Hall of Merit: 2011 Hall of Merit Plaques

Thanks to theorioleway for writing these! And to Ryan Wagman for proofing them. 2012 and 2013 will be posted as well.

Click for the complete plaque room.

Jeff Bagwell - 2011 - 1B
13.6 seasons with: Houston (NL) 1991-2005
Cap: Houston Astros (NL)
The greatest player in the history of the Houston franchise, Bagwell was consistently the best all-around first baseman during the 1990s. ‘Bags’ combined exceptional plate discipline (.408 career OBP) with great power (.540 lifetime SLG) to be one of ...

Hall of Merit: 2014 Hall of Merit Ballot Discussion

2014 (December 2, 2013)—elect 3
WS WAR Name-Pos

398 96.9 Greg Maddux-P
405 75.9 Frank Thomas-DH/1B
314 71.6 Tom Glavine-P
270 74.6 Mike Mussina-P
339 59.4 Jeff Kent-2B
318 46.3 Luis Gonzalez-LF
206 46.3 Kenny Rogers-P
277 38.2 Moises Alou-LF/RF
231 32.7 Ray Durham-2B
179 34.4 Tom Gordon-RP*
186 24.3 Mark Grudzielanek-2B/SS*
125 21.2 Steve Trachsel-P
156 19.8 Shannon Stewart-LF
128 17.7 Armando Benitez-RP
113 21.4 Jon Lieber-P
156 15.8 Sean Casey-1B
129 22.0 Jose Cruz-CF/RF
115 20.1 Keith ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1978 Discussion

Hello to Ron Guidry and goodbye too early to Lyman Bostock.

A Yankees - Royals rematch in the ALCS and Dodgers - Phillies again in the NLCS. The Yankees beat the Dodgers the World Series in six games again as well.

MMP voting will end on February 6, 2012.

Player			SH WS		BBR WAR
Parker, Dave		36.8		6.9
Rice, Jim		36.0		7.4
Simmons, Ted		28.3		5.3
Smalley, Roy		21.5		5.7
Otis, Amos		29.3		7.1
Clark, Jack		28.0		5.8
Cey, Ron		25.2		5.1
Madlock, Bill		23.4		4.6
Randolph, ...

Sox Therapy: Have a Therapeudic New Year!

Remember when someone (Joel, I think) suggested that we needed to rename Sox Therapy because, wait for it, being a Sox fan was so darn awesome? Remember that? Do you freaking remember that? How long ago was that, about 30 years? Wait, what, it was just a couple of years ago? Damn, that sword of Damon-cles sure came down hard!

With all the horribleness of the past year plus, things have been getting pretty heated around these parts lately so I thought it’d be a good time for a fresh start. To ...

SABR - BBTF Chapter: SABR43 Call for Abstracts

SABR invites all members to present their research findings to their colleagues attending SABR43.  Oral presentations are expected to last 20 minutes, followed by a five minute question-and-answer period.  Posters will be presented, with the author on-hand to discuss the work, during a poster session of 90 or so minutes, and will probably remain on display throughout the convention.

Through on-site judging, the most highly-regarded presentations will receive the Doug Pappas Award for best oral ...

Sox Therapy: Why Gonzo Being Gonezo is um…. Goodzo

In a couple of different threads about the big Nick Punto trade, I’ve argued, without a great deal of detail, that the Red Sox being rid of Adrian Gonzalez’s contract was a positive in its own right. With the snow falling outside and everyone in the house under the weather, now seemed like a good time to sneak away into a secluded corner and expand on this a bit (especially since no one asked).

Gonzalez is owed about $132M over the next six years. Looking solely at his WAR numbers, he seems ...

Hall of Merit: 2013 BBTF Hall of Fame Election Results

If BBTF voted instead of the BBWAA, we would have elected Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Alan Trammell and Curt Schilling. Mark McGwire game up 4 votes shy of the 67 required. The average voter had 9.71 players per ballot.

Jim's Lab Notes: Join My Sim League

By the end of the week, I want to complete the membership in my fantasy baseball simulation league.

The Whalehead League successfully completed twenty years before disbanding a few years ago. We currently have thirteen members and are looking to add three more. Quite a few people have expressed interest. We are a dependable, competitive, and funny bunch. If you are dependable, knowledgeable, and competitive, I encourage you to contact me. If you are funny as well, you will find yourself on ...

Sox Therapy: A Hundred Fifty Million Dollars for This

Feel free to read “this” either uninflected as if followed by a colon, or in italics with a full sneer.

The Sox have pretty much completed their 25-man roster.  There’s a small chance they’ll trade Ellsbury, and there’s a good chance they’ll trade a catcher and a reliever (or relievers) to clear up some logjams.  They might add a 1B/LF type for the last spot on the bench and let Jerry Sands have another year in AAA, and they could add a platoon LF in place of Nava or Kalish.  With ...

Sox Therapy: New Rule: Three Years

With the signing of Ryan Dempster to a 2-year deal, it seems pretty obvious that the Red Sox had one hard and fast rule that guided what they did this off season: no deals of more than 3 years. Every story on Hamilton indicated that the Sox wouldn’t go more than 3 years for him. Anibal Sanchez looks like he’s going to sign a very reasonable 5-year deal, but the Sox never appeared to be in on him. Buehrle/Johnson/Reyes would have almost perfectly filled their needs, but those players instead ...