hit ball after ball after ball up into the netting above you. You try to comfort yourself - How far up is this thing today? – as though the cage’s location on the field was robbing you of no-doubt homers. You [...]
Running on Empty: Cheap Stolen Bases in Fantasy Baseball
Drafting power in fantasy baseball is always a good option. After all, a home run results in an increase in batting average, a run scored and an RBI (or possibly several). Drafting speed on the other hand often helps in only one category (stolen bases). With reliable power and speed guys hard to come by [...]
Book Review: High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania
Recent history has not been kind to the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, in Paul Haddad’s new book, High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania: A Fan’s History of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Glory Years 1977-1981, the author gets the reader so immersed in what happened between these years, that it makes the reader remember what a [...]
Cole Hamels Ready to Win 2012 Cy Young Award
National League Cy Young winner for 2012 Cole Hamels? Why not? In 2011, his 2.79 earned run average ranked sixth in the NL, his walks plus hits per innings pitched ranked second at 0.99, and he finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting. I looked like a genius for a while when I picked Hamels [...]
Baseball Tips On Hitting: How You Stride When Hitting Is Critical!
Exactly when you should start your stride varies among hitters. Usually, the stride begins a fraction of a second before the pitcher releases the ball and that’s my preference. Many teach that the stride should start when you see the pitcher pivot on the rubber and the hitter can see the pitcher’s rear end. That [...]
A Review: Baseball Fantography: A Celebration in Snapshots and Stories from the Fans
Fans are no doubt what make the game of baseball so popular, especially at the Major League level. Over time, the players who have noticed this and focused on being a fan favorite have been able to overcome hitting slumps or pitching doldrums in the public eye much easier than those who may not be [...]
My ECFBL 12-team Dynasty H2H Category League Draft Plus Analysis
Last night I participated in the first draft for my new dynasty keeper league. The league is filled with some smart baseball minds (including one not-so-smart) so I was excited to see how it would go. Based on the scoring categories and layout, I had devised my strategy before the draft and stuck with [...]
SABR is launching a digital library
The following post is an official press release from SABR – The Society for American Baseball Research is introducing a new publishing initiative this spring. The SABR Digital Library will be publishing new titles as well as reviving historical SABR publications that have gone out of print. Two books mark the inception of the library: [...]
30-1 Countdown: #22 New York Mets
My 30-1 MLB countdown and team preview brings me to a team for whom I have rooted for over 25 years. A team that is trying to keep its focus off its financial problems and on to the team that has been constructed for the 2012 season. That of course, is the New York Mets. [...]
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