The Author Who Cursed Tom Gordon
If I were the Phillies, I would call up Stephen King and ask him to write about some other ballplayer. Tom Gordon has been more or less “cursed” since King wrote the book, “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” (1999). Maybe if he writes about someone else, the bad luck that has been brought on […]
MLB Announcers & me
Has anyone else out there have this happen to them? I’m watching a game and during play, I make a comment o r two about the situation, strategy, etc. only to find my comments being said by the TV announcers; almost word for word. My wife thinks it uncanny, because this isn’t an occurance that […]
A-Rod and The Curse of the Pink Panther
Now that Boston has rid themselves of that ridiculous “Curse of the Bambino” with 2 World Series wins in the last 4 years (2004/2007), it’s time to find another cursed team to take their place. Enter the New York Yankees! They haven’t won a World Series since beating out Boston (as fate would have […]
Pete’s Picks: AL Central
AL Central 1. Tigers : They might have arguably the best line-up in all of baseball 1-9, but their pitching, in my opinion, is suspect past the first three starters and especially their bullpen! As good as their hitting will/should be in ’08, their pitching might be the great neutralizer. Outside of Verlander, there […]
Hot Coco -vs.- Free Tacos
Who will win this Spring Training battle for the CF position in Boston this summer of 2008? The former player that was acquired via trade for the 2005 season, Coco Crisp or the young man who provided the nation with FREE tacos during the 2007 World Series, Jacoby Ellsbury. Coco is hot, upset about the […]
On the DL Again: Baldelli, Schilling & Others
Will either of these two players play baseball in 2008? Roco has been hampered by injury in almost every year of his young professional career. Could this be the start of the end of his MLB career? I for one, hope not! He’s a talented player that I would have loved to have had on […]
3 Nights in August -vs.- Moneyball
In the Buzz Bussinger book, “3 Nights in August”, the author provides his take on the book by Michael Lewis called, “Moneyball”. To give you a little insight, Bussinger worked on his book with current St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa (who previously managed the Oakland A’s and the Chicago White Sox), while Lewis worked […]
3 Nights in August: Emotionally Good
Throughout this book (again, written by Buzz Bissinger), Buzz takes you on various emotional flashbacks into the past of LaRussa’s career. He goes back to his times with the White Sox in the early to mid 80’s as well as with the A’s and earlier years in St. Louis. For example, he talks about […]
Tony LaRussa is Obsessed!
**Reader beware! This is purely an opinion based post! I am aware that people are going to disagree with part of this, but before you roast me, please read this book and you’ll see where I am coming from.** After reading the book, “3 Nights in August” by Buzz Bissinger I can convinced that LaRussa […]
MLB Arbitration & the Phillies’ Ryan Howard
Nathan, a regular reader here at Baseball Reflections, asked my opinion on the Ryan Howard arbitration situation. Here’s what he said, “What do you think about Ryan Howard’s arbitration awarding him $10 million??? Was it good for him (of course) but was it good for baseball (probably not) ??? It certainly changes the game financially […]
Does Instant Replay Belong in MLB?
Some will say, no way! Others will say it’s about time! And yet most people will not be able to make up their minds, yes, but only in certain circumstances after the 5th inning but not during day games or in the first half of the year or on a clear day. OK, I got […]
Fantasy Baseball Analysis: LF
By far, the first choice out of all of the candidates for LF is the Rockies’ Matt Holliday with a line of .340/.405/50/120/36/137 (BA/OBP/2B/R/HR/RBI). Wow! Over 40 (but closer to 50) points behind Holliday would be the trio of the D’backs’ Eric Byrnes who also qualifies for CF and RF, The Reds’ Adam Dunn and […]
I am a Baseball Hybrid
Before I go on, I thought it would be best to give the Wikipedia™ definition of a hybrid. So here it is: A hybrid is the combination of two or more different things, aimed at achieving a particular objective or goal. In my case, a Baseball Hybrid is where “Old School” Baseball meets “Sabermetrics”. In […]
The Use of the DH in MLB
The Pros: It prolongs the careers of some of the games best hitters It makes the AL a tougher league for pitchers to pitch to Pitchers don’t have to hit, they are usually a sure out these days The Cons: Pitcher don’t get to hit and they no longer work at it. They have become […]
2007 Team Analysis of the AL East: New York Yankees
AL East: New York Yankees C – Jorge Posada: incredible year for anyone, but far more impressive for a catcher his age. When will his bat fall off the charts? 1B – Shelley Duncan/Jason Giambi/Doug Mientkiewicz: Giambi can’t last physically at 1B anymore & Mientkiewicz can’t seem to hit anymore (he use to be a .300 […]
Hall of Fame 2008 = Goose Bumps
The Lone HoF Selection: Rich “Goose” Gossage I remember Goose Gossage most as the scariest man to be facing late in the game against the Yankees from 1978-83. He was an intimidating presence on the mound! In recent years, Mariano Rivera is called intimidating, but Rivera’s is strictly due to his pitching prowess. When you […]
The Greatest Defensive SS of the past 30 Years!
Ozzie Smith (the Wizard of Oz) of the St. Louis Cardinals See his career stats from Baseball-Reference . He has compiled 13 straight Gold Gloves at SS from 1980 to 1992 He has been selected to 15 All Star gameso 12 Consecutive from 1981 to 1992 Then 3 more consecutive appearances between 1994 and 1996 […]
Generals of the Diamond, Baseball QB’s, baseball’s Iron Men: the Catcher
Is Catching the most important position? Let’s take a look… In my opinion, you have 4 types of catchers: The defensive minded catcher: He can’t hit his way out of a paper bag so why is he north of Single A? He can field the position better than most! Some examples of this sort of […]
What’s Your Favorite Baseball Movie?
I hope you had a Merry Christmas!! Here’s a listing of our family’s favorite Baseball movies and the reason why we like them. These reviews are going to be conducted by my family and in-laws this week of Christmas. Here are the results: Grandpop (my father-in-law): “The Natural” – A quintessential drama where a down […]
MLB, the Mitchell Report and the IOC
Pete’s Perspective After close to two years we now have the results of the Mitchell Report on PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) in major league baseball. One question now has emerged on the lips of many. What do we do about it?! Roger Maris didn’t cheat when he hit 61 HRs, but did get an asterisk […]
Roger Clemens and The Mitchell Report
Last week, Baseball Musings wrote about the timeline found in the Mitchell Report (See pages 167-176) on 300 game winner, Roger Clemens entitled, “Clemens 1998”. This does not help Roger’s denial case that he’s trying to build up. Now I’m not saying that he’s lying, but I do remember when he left Boston as a […]
2007 Team Analysis: Florida Marlins
Pete’s Perspective The font page of their team website should read: Under Construction! What in the world are they doing?! While they’re at it, they might as well trade Hanley Ramirez, Kevin Gregg and Dan Uggla as well! All three would get a lot of interest, especially Ramirez. I bet they could get a lot […]
2007 MLB Team Analysis: Washington Nationals
Pete’s Perspective There’s not much here to write home about! This is still the old Montreal Expos, just in new duds & a new city. Albeit, a big time US city that happens to be our nation’s capital. What better place to host a team from our “National Past Time”? They deserve better than this, […]
The Use of Pitch Counts in Major League Baseball
Pete’s Perspective By Peter Schiller In early October when I started this blog, Nathan, a reader asked what my opinion was on the use of pitch counts in major league baseball. Sorry for the delay Nathan!This topic, like the use of modern day Bullpens, are both subjects that I definately have an opinion on. Both […]
2007 Baseball Winter Meetings
Pete’s Perspective By Peter Schiller Pete’s Winter Meeting Predictions Johan Santana will no longer be a member of the Twins Coco Crisp will either be tagged as the starting centerfielder for the Red Sox in 2008 or he will be on another team Someone will show interest in closers Keith Foulke and Eric Gagne (possibly […]
Major League Baseball Team Analysis: Atlanta Braves, Part 1
Pete’s Perspective By Peter Schiller The Usual Suspects The players who supported the Braves offense in past years, did so again in 2007…with a little help from their youth movement. Chipper Jones was his typical offensive self despite trips on the DL due to arm and wrist woes. See his numbers below. The only question […]
Modern Day Use of the Bullpen in Baseball
Pete’s Perspective By Peter Schiller Fair Warning: This is one of my major league pet peeves! The use of the modern day bullpen is a sore point with me. In my opinion, this practice is holding baseball back from gaining more widespread popularity. In order to gain more attention, all unnecessary down time needs to […]
Pete’s Rose: Go The Distance
By Mishael Schiller I haven’t had much to say for a while. Why the long silence? Well, I wanted to put some distance between myself and the World Series before commenting on it. Now that it’s been a couple of weeks, I have something to say. I’ve been knocking around for the last 12 days […]
Pete’s Rose Comments on Schilling
By Mishael Schiller Schilling may have just departed Fenway’s mound for the final time in a Red Sox uniform. He is a big reason why Boston’s trip to the 2007 World Series is not under the pressure of a 90 year drought. Schilling’s bloody sock game at Yankee Stadium in Game 6 of the 2004 […]
Tribute to the Tribe
Pete’s Rose By Mishael Schiller The Red Sox ALCS comeback of 2007 has one down-side. It was done against the Cleveland Indians. It was one thing to spank the Yankees in 2004 in their own house. Most people outside of New York (and some in it) LOVE to see the Yankees lose. There was no […]
