Baseball

Fun with Run Support

Thursday, September 18, 2008
by Geoff Young

My latest article at Hardball Times focuses on a technique Bill James employed in his 1988 Baseball Abstract to evaluate the degree to which a pitcher might be aided (or not) by his offense. James used it to compare Danny Jackson and Walt Terrell from 1985 to 1987; I use it to compare Jarrod Washburn and Ramon Ortiz in 2003. . . . Elsewhere, Tom Tango is doing his annual fan scouting report. Go lend your expertise to the project and scout the Padres (h/t It Might Be Dangerous... You ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 3 Comments »

Ten Games

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
by Geoff Young

What a grind it's been. In 30+ years of following baseball, I can't ever remember looking forward to season's end, but that's pretty much where I'm at right now. Actually, I've been there for a few months. It's a strange feeling, and kind of sad. I just want the friggin' games to end so I can breathe a little and get back to focusing on research. Is that so much to ask? Just finish these 10 meaningless games so I can start working with final stats. Sigh. . . . We're driving to Vegas on Thursday for Blog World Expo. I made it out to last year's inaugural event and had a blast. The sessions were mostly informative, and networking opportunities abounded. I got ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 15 Comments »

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Comments Returning… Sort Of

Friday, August 29, 2008
by Geoff Young

Part of a host's responsibility is to lay out and enforce ground rules that enable all guests to enjoy themselves. I'm afraid that as Ducksnorts has grown, I've neglected this duty and allowed us to stray too far from our mission, which is to discuss baseball in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. For that, I am sorry. Over the past week I've had a chance to reflect, and I've come to realize that we really do need reader comments here. At their best, they significantly enhance the value of Ducksnorts for all of us. With that in mind, I'll be reinstating comment functionality on Monday, September 1... with a twist. Stay Focused To help ensure that everyone follows the Community Guidelines and Moderation Policy (read this, understand ...

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Posted in Site News | No Comments »

Do Bloggers Belong in the Press Box?

Monday, August 4, 2008
by Geoff Young

I've hesitated to run this because I find the whole "bloggers talking about bloggers" thing a bit esoteric, but people keep asking me my opinion, so here goes nothing... A while back, when I had the opportunity to chat with Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, he mentioned that he wouldn't be against bringing bloggers into the press box. I learned via the Superfans message board that the Big Lead had some thoughts about this, so I gave my take. What follows is a cleaned-up version of those two posts. Do I want to see bloggers in the press box? Well, if a particular blogger has demonstrated a certain ...

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Posted in Baseball | 68 Comments »

A Little Execution Never Killed Anyone

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
by Geoff Young

It's the eighth inning of a 1-1 tie. You have runners at first and second, nobody out. The batter chases a 2-1 pitch at the ankles on a bunt attempt. You don't score. You proceed to give up two solo shots in the top of the ninth and then go down without so much as a whimper in the bottom half. That is terrible baseball. What's to analyze?

Posted in Game Recaps | 168 Comments »

Series Preview: Jon Weisman Talks Dodgers

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
by Geoff Young

Jon Weisman has been blogging about the Los Angeles Dodgers (team of my youth, but let's just sweep that under the rug) since July 2002 at Dodger Thoughts. He also writes about baseball in general at SI.com and the entertainment industry at Variety. Jon and I recently chatted via the mystical magic of email about his team, the NL West, and old-school catchers. * * * Ducksnorts: What happened to the NL West, and how do you like the Dodgers' chances now versus at the start of the season? Weisman: It seems more or less like everything that could go wrong, has -- except for in San Francisco, but expectations were notoriously low for them. Are ...

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Posted in Interviews | 34 Comments »

Padres 2008 Draft Recap

Monday, June 9, 2008
by Geoff Young

A mistake is not something to be determined after the fact, but in light of the information until that point. --Nassim Nicholas Taleb Here's the irritating truth about evaluating a draft: We won't know for years how the story ends, and even when that happens, judging the draft solely on actual outcome (to the exclusion of the process that led to it) gives an incomplete picture. At the same time, process is much more difficult to observe and understand, and oh by the way, people with a vested interest tend to be more concerned with outcome anyway. What I'm trying to say is, I'm glad it's not my job to stock a big-league organization with talent. I would drive myself (and others) mad trying to do it ...

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Posted in Draft, Minors | 32 Comments »