Author: Ryan Pollack

Five Best Books on Baseball as Business

The August 1, 2009 edition of the Wall Street Journal listed the "Five Best" books that excel as portraits of baseball as a business.  The list was compiled by Richard J. Tofel, an author and investigative journalist.  His "Five Best" are:

As They See ‘Em, by Bruce Weber, Scribner, 2009

Past Time, by Jules Tygiel, Oxford, 2000

Moneyball, by Michael Lewis, Norton, 2003

My Fifty Years in Baseball, by Ed Barrow, Coward-McCann, 1951

The Lords of the Realm, by John Helyar, Villard, 1994

SABR National Convention Report

The following is a SABR Convention report from SABR Hornsby Chapter member Gary McIntosh, who is attending the convention in Washington, D.C.

FRIDAY JULY 31:
 
I sat in on part of the Negro Leagues Committee to hear what they are doing.  Great committee that is very active.  Spent some time talking to Pedro Sierra, a former Negro League player from the Detroit Stars…we spent a chunk of time talking about his relationship with one of my favorites, Orestes Minnie Minoso
 
Then I listened to the presentation by Lee Lowenfish of Rickey Being Rickey: Branch Rickey’s 1948 Wilberforce Speech at all black Wilberforce Univ in Ohio, in which Rickey lashed out at some of the other owners about things that were happening after he had brought in Jackie Robinson.  It was a good history lesson in how things transpired from the owners vs the writers of the times.
 
Then we had a 90 minute panel discussion led by George Michael with Frank Howard and Rick Dempsey.  What an entertaining 90 minutes.  These three guys had us all in stitches, and gave a really good perspective on playing in the late 50s and 60s for Howard, and playing for Earl Weaver and for Cal Ripken Sr for Dempsey.  Well worth the time spent.  Dempsey told of his minor league managing career, and how he was told by Peter Angelos that he was the manager of the Orioles, only to be told two days later that they were hiring Lee Mazzilli, and that Angelos had made that decision based on the 15 people in the front office who worked for him and how they thought he was too dumb for the job.  Of course recently, a few years later, Dempsey got to sit down with Angelos again to discuss the Orioles manager job, and he told Angelos that he wasn’t sure who was too dumb, but apparently whomever had decided on the last 4 Birds managers would be in the running.
 
Big Frank Howard was a real treat.  He talked of his days with Koufax, Drysdale and the Dodgers, and his trade to Washington; of the days in Washington and how well he was treated for those 7 years.  He talked of how the Nationals have some major missing chinks in the armor now, and it’s primarily the depth to compete and pitching.
 
George Michael is the nationally syndicated sports show host, who was in the movies Tin Cup and Silence of the Lambs.  Very entertaining guy, who isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions
 
I also attended a meeting of the Dead Ball Era committee to see what they were involved in.  And then The Green and the Blue: the Irish-American Umpire.  Very entertaining. As was a presentation by Ray Zardetto of Once and For All, Who’s on First?  Fun presentation, with some of the history of how it was done and why.
 
Then it was time to load the buses for the trip to Camden Yards for the Orioles-Red Sox game.  5 Homers last night and the last one by Jacoby Ellsbury gave Boston what it needed for a 6-5 win over the Birds.  The young Orioles team though, swings the bat.  They hit two of the homers and gave Boston all it could take in the slugfest.  Several hundred of us went to the game, and as usual, Red Sox fans were everywhere.  Attendance was over 44,000 last night.
 
Today more good presentations.  And at 10 EDT there will be a GAFL game in the lobby.  For those who don’t remember, I am the manager of the GAFL Houston Astros.  GAFL is a league based on Statis Pro baseball and players for each franchise who played at least 5 years for the franchise.  We are in the middle of our season (which will take 4 years to play out) and today the Astros are hosting the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.  Roy Oswalt vs Bryn Smith.
 
My Astros are a great pitching, poor offensive team so far.  Jeff Bagwell is 2nd in the NL in home runs with 8 but hit his first in a month in the last game.  Joe Morgan has stolen 19 bases in 21 attempts for Houston.  Oswalt is 7-2 with an ERA around 2.10.  It’s a fun look back at the history of these teams, and the team I’m playing today is led by Vlad Guerrero, Tim Raines, Larry Walker et al.  Astros are currently 2nd in the NL West, 1 game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, but trailing the best team in the NL, LA Dodgers who have a lineup of Duke Snider, Babe Herman, Zack Wheat, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Maury WIlls and others, and a pitching staff of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Whit Wyatt, Kevin Brown and Jeff Pfeffer.  What makes this staff so dominant is that guys like Pfeffer and Brown especially can dominate.  Only their years with LA count for their LA cards in the game, so Brown’s is especially good.  One of the best pitchers in the league.  Pfeffer had 23 and 25 win years for LA, and he competes pretty well too.
 
THURSDAY, JULY 30:
Lots of good stuff about the Washington Nationals so far

Yesterday’s solid presentations included:
Forfeit: the Final Game of the Washington Senators by Rick Schabowski, (when the fans took over the game with 2 outs in the 9th and the Sens up 8-6 in the last game under the Bob Short regime before the move to Texas)

Senators’ Hitting Streaks by Steve Krevisky (the 31 game streak by Sam Rice for the world champ Senators that helped drive them to the 1924 pennant; and the 33 game streak by Heinie Manush for the last championship team of the Senators in 1933)

The Big Train vs the Big Bambino: an analysis of Walter Johnson vs Babe Ruth as pitching opponents and hitting opponents, by Eric Weiss

Pull Up a Chair: Vin Scully’s Niche in Baseball History, by Curt Smith

Closers, Setup Men and LOOGYs: the Evolution of the Moddern Bullpen by Mike Emeigh

And one of the poster sessions: Rethinking Bill James’ Pythagorean Expectations by Susan Ballentine, a 12th grader using multiple regression models to use stats from both sides to predict outcomes; where James’ approach uses Runs Scored and Runs Allowed from various data, she manages to use the mathematical models to interact with each other….

Many others but these were some of the ones I heard yesterday

Red Sox at Orioles tonight–Camden Yards trip

By the way, this 12th grader is from Richmond VA, and is a winner of numerous academic honors in science and math, and has worked this summer in a NASA/NIA Summer Residential Mentorship in Engineering at NASA in Hampton, VA. She earned varsity letters in six sports in HS so far (softball, soccer, field hockey, basketball, indoor and outdoor track). She has been on the Western Pennsylvania Ski Race Team for 8 years and won the NASTAR national ski racing championship at Park City UT when she was 12. That same year she finished 2nd in the regional Punt, Pass and Kick Competition. After graduation next spring she plans to study applied mathematics at Cal Tech, Stanford or MIT….quite impressive.

Publications

This page lists recent publications by SABR Rogers Hornsby Chapter members.  Articles in SABR Journals and books authored by chapter members are included.  

SABR Journals are gradually being digitized.  Those that are currently avaiable are at the following link: http://research.sabr.org/journals/archive 

In the meantime, as Casey Stengel was fond of saying, "You can look it up!"

2010

"Memories of  Minor-League Traveler", Norman Macht, SABR 40, The National Pastime, 2010

2009

"Washington in 1887", Norman Macht, SABR 39, The National Pastime, 2009

"Washington Nicknames", Norman Macht, The National Pastime

"Does Baseball Deserve This Black Eye?  A Dissent from the Universal Casting of Shame and Blame on Kenesaw Mountain Landis for Baseball’s Failure to Sign Black Players Before 1946", Norman Macht, Baseball Research Journal – Summer 2009

2008

Change Up – An Oral History of 8 Key Events that Shaped Modern Baseball, Burke, Fornatale, with Jim Baker, Rodale

"Bullpen Cy Young Awards – When and Why Do Relievers Win It?", Monte Cely, Baseball Research Journal Vol. 37

2007

"Stolen Victories – Daring Dashes That Send the Fans Home Happy", Jan Larson, Baseball Research Journal Vol. 36

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball, Norman Macht, University of Nebraska Press

"The Night Elrod Pitched" and "Johnny Vander Meer on Pete Rose", Norman Macht, National Pastime Vol. 27

2006

"Salary Arbitration: Burden or Benefit?", Bill Gilbert, Baseball Research Journal Vol. 35

"Are Balanced Teams More Successful?", Cyril Morong, BRJ Vol. 35

"The Cy Young Award, Individual or Team Recognition?", Monte Cely, BRJ Vol. 35

"Browns Play Pete Gray", Jim Baker in Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Blunders, Fireside

2005

Baseball in the Lone Star State, the Texas League’s Greatest Hits, Tom Kayser and D. King, Trinity University Press

"Has Greg Maddux Employed the "Bagwell Gambit" in His Career?’, Cyril Morong, Baseball Research Journal Vol. 34

 2004

"Historical Trends in Home-Field Advantage", Cyril Morong, Baseball Research Journal Vol. 32

2003

"RBI, Opportunities, and Power Hitting", Cyril Morong, Baseball Research Journal Vol. 31

1999

"Bibb Falk: The Player Who Filled the Shoes of Shoeless Joe Jackson", Charles Kaufman, National Pastime

 

 

 

 

Spring Training in Marlin, Texas

Texas was a frequent spring training destination in the early decades of the 20th Century.  While San Antonio was the most popular location for the major-leaguers, Marlin in central Texas hosted five different teams over the period of 1904-1923.   The New York Giants were long-term tenants at Marlin, and their operation at Emerson Park is generally credited with being the first “permanent” major league spring training facility.

Click on the link below to download a powerpoint presentation about spring training in Marlin, Texas.  This document was originally presented at the January, 2009 SABR Rogers Hornsby Chapter Winter Meeting at Texas State University.

NOTE – the powerpoint is about 10MB in size, so it may take a little while to download.

Spring_Training_in_Marlin_TX

July Meeting Wrap-Up

Ten members and guests attended the monthly meeting of the Rogers Hornsby SABR chapter on Monday, July 20 at Third Base in Austin.  Topics discussed included the recent All-Star game and both recent and upcoming trips by chapter members to various major league cities to see ballgames.  Tom Wancho presented an entertaining trivia quiz on the subject of unusual injuries in honor of Bill Gilbert who is currently on the chapter’s "disabled list."  Bill called in to the meeting and visited with most of the attendees for a few minutes.  Brian Rogers was the winner of the quiz and received game tickets and parking pass to a Round Rock Express game.

The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, August 25 at Third Base.

 

Stolen Victories

“Stolen Victories” is a Powerpoint presentation given by Jan Larson at the January 2008 winter meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter.

You can download the presentation for viewing on your computer: Steals of Home.

Jan can be reached at jan.a.larson@gmail.com.

Author’s notes:

In the “Stolen Victories” presentation, the 35 game ending (“walk off”) steals of home that have occurred in the American and National Leagues since the founding of the American League in 1901 are documented.

The author’s motivation to pursue this research project and the research methodology are described.

Interesting tidbits of trivia regarding the players that stole and the pitchers stolen upon are included along with an explanation of why one of the 35 game ending steals has an asterisk (at least in the author’s opinion).

Finally, all those SABR members who assisted with the research and/or were consulted on the project are listed.

Monthly Meeting, June 2009

A total of 12 members and guests enjoyed BBQ at the Salt Lick restaurant followed by a once-every-20-years-or-so game between the New Orleans Zephyrs and Round Rock Express. Unfortunately, many of those in attendance at the Dell Diamond missed yet another example of why a baseball fan should *never* leave early regardless of the score.

After New Orleans broke open the scoreless pitchers’ duel by plating four runs in the top of the 11th inning, sending many in the crowd heading for the exits,  Round Rock came back with five in the bottom of the inning to pull out the win. The winning run scored on an errant throw from the catcher to first on an attempted 1-2-3 double play which would have ended the inning and sent the game to the 12th.

The next monthly meeting is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Monday, July 20 at Third Base in Austin.

Book Review: Odd Man Out

                                                                                                           
               Odd Man Out is written by Matt McCarthy, a Yale graduate who went on to attend Harvard Medical School and is currently doing a medical internship. In between Yale and Harvard, McCarthy was drafted by the Angels and spent a year pitching for their Provo, Utah farm team. This book is his first-hand account of a year in the minor leagues. 
 
An excerpt of this book was highlighted in Sports Illustrated earlier this year. McCarthy’s work has been described as a combination of the now-famous book,  Ball Four, and the classic baseball movie Bull Durham.  I think the description fits. The author takes us through his last few weeks at Yale in the Spring of 2002, his experience getting drafted & signed, his introduction to pro ball at the Angels training camp at Mesa, Arizona, his year pitching for and living in Provo, and the following year’s spring training back at Mesa.
 
Highlights include McCarthy’s first pro coach (Casey Kotchman’s father, whose good luck charm was the “Rally Penis”), the interactions between American and Latino players (the two groups segregate themselves), the team’s acclimation to Provo’s Mormon population and beliefs (difficult), and the author’s reaction to the many future major-leaguers that he meets. Players’ struggles with alcohol and drugs are also a part of this book.        
 
            I found Odd Man Out to be both entertaining and insightful. Once I started the book, I found it difficult to put down. SABR members should enjoy it, especially for those who find books such as Jim Bouton’s Ball Four and Jim Brosnan’s The Long Season appealing.
 
            Here are the key statistics:
 
Book:   Odd Man Out – A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit
Author: Matt McCarthy
Author Credentials: the author is a graduate of Yale, Harvard Medical School, and is currently serving an internship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City
Published: 2009, Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-02070-6
Length: 295 pages
Price: Retail list – $25.95;    Online: used from $11.00, new from $13.00 + ship.