Bill there is a lot of talk about punting lately. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall wants to replace kickoffs at the start of each half and after every score with the kicking team facing a 4th and 15 situation where they would have the option of going for it or punting. I don't think it is much easier to make a 4th and 15 than recovering an onside kick. Do you like this idea?

Bill, would you vote for Roy Halladay into the Hall of Fame?  

 

.....I went and did fuller data anyway -- comparing the Orioles' opposition during the part of the season that they had Machado, i.e. in their first 97 games, with their opposition the rest of the way. In terms of opposing teams' end-of-season W-L records, the Orioles' average opposing team in the first portion averaged 84.3 wins; in the latter portion, 87.3 wins. (P) So, the Orioles' similar record during the portion without Machado was against stronger average opposition, and as I noted before, a higher proportion of their series were against the best teams. The reason I went and checked all this was that I likewise had the impression that they were better during that latter portion, but of course I know not necessarily to trust that.

Maybe not so fast on taking it back about the Orioles 'with' and 'after' Machado! Yes, their 'after' record was just negligibly better, but, it looks like their similar 'after' record was against better average opposition. As usual I didn't do the most detailed breakdown, but, here's what I did: I looked at how many series they played against each team in each portion of the season, in terms of how the teams ranked according to their end-of-season W-L record. In the 'after' period there was a higher proportion of games against the best teams. (P) In that latter period, 13 of their 21 series were against teams that wound up with at least 89 wins. (The reason I did '13' series was, I started at the top and went down to where I'd cover at least half of the total series, and since there were 3 series against the last team, that made 13.) For the earlier period, to cover a similar fraction of the series you need to go down to teams around .500. (I'll do fuller data if anyone wants.)

Regarding steveperry9's question on Charley Smith....I wasn't involved in those early Gallery of Renown (GOR) simulations, so some of the other more senior BJOL members can chime in with additional info as well since mine may not cover everything, but Charley Smith was one of the early baseball pioneers that GOR creator Bob Gregory was fond of touting in those early elections.  Smith had a very brief career in the National Association (1871), so his baseball reference page doesn't look like much, but Smith was a significant player prior to that, when he starred on the Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn, which is recognized as baseball's first champion and its first dynasty during the 1850's and 1860's.  Bob wrote his "case" for Smith in the Gallery of Renown archives that BJOL member ventboys maintains in Bob's memory.   The Smith case can be found at https://bobgregoryarchive.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/1893-bobs-case-for-charley-smith/    Thanks, Dan

I was looking at the AL East of 1974 and the MVP voting that year,  and one name really stands out--there in 8th place,  you find Elliott Maddox.  What's up with that?  He had a good year for the Yanks, sure,  hit .303,  scored a few runs,  must have been a good OF,  but I'm really curious...What were they seeing there?  Carew is right above him at 7 in the voting and Grich is at 9th (should be higher)--just what did Maddox do that year that was so 'valueable'?

The reason I asked you to watch the 1934 Yanks-A's excerpt --  

 

1. It is exceptional  

2. In one of the Gold Mine books, you recounted watching an original broadcast from the 1974 World Series, and listed several fascinating observations (e.g. Dick Green anchoring a double play "without being in the same zip code as second base").  As a collector of these old treasures, it's great to see sabermetricians making use of the historical artifacts, the contemporaneous game accounts that remain.  

 

 

In response to the earlier query about Charley Smith, he was one of the best players of the pre-league era, so there are no easily accessible stats.  He was a third baseman for the Brooklyn Atlantics through the 1860s, but retired after 1871.  You can find a good short bio in the book Base Ball Founders by Googling "charley smith was born in brooklyn" in quotes. The late Gallery of Renown founder Bob Gregory was a big 19th-century baseball enthusiast and helped to curate some of those early selections, though the voters didn't always follow him.  If you've spent time reading 1860s newspapers, Smith will seem like a very reasonable selection.  He was a big deal at the time.

RE: The April 24, 1934 video of the game between the Yankees and A's. One note of many: the catchers don't squat. They bend their knees but it's more like a half squat. My question for Bill is when did catchers start squatting for real? Also, only two umpires. Thanks.

Bill, the Orioles played .289 baseball before trading Machado and .292 baseball after trading him, with similar run scored/allowed ratios. That's an interesting definition of playing "much better."

Can anyone ( Bill ? Daniel ? )  tell me who is the Charley Smith elected in the 1894 Hall Of Renown election article ?  I can find next to nothing about him .  

Thank you

Not a question, just a word of thanks for the new stat section. Don't worry, I will continue buying the Handbook every year.

There’s a lot of discussion in the media about Kyler Murray. As the 9th pick in baseball, he got a bit over 4 million dollar signing bonus. If he is drafted even in the middle of the 1st round in football, the guaranteed money dwarfs that.  

 

It’s true that the top-end baseball contracts are better long-term, mostly because they’re guaranteed, but the probability of flaming out in the minors is a significant risk. Quarterbacks in the NFL are paid exorbitantly due to the shortage of quality. If I were him in this scenario I’d push for the NFL, assuming they can get over his height. (Listed at 5’10", but they suspect he’s actually 5’8").  

 

Am I missing something?

Hi Bill  

 

I was wondering if you believe the recent confession involving the JonBenet Ramsey case?  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6555009/Pedophile-Gary-Oliva-confesses-killing-JonBen-t-Ramsey-accident.html  

 

 

The supposed killer says other men were involved.  Does this make sense to you?  Thanks!  

 

I don't know if this has been publicized -- but shockingly high-quality sound film has just been posted from an April 24, 1934 game between the Yankees and Athletics. We're talking TV-quality viewing.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRS6YppAFcg  

 

Bill, if you have time to spin through this -- anything that really sticks out, keenly observed?