Mike Trout: Angel in Right Field
It finally happened. After years of speculation and too many years cut short due to injury(ies), future Hall of Famer Mike Trout is moving out of center field. As you may recall, when Trout made his major league debut in 2011 at age 19, he played ten games in left field, and thirteen in each…
We May Be In the Golden Age of “The Sound”
Last week, in his daily newsletter, Joe Posnanski wrote the following: “You will remember how Buck O’Neil always talked about hearing that sound three times in his life — hearing it when the ball came off Babe Ruth’s bat, then hearing it when the ball came off Josh Gibson’s bat, then hearing it a third…
If Joe Mauer Is a First-Ballot Hall of Famer, Shouldn’t Will Clark Get Another Look?
Two players appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for only one year. Player A was drafted 1/1 (first pick in the first round) by his hometown club. Player B was selected 1/2 (second pick in the first round) by a team far from his hometown. Player A spent his entire career with one club,…
Dustin Pedroia a Hall of Famer? A Case Can Be Made
The 2025 Hall of Fame votes are in. Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner will be celebrating in central New York at the end of July. Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones are on the cusp, and will be hoping for a better outcome next year. But there are certain players who deserve better (David…
Should David Cone Be in the Hall of Fame?
Rob Friedman, the Pitching Ninja, recently did an interview with, and a deep dive into, David Cone, the variety of his nasty pitches, and the highs and lows of his long career. For the uninitiated, over a 17-year career, Cone won 194 games (against 126 losses), finished with a 3.46 ERA, struck out 2,668 batters,…
Frank Tanana Deserved At Least 1 Hall of Fame Vote!
I previously wrote about a former fire-baller who, midway through his career, became considerably more crafty, and pitched for nearly two decades, winning more than 200 games. My conclusion was that while David Cone may not have had a Hall of Fame resumé, he deserved at more than one year on the ballot. This week…
Hometown Heroes
*This article first appeared in the IBWAA Here’s the Pitch Newsletter. In the lead-up to the 2024 World Series, much was made about the sign Gerrit Cole made and brought with him to the 2001 fall classic. Although he was born and raised in Southern California (but considerably closer to Angel Stadium than Dodger Stadium),…
Kiké Hernández Shines When the Lights Are the Brightest
In 2012, I took my son’s travel ball team to a Lancaster Jethawks game. I had arranged for each kid to run out on the field with his positional counterpart in the top of the first inning. As the kids gathered, the second baseman circled the boys up and told them to sprint to the…
Bring Socialism to the Ballpark
Color me a socialist. Not in the political sense, but in the idea that people who come to sporting events should, by and large, be treated equally and fairly. It truly bothers me when – at the ballpark – the rich only get richer. I certainly understand that the more you pay for your ticket,…
Dave Roberts’ Savvy Strategy Pays Off
If you are a regular listener to the Effectively Wild podcast, or if you are a fan of college baseball, you know there is one strategy that is available to major league managers, but that is rarely utilized. There are multiple (potential) reasons this strategy is avoided: To avoid embarrassment; to give pitchers “clean” batters”;…