10th anniversary: the A.J. Pierzynski trade
10 years ago today a trade happened that really, truly, madly, deeply helped one team more than the other. This trade was special. Many trades are debacles on the field, but this one happened to be a...
View ArticleThe 2014 Hall of Fame VC ballot
About two weeks ago, the baseball Hall of Fame announced the candidates that the Veterans Committee will get to look over for possible induction in 2014. This VC isn’t the VC that existed for most of...
View Article10 things I didn’t know about player birthdays
The new Hardball Times Baseball Annual is coming out, and should be hitting stores near you soon. In it, there’s an article from me titled Birthday Bonanzas about player who most under/overachieved on...
View ArticleThe end of the bench
Sometimes, the little things matter. The ability to turn the double play. Taking the extra pitch. Moving the runners over. Sometimes those little things, which can be overlooked easily, add up. Done...
View ArticlePrince Hal
He’s probably the greatest pitcher in Tigers history. He’s also a controversial selection for Cooperstown. Relax. I’m not talking about Jack Morris. (But the bad news is, you’re in for a month of other...
View ArticleThe unique career of Red Ruffing
It has to be one of the stranger careers a pitcher ever had. And on the face of things, it appears to be one of the lousier Hall of Fame selections. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been drawn to him. And...
View ArticleThe dynasty that wasn’t: 1918-21 Cleveland Indians
There are some classic baseball dynasties. You have the Joe Torre Yankees, the Casey Stengel Yankees, the Joe McCarthy Yankees—and wow is this column off to an ugly start. Aside from that one...
View Article10 things I didn’t know about THT before 2013
It’s that time of the year again, the end of the year. For me, that means it’s time to look back on the year that was here at THT. And yeah, it’s the week between holidays when readership is likely...
View ArticleWednesday’s Cooperstown results today, 2014 edition
It’s that time of the year again, the time when the baseball world looks to Cooperstown. This Wednesday, at 2 p.m. EST, the Hall of Fame will announce the results of its annual BBWAA election, and...
View ArticleMe vs. reality, 2014
The Cooperstown election results came out today, so it’s time to compare my predictions with reality. Here is how I stacked up: Player Me Reality Greg Maddux 99 97 Tom Glavine 94 92 Frank Thomas 85 84...
View Article10 things I didn’t know about birthdays in 2013
In 2013, for no readily apparent reason, I decided to track how players performed on their birthdays. Bill James had studied this a little bit back in the old days. He initially looked at the 1980 and...
View ArticleThe rise of the middle-aged manager
It happens every offseason. Some managers depart, and new ones arrive. This offseason saw five teams switch managers. In all, five managers stepped down, voluntarily or otherwise: Davey Johnson with...
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