The Diamondbacks Should Exercise Their Option on Webb Now!
The Arizona Diamondbacks must decide on whether to exercise their $8.5 million option on Brandon Webb within 10 days of the conclusion of the World Series. Webb is scheduled to throw in October after missing all but the opening day start of 2009. Regardless of how those throwing sessions go, the D-backs should invoke their […]
Braves Run Scored, Run Scored Against Analysis
There’s Hope in Atlanta for 2010! I’ve noticed this year, like many before, that the Braves seem to lose against teams that have losing records. I’ve got guesses for this, but with 162 games, all teams will do this on occasion anyway. One such guess is that the Braves often score less runs against certain […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: Top Spot Starters for Week 25
In last week’s Fantasy Focus, I suggested three players to add in your quest for a championship game berth. If you’ve reached the finals, you’re just one win away from every manager’s dream: a fantasy baseball title. It’s important to note, however, that in a one (or two) week matchup, anything can happen. You can […]
MLB Players Have NOT Hit it Off with Twitter
As reported by Gail Sideman of Mashable in her article entitled, “Twitter and Major League Baseball: A Missed Opportunity“, major league baseball players have not taken to Twitter like players in other major sports have. Image by Keith Allison via Flickr You hear about NBA players like Shaq and NFL players like T.O. using Twitter […]
Sugar: The Movie now on DVD
Back in July I was informed of the DVD release of the movie “SUGAR”, but as life can sometimes be hectic, I haven’t gotten to write about it until now. “SUGAR” came out on Blu-ray and DVD on September 1st. So if you are a fan of the Dominican Republic’s brand of baseball, “SUGAR” give […]
Sabermetrics 101: VORP
For those of you who are sabermetrically challenged, here is an introductory look into this basic stat. Here is the textbook description of VORP thanks to Baseball Prospectus.com. VORP stands for Value Over Replacement Player, which is broken down as the number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player at the same position would […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: Advancing to Your League Championship Game
For most fantasy baseball leagues, today marks the beginning of the semifinal playoff round. If you’ve made it this far, it’s important to know that this is the most critical time of the year. Everything that’s happened up until this point is irrelevant; because in a one-week matchup, anything can happen. Forget about the fact […]
The Curse of the American League
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr At this point, we have to begin to discuss the possibility of an official curse – for the third time in four years one of the American League’s elite homerun hitters has suffered a season ending injury in September, and for the second year in a row it may […]
Matt Wieters Gets On The Job Training
By any measure, Baltimore Orioles rookie catcher Matt Wieters has been outstanding since making his Major League debut for the Orioles on May 29. While it is easy to notice his 13 RBI in the month of August and .277 batting average since July 1st, what is especially impressive is the strides Wieters is making […]
The Red Sox’s Top Options at SS
I was going to provide a run down of the future at shortstop (SS) for the Boston Red Sox, but after my research was done, I found out that none of the top 6 players at this position were hitting over .249 as of Thursday, August 28th. Although Yamaico Navarro did hit for a .319 […]
Introducing The Funnel AFL 11 from Akadema
There are a few scents that I know of that really wake me up. One is the smell of freshly cut grass (especially that of Fenway Park as smelled from behind the Green Monster), freshly cut wood, the smell of a new leather baseball glove and a certain perfume that my wife wears which I […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The All-August Free Agent Team
Joe Mauer, Ryan Howard, and Mark Reynolds. Everyone knows their names, and most people know they’ve played exceptionally well in August. What most people don’t know, however, is that Will Venable has batted .311 with six HR and 17 RBI in August. Being able to scour players like Venable from the waiver wire is a […]
Forgotten No More: The Story of Baseball in Baltimore
The history of baseball in Baltimore since the St. Louis Browns moved to the city in 1954 has been well chronicled. However, until now, the great history of baseball in Baltimore prior to the arrival of Major League Baseball has gone largely unrecognized. That is about to change with the release this fall of the […]
Friday Night Links
This edition of Friday Night Links introduce you to a new baseball site that has just recently launched. If you’re an NBA fan, have visited The Hoop Doctors and have enjoyed your treatment the doctors there have provided then you will be happy to know that they have multiple spinoff sites. But, before that be […]
Jacoby Ellsbury Sets A New Red Sox SB Record
On Tuesday, August 25th, “the human spark plug”, Jacoby Ellsbury made Red Sox history by stealing third base for his 55th stolen base of the season. The previous mark was set by former first base coach Tommy Harper who had secured the record over the past 35 years, but he knew Ellsbury was going to […]
Blue Jays Reflections: Playing for Next Year?
Hi all. Time for our monthly look in from north of the border. Actually, it is well past time. Sorry, I’ve been on holiday and then I tried to catch up on everything that wasn’t being done over the holiday. And I’m lazy. But I digress. What has happened in the world of the Jays […]
The Cardinals Are Picking Up Steam
On the morning of August 1, the St. Louis Cardinals awoke to find themselves clinging to a half-game lead in the NL Central. While there had been a boost of energy and enthusiasm following the deal for Matt Holliday and, to a lesser extent, Julio Lugo, the Cards still had their hands full with the […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The All-Overappreciated Team
In last week’s Fantasy Focus, I announced the 2009 All-Underappreciated Team. This week we shift gears, as I present to you the All-Overappreciated Team: Catcher – Russell Martin Martin was the No. 1 drafted catcher in most leagues this year, but has failed to live up to those expectations. The 26-year-old is currently […]
The Steve Garvey Interview
Image via Wikipedia I recently had the privilege of asking Dodger great, Steve Garvey (1B) a few questions. I was put in contact with Mr. Garvey by Athlete Promotions. AthletePromotions manages the website, corporate appearances, speaking engagements and endorsement deals for 10 time All-Star, Steve Garvey. To see who else Athlete Promotions represents please […]
Putting A Finger On A Problem
A guest article by Charles S. Farrell from the DRSEA Informer Volume II, Issue 17: A Publication For Your Reading Enjoyment Major League Baseball finds itself between a rock and a hard place as it tries to address the problem of age and identity falsification among prospects in the Dominican Republic. At the same time, […]
A Glove of Their Own: A Book Review
If you think that youth baseball today has gotten too competitive and structured with All Star Leagues and travel teams, allow me to bring you back to a simpler time. Have any of you ever played just for the fun of the game in a non-league setting? Do you remember playing pick-up games with less […]
Interview with Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Today we’re featuring an incredible interview with Greg Rajan, sports writer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He has covered the team since its inception, and we’ve done these e-mail interviews with a number of people – this is, by far, the most extensive. Captip to Greg for taking the time to answer these questions thoroughly. […]
Thoughts On The Trade Deadline: The Angels
Another trade deadline passed, another swirl of rumors connecting the Angels to nearly every premium player out there, and disappointingly but not unexpectedly – another stretch run in which the Angels have decided to sit on their hands and stand pat. Last year’s acquisition of Mark Teixiera not withstanding, the Angels have been quiet more […]
Four Burning Questions Facing The Baltimore Orioles
As the Baltimore Orioles complete another disappointing season and prepare for 2010, there are 4 key questions that team president Andy MacPhail must answer. Can The O’s Contend in 2010? Before any other decisions about the team’s future can be addressed, MacPhail and the Baltimore front office must assess the team and realistically determine if […]
Can the Florida Marlins Win the NL East
With seven weeks left in the baseball season, the young Florida Marlins seem to be poised to stay in the hunt down to the wire in the National League East. However, the question is whether the Marlins have the experience needed to catapult pass the Phillies and claim the title. At the start of the […]
Helton Reaches Career Milestone
Amidst the ups and downs of playing for a small-medium market club for your career Todd Helton has been about the only constant in a Colorado Rockies uniform. Todd’s 13 year MLB career in my opinion has been Cooperstown worthy. He is a career .320 hitter, 300 plus home-runs and 500 doubles and counting. Image […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The All-Underappreciated Team
America loves the underdog; it’s a fact. More importantly, fantasy owners love the underdog. Not only are they fun to root for, but they often come much cheaper than what they should. If there’s one thing you’ve learned from me this season, it better be the importance of value. Lucky for you, this week’s Fantasy Focus is a perfect […]
Rollie’s Follies: An Interview with Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers
**The Quotes as presented are direct from Rollie Fingers courtesy of an interview that he was kind enough to grant me in conjunction with his new book.** When people approach professional athletes, they are usually looking for a career retrospective or a biography. That is exactly what Yellowstone Ritter had in mind when he contacted […]
Interview With Buddy Biancalana of PMPM Sports
Have you ever been playing sports and experienced a feeling that you thought was only seen in the movies that is called being “in the zone”? If you have or even if you’d like to read more about people who have experienced this, please read on. I recently had the pleasure and privelidge of interviewing […]
The LaRoche Rule
Image by SD Dirk via Flickr Recently, Adam LaRoche was traded back to the National League after spending less than 2 weeks in the American League. As you would know, this does not happen often, and, inadvertently set up a fun scenario in the two fantasy leagues I play in – one auction, one draft. […]
