Category Archives: Baseball

WHY NOT LET FIELDERS BLOCK EVERY BASE?

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Philip

WHY NOT LET FIELDERS BLOCK EVERY BASE? In one of his annual BASEBALL ABSTRACTS, Bill James urged that catchers not be allowed to block the plate. He pointed out that blocking the plate was not logical. After all, players are … Continue reading →

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REDUCING INJURIES AT HOME PLATE.

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Philip

REDUCING INJURIES AT HOME PLATE. Buster Posey, Sn Francisco’s young star catcher, is out for the year with a broken leg. It happened while he was blocking the plate, as catchers are expected to do. (For those of you are … Continue reading →

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HU’S ON FIRST.

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Philip

HU’S ON FIRST. Chin-lung Hu is a utility infielder who has been playing in the majors from time to time from 2007 with the Dodgers and this year with the Mets. Here are his stats from fangraphs. He has 190 … Continue reading →

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ROOMS WITH “FLOW.”

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Philip

ROOMS WITH “FLOW.” We discovered when we were finally moving from our starter house six years ago that new houses were being built to provide “flow.” (I don’t know whether this is still true after the financial events of the … Continue reading →

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A PICKOFF PLAY AT THIRD BASE!

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Philip

A PICKOFF PLAY A THIRD BASE! In a recent White Sox-Tampa Bay game, Joe Maddon, the Tampa manager (and a very good manager), tried a pickoff play at third base. I had never seen one before, and neither had the … Continue reading →

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A PROPOSAL FOR A BASEBALL RULE CHANGE.

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Philip

A PROPOSAL FOR A BASEBALL RULE CHANGE. Minnesota’s second baseman had his leg broken recently by a baserunner trying to break up a double play. Without question, what the baserunner did was legal and consistent with what baserunners do as … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Sports | 6 Comments

THE PERSISTENCE OF THE HOME TEAM ADVANTAGE.

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Philip

THE PERSISTENCE OF THE HOME TEAM ADVANTAGE. I have long thought that television and instant replays would have improved refereeing because fans and sportswriters and league officials are able to review the calls. In fact, I have wondered how extreme … Continue reading →

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WHITE SOX IN BASEBALL, PACKERS IN FOOTBALL (COMMENT).

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Philip

WHITE SOX IN BASEBALL, PACKERS IN FOOTBALL (COMMENT). Nick commented that he watched the the Packer victory over the Bears in a bar with a number of Bear fans who seemed to be puzzled that he was a fan of … Continue reading →

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UNUSUAL BALLPARKS—“THE SMEAD JOLLEY STORY.”

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Philip

UNUSUAL BALLPARKS—“THE SMEAD JOLLEY STORY.” After the posts on unusual ballparks, I realized that I should post on the “Smead Jolley Story”, which wikipedia research (see here) shows is about “Duffy’s Cliff”, which between 1912 and 1933 was a ten-foot … Continue reading →

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A LARGE TREE IN THE OUTFIELD.

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Philip

A LARGE TREE IN THE OUTFIELD. Inspired by the challenges of playing the Northwestern-Illinois football game in Wrigley Field with a brick wall at one end of the field, I posted several times about unusual playing fields. John Huebner e … Continue reading →

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