Newsblog: Fair Skies, Foul Balls: How Weather Influences Baseball

Should I have filed this under Primate Studies? Congrats to Mike on appearing in WaPo.

On a late July evening at Dodger Stadium last season, baseball’s best player stood near the visitors’ on-deck circle, preparing to face one of baseball’s best teams. After Mike Trout watched a Los Angeles Angels teammate take a strike to open the game, far above the field, the press box loudspeaker announced, “7:11 start; 83 degrees at game time.”

Trout, a three-time American League MVP, is also a ...

Newsblog: 8th? BBTF Central Park Softball Game: October 3

Let’s start planning for this year’s game. First questions:

1. Who is submitting the permit request? (Answer: Hysterical & Useless)

2. What dates should we aim for? (Answer: July 25 October 3)

3. Where is the post-game destination?

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 2019 Results

Congratulations to 2019 Most Meritorious Player Alex Bregman!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Alex Bregman	114	8	4
Mike Trout	108	8	1
Cody Bellinger	106	8	2
Marcus Semien	92	8	1
Christian Yelich	73	8	0
Anthony Rendon	66	8	0
Justin Verlander	62	8	0
Gerrit Cole	61	7	0
Ketel Marte	44	6	0
Mookie Betts	37	7	0
Jacob deGrom	36	5	0
Stephen Strasburg	19	4	0
DJ LeMahieu	19	3	0
Zack Greinke	16	3	0
George Springer	13	5	0
Max Scherzer	13	2	0
Lance Lynn	12	2	0
Matt Chapman	11	4	0
Mike Minor	11	2	0
Xander ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1920 Results

Congratulations to Babe Ruth, our unanimous pick for 1920 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Babe Ruth	90	6	6
Rogers Hornsby	76	6	0
Pete Alexander	73	6	0
Tris Speaker	65	6	0
George Sisler	63	5	0
Eddie Collins	51	6	0
Stan Coveleski	39	5	0
Joe Jackson	34	4	0
Jim Bagby	31	4	0
Oscar Charleston	30	3	0
Cristobal Torriente	23	2	0
Ross Youngs	22	3	0
Burleigh Grimes	12	1	0
John Henry Lloyd	8	1	0
Sam Rice	7	1	0
Dave Bancroft	6	1	0

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1920 Ballot

For 1920 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.
Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 2 October 2019.
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 1 October 2019.
For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1919 Ballot

For 1919 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.

Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 4 September 2019.

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 3 September 2019.
For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1918 Results

Congratulations to Walter Johnson, our 1918 Most Meritorious Player!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Walter Johnson	102	7	5
Babe Ruth	95	7	2
Hippo Vaughn	80	7	0
Tyrus Cobb	79	7	0
Stan Coveleski	68	7	0
Joe Williams	50	5	0
George Sisler	49	5	0
Tris Speaker	34	4	0
Scott Perry	28	3	0
Cristobal Torriente	28	3	0
George H Burns	23	3	0
Heinie Groh	18	2	0
Oscar Charleston	17	2	0
John Henry Lloyd	10	1	0
Dick Redding	9	1	0
Harry Hooper	9	1	0
Dick Whitworth	8	1	0
Lefty Tyler	8	1	0
Max Carey	7	1	0
Charlie ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1919 Discussion

Players returned from the war. Sunday baseball starts in New York. Ray Caldwell gets hit by lightning and finishes the game anyway. The Giants and Phillies played a 51 minute 9 inning game.

The White Sox threw the World Series to the Reds losing 5 games to 3 in a best of 9 contest.

The Atlantic City Bacharach Giants defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4 in the “Colored Championship of the East”. The Detroit Stars and Chicago American Giants were the best teams in the West.

Vote for 10.

Player			SH ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1915 Results

Congratulations to Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander for winning the 1915 Most Meritorious Player award!

Player Name	pts	ballots	1sts
Pete Alexander	116	8	5
Ty Cobb	111	8	2
Eddie Collins	99	8	0
Walter Johnson	98	8	0
Tris Speaker	78	8	0
Gavy Cravath	77	7	0
Jack Fournier	59	7	0
John Henry Lloyd	32	4	0
Larry Doyle	25	3	0
Joe Williams	16	2	0
Dick Redding	15	1	1
Fred Toney	14	2	0
Bobby Veach	12	2	0
Honus Wagner	9	1	0
Benny Kauff	9	1	0
Jim Scott	9	1	0
Heinie Groh	8	1	0
Jeff Pfeffer	8	1	0
Tom ...

Hall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1915 Ballot

For 1915 each voter should rank the top 10 players from all leagues combined.
Balloting is scheduled to close at 4pm EDT on 1 May 2019.
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 30 April 2019.
For detailed rules see one of our previous ballots.