Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1998 Discussion

McGwire hit 70 HR and set the new season record. The Yankees defeated the Padres in the World Series. Baseball added two teams so we vote for 15 this year.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Mark McGwire		39.4		8.7
Alex Rodriguez		27.8		8.5
Mike Piazza		34.7		6.4
Barry Bonds		34.3		8.1
Scott Rolen		30.8		6.7
Jason Kendall		25.7		6.4
John Olerud		34.0		7.6
Chipper Jones		31.2		7.0
Ivan Rodriguez		27.8		6.4
Greg Vaughn		31.7		6.3
Barry Larkin		26.5		5.9
Albert Belle		37.9		7.4
Derek Jeter		28.8		4.1
Nomar ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1997 Results

Congratulations to Mike Piazza on winning the 1997 MMP Award!

This is the first MMP award won by a catcher.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1997 Ballot

For 1997, each voter should rank the top 14 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 5 October 2016.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 4 October 2016.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: Trophy Case

MMP Award results and analysis including a listing of all winners.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1997 Discussion

Most Meritorious Player: 1997 Discussion

The Marlins needed 7 games to beat the Indians in the World Series. Vote for 14 this year.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Mike Piazza		37.4		8.7
Craig Biggio		35.3		9.4
Ken Griffey Jr		33.2		9.1
Barry Bonds		39.4		8.2
Larry Walker		31.9		9.8
Jeff Bagwell		30.7		7.7
Frank Thomas		35.8		7.3
Raul Mondesi		27.5		5.7
Tim Salmon		26.7		5.0
Scott Rolen		25.5		4.5
Todd Hundley		23.8		3.8
Ivan Rodriguez		26.4		6.5
Edgardo Alfonzo		25.1		6.2
Ray ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1996 Results

Congratulations to Barry Bonds on winning his third MMP award

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Barry Bonds	162	12	6
Alex Rodriguez	154	11	4
Ken Caminiti	132	12	1
Kevin Brown	106	11	0
Jeff Bagwell	98	11	0
Mike Piazza	93	11	0
Ken Griffey Jr	86	9	0
Chuck Knoblauch	83	10	0
John Smoltz	62	10	0
Barry Larkin	61	9	0
Mark McGwire	59	7	0
Jim Thome	57	9	0
Gary Sheffield	44	7	1
Pat Hentgen	38	7	0
Greg Maddux	30	6	0
Roberto Alomar	29	4	0
Bernard Gilkey	25	5	0
Roger Clemens	24	3	0
Brady Anderson	21	4	0
Albert ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1996 Ballot

For 1996, each voter should rank the top 14 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 7 September 2016.

Anyone can vote, even if you do not normally participate in Hall of Merit discussions. If you have never participated in an MMP election, just post a preliminary ballot in the discussion thread by 6 September 2016.

For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Gonfalon Cubs: What the FIP?

The Cubs pitching has been statistically extreme in some interesting ways.

First, let’s look at FIP.  FIP (“fielding independent pitching”) attempts to capture a pitcher’s performance, in a term similar to ERA, that does not depend on the fickle fate of balls hit in play. As a team, the Cubs have greatly outperformed their team FIP, posting a 3.13 team ERA (best in MLB), compared to 3.80 FIP (fourth in MLB).  I believe the last time a team finished the season with a higher difference was 2002, ...

SABR - BBTF Chapter: SABR46 Recap

By Mike Webber

SABR 46 in Miami will always be remembered as the year we had “The Greatest Ballpark Experience of All-Time”.  We’ve had good seats before at SABR conventions, but this year we were 40 rows from the field, between home plate and the first base dugout.  The Cardinals pounded the Marlins 11-6, so it wasn’t much of a game, but Ichiro was just two hits from 3,000 yet as I write this a week later he’s still just two hits away.

But the event that made this “The Greatest ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1996 Discussion

The Yankees beat the Braves in the World Series. Vote for 14 this year.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Barry Bonds		37.8		9.6
Alex Rodriguez		32.2		9.4
Ken Caminiti		35.5		7.6
Jeff Bagwell		39.8		7.5
Mike Piazza		33.3		5.4
Ken Griffey Jr		26.9		9.7
Barry Larkin		31.3		7.2
Chuck Knoblauch		31.5		8.6
Bernard Gilkey		25.5		8.0
Gary Sheffield		32.6		5.9
Brady Anderson		30.6		6.9
Jim Thome		28.3		7.5
Chipper Jones		25.5		6.2
Steve Finley		27.6		5.7
Lance Johnson		25.3		7.2
Frank Thomas		27.0		5.5
Mark ...