Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 17, 2009
Gammons Surprised
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The ESPN Ombudsman explains why Peter Gammons didn't go after Alex Rodriguez more in their interview:

Gammons told me, as well as other interviewers, that he was stunned by Rodriguez's admission that he had taken banned substances for three years.

"When I talked informally with Alex the night before," Gammons said, "I got the impression he was going to say whatever he tested positive for in 2003 was related to prescription drugs he had taken for a back injury in spring training."

When Gammons returned the next day for the interview -- which Rodriguez had first rescheduled from Sunday night to Monday morning, and then postponed again to early that afternoon -- he was prepared, with input from several ESPN producers and reporters, to do a more prosecutorial interview than the one that transpired. But Rodriguez offered his unexpected admission of guilt after the first question, and, Gammons says, "Obviously, there was a shift in direction."

"I realized right away that this was the first surefire, by his performance, Hall-of-Famer to admit this," Gammons said, "and therefore I thought keeping him talking, and getting as much as I could out there, was very important. I really felt my first duty was to get his words onto my employer's network."

The whole article is a very good read about how to handle an interview like this.

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February 16, 2009
Talking with Schmuck
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Russ Smith sits down with Peter Schmuck to talk about the 2009 Orioles.

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February 09, 2009
Joshing
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AZ Snakepit posts part one of an interview with Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes.

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January 22, 2009
AIMing to Please
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Rebecca Glass conducted an instant messenger interview of me this afternoon. You can find the transcript at This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes.

Posted by StatsGuru at 06:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
January 12, 2009
Ng on Manny
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BBTF posts the transcript of an XM interview with Kim Ng, assistant Dodgers general manager. She puts a very positive take on the Manny negotiations.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 03, 2008
Peterson Speaks
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The Biz of Baseball interviews former pitching coach Rick Peterson on how to use technology to better understand pitching motions and prevent injuries.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 02, 2008
Questioning Joe
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TBO.com publishes a fascinating interview with Joe Maddon. My favorite part:

Maddon: The first significant book I read was Michener's "Centennial." My Uncle Chuck told me I needed to read it. It got me into heavy reading. There was stuff about plate tectonics, the separation of the continents, about Colorado. He wrote about how the Indians would get the lead buffalo running toward a cliff and the other buffalo followed, and they'd be at the bottom, just carving them up. That's a principle I use. In any good administrator, you always want to latch onto the lead buffalo and get him running the right direction, because everybody else will follow.

Us: Over a cliff?

Maddon: Scratch the cliff.

Hat tip, ProJo Sox Blog.

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September 23, 2008
Ringolsby Interview
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Maury Brown sits down with Tracy Ringolsby and discusses BBWAA membership for internet authors:

Bizball: Has the proliferation of bloggers, and the crossover of print journalists who now add blogs to their published content, create a graying of what a credible sports journalist is?

Ringolsby: It's not the avenue of providing information that causes problems, but rather those who use the avenue. There are some blogs that I find entertaining and informative. There are others that seem to be creations of people with an ax to grind, and those are just as boring as reading the columnist who always has to hate whatever he is writing about.

Bizball: The internet is simply a platform in which to publish content on. Whether it's Buzz Bissinger or Murray Chass, or Steven A. Smith, the word "blogger" incites an angry element. At the same time, someone like Jay Mariotti isn't exactly the poster child for responsible journalism. Speaking philosophically, is it fair to rate any one medium for publishing as better or worse, rather than simply looking at the author and their content?

Ringolsby: With anything in life, we are all better served to evaluate each incident and individual separately and not stereotype.

Mr. Ringolsby appears to have an open mind about the new media.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
September 02, 2008
GM Talk
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The Biz of Baseball sits down with Hank Peters to talk about the job of general manager. Hank worked equally in the pre and post free agent eras and offers his insights into the job.

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August 25, 2008
Rays Main Man
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Outs per Swing interviews Andrew Friedman, the GM of the Rays. Nothing earth shattering, but they are talking about David Price:

TR: With the dominating season he's had so far, David Price's name has come up a lot recently. Are we close to seeing Price in a Rays Uniform? And have you thought about what role he would serve on the staff? Could he be the 2008 Joba Chamberlain?

AF: David has made tremendous progress in only [18] pro starts and has shown every bit of the potential that made him the first pick in the draft. He is not a finished product, but he has the ability and makeup to make a difference at the big league level for many years. How he fits into our puzzle here has been an interesting topic of discussion and we look forward to continuing that as we watch David progress.

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July 23, 2008
Mr. Roberts
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Oriole Central posts an interview with Brian Roberts.

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July 10, 2008
Chipper Q&A
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution posts a very short interview with Chipper Jones critiquing the Braves (emphasis added):

Now we're at a stage where we're at that transition, having to deal with a lot of young pitchers coming up and going through their growing pains, and we've got a lot of young hitters in the lineup who haven't, um, grasped what it's like to be a hitter every day in this league. And we're struggling as a team because of it.

I wonder if Chipper is talking about making adjustments, and specifically about Jeff Francoeur?

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June 18, 2008
Women in Baseball
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We've Got Heart continues the series profiling women in baseball. Today they speak with Andrea Larson, Corporate Communications Manager for the Minnesota Twins.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bloggers in the Press Box
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Ducksnorts finishes the interview with Sandy Alderson, which reveals this gem:

Alderson: The other thing we've been toying around with is allowing people like yourself into the press box. I know there's a lot of controversy about that among mainstream media and so forth, but our attitude is, the more access, the better. In Paul's case, it's a chance for him to express himself on an unflitered basis. He doesn't get interpreted by [radio host] Philly Billy [Werndl] or [newspaper columnist] Tim Sullivan or somebody else. It's an unvarnished line of communication.

Good for the Padres for understanding the usefulness of blogs.

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June 16, 2008
Sandy Sez
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Geoff Young of Ducksnorts sits down with Sandy Alderson for the first of a three-part interview.

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May 19, 2008
Talking to the Shyster
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SpliceToday talks with Craig Calcaterra, author of Shysterball. This rings very true for me as well:

ST: As a (mostly) baseball blogger, do you think the national sports media concentrates too much on the East Coast teams like the Red Sox and Yankees? That's a common complaint in ESPN chats with Rob Neyer and Buster Olney, among others.

CC: I certainly used to think that, and still believe that it would be a good thing for the media to remember that there is baseball west of the Hudson River. That said, since I've been blogging I've noticed something: whenever I write something about the Red Sox or Yankees, the hits are substantially higher. I do not believe that this is merely a function of ESPN-created demand. There are 10 times as many Sox and Yankees blogs out there, and all of them do pretty well from what I can tell.

There are more fans of those teams and, as much as I hate to say it, those fans are more passionate than your average Brewer backer. For as much as I'd like to see equal time for Oakland and Kansas City, it's helpful to remember that ESPN and the other media companies are businesses. There's a reason we see the Sox and Yankees so much, and that's because they bring in much higher ratings and attract more eyes to online content. Do I like it? No, but that's just how it is, and it will continue to be that way until either (a) those teams crater competitively; or (b) someone in the Midwest figures out how to make the places where all the people happen to live in this country care about the Twins.

It's been easier this season to write about other teams because the Yankees aren't doing well and a number of young teams wound up competing.

Posted by StatsGuru at 04:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Musings Interview
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Statistically Speaking conducted an email interview with me last week. The result is at the link.

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April 30, 2008
Listen to Bill
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There's an audio interview with Bill James at this web site, but for some reason it won't play for me on IE, I had to use Firefox.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
April 16, 2008
Talking to Davey
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Kevin Van Valkenburg catches up with one of my favorite managers, Davey Johnson.

Team USA (which embarrassingly failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens) followed it up by beating powerhouse Cuba in the final. Johnson also led Team USA to a first place finish at the Baseball World Cup in Taiwan last year, but it was the celebration that broke out when the United States made it back to Olympics that he remembers the most.

"Guys were passing around a jug of rum, trying to get me to take a sip," Johnson said. "They were chanting 'Skipper! Skipper!' So yeah, I took a sip. I've never had a bus ride like it."

I wish he were still managing in the majors.

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April 01, 2008
The Stadium Ride
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In case you didn't see it, Jack Curry of the New York Times rode to Yankee Stadium on Monday with Joe Girardi. He gained some new insights into the man.

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March 31, 2008
Bill James Interview
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BBTF posts the 60 Minutes Bill James interview.

Update: Joe Posnanski puts something into words that I couldn't. I didn't want to say this was a bad piece, because it really wasn't, but there were things in there that were inaccurate. Joe nails that:

Point is, I think 60 Minutes is a great show -- as long as you don't know much about the topic. I would guess that people who understand classical music probably had no use at all for the Gustave Dudamel piece, they probably felt like it was shallow and silly and borderline inaccurate.

I say this because, of course, I DO know Bill James. You know Bill James. And that gives us a unique look at the 60 Minutes piece on him Sunday. I will say first that I liked the piece because I thought Bill came across well, and I'm guessing it was probably well received by people who know nothing at all about baseball. But, it was certainly those other things too, shallow and silly and borderline inaccurate.

Isn't this what the blogosphere really exposed? Now, if someone in the media reports on something, there's an expert out there who knows better to set things right. So after 40 years we finally realize that if 60 Minutes is a good show if you don't know something about a topic, it's probably a bad show.

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March 24, 2008
Evaluating the Angels
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Brian Kamenetzky inteviews beat writer Matt Hurst on the state of the Angels.

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March 07, 2008
Time for James
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Bill James sits down with Time magazine. Two separate questions actually meld together well. First, Bill on ERA:

You often show that conventional baseball statistics aren't as important as they appear. In the book, you write "every year that passes, the ERA (Earned Run Average) becomes a little more irrelevant." Why is that?

The reason the ERA is becoming a little more irrelevant every year is that pitchers don't pitch whole innings anymore. Relief pitchers anyway. If you go back to 1915, 1920, really, all pitchers pitched full innings 99% of the time. And you could measure a pitcher's effectiveness by how many runs he allowed in those whole innings. But modern pitchers, in particular modern relievers, pitch portions of an inning. And in a situation where each pitcher pitches a portion of an inning, who you charge the run to becomes critical. And the rule on whom we charge the run to is so careless and sloppy that it doesn't work. It often leads to pitchers having ERAs that do not reflect how they really pitch, either because the reliever allowed a bunch of runs to score that were charged to somebody else, or because the starting pitcher who left guys on base got hurt by it.

This melds with what Bill would do if he were commissioner:

This is the rule that I would adopt. I've thought about this for a long time, and I don't see why this doesn't work. One time per game, you get a free pitching change without restriction. Otherwise, when you put a pitcher on the mound to start an inning, he has to stay in the game until he's charged with a run allowed. In other words, you have a limit on how often you can put a pitcher out there, let him face one batter and "let's bring in somebody else."

I like that rule. I still like the old way teams used relievers, that he was expected to finish the game unless he got in trouble.

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:37 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
February 14, 2008
Pitcher and Reporter
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Phil Hughes is taking questions for Ian Kennedy.

Update: Ian answers the questions here. I'd really like to see more about baseball, although I suppose someone could start a fantasy league around which baseball players are best at HALO.

I had not heard of the Vulcan changeup before, but maybe it will be the pitch that allows Kennedy to live long and prosper.

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February 11, 2008
Remembering Montreal
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Dave Rouleau speaks with Jacques Doucet, former play by play man for the Montreal Expos.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:23 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
February 05, 2008
Upton Interview
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DRays Bay interviews B.J. Upton. I wonder if they'll get a letter asking them to change the name of the blog to Rays Bay?

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January 25, 2008
Questioning Kasper
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Bleed Cubbie Blue posts a very good interview with Len Kasper, the play-by-play announcer for the Cubs. I like his take on criticizing the team:

BCB: Do you and Bob feel at all pressured (either real or perceived) to toe the company line rather than express any true criticism of the way the Cubs are playing or of questionable moves that Lou makes during the course of a game?

LEN: No, we just do the games to the best of our ability. I think the holding back part is simply having a sense of decorum and understanding that 1) it's a very difficult game to play and 2) we're broadcasting baseball, not doing an over-opinionated talk show. We don't shy away from pointing out what's going on. I do it mostly by saying, "The Cubs are 0-for-their-last-20 in these situations" or "The Cubs have lost 9 in a row" or whatever. I treat the audience as thinking human beings who can form their own opinions. Yes, I have opinions, and they come out at times, but if I simply spouted them for 3 hours, I guarantee you, it wouldn't be a very enjoyable broadcast. Bob has his opinions too and I enjoy bringing those out, and he's not afraid to be critical at all. It's just that we don't normally scream those opinions. I think we do a thinking-person's broadcast and I'm proud of that. The biggest key for me is that we don't miss stuff. That's a huge goal of mine. I don't ever want to ignore something just because it goes against the Cubs or might not be a positive. We owe that to the viewers.

Len also knows VORP and OPS+.

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January 23, 2008
New York Interviews
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Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog.com talks with Keith Hernandez while the Trentonian sits down with Yankees prospect Alan Horne.

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January 04, 2008
Talking with DePodesta
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Beyond the Boxscore interviews Paul DePodesta. Paul doesn't give away much, but he does explain his definition of a Moneyball player.

My definition of a "Moneyball" player is much different than the common usage. I don't see it as having anything to do with walks or on-base percentage or really any statistic. To me that really misses the point. A "Moneyball" player is an undervalued player for any reason whatsoever. So, yes, we still look for undervalued players. However, there isn't a universal scale of value in baseball, as no player holds precisely the same value for all 30 clubs. Often times "undervalued" simply means finding players who may have more value for us than they would for the player's current team. It doesn't imply that the current team has somehow overlooked the value of the player. That other team has a different composition of personnel and under that composition the player doesn't have as much value as he would have in our composition. We're all trying to manage portfolios of players that need to be somewhat balanced across various attributes as well as between short-term and long-term goals.
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December 17, 2007
The A-Rod Interview
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New York Yankees Update breaks down the A-Rod 60 Minutes interview. I'm amazed CBS doesn't post the whole interview online. The one clip I found was A-Rod's answer to the Barry Bonds question, which I thought was just right.

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December 10, 2007
Baseball Writers Membership
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Maury Brown interviews Bob Dutton, president of the BBWAA about the recent additions to the association.

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Okaji Interview
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The Boston Globe translates an interview with Hideki Okajima from Japan. The whole conversation is very good, but I found this interesting:

Y: What, in your opinion, is the reason for your success this year?

O: My best pitch in Japan was a curve ball. But with a more slippery American baseball, my curve wasn't curving as much as it did in Japan. So I had to figure out a different ball. Then after I figured the pitch [the change-up] out, I kept the use of the pitch to a minimum in the spring and the first part of the season, because I didn't want my opponent to know about the ball. I'd only use it at the crucial moment. The pitch is what they named the "Okie Dokie"

So there's a difference in Japanese baseballs that allow pitchers a better grip. Does anyone know why?

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:59 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
December 03, 2007
Ned Speaks
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Joe Hamrahi interviews Ned Colletti, and comes away impressed:

And finally, I asked Ned what he might have done differently in 2007 if he had the chance.


That's a great question. I'm sure there are. One thing I know I wouldn't have done differently. I'm glad I didn't trade 3 or 4 kids at the deadline. I think that decision will prove to be valuable for a very long time. People ask about the young players all the time. Teams need young players.

How would you like to have Martin who's 24, Loney who's 23, Kemp who's 23, Billingsley who's 23, Broxton who's 23, and you add Kershaw to it, and you add LaRoche to it and you add Chin-Lung Hu to it, and you add Tony Abreu to it...and you let it get better for another year...and that's not to say we're going to sell off 2008. We can still win in 2008. Think about the pitching staff we could have...Billingsley and Elbert and Kershaw and McDonald...that's possible a year and a half from now. And you have two guys, Billingsley and Kershaw who are legit number 1-2 starters. You'd have a great catcher, you'd have a great first baseman, you'd have a guy at SS who might win the gold glove one day...a guy like Matt Kemp who hasn't even played that much baseball. He's played about 5 or 6 years baseball. He might wind up being a great centerfielder! So how do you (trade 3 or 4 of your top kids)? If we can stay the course, we can have something very special for a very long time.


So Dodgers fans, are you excited yet?

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 20, 2007
A-Rod Interview
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That was disappointing. It was just a sound bite promoting a Warren Buffett special.

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A-Rod Interview
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If you're at your TV set, CNBC interviews Alex Rodriguez this hour.

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November 16, 2007
The Real Rusty
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My 1979 Strat-O-Matic team, the Pinto Hatchbacks, was know as the Amazing All Right-handed Lineup (AARL). Rusty Torres, a switch hitter, was the only player who would bat lefty against right-handed pitchers (it wasn't a great lineup). Bronx Banter interviewed the read Rusty Torres, whose claim to fame is taking part in three forfeited games.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The Real Rusty
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My 1979 Strat-O-Matic team, the Pinto Hatchbacks, was know as the Amazing All Right-handed Lineup (AARL). Rusty Torres, a switch hitter, was the only player who would bat lefty against right-handed pitchers (it wasn't a great lineup). Bronx Banter interviewed the read Rusty Torres, whose claim to fame is taking part in three forfeited games.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 22, 2007
Torre Interview
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Joe Torre does his first post-Yankees interview:

Former New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre will visit the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, Monday, Oct. 29 (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

This will be Torre's first broadcast network television interview since leaving the team. On Thursday, Oct. 18, Torre rejected a $5 million, one-year contract to return as manager of the Yankees, ending his 12-year affiliation with the team. During his tenure with the Bronx Bombers, he led them to four World Series titles, 12 straight years in the playoffs and became the second winningest manager in Yankee history.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
October 04, 2007
Acta on the Draft
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http://www.squawkingbaseball.com/?p=25Squawking Baseball interviews Nationals manager Manny Acta. I love his take on the international draft:

SB: How would you feel about an international draft?

MA: I'm not a fan of it. People talk about it limiting costs by stopping bidding wars for the top guys. But that's just the top guys. For everybody else, it could actually make things more expensive. There are so many kids down there that are dying to come up and be big leaguers. The system as it is is good for both sides. If you institute a draft, less kids get signed. That's bad for the kids obviously, and bad for the teams since the more players you sign the better chances you have of striking gold.

The same holds true for the domestic draft. Get rid of them both and go back to a scout and sign system.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
September 06, 2007
State of the Beane Address
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Blez at Athletics Nation sits down for his annual chat with Billy Beane. Here's Beane on why he let players go for nothing on waivers:

Blez: As for the guys you let go on waivers, Kennedy and Loaiza, is the fact that they were let go for nothing an indication of their lack of market value? Because you never want to let go of something for nothing, right?

Beane: Yeah, that is true. In fairness to the players, it's probably not fair to answer that question. In those cases, having the flexibility in the payroll is a big addition. If I said there was no interest in this guy or no interest in that guy...

Blez: In other words, we can draw our own conclusions as to how it happened?

Beane: Yeah, exactly. The thing about trade market is that it's always fluctuating. I'll give you an example. As great a player as Mark McGwire was for us, and I was an assistant GM when Sandy (Alderson) was here, with the Cardinals it turned out to be a great deal for them. But I've said this to you before, only one team had interest in him and that was the Cardinals. That was the only team that thought they could use that player. You never know. The misconception people have in trade value is sometimes is all over the map. For players you can have a player that you have a ton of interest one week and then none the next week.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
August 19, 2007
Vincent Price Should be Writing There
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Beegcellent Baseball posts an interview with me.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
August 17, 2007
Talkin' Maybin
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Joe Hamrahi spoke with Cameron Maybin last August. He's slated to bat second tonight in New York if the rain stops.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 12, 2007
Breaking Down the Break Downer
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Cobra Brigade interviews Carlos Gomez, the author of the wonderful pitching mechanics pieces at The Hardball Times.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 05, 2007
Stark Talk
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MetsBlog.com talks to Jason Stark in their latest podcast. Scroll down the left sidebar to find the audio player on the site.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 02, 2007
Talking to Shapiro
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Maury Brown sits down with Mark Shapiro, GM of the Cleveland Indians. I like his approach to free agents:

All that accentuates is that we need to try to stay out of the free agent market whenever possible ... and when we do enter into the free agent market, there is hopefully a realistic desire to supplement rather than build the core talent - because I just don't see us ever being able to compete in the free agent market for core talent ... it's just the very rare, exceptional occasion when that is going to happen.

That's what the Yankees did so well in the 1990s. They had a solid core of players they developed in their farm system, and supplemented them with players from other organizations via trade and free agency.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
June 27, 2007
Laying Down the Law
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Lion in Oil interviews Keith Law, formerly of the Blue Jays and currently of ESPN. Here's his view of the biggest problems in baseball:

I've never thought steroids were that big of an issue, and as a fan, I really don't give a Juan Pierre whether or not these guys used steroids or HGH or horse tranquilizers or whatever. The steroid "scandal" is about 90% media sanctimony, and I guess the only good thing there is that it gives me another point on which to rail on the mainstream sports media.

The two biggest issues in baseball to me are the seemingly intractable problem of pitcher injuries, and the totally tractable problem of penurious owners. The first one is a serious issue, because we're getting to the point where pitchers - particularly young ones - are almost treated like disposable assets, and we're seeing ridiculous contracts handed out to pitchers who have mediocre but existing track records because of the shortage (perceived or real) of pitching.

The skinflint owners, on the other hand, represent an easily fixable problem. The revenue-sharing system, as it is, is asinine, because it penalizes teams that run their businesses properly and rewards teams that run them poorly or that run them on the cheap. Competitive balance is innate to baseball, in my opinion, as long as you don't have owners who are draining the profits out of their teams each year rather than reinvesting in the product. This is their legal right as owners, but it's bad for the game.


Posted by StatsGuru at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 20, 2007
Talking to Bill
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The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal sits down with Bill James:

After a lifetime of studying the game, Mr. James reckons he still has plenty to learn. The internationalization of the game is one source of new wisdom, he says. "One of the great things about the Cubans and the Japanese is that they develop their own traditions and a lot of the things we think they know they don't necessarily buy into. Incorporating those other traditions is a source of wealth for baseball, and if we're smart, we'll do more of it."

Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners centerfielder and perennial hits leader, is one example. "He's a great player while violating 48 rules about how everybody is taught to hit," Mr. James says. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, the wily Cuban-born New York Mets pitcher, is another case in point. "We have a set pitching pattern, and then you get a guy like El Duque doing everything wrong and he beats you. It's a wonderful object lesson for all of us."

Posted by StatsGuru at 06:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 19, 2007
Oral Omar
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Matthew Cerrone recorded an interview with Omar Minaya that you can hear at 6:30 PM EDT at MetsBlog.com. From Matt:

The conversation is mostly about life as a GM, why it is different than just running a fantasy team, what it takes to make a trade - it's not so Mets-specific, as it is about the job.

He'll post about the discussion tomorrow if you miss the audio today.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 31, 2007
Ready for the Draft
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River Avenue Blues interviews Keith Law about the upcoming MLB draft.

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April 02, 2007
On the Radio
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Joe Aiello of Big League Baseball Report interviewed me late last week about the upcoming season. You can listen at his blog.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 26, 2007
Bill On Baseball
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Pat Andriola at Shea Faithful interviews Bill James. I though this answer was interesting:

Pat Andriola: The St. Louis Cardinals had an 82-Pythagorean-win season last year, but went on to win the World Series. Are there any changes to the system that could make it less of a chance affair, and would you want to make those changes if you could?

Bill James: I'm not a great fan of the Wild Card. But it is tremendously important, for the health of the sport, that the best team doesn't always win. That's the real problem with the NBA. . .the best team is going to win in the long run, and everybody knows it. The season becomes a long, crushing battle in which, ultimately, you have no chance to escape justice. . .as opposed to college basketball, which is vastly more exciting, simply because you never know who will win, and therefore have to do everything you can do to maximize your chance. In the NBA you don't really HAVE a chance to win, if you're not one of the two or three best teams, and everybody knows this on some level. . .therefore, why play hard, why dive for the ball on the floor, why fight for the rebound, why sacrifice your body to score a point, when you ultimately can't win. No sport can survive if the best team always wins.

This is the macro version of why I like baseball better than other sports. Sticking with the NBA, if the game is on the line with three seconds to go, Michael Jordan gets the ball; the best player on your team takes the last shot. The twelfth man on the team never even sees action in that situation. But in baseball, you never know who is going to be up in that spot. You hope it's David Ortiz, but sometimes you get Luis Sojo, and sometimes Sojo comes through. In baseball, you never know who the hero is going to be.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:57 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
March 22, 2007
Talking to the Blogger
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Bronx Banter writer Alex Belth sits down with Red Sox blogger Curt Schilling to discuss the pitcher's writing on the internet.

Schilling: I'll tell you what I've realized in the last 48 hours. I did a blog a couple of days ago and basically explained my contract situation. Yesterday, there was an article written by John Tomase in The Boston Herald. The article is, John introduces my blog, quotes my blog and then finishes the article. I just did an interview without having to deal with the media. I wasn't edited, I wasn't clipped. It was what I said, how I said it. If I've got to take s*** and if I'm going to wear labels, I'm going to wear them because of things that I've said and done.
Posted by StatsGuru at 06:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 08, 2007
Boston vs. New York
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Yanksfan vs. Soxfan interviews Jay Jaffe about the upcoming season for the Yankees and Red Sox.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 01, 2007
The Glamorous Life of an Assistant GM
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Patrick Sullivan interviews Red Sox assistant GM Jed Hoyer at The Baseball Analysts. If you think he leads an exciting life, there's this:

Pat: So from the day you were hired until now, can you share the most mundane task ever assigned to you and the best, most impactful and high-profile work you have done?

Jed: The other night Brian O'Halloran, our Director of Baseball Operations, and I were at a Kinkos in Phoenix putting together arbitration binders until 4:30 in the morning. It doesn't get more mundane than sticking each individual number on a divider while the guy behind the counter is listening to a sci-fi book on tape - and somehow trying to stay awake. That task is up there on the list - and is certainly the most recent.

However, he does get to do exciting work, too:

I have had a ton of great projects too - heading out to Arizona to try to sign Schilling and spending two days in NYC with ARod in December 2003 were great experiences because it is so rare to negotiate without the filter of an agent. I think the most fun I have ever had working for the Red Sox has been preparing for the post-season advance scouting meetings. Every single time I wind up nearly pulling an all-nighter to get all the materials and video ready for the meeting - and it never feels like work. Preparing for a playoff series - and watching how Varitek devours the information and asks incredible questions - is an amazing experience.

The interview is well worth your time.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

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February 08, 2007
Interviewing the Interviewer
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Sports Media Guide interviews Derrick Goold, beat writer for the St. Louis Cardinals. His comments on Albert Pujols are quite interesting.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:54 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
February 07, 2007
Boras can Talk a Lot
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By way of the Turkmenbashi of the Blogosphere, a link to an incredibly long interview with Scott Boras and a note on how it contradicts the reported story of the transfer of Johnny Damon from Boston to New York.

I found it interesting that Boras collects his own baseball data, duplicating the businesses of STATS and BIS.

Q. Can you talk more about resources you have here?

A. Upstairs, we've got about 30, 40 people, their job all year around is information, data. We keep track of every pitch in baseball.

Q. Your proprietary system?

A. All proprietary. It's all our own, we've spent millions of dollars getting our computer system to a level where it's - I'll have to go upstairs and show you.

Q Who's feeding you the video?

A. We get that from DirecTV, local feeds. We have satellites, we pull it all in and then we basically chronicle it for each of our players, digitally, and put it away for players. We have their at-bats, their pitching performances, every game is chronicled.



Seems like it would be cheaper to buy it from a third party.

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February 06, 2007
Matsuzaka and Pitch Counts
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Matsuzaka Watch interviews Will Carroll on the Japanese pitcher, and there's a great discussion about pitch counts (PAP is pitcher abuse points).

MW: Something I wanted to ask you, since we began to e-mail back and forth...I did a piece a while back using a PAP chart that I was running on Matsuzaka, just to see how he stacked up, and it's off the charts compared to even the most abused Major Leaguers....

WC: It doesn't work.

MW: Yeah, I was wondering what's your perspective on it? Why doesn't it work?

WC: A couple things. First off, PAP is based off a five man rotation and even though the Japanese use five man there's more rest days in there, so it essentially factors out to six days rest, which is something I'm curious about...his adjustment to that...the five days versus six. But, it's just a different game. It's not played the same way, and all the assumptions made off PAP were based off, I wanna say, it went back to like 1978.

Japan is actually more equivalent to the 60s, and we're working on this project where we're doing this book on pennant races and two of the chapters I'm working on are 1934 and 1967. So I'm looking at all these pitch charts and it was just different. They didn't throw as hard, but they would throw 150 pitches a game. And, there weren't as many strikeouts because they were throwing for ground balls. And I think the Japanese have been kind of the same way. They are a little more strikeout happy so I think that they're throwing harder, especially from the games I've seen. But even so, the strikeout totals, and the strikeout rates equate more to a game of the late 60s or early 70s than the PAP era, so I just don't think the math works.

There's a lot more. I get the feeling there's some combination of GM/manager/starting staff that can exploit pitch counts and a four-rotation to give themselves a huge edge. The right combination hasn't come along yet, however.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
February 05, 2007
Shea Questions
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Shea Faithful interviews New York Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin about the upcoming Mets season.

PA: What do you think of the Moises Alou signing?

AR: You have to be concerned overall with the age of the Mets -- Jose Valentin and Damion Easley both 37, Alou 40, and Glavine and El Duque. That said, given the crazy contracts to outfielders such as Juan Pierre (five years, $44 million) and Gary Matthews (five years, $50 million), a commitment that only guarantees one year actually seems prudent. And one of the reasons David Wright struggled at times was a lack of protection -- either because Cliff Floyd wasn't hitting or because he was out of the lineup. You only need to look at what Alou did to the Mets last year in San Francisco hitting behind Barry Bonds to know what he can mean to the Mets as a No. 6 hitter.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 29, 2007
An A in Blogging
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Evan Brunell received an A on his paper about baseball blogging in which he interviews a number of internet writers, yours truly included.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
January 28, 2007
Mauer Available
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Joe Mauer talks about his off-season. It involved a trip to Japan, commericals, a new workout, the flu, and two breakups:

Q: Your pal Morneau is trying to adjust to all the attention after winning the AL MVP. Have you given him any advice?

A: I'm not too worried about him. I think he's handled the MVP about as good as you can.

Q: He won't be your roommate this season.

A: No, he got his own place. But he's still pretty close to my (townhouse in St. Paul), across the river in Mendota.

Q: Will you miss him?

A: I don't know if I will. (laughs) I won't have to clean up after him.

Q: Oh, one last thing. You still dating Miss USA?

A: No, that's over. That ended in, I think, November. I'm single. I'm young.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:56 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
January 27, 2007
Big Hurt Speaks
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Frank Thomas speaks about his health and other matters to the Toronto Star:

Dressed head-to-toe in black, he looks like he's carved from the stuff they made the tabletop out of. Two hours a day in the gym, every day but Sunday, will have that effect. And he looks happy.

"I'm feeling great," Thomas says. "I'm feeling normal. It's taken three years to get to this point, where I don't ache when I get up in the morning."

And Thomas weighs in on steriods:

"Ten years into (my career), my goal was to get into the hall of fame. It's a rough road. It takes a lot of big games," Thomas says. "I want to play another three or four years to cement my hall chances."

Another legacy will be how he goes in. Thomas is the one of the few big bats of his generation never linked with steroids.

"I'm proud of that. To be honest, I think I'm one of the guys that made a lot of these guys do (steroids), because I came in with the big football build. It was my advantage," Thomas says.

Steroids use was well underway when Thomas arrived in the big leagues, but he has a point. It's perfectly fine to be born Frank Thomas, but it's somehow immoral to make yourself into Frank Thomas. (I'm not arguing safety of steroids here. If there was a perfectly safe way to change you body through drugs, people would still object.) Yet, it's fine for someone like Adam LaRoche to change his body chemistry to improve performance. Why is someone's lack of attention okay to cure, but not their relative lack of testosterone?

It seems to do with how we perceive normal. People see the drugs LaRoche takes as moving him toward normal. Taking steroids moves you away from the norm instead of towards it. Still, if what we're interested in watching natural talent, we shouldn't be watching LaRoche, either.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:42 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)
January 22, 2007
Unique Pressures
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WasWatching interviews Michael Morrissey about his new book, The Pride and the Pressure: A Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl. Michael is also blogging in support of the book here.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
January 10, 2007
Talking to Tony
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Via FishStripes, Gaslamp Ball posts an excellent interview with Tony Gwynn. After all these years, Gwynn realizes the value of a walk:

Do you think another player will hit .400 again?

Yeah there will be and again he needs to be open, he needs to be disciplined and be consistent.

Do you know anybody playing today that could do it?

Sure, Barry Bonds could do it. He walks a lot. He's brought another facet that I hadn't thought about. I had never thought about a guy that would walk 200 times a season and it makes it a whole lot easier. You know what for a long time I thought you had to be like Ichiro. You had to break the hit record and walk a little bit so that you could do it. Barry Bonds comes along and he hits .380 and walks 200 times. Not being healthy works in your favor, it doesn't hurt you it helps you. You play in 5 games a week you walk whatever times a week and get 6 hits in 14 at bats you are gonna qualify for a batting title. There are different ways to get there, and his way I hadn't thought about. You flat out get there. The guy who does it is going to have to be media savvy because the scrutiny that will come from making a run like that is gonna be unbelievable.

I'm surprised Gwynn didn't get this until now. He was very close to Ted Williams, and Ted drew a ton of walks to help him hit for a high average.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:43 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
December 17, 2006
James on the Phillies
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Todd Zolecki interviews Bill James on the Phillies. I like the way Bill gets right to the heart of the matter:

Q: There's been an argument made that this lineup has too many strikeouts. Are strikeouts a lineup killer as some suggest?

A: Well, am I imagining this or did the Phillies lead the league in runs scored? It seems to me that's really more important than how many strikeouts you have. The idea is to score runs. To me, if you're going to score that many runs it makes more sense to focus on making the starting pitching as solid as you can and improving from there.

See his comments on Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins as well. Bill likes Jimmy more than I thought he would.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:54 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
November 29, 2006
James on Defense
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Baseball Digest Daily interviews Bill James on the 2006 Fielding Bible Awards. Here he talks about Mike Lowell:

Mike Lowell is the best defensive third baseman in baseball. He's extremely interesting to watch. He keeps his glove hand, his left hand, very relaxed, and he doesn't appear to anticipate the hop at all. What I am saying is. .. the announcers, the veteran baseball people will tell you that the key to making the plays is to get your body in the proper position to make the play. But in fact, if you actually watch the fielders, very often they can't handle a tough hop or a line drive at an awkward angle precisely because they're trying to play the ball with their whole body. They're relying on positioning their body to make the play, and when something happens that makes that impossible, they're just SOL. Lowell, if you watch him, seems to be saying "it is easier to react with my left arm than it is to re-position my whole body in anticipation of the play." He stays balanced, stays loose, reacts late and has extraordinary confidence in his ability to snag the ball with his glove at the last moment. I've never really seen anything like it before, but this looseness and unusual confidence, for example, gives him a remarkable ability to charge a ground ball. He can change a slow grounder top speed because he knows that, bad hop or good hop, in-between stride or on stride, he can slap at the ball with his glove and pick it out of the air.

The interview is definitely worth the read.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:50 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
November 02, 2006
Beat Writer Speaks
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Sports Media Guide speaks with former Yankees beat writer Sam Borden. Borden provides a glimpse into the hectic life he led covering the Yankees.

Q. Do you have ulcers?

A. I don't think so. I haven't lost any hair. I haven't lost my girlfriend either which is a big deal. People always ask me how we've stayed together. You have to have somebody extremely understanding - and my girlfriend is. I'm away 220 nights a year and there are a lot of phone calls during dinner. There are abrupt exits to work on a story. The job can take a toll on your personal life. It may seem like a dream job to guys from Westchester, but guys also like having beers with their buddies and Friday night dinners with their girlfriends.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:09 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
October 23, 2006
Lyons Interview
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Maury Brown publishes an interview with Steve Lyons about his firing from Fox.

Bizball: Do you think it's a situation where they were looking for an excuse?

Lyons: You know, it's certainly possible, but I would hate to make that assumption only because I think that if I did, I'd be no better than what they did. I can only take at face value that they fired me for the press releases they put out - as far as I know - I didn't really see it. That I was fired for having made a racially insensitive comment. They didn't say anything about anything else I did. They didn't say anything about any past problems that they had with me. So, I can only take that at face value. If I said, "Hey, maybe they were looking for something," then that means I'm inferring something that they didn't say, exactly the same way that they did to me, and the reason I got fired.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 10, 2006
Early History
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NBX posts an interview with Bill Cleary, great grand newphew of one of the founders of the Yankees about that team's shady beginnings.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:29 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Brave New Interviews
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Martin Gandy is in the process of publishing several interviews with current Atlanta Braves players. His first, with Marcus Giles, is here.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 12, 2006
Harold Reynolds on the Radio
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Harold Reynolds just gave an interview to Charley Steiner on XM. Sue at XM MLB Chat rounds up the conversation.

Harold said he's "pressing charges to get heard," has date set with mediator and ESPN at the end of September. He was never told of charges by ESPN, just came out in media.

It looks like this story is not over yet.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:36 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Talking to a Prospect
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Evan Brunell interviews Red Sox top draft pick Daneil Bard.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
August 18, 2006
Division Race Thoughts
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I'm interviewed at the Educated Sport Community.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 27, 2006
On The Radio
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Earlier today Outsider Radio recorded an interview with your truly. You can listen here.

Posted by StatsGuru at 06:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 26, 2006
Zito and the Mets
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Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog.com interviews Buster Olney on the possibility of the Mets acquiring Barry Zito. My feeling all along was that the Athletics would keep Zito and get the draft picks, but Olney makes this point:

unlike in years past with Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and so on, the A's are very thin at major-league ready prospects, who they control financially over the next few seasons, and need to bring some in via trade...

Does this mean Beane's draft strategy isn't working? Or no matter how well you draft, you're only going to get a small percentage of major leaguers? Opinions are welcome.

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:13 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
July 17, 2006
Talk with the GM
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Baseball Digest Daily posts an interview with Andrew Friedman, VP of Baseball Operations for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 11, 2006
Mid-Season Q&A
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The Big Lead interviews an author to be named later about the first half and what we might expect in down the road. I like this post-season prediction:

Q: Pick a second-half sleeper team in each league.

A: In the AL, I still think Minnesota can make a run at the Wild Card if they're able to add a bat. As for the NL, I'd keep my eye on Houston once the Rocket heats up. Look out for 1986 playoff rematches: Mets v. Houston; Red Sox v. Angels. World Series preview: "Behind the bag... it gets through Youkilis! Here comes Reyes and the Mets win it!"

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:30 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
May 23, 2006
Thrown for a Loop
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Paul Lo Duca reminds a WFAN host why Mets fans should be happy with Billy Wagner.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
May 11, 2006
The Belth Interview
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Alex Belth always gets the best interviews. Today he talks to Joel Sherman, author of The Birth of a Dynasty, the story of the 1996 Yankees.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 10, 2006
Ask Dontrelle
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FishStripes links to a Sports Illustrated interview with Dontrelle Willis. It's turns out Dontrelle can't get a hit off himself!

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
April 30, 2006
Interview on April
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The Baseball Report talked to me about April surprises and disappointments. You can hear the discussion on their interview page.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
April 05, 2006
Zimbalist Interview
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Marc Normandin interviews Andrew Zimbalist about his new book. I agree with Andrew on the possibility of a work stoppage:

MN: Speaking of the collective bargaining agreement, can we expect another work stoppage next time the players association and owners go to the bargaining agreement?

AZ: I really don't think so, I think that the two sides were really chastened and humbled in 94' and 95'. The game was almost destroyed. They're in a pretty competitive entertainment environment right now, where they not only have to deal with other sports like the NFL, but they've got to deal with the Internet, and they've got to deal with iPods and cell phones, and there's just so much that's out their to bombard our need for entertainment and visual stimulation, that baseball and other sports are taking a much bigger risk if they do a work stoppage this time around. The players I think don't have the same inclination to stop work that they used to, they are further and further away from the days of struggle and sacrifice that Curt Flood represented, many of the players today won't even know who Curt Flood was.

The average player is making two and half million dollars a year, there's not a great inclination to sacrifice that kind of annual salary on behalf of getting a few extra percentage points in salary growth if they could indeed even get that for a few years. I think it's a very problematic matter to think that the players would strike; I mean it's always possible if the owners get too carried away with some particular salary restraint program, and I think the owners also feel that work stoppages are enormously costly, and they basically now at this point have a handle on salary growth. Salary growth has practically not even occurred over the last four years, since the 2002 agreement was signed, to the extent that it has occurred more slowly, certainly more slowly then revenue growth. So I don't think as difficult as it might be to reach an agreement that either side sees very much in it from a work stoppage. I don't think we'll see a work stoppage. I think the larger challenge with the coming to CBA, is not going to be whether or not they can avoid a work stoppage, but it's going to be can they design a system for baseball that's more rational with more proper incentives then the system they currently have.

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 31, 2006
Question Bouton
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You still have time to get your questions for Jim Bouton considered at ArmchairGM. The ten best go out Monday. If you don't have a question, vote on the best ones!

Baseball Musings is conducting a pledge drive in March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 27, 2006
Questions for Bouton
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ArmChairGM is hosting a community Q & A with Jim Bouton and is solicting questions to ask the former pitcher and current author.

Baseball Musings is conducting a pledge drive in March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 24, 2006
Writing the Bible
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Joe Hamrahi interviews John Dewan about The Fielding Bible.

Baseball Musings is conducting a pledge drive in March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 06, 2006
Ozzie Speaks His Mind
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Teddy Greenstein previews Ozzie Guillen's upcoming interview on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel." I like this passage the best:

On what makes a good manager: "Nobody's a good manager. Nobody. With all due respect, people forgot Joe Torre, he was a losing manager all his life until he got to New York. What's he got? Great players. Phil Jackson, it's a funny thing, we go, 'He's great.' You got Michael Jordan and you got Scottie Pippen … You're not good. You got good players."
Posted by StatsGuru at 07:53 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
February 02, 2006
Questioning Melvin
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Joel Badzinski sits down with Doug Melvin for a Q & A on the Brewers. Here's Melvin on the young infield:

The team has cleared the way for young infielders J.J. Hardy, Rickie Weeks and Fielder to take everyday starting jobs. What are the pluses and negatives of that situation?

The positives are that the three of them have played together, they know each other. I think that’s the positive part of it. The negative is that there’s still a learning curve for any young players. You look back at Robin Yount, he made over 30 errors a year and that’ll happen but I think they’ll get through it. They all have pretty good offensive potential, all three of them do. We know it’ll take a little time but we think this is the right time. They’ve got (Geoff) Jenkins, (Carlos) Lee, (Corey) Koskie and Billy Hall surrounding them, so no one has to go out there and carry the load.

What do you expect Koskie’s role to be in the infield and how will that affect Hall’s role?

Right now, I don’t know if it’s a total platoon situation, we’ll let that play itself out in spring training. We just know Corey was too good of a player for us to pass up on ... and for us to get better we had to have depth, so that’ll play itself out. Billy’s got the versatility to play all around, he could also play a little bit of outfield, not a lot. I talked to Corey Koskie and he said he could play a little first base, too.


Posted by StatsGuru at 07:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 29, 2006
Ten Minutes with Manuel
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Beer Leaguer sat down to speak with Charlie Manuel recently. You can hear the 10 minute interview here. (Hat tip to Balls, Sticks and Stuff.)

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 17, 2006
Finishing the Beane
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Part three of Athletics Nation's interview with Billy Beane is up.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 12, 2006
More Beanes
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Part two of Athletics Nation interview with Billy Beane is up. Might we see Nick Swisher at first base in the near future?

Blez: That was something I was thinking about. When you acquired Milton Bradley, then you have three guys who can play center field in the outfield and almost a fourth because Nick (Swisher) played center coming up through the system. How appealing was that to you in thinking about getting Bradley in terms of depth? And not only that, the improvement in the defense and likely the pitching staff because of it.

Beane: All those things came into play. The fact that we'd have three centerfielders playing all three outfield positions, and actually what people might not realize is that Nick Swisher is an outstanding defensive first baseman. Not only that, it really fits his personality. If you know Nick, having someone to talk to is a prerequisite for his sanity. So having him at first base, he can work as a double agent for us. He's going to want to talk and he'll drive people nuts. They won't want to get to first base if he's there. (laughing) I say that fondly, of course.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:58 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
January 10, 2006
Blez and Beane
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Blez at Athletics Nation sits down with Billy Beane. I thought this bit on minor league philosophy was interesting:

Blez: Talk about the A's minor league clubs for a few minutes. The Rockhounds wound up Texas League champs. The Sacramento team ran away with the division and made the playoffs again. Stockton also had a great first season as an affiliate. How important is winning as a part of the organization in your estimation?

Beane: It's huge. It's something we demand. Keith (Lieppman) demands it. Winning is a habit, in my opinion. And losing is a habit. Our philosophy is that this is a team game. The one statistic shows it's a team game is team wins. If you emphasize just purely individual development, I think in many cases what you're doing is creating a situation where a player might know he's the one prospect on the team and when he gets here, that mentality is established that it's about me and not about the team. I think there is something to say about guys even being in minor league playoffs. You know, having them in situations where doing things to help the team are important. It was something I learned coming up with the New York Mets in the 80s. Those minor league teams won everywhere. So when most of those guys got to the major leagues the expectation was they were going to win there. Now whether it's true or not, I don't know, that's my only guide of reference. But it was something that I felt was important when I got in the GM office. We tried to carry it over the last decade and I think it has had an impact. You take a guy like Eric Chavez. The worst year Eric has ever had in the big leagues is 87 wins. That's saying something because Eric came up in a minor league system that won. He demands a lot of himself, but he also demands a lot of the team. It's nice to know that after 88 wins last year, that's a disappointment because the guys are used to playing into October or in the minor leagues, September. I do think it creates a positive mentality and feeling throughout the organization. Every win you get always makes you feel good and I do think it's contagious

.

A winning minor league organization is often a sign of an improving major league club.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:15 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
January 09, 2006
Armstrong and the Sacrifice
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USS Mariner points to an interesting interview with Chuck Armstrong, president of the Mariners. We both like his view of the bunt:

He (Tal Smith) taught me that in games, teams shouldn’t sacrifice as much. I’m one of these guys, if I had a criticism of most major league managers, I think they sacrifice too often and too early in the game. The out is the most precious thing in baseball. You only get 27 of them, and if you give one up, even when you try to sacrifice, over time at best, you’re only successful somewhere between 65% and 70% of the time.

Given that statement, I'm amazed that Hargrove was second in the AL behind Guillen in calling for a sacrifice bunt in 2005.

Posted by StatsGuru at 04:42 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
January 03, 2006
A Minor Career
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Seth Stohs interviews career minor leaguer Chris Coste at Seth Speaks.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 29, 2005
Schuerholz Part III
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Talking Chop finishes up their three part interview with John Schuerholz of the Atlanta Braves.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
McGinely on Baseball
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Jon Weisman interviews John C. McGinley of Scrubs on his favorite subject, baseball.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Scrubbing Baseball
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Jon Weisman interviews John C. McGinley of Scrubs on his favorite subject, baseball.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 12, 2005
Schuerholz Part II
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Talking Chop posted part two of it's John Schuerholz interview. They talk about Chipper Jones, Jeff Francoeur and the starting rotation.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 05, 2005
Schuerholz Speaks
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Joe Hamrahi at Chop Talk sat down with John Schuerholz. Part I of the interview is up.

JH: Continuing on the theme of younger players, if Furcal doesn't come back (Editor's Note: We know now that he has signed with the Dodgers), do you feel that Wilson Betemit is ready to step in and play shortstop?

JS: We think so. When we signed Wilson Betamit and he began his development as a professional player, he was electrifying as a shortstop. He played in the Futures All-Star Game in Seattle. He hit a home run left-handed and right-handed in the same game. He was a superb shortstop. As his role morphed into more of a utility role at the major league level, he didn't get the same amount of time to play as he did in the minor leagues. The question is, can he regain those everyday shortstop skills? You know. And he's going to be playing shortstop for the last half of the winter season in the Dominican. He'll come to spring training with the chance to put the shortstop's glove on everyday. He'll prepare himself for that challenge, and we'll see. But we have real positive expectations that he'll do a good job.

JH: Well you're certainly not lacking shortstop prospects in the organization. That seems to be one of the team's stronger areas.

JS: We think it is. Whether Wilson or Tony Pena or Elvis Andrus, or (Yunel) Escobar, Luis Hernandez...you name `em.

That's what I love about the Braves management. They're always ready with a player to move into the major league team. They knew they might lose Furcal this winter, so they've stocked up on shortstops. And I wouldn't be surprised to see one of those prospects move to second if Marcus Giles decides to join his brother in San Diego next year.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
November 27, 2005
Musings Profile
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I'm profiled at BaseBlogging, a new blog that's a resource for baseball bloggers.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
October 28, 2005
Will Leitch Speaks
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Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com interviews Will Leitch of DeadSpin.com on the role of blogs in sports. You can download the podcast at the link.

Posted by StatsGuru at 04:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 14, 2005
Audio Biggio
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AOL Sports Bloggers Live interview Craig Biggio today for next Mondays' show. You can can listen now.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
September 12, 2005
The Bias Against the White Sox
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Phil Allard interviews Rich Lindberg about the trials and tribulations of being a White Sox fan:

Phil Allard: I assume that if the White Sox won the World Series the headline in the Tribune the next day might be “Prior Says He’ll be Ready for Spring Training.”

RICHARD LINDBERG: You’ve got that right. I remember in ‘93 when Jordan announced his first retirement when the Sox were in the playoffs and Jordan completely dominated the headlines. The Sox got no press. You know, the Sun Times has this guy Jay Mariotti. He is the Howard Stern of baseball writers. He has a column and he has made Reinsdorf his whipping boy. It’s a personal vendetta. Reinsdorf tried to get him fired and of course it didn’t work and Mariotti increased his diatribe against Reinsdorf two notches. Everything he writes about the Sox comes up negative. A recent article was “Don’t Buy what Ozzie is selling.” Columnists will always find a subtle dig. If a player complains about playing time it’s brought to the forefront. I compare the White Sox coverage from the Sun Times and the Tribune with how other teams in the Central are covered by their home town papers and I see the positive level of enthusiasm in the single team cities.

Maybe Reinsdorf should start a competing newspaper.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:43 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
July 21, 2005
Neyer on Baseball
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There's a very good interview with Rob Neyer over at Baseball Digest Daily. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing, but I agree with his take on the Devil Rays:

BDD: You mentioned Tampa Bay. Is there any hope for Tampa Bay at all? They seem to have loaded up on top prospects and restocked the organization. Why does this club always seem to be in such disarray?

RN: It certainly shouldn't have taken this long to improve. Here's why I don't buy into the Devil Rays. It's true that because they had so many awful finishes, they have had a number of good picks. It's true that their minor league system has good prospects like Delmon Young, Jeff Niemann. They also have a bunch of good young outfielders right now.

This is a team that has had some good players over the years, and it hasn't translated into very many wins. The common thread throughout this time has been that Chuck Lamar has been the general manager. I don't mean any disrespect to Chuck Lamar. I'm sure he's good at some things, but running a baseball team doesn't seem to be one of them.

We're now in the franchise's 8th season and we've seen no improvement. I do think that at some point, with all the good young talent, that this team can turn in a 70 win season, maybe a 75 win season, and that would be a major step forward for this club. But an 80 win season, 85 win season? I don't think I can see that happen until they have a general manager who does a few things better than Chuck Lamar.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:37 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
July 20, 2005
Bat Boy
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The Baseball Savant has an interview with Matthew McGough, the author of Bat Boy. It's my next baseball book in the queue.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 06, 2005
Morgan Moronics
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Tommy Craggs of San Francisco Weekly pens a devastating piece on Joe Morgan. The theme of the article is how is it possible that Joe was such a smart ballplayer and such an uninformed broadcaster?

I worked with Joe a couple of times on Baseball Tonight and found him very easy to work with. I presented him with graphics to discuss and he handled them just fine. In fact, when he was on the show I was impressed at how much better he was than on Sunday Night Baseball. He knew his stuff and made good presentations.

I don't know why he's not like that on Sunday night broadcasts. Maybe he just doesn't think well on his feet. In the studio, he has all day to prepare. In a game, he says the first thing that pops into his head and figures it must be right.

Or maybe the way he responds to an attack is to dig in even more. When Jacobs Field was new, it played as a bit of a home run park the first year. After that, it hurt homers. But Joe just remembered that first year and took it as gospel. John Dewan, President of STATS, Inc. at that time wrote Morgan a very nice letter explaining that that the early evidence of long balls at Jacobs was misleading. He didn't criticize Morgan. He didn't attack him for being out of touch. He just showed him statistically that things had changed. Morgan got on the air the next time he was at Jacobs Field and corrected himself.

Morgan is every bit as smart a broadcaster as he was a ballplayer. He doesn't, however, think through everything he's going to say before he says it, and is too ready to take disagreements as attacks. And because of that, we learn a lot less from Joe Morgan than we should.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:16 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (1)
July 01, 2005
The Guru Interviewed
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Baseball Digest Daily posted part three of their interview with Bill James. There's lots of talk about the draft, and Bill is high on the Red Sox farm system:

BDD: Can you talk about some of the draft picks and prospects within the organization that on the surface impress you? This is not to say others haven’t. Just anything that stands out.

BJ: Man, we’re knee-deep. We talk about this sometimes, where we rank with respect to the other teams. When I joined this organization, there wasn’t a thing in the farm system; it was empty. There were some guys at the lower levels then who are at the higher levels now, but in terms of a marketable quantity...nothing.

Now there are 25, 30 guys in the farm system that you can get excited about, so we always wonder where we are with respect to all the other teams. But it’s hard to know. If you have 4% of the normal amount of minor league talent and you go through a ten-fold increase, you think you’re crawling with prospects because you can’t help but compare yourself to where you were three years ago, but at the same time, you still only have 40% of the normal amount of talent. It’s very hard to know where you are compared to other teams, but we’re probably somewhere in the middle of the pack.

My favorite two players, I suppose, are Dustin Pedroia and Brandon Moss. But there’s a hundred guys I like to check on every day...Christian Lara, and Jon Papelbon, and John Lester, and Abe Alvarez, and Manny Delcarmen, Kelly Shoppach, Jeremy West, Hanley of course. Chip Ambres and Tim Hummell. The draft is like Christmas morning for adults.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)
June 05, 2005
Speed and the Draft
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Baseball Digest Daily post part II of their interview with Bill James.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 02, 2005
Rocket Science
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Sports Bloggers Live did a lively interview with Roger Clemens, and they were nice enough to have me call in and ask the Rocket a question. You can listen to the Clemens interview here.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 26, 2005
Bill James Interview
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Baseball Digest Daily interviewed Bill James. You can read Part I here. Here's an excerpt where Bill talks about speed:

BDD: Years ago you talked about how overrated speed was in the major league game. That was a bold statement to make back then since Ricky Henderson and Tim Raines were coming into their own and had become huge stars. Yet, since that time, stolen bases have been on the decline. Do you think teams have started to understand the impact of speed at the major league level? And were players like Raines and Henderson effective in your mind because of their speed? Do you still feel that speed in the minor leagues plays a much larger role than at the major league level?

BJ: Raines and Henderson were extremely effective players whose speed made them even more effective. The importance of speed in baseball is inversely proportional to the quality of play. At the lowest levels of the game—eight-year-old kids trying to play baseball with limited ability to catch and throw—speed is immensely important. As the players become more and more skilled, it becomes less important. It’s less important in the World Series than it is in regular season, for the same reason.

Posted by StatsGuru at 04:49 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
April 26, 2005
The Beat Goes On
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Redleg Nation interviews Cincinnati Post beat-writer and spring training blogger Marc Lancaster. I liked his take on Adam Dunn:

RN: What about Adam Dunn? He seems like the same type of regular guy.

ML: He is. In a different way, he is. He’s just a fun-loving guy who doesn’t – and I don’t want this to sound the wrong way, because I don’t think of it like this – he doesn’t take it too seriously. I mean, he works his butt off at what he does, but he’s never going to let it define him. And I think that’s a very healthy thing. You can really get caught up in stuff, as tense as the season is, and he has, I think, a really good attitude toward how to approach this game.

If you remember, in the past, when people were approaching that Major League strikeout record, they’d sit out the last six games of the season, or something. Jose Hernandez did it with Milwaukee a few years ago. And Adam was just like, “Whatever. Bring it on.”

And the truth is, there was a list of guys in baseball last year who would not have traded their entire set of numbers for Adam Dunn’s. A really short list. Pujols, Bonds, Rolen, maybe. Not a whole lot of guys who wouldn’t have taken exactly what Dunn had, strikeouts and all, considering all the other production he put up.

He’s an unbelievable talent, he really is.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:33 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
March 29, 2005
Tony Time
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NPR's Morning edition had an interview with Tony La Russa and Buzz Bissinger, the author of the new book Three Nights. Three Nights explores the managing style of La Russa. At the web page for the story you can hear the interview as well as listen to excerpts that didn't make air. There's also a powerful excerpt from the book about the death of Darryl Kile.


Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:46 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)
March 28, 2005
James on Intangibles
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Balls, Sticks and Stuff link to a Bill James interview in which Bill defends his statement about veteran leadership enabling the Red Sox to come back from an 0-3 deficit.

I believe in a universe that is too complex for any of us to really understand. Each of us has an organized way of thinking about the world—a paradigm, if you will—and we need those, of course; you can’t get through the day unless you have some organized way of thinking about the world. But the problem is that the real world is vastly more complicated than the image of it that we carry around in our heads. Many things are real and important that are not explained by our theories—no matter who we are, no matter how intelligent we are.

Of course, the Yankees had veteran leadership also and blew a 3-0 lead. I'll buy that the leadership (or competitive spirit) of the Red Sox kept them from giving up after the blow out in game 3. The odds of wining four in a row should be about 1 in 16; the fact that teams come back much less than that tells me something else is at work when a team loses the first three games.

  • The two teams are not evenly matched; the team with the 3-0 lead is a far superior team.
  • The team that's losing gives up.

We know from their facing each other extensively over the season that the Yankees and Red Sox were evenly matched. Not giving up allowed them to get lucky and win four games in a row. The leadership may have been an inflection point, without which the luck could never have come into play.

Or maybe it's just regression to the mean. If the odds are only 1:16 of a comeback, it has to happen sooner or later. :-)


Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:29 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (1)
March 23, 2005
Neyer on Pitching
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Red Sox Nation has posted an interview with Rob Neyer concentrating on pitching questions. Don't miss the Babe Ruth/David Wells comparison.


Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:20 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
March 11, 2005
Contact from Space
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Phil Allard has an interview up with the always enjoyable Bill Lee. Here's something I didn't know:

Phil Allard: Your aunt, Annabelle Lee, was one of the main characters described in "A League of Their Own.” Did she teach you how to pitch? Did she shape your life?

BILL LEE: She taught me how to throw the screwball and the overhand curve and so did my father. They were both great like that. But my aunt was left-handed, so I mimicked her pretty good. She did shape my life; I’ve been drinking rum ever since.


Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:43 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Talking to the Nation
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I was recently interviewed by Red Sox Nation via e-mail. You can read the transcript here. Thanks to all at Red Sox Nation for your interest!


Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:16 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
March 06, 2005
Morning Coffey
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Red Reporter has a short interview with Reds prospect Todd Coffey. Twice he mentions that the Reds idea of pitching to contact is a great thing. I'd love to see a follow up to that on why Coffey likes it so much, and how it compares to the Reds philosophy before the Dan O'Brien era.


Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)
March 05, 2005
Barry's Court
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ESPN's Pedro Gomez, Barry Bonds and others chatted in the Giants clubhouse Thursday. This will probably be the most quoted passage:

"You're talking about something that wasn't even illegal at the time,'' Bonds said. "All this stuff about supplements, protein shakes, whatever. Man, it's not like this is the Olympics. We don't train four years for, like, a 10-second (event). We go 162 games. You've got to come back day after day after day. We're entertainers. If I can't go out there and somebody pays $60 for a ticket, and I'm not in the lineup, who's getting cheated? Not me. There are far worse things like cocaine, heroin and those types of things.

"So we all make mistakes. We all do things. We need to turn the page. We need to forget about the past and let us play the game. We're entertainers. Let us entertain."

He seems to be talking more about using steroids to play every day rather than get stronger. It's the benefit of the anti-inflammatory aspect of these drugs. Bonds also addresses if his body has changed:

One of the points often made to show Bonds may have used some kind of steroid or other performance enhancing substance, is his allegedly enlarging cranium. Without prompting, he willingly addressed that topic with this statement:

"What's all this about my head size?" Bonds asked. "My hat size is the same today as when I started. My head hasn't grown. I've always been a 7-1/4 to a 7-3/8 my whole career. You can go check. Sometimes you get one and you sweat, it gets smaller, so you go a size up or a size down. Those things shrink when you sweat or they get wet during a season.

"I saw a 13-year-old kid on one of the news shows talking about my head size. How do they know? That kid hasn't seen 15 years of my career and he's talking about my head size. That's one of the saddest things, man. That's manipulation. They manipulated that kid."


Barry talks about other body parts that haven't changed, but it was just too much information. :-)

Somebody (ESPN research?) has a collection of media guides going back to Bonds' beginning in the majors. It might be interesting to post the head shots from each media guide to see if there's any evidence for the growing noggin. Maybe run someone who is supposed to be clean (Griffey?) to see if it's just aging.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:53 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
March 02, 2005
Bill James, Part III
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Rich Lederer posts the final installment of his interview with Bill James at Baseball Analysts. Bill captures Rickey Henderson perfectly:

BJ: Rickey is one of a kind. Someone should write a really good book about Rickey. There is an essential connection between ego and greatness and no one better illustrated that than Rickey. When Rickey is 52, he will still believe that he could play in the majors. You can say that his ego is out of scale to his real world, but his ego is what made him so special. Somebody should document mannerisms and Rickey was a walking catalog of annoying mannerisms. He was a show. Every at-bat was a show. It's not like a Reggie Jackson show where it's done for television. It's a live show. It's done for the guys in the ballpark and the guys on the field. The show made him totally unique.

Tim Raines was almost as great of a leadoff man and almost as great of a player. Tim is a good guy, just a nice, reasonable person that everybody likes. Rickey is a show. [laughs] The show was essential to his greatness.

In the mid 1980's, we had weekend seats in Fenway in the centerfield bleachers. Rickey was playing center for the Yankees at that time, so I got to observe him closely when the Yanks came to town. Rickey had a ritual between each pitch; he would stretch. He would stretch out his legs until the pitcher was read to deliver, then go into a crouch aimed at the batter, ready to spring into action when the ball was hit. Even from behind, you could see the intensity he brought to the game, the total attention to detail. His head (and the rest of his body) where always in the game.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

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March 01, 2005
More Bill
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Rich Lederer has posted part two of his interview with Bill James. Bill discusses the defensive spectrum, Red Sox shortstops and the four man rotation. Don't miss this.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 28, 2005
Abstract Interview
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Rich Lederer went back and read all the Bill James Baseball Abstracts, then sat down with Bill for an interview. Part one is here. Bill doesn't believe there should be any tension between sabermetricians and scouts:

RL: ... On that subject, in the 1981 Baseball Abstract, you said "good sabermetrics respects the validity of all types of evidence, including that which is beyond the scope of statistical validation."

BJ: I'll be darned. I'm glad to know I wrote that back then. In the wake of Moneyball, some people have tried to set up a tension in the working baseball community between people who see the game through statistics and scouts. There is no natural tension there. There's only tension there if you think that you understand everything. If you understand that you're not really seeing the whole game through the numbers or you're not seeing the whole thing described through your eyes, there is no real basis for tension and there's no reason for scouts not to be able to talk and agree on things.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:22 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
February 24, 2005
Moving West
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Phil Allard has an interview with new Dodger radio and TV announcer Charley Steiner. Charley was always fun to chat with at ESPN. I thought this was an interesting quote from the interview:

PHIL ALLARD: You were quoted earlier this winter (and I am paraphrasing here) that you felt that the Yankees didn’t show joy when they won as much as relief. Can you elaborate on that a bit?

CHARLEY STEINER: There should be emotion of joy and euphoria, and “God, isn’t that great.” Unfortunately, with the Yanks, the prevailing attitude after a victory is one of relief, and then “God, we have to go out and do it again.’ That is the pressure that is put on them by the Steinbrenner way of doing business and you know, it’s been enormously successful for him and the Yankees. But it’s also very pressure-intensive. The Yanks were far tighter leading 3 games to 1 then the Red Sox were trailing 3 games to 1. Again, the Yanks have had an enormous amount of success doing business in that fashion for a very long time. So, to second guess them would be hypocritical.

So winning has become a chore for the Yankees. That's too bad.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:49 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack (1)
February 23, 2005
Bonds Speaks, II
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SFGate.com has the transcript of Barry Bonds' press conference. It's worth the read, since you'll get information that's left out of the media stories. Two things struck me as very interesting:

The problem with me, my dad told me before he passed away, he said, "The biggest problem with you, Barry is that every great athlete that has gone on for great records, everyone knows their story. People have made hundreds of millions of dollars off their stories with them and protected them. Nobody knows you and they are pissed off."

It's a very insightful statement by the late Bobby Bonds. If Barry had cultivated the press over the years, this story might be going very differently. But Barry has chosen to live in a cocoon, and he keeps people out by being unlikeable.

The other interesting part was about his knee surgery:

Q. In your pursuit of Ruth's record, how do you feel about coming to play -- with the knee surgery, getting prepared, how is that going to delay you?

Bonds: That's the part that I'm afraid of more. See, my legs have always been the strongest thing on my body. The work ethics that I use with my legs, that's my power and my entire drive. It's always been my legs. This, you know, your hands are just -- use your hands to hit, but I need that drive.

And you know, I'm going to have to work a lot harder. I'm going to have to work a lot harder this year than I ever -- I had two surgeries, in three months. It's going to be really hard because, I mean, at 40, I mean, I go in the gym, I work out, but unfortunately it's not staying as long sometimes. It's like my legs don't feel as strong. I feel strong for two or three days, but it's starting to go away faster, you know what I mean. So I'm having to do some of this -- I'm having to do more of the same things constantly, but that's what I was doing last year. That's why I have a team of people around me to keep me doing those things, forcing me to do legs that I would normally want to do once, you know -- maybe once a week that they are making me do three times a week, because, "Barry, you are getting older and if you want to maintain your strength, you're going to have to do it more often."

I'm wondering how much pitchers will challenge Bonds this season. If the knees are bad, if the legs are going, maybe the power's down a bit. Bonds will still have the good eye, but will he be able to generate the power? How much will fear of what he might do (rather than what he can do) effect how teams pitch to him? If his intentional walk totals go down, we'll know teams believe they've found a weakness.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:54 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
February 22, 2005
Bonds Speaks
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Barry Bonds spoke to the press today. Here's my favorite line from the interview, regarding Jose Canseco:

"I don't know Canseco, besides hello and goodbye. I don't put any weight into what he says," Bonds said. "Mark McGwire was a big boy in college. To me, Canseco, you've got to come with a whole lot more. ... It's to make a buck, that's all it is.

"I don't know Jose. I was better than Jose then, and I've been better than him his whole career. If he wants to go make money, go ahead. ... For somebody who brags about what he did, I don't see any of your records."

Canseco and Bonds are 22 days apart in age. Bonds is still going strong, but Canseco was not wanted despite having good averages (.366 OBA, .477 slugging) in his last season, 2001.

As for the steroids, Bonds said nothing and blamed the media.

"You guys are like re-running stories," Bonds said to more than 100 reporters in attendance. "This is old stuff. It's like watching 'Sanford and Son.' It's almost comical, basically. ... Are you guys jealous, upset, disappointed, what?"

He didn't make any friends today, but making friends isn't Barry's MO.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:48 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
February 15, 2005
On the Radio
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Balls, Sticks and Stuff has highlights of Jose Canseco's interview on XM radio this afternoon.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:08 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
February 10, 2005
Jose Can You Say?
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I see Jose Canseco is going to be on 60 Minutes this weekend. I hope he doesn't try to sell Dan Rather any documents. :-)

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:44 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
February 03, 2005
Blink
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Alex Belth posts an interview with one of my favorite writers, Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Blink.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 02, 2005
The Quest for the Strikezone
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Mike's Baseball Rants publishes an interview with a QuesTec operator. Here's a sample:

Q: Umpire crew chief Randy Marsh once made these comments regarding QuesTec: “In the past, there have been pitches that are a little off the plate that are hittable pitches that we’d call strikes. If we call them strikes now, we’re wrong. You have QuesTec looking over your shoulder every single pitch.” Any comments?

A: If the rule book says those are balls, what difference does it make if they are hittable? Who defines “hittable”? What is hittable to Vlad Guerrero is not hittable to a lot of other players. These pitches (the outside ones especially) are ones that I’ve noticed produce the majority of mistakes as judged by the system. If they were called strikes before, then those calls were wrong. The point of the system is to help umpires call the strike zone as the rule book defines it. We should only judge it on how well it accomplishes that goal.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:47 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
January 28, 2005
Three Beane Soup
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Athletics Nation has a three part interview with Billy Beane, starting here. The Baseball Crank links to the interview and pulls out his favorite excerpts, if you don't have time to read the whole thing.

It appears that Mr. Beane reads blogs and has high praise for them.

I've always felt this incredible support from the cyber-world. We joke about it. Myself and Paul (DePodesta). The one thing I have that Paul hasn't really acquired yet in Los Angeles 'cause it takes time, is that kind of support. . . . [Getting beyond knee-jerk reactions is] what I love, for lack of a better word, about the blogger's world. There is a tendency to really analyze things in detail. Ultimately, because there is so much conversation and investigation on a site like yours, people may not ultimately agree with it, but they stumble onto what you're trying to do. Someone emailed me something written on a Cardinals' blog, and they had nailed all the things we were talking about. The economic reasons, the personnel reasons and the reasons we made the exchange. The world of a Web log will lend itself to a lot of investigation. And you will often stumble across the answer more than someone who has to write in two hours to meet deadline just to make sure something is out in the paper the next day.
Posted by StatsGuru at 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
January 19, 2005
Brave Scouts
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No Pepper links to an interview with Roy Clark, the scouting director of the Atlanta Braves. I thought this quote sums up why I like the Braves front office so much:

Patrick Ebert: Speaking of some of the other scouting directors out there, do you ever watch what other scouting departments are doing and try to blend those ideas into what you’re doing?

Roy Clark: Absolutely. I think there are a lot of good scouting departments out there and a lot of good organizations in general and we try to learn and get better by watching each and every one of them. You never have all of the answers. In this game, when you stop trying to improve, either the scouting department or the entire organization, then someone else is going to catch up to you and they’re going to pass you.

The Braves are always looking for a way to get better in every part of their organization.

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:00 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)
January 12, 2005
Interviewing Dombrowski
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The Detroit Tigers Weblog posts an interview with Dave Dombrowski, GM of the Detroit Tigers. This is the first time this winter I'm seen a GM asked about the insurance issue.

The insurability hasn't changed. It is still out there. It may be that more clubs are willing to take the risk.

People make too much of the Mets contract with Mo Vaughn because that contract was insured. But there's no way they've been able to insure seven years of Carlos Beltran. It looks like teams are willing to take on the risk of a fourth year on a pitcher, also, which I have to believe is a very risky proposition. I'm sure some of these contracts will come back to haunt the teams that signed them.

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
January 01, 2005
The Game's Afoot!
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Elephants in Oakland has an interview with career minor leaguer Matt Watson of the A's farm system. Wherever Matt has received significant playing time, he's gotten on base very well, yeat at age 26 in 2005 he's only gotten 17 days of major league experience.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
December 17, 2004
Dutch Treat
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SethSpeaks has an interview with the Twins' Dutch prospect, Alexander Smit.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 11, 2004
Scoring Scoggins
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Red Sox Nation has a delightful interview with Chaz Scoggins, long time official scorer for the Boston Red Sox. It's an excellent mix of information, history and anecdotes. There are so many great stories I wouldn't know where to begin to quote. Your perceptions of Clemens and Rice will definitely be more positive after reading the article.

Due to personal experience I found this interesting.

RSN: Do official scorers keep a scorecard like fans in the stands, or is it different? And how have computers affected how you do your job?

CS: I use the same scorebook most baseball writers use to monitor the progress of a game. There is an official scoring form that must be filled out by hand after the game and submitted to the MLB office. It usually takes 30-45 minutes to fill out. The minor leagues are using laptops with special software now, but the majors still use old-fashioned paper. We've been told we could be using laptops in 2005, which could be a mixed blessing. While the official report would be available instantly at the end of a game, I know there are still bugs in the software that can't handle unusual scoring decisions and drive minor-league scorers crazy. I would rather MLB do it the old way until the software has been perfected.

As someone who has written scoring software, I've seen this kind of thing first hand. I was in the press box at Fenway in the early 1990s scoring a game for STATS, Inc. Scoggins was the OS. Chuck Finley was pitching for Anaheim, and let loose what appeared to be a wild pitch. He threw the ball so hard, however, that it hit the wall behind home plate and bounded back to the catcher. He tossed the ball to Finley covering the plate, and the runner trying to score from third was out.

I wasn't quite sure how to score the play on my laptop. Some of the reporters around me thought it was a caught stealing, but I disagreed. My main concern was should a WP be charged. After a short time, Scoggins announced that the runner was out on a fielder's choice. To clarify, he announced that there was no wild pitch and no caught stealing. The call made sense to me, and I entered the play as "Out Advancing."

STATS supplied box scores to the AP at the time (and may still do) so we were supposed to transmit the game within five minutes of it ending. But one thing we had to do was make sure our box agreed with the MLB box. MLB used a system supplied by IBM at the time. Someone in the pressbox scored the game on that system, immediately printed out the box and distributed it to the press. When I got the box for that game, there was a caught stealing on the potential wild pitch! I went over to Chaz and pointed out the CS. Clearly annoyed, Chaz turned around to the IBM scorer and told him there was no CS in the game. I don't remember if the IBM was able to handle the play or not. My guess is that it couldn't be fixed until a database person received the account. I think Scoggins will be sticking to paper for a while.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:54 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
November 18, 2004
Minor Development
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Joanna Hicks e-mails:


I wanted to let you know that there is an interview with Ben Cherington at Red Sox Nation here that I thought you might find interesting. http://www.redsoxnation.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12293
Any idea how internal player ranking systems that Ben alludes to but declines to describe in detail work?

I don't know anything about their internal ranking system. However, it's not hard to guess that they have a way of projecting minor league accomplishments into major leageu equivalencies. Bill James has been working on that for years. And I'd also bet they have a way of measuring the value of every event in a game, much like the Athletics.

It's a very good interview. Be sure to take a look.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:17 PM | TrackBack (0)
September 01, 2004
Olney Talking
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Alex Belth has another in his great series of interviews, this time with talking to Buster Olney about his new Yankees book.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
August 20, 2004
Beane Ball
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Athletics Nation has a can't miss interview with Billy Beane. It's coming out in sections, Part I and Part II for now. Here's the money quote:


Blez: How does a team like Oakland continue to stay competitive? The book talks a lot about OBP and my personal perception, and in talking to Michael Lewis, was that the A’s have evolved beyond that into defense and other things.

BB: That’s what’s interesting when you talk about critics. We’ve never really sat down with any of these guys and explained to them what we’re doing. They assumed they know what we’re doing, which is great because they’re out there blasting on the airwaves and they don’t really have a clue what we’re doing. But the closest thing I can say is that we’re in a finite market and we’re always trying to take advantage of any inefficiencies. Right now, you take on-base percentage and it’s en vogue. It wasn’t 10 years ago. We could get guys like Matt Stairs and Geronimo Berroa.

Blez: And guys like Scott Hatteberg.

BB: Exactly, guys like Scottie Hatteberg. Now people are recognizing the value of that and they’re paying for it. And if we’re in a bidding war, we’re going to lose that. So we have evolved. If you look at some of our first playoff teams, the ‘99 team that won 87 games, it was a power, on-base team. Now we’re tops in the league in defense and pitching. For us, it’s all about filling in on the backend and figuring out what people are undervaluing. You know, one day we’re going to have a team with guys who steal 50 bases because people aren’t paying for it. But it’s all about wins. That’s all that matters.


(Emphasis added.) I'm sure when the A's have that team, people will write that the experiment has failed and the A's have gone back to basic baseball.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:02 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
May 18, 2004
Interview with Jim Storer, Part IV
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Powered by audblogaudio post powered by audblog
I ask Jim about watching baseball in South Korea.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:12 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Interview with Jim Storer, Part III
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Powered by audblogaudio post powered by audblog
I ask Jim about the biggest surprises and disappointments of 2004.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:45 PM | TrackBack (0)
Interview with Jim Storer, Part II
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Powered by audblogaudio post powered by audblog
I ask Jim who are his favorite players.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:29 PM | TrackBack (0)
Interview with Jim Storer, Part I
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Powered by audblogaudio post powered by audblog
I interview long time baseball fan and minor league season ticket holder Jim Storer about baseball while sitting with him at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. In this part of the interview, I ask what he likes about minor league baseball.

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:27 PM | TrackBack (0)
April 04, 2004
Bill James Interview
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Alex Belth has a very good interview with Bill James over at Bronx Banter.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
March 10, 2004
The Sultan Of Stats
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At Home Plate has an interview with Bill James. Here's an example:


2) How does your input influence decisions with Theo Epstein and ownership?

Well, here's an example. When you're in a position where you HAVE to overspend for a player--you HAVE to pay more for a player than he really is worth--how do you know when to stop? It's a very serious question for every baseball team, and I have a way of deriving an answer. Theo needs an answer, and ownership needs an explanation. Theo doesn't HAVE to buy my answer, and ownership doesn't have to buy my explanation. Theo is free to ignore my calculations; ownership is free to reject my approach. But. . .they need an answer; I have an answer. So I have a certain degree of influence on the discussion.

Hat Tip: William Bragg.com

Posted by StatsGuru at 06:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)
March 05, 2004
Money Marlin
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Jack McKeon will be interviewed on CNBC at 11:45 AM EST.

Update: McKeon tells his players that they have to be salesmen. They have to sell themselves to the fans, press, scouts, etc. by hustling and playing hard. People will overlook weakness if you sell yourself well.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:07 AM | TrackBack (0)
February 19, 2004
Torre Interview
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Just saw the Torre interview on CNBC. The most interesting thing he said was that he credits Cashman and his staff for being creative in finding the money to pay A-Rod. He made a point that they just didn't add A-Rod contract to the mix, that they made some moves to afford the contract. That sort of goes against the idea that the Yankees will just spend anything to win.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:54 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
February 10, 2004
Theo Speaks
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Theo Epstein is interviewed at Baseball Prospectus (hat tip to Al's Ramblings).
I liked this exchange:


BP: What do you do to make yourself better at this job?

Epstein: I think listening is important. And being actively aware, every day, that you want to get better is the most important thing. Then you can't help but learn from the great people around you. I benefit from having people like Bill James, Bill Lajoie, Craig Shipley, Josh Byrnes, and Mike Port all around me. And they each have an area of expertise. It's as if I'm at Baseball College--you go to college and you take your classes and get to learn from experts in certain fields. You know, if I want to go watch a game with Bill Lajoie, maybe I can pick something up about a pitcher's delivery, and then later in the day maybe I'll have an e-mail exchange with Bill James and learn something about some metric. As long as I'm open-minded I can't help but get better every day.

And also making mistakes. It's definitely true that you learn your hardest lessons from your own mistakes.


Posted by StatsGuru at 11:58 AM | TrackBack (0)
January 03, 2004
Rose Interview
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ABC has landed an exclusive interview with Pete Rose to coincide with the release of his book on Jan. 8. Hard hitting reporter and sports journalist Morning fluff show host Charles Gibson will get the assignment. Where's Sam Donaldson to scoff at every statement Rose makes? Or why not John Saunders? John was among the best anchors I worked with at ESPN. He's intelligent, knows baseball inside-out, and won't hesitate to ask the tough questions. Or how about dipping into the ESPN talent pool and tapping Bob Ley, Mr. Outside the Lines himself?

It sounds to me as if Rose granted the interview to whomever would give him the most softballs to hit. The tough guy doesn't look like he wants to face the heat.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:58 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (1)
December 17, 2003
Independent Leagues
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The Cub Reporter has an interview with Dave Kaval, who is starting up an independent league in California. The model for this league will be a bit different, where the league owns all the teams.


TCR: You mentioned single-entity ownership. Does that mean that, rather than each team having owners, the league will have investors who have a piece of each team?

DK: No, there'll be owners, it's just that they'll own the whole league. Rather than owning the team in, say, Long Beach, they own a piece of all the teams. For them, it's a little bit of a portfolio strategy -- they have multiple franchises, so if they do all right in three places, and not so well in three others, overall they're still doing pretty decently.

TCR: So it's minimizing risk, in many ways.

DK: Yes. And, I think the control aspect is very, very important. We can manage the product in all the different locations and make sure the experience for the fan is the best that it can be in all locations. In a franchise-oriented league, the individual owners are going to put the kind of product out there that they want. Hopefully it's great in all locations, but more often than not -- in a lot of these leagues you have up to 25% of the ownership groups that are undercapitalized, aren't really running it like a business. In those cases, it's not a good fan experience, and that hurts the whole league. And then those teams start moving around, playing musical chairs, and that hurts the cities. It creates a lot of turbulence and ill will. We feel that starting anew, starting with single-entity ownership, having a little more control -- in the early years especially -- is going to prevent a lot of that.

TCR: Do you see single-entity ownership as a long-term business model, or is it simply a way to provide stability at the inception of the league, and will you be looking to eventually sell the teams to individual owners?

DK: We see single-entity as a long term business model. We have no plans to sell off individual franchises. However, we would consider selling the league as a whole. We feel that the benefits of single entity -- stability, enhanced revenue opportunities, aligned incentives, other entertainment options -- make such a framework superior to the traditional franchise set up especially for municipalities and fans.


It's an interesting idea. It makes one wonder however, if the league will move the better players to the better markets, as happened when multiple major league teams were owned by one person in the 1890's. I do hope it works out, however. The independent league games I've attended have been a lot of fun. It will be a great addition to the California baseball landscape.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:45 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Sickels Interview
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Jim Conrey interviews John Sickels about his new book on Bob Feller.

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
December 09, 2003
Verducci Interview
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Alex Belth has another in his excellent series of interviews, this time with Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. I thought this exchange was very telling:


BB: So you didn’t find too many reporters challenging players about how to play the game properly?

Verducci: No, not at all. But what did surprise me when I first got in this business was how many people who didn’t like sports that much—or maybe they became jaded by the sport—were covering sports. I mean the job requires so much time and effort I don’t see how you can do it without loving it. Maybe I was naïve, but when I first got in the business, I encountered people who were just punching the clock and forcing it. They were doing it because it was a job not because they liked it.


There's a lot of good writers of blogs who I bet would love to be on the beat. If papers are looking for writers who love the sport, look no futher than the internet!

Plus, Alex has more on Sheffield, Vlad and the Yankees.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
December 03, 2003
East-West Differences
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Hideki Matsui discusses the differences between MLB and Japanese baseball in an interview with the Japanese press:


Matsui, who had 106 RBIs and batted .287 with 16 homers to help lead the Yankees to the playoffs in the American League in his first year in the majors this past season, said the main difference between Japanese baseball and the version played in North America is in the pitching.

"If a pitcher throws you a fastball in the majors, it might drop out right in front of you. Even if you try and predict the orbit of the ball, you'll swing and pull it or ground out because you won't hit the sweet part of the bat," Matsui said.


I was a bit surprised to find this at the end of the interview:

Other things in life like when he will give up his bachelor's life and take a bride — something some baseball analysts say helps players gain focus — is what Matsui refers to as "a thing he can't control."

"I really enjoy my privacy now and I really don't have the desire to marry now. Maybe, I'm just not that popular with the ladies," he added.


That must be Japanese baseball analysts they are talking about. I don't remember a sabermetrician studying that. :-)

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:48 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
November 22, 2003
Musings Interview
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Rich Lederer interviewed me for his blog, Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat. Enjoy.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:25 PM | TrackBack (0)
November 16, 2003
Turning the Tables
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Rich Lederer turns the tables on Alex Belth of Bronx Banter and interviews him for Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:23 AM | TrackBack (0)
November 12, 2003
Lee Sinins Interview
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Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat has an interview with Lee Sinins, the creator of the Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia. (Aplologies for not posting this sooner.)

Posted by StatsGuru at 08:43 AM | TrackBack (0)
October 31, 2003
Pat Jordan Interview
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Alex Belth has another in a long line of great interviews over at Bronx Banter, this time with Pat Jordan. My favorite bit:


BB: You like Schilling?

PJ: I don’t like him personally, I think he’s an [expletive deleted], but I think he’s a strong pitcher. Oh, he’s an ego [driven] media hound, and [expletive deleted] artist. But Randy Johnson, I like as a person and he’s a great pitcher.

You can read the deleted parts on Alex's website.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:46 AM | TrackBack (0)
October 09, 2003
Michael Lewis
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He's on CNBC now.

Update: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera just mentioned Bill James! I've always liked her, and now she's just moved to the top of the heap. :-)

Update: That was an excellent interview. Michelle really knew the material and asked good questions about what the Red Sox are going to do with their free agents and how the fans might react. (Letting Manny and Nomar go to free agency.) Lewis thinks that Theo will be better able to do this if they win the World Series, cause he'll have proven he knows what he's doing.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:20 PM | TrackBack (0)
Lewis Interview
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Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, will be interviewed on CNBC at 1:20 PM EDT this afternoon.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:13 AM | TrackBack (0)
August 22, 2003
Foul Ball Four
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Alex Belth is on a roll this week, publishing an interview with former player and author Jim Bouton. Here's a part I especially like:


BB: There was an amusing exchange with you and Moose Skowron at the Yankees Old-Timer’s Game in 2001 where he took exception with your feeling that the modern players are superior to the one’s you played with. What makes the current generation of players better?

JB: In terms of the quality of play, the players are just better than we were. They’re bigger, they’re stronger, they’re faster. They are better trained, they have weight training, and personal coaches, they have computers, they have videotapes now to help them with their motions and their batting swings. There are just all sorts of advances that are way ahead of us. But Moose believes, still, that the 1960s were better. I said, “Moose, don’t you remember the Old Timer’s days in Yankee Stadium when we would sit there, in 1962, for example, and Bill Dickey would come in from the 1930s and tell us how much better they were back in the ‘30s. We used to think the guy was an old nut.” I said, “That’s what you look like to player’s today.” There is no way that Bill Dickey was better than Yogi and Mickey and Whitey, and there’s no way that guys today aren’t better than Mickey and Whitey.

BB: What about the argument that is usually put forth by the old guys that the modern players have terrible fundamentals and can’t do the little things to help their team win?

JB: Well, the game has changed. It’s not a bunting game. It’s a home run game. So they have big, strong guys who hit home runs. That’s the way it is. The games are now 14-10. You don’t have as many 2-1 ballgames. So if we walked off the field in 1962 and onto a baseball field today, 40 years later, we would probably be able to score three or four runs by bunting, and hitting and running, and hitting the cut-off man, and moving the runner over, and then we’d lose 14-3.


It's a great interview.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:10 AM | TrackBack (0)
August 20, 2003
Jane Leavy Interview
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Alex Belth lands another great interview, this time with Jane Leavy, the author of Koufax. I thought this passage was interesting:


BB: Jane Gross said she felt more sympathetic towards men after working the beat.

JL: Well, I never felt unsympathetic to men. I should re-read that piece. But it is true that women ask different questions. One example that I’ve always used is, if a reporter says to a player, “Well, where was the pitch?” And the pitcher would say, “It was on the outside corner.” And a male reporter would interrupt, “No, I was up in the press box, it wasn’t on the outside corner, it was right down the middle.” And the pitcher would look at him like, “What planet are you on? How could you possibly be arguing with me about where the pitch was?” This would go on endlessly. Finally one day I heard Jim Palmer—or maybe it was Scott McGregor—say: “Where was the pitch? It was over the godamned fence.” That’s all you need to know. I’ve witnessed debates where guys would be sitting there, insisting to an athlete, that they know more about what happened on a particular play, and the players would sit there rolling their eyes. A female reporter is much more likely to say: “Tell me what happened.” Or in the case of a trade: “How do you feel?” That question has become ubiquitous today, and it wasn’t when Jane Gross or I started reporting. But it’s the idea of seeing the person as a complete human being and not just a piece of chattel, or a page of statistics. Sure. “How about your kids? When was the last time you tucked your kid in?”


I have to admit that I hate the "How do you feel?" question. I want the where was the pitch question. I want the why did you use that strategy question. I know how they feel. They feel good if they win, they feel bad if they lose. I want to know why they won or lost.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:34 PM | TrackBack (0)
July 23, 2003
The Times are Changing
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Colby Cosh talks to three Expos minor leaguers, and finds that Moneyball is a favorite book of theirs.


I had meant to ask them if they'd heard of Michael Lewis's Moneyball, the hot book about the sabermetric revolution, after I completed the businessy part of the interview. I didn't even have to wait that long. I was asking them to name their favourite books, as part of a list of questions my editor provided for some back-page filler, and Sledge immediately chose Moneyball. I was blown away. If there was a natural Moneyball guy at the table, I would have expected it to be Pascucci, with his .434 on-base percentage. Sledge is a classic "tools" guy, a traditional scout's darling, or at least that's the rep he came to the organization with. But when we started talking about Moneyball he showed he'd absorbed at least part of the rationalist message, even mentioning OPS and Bill James. Man, that's how you know times have changed--you interview a ballplayer and he mentions Bill James to you.

There's a famous book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. In it (if I remember correctly), he argues that paradigm shifts in thinking don't come all of a sudden, but happen as an idea introduced by a young person gains acceptance as the old guard dies out. You're seeing that in baseball now. Twenty years ago, Bill was the young upstart. A few people in the business, like Sandy Alderson, got it. More importantly, young people got it, and as my generation comes to take charge of the game, those ideas are starting to push out the old guard. In another 20 years, the old guard will be retired or dead, and we'll all think how silly it was to judge players on batting average, RBI and wins.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:40 AM | TrackBack (0)
June 13, 2003
Bill James
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Slate has a very good interview with Bill James. (Link via Bambino's Curse).

For those of you new to this site, here's my interview with James from earlier this year.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:21 AM | TrackBack (0)
May 06, 2003
Neyer Interview
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Alex Belth at Bronx Banter has the first part of his Rob Neyer interview up.

Posted by StatsGuru at 09:13 PM | TrackBack (0)
April 23, 2003
Radio Interview
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If any of you missed my interview on Baseball Prospectus radio, I now have a digital copy here.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:13 AM | TrackBack (0)
April 22, 2003
Olney Interview
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Alex Belth has an extensive and interesting interview with Buster Olney of the NY Times. Lots of good stuff, including what really happened in the Roberto Alomar spitting incident. The permalink doesn't work, so you'll have to scroll down.

Update: The permalink now works. Click here to go straight to the interview.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:04 PM | TrackBack (0)
April 12, 2003
Listen to Baseball Musings
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Will Carroll, who writes Under the Knife for the Baseball Prospectus recorded an interview with me Tuesday that will air today, Saturday, 3 PM EDT, 12 Noon Pacific. Here's the link to the net feed of the broadcast on Baseball Prospectus Radio. Hope you can tune in.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:35 AM | TrackBack (0)
April 11, 2003
Radio Interview
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Just wanted to remind you about the Baseball Musings radio interview tomorrow.

Posted by StatsGuru at 10:02 AM | TrackBack (0)
April 09, 2003
Bill James Interview Discussion
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There is a discussion about the Bill James interview going on over at Baseball Primer if you'd like to join in.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:21 AM | TrackBack (0)
April 08, 2003
On the Radio
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Will Carroll, who writes Under the Knife for the Baseball Prospectus recorded an interview with me today that will air on Saturday, 3 PM EDT, 12 Noon Pacific. Here's the link to the net feed of the broadcast on Baseball Prospectus Radio. Hope you can tune in.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:48 PM | TrackBack (0)
Bill James Interview
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Bill James was kind enough to answer a few of my e-mail queries. Bill is the reason I was able to spend 10 years working on Baseball Tonight. Twenty years ago his Abstracts clarified ideas that had been percolating in my mind for years. Now, as a consultant for the Red Sox, his methods are having a serious influence on the game. Enjoy.

Baseball Musings: In the years since you've started publishing, what's the biggest change you've seen in the game?

Bill James: Wow. The game is very, very different from the game of 1977. . .it's almost hard to put a finger on any one thing. But probably the easiest thing to SEE is the change from a speed game to a power game, with the consequent change in the pace of the game and in the appearance of the game. The players of today simply don't LOOK like the players of the 1970s. They are much heavier, much thicker, much slower.

Baseball Musings: There have been a number of articles published recently about GM's using OBA or Sabremetrics to evaluate players. Is this really a new trend, or have the good GMs always implicitly done this?

Bill James: Well, two questions there:


  1. Is it new? and

  2. Have GMs always implicitly done this.

The second question is easy to answer: NO. General Managers of 20, 25 years ago, for the most part, did NO analysis of any kind; they based decisions on seat-of-the-pants analysis. This certainly was true of many general managers as recently as five years ago.

As to whether it is NEW. . .that's harder. I don't know what everybody is doing, don't know what everybody was doing 10 years ago or 20 years ago. So. . .some of it is new; the rest of it is just old stuff that is spreading.

Baseball Musings: What should the Rockies strategy be for Coors field? What kind of hitters and pitchers should they sign?

Bill James: Whitey Herzog had a good take on that in "You're Missin' a Great Game". His theory was that you want sinker-ball pitchers there, because you can't rely on the curve ball, and you need hitters who make contact, because you make contact there, good things happen. But I'll add one thing: you need a manager who makes liberal use of the phrase "You're going to have to pitch through it." Don Baylor's theory there was that you need lots and lots of pitchers, because you're going to have to make a lot of pitching changes. But I think that's just destructive of your pitching staff, to be jerking pitchers out of the game because bad things happen to good pitchers. I think you have to tell your pitchers, "Look, things are going to happen here. You're going to throw a decent pitch, and somebody's going to slap it 420 feet. That's just going to happen. Get over it; keep pitching." That way you build your pitchers up, whereas if you overreact every time you give up a couple of runs, you tear your pitchers down.

Baseball Musings: Given what we now know about the relationship to balls put into play and hits allowed, doesn't this strategy also require a very good infield defense? Would a better strategy be to have fireballers who can strikeout 9 a game?

Bill James: This assumes that fastballs get strikeouts. This is untrue. Breaking pitches get strikeouts. Breaking pitches are difficult to throw at high altitudes (a fact, incidentally, which has been known by baseball pitchers at least since the 1920s. In the 1920s there are published comments about how hard it is to throw a breaking pitch in Salt Lake City.) But there is a valid point in there--which is, that if the value of offense increases per ball in play, then the value of fielding skill also increases.

Baseball Musings: There are a number of players who are having phenomenal success late in their careers. Barry Bonds and Randy Johnson stand out. Do players still peak at 27 has the peak age gone up? If not, do peak years stretch longer than the 25-27 year time frame?

Bill James: It was 25-29, not 25-27. Players still peak at 27, and are declining with the same frequency that they always did (actually, there is some slight evidence that the rate of decline from aging is INCREASING.) Bonds was born in 1964--but so was Will Clark, Jose Canseco, Dwight Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, Ozzie Guillen, Roberto Kelly, Luis Polonia, Jeff King, Pete Incaviglia, Mike McFarlane, Bobby Witt, Jose Lind, Mitch Williams, Rob Dibble, Joe Magrane, Billy Ripken, Greg Hibbard, Kevin Reimer and Doug Strange. Bonds is simply not typical of the group.

Randy Johnson was born in 1963, but so were Paul O'Neill, Ken Caminiti, Lenny Dykstra, Cecil Fielder, Lance Johnson, Mike Greenwell, Mariano Duncan, Kal Daniels, Shane Mack, Chris Bosio, Mike Devereaux, Eric Plunk, Matt Nokes, Norm Charlton, Jim Leyritz, Bruce Ruffin, Bobby Thigpen, Daryl Boston, Jose Guzman, Pat Borders, Jeff Treadway, Scott Bankhead, Mark Carreon, Dale Sveum, John Cangelosi, Doug Henry, Felix Fermin, Dwight Smith, Damon Berryhill, Todd Benzinger and Sam Horn. The fact that ONE of them is still playing the best ball of his career does not make this in any way representative of the group.

Baseball Musings: What's next after Win Shares? Do you have any new formulas that you are working on?

Bill James: Many. But the Red Sox own some of them, and the others aren't quite ready to bust out.

Baseball Musings: Of the moves the Red Sox made this winter, which do you think will pleasently surprise the fans the most?

Bill James: Todd Walker? Walker has a reputation as a poor defensive second baseman, which is unfair; he is actually a very good second baseman. Plus he can hit.

Baseball Musings: How do you like working on the inside of baseball? What was the most unexpected thing for you?

Bill James: It's been fun so far. The most unexpected thing is the Red Sox organization, the internal view of it. The guys I work with are mostly young, extremely sharp, very focused. But you walk around the offices. . .the office is very diverse, extremely competent. It is unusual to see an organization with so many quality people.


Baseball Musings: Last question, how many games are the Royals going to win?

Bill James: 66

Thanks to Bill for taking time out of his busy schedule and for his thoughtful answers.

Posted by StatsGuru at 07:41 PM | TrackBack (1)
March 31, 2003
Buck O'Neil
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Alex Belth of Bronx Banter lands an interview with Negro League legend Buck O'Neil.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:17 PM | TrackBack (0)