Daily Box Score

High & Inside: 11/19/11

by Julian Levine on Nov 19, 2011 11:00 AM EST in Daily Box Score

After a prolonged absence, High & Inside is back. And it's great timing, really. It's hot stove season, and a lot is going. So on to the links...

To get things started off, Bill at the Platoon Advantage explains why he doesn't like MLB's new postseason plan, and I agree with him. Under the new system, a team can play very well throughout the entire season, play against an inferior team in a one-game playoff, lose that one game, and that's it for them. It just doesn't sit right with me.

A few weeks ago, former BtBer Josh Weinstock looked at swing area for batters over at the Hardball Times. Josh then applied the same analysis to pitchers, and found that it "tells us much more about both a pitcher's overall ability and more specific ability to record strikeouts than O-swing does." Very interesting stuff.

Also at the Hardball Times is an intriguing post on players who received exactly one vote in a single year for the Hall of Fame. There are an unbelievable amount of eventual Hall of Famers who fall into this category: "Fifty-nine eventual Hall of Famers received one vote in a year from the BBWAA for Cooperstown, all of this coming in the 20 main elections writers conducted from 1936 through 1962."

Over at U.S.S. Mariner, Dave Cameron examined the effect that signing a marquee free agent has on a mid-market team's attendance. The results aren't all that surprising: "Fans come to see winning teams, not individual players."

Team-specific links after the jump...

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High & Inside: 10/19/11

by Julian Levine on Oct 19, 2011 5:00 PM EDT in Daily Box Score

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

Another one bites the dust
How good are catchers in blocking pitches?

The 25 and Under List - Royals Review
Ranking the top 60 players in the majors that are 25 and under.

The Platoon Advantage: An Interview with Ralph Branca
An interview with the three-time-All-Star pitcher who became known almost exclusively for one single (presumably) bad pitch

Baseball Prospectus | World Series Prospectus: The Midwest Showdown
An in-depth preview of the 2011 World Series.

THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
Not all fielding opportunities are created the same.

Follow-up study on the 2011 Yankees’ run-scoring by inning | New York Yankees blog, Yankees blog, A blog about the New York Yankees | The Yankee Analysts
The Yankees were the kings of getting on the board early in 2011, leading all AL teams in run-scoring in the 1st and 2nd innings.

On The Temptation Of Microsplits - Baseball Nation
It seems like it should be important to know how a certain batter has done against a certain pitcher. It is not. It is not important.

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Reading the Sabersphere: AJ Burnett, Chipper Jones, Colby Lewis, Game Theory

by Justin Bopp on Aug 30, 2011 11:00 AM EDT in Daily Box Score

Good morning! Today's sabersphere links include a Lucas Apostoleris appearance over at FG (give him a big congrats!), a great breakdown of the NL East by Michael Jong, an exercise in game theory by MGL, and Jonah going Jonah over at Grantland. Enjoy!

Contemplating A.J. Burnett, Relief Pitcher - FanGraphs Baseball
After his disastrous nine-run outing against the Orioles on Friday, his August ERA is now at a tick under 12 and his FIP has been at 5.50 for the month. His normalized 4.16 xFIP is more reasonable, telling us that opponents have been smacking homers off of him at (probably) an unsustainable rate. So yes, he’s probably seeing some bad luck, but he’s still been pitching quite poorly.
500 Career Games With AB < 5 Times RBI - Baseball-Reference Blog
How many batters have at least 500 career games and, during their career, have their AB totals be less than 5 times their career RBI?
Divide and Conquer, NL East: The September Stretch - Baseball Prospectus
...the other three NL East teams are not going anywhere after September; they will be packing it up for the long winter months and awaiting the 2012 season. So what do these teams have to look forward to as they approach the last month of the 2011 season?

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High & Inside: 8/23/11

by Julian Levine on Aug 23, 2011 8:00 PM EDT in Daily Box Score

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus: The Dumbing-Down of Scouting
Debunking four myths that dominate mainstream scouting discourse.

Joe Blogs: Most Productive Player Award
Right now, I firmly believe the best player in the American League is Jose Bautista. And, right now, he's my MVP.

Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and the future of the Cubs - Grantland
It doesn't include Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.

Baseball Prospectus | Prospects Will Break Your Heart: The Best of the Best
With the rankings now complete, is our resident prospect man about to turn his back on who he ranked at the top of each position?

The Rise and Fall of Third Basemen | FanGraphs Baseball
Offense is down around baseball, but the hot corner is suffering more than most.

Anatomy of a failed GM
A look back at the Jim Hendry era of Cubs history.

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High & Inside: 8/13/11

by Julian Levine on Aug 13, 2011 8:01 PM EDT in Daily Box Score

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

On Carlos Beltran | McCovey Chronicles
Musings on Carlos Beltran's first few weeks as a Giant.
Put-Away Pitchers | Baseball Analytics Blog
Top 15 pitchers with two strikes by K%
Video: Revisiting Strasburg’s Debut | NotGraphs
Reliving Stephen Strasburg's 14-K 0-BB debut.
Rookie crop thin compared to 2010 | ESPN SweetSpot Blog
Comparing 2011's rookies to 2010's class.
Diamondbacks Playoff Odds Revisited | AZ Snake Pit
A look at the numbers for the DBacks the rest of the way.

High & Inside: 7/30/11

by Julian Levine on Jul 30, 2011 9:03 PM EDT in Daily Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - FILE: Pitcher Koji Uehara #19 of the Baltimore Orioles delivers to a Cleveland Indians batter at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 16, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. According to reports on July 30, 2011 Uehara has been traded to the Texas Rangers for Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

Banter Breakdown: Zack Wheeler, San Jose Giants | Bullpen Banter
A look at the pitching prospect the Mets acquired in the Carlos Beltran trade.
MLB Trade Deadline: Texas Rangers Acquire Koji Uehara From The Baltimore Orioles | MLB Daily Dish
Trades are starting to heat up as the deadline approaches.
Letters to Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy | Bay City Ball
Free Brandon Belt.
Handicapping the AL Cy Young Race | River Avenue Blues
A look at this year's AL Cy Young race.
Derek Holland has 4 shutouts and a 4.14 ERA | Baseball Reference Blog
Pretty odd stuff.

Interview With BtB's JD Sussman

by Dave Gershman on Jul 28, 2011 12:18 PM EDT in Daily Box Score

Our very own JD Sussman -- also founder of Bullpen Banter -- and I sat down for yet another edition of the BtB talkshow. JD has been contributing to Beyond the Box Score since February. Here's his story.

1) Talk about your love of the game, and how you initially became a baseball fan

Well, I played ball pretty much everyday of the week growing up but was forced to stop and focus on tennis. However, my passion for the game never dissapated and began following the minor leagues closely about nine years ago.

2) Regarding writing, what's your favorite subject, team, or topic to discuss?

Honestly, I like it all. If one were to read my work here or at Bullpen Banter I don't think a trend is discernable.

3) who are some of your biggest inspirations in baseball?

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Interview With Beyond the Box Score's Bill Petti

by Dave Gershman on Jul 27, 2011 8:54 AM EDT in Daily Box Score

We're pleased to have brought back the BtB interviews, which focus on a certain writer in particular for each segment. Having already completed a discussion with Justin Bopp Satchel Price, it's time for another cup of coffee with someone else from the fantastic 16-headed monster, Bill Petti. Enjoy!

1) Can you talk about what inspired you to become a sabermetrician and focus primarily on advanced statistics?

Well, it sort of happened by accident. I'd always played around with statistics like most baseball fans. I came to the saber-party late relative to some friends of mine that were well versed in Bill James, etc. It didn't really get going until grad school where I had more free time to explore different subjects and tinker with different methodologies. I was a writer with a bunch of professors I befriended at a blog that focused on political science and international relations. Most of the other writers were baseball fans and fans of James and Neyer so every once and a while we'd write about it as an off-topic post. I fiddled around with a few ideas there, but really it was more of a private thing. Once I left grad school and started working I picked up Moneyball at a friend's suggestion and it was all over. I know as much as anyone that Moneyball is not the perfect representation of sabermetrics (or what really happened, for that matter), but the value for me was in the philosophical perspective of looking for objective knowledge in support of building a better mouse trap, regardless of what might be thought of as "settled knowledge". After that I was hooked and decided I needed to dig into the actual literature/websites.

It wasn't until last year that I started thinking about writing specifically about baseball from an advanced statistical perspective. I did some work with my best friend who is a baseball coach and instructor and does some great work with a little league in Newark, NJ. He asked me to do some analysis of his players (young guys, probably 12-13 years old) as he wanted to give each one specific feedback at the end of the year. With all small N caveats I took a look and we actually came up with some interesting findings that helped guide each player on what they should work on in the off-season. The analysis leveraged a lot of advanced stats and perspective, and after that I got the itch to give it a shot with MLB. I was a reading all the major sites, including BtBS, and noticed you could write FanPosts. I published my analysis and visual about the league over the past decade and after that Justin reached out to me about coming on board.

I can't thank Justin enough for extending the offer. It's really been a blast getting to know everyone here and within the saber-writing community. I've only really been immersed in the literature on advanced statistics for about the past year, so luckily I didn't crash and burn on the big stage.