Who are baseball’s best and worst baserunners? In The Bill James Handbook 2010 we analyze a player’s baserunning ability.  For each player, we measure his ability to move first to third, second to home, and first to home in addition to the number of outs he records on the bases and how he fares in double plays.  While this year’s Handbook evaluates how each player performed in 2009, I thought it would be fun to take a look at baserunners over the past five years.  We took a look at each playe... Read Full Story

A CubHub.net exclusive! We have intercepted Jim Hendry’s Christmas wish list! Yes, even the Cubs GM makes requests of Santa Claus and the Clark-Addison Cubs fan blog has obtained his 2009 Christmas wishes. Sources familiar with the matter indicate Mr. Hendry has petitioned Jolly Ol’ St. Nick to aid him in his turnaround of the Cubs baseball franchise. Here is an excerpt of little Jimmy’s lengthy wish list: A slick fielding, prototypical lead-off hitter who is also a good ci... Read Full Story

Well meaning Cubs fans are loudly advocating the team to dump Milton Bradley and move to acquire Curtis Granderson to play center field and lead off for the 2010 Chicago Cubs.  At first blush, perhaps that would be a fine swap. But realistically I just don’t see how it can happen without an extrordinary alignment of the planets. Bradley will likely hit about .300 with an on-base pushing .400 for someone next season. Granderson should post 25+ HRs and perhaps improve upon most of his sta... Read Full Story

With the Ricketts family firmly in control, Cubs GM Jim Hendry is attending the annual GM meeting in Chicago. He has a lot on his plate and is no doubt discussing who needs what, or more accurately, who needs to dump what. For many MLB teams, the economic climate is forcing clubs to cut payroll and expenses wherever possible.  Even the GM meetings itself has seen cuts – previous sessions were held in Palm Springs and other resort areas. This year I think it speaks volumes about the fina... Read Full Story

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