Steve Rogers Had A Career That We Should Try Not To Forget
On Episode 2367 of the Effectively Wild podcast, host Ben Lindbergh made reference to David Laurila’s newsletter and his weekly trivia quiz. One question revolved around the three pitchers who have won at least 100 games for the Expos/Nationals franchise. Ben got the first two, and essentially got the third, but could not place the…
Two Pitchers With Similar Stats But Dissimilar Reputations
CURT SCHILLING Curt Schilling was selected out of Yavapai College in the second round of the 1986 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox. In July of 1988, Boston traded Schilling, along with outfielder Brady Anderson, to the Orioles in return for veteran pitcher Mike Boddicker. Ironically, Schilling made his major league debut just five…
The “Manfred Man” Bestows a Loss On a Pitcher Who Just Did His Job
On Episode 2375 of the Effectively Wild podcast, co-host Ben Lindbergh — no fan of the “Manfred Man” (aka the “Ghost Runner,” which is a misnomer; aka the “Zombie Runner,” which is an insult to the guy actually standing on second base) — pointed out how the rule instituted in 2020 (during Covid) produced a…
Focus On The Process: From “Let’s Go” To Letting Go To Watching Him Go
An owner buys a team and hires a general manager. The general manager hires a field manager and together they go about building a championship team. Along the way there are hiccups and bumps, and wonderful and happy moments. The road is never straight, but the trials and tribulations — the journey — are what…
Don Mattingly Is a Hero and Nomar Garciaparra Is Not Much Discussed, and Yet Their Careers Numbers Are Shockingly Similar
Sometimes it is fun to look at two wholly different players and see how very similar they were. Today we will look at two guys who essentially played on opposite sides of second base*, one of whom stayed on the Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years, topping out at 28.2% of the vote; and…
Bryce Harper vs. Aaron Judge – Who You Got?
Bryce Harper became a sensation when he was 16 years old, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He forewent his final two years of high school (obtaining his GED) to enroll in junior college, making him draft eligible at the age of 18. He was selected 1/1 in the 2010 draft by the Washington…
40 Years After the “Rick Camp Game”
July 4th marked the 40th anniversary of what has colloquially become known as the “Rick Camp Game.” But, as you will see, it was a whole lot more than that. As is typical for a 4th of July game, this battle between the visiting New York Mets and the hometown Atlanta Braves, was scheduled to…
In Celebration of Carlos Delgado’s Career
Over a 17-year career, former Toronto Blue Jay, Florida Marlin, and New York Met Carlos Delgado slashed .280/.383/.546/.929, which totals a 138 OPS+. Over those years, he won three Silver Slugger awards, was named to two All-Star teams* and was in the Top-10 in MVP voting four times. *In retrospect, only two is a crime.…
Baseball Is A Game Built on Fathers and Sons
A version of this article first appeared in the May 13th edition of the IBWAA “Here’s The Pitch” newsletter. In the last two weeks, two former big leaguers sat in the stands and watched their sons come through in the clutch. In the sixth inning of a 1-1 game two Saturdays ago, Minnesota Twins infielder…
Hitting a Home Run In Your First MLB At-Bat Is Exciting, Not Indicative of Anything
Two weeks ago, Matt Gorski of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit his first major league home run in his first major league at-bat, on the first pitch he saw. With that swing, Gorski became the 136th member of this not-so-exclusive club – the first MLB at-bat homer club. And he joined an inclusive subset of that…