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February 20, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
Where do the Expos go after this year, or next yea
February 14, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
Early last week, ESPN.com published a column by Jayson Stark that proposed 20 rules changes for MLB, ranging from the cosmetic ("Toughen up the save rule") to the crazed ("But add the designated fielder"). Now, I'm not going to talk in particular about Stark's column today, except to say that I think many of his suggestions sound good until you give serious consideration to how they would affect the way the game is played.
February 11, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
No regular season at all. Instead, a round-robin tournament.
February 7, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
Minding my own business while doing research the other day, I came upon one of the weirdest, coolest pitchers ever. Looking into Tom Glavine and his 242 career wins--which puts him at No. 50 all-time--I found a guy named Jack Quinn, at No. 44 with 247. I love these kinds of random findings; you could be talking to someone you know about Gaylord Perry, and he might in passing mention the last legal spitballers, Quinn being among the best of 'em. I had no idea Quinn was so interesting. He wasn't a star, and he pitched from 1909-1933, pre-dating my baseball consciousness by about five decades.
January 30, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
I'm going to look at the 2000 draft, which is far enough back that we can make some conclusions about how the acquisitions turned out, and how the teams dealt with draft compensation.
January 23, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
I grew up going to Mariners games, but while visiting family in San Francisco, I always enjoyed seeing a good team play outdoor baseball in Candlestick. I loved the Giants teams from 1985-1993. They played in the sun, they were young and good, and people came out to see them, all of which made for a dramatic difference in the amount of fun I had. While I still follow the team, I've never been as big a fan since 1993. Because after the 1993 season, when the Giants were the best team ever to not make the post-season, Will Clark wanted to stay in San Francisco, and it didn't happen.
January 17, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
After any article in which I include a toss-off reference to politics, like calling our president "President-by-court-order," I get a lot of email that says, essentially, that I shouldn't talk about politics. For those of you in this group, I'm going to get to baseball here in about four paragraphs.
Baseball is steeped in politics. The issues of tax burden and allocation: is it right to build a stadium for a team, and what good (if any) does it for the city? Labor relations and the roles of unions in the modern economy.
January 9, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
I picked up Last Commissioner for a couple of reasons -- I wanted to read his take on Rose, labor issues, and Vincent's own ouster.
January 3, 2003
by Derek Zumsteg
Baseball ownership groups have for too long resembled Dark Age European royalty--closely related and weak. Hand-picked for convenience and agreeability rather than on any objective basis, they've given us undercapitalized owners like Steve Schott, lapdog owners like Jeff Loria, evil owners like Carl Pohlad.
December 12, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
I've gotten a lot of e-mail this week asking if I'm going to weigh in on the possibility of a Pete Rose reinstatement to baseball. This is in the wind because Rose met with Bud Selig to discuss how this might happen, and Selig, lacking both a backbone and any sense of integrity, didn't say "You're not getting back in, thanks for swinging by, I'll have my assistant call you a cab."
December 5, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
I'm taking a quick break from writing my chapters for Baseball Prospectus 2003. I want to re-visit something I've already hit twice, because I'm a glutton for punishment. I wrote two articles where I took a crack at whether it ever makes sense to walk the 2002 Barry Bonds, first here and then on ESPN.com.
October 31, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
I've written a piece for this site on Pete Rose, Bill James, and the Dowd Report. It took me far too long to write it: I was reluctant to pursue the project, because the volume and tone of the hate mail anyone who writes about Rose gets is numbing. I dedicated myself to getting it done after Major League Baseball trotted Rose out as part of the MasterCard Major League Baseball Memorable Moments event. Rose got cheered, I made a snippy comment in an ESPN chat, and everyone moved on. But the scene continues to bother me. Baseball's treatment of Pete Rose under the leadership of Bud Selig has been shameful.
October 23, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
The price of our national pastime, it turns out, is $40-$50 million, which is how much MasterCard is spending on their 'MasterCard Presents Major League Baseball Memorable Moments' campaign. I can't believe it's that low, considering they've shown those commercials so frequently that I get nauseous looking at that shot of Jackie Robinson. Keep in mind, Robinson is one of my favorite baseball players, one whose autobiography I wore down reading repeatedly.
October 17, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
The Angels beat the Yankees, the Twins beat the A's. Are teams that depend on
the single and the stolen base better in the post-season than teams that play
for the three run-home run?
October 3, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
Watching the Mariners crawl their way toward respectability like the first fishes onto the world's beaches, I never would have believed that Ken Griffey Jr. might ever not be the best player in baseball, much less that he would end up being considered junior to his dad. It's happening, though.
September 26, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
It's Wednesday night, and I didn't write my column early because I was watching the Mariners-Athletics game. Now I sit down, feeling a little vindicated for my season-long fight against local anti-Mike Cameron sentiment.
The Mariners face the A's again tomorrow, starting Joel Pineiro against Cory Lidle. The Angels have John Lackey facing Colby Lewis. I don't think this particularly unfair to the Mariners; it's not as if they didn't have their chances to beat up on bad teams, or anything. Their pit is one they've dug themselves with crappy pickups and a low-key battle between the manager and GM, where Piniella seems determined to put the awful pieces he's been given (like Jose Offerman) in crucial game situations where their failures are magnified. Gillick in retaliation doesn't care.
September 6, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
Certainty changes everything. Baseball's exciting, if for no other reason, because the Devil Rays--an abjectly bad franchise--can beat the Yankees every couple of times they meet. Unlike in football, the outcome of a single contest between a defending champion and a perennial cellar-dweller is relatively uncertain, thus every game has the ability to provide a legitimate sense of drama. It's the lack of certainty that makes it the greatest sport in the world.
August 29, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
August 22, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
August 8, 2002
by Derek Zumsteg
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