Who are the Fielding Bible Award winners for 2009? THE 2009 FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS have been officially announced after one of the closest races in the history of the award centered around the keystone sack. Second basemen Aaron Hill, Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley finished with 76, 76 and 73 points respectively, forcing a tie-breaking procedure that awarded Hill his second Fielding Bible Award. One important distinction that differentiates THE FIELDING BIBLE AWARDS from most other baseball aw... Read Full Story

The 2009 Cubs were a major disappointment by nearly any measure. They didn’t hit, they didn’t field, even the Cubs vaunted pitching staff faltered. The team sustained major injuries, fought on and off the field, and was generally unlikeable. One of the main causes of this (that is controllable) is the lack of leadership at the top. Remember back to grade school when a substitute teacher would step in for a day or two – it was mob rule in the classroom. The sub was basically ... Read Full Story

Which players have performed the best in the postseason? Performing well during the regular season is one thing, but producing in October wins championships. As we await the Twins-Tigers playoff and the Division Series, let’s take a look at the best playoff performers among active players. Most Productive Hitters by On-Base Plus Slugging (minimum 50 Plate Appearances) Player Games Plate Appearances Home Runs Avg OPS Carlos Beltran 22 101 11 .366 1.... Read Full Story

Here’s a little something for your enjoyment. A friend on Facebook posted this YouTube video of Michael Jordan playing in the 1994 Cubs-Sox Crosstown Classic exhibition game at Wrigley Field. This 9 minute video features Harry Caray’s pre-game interview with MJ followed by each of his at-bats and key plays. Michael was humbled by playing professional baseball but he took it all in stride. The broadbast team is Harry Caray, Steve Stone and Thom Brennaman. MJ’s plays right fi... Read Full Story

Who are the MVP leaders based on Total Runs? Teams are clinching playoff spots almost daily now that we’re in the last week of the season, but has anyone sewn up the MVP award? As we did last week for the Rookie of the Year candidates, let’s use the Total Runs metric first introduced in The Fielding Bible—Volume II to see who the MVP leaders are for each league. The key to Total Runs is that it takes into account three other components of the overall contributions of a player bes... Read Full Story

The struggles of Milton Bradley are well documented. However something occured to me as I listened to Talkin’ Baseball on ESPN Radio with Bruce Levine – arguably the best baseball talk show on the radio. Today Bruce’s new co-host Jonathan Hood related some comments that apparently came from Bradley’s mother. She had alluded to Milton’s young son suffering some racial harrassment in his Chicago school. She further asserted that this treatment of his son had someth... Read Full Story

Happy 82nd birthday today to a classy guy, Tommy Lasorda. Growing up in the 70’s, any fan of baseball had to appreciate Lasorda’s Dodgers even if they weren’t your team. I was a Cubs fan through and through, but Bill Buckner was my favorite player and he came from a top-shelf organization, the LA Dodgers. They had Garvey and Lopes, Cey and Russell, Smith and Baker, Yeager and John, Sutton and Rau, Rhoden and Hooton. But the face of the organization was manager Tommy Lasorda.... Read Full Story

I bet Milton Bradley would have preferred Bruce Miles would have just stayed home. Earlier this season, management at the Daily Herald decided to stop/limit their Cubs beat writer, Bruce Miles, from travelling with the team. Newspapers are under pressure to cut costs, but when coverage is affected, I think really calls into question a paper’s ability to compete. Bruce is an excellent reporter but in stripping his ability to be with the team on the road, isn’t he essentially a blog... Read Full Story

Who are the Rookie of the Year leaders based on Total Runs? With just over two weeks left in the 2009 season, let’s take a look at the top rookie hitters in all of baseball, using the version of Runs Created used in The Fielding Bible—Volume II: 2009 Top Rookie Hitters, MLB Player Runs Created Chris Coghlan, Marlins 74 Seth Smith, Rockies 62 Dexter Fowler, Rockies 62 Nolan Reimold, Orioles 60 Andrew McCutchen, Pirates 59 Elvis Andrus, Rangers 59 Flo... Read Full Story

Catcher Pickoff Leaders Over the last several seasons, no one compares. Yadier Molina has nabbed more baserunners who fell asleep on the bases than any other catcher by a wide margin. Here are the leaders in catcher pickoffs since 2003: Most Catcher Pickoffs (Since 2003) Player Pickoffs Yadier Molina 33 Miguel Olivo 19 Jose Molina 17 Ivan Rodriguez 13 Jeff Mathis 11 How much is that helping his team? In The Fielding Bible—Volume II, we spent a considerable amo... Read Full Story