Baseball Historians

In a statistically heavy column at the Hardball Times, Sal Baxamusa analyzes which teams were the most consistent in 2007, i.e. which scored in a pocket of runs each and every games.  The White Sox had the most consistent offense in 2007.

While the departure of Grady Little was somewhat a surprise, the hiring of Joe Torre wasn’t and it looks like Torre has now agreed to manage the Dodgers. This is a guy who’s managed in six World Series and won four of them so this is pretty huge.  I thought Grady Little did a nice job in […]

It’s funny how Joe Girardi has this golden reputation because he had one good year for the Marlins organization.  I’m not knocked the choice because I think out of the three guys the Yankees looked, Girardi was probably the best guy but you also don’t want to latch onto a guy who blows his wad […]

Okay, so Chris Speier signs on as Cincinnati bench coach.  Dick Pole is the pitching coach.  Juan “Porky” Lopez is the bullpen coach.  All those names are a bit, um, suggestive. And fun.  So, while the pitching may not improve much this next year, worst case the Reds coaches can star in a remake of […]

I heard last week that Tony LaRussa was at one point in the past (before they hired Dusty Baker) in discussions with Reds ownership to possibly join on as manager of the Reds.  Apparently Bob Castellini has a relationship with Mr. Tony and that was a big reason LaRussa even considered it. 
I cannot say enough how happy […]

Well, it’s begun.  Joe Girardi was in for an interview and I like him, but I could see the relationship being a little Billy Martinesque.  Girardi got in trouble for running his mouth (in a good way) for the Marlins and they showed him the door so you wonder how George would deal with that.  […]

The Red Sox are going to the World Series after a dramatic comeback in their series with the Indians.  All three of these final games were Red Sox blowouts and Boston put an exclamation point on things last night as they advanced to their second World Series in four years.
The Red Sox scored single runs […]

The Red Sox got a ton of offense as they forced a winner take all game seven last night with a 12-2 win.  J.D. Drew got things started with a grand slam and an RBI single to drive in the first five Red Sox runs but the hitters kept piling it on and by the […]

The Red Sox will get a chance to win two straight games at Fenway Park as they extended their ALCS with the Indians.  Once again, it was Josh Beckett who got it done and he’s still the only Red Sox pitcher to have a win in the series.  He held the Indians to an impressive […]

The Red Sox had a tough time getting anything going in their 4-2 loss to the Indians.  Jason Varitek belted a two run homer in the seventh inning but that was the extent of the Red Sox offense.  They outhit the Indians 7-6, they just had a tough time pushing those runners across the plate.
Dice-K […]

The Reds have a new manager and it’s a guy with a track record.  Love him or hate him, Dusty Baker is the new Reds manager and while he has his knocks, he’s also had his share of successes.  He took the Giants to the World Series in 2002 and then he took the Cubs […]

What an ugly inning.  Eric Gagne, Javier Lopez and Jon Lester combined to give up seven runs in the eleventh inning as the Red Sox lost game two of the ALCS.   This was after a rough outing by Curt Schilling but some solid pen work that stopped with two shutout innings by Jon Papelbon.
Manny Ramirez […]

The Red Sox took it to Indians ace C.C. Sabatia last night as the Red Sox took game one of the ALCS.  Travis Hafner actually gave the Indians an early lead with solo homer in the first off of Josh Beckett but they didn’t manage much more then that.  Manny Ramirez singled home a run […]

Well, the Yankees are done and like the last several years, we look back and try to find answers.  The players were there, they just didn’t get it done.  I’m usually on George’s side but blaming Torre is a little comical.  This is the kind of team that should coach itself and the fact that […]

The sting of the season has subisded a bit to put together a recap.  The early departure of the Cubs from the 2007 playoffs reaffirms that this NL Central division wasn’t very good to begin with. 
This was in many ways a more frustrating season than one with pure ineptitude.  This 2007 Reds team showed flashes […]

Sigh, well, the Angels went out with a whimper as they were man handled by the Red Sox over a three game set.  Jered Weaver got it done and Scott Shields got it done, but the rest of the pen just collapsed.  And one run isn’t going to cut it.
As good as the Angels are, […]

All of my friends were worried about the Angels.  They had the best balance of hitting and pitching and while a lot of people weren’t talking about them too much, they kind of became the team to beat.  Well, they got beat as the Red Sox routed them yesterday to complete a 3-0 sweep.  Curt […]

Well, we paid Roger Clemens all of that money to get us to the promised land and he fell on his face last night. Fortunately, the hitters and the pen didn’t and Yankees managed an easy win to turn a near hopeless situation into a more realistic one.  Clemens gave up three runs and he […]

You have to feel for Jamie Moyer.  He pitched his heart out but the Phillies just couldn’t put anything on the board.  Three hits isn’t going to win you many ball games but the fact that the Phillies were in this game until the end goes to show how well the pitchers kept the Phillies […]

Well, it looks like the drought is going to reach 100 years because the Cubs season ended yesterday.  They put the guys on base to win the game, they just couldn’t bring them around to score and the four double plays obviously didn’t help.  And Rich Hill was touched up early and he lasted just […]

Well, you can argue with the situation.  Our best pitcher (at least reliever) was in there he just failed against a future Hall of Famer.  Manny Ramirez took Francisco Rodriguez deep with a three run shot as the Angels fell to 2-0 deficit in their best of five game series with the Red Sox.
Kelvim Escobar […]

I love Joba just like every other Yankees fan and I think he’s going to go on to great things but that eighth inning was just a train wreck.  Walk, wild pitch, bunt, wild pitch is how the Indians scored their tying run.  I can’t blame Torre for bringing in Mariano Rivera either because it […]

Well, the Cubs need to win three straight games to advance to the NLCS after losing two in Arizona.  The scene shifts to Chicago, but there’s little doubt the Cubbies face an uphill battle if they want to advance.
Ted Lilly was knocked around for six runs and he didn’t get through the fourth inning.  Kevin […]

Well, I really hope this isn’t happening again.  Chien-Ming Wang was blasted and the offense picked up all of five hits.  Hopefully Andy Pettitte can do a better job this afternoon.  Sigh.

The Phillies quest for their second World Series win in the franchises history could come to a rather abrupt end as they’re now forced to win three straight just to advance to the NLCS after losing their second straight game to the Rockies.  Kyle Kendrick was shelled for five runs and he didn’t make it […]

This game was a kick in the dick and I really hope it doesn’t come back to haunt us.  In a best of five game series, every games counts and the Cubs blew a game last night when it looked like Lou Piniella went to the pen a little early.  After just 85 pretty dominating […]

Game one was a complete disaster as the Angels bats were completely held in check by 20 game winner Josh Beckett.  Vlad Guerrero was the only guy to really have a game and he managed just two singles.  Nobody drew a walk and Garrett Anderson had a particularly tough game with two strikeouts.
John Lackey had […]

Josh Beckett rose to the occassion tonight and he threw a gem as the Red Sox took care of the Angels in game one of the ALDS 4-0.  Beckett gave up just four hits, all of which were singles, and he didn’t walk a single batter.  He struck out eight in the and while the […]

Things got off to a rough start as the Phillies dropped game one in their NLDS series to the Rockies in a 4-2 game.  Cole Hamels had a tough inning in the second and he gave up three runs before coming out in the seventh inning.  Tom Gordon was also tagged for a run when […]

Congratulations to Brandon Phillips.  Today’s milestone was yet another nail in the voodoo doll of Indians management who let him go to greener pastures.  (Not that they’ve missed him this year)  Is there a more talented player on this Reds team right now than Phillips?  It’s hard to argue there’s a better defensive player on […]