Yes…THAT Brian Roberts

Lost in the Derek Jeter “is” (check out what Hal Bodley had to say) or “isn’t” (read the rebuttal to Bodley’s piece by Michael Schur) American League Most Valuable Player debates that have hit the interwebs since he surpassed Lou Gehrig’s Yankee hit record were two other significant hitting milestones.

First…Ichiro Suzuki added to his Hall of Fame credentials by putting together his record setting ninth straight season with 200 or more hits Sunday night. Fittingly, it was an infield single (a slow roller to Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus) that broke the Ichiro free of Willie Keeler’s 108 year-old record of eight straight.

“We witnessed something that has never been done in the history of baseball,” marveled four-time All-Star Mike Sweeney following the game. “That was a special night for all of us, and especially Ichiro. I’m elated for him. We’re all elated for him.”

And just how good is nine straight seasons with 200 or more hits? Consider this…hit kings Ty Cobb and Pete Rose never did it in more than three consecutive seasons. Both played 24 seasons in the bigs and for their careers, Cobb had nine season where he hit the benchmark…Rose had ten.

Ichiro is nine for nine.

Also lost in the shuffle was Brian Roberts of the Orioles and I know what you’re thinking…yes, THAT Brian Roberts.

You see last week against the Red Sox, Roberts launched a double to deep left off of starter Paul Byrd. And no, the fact that he leap frogged Hall of Famer Earle Combs on the all-time doubles list in the process has nothing to do with the achievement.

You see, with that hit (double number 50 for Roberts this season), the second baseman became only the fourth player in Major League history to have three seasons with more than 50 doubles.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and say that Roberts is the same caliber as the other three on the list (Hall of Famers Tris Speaker, Paul Waner and Stan Musial), but I’ll tell you this…regardless who you root for, being on that short list is pretty impressive.

“I’m guessing that will be the only thing in my career that I’ll ever be in that sort of company for,” Roberts said following the game. “I respect the game and I like the history of the game, and to be in that company is something I’ll be proud of when I’m done.”

Speaker hit 50 doubles in a season five times during his career, while Waner and Musial did it three times each.

Also, with 51 doubles last season, Roberts recorded his second straight 50 double season. The other two that did it…Hall of Famer Billy Herman and his future plaquemate Craig Biggio.

So there you have it, gang, a Thursday morning post that features five Hall of Famers, three future Hall of Famers, Pete Rose and Brian Roberts.

Yes…THAT Brian Roberts
.

Shawn also writes for The Hall of Very Good(HOVG). If you liked this article, please follow the link to the HOVG and tell them the Drs. sent you!

Top 10 Reasons Cecil Cooper Got Fired by the Astros

The Houston Astros have fired manager Cecil Cooper. It isn’t hard to figure out why. In fact, the reasons are so obviously and plentiful that we’ve put together the following

Top Ten Reasons Cecil Cooper Got Fired by the Houston Astros

10. Foolishly relying upon Roy Oswalt. Surely Cooper could have had the foresight to see that Oswalt is a paper-tiger. Sure, the first eight seasons of his career were amazing, but Cooper should have seen through Oswalt’s decade of dominance and realized that he was on course for a return to earth in 2009.

9. Bringing Mike Hampton in for a Reunion Tour. What was Cooper thinking here? Hampton was ten years removed from his Cy Young runner-up season with the Astros in 1999 and five years removed from the last time he pitched over 100 innings in a season, and he gave Hampton a spot in the starting rotation.

8. Playing Miguel Tejada at Shortstop. Surely Cooper should have realized that Tejada has lied about his age, lied about using performance enhancing drugs, and was never that good of a defender even in his prime. Why did Cooper sign Tejada and put him at shortstop?

7. Failure to Develop Minor League Talent. Cooper failed where his predecessors did not – he never could develop young talent into legitimate major league players, relying instead upon cast-offs and failed prospects from other organizations. The Astros next manager really needs to develop talent throughout the system better.

6. Letting Lance Berkman Get Off to a Bad Start. Somehow, someway, Lance Berkman has never had any trouble succeeding in the early months of the season until this year. Last year, Lance was one of the elite hitters in the National League. This year, he was so-so. Shame on you, Cecil Cooper.

5. Signing an Aging and Inadequate Catcher to Play Full-time in the National League. There was a time when Ivan Rodriguez was an elite defensive catcher who called games very well and could hit a bit. He is no longer any of those things, and Cooper should have known it.

4. Putting Together the Oldest Lineup in the National League.

How are the Astros supposed to succeed when Cecil Cooper sent out a lineup everyday with an average age of 31.7 years old, the worst in the league? Plus, some of their oldest players were at key defensive positions. I would have expected Cooper to manage the roster better.

3. Allowing Russ Ortiz and Felipe Paulino to Start a Combined 28 Games. These guys went 5-16 with an ERA over 5.75 and a WHIP over 1.60. How did Cooper not make sure he had better pitchers in camp before starting the season with these guys.

2. Stocking the Bench with Jeff Keppinger, Chris Coste, Humberto Quintero, Jason Michaels, and Darin Erstad. If I had the oldest starting lineup in baseball, I sure would hope to have some solid bats on my bench. But between these five reserves, the only ones with 100 or more plate appearances after the starters, the Astros have a batting average under .250, an on-base percentage under .300, and an OPS well under the league average. I hope Cooper plans to have more depth at his next stop.

1. Playing in the NL’s Toughest Division with the NL’s Thinnest Roster. Facts are facts, people: the NL Central has six teams, which is more than any other division. So, to compete in the NL Central, a team needs to be better than five teams, not just four or three. And when three of those teams are the young up-and-coming Milwaukee Brewers, the cash-flush Chicago Cubs, and the ingeniously-run St. Louis Cardinals, you gotta come to the field with more than just Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada. You have to have guys who can pinch-hit, who can get on base, who can field the ball, and who can pitch six innings a game without giving the game away. The Astros didn’t have that this year.

And hey, when the organization fails to put together a competitive roster and the aging players on the field don’t put up the numbers they once did, there can be only one person to blame.

Cecil Cooper, we hardly knew ya.

Asher B. Chancey also writes for Baseball Evolution and you can read his work there by following this link.

New Triple Crown Analysis for Pitchers

As casual baseball fans know, a pitcher wins the “Triple Crown” when he leads his league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts in the same season. The more-than-casual baseball fan realizes that only one out of those three categories truly represents the talents of a pitcher, as opposed to the combined talents of a pitcher and his team. Whereas a pitcher’s ERA depends upon the defense behind the pitcher, and Wins depend upon the defense and the offense supporting the pitcher, only strikeouts truly represent the ability of the pitcher independent of his supporting cast.

A pitcher’s Triple Crown occurs so rarely in baseball that these distinctions are hardly worth quibbling. However, these three statistics play into another element of pitcher evaluation far more frequently: these three statistics have dominated Cy Young Award analysis for as long as that Award has been given out.

The instances in which the voters have placed too much emphasis upon all or any of these statistics, particularly Wins, in picking the Cy Young Award winner are too numerous to count, but here are some good examples:

- In 1990, Doug Drabek of the Pittsburgh Pirates led the NL in wins with 22, ahead of Ramon Martinez (20) and Frank Viola (20). Martinez and Viola each pitched more innings than Drabek, faced more batters, and had better K:BB ratios than Drabek. At best, it could have been described as a very close race. Nevertheless, Drabek managed to get 98% of the Cy Young Award vote.

- Also in 1990, Bob Welch famously and historically won 27 games for the juggernaut Oakland Athletics. While he topped Dave Stewart, Roger Clemens, Dave Stieb, and Chuck Finley in wins, he ranked behind all four other pitchers in ERA (2.95), homeruns allowed (26), and runs allowed (90). Stewart finished with nine more complete games, two more shutouts, 29 more innings pitched, over 100 batters faced, and 39 more strikeouts than Welch. Meanwhile, Clemens pitched four shutouts, allowed only seven homeruns, had 209 strikeouts, and lead the league in ERA (1.93), strikeout to walk ratio, homeruns allowed, and shutouts. Nevertheless, Welch was the easy Cy Young Award winner.

- In 2002, Barry Zito won the AL Cy Young Award with a 23-5 record and a 2.75 ERA. This stopped Pedro Martinez, who went 20-4 with a 2.26 ERA, 239 strikeouts, 38 fewer walks and 11 fewer bases on balls than Zito.

- In 1980, Steve Stone went 25-7, topping the 22-9 Mike Norris for the AL Cy Young. This despite the fact that there was no other statistic in which Stone topped Norris, Norris allowed nine fewer hits in 34 more innings, and pitched 24 complete games compared to Stone’s nine .

In this era of baseball statistical valuation, there is no reason for Cy Young Award voting to reflect the traditional Triple Crown method of player valuation. Ideally, Cy Young voters would spend time to learn about all the major statistics of all the major candidates, but quick-glance statistical methods will probably never go out of style.

With this in mind, I propose a new quick-glance method for picking Cy Young Award winners: the New Triple Crown Method. Fans and voters can still do a quick-look analysis by looking at three major statistics, but we’ll just change the statistics.

Wins

Starting with Wins, we can no longer live in a world where Wins are used as a proxy for a pitcher’s success. Now more than ever, with abundant offenses and situation-specific bullpen usage, a pitcher’s performance is loosely tied to whether the pitcher is rewarded in the Wins column. As long ago as 1987, Nolan Ryan went 8-16 while leading the National League in ERA; in the 21st Century the best pitcher in the league almost never leads his league in wins.

I propose using Innings Pitched to determine a player’s value instead of Wins. There’s no such thing as cheap innings in baseball, but there are cheap wins.

Perhaps the most useful asset a pitcher brings to the table for his team in the modern era of baseball is durability, and while Wins loosely measure the number of times a team won when the pitcher was on the mound, Innings Pitched gives a more accurate view of how well a pitcher contributed to his team’s success in the form of providing stable and consistent starting pitching.

For the sake of illustration, let’s look at two seven-inning outings by two major league pitchers.

Pitcher A pitches seven innings, gives up five earned runs on ten hits and two homeruns, but gets the Win when his team scores eight runs to support him.

Pitcher B pitches seven innings, gives up no runs on three hits, buts gets the no decision when his team loses 1-0.

Which pitcher pitched better? Which pitcher is the better pitcher?

If you look at Wins, you’d think Pitcher A had the better game. If you look at innings pitched, you see them as equal. It appears to me that if we are going to judge a pitcher on just three statistics, innings pitched is a better measure of a pitcher’s value than wins. This is just one example, but it seems that the number of times a pitcher gets a cheap Win without pitching well overwhelms the number of times that a pitcher gets cheap innings in a game in which he is clearly pitching poorly.

Put another way – mediocre pitchers rarely rack up innings, but often rack up wins.

ERA

A pitcher’s earned run average can tell you whether a pitcher is a good pitcher or a bad pitcher. Comparing ERA’s within a run of each other is often a less-than-useful task because of the importance of the pitcher’s defense to the pitcher’s ERA.

For example, suppose Pitcher A has a 2.91 ERA, while Pitcher B has a 3.01 ERA. Naturally, we might suppose Pitcher A to be the better pitcher. But what if it is revealed that Pitcher A’s team has a 3.66 team ERA, while Pitcher B’s team has a 4.35 team ERA. Now the possibility exists that, if Pitcher A and Pitcher B switched teams (or more importantly, defenses) Pitcher B might have the better ERA.

Fortunately, we now know how to deal with this – thanks to Voros McCracken’s DIPS analysis, which measures a pitcher’s value through his statistics that are independent of the defense behind him, we can more accurately measure what part of a pitcher’s ERA is attributable to the pitcher’s individual abilities. A pitcher’s defense independent ERA has several incarnations, but I like The Hardball Times version, called Fielding Independent Pitching or “FIP”, which The Hardball Times defines as:

“Fielding Independent Pitching, a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. The formula is (HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP, plus a league-specific factor (usually around 3.2) to round out the number to an equivalent ERA number. FIP helps you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded.”

Strikeouts

Nolan Ryan’s best statistic does represent a pitcher’s ability independent of the defense behind him but, just as with Nolan Ryan, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Ryan famously leads all major league baseball players in career strikeouts, but what is less well known is that he is also the all-time leader in bases on balls, which are also a defense independent statistic. Indeed, there is a valid argument that a walk hurts the team more than a strikeout, because if a batter doesn’t strikeout he can still be retired on a batted ball, whereas a batter who walks definitely gets on base.

If a pitcher’s value is to be measured by the number of batters he is able to retire without the help of his defense by striking them out, then the pitcher’s value should also reflect the number of batters he puts on base without requiring the hitter to hit the ball.

Strikeout-to-walk ratio, then, should be considered a better measure of a pitcher’s defense-independent abilities than total strikeouts.

Applying the New Method to the 2009 Season

Applying what we have learned, our “New Triple Crown” quick-look Cy Young Award analysis would look like this:

National League Cy Young Award

National League Wins Leaders (thus far):

1. Adam Wainright , 18

2. Chris Carpenter, 16

3. Jason Marquis, 15

4. Josh Johnson, 15

5. Jorge de la Rosa, 15

National League Innings Pitched:

1. Adam Wainright , 219.0

2. Danny Haren, 217.1

3. Tim Lincecum, 211.1

4. Bronson Arroyo, 205.0

5. Ubaldo Jimenez, 205.0

Switching the focus from Wins to Innings Pitched eliminates three pitchers who have racked up wins pitching for very good teams – Carpenter for the Cardinals and de la Rosa and Marquis for the Rockies. As for Adam Wainright, well it would appear that he is legit. Bronson Arroyo, who has been a rock for a bad Cincinnati Reds team gets a look he wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.

National League ERA Leaders:

1. Chris Carpenter, 2.34

2. Tim Lincecum, 2.47

3. Adam Wainright, 2.59

4. Matt Cain, 2.71

5. Jair Jurrjens, 2.75

National League FIP Leaders:

1. Tim Lincecum, 2.35

2. Javier Vazquez, 2.76

3. Chris Carpenter, 2.78

4. Josh Johnson, 3.03

5. Joel Pineiro, 3.05

This analysis shows us two different things. First, it thins out the list of guys with ERA’s between 0.00 and 2.75 from five to one, and widens the gap between Tim Lincecum and the rest of the league. It also shows us just how important the defense of the St. Louis Cardinals has been to the success of their pitching staff, as Chris Carpenter drops from first to third, and Wainright falls out of the top five.

National League Strikeout Leaders:

1. Tim Lincecum, 247

2. Javier Vazquez, 222

3. Danny Haren, 208

4. Yovani Gallardo, 204

5. Adam Wainright , 193

National League Strikeout-to-walk Ratio Leaders (amongst qualifiers):

1. Danny Haren, 6.12

2. Javier Vazquez, 5.16

3. Ted Lilly, 4.21

4. Ricky Nolasco, 4.20

5. Joel Pineiro, 4.17

Well, that’s just a whole different list, isn’t it? Goodbye, Tim Lincecum and Adam Wainright , hello . . . Ted Lilly and Ricky Nolasco? Plus, Danny Haren, whose 208 strikeouts look humble compared to Lincecum and Vazquez, jumps to the head of the pack.

American League

American League Wins Leaders:

1. C.C. Sabathia, 18

2. Scott Feldman, 17

3. Justin Verlander, 16

4. Felix Hernandez, 16

5. Jered Weaver, Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, 15

The top five leaders in the AL for innings pitched in 2009 are:

1. Roy Halladay, 221.0

2. C.C. Sabathia, 220.1

3. Justin Verlander, 217.1

4. Felix Hernandez, 216.1

5. Zack Greinke, 210.1

The most obvious effect of this analysis is that Scott Feldman (176.2 innings) is no longer in the conversation, while the under-supported Zack Greinke (14 wins) takes his place with the elite pitchers of 2009. In truth, Scott Feldman’s success in 2009 is more of a compliment to his team than to his own abilities; though his season has been a good one, he is not an elite American League pitcher.

American League ERA Leaders:

1. Zack Greinke, 2.14

2. Felix Hernandez, 2.45

3. Roy Halladay, 3.01

4. C.C. Sabathia, 3.31

5. Jon Lester, 3.33

American League FIP Leaders:

1. Zack Greinke, 2.41

2. Justin Verlander, 2.96

3. Felix Hernandez, 3.19

4. Jon Lester, 3.22

5. Roy Halladay, 3.24

The effect here is clear – we have validated Zack Greinke while revealing Verlander to be better at preventing runs from scoring than Sabathia, Hernandez, Halladay, and Lester, all of whom rank ahead of him in ERA.

American League Strikeout Leaders:

1. Justin Verlander, 245

2. Zack Greinke, 224

3. Jon Lester, 215

4. Felix Hernandez, 196

5. Roy Halladay, 193

American League Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio Leaders (amongst qualifiers):

1. Roy Halladay, 5.85

2. Zack Greinke, 5.09

3. Justin Verlander, 4.15

4. Carl Pavano, 3.74

5. Josh Beckett, 3.67

Again, the effect here is clear – strikeouts make Verlander look better than Greinke, and both better than Halladay, but K:BB ratio makes Greinke look better than Verlander, and Halladay better than both of them. And . . . why, hello Mr. Pavano!

Conclusions

Traditional Triple Crown analysis shows that C.C. Sabathia may be the next American League Cy Young Award winner whose wins misstate his value with respect to the rest of his league. In the New Triple Crown analysis, Sabathia doesn’t look quite so great as he fails to rank in the top five in either FIP or strikeout-to-walk ratio. The New Triple Crown analysis benefits Zack Grienke, however, as his rankings in FIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio only validate his rankings in ERA and strikeouts, and his innings pitched ranking more accurately represents his value when compared to his team-influenced wins total.

But the big winner here is Roy Halladay. His league leading innings pitched make up for his tied-for-fifth wins total and his league leading strikeout-to-walk ratio makes up for his fifth ranked strikeouts total. The American League Cy Young Award should be a battle between Zack Greinke and Roy Halladay, a conclusion not at all clear from our traditional Triple Crown analysis.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the main point of the New Triple Crown analysis is the discrediting of some dubious wins totals. After Adam Wainright , who leads the league in both wins and innings pitched, our new analysis sheds Jason Marquis, Jorge de la Rosa, and Chris Carpenter from our list of elite pitchers. Carpenter also appears to be a paper-tiger in the ERA category as well; our FIP analysis shows him behind Tim Lincecum and Javier Vazquez, two pitchers he leads in ERA.

But the real revelation in the National League is Dan Haren, who doesn’t rank amongst the top five NL pitchers in Wins or ERA and ranks third in strikeouts. Under our New Triple Crown analysis, we find that Haren is second in National League in innings pitched and actually leads the NL, by a substantial margin, in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Dan Haren actually appears to make a better Cy Young candidate than Wainright , which tells us a lot about the traditional Triple Crown analysis can be deceiving, since Wainright leads the NL in wins, is third in ERA, and is fifth in strikeouts.

At the end of the day, a truly educated pick for this year’s Cy Young Award winners would rely upon all of these statistics and several others in order to pick the year’s best pitcher (to say nothing of looking at more pitchers overall). But voters will be voters, and those voters will continue to depend on quick-look analyses to decide how to cast their votes. If this is going to be the case, then the New Triple Crown analysis is far preferable to the traditional Triple Crown analysis, and will allow Cy Young voters to accurately pick the best pitcher in each league.

Asher B. Chancey also writes for Baseball Evolution and you can read his work there by following this link.

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 no longer afford to start players based on their names or draft value; riding the hot hand is now the key to your success.

With that thought in mind, here are four pitchers whose favorable matchups make them prime spot-start candidates for week 25:

Hiroki Kuroda is 2-0 with a 1.92 ERA in his last 14 innings. In those two starts, Kuroda has recorded 12 strikeouts and zero walks. The 34-year-old gets two starts this week, one against the Nationals and the other against the Pirates, making him an excellent two-start pitcher to own.

Wade LeBlanc is 2-0 in three September starts, posting a 1.42 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 19 innings. The 25-year-old southpaw will pitch against the Pirates and Diamondbacks this week, making him an adequate two-start spot-start.

Robinson Tejada has pitched extremely well since joining the Royals’ rotation earlier this month. In four September starts, the 27-year-old is 3-0 with a 0.80 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 22 1/3 innings, while posting 24 strikeouts and issuing just 10 walks. Tejada is owned by less than half of the Yahoo fantasy baseball community, meaning there’s a good chance he’s available for you to add for his Friday start against the Twins.

In four September starts, Jon Garland is 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. The tall right-hander has turned in five consecutive quality starts, and is likely to make it six in a row against either Washington or Pittsburgh later this week.

Nick Kappel is the resident Fantasy Baseball guru here at The Dugout Doctors and Baseball Reflections. You can read more of his work on Baseball Reflections by clicking HERE!

The Ball Girl Catch

This is one of those videos that you’ve got to see to believe! This is one of the best catches by a ball boy or girl I have ever seen! Please share your thoughts of it in the comments

I don’t care much what people say about this being real or not it’s still a cool video to watch. They did a great job with it!

I am Peter Schiller, the owner of Baseball Reflections and I am also a writer there, too. To read more of my work at Baseball Reflections just click HERE!

Sabermetrics 101: Runs Created

Runs Created or RC is a tool created by Bill James in an attempt to calculate how many runs an individual player creates for his team. If you follow James, then you probably know of RC already, but if you don’t and you are tired of the same old stats then you may want to pay close attention to this post. Here is how important RC is in Bill James own words:

With regard to an offensive player, the first key question is how many runs have resulted from what he has done with the bat and on the basepaths. Willie McCovey hit .270 in his career, with 353 doubles, 46 triples, 521 home runs and 1,345 walks — but his job was not to hit doubles, nor to hit singles, nor to hit triples, nor to draw walks or even hit home runs, but rather to put runs on the scoreboard. How many runs resulted from all of these things?¹

Statistically speaking, RC is the player’s ability to get on base (his on base factor ) multiplied by his chance of advancing (his advancement factor) divided by his overall possible opportunities (his opportunity factor). To get these figures, James took a players hits plus walks (H + BB) total and multiplied that by his total bases (TB), then divides that by the total of his at bats (AB + BB) in it’s most basic form. To see the variations at which James takes into consideration, just follow this link or the previous one. The basic version of this stat gives the user an accurate measurement with a 5% margin of error and with the more complex variations that number decreases (see note # 3).

Runs created, if used correctly, can assist those looking for an edge (that is if your competitors aren’t already using it also) in player evaluation. This tool helps you to see the true value of a player’s offensive prowess in the most important stat of scoring runs which is what wins games. Right? After all, you could have the best pitching and defense on the field but if you don’t score any runs you can’t win the game.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in defense and especially good quality pitching, but as far as offense goes RC is one of the most important stats on the market.

For some external links on RC, please follow the previous link provided by Baseball-Reference.

All links and Notes found in this post come from Wikipedia on Runs Created.

Note 1: James, Bill (1985). The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (1st ed.), pp. 273-4. Villard. ISBN 0-394-53713-0.

Note 3: James, Bill (2002). Win Shares, p. 90. STATS, Inc. Publishing. ISBN 1-931584-03-6.

I am Peter Schiller, the owner of Baseball Reflections and I am also a writer there, too. To read more of my work at Baseball Reflections just click HERE!

Does the Pitcher’s Mound Cause Injuries?

Back in 1969 the height of the pitcher’s mound was lowered from 15″ down to 10″ in an attempt by major league baseball to level the playing ground between the era’s dominant pitching and the effect they were having on batters. Hitters were at an all time low for batting average of .237 the year before (1968).

Last year, research was done concerning the possible negative affect this 10″ mound has on a pitcher’s arm, elbow and shoulder. The analysis starts out by mentioning how pitchers in years gone by threw more complete games at the 15″ mound height, but noted that careers were significantly shorter as a possible result of this combination. Then refocuses it’s analysis on the stress that is induced upon a pitcher’s arm, elbow and shoulder given the necessary motion that is needed to throw a baseball at such high velocities as is seen in MLB games in an effective manner to get batters out from the height in which the pitches are now thrown from (10″).

With the investment (that would be their salaries) that teams ans ownerships are making in pitchers, there has become a trend to protect (some may call it babying) those young expensive arms if not the man himself. It has gotten to the point of seriousness that this report claims that MLB actually funded this medical investigation, led by the Milwaukee Brewers head team physician, William Raasch, M.D.

The article (link to be found at the end of this post) is enhanced by two streaming videos that show a pitcher’s motion (one is skeletal while the other is a wire frame model).

“We found that compared to flat ground, pitchers using a 10-inch mound experience an increase in superior shear and adduction torque in the shoulder – meaning there’s a greater amount of stress on the joint surface and surrounding structures. That greater stress may result in injury to the shoulder including tearing of the rotator cuff or labrum which may result in surgery and long-term rehabilitation. It also can make it difficult for the athlete to replicate the same throw and develop a consistent strike,” Dr. Raasch says.

They think that it would be better if rehabbing pitchers threw off level ground more often until they are closer to being game ready. It was also noted that Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan (now in the Texas Rangers management system), who player for 27 years, attributed his longevity to this practice of throwing off flat ground in his latter years out of preference because it just felt better as he got older to do so and he was throwing 100 mph into his 40′s. The hope my the research team would be for players to follow Ryan’s example for the sake of the game and their bodies.

The results of this study is said to have been presented at the 2007 MLB winter meetings. You can read this article, Lower Pitcher’s Mound Will Reduce Baseball Injuries – Study by the News Staff of Scientific Blogging from March of 2008.

I am Peter Schiller, the owner of Baseball Reflections and I am also a writer there, too. To read more of my work at Baseball Reflections just click HERE!

The Top 10 Most Interesting MLB Managers Over the Last 40 Years

These top 10 managers, for one reason or another, have intrigued me to the point of inclusion to this list. They have either had great tenures at a given team(s), been influential, charismatic, etc.

If you happen to have anyone else in mind that I may have missed, please feel free to let us know in the comments section of this list.

10. Ralph Houk – With over 1600 wins and a winning percentage of .514 over a 19 year managerial career after a seven year career as a player. He’s a manager I have respected as he has managed in three decades for the Yankees, Tigers  and Red Sox. He won two World Series as a manager in 1961 and 1962 (his first two years managing) with the Yankees and another in 1987 in the front office of the Twins. He was also a noted “player’s manager”.

9. Earl Weaver – Former manager of the Baltimore Orioles from 1968-1982, and 1985-1986. He won a World Series in 1970 & was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Weaver was one of the most boistrous managers of his time who was never shy about telling the umpires what he thought of their calls and they usually responded to his kind criticism of their work by ejecting him. He holds the Major League record for being ejected 97 times! During one of those ejections, this is what wikipedia claims was said (screamed), “I’m going to check the rule-book on that” to which the umpire replied, “Here, use mine.” Weaver shot back, “That’s no good – I can’t read Braille.” Also from wikipedia, Weaver was well known for kicking dirt on umpires. He was also known to turn his cap backwards whenever he sparred with umpires in order to get as close to them as possible without touching them.

8. Jim Leyland – Although Leyland has only one World Series victory from 1997 with the Florida Marlins, he was named the manager of the year in both leagues. Twice in the NL with Barry Bonds’ Pirates in 1990 and 1992, then again in 2006 in his first year managing the Tigers. Although he is still managing the Tigers, Leyland still hold true to his old school roots unless I am mistaken. Tigers fans, please let me know if I’m wrong here. He’s currently managing the Tigers and may be in the playoffs with them again this season!

7. Bobby Cox – Cox is 4th on the all time wins list with 2404. Like Leyland, he also has won one World Series (in 1995 with the Braves) and manager of the year awards in both leagues. He won one in the AL with the Blue Jays in his last year there and three times in the NL with the Braves in 1991, 2004 and 2005.

6. Terry Francona – Although in only his 10th year of managing in the big leagues, being a part of bringing 2 World Series Championships to Boston after an 86 year drought makes this list in my book, but I admit I’m a Red Sox fan. In fact, his hiring was influential in the Red Sox signing the bloody sock pitcher Curt Schilling. Although Francona was not very successful in Philadelphia, he has had better toys to play with in Boston since his arrival and is exceptionally well in protecting his players from the media and is also known as a player’s manager. He’s currently managing the Red Sox and will be in the playoffs with them again this season!

5. Tony LaRussa – LaRussa, who is currently third on the all time wins list with 2546 has also won two World Series Championships. One with the A’s in 1989 and more rrecently in 2006 with the Cardinals. Like Cox, he has won the manager of the year award four times, but in reverse order. Just one time in the NL with the Cardinals in 2002 and three times in the AL, once with the White Sox in 1983 and twice with the A’s in 1988 and 1992. He is the father of the one inning save and the lefty specialist. Both of those, in my opinion, have had detrimental effects to the game, but you just can’t argue with over 2500 wins…can you? He’s currently managing the Cardinals and will be in the playoffs with them again this season!

4. Whitey Herzog – Herzog is on this list for his 1281 wins and his influence on the game. He was the father of Whiteyball, which was a style of play that was based upon strategy to win games rather on the all powerful HR. Herzog’s teams relied on pitching, speed and defense to win games. His teams usually had at least one or more base-stealing threat at the top of the lineup, with a power threat such as George Brett or Jack Clark hitting third or fourth, protected by one or two hitters with lesser power, followed by more base stealers (taken from wikipedia).

3. Billy Martin – probably one of the most carismatic managers on this list, but Billy did win one World Series in 1977 with the Yankees, whom he managed five times in his career. It is said that he was preparring to manage them a sixth time (for the 1990 season) and even had most if not all of his coaching staff selected, but his death on Christmas Day, 1989 unfortunately ended that notion. Billy was born to coach the Yankees! His ejections and infighting with other coaches and his players were always taking center stage in his managerial career, but he was also a great strategist. Here’s a quote from sportswriter Thomas Boswell as found on wikipedia regarding Billy’s strategic genius.

Billy Martin proved what a powerful strategic tool paranoia is. He believed that everyone was against him. And so he spent every waking moment figuring out how imaginary enemies could be defeated in their nefarious plots. And sometimes he not only created strategies to defend against things that would never be done against him, but he realized that those attacks were in themselves novel and he would then try those attacks that he had already dreamed up a defense for. That’s why he was so wonderful at suicide bunts and double steals and any way that you could humiliate or psychologically defeat the other team, he was sure that’s how the world reacted to him. He was sure the world hated him. And so he turned that really raw, frightened paranoia into wonderful strategic intelligence.

2. Sparky Anderson – One of the most well respected managers of my lifetime, Sparky is 6th on the all time wins list with 2194. Sparky was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 by the veterans commitee after a 25 year career as a manager for just two teams. Sparky managed the Reds from 1970-1978 where he won two World Series Championships in 1975 and 1976. The World Series in 1975 against the Red Sox is still regarded as one of the best ever! From 1979-1995, Sparky managed the Tigers where he won his third Worl Series in 1984. While managing the Tigers, Sparky won two manager of the year awards in 1984 and 1987.

1. Joe Torre – Torre (aka Joe Cool) deserves to be on top of this list for the 12 years he managed the Yankees alone as he won four World Series Championships in the span of five years between 1996 and 2000 obviously including a remarkable three in a row between 1998 and 2000. He is another manager I have a lot of respect for. He is a class act and has shown that he can handle the stress of managing under George Steinbrenner (which isn’t easy!) and in media central (NY) and still seem like he had everything under control at all times. On a player’s note, he won a Gold Glove at catcher in 1965 while playing for the Braves! He also won the AL manager of the year award with the Yankees in 1996 and 1998. He’s currently managing the Dodgers and will be in the playoffs with them again this season!

Special Editor’s Note: of these top 10 managers, three of them were catchers and it is this writers opinion that former catchers make some of the best strategic managers.

Honorable Mentions:

Dick Williams – He won back to back World Series Championships with the A’s in 1972-1973 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Mike Scioscia – Another former catcher, Sciocia is another great strategist who won a World Series Title with the Angels as a manager in 2002 and previously as a player with the Dodgers in both 1981 and 1988. He also won the AL manager of the year in 2002. He’s currently managing the Angels and will be in the playoffs with them again this season!

I am Peter Schiller, the owner of Baseball Reflections and I am also a writer there, too. To read more of my work at Baseball Reflections just click HERE!

The Lost Art of the HOLD

It’s time to give the set-up men their own statistic again. Let’s reinstate the Major League Hold. After all, ESPN still lists it in their box scores. Seriously though, something needs to be done, statistically speaking, to differentiate a set-up man from a specialist (in just to face one batter). In some cases, a Hold can be even more important than a save (in my opinion). Look at it this way, what situation would you rather have your best reliever pitch in? A ninth inning against a team’s 7-8-9 hitters or in the 7th or 8th inning of a close game with the 3-4-5 hitters due up? Which scenario is more important? Unless you’re facing the 2008 (don’t laugh, wait until it gets warmer) Tigers, Indians or Yankees; I’d rather bring in my best RP to face the 3-4-5 hitters and then throw my second or third best RP for 9th inning clean up duty.

By now, some of you might be asking, “What on God’s green earth is a Hold anyway?”. Well, according to Baseball Prospectus, “A Hold is credited any time a relief pitcher enters a game in a Save Situation, records at least one out, and leaves the game never having relinquished the lead.” (as found in their Glossary; also seen as “HOLD”, “H” or “Hld”).

Others, after reading that definition, might then be led to ask, “Ok, not I know what a HOLD is, but can you clarify what a save opportunity is while you’re at it?” Sure, but this time we’ll look to ESPN’s MLB Statistics Glossary which states, “A Save opportunity is when a pitcher 1) enters the game with a lead of three or fewer runs and pitches at least one inning, 2) enters the game with the potential tying run on base, at bat, or on deck, or 3) pitches three or more innings with a lead and is credited with a save by the official scorer”. Does that help? Good! Now let’s move on.

This is where guys like San Diego’s Heath Bell, the Dodger’s Jonathan Broxton (before they became closers), Boston’s Hideki Okajima, the D’Back’s Brandon Lyon, Washington’s Jon Rauch and the Indian’s Rafael Betancourt stand out above the rest. This will probably mean higher salaries for these men, but it may just be worth it. They may start getting close to “closer” type money if this happens. Another option, written about by ESPN’s Jason Stark last year entitled, “Time to amend the save stat” (look for it in his archives, Here) would call for the tweaking of the Hold and calling it a STOP, but I tend to like calling it a Hold. I also do not agree with most of what Mr. Stark writes in this article, but it did get me thinking on the topic, which is a good thing. I do, however, think that the Hold stat, as it is currently, could be improved upon.

Another good piece, this time written on the “Save”, also led to me writing this article. “Evolving the Save Rule” by then Baseball Prospectus author David Pinto was written back on August 8, 2007 in his weekly spot called, “The Big Picture”. David Pinto’s Baseball Prospectus archives can be found by clicking Here. He now writes periodically for The Sporting News Online, Here as well as on his own blog, Baseball Musings.

I am Peter Schiller, the owner of Baseball Reflections and I am also a writer there, too. To read more of my work there at Baseball Reflections just click HERE!

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 former MLB player and 1985 World Series star, Buddy Biancalana. In this interview, Buddy talks about his career, the World Series and life after baseball and his co-founding of PMPM Sports.

Baseball Reflections (BR): Looking back at your time in both KC and Houston, which teammates did you see “in the zone” on a regular basis (if anyone)?

Buddy Biancalana (BB): Bret Saberhagen was the one who was most often locked in, and at a very young age. It was a real pleasure playing behind him, because I could count on him to consistently hit his spots. Charlie Leibrandt could access the zone on a pretty regular basis as could George Brett.

BR: During your time in or around the game, who have you seen that is able to stay “in the zone” most consistently?

BB: The trio of great pitchers in Atlanta, Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. All three were able to access deep levels of silence in their minds, which is one of the key components of being in the zone. Smoltz currently is not experiencing this silence, and therefore looks nothing like he did during his successful years. Most players don’t know where to look to find the zone and therefore, fluidity in their of motion.

BR: After over 20 years since you retired, do you now know what prevented you from playing longer? For example, was it your offense or defense or just an overall lack of being “in the zone” like you were in the World Series?

BB: Aside from a chronic back injury which is no longer a problem, I had no idea where to look to repeat my performance in the World Series. The major majority of athletes are focused on the surface level of motion, as I was. Motion forms at a deep level of the mind. By the time the motion comes out, it’s already been formed, and if not formed correctly, one has a very difficult time making essential last split second adjustments.This is why athletes often commit too soon. It’s essential for an athlete to have access to deeper levels of the mind in order to play their best.

BR: Between the end of your playing career and the beginning of Perfect Mind Perfect Motion (PMPM) Sports, what did you do?

BB: Most of all, I searched for a systematic way to teach athletes how to access the zone. But, I spent time in commercial real estate, the agent business and coaching in professional baseball. One of my favorite sayings is “those who are searching, are not always lost.” That was very true of me. I knew I was given my zone experience in the World Series for a reason, and the reason was to come up with a way to teach it systematically. My partner, Steven Yellin is the one who has figured it out, and this is what we, along with my son Bryn are teaching. Had I been able to successfully continue my career for many years after the Series, I certainly would not have been searching for what I have found. So thank God, for my back injury and that I could not repeat my World Series performance!

BR: Switching gears towards PMPM Sports, how did you meet co-founder Steven Yellin?

BB: A childhood friend and neighbor of mine introduced us about five years ago. Roughly two years later, Steven taught me his program. I quickly realized he had made a discovery and that he had found the “holy grail.” We formed our company and off we went.

BR: For those who are not familiar with PMPM Sports or who have heard of it for the first time here, can you please explain the PMPM Sports‘ goal and philosophy?

BB: We teach by design what most athletes experience by chance when playing their best. Time slows down, the discriminating intellect shuts down, and the motion becomes fluid and effortless. There are processes in the brain that are occurring when this happens. We, along with some brain researchers have quantified these processes and developed a program to enable them to happen systematically.

BR: What kind of skills and drills do you use in order to accomplish these goals?

BB: We teach proprietary drills and concepts that when done correctly, allow an athlete in any sport to connect at the deepest level of mind-body coordination. There are certain laws of nature, such as water boils at 212 degrees. There are also laws of motion, and by utilizing our drills and concepts correctly, an athlete is able to align with these laws of motion and produce fluid, effortless motion along with perfect timing. An athlete can have great mechanics, but if his timing is not good, his production will not be what it can.

BR: Does PMPM Sports recruit players or do they come to you? Likewise, do you have one training facility or do you use whatever is available where the athlete is located?

BB: Players typically find us through agents or coaches. However, we are in the process of aligning with a sports facility or two, where athletes will come to us. I’m sure we will always travel to some players, but to maintain the family life and build our business model, we need to establish a location.

BR: Which baseball players (past and present) have you worked with? Who of those are you currently or have most recently worked with?

BB: Many names we can’t mention for confidentiality purposes, but to mention a few, we worked with Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year Daryl Jones, Bob Keppel of the Twins, Golfer Lee Janzen and Nick Green of the Red Sox.

BR: Is it still just you and Steven or does PMPM Sports have more instructors? Are any of them former MLB players? If so, who?

BB: My son Bryn is teaching as well.

BR: What is a realistic goal for a baseball player to achieve after working with PMPM Sports?

BB: In our test pilot with five St.Louis Cardinal Minor League hitters, the five players showed an average increase in OPS of 100.8 points. Two seasons ago, four professional hitters combined to hit 317 points higher than their previous season. Lee Janzen has shown very substantial improvement as have many others.

BR: Does PMPM Sports have any sponsors that you’d like to thank that make it easier for PMPM Sports to do what it is that you do?

BB: We are grateful for the athletes and the professional MLB and NBA organizations who have given us the opportunity to share with them this great discovery my partner Steven Yellin has made. We feel this is a significant discovery and will have a strong impact wherever it is taught. We look forward to sharing this knowledge throughout the years to come. Look for our upcoming book, Perfect Mind-Perfect, The Seven Secrets of World Class Athlete’s.”

I would like to thank Buddy for taking the time to answer our questions and to share with our readers what PMPM Sports is all about. For those of you that want to read more articles on this topic or on PMPM Sports in general, please follow the links provided.

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