[Disclaimer: I am not a professional scout, just a rabid baseball fan who likes to watch as many games as possible, at whatever level, and who is always on the lookout for potential future stars. The reports here are strictly one person's opinion, based solely on empirical (as opposed to statistical) data, often gathered from [...]
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Fall/Winter League Stars: Puerto Rican League
After a significant delay, we’ve finally landed in beautiful Puerto Rico to take a look at some of the players who excelled in their league this past winter. For a full explanation of all this, head on over to our coverage of the Mexican Pacific League. Otherwise, sit back, relax, and enjoy your stay in [...]
Draft Watch 1999: University of Michigan
[Disclaimer: I am not a professional scout, just a rabid baseball fan who likes to watch as many games as possible, at whatever level, and who is always on the lookout for potential future stars. The reports here are strictly one person's opinion, based solely on empirical (as opposed to statistical) data, often gathered from [...]
Life in the SLO Lane: Part 2
After my brush with the occult, I turned to more mainstream baseball purchases. At a great used book store whose name escapes me at the moment, I scored a copy of Baseball America’s 1989 Almanac. The Almanac has changed a lot in the past 10 years. Back in 1989 it was a tall, skinny book [...]
Fall/Winter League Stars: Mexican Pacific League
The fall and winter baseball leagues see an odd mixture of prospects, grizzled veterans, and legends of other nations. I’ve gathered all the statistics from four leagues — the Mexican Pacific League, the Puerto Rican League, the Venezuelan League, and the Arizona Fall League — and come up with a list of the top performers [...]
Life in the SLO Lane: Part 1
I have a knack for turning just about any trip into a baseball trip. My wife is a good sport about this — as well she should be; after all, we first met at a hockey game. What did she expect? A few weeks back we drove up the California coast to San Luis Obispo [...]
Paul Konerko and the Myth of the Dodger Prospect Hype Machine
Now that the season is finally over and I’m not able to cash in the $20 bet I had on the Padres to win it all at 28-1 odds (I placed the bet just prior to the deal for Kevin Brown), I’m starting to go through my files and finding all sorts of wonderful stuff. [...]
Looking into the Crystal Ball: Part 2
As promised in our last installment, here are the career projections of 13 up-and-coming AL players based on Bill James’ Brock2 method. If you’re interested, the spreadsheet is available at Baseball1.com. If not, just sit back, relax, and look at the numbers. And if you want a really good laugh, look at them again in [...]
Looking into the Crystal Ball: Part 1
In his 1985 Baseball Abstract, Bill James introduced the Brock2 System, a method for projecting a player’s career stats based on what he’s done so far. James himself recognized its limitations and said, ultimately, that he used the system because “it’s fun to play around with.” The system has since been modified countless times (last [...]
Blast from the Past: 1992
My wife and I just moved, and while I was packing boxes I came across a bunch of great baseball stuff I’d forgotten I had — a baseball autographed by the (1980?) Dodgers (Tommy Lasorda, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Dusty Baker [amazingly, not a single Teddy Martinez!]); an unopened set of 1988 Triple-A All-Star baseball [...]
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