Schoenfield: Bill James looks at ‘big game’ pitchers

I don’t want to give too much away here since the series—James is nine articles into it, with one left to be published—is behind the site’s pay wall. Using data back to 1952 (aka the Retrosheet era, when we have box scores for nearly every game), James devised an ingenious method to isolate big games, creating what he called a Big Game Score, based on the time of the season, the status of the pennant race (or wild-card race) and the records of the teams involved. Every game with a Big Game ...

The Japan News: Balentien apologizes, ready for camp

Swallows, my pride.

A contrite Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien, who earlier this month was arrested on domestic violence and false imprisonment charges, spoke directly to the organization, teammates and fans during a press conference on Wednesday at the team’s office in Tokyo.

The outfielder, who is out on bail, was granted permission on Jan. 24 by a Florida court to travel to Japan and arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday night, and will join the team for training camp, which ...

MLB: Affeldt, Romo not proponents of newly approved caps

Well, you can tell everybody
Down in ol’ Frisco
Tell ‘em
Bob Montgomery says hello.

The new caps will be optional for the 2014 season. For the Giants, it’s just as well. They expressed skepticism, at best—and negativity, at worst—regarding the caps, which are a half-inch thicker in front and an inch thicker near the temples than what they’ve been wearing. Also, the padding adds seven ounces to the heft of the traditional caps, which weigh three to four ounces.

For most of the Giants ...

MLBTR: Yuniesky Betancourt To Sign With Orix Buffaloes

Free agent infielder Yuniesky Betancourt has reached agreement on a one-year contract with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Betancourt, soon to turn 32, is represented by Miami Sports Management.

Last year, spending most of his time at first and third for the Brewers, Betancourt checked in with a .212/.240/.355 line and 13 home runs in 409 plate appearances. Betancourt has played nine MLB seasons, registering a cumulative ...

There will always be room for Jamie Moyer

Nice article on the Hall of Amazing - and Neyer leaving SB Nation?

This is my last column for SB Nation, at least for a good little while….
At some point in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be writing about baseball again, and I hope you’ll find me again.

I-96 shootings suspect says he got ‘coded messages’ telling him to act

A Wixom man police say is the Interstate 96 corridor shooter who terrorized motorists in October 2012 testified Monday that he was prompted to randomly shoot at cars after receiving “coded messages” during Detroit Tiger baseball games.
[...]
Casteel said one of the shootings occurred while he was listening to a Tigers baseball game on his car radio and suffered anxiety at seeing a “long line of cars” driving in his direction.

He said he recalled listening to one pre-game broadcast ...

Northwestern University Football Players Are Attempting To Unionize

Now you know you’re underpaid but the boss says you ain’t;
He speeds up the work ‘til you’re ‘bout to faint.
You may be down and out, but you ain’t beaten,
You can pass out a leaflet and call a meetin’.
Talk it over, speak your mind,
Decide to do somethin’ about it.—Pete Seeger

Northwestern football players have begun the process of applying to the National Labor Relations Board to form a union, ESPN’s Outside The Lines reports.

The players are receiving support from the United ...

ESPN:Pitchers’ protective caps approved

The newly approved caps, manufactured by 4Licensing Corporation subsidiary isoBlox, will be made available to pitchers for spring training next month. Their use is optional.

The company says the caps are a little more than a half-inch thicker in the front and an inch thicker on the sides—near the temples—than standard caps, and afford protection for frontal impact locations against line drives of up to 90 mph and for side impact locations at up to 85 mph. The soft padding, isoBlox says, is ...

Ryan Braun: Return the MVP

Maimonides, the great scholar of medieval Jewish thought and practice, writes about sin and repentance that “one who verbally confesses to his sins and does not affix it to his heart to abandon them is like one who immerses in a mikveh (ritual bath) while clutching on to a reptile.  For such an immersion is to no avail until the reptile is gotten rid of, as it is written, “One who confesses and forsakes his sin will be shown mercy.”  (Proverbs 28:13)

..

Ryan Braun needs to return his MVP ...

The Phillies Were So Impressed With Their Sabermetrics Intern That They Hired Him

ITCHIN AMARO, ITCHIN AMARO
Now it’s in all the papers.

A few months ago we told you about Scott Freedman, the MLB extern who was loaned out to the Phils to explain to Ruben Amaro what on-base percentage means. Well, it seems Amaro understood and was so enthralled by what Freedman told him that the team decided to bring Freedman on full-time.

From Jerry Crasnick’s sad State of the Phillies article on ESPN.com:

  Amaro, by his admission, is most comfortable evaluating talent through the ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 1-28-2014

Pittsburgh Gazette Times, January 28, 1914:

At the upper end of Wylie Avenue - the aristocratic end - there is excitement these days. Passersby hear the thumpety-bump of the latest tangoes, rag-time pieces and opera numbers.
...
[Frank] Smith never gives that new player-piano a rest. His massive 190 pounds of bone and muscle presides over the instrument all the day long, while his trained musical ear is strained constantly to detect a sour note.
...
[After receiving a $1,500 bonus for signing ...

FanGraphs: Q&A: Tom Glavine, Hall of Fame Pitcher

As Tea For The Tillman pointed out…“This is better than “Living on the Black”.

Glavine on outperforming his peripherals: “I’m not a huge stat guy. I’ve always been a believer that if you took stats out of the game, you’d still know who the good players are, just by watching. When you start talking about guys who are Hall of Fame caliber, by and large, most of them probably performed better than they thought they could, or that a lot of people thought they could. That’s why they were ...

David Ortiz: If Red Sox don’t offer multi-year deal, ‘It’s time to move on’

Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who is entering the final year of a two-year extension he signed before his standout 2013 season, said he wants a new multi-year pact or else, “It’s time to move on.”

Speaking to Steve Burton on CBS4′s “Sports Final” show that aired Sunday night, the 38-year-old Ortiz said he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll play.

“It can be two years, it can be three years, it can be 10 years,” he said. “You never know.”

Added Ortiz: “I’m ...

Radical Baseball: Matinale: When did it become OK to call someone a racist?

See things have quieted down since the last meeting I took in where the only member of the Slats Marion Belongs in the HOF! group got in my face.

Yesterday I attended a baseball meeting in New York City.  There were about 100 people in the audience.  Two of the speakers explicitly called two Hall of Famers racists.  None of us said a word.

Speaker one talked about the subjects of two biographies she had written, repeatedly using vulgar language.  We remained silent for that also.  She ...

Jerry Remy will return to Red Sox booth

Longtime Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, who has been on a leave of absence since his son Jared was arrested and charged with murdering girlfriend Jennifer Martel in August, said Monday that he will return to the booth this season.

Remy, who was solemn and candid during a meeting with a small group of reporters at NESN’s Brighton headquarters, had not spoken publicly since his son’s arrest.

“I felt for a couple of months, for two or three months, that it was over,’’ Remy said. ...

“Horsehide Q&A” with Pitcher and Songwriter Al Fitzmorris

Nice to see a Fitzmorris article after all the Morris fits ones…

Q: What do you remember most about twice being selected in expansion drafts?

A: The first draft in the winter of ’68 winter I had no idea it was going on. I didn’t think about it at all. I was consumed with playing baseball and after the season I would go home and work. I was working at WT Grants in the stockroom and my brother told me I had been drafted by the Royals. I had no idea who they were. I went to camp and it was ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 1-27-2014

Milwaukee Journal, January 27, 1914:

“Rube” Andrew Foster, Chicago, who opened his theatrical career in [Cleveland] last week, attempted to show how he won an exhibition game from the White Sox by a slide, ended by falling into the music, and put the entire orchestra out of business. The instruments that were not broken could not be played because the musicians who played them had to be carried out, as they laughed into hysterics. The audience fairly rolled on the floor and said they would ...

FFF: Prince: Stay Broadcast Team Stay

Just as John Turturro channeled the sentiments of disgruntled Wagner voter R. Cucco twenty years ago, his same I-mean-business tone would suit my sentiments presently where the machinations of WOR and, apparently, the Mets themselves are concerned.

I am a man of sometimes many words but I will come straight to the point. I am a loyal consumer of your product. I WANT HOWIE ROSE AND JOSH LEWIN DESCRIBING IT TO ME ON RADIO. I don’t want any excuses from you or any of your people at Clear ...

White Sox’ Cooper says it won’t be easy right away, but future’s bright

I’d bust out some Son Of a Gun, but it’s sorta early…in the season.

“We have a tough row to hoe,’’ said Don Cooper, who’s preparing for his 12th season as Sox pitching coach. “We have a lot of young players. What Rick has done has made us look much better for the future. As far as the immediate future, I think it’s going to be a heck of a challenge for us.’’

Cooper knows the Sox could improve significantly and still be a 77-85 team. He also sees how lower expectations from ...

Ryan Braun confident he’s ‘better than I’ve ever been’

Yes…and the Karl Braun cathode ray tube will be making a big comeback too!

Braun met with reporters at the Wisconsin Center for nearly 10 minutes, but again refused to offer any more details on his suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs. He made his first public comments since accepting 65-game suspension from Major League Baseball in November at a charity food drive at Miller Park.

“Again, I appreciate there is still interest in this stuff, but I addressed everything in November ...

Posnanski Top-100 #57: Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is the most overrated/underrated player of our time. This is in part because he has been a central figure on the essential team of the last 20 or so years, the New York Yankees. This is in part because he is such a charismatic figure and because he has so gracefully (and carefully) managed his image. But perhaps most, this is because Jeter’s value as a player has always felt at least partly unmeasurable. And the arguments about unmeasurable things can rage hot and rage forever.

Clay Davenport: First Projections for 2014

My first run (that I’m willing to talk about) of projections for the coming season is now up on the 2014 Projected Standings tab. They have also been used to create a new Playoff Chances Report. And, of course, the individual projections that go into are available, again on the Projected Standings page.

...Current free agents won’t show up here – no team, no projected playing time. Their projections are still available on the “All hitters” and “All pitchers” downloads.

Getting ...

CAPUTO: Pieces to the Tigers’ puzzle should fit together better in ‘14

The Tigers have picked up three players – second baseman Ian Kinsler (in the Fielder trade with Texas), utility infielder Steve Lombardozzi (in the Fister trade with Washington) and outfield Raji Davis (as a free agent), who don’t clog the bases.

Rookie third baseman Nick Castellanos has average speed, which means he is more athletic than Fielder (two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera has been moved back to first base from third). Jose Iglesias, acquired late last season to replace Peralta, who ...

Madden: Moves by Rays, Athletics make them hot stove winners with Yankees

Jump up and click your hotdog bucks…Madden is back!

The additions of Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran more than offset the loss of Robinson Cano from the lineup — assuming they all stay healthy — and, if nothing else, thrust the Yankees into the winter “winners” category as one of the clubs that did the most to improve themselves. Problem with the Yankees was they had a whole lot more improving to do than most of their rivals, and even with their ...

Marlon Byrd denies Phillies are old: ‘We can still play’

“The horror…the horror ...”

He can still be productive at 36, and he made sense for a team that needed right-handed power, better outfield defense and a contract that wouldn’t further mortgage the future.

“All of us do. You keep hearing old, old, old ... we’re not an old team,” Byrd said. “We can still play. Once you can’t play, then you’re old. We still have a lot in the tank, we just to have to show that and stay healthy.

“If I was a fan I’d rather have Robinson Cano, I’d rather have ...

Local product Hosley dies at the age of 66.

He might have been another Cliff Johnson, but had the misfortune of coming with the Tigers when they had Bill Freehan and the A’s when they had Gene Tenace.

Tellalian: Dispelling a Myth about the Indians Offense

By using WPA! (Wally Post Archive ~ .000/.273/.000 with Cleveland in 1964)

One reason the Indians offense was able to score so many runs was their ability to hit in the clutch. Most offensive statistics weigh or count things that happened during a game. What most stats do not do, is take into consideration the game situation. Most people intuitively know that a home run in the ninth inning that ties a game is more important that a home run in the sixth inning when your team is down by 10 runs. ...

NatsFest Fallout - Strasburg’s Loose Bodies, Harper’s Knee, Espinosa’s Wrist (Shoulder), More!

Strasburg finally opens up at NatsFest about cavorting with loose bodies:

The way loose bodies work is that when you get hot and you get the blood flowing, your [arm] straightens out and you feel [normal]...

Harper’s knee hurt before he hit the wall

Espinosa also had an interesting quote regarding the broken wrist (shredded shoulder} he played with last season. He said he should have rested the injury when it first occurred in April (really 2012).

I shouldn’t have [played]. But at the ...

Justin Lin To Produce Adaptation Of Sundance Doc ‘Battered Bastards Of Baseball’

Shopping for…

Yeah, we saw this coming…. earlier this week we posted our review of the Sundance documentary, “Battered Bastards Of Baseball,” and within, our own Katie Walsh declared, “you will start fantasy casting the near-inevitable Hollywood remake of this story.” And indeed some studio execs are already doing just that.

Justin Lin has acquired the rights to Chapman and Maclain Way’s documentary, with the project already starting a war between Columbia Pictures, Fox Searchlight and ...

Cleveland Indians will unveil statue of home-run leader Jim Thome on Aug. 2

The statue honoring Jim Thome, the Indians all-time home run hitter, will be unveiled on Aug. 2 at Progressive Field.

Thome, talking Saturday at Tribe Fest, said he’s overwhelmed by it.

“All I can tell you it’s going to be pretty awesome,” said Thome, who works as a special assistant for the White Sox. “ “How do you ever imagine, when you play this game, getting an opportunity to have an organization put a statute up of you? I’m a little lost for words.

“As a player, I ...