Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Sometimes info is easier digested in graphs, at least for me. Check out the website Flip Flop Fly Ball and you’ll see what I mean.
It’s full of neat baseball-related graphs, maps and images that are kinda neat. For my buddy DonS, they even have a video montage of Ichiro Suzuki.
I just spent the last half hour browsing around Clem’s Baseball blog. Clem’s site is a plethora of information about baseball stadiums both current and past.
A look at the oddly shaped Polo Grounds from Clem’s Baseball Blog
He has a profile on all stadiums including detailed diagrams with dimensions, and an extensive history.
I’m not sure how he got all his information but it is impressive. Diagrams and dimensions are available for every major change they made to each stadium. There is even an option to easily compare two stadiums.
Check it out if you’re a baseball stadium buff.
Baseball Zealot Radio got a chance to interview Erik Manning tonight. Erik writes for FutureRedbirds.net, a website that scouts Cardinals prospects in their farm system.
In show 46, we talk a bit about Future Redbirds and the tools he needs to scout the players. He then gives us a snapshot of the current Cardinals’ farm system. Who’s hot and who’s not.
I couldn’t let Erik off the line without asking him about the big league so we talked a little about the NL Central race, one that’s shaping up to be a humdinger.
thanks, Erik!
PS don’t miss the Amaury Marti Facts page on Future Redbirds!
Length: 31:53
Date Recorded: 7/24/08
 Listen to Episode 46 |
 Listen to the show via iTunes! |
| Listen to other Baseball Zealot Radio episodes |  BZR Podcast Feed |
Author Adrian Burgos has blog now called Playing America’s Game. Burgos, a friend of the Zealot, is a University of Illinois professor and author of Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, And The Color Line.
Burgos is a renowned expert on Latinos in the context of the history of baseball as well as the Negro Leagues.
It is no secret that his favorite player is Minnie Minoso.
Stop by and say hi.
Here’s an pretty cool web site I ran across tonight. Coach Bobby B has an extensive tutorial on his web site on how to score a baseball game. I realize I’m preaching to the choir since most reading this site probably have a pretty good idea how to do this but it’s interesting and good resource for those newbies learning the game.
Those of us in the Illowa APBA League have a lot of practice scoring games. Unlike other fantasy baseball, APBA is a simulation game. Actual games get played, stats are accumulated and therefore we need to score them.
There are ten managers in our league and we use ten different ways of scorekeeping. Everyone’s way is different. Some are incredibly thorough (bordering on anal). Others can fit six games on one side of a sheet of paper.
Anyway, for those who want to brush up on scorekeeping, take a look at How to Score Baseball.
Good news for stathounds. Retrosheet.org has updated their website. In addition to making changes to their user interface, they’ve added to their database.
The site looks great moving from a frame-based format to a top menubar complete with some new snazzy graphics.
More importantly, they’ve added some more seasons in their quest to add more play-by-play data from past years. According to David Smith from Retrosheet, seasons that have been added include:
…at least batting averages, that is. Johnny Damon may be changing that, though.
Steve L from Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day blog points out an interesting stat about the New York Yankees. He says leftfielder Damon who is currently hitting .326 may be on his way to a unusual season from a Yankee perspective.
When was the last time a Yankee leftfielder played in 100 plus games and hit more than .320? Steve did the math and you would have to go back fifteen years to 1993 when Dion James did it. James hit .332 in 115 games.
Ok, that’s believable but before James, you would have to go all the way back to 1927 when Bob Meusel hit .337 in 137 games.
An unusual occurrence indeed.
Happy birthday to the Stat of the Day blog, by the way, which celebrated its first birthday one week ago. The SOTD blog, hosted by Baseball Reference is a fun diversion for me where folks research statistical oddities, ironies, and other interesting fun facts. Check them out.
First, thanks to Brian Foley from The College Baseball Blog for reminding me to update everyone on the Michigan-Mets game. It looks like Michigan gave the big boys a run for the money. The game ended in a 4-4 tie complete with a David Wright homer. The Wolverines were out away from a 4-2 victory until Michael Abreu hit a two-run homer.
And something you don’t see every day, the game was umpired by a crew of four women. One of the umpires was named, appropriately enough, Theresa Fairlady.
Also, it’s a long time coming but I’ve added three blogs to the blogroll. These three blogs are all websites that cover Big Ten baseball teams. The Buckeye Nine is covering the Ohio State team and already has good contact with the team. Read their Q&A of Buckeye pitcher Dan DeLucia.
Happy Valley Hardball is a new blog covering Penn State baseball. Happy Valley is working overtime spitting out stats, RPI figures, you name it not just for Penn State for other Big Ten teams as a whole, too.
Finally, The National Anthem Before A Cubs Game is a multi-sport blog but they do cover a lot of Minnesota Gopher baseball. They’re not new (they’ve been around for years) but they’re new to me.
Want to work with baseball stats and get paid for it? Sean Foreman from Baseball Reference is looking for interns who have computer experience for the summer.
You can view the job description here.
Zealot friend Brian DeCaussin from the excellent site Big Ten Hardball takes a turn at reviewing the University of Illinois squad.
He does a quite thorough job. His take on the Illini?
The good thing for Illinois is that outside of Michigan, the remainder of the conference appears to be very close. The hunch here is the Illini finish in the middle of the pack in 2008. However, if McMurray and Chmielewski explode onto the Big Ten scene, all bets are off.