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 [...]
Tag Archive for ‘Baseball’ 
Ten Games
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 [...]
Do Bloggers Belong in the Press Box?
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 [...]
A Little Execution Never Killed Anyone
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 [...]
Series Preview: Jon Weisman Talks Dodgers
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 [...]
Padres 2008 Draft Recap
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 [...]
Updates to Comments Policy
Just a quick note to let y’all know I’ve made a few updates to the Comments Policy. Also, since we’ve been getting more new participants lately (thanks, and welcome to my home), this is a good time to remind folks to review and familiarize themselves with the policy. Here are the latest updates: I do [...]
Three Pitchers and a Former GM
I’m kinda winging it today. We’ll see what happens… This has been floating around for a few days now, but Paul DePodesta has a blog. I’ve added it to the ol’ blogroll as well as to PadreBlogs.com. One of DePo’s first posts concerns the effects of Petco Park. The entire post is well worth reading, [...]
Series Preview: Joe Aiello Talks Cubs
With the Padres headed to Chicago for a four-game series, I decided to check in with Joe Aiello of View from the Bleachers for the latest info on the Cubs. We now turn the blog over to Joe… Ducksnorts: The Cubs have gotten off to a terrific start and have a very balanced attack. Can [...]
Comments Returning… Sort Of
by Geoff Young on Aug 29, 2008 (0) Comments
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 [...]