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2011 Retrosheet .SQL Download Available

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Besides the download, feel free browse some of the other updated features.

According to his daughter, Gary Carter has died

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So sad. We all knew this was coming, but hoped it never would. We'll miss you, Kid. What an amazing player and man.

MLB Complete Org. Charts - MLB Daily Dish - MLB Trade Rumors and Signings

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What do you get when you add MLB Contracts, Depth Charts, Prospects, and Salary/Arbitration details (and a touch of executive structure)? MLB Daily Dish Complete Organizational Charts, that's what. They're an extremely useful tool that shows everything you need to know whether you're a fantasy geek or just can't get enough rosterbation. The link goes to the Org Chart section over at MLBDD, but I've added the links to each individual team over on the left right here at BTB. Hope you enjoy!

The only reason that many of these stats go from crappy to useful or even pretty good? Sample...

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The only reason that many of these stats go from crappy to useful or even pretty good? Sample size. If you have 100 or 200 innings? ERA or RA9 starts becoming useful. Give me a thousand innings, and RA9 is pretty good. BABIP? Well, after several years, a pitcher’s BABIP is a pretty useful metric. A career’s worth of pitcher wins? Well, that’s useful too. And therein lies the reason that people are fooled: because 300+ win level were all reached by great pitchers, then the pitcher Win stat MUST represent greatness, even at the seasonal level. So, even though the significance of a metric is dependent on the sample size, once that significance is reached, the reason for its significance (sample size) is summarily ignored.

THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Specifically, to what extent to do park factors affect the usefulness of various ERA estimators? It...

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Specifically, to what extent to do park factors affect the usefulness of various ERA estimators? It seems reasonable to assume that while much of what happens when a ball is put in play is not controlled by a pitcher. However, given that some extreme parks are likely to exercise their own environmental force over the outcome of batted balls it stands to reason that ERA estimators that factor in a pitcher’s batted ball profile may do a better job in certain types of parks than others.

Park Factors and ERA Estimators: Part I | FanGraphs Baseball Bill's debut over at FG. Great work and can't wait to see more.

"Nobody has brought up how being on the West Coast should benefit Albert. He'll get away from the...

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"Nobody has brought up how being on the West Coast should benefit Albert. He'll get away from the Midwest summer heat and into cooler nights with less humidity. "I played in Oakland for 11 years, and when we came back from a hot summer city it was refreshing; your body felt a lot better. I truly believe the weather, plus using Albert as a designated hitter, will add three years to his career."

Mark McGwire's reason on why Pujols will have a long career. I would put a bet on the DH, and not the cool nights, will be the reason that Sir Albert will have a long career.

"But, good luck convincing THT's Harry Pavlidis or Lucas Apostoleris to tag three and a half...

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"But, good luck convincing THT's Harry Pavlidis or Lucas Apostoleris to tag three and a half million pitches, because that would be insane. What’s that you say? They’ve actually done that?! By that, I mean individually tagged every pitch. This isn’t a very efficient solution, but it escapes the problems above by putting a human hand on the classification problem. Your mission, if you choose to accept us: Help us validate. How: 1) Run around like children in Wonka’s chocolate factory and consume as much data as possible (do not drink directly from the waterfall). 2) Using your knowledge of pitchers that you watch every day, let us know what looks wrong by starting threads on the BrooksBaseball.net Forums (we’ll have a thread for each pitcher, there are examples already there). 3) Use these graphs and tables however you want in any of your favorite blogs. Consult legal counsel first, and sign this waiver releasing us from liability. 4) Help us by sponsoring your favorite pitcher or two if you think what we’ve done is cool. This is an important step. Just like on Baseball Reference, you can add your own witty message to appear every time someone pulls up a card." Just amazing stuff from Dan Brooks, Harry Pavlidis, and Lucas Apostoleris.

The problems with the Year After Effect are multifold. In Verducci’s article this year, he asserts...

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The problems with the Year After Effect are multifold. In Verducci’s article this year, he asserts the validity of the effect by saying, "In just the past six years, for instance, I flagged 55 pitchers at risk for an injury or regression based on their workload in the previous season. Forty-six of them, or 84 percent, did get hurt or post a worse ERA in the Year After." He later says, "Two out of the nine pitchers I red flagged last year actually stayed healthy or improved… more typical, though, were the regressions last year by David Price, Phil Hughes, Mat Latos and Brett Cecil, all of whom I red-flagged."

Baseball Prospectus | Resident Fantasy Genius: Verducci Effect: Fact or Fake? (subscription required) Not that you thought it was real, but hey.

But times have changed. As Kevin Goldstein pointed out earlier this winter, there are some...

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But times have changed. As Kevin Goldstein pointed out earlier this winter, there are some convincing reasons to believe that Quad-A players do exist. Some players may have the tools necessary to destroy Triple-A pitching, but due to their skill sets — poor defenders, unathletic, slow swings — they have a difficult time succeeding in the majors. When you think about it in the abstract, prospects fail in the minor leagues all the time; at some point, everyone hits their ceiling. Some players can succeed in Single-A, but then can’t make the jump to Double-A. Others can thrive in college, but can’t make the adjustment to pro ball. When looked at through this lens, it’s unrealistic to imagine that Quad-A players don’t exist at all. The trick is sorting out which prospects have hit their ceiling, and which ones need to be given more time to adjust.

Russ Canzler, Dan Johnson, and the Quad-A Label | FanGraphs Baseball Good stuff by Steve here.