Sabersphere 1/11: Jack Morris, HGH Testing, and More Hall of Fame Talk

Ben Lindbergh of Baseball Prospectus looks at the internet's effect on Jack Morris: Has the Sabermetric Movement Been Bad for Jack Morris?

Appearing on MLB Network in the wake of yesterday’s non-elections, Jon Heyman looked like a broken man. Visibly deflated (unless that’s just how everyone looks like when they’re sitting so close to Tom Verducci), Heyman called Morris’ stagnant results—just three votes and one percentage point higher than last year’s, leaving him well short of the magic 75 percent mark with one year of eligibility remaining—"unfair" and "a real shame" and going so far as suggest that Morris was "mistreated."

Jack Moore of Fangraphs talks about the newly announced HGH testing: Do You Trust HGH Tests?

Major League Baseball announced expansion of its drug testing program Thursday, as the league and the players union have modified the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program to provide for unannounced, random blood testing for HGH (human growth hormone) during the regular season.

A day late, but still awesome: BtB's own Glenn DuPaul looks at pFIP for Minor Leaguers at The Hardball Times: 2012 minor league leaders in predictive FIP (Part 1)

I don't write about prospects very often. Actually I write about prospects hardly ever. I typically stick to what I know, statistics for major league baseball players. I do my best to stay away from wading into the dark and murky waters of minor league statistics.

I find the study of scouting, projecting and evaluating prospects to be absolutely fascinating. It's just not my area of expertise. of BaseballAnalytics.org looks at the best players to be knocked off the Hall of Fame ballot in year one: Who Are The Best Players To Fall Off The HOF Ballot In Year One?

David Golebiewski of BaseballAnalytics.org looks at the best players to be knocked off the ballot on the first try: Who Are The Best Players To Fall Off The HOF Ballot In Year One?

The 2013 Hall of Fame vote will long be remembered as the year that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were denied entry into Cooperstown. Lost in the raging PED debate, however, is the fact that some noteworthy players fell off the ballot entirely during their first year of eligibility.

If you would like to submit something for Sabersphere, please email me at SpencerSchneier22@gmail.com (note: I need to be emailed a link or a fanpost, I can't take an article that you email me and post it).

Today's BtB Retro is Harry Pavlidis taking a look at the best launch angle for extra-base hits: Optimal Launch Speed and Angle for Extra Base Hits (6/0/09)

Where do extra base hits come from? The goal here is to show the gap between SLGCON and BABIP, along with their general trends, along two parameters: the initial speed and the launch angle of a batted ball. Data is from the April HITf/x sample.