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| The Pastime |
| It's baseball. Everything from sabermetrics to baseball history. Concentrates on the Oakland A's, but covers all baseball, at all levels. |
| Language: English |
| RSS Feeds for this Blog |
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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 73 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 102991 |
| Visitors Out: 1681 |
| Total Visitors Out: 2413 |
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| SABR Wiffle Ball |
| 2008-06-28 22:00:57 |
To cap off SABR 38, roughly 15 of us went out to Public Square in downtown Cleveland for a game of Wiffle Ball.
It was epic.
Among the players were myself, Kyle Eliason, Kerry Smith, Aaron Gleeman, Ben Jacobs, some Minnesotans whose names I’ve forgotten (sorry), and a few other SABR members.
After about five minutes, some local [...]...
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| SABR 38 Day Three: Stats, Stats, Stats |
| 2008-06-28 17:01:25 |
David Smith, the wonderful man who gave the world Retrosheet, just gave a nice presentation about the importance of strike one. It was the second part of a study he started at last year’s convention in St. Louis, and just as stuffed with interesting info and just as interesting.
As it turns out, it’s really bad [...]...
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| SABR 38 Day Three: Mark Shapiro & Mike Veeck |
| 2008-06-28 15:16:46 |
Sitting in the auditorium before Mark Shapiro and Mike Veeck were due to speak, I ran into a couple entertaining SABR members. Howie Siegel (Victoria, BC) and Joel Schwartz (Del Mar, Calif.) are two of the more animated guys I’ve ran across at the convention, and we had a nice chat ranging from elementary school [...]...
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| SABR 38 Day Three: A Film, Some Authors, and Tornado Damage Back Home |
| 2008-06-28 12:50:53 |
This morning, SABR members were treated to a special screening of a new documentary. “Base Ball Discovered” is a production of MLB, and goes into the origins of the game. As they were filming in England, the producers unearthed a new document that helps push back the origins of baseball to an astoundingly early date [...]...
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| Japanese Barnstorming in North America, Including Nebraska |
| 2008-06-27 15:18:40 |
Another presentation I watched at SABR 38 was about the 1935 barnstorming tour of the Tokyo Giants. The baseball team toured America">North America in the summer of ‘35, playing over 100 games over the course of 120 days. They went 74-31-1 playing minor-league, semi-pro and club teams from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Of interest to [...]...
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| SABR 38 Day Two: Steroid Statistics, and Does Cleveland Really Rock? |
| 2008-06-27 14:27:23 |
The first presentation I went to today was the analysis of steroid use in baseball by Jeff Swtichenko of Emory University. Switchenko was one of the under-30 members at last night’s meeting.
Emory’s biostatistics department put together a dense, thorough study of the collective effect of steroid abuse on performance in the “steroid era.”
It’s a very [...]...
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| Former Player Panel at SABR 38 |
| 2008-06-27 13:49:14 |
The player panel started out with a bit of a disappointment, since Len Barker couldn’t make it due to a prior engagement.
The former Indians players that did make it were Joe Charboneau, Dave Burba, Kevin Rhomberg and Vern Fuller.
As is so often true, the first few questions asked were awkward and embarrassing. The first question [...]...
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| Under 30 at SABR, Baseball-Reference Partnership?, SABR 39 in the ATL |
| 2008-06-26 22:09:26 |
I just returned from the first Under-30 group meeting at the convention, and it was sure nice to meet up with other people my own age that are as fascinated by baseball as I am.
There were eight others there, from locations as diverse as Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey. Ok, [...]...
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| Vintage Base Ball at SABR |
| 2008-06-26 19:11:07 |
I just got back from the Wade Park Oval here in Cleveland, where I had a chance to play in the vintage 1860 rules Base Ball game. I’ve got to say, it was a blast. A big thanks goes out to Ed Shuman, of the Canal Fulton Mules, for getting me into the lineup for [...]...
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| Bonds Protest at SABR: Ridiculous. |
| 2008-06-26 14:23:43 |
There’s a protest scheduled today at SABR to try and convince people that there’s a conspiracy to “blacklist” Barry Bonds from baseball.
First off, that’s ridiculous.
Secondly, I’ll show you why.
Here’s what we know. Barry Bonds cannot play the outfield, but can probably still hit fairly well. That eliminates the 16 National League teams from his potential [...]...
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| SABR 38 Day One: Bookbags, Minnesota, CWS, Manila, Australian Girls, and Indians Media |
| 2008-06-26 14:06:45 |
Sadly, the gift bags that came with registration this year weren’t as whimsically filled as they were last year in St. Louis. They were, however, filled with some nice publications.
First, there was a copy of John Montgomery Ward’s baseball book, which laid down the rules and practices of baseball in the late 1800s — a [...]...
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| In Cleveland for SABR 38 |
| 2008-06-25 14:24:13 |
Well, I’ve arrived in Cleveland, all ready for the SABR convention. Remind me not to take another 6:00 a.m. flight from Omaha to Chicago to Cleveland. I’m a bit tired, even with the nap I took after I got to the hotel.
Speaking of the hotel, the Renaissance Hotel here at Tower City in downtown Cleveland [...]...
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| Heading off to SABR 38 |
| 2008-06-24 16:05:30 |
Well, it’s that time of year again. On Wednesday morning, I’ll be flying in to Cleveland for the SABR convention.
I really enjoyed last year’s get-together in St. Louis, and I have a feeling that Cleveland might be even better. I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch of like-minded baseball nuts again, and to listening to [...]...
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| Big Papi as the Sultan of Swat in the House That Ruth Built? Odd. |
| 2008-06-09 16:46:55 |
I was in Chicago last week, covering the Kane County Cougars for A Minor Consideration, the MVN site where I cover the A’s minor league system. Since it’s Chicago, I couldn’t help but attend a game at the best ballpark on earth — Wrigley Field.
As I walked about Addison Street, an enthusiastic girl decked out [...]...
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| Of Bissinger and Blogging |
| 2008-05-01 13:19:42 |
By now, nearly everyone who writes a blog, reads a blog, or has just heard of a blog is aware of the “discussion” between Will Leitch and Buzz Bissinger on a recent episode of HBO’s CostasNOW.
Leitch, the creator of the incredibly popular and influential Deadspin.com, appeared on the show to argue the merits of the [...]...
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| Only in April: Division-leading Orioles, Royals, Marlins? |
| 2008-04-10 00:28:13 |
You’ve got to love the first two weeks of the season. Bizarre things are not only common, they’re almost certain to occur. Take a look at the standings, for instance.
Baltimore (Baltimore!) is atop the AL East with the best record in baseball. Boston and New York are below the .500 mark. In the AL Central, [...]...
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| Johnny Cueto is Impressive, But Don’t Annoit Him Yet |
| 2008-04-04 13:12:37 |
I’ll give you this — Johnny Cueto’s debut for the Reds on Thursday was very, very impressive. He had a perfect game going into the sixth inning. The only hit he gave up was a solo homer. He struck out ten and walked none in seven innings. In his Major League debut. Wow.
However, it isn’t [...]...
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| MLB 08: The Show (Part One of a Review) |
| 2008-04-03 19:44:22 |
A couple of weeks ago, while I was in Arizona enjoying the heavenly combination of spring training baseball and Phoenix March weather, I received an email from a marketing representative of Sony. Would I like to review MLB 08: The Show? Of course I would.
Just one problem, though. I didn’t own a Playstation 2, PSP, [...]...
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| Book Review: Crazy ‘08 |
| 2008-04-03 01:54:08 |
As you may have heard — from any one of a hundred stories about it in various media outlets — this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Cubs’ last World Series title.
While that may be the most memorable thing we now recall about the 1908 baseball season, there is much more of interest than [...]...
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| The Oakland A’s Walk-off Home Run Index |
| 2008-01-31 11:15:08 |
The walk-off home run. Baseball’s version of sudden death. Few moments in sports are as dramatic. Dennis Eckersley coined the term in the late 80s, describing how the defense would walk off the field following the game-ending hit. Since then, it’s become more suited to describing how the batter can walk around the bases to [...]...
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| Book Review: Harvard Boys |
| 2008-01-24 13:47:10 |
John Wolff was drafted out of Harvard University in the 47th round of the 2005 draft by the White Sox. After a strong showing in Spring Training and Extended Spring Training, Wolff was assigned to Bristol, in the Appalachian League. After just three games, he was cut. He played the rest of the season in [...]...
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| Well, It’s Been a While… |
| 2008-01-24 12:15:45 |
For those few people who still occasionally check out The Pastime to see if I’ve written anything — or died — I’ve got some news. I’ll be writing here more often in the coming months.
I’ve been very, very busy with my “real job” at the newspaper, college, and trying to keep up with those crazy [...]...
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| Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla: Middle Infielders with Historic Power? |
| 2007-09-12 13:56:15 |
Prompted by a comment by Charlie Tackos on this post, I did a little research on the home run power of 2B-SS combinations. When it comes to middle infielder teammates, Hanley Ramirez (29 HR) and Dan Uggla (26 HR) of the Marlins are close to establishing a Major League first. They’ve already become just the [...]...
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| In Which I Travel to the Cities by the Bay |
| 2007-08-07 15:50:03 |
I should really contact Dan Johnson to let him know that it would significantly prolong his Major League career to fly me all over the country for A’s games. After enduring yet another slump over the past month, he was a key producer in the the two games I saw him play this past weekend. [...]...
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| Book Review: Level Playing Fields |
| 2007-08-02 14:48:04 |
While attending the 37th annual SABR convention in St. Louis, I had a tough time looking through the books available for sale in the vendors’ room. My difficulty didn’t lie in a lack of interesting books to choose from, but the fact that I had very limited space in my carry-on luggage to bring back [...]...
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| Notes from SABR 37 - Wrap |
| 2007-07-29 23:06:13 |
Today was the last day of the 37th SABR Convention, and it came to a close not with a bang, but a whimper. Many people left on early morning flights, and those that stayed congregated in Ballroom D at the Adam’s Mark to view the telecast of the Hall of Fame cermonies from Cooperstown.
Someone had [...]...
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| Of Pop Machine Vandals, Elevators, and Rob Neyer |
| 2007-07-28 01:44:48 |
Late Friday night, after going through the pictures I took of the Cardinals game, writing the post below, going over the A’s loss, looking through the minor league games, and so on… all I wanted was a cold pop to drink while I watched some TV. I flipped on the set, found that Survivorman — [...]...
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| Notes from SABR 37 - Day Three (part two) |
| 2007-07-28 00:10:41 |
The rain that I had earlier hoped would stay clear of St. Louis did not, in fact, miss the city.
After a brief but drenching pre-game soak — which the statue of Stan the Man faced fearlessly — things got under way on time.
Well, until the clouds rolled in again, that is.
The grounds crew had trouble [...]...
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| Notes from SABR 37 - Day Three (part one) |
| 2007-07-27 17:37:17 |
Today I learned two things: someone reading aloud, for thirty minutes, a paper about an obscure minor league executive from 1910 is so boring, even the guy wearing the Federal League jersey will get up and leave.
Secondly, I learned that Dr. Mike Marshall is about three degrees off of crazy. He spoke to a packed [...]...
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| Notes from SABR 37 - Day Two (part two) |
| 2007-07-26 21:59:03 |
I’ve just returned from participating in the trivia contest, and I don’t have especially good news to report. Out of 54 questions, I managed to answer nine correctly, or 17%. You’ve got to really curve that grade to make that a passing mark. Thankfully, the test was brutal, and everyone scored low. The top five [...]...
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| Notes from SABR 37 - Day Two (part one) |
| 2007-07-26 16:45:41 |
With a full lineup of events today, I’ve been having to make some tough decisions. Do I tour Busch Stadium, or see a presentation on five-game series sweeps based on retrosheet data? What’s more interesting, the history of controversial records, or how Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis failed to integrate baseball as its first commissioner? Tough [...]...
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| Notes from SABR 37 - Day One |
| 2007-07-26 02:15:40 |
Well, I’m here at the Adam’s Mark Hotel (the tan building on the left in the above picture) in downtown St. Louis, the home of the 37th SABR convention. So far, I’ve been having a great time talking with all of these baseball-lovin’ folks. It’s nice to be able to sit around and talk with [...]...
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| An Interesting “Physics of Baseball” Video |
| 2007-07-10 21:21:59 |
KQED, a Bay Area public television station, has produced a nice video overview of the basic physics involved in pitching and hitting. With help from the UC-Berkeley baseball team and staff, physicists from the San Francisco Exploratorium demonstrate just how a curveball curves over the plate and how the sweet spot on the bat hits [...]...
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| SABR Convention in St. Louis |
| 2007-07-09 03:02:57 |
At the end of this month, I’m going to be attending the SABR Convention at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in downtown St. Louis. I’m flying in on the 25th and leaving on the 30th, allowing for plenty of time to mingle with other baseball-minded folks and exchange ideas and anecdotes. I’ll probably be in a trade deficit when it comes to the anecdotes, though…
If anyone who’s read The Pastime, or any of my other work (Catfish Stew at BaseballToaster.com, A Minor Consideration at MVN.com, occasional work for Beyond The Boxscore, various random contributions, and some posts at Athletics Nation) would like to meet up and chat, drop me a line at [rarmbrust^^^at^^^gmail^^^dot^^^com, without the ^s].
I’ll look forward to seeing you at the convention, the Cardinals-Brewers game, the vintage baseball game at the Arch, and around the Adam’s Mark Hotel.
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| Joba Chamberlain Likes to Chase Birds |
| 2007-07-09 02:47:39 |
During the Futures All-Star game today, former Husker pitcher Joba Chamberlain came in to pitch the third inning. After a foul ball, Joba strolled toward a bird that had located itself between the pitcher’s mound and home plate.
He tried to spook it off, but it just casually wandered toward the foul line. Suddenly realizing that he was on national TV, Joba turned around and returned to the mound.
After the inning, when interviewed by Erin Andrews, Joba laughed and said that the bird was just hanging out, looking for some seeds or something.
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| Book Review: The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball |
| 2007-07-04 02:48:28 |
A couple of weeks ago, when I was in Barnes & Noble trying to kill some time before seeing Knocked Up at the theatre across the street, I came across a table with baseball books displayed across it. I figured I’d read half of them, and the other half were about either the Yankees or Red Sox (or both), so I wasn’t as drawn to the display as I normally would have been. Just as I was walking away, though, one book caught my eye. It was “The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball“, written by Derek Zumsteg of U.S.S. Mariner, Baseball Prospectus, and numerous other outlets. I’ve always enjoyed what he’s had to write, and recalled reading some excerpts he posted that got left on the editing room floor.
I made my way to the movie, book in hand. I arrived in my seat a good half an hour before the show, and cracked open my new purchase. The first thing that struck me about the book was the writing style. It was conversational, broad but not vague, and just dam...
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| Elkhorn Baseball Wins State Title |
| 2007-05-18 11:18:43 |
Looking to see some good high school baseball, I went down to the Nebraska state baseball championship on Thursday afternoon at Haymarket Park. Millard West was facing the dark horse in the tournament, Elkhorn. The only previous time Elkhorn has even made the state tournament was in 2004, the year after I graduated from the school.
This year, Elkhorn toppled the top two seeds in the tournament to get to the final game. Millard West — previously defeated by Elkhorn — came back through the loser’s bracket to force a rematch.
A close, exciting game followed, with the eventual winning run being forced in on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Elkhorn took the game 2-1, and claimed their first state title in baseball. Coach Jerry Frerichs, who’s been coaching in Elkhorn for longer than I’ve been around, finally got his well-deserved championship.
I took quite a few pictures at the game, and I’ve picked out a few of the better ones and tossed them into a slidesho...
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| Photos from K.C. |
| 2007-05-17 21:12:56 |
Here’s a link to the slideshow at photobucket, in case the embedded show doesn’t work…
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| A Quick Note |
| 2007-05-08 03:23:18 |
I’ve been busy lately, and haven’t been posting as often as I would have liked to. I’ve been working quite a bit at the paper, and my imminent move to Omaha is also slowing me down…
That being said, I’ll have some new stuff up soon. I’m looking at bits on Joe Blanton’s peripheral rates improving over last season, and the historical significance of Derrek Lee’s on-base streak to begin the season, among other things.
Also, I’m going to be in Kansas City for the A’s three-game series against the Royals this week, so expect some photos and such from that.
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| A Quick Note |
| 2007-05-08 03:20:40 |
I’ve been busy lately, and haven’t been posting as often as I would have liked to. I’ve been working quite a bit at the paper, and my imminent move to Omaha is also slowing me down…
That being said, I’ll have some new stuff up soon. I’m looking at bits on Joe Blanton’s peripheral rates improving over last season, and the historical significance of Derrek Lee’s on-base streak to begin the season, among other things.
Also, I’m going to be in Kansas City for the A’s three-game series against the Royals this week, so expect some photos and such from that.
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