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Sunday, July 08, 2007

BR.com’s Sports Reference Blog: In honor of Mr. Forman

George Brett has a new passion: Baseball-reference.com.

The Hall of Fame third baseman obviously knows a lot about baseball, but he didn’t discover the stat-packed Web site until Friday, after a Daily News reporter pointed it out during an interview. Searching for his own stats, he pored over his first full season in the bigs in 1974 and of course, that magical year of 1980 when he chased .400 late into the season, finishing at an absurd .390.

“I reached as high as .407 that year,” Brett remembers, then confirms with the exact date. It was Aug. 26; Brett’s Kansas City Royals were on the road at Milwaukee’s old County Stadium. Brett went 5-for-5 off Mike Caldwell and Bill Castro, raising his average from .398 to .407. His memory was right on the money.

The Royals won, 7-6, in front on 16,824 fans.

“I was going to go to the gym,” Brett tells The Score. “Now I can’t stop looking at this site. It’s amazing!”

Repoz Posted: July 08, 2007 at 02:45 PM | 59 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: history, royals, site news

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1. The Anthony Kennedy of BBTF (Scott) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 03:46 PM (#2433548)

that is really cool. i can just see a player going over their old box scores and remembering the games.

2. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:00 PM (#2433557)

His brother's page is available for sponsorship.

3. Dag Nabbit: Sockless Psychopath Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:18 PM (#2433574)

Such a cool piece, I based a SotD blog entry on it. And ripped off studes for good measure, too.

4. Ivan Grushenko of Hong Kong Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:35 PM (#2433586)

He'll be posting here next.

5. Mike Webber Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:40 PM (#2433595)

Nice article Chris! Thanks!

6. Dan Szymborski

Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:41 PM (#2433596)

Seriously, I once had a dream that Gary DiSarcina found baseball-reference.com and went into deep depression after seeing his page.

7. Jack Sommers Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:43 PM (#2433601)

“I was going to go to the gym,” Brett tells The Score. “Now I can’t stop looking at this site. It’s amazing!”

That about sums it up for me.

8. base ball chick Posted: July 08, 2007 at 04:52 PM (#2433606)

OMG

teh baseball PLAYERS looking at stats ON A COMPUTER. i mean, george just might could find out about OPS+ and what it means. HORRORS!!!!! the world coming to an end. dogs and cats LIVING TOGETHER!!!

better not let plaschke and his little friends find out about that

and anyhow, isn't sean PROFESSOR forman

9. philly Posted: July 08, 2007 at 05:21 PM (#2433621)

“I was going to go to the gym,” Brett tells The Score. “Now I can’t stop looking at this site. It’s amazing!”

That about sums it up for me.

Except the part about going to the gym, I bet that sums it up for far too many of us.

10. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 05:27 PM (#2433631)

Who did you hit the best, George? “Ed Figueroa,” he says without even clicking his mouse. Brett batted .778 vs. the former Yankee in 1980. He went 7-for-9.

that's nuttin'; in 1975 he was 12-14 against him

if you include the postseason, he was 591/611/897 against Figueroa in 54 PAs

pwned

11. Dan Szymborski

Posted: July 08, 2007 at 05:37 PM (#2433650)

and anyhow, isn't sean PROFESSOR forman

Sean's on a leave of absence and working on b-r full-time now.

12. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: July 08, 2007 at 05:38 PM (#2433651)

Brett hit over .500 against eight pitchers that he faced at least 20 times.

Barry Bonds's OPS against Kevin Tapani was over 2.000 in 28 plate appearances.

13. Jack Sommers Posted: July 08, 2007 at 05:41 PM (#2433653)

Except the part about going to the gym, I bet that sums it up for far too many of us.

Well, my point was about NOT MAKING IT to the gym.

14. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 05:53 PM (#2433660)

Brett hit over .500 against eight pitchers that he faced at least 20 times.

on the other hand, Brett was 1-23 lifetime against Rick Sutcliffe

did you know that, of all players with 70 or more PAs against Bob Gibson, Buddy Harrelson had the 4th best OPS?

(and Richie Hebner OWNED Bob Gibson--go figure)

15. H_Vaughn08 Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:02 PM (#2433670)

I've noticed Len Kasper drops b-r references quite a bit in Cub broadcasts. Kudos!

16. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:03 PM (#2433674)

Greg Maddux is Junior Spivey's #####.

17. Meatwad Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:07 PM (#2433681)

kasper has mentioned b ref quite a few times, im always happy to hear it, he is an announcer who isnt afraid to bring stats into the booth even if they arnt mainstream

18. Dan The Mediocre is one of "the rest" Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:13 PM (#2433699)

Kasper has also mention Three True Outcomes among other things. I miss Steve Stone, but Kasper and Brenly have been good.

19. Repoz

Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:13 PM (#2433701)

and Richie Hebner OWNED Bob Gibson--go figure

Because Gibson buried Hebner early on...so he returned the favor.

20. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:22 PM (#2433721)

Because Gibson buried Hebner early on...so he returned the favor.

Aaron vs Koufax 1957-61: 475/544/898 in 68 PAs

1962-66: 259/310/407 in 58 PAs

21. Crispix Attacksel Rios Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:30 PM (#2433736)

Bobby Abreu has been dominated by the oddest pitchers.

vs. Odalis Perez
.111 .226 .148 (31 PAs)

vs. Horacio Ramirez
.250 .308 .250 (26 PAs)

vs. Tomo Ohka
.229 .229 .343 (35 PAs)

vs. John Thomson
.200 .243 .257 (37 PAs)

vs. Dustin Hermanson
.214 .267 .286 (30 PAs)

meanwhile, vs. Chris Carpenter
.565 .600 1.087 (25 PAs)

Also odd, both Abreu and Pat Burrell have done better against Carpenter than against all but two other pitchers (minimum 20 PAs).

22. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:39 PM (#2433757)

ARod vs Ryan Franklin: 212/257/242 (35 PAs)

ARod vs Roger Clemens: 377/400/604 (60 PAs)

(and check out Bonds vs Mike Bielecki)

23. Dudefella Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:55 PM (#2433774)

George Brett never should have made that website.

24. The Bones McCoy of THT Posted: July 08, 2007 at 06:58 PM (#2433777)

I'd like to say this again: Finances are pretty tight but between getting a nice paying writing job on top of my THT income and the Canadian dollar being so high, I finally convinced myself to take the plunge and subscribe to BB Ref.

I. Am. Kicking. Myself. For. Not. Doing. This. Sooner.

It's worth the money, if you thought the free stuff was amazing (and it is) wait'll 'til to see what's behind the curtain.

Get the full Forman experience. The man is a friggin' genius. It's cut down the time I do research and analysis by 60-70% easy.

You'll be doing yourself a favor. No, Sean's not paying me for plugging him. It's like you found an amazing pizza joint. You tell everyone to try it out.

There is one drawback, you will feel a strong desire to kick this whole "sleeping" habit.

Best Regards

John

25. McCoy Posted: July 08, 2007 at 07:01 PM (#2433783)

The other day I was actually looking at Bob Gibson and I found that these guys did the best against Bob Gibson with a minimum of 50 PA, though I think Adcock had 45. I also found that for a guy who had a reputation for buzzing and hitting batters that Bob rarely ever hit the hitters with the best line against him. The players below racked up 1829 PA against Bob and got plunked 9 times. Once every 203 PA, everybody else got plunked 1 every 153 PA. Both Richie Hebner and Eddie Mathews who I believe had some of the best production against Bob racked up 186 PA and didn't get plunked once.

JOe Adcock
Billy Williams
Ron Fairly
Richie Hebner
Eddie Mathews
Al Oliver
Wes Parker
Joe Morgan
Rico Carty
Dave Cash
Bud Harrelson
Willie Davis
Johnny Roseboro
Wayne Garrett
Willie McCovey
Billy Williams
Willie Stargell
Felix Millan
Vada Pinson

26. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: July 08, 2007 at 07:42 PM (#2433855)

Ray Durham has never reached base in 26 plate appearances against Mariano Rivera.

27. rr

Posted: July 08, 2007 at 07:48 PM (#2433874)

Nice. We should always remeber the guy who started Retrosheet--for free--too.

28. AJMcCringleberry Posted: July 08, 2007 at 08:23 PM (#2433946)

Torii Hunter is 0-25 with 14 Ks against Clemens.

29. Halofan Posted: July 08, 2007 at 08:31 PM (#2433954)

Forman to Cooperstown before or after McGwire?

30. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 08:54 PM (#2433973)

Forman to Cooperstown before or after McGwire?

With the output of work Sean does, I think one could reasonably conclude he is on performance enhancing drugs.

31. Law Boy Posted: July 08, 2007 at 10:55 PM (#2434085)

As a Yankee fan, any mention of George Brett recalls the pine tar incident, and his .909 SLG in the 1980 ALCS.

32. Sean Forman Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:12 PM (#2434092)

Thanks guys. I was pretty excited to see the comments from Brett.

Also, Dan. I'm not on a leave. I've resigned. That boat has been burned.

See you all at SABR. B-R is actually getting a table this year. I'll be ordering some B-R merchandise tomorrow.

33. Dan Turkenkopf Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:16 PM (#2434094)

Forman to Cooperstown before or after McGwire?

Also, Dan. I'm not on a leave. I've resigned. That boat has been burned.

Apparently Sean's not here to talk about the past either.

34. JimMusComp misses old primer... Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:21 PM (#2434096)

Sean -

I hope you know how much the world of Baseball stats appreciates your work. As a college professor myself, you resigned a position to work on B-R? Wow! I will go ahead and subscribe now just so you get compensated for your great work.

Thanks again.

35. Brandon in MO (Yunitility Infielder) Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:21 PM (#2434097)

From the Brett HOM thread

21. Brandon in MO (Fire Buddy Bell!) Posted: May 06, 2007 at 10:12 PM (#2356687)

George Brett v. the Yankees: .307/.365/.504, 29 HR (860 PA)

Below average BA and OBP, higher than average SLG

Pitchers that Brett owned.

Jim Abbott: 17 for 32, 3 HR
Doyle Alexander: .352 BA in 71 AB
Floyd Bannister: .348 BA, 5 HR, in 69 AB
Jim Clancy: 34 for 78, 5 HR
Ron Guidry: .352 BA and 5 HR in 56 AB
Paul Hartzell: 13 for 22
Dennis Martinez: .359 BA, 5 HR in 64 AB
Byron McLaughlin: 7 for 11, 3 HR
Jack Morris: .330 BA, 5 HR in 88 AB
Gene Nelson: 10 for 26, 5 HR
Dan Petry: 20 for 58, 6 HR
Mike Smithson: 21 for 38
Sammy Stewart: 10 for 25, 3 HR
Frank Tanana: .308 BA and 5 HR in 91 AB

Brett's lines against Blyleven, Tommy John, and Catfish Hunter are rather unimpressive.

Brett v. Hunter: .271/.260/.375

Brett also had bad lines against Allan Anderson (4 for 28), Jeff Ballard (3 for 23), Dick Bosman (2 for 13), Jaime Cocanower (0 for 10), Dock Ellis (1 for 14), Steve Frey (0 for 9), Juan Guzman (4 for 18), Kevin Hickey (0 for 15), Randy Johnson (1 for 11), Pat Underwood (1 for 19), Ed Vande Berg (1 for 19), and Geoff Zahn (10 for 53)

36. Buzzards Bay Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:27 PM (#2434100)

I want a BR hat and T-shirt

37. alkeiper Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:37 PM (#2434108)

George Brett vs. Ken Brett

6-20, 2 doubles. No walks or strikeouts.

38. Captain Joe Bivens, Pointless and Wonderful Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:42 PM (#2434113)

19. Repoz Posted: July 08, 2007 at 02:13 PM (#2433701)

and Richie Hebner OWNED Bob Gibson--go figure

Because Gibson buried Hebner early on...so he returned the favor.

Is this a joke? Because Hebner was a grave-digger in the off season in Norwood, MA.

39. Repoz

Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:49 PM (#2434120)

Is this a joke?

Of course...

In the immortal words of Digger O'Dell..."I've covered a lot of ground today."

40. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:54 PM (#2434127)

It would be cool if someone close to Brett could pitch the idea of sponsoring Ken's page. Would probably get a little more PR for BR.

41. Sean Forman Posted: July 08, 2007 at 11:58 PM (#2434132)

Jim,

It's even worse than that. I got tenure and then quit. :-) I think it's going to work out, but the parents on both sides aren't quite sure what I was thinking.

42. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: July 09, 2007 at 12:06 AM (#2434143)

43. HowardMegdal

Posted: July 09, 2007 at 01:27 AM (#2434221)

I happen to believe that we will see Sean in the Baseball HOF. Perhaps in the writers' wing, perhaps in some "Baseball and the Internet" retrospective in 2025. They'll get there.

I just want it on record that I visited Baseball-Reference before it was popular among Hall of Fame third basemen.

44. JimMusComp misses old primer... Posted: July 09, 2007 at 04:17 AM (#2434392)

It's even worse than that. I got tenure and then quit. :-)

Double wow!

Good luck to you, Sean. The in-laws are watching...

45. shaftr Posted: July 09, 2007 at 04:26 AM (#2434404)

BR's PI makes my days at work fun. When I get bored, I play around with the PI and on a glance, people think I'm working.

46. Gold Star - just Gold Star Posted: July 09, 2007 at 04:56 AM (#2434441)

Sean, professors are a dimeadozen.
BB-Ref, on the other hand...

47. baudib Posted: July 09, 2007 at 05:13 AM (#2434458)

BBREF is the best site on the interwebs.

48. Iwakuma Chameleon (jonathan) Posted: July 09, 2007 at 07:40 AM (#2434490)

Sean -

I hope you know how much the world of Baseball stats appreciates your work. As a college professor myself, you resigned a position to work on B-R? Wow! I will go ahead and subscribe now just so you get compensated for your great work.

Thanks again.

I don't mean anything by this, but it's fun to sit and imagine my own professors sitting on message boards and communicating to people like this. I can't imagine accidentally getting into a conversation with a professor of mine on BTF or something. I wonder if that happens.

edit: Concerning matters that are actually, yknow, relevant, being a college student and carrying the accompanying financial hassles I haven't subscribed to B-Ref, but now that they've got up-to-date in season stats it's become the only resource I have to consult concerning the numbers of baseball. It's wonderful and I love it.

49. The Bones McCoy of THT Posted: July 09, 2007 at 09:11 AM (#2434493)

Sean, professors are a dimeadozen.
BB-Ref, on the other hand...

My thoughts exactly. Sean is going to leave behind a legacy in the world of baseball (not hyperbole) the way that Alexander Cartwright and Bill James did.

He's created an online Disneyland for baseball lovers.

It all started with a mouse.

Again Sean: thanks for your hard work. The subscription was money very well spent.

Best Regards

John

50. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: July 09, 2007 at 10:03 AM (#2434498)

B-Ref doesn't catcher's SB/CS ratios, or at least I couldn't find them.

51. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: July 09, 2007 at 10:28 AM (#2434500)

He's created an online Disneyland for baseball lovers.

It all started with a mouse.

I didn't know Sean Forman was a White Supremacist.

52. Sean Forman Posted: July 09, 2007 at 01:53 PM (#2434576)

You're right IronChef (about the SB/CS, not the white supremacy). It will be coming this summer.

53. Dan Szymborski

Posted: July 09, 2007 at 01:59 PM (#2434588)

Sean had to leave his professorship - cleaning all the tubes coming off of b-r is a full-time job and I'm pretty sure b-r isn't generating enough revenue to pay a plumber $75 an hour.

54. shaftr Posted: July 09, 2007 at 02:11 PM (#2434594)

Well, if he needed volunteers, I'm sure he could find some, like this guy.

55. cardsfanboy

Posted: July 10, 2007 at 08:18 AM (#2435446)

Holds coming anytime soon? ever?

56. Sean Forman Posted: July 10, 2007 at 04:57 PM (#2435733)

Yes, the player pages are getting a major rehab this summer and that will definitely be on there then.

57. Mister High Standards Posted: July 10, 2007 at 05:12 PM (#2435751)

Dear everyone,

Please sponsor a page or subscribe to PI. I vow to refrain from posting in any none baseball related threads or stirring up trouble until August 10th, if 10 people subscribe or sponsor between now and the end of the week. If 10 people don't I will be three times as unbearable.

Yes, this is blackmail and of course Sean has nothing to do with it considering he is a paragon of virtue.

To sum up:
By supporting BR you not only support the best site on the web. Not only do get access to a wonderful wonderful service or great advertising. BUT you also can get me to shut my big fat mouth for an entire month! As the MasterCard commercial says Priceless!

58. Sean Forman Posted: July 10, 2007 at 05:26 PM (#2435770)

Does this mean you'll be quiet at SABR as well?

59. Mister High Standards Posted: July 10, 2007 at 05:35 PM (#2435779)

Mr. Forman, you have a better chance of seeing god.

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Sunday, July 08, 2007

BR.com’s Sports Reference Blog: In honor of Mr. Forman

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