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Introduction and History I have taught or co-taught sabermetrics in the mathematics department at the United States Military Academy several times. We covered all the metrics but what always interested me most was the direction student projects took to solve or analyze various issues in baseball. In one of these courses, for example, the group […]

By 1950, Andy Seminick, at the ripe old age of 29 sometimes known as “Grandpa Whiz,” had the longest tenure of any of the 1950 Phillies.  He first joined the club in 1943 when he was just 22, but had his struggles early on, both at the plate and in the field. No great surprise, […]

Chicago is a city of icons. A hotbed of popular culture, the Windy City owns a curriculum vitae rarely paralleled concerning characters, real and fictional, responsible for defining the American experience. Al Capone rose to kingpin status in Chicago’s underworld during Prohibition in the 1920s. His was a household name, a celebrity status recognizable nearly […]

Most baseball enthusiasts were probably fairly satisfied with the All-Century Team selected last year. With a few notable exceptions (Foxx and Alexander come readily to mind), voters did a decent job. But what if you were asked to select a team based upon the century’s best season at each position? This sounds like it might […]

This article was originally published in The SABR Review of Books, Volume IV (1989). Editor’s Note: Why are Cub books different? Because Cub fans are different. No team in baseball has such a long-term tradition of efficient losing as the Cubs. So Cub fans don’t write books full of poetry about Babe Ruth (or about […]

When Brooks Robinson closed out his active career with the 1977 season, it gave him a record 23 years with one club. Furthermore, the Baltimore Orioles were the only major league team he played for in a career that stretched from 1955 to 1977. Previously he had shared the record with four other players who had […]

Joe Torre’s frustrating 1975 season was “highlighted” by the July 21 game against the Astros where he grounded into four consecutive double plays. Batting ahead of him was Felix Millan, who had 4 singles, but was wiped out each time Tone hit the ball. For Torre, it was a National League record for grounding into […]

Willie Mays with Brent Kallestad, at Tallahassee on February 26, 2006 following a Black History Month celebration. Mays was among several sports celebrities to visit that day as guests of former Governor Jeb Bush. (Brent Kallestad)   My lifelong adoration of Willie Mays began quite accidentally in the summer of 1954 when as an 8-year-old […]

Hitting three triples in s game has become a rare batting feat.   Maybe it should be described as a rare base-running feat as well, because speed on the base paths is also very helpful.   In fact, the last two times it has been accomplished it took two very fast runners.   Bert Campaneris hit three triples […]

It is highly unlikely that the Philadelphia Phillies would have won the 1950 National League Pennant without reliever Jim Konstanty, who was so dominant that he was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player. And so it is worthwhile to consider whether Konstanty would have won the MVP and had the year he had without […]