Baseball trivia! Challenge #1

I've recently discovered a comprehensive trivia website that has multiple baseball trivia challenges (as well as many others). Here's the link: Trivia! Some are very difficult....some not so much.

Let's start with a middling one.

Here's this week challenge: Name all 27 members of the 3000 hit club.

Vent your frustrations in the comments sections about how you missed that obvious one that was on the tip of your tongue...trust me it happens a lot. Good luck!

Dreaming of Topps Heritage....

...literally. Just before I woke up yesterday, I had a dream involving collating a master set of Topps Heritage. I was on a bus in a dusty town somewhere in rural America. Everyone seemed to be a little downtrodden on the bus as we traveled along a bumpy road. There was no music or videos on the bus, only the sound of the engine and the sudden crying of a middle-aged woman behind me. She began to exclaim aloud, "I can't afford that. I only have 6 shortprints. I was only able to get one box." I need 100 shortprints to get what I desire. I was going to turn around and ask what she desired, but I didn't have the nerve. Instead, I started thinking..."I don't have any shortprints. What can I offer her? I don't even have any base cards. The Heritage has not reached my sphere of influence."

A man stood up at the front of the bus and came towards me. He says, "I have to get off the bus. Can you lend me some shortprints so I can get to the next town?" I reply, "But I have none, I don't expect a box until next week at the earliest. And then I'll only have six for myself. That won't be enough for anybody." He started shaking me, "I need the shortprints, I need them, just a few more. I can have the set....I'll do anything."

And then he shook me back into the waking world....I have no Heritage...and the shortprints always give me nightmares.

Ranking the Sets: The Junior High Years: 1993-1996: Introduction

Over the next few weeks (months?), I will be doing a comprehensive (as I can) commentary and ranking of sets from the period when I collected the most cards. This period I refer to as the junior high years, 1993-1996. At this point in my life, other distractions such as girls, garage band music, and after school sports did not encumber my full-on obsession in baseball card collecting, sorting, and trading. I frequented many card shows and card shops and thought I had a good grasp of what sets were out there and perceived value. Previously, I was strictly a Topps collector. Only 69 cents a pack in 1992! Because I had no allowance or birthday money to go beyond that price, that was all I could get by pleading with my mom for some loose change. I also discovered the wonders of breaking an entire box at once during this time period.

This time period was also a tumultuous and game-changing one for the hobby. Say welcome to super premium sets, new technologies that are ubiquitous to this day, Pacific Trading Cards, foil as far as the eye can reflect, and the insert card explosion. Say good bye to cardboard card stock, packs that cost less than $1.00 (for the most part), ease of collecting all the sets in a year, and the Donruss/Leaf company as we knew it (I believe purchased by Pinnacle after the release of 1996 Leaf).

Here's a quick rundown of what to expect:

Description of design
The set's place within the manufacturer's lineup in that year
Pack and box configuration (source: 2003 Sports Collectors Digest Price Guide)
Price at the time of release or when I looked to purchase it (souce: an overly hazy memory)
Insert set worth pursuing (for me)
Nostalgia in the set/insert sets
Positives of the set (some might not have any)
The annoyingness factors of the set (some might not have any)
Rookies of note divided into tiers (some might not have any)
Any originality aspects
Impact on the hobby (immediate and/or lasting)
Favorite card (s) (even for some sets I dont like)
Other notes

h/t to Ben Henry's Baseball Card Blog who finished a 1990-1994 countdown last year.

This is also a personal ranking of sets since these are the ones I had held most in my hands through the years.
There were 120 released sets by the major manufacturers featuring modern players. They will be ranked by my subjective ratings and rantings. Please comment along the journey

Next up...Set #120......1995 Pacific Prisms

Fantasy Baseball: Preliminary Draft Strategies Part I

These are some basic strategies that I have followed for myself over the past 8-9 years. I may not have adhered to all of them completely since sometimes I like to do experimental drafts. Some of them are really basic, and after reading them, you'd be thinking to yourself: " Who doesn't know that?" Well, you'd be surprised after all the obviously bone-headed picks that myself or other people have made that had miniscule chances of working out. Some strategies are for both types of leagues (rotisserie and head to head). Others are league-specific.

1. Know the depth charts of all the teams. Obvious alert! This is like saying know that players play baseball. With that said, plate appearances matter. A platoon guy can be useful if you are in a daily lineup change league and can pinpoint when he's playing. But the odds are that there were full-time players still available when this guy was drafted. Full-time, of course, does not mean helpful to your fantasy team.

2. Know the pitching staffs of all teams. The starting rotation is important, or at least the first four starters are. The so-called fifth starter starts less games and has a much higher ERA than the rest of the rotations. If you're using 5th starters, you better be in a 14 team or more league. For the bullpen, be familiar with the closer, the set-up guy, and the young guy with the huge fastball. Pitchers get hurt, managers get impatient. On that note...

3. Don't reach for closers. I learned my lesson the hard way on this one. Billy Wagner, how I loathe you now. Francisco Rodriguez will be picked way before he should just because of the 62 saves. Last year, I thought I followed this one pretty well. I like to take one who I think is a "safe" closer somewhere between rounds 8-11. This is not a guarantee as Huston Street owners from last year can attest. I ended up with Mariano Rivera in round 9. Then, I target two guys on teams that are not supposed to do so well. Prime examples in '08 were George Sherrill of Baltimore and Brian Wilson of San Francisco. I ended up with Wilson on practically every team. Was he a great pitcher? No. Did he get saves? Yes. I also draft a high strikeout middle reliever somewhere in rounds 16-19. They don't always pan out as eventual closers or even good pitchers...Scott Linebrink in '07 and Scot Shields in '08 come on down! But they are the first ones you can cut when you need to fill an essential roster spot or they can pay off dividends down the road. Brad Lidge in 2004 was a perfect middle reliever. 150 strikeouts, is that possible again?

4. Consider position scarcity when drafting. This is a difficult concept to grasp since there are a few nuanced layers to it.

5. League Matters: The American League is stronger than the National League. Pitchers switching leagues see a slight downturn in performance when moving to the American League. The American League East is one tough division. This does not mean draft great pitchers on these teams such as Sabathia, Halladay, Shields, etc should be devalued. Just be aware especially for sleeper picks and fringe-type players. There is also the hypothesis that greater competition breeds great success. If only all fantasy leagues were like that....

6. A player's context and situation matters. Where are they normally hitting in the lineup? Will they split time? Do they have a spot in the rotation? Do they show a severe home/road split like Ervin Santana in'06 for pitchers or name a Colorado hitter in almost any year? Is there a lefty/righty split? Is there a day/night split? Home park especially plays a role. Be wary of power hitters in San Diego, but love pitchers there. Like Philadelphia power hitters, be wary of pitchers. (These are just examples, there are relevant park factors for all statistics). This again, does not mean you should avoid Cole Hamels or Adrian Gonzalez completely because of their ball park. It means to figure it into their values accordingly.

Next time.....a mock draft thought exercise.

The World Series Phillies Project: Introduction

Since this past year, the Phillies won the World Series for the first year in my lifetime (1980 was the year before I was born), I have decided to commemorate it in my own decidedly unique way. Sure, I already own the official cap and jacket and hooded sweatshirt and two T-shirts and have every newspaper clipping framed, but I wanted to add my own spin to commerorate the past and celebrate the present Phillies.

Using my baseball card obsession with an unhealthy focus on order, I have decided to undertake a five pronged collecting project involving cards (of which I am essentially starting from scratch)

1. Collect every rookie card of any Phillie who made an appearance in the postseason during 1980 and 2008. This one can be daunting. I may have to limit it to non-autographed rookie cards for awhile with Ryan Howard lurking. Rose, Schmidt, and Carlton will also not be easy to find. Also, limiting it to players who played in the postseason keeps it a little simpler. I may want to include other contributors such as Kyle Kendrick in 2008 or Nino Espinosa in 1980, but that would be a bonus.

2. Do a continuation series of each of these players careers. Start with their first card year on the Phillies and have all base cards up to and including their last year on the Phillies. Notable inserts could be pursued, though I'm not sure which would be available.

3. The Mike Schmidt Project: It is an expansion of parts 1 and 2: to pursue all cards, oddball and otherwise of Schmidt during his playing days.

4. The Steve Carlton Project: Similar in scope to part 3 above.

5. Get a game-used jersey (or bat) card and autographed card of each of these players possible. Also, can include other prominent Phillies of the past such as Dick Allen, Johnny Callison, Del Ennis, Granny Hamner, Robin Roberts, etc.

I am currently putting together the checklist. This is taking a lot of time. If anyone knows of any resources out there, especially for parts 3 and 4, please let me know. At some point, I'll post the "I'm sure I'm missing this" list for this on the sidebar.

Fantasy Baseball: Preliminary Draft Thoughts

I haven't yet begun my preparation for my various fantasy baseball leagues, but there are always a few thoughts percolating about how to pursue draft strategems and game plans.

Typically, I play in a standard 5x5 league (The categories are R, HR, RBI, SB, and AVG for hitters and W, K, SV, ERA, and WHIP for pitchers). I tend to split between rotisserie-style and head to head leagues (Rotisserie is when you accumulate statistics for the entire season and then are ranked against the peers in your league in each category. Head-to-head is when you compete each week against one team and accumulate wins based upon how many categories you win).

I typically draft in a typical snake draft, randomly chosen. I have not participated in auctions before. But unlike fantasy football, not having a high 1st round pick won't doom you to a life as an also-ran. Of course, having a high 1st round pick means you don't have to think as much about who to pick. I have done well and done poorly picking from either location. The key is to have an idea about what to do after the first pick and how to adjust to the flow of the draft. Because you will encounter people in your league with distinctly different strategies. Though in the past couple years with the explosion of internet sites, the advice and strategies have normalized and the information has become more easily accessible.

Not that this fact is a bad thing, it just makes having a unique strategy more difficult. For example, in 2001 I drafted Ichiro in the 9th round in half my drafts. Someone like that would not slip through the cracks so easily. I targeted and received Miguel Cabrera in 2004 in the 8th round or I had drafted Grady Sizemore in 2006 in the 5th round. Talent is more easily identified than before and you can know all the up and comers with a click of a mouse. Steady veterans are where you can sometimes get a value relative to the draft position.

Draft strategies have also evolved. For example, in 2002, the consensus first two picks were Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez. Other strategies have not evolved. Slugging first baseman offering little else are overvalued as 1st round picks if you can't guarantee a 50 HR season. Examples that have been drafted in the first round after career years that have not lived up to the hype are Mark Teixeira (2006), Prince Fielder (2008), Ryan Howard (2008), Carlos Delgado (2004), Jeff Bagwell (2002). Drafting is a matter of choice, preference, and educated guesswork.

Next time, some basic strategies I tend to follow. These are not ironclad, I shift with the flow of the draft a lot of the time.

My World of Baseball Part VI: Baseball Cards

I first read about statistics in two places: newsapapers and the back of baseball cards. At one point, when I was 12, I had memorized the batting averages of everyone in the 1989-1991 Topps sets. I spent a lot of time sorting through them, let's just say that.

Baseball cards, to me, are an encapsulation of the previous season with an image of the player, the player's uniform, position, and team, and the previous year's stats (hopefully with career stats). For a large base set (think Topps or Upper Deck), you can see most of the players on a team's roster along with season highlights such as league leaders and postseason highlights. They are also a reflection of the times they were printed. I mean, have you ever seen 1975 Topps, or 1995 Fleer? (if you haven't, someday there will be an updated version of scans of these cards)

I am collector. They offer me a combination of nostalgia, a sense of purpose (limited, in this sense, though it may be), and I like it, so there. I still get a thrill from opening a pack. I still get yet another thrill from getting a favorite player or even getting an insert. I am a product of collecting in the 80s and 90s after all. Inserts are what to live for (well, they are shiny).

My collection began when my mother bribed me some mornings to get ready for pre-school or kindergarten. I was a notoriously slow cereal eater. I still am; it is very easy to get distracted by objects that are not in the bowl. Back then, she was perfectly happy to spend 35 or 40 cents so that she could get to work on time. I soon graduated to getting cards when I didn't expect it....on trips to the grocery store or the mall. Ah, compromise.

Now, I collect for the joy of it. I have a bookshelf dedicated to it and a closet in another state to maintain the other pieces. At some point, I will combine them so I can conduct proper trades with people and not have too many duplicates that I don't know about.

History in your hand, excitement in tearing wax or foil, happiness in a familiar face, always growing in number...baseball cards. With more detail to come.

My World of Baseball-Part V: Statistics

To me, one of the most fun and satisfying part of watching a baseball game at the ballpark is to keep score. You don't control the game at all (though I always imagine that I can predict how my half-pencil will move the next at-bat. Come on 1B...just one more hit...). I especially enjoy the fact that you get an instantaneous snapshot of how the player has done in previous at-bats and innings. It also gives a brief mental picture of each event of the game. Never before can three symbols mean so much (aside from other acronym types) like GO 5-3. Can't you just picture the event?

The cumulative effect of keeping score and the statistics that are present by the end of the game are the value. With one glance, you can see what events led to the ultimate goal, scoring runs. You can calculate BA, OBP, SLG and add totals to other things like HR and RBI to get a picture of how a player contributed to the team scoring (or not scoring) runs. Pitching statistics are also apparent: K, BB, H allowed, ERA, RA, etc. You can see with your eyes and then correlate the game with the numbers.

A season is an accumulation of games and a career is an accumulation of seasons. How to figure out how a player contributes to scoring runs, preventing runs, and ultimately wins (or wins in an average or neutral environment) gives a good idea of the player's value. There are many ways to measure this. Some of them are cumulative stats based completely off a player's total and rate stats (win shares, base runs). Others are based on comparing the player to a level of his peers (EqA, VORP from Baseball Prospectus, WARP3, RSAA). Others are based on comparing to peers adjusting for their environment to compare players in different eras (OPS+, ERA+, Neutral Wins). These all require some calculation. But they are based in the one reality that baseball exhibits, scoring runs is good on offense and preventing runs is good on defense.

Even basic statistics that keeping score and the boxscore show have value. They give a quicksnapshot of a player and how well he took advantage of opportunities. They also are the basis for any other comparative statistic that might exist. Build a base with actual events and correlate this to value and essentially to runs/preventing runs. It seems simple, but there are always roadblocks to devising a number that encapsulates as much as you would like to capture.

I don't have the time to invent new statistics or sift through vast amounts of data. There are many sites and books and organizations that do that very well. It is of interest to dive deeper than keeping score and reading the boxscore to appreciate baseball on a historical and reflective level. It is always interesting and always sparks debate, which many people enjoy. A worthy debate is almost as good as the reasons for it existing.

My World of Baseball-Part IV: Discussion and Analysis

Baseball is not a continuous sport. It flows in a stepwise manner with discrete events building upon each other so that the anteceding event is dependent upon all preceding events....or at least that's how I tend to think of it. For example, the pitcher walks the first batter in the inning. This influences the oncoming events because the layout of the field changes: (1)the first baseman moves over to cover first base (2)the second baseman and shortstop could be in motion for an attempted steal or move back into "double-play depth" (3)the pitcher begins pitching out of the stretch instead of the windup (4) the signals from the catcher probably become more disguised. Also, the mindset of the defense changes and the mental process of each fielder involves more options. The score of the game and which inning this occurs in at the time this happens also has an impact on the events to come in the future.

This type of thinking has both been observed by observers and quantified by analysis. The interesting point is how many times the intuitions match up with the analysis. For example, when watching a game, you can sense that a team has a much greater opportunity to score when there is a runner on 2nd and 0 out vs when there is a runner on 1st and 1 out. But the analysis shows, based on empirical data, how much of a difference this opportunity actually has been historically in an attempt to predict what can happen "on average". That is fascinating to me.

Also fascinating is anything having to do with the historical perspective of baseball. I mean, I don't necessarily fall for the romanticized version of the game, but the build-up of playing legends set against the backdrop of their time and how they would compare against players from before and after their time is something wonderful to discuss. I have an obsession with reading articles about the Hall of Fame. I don't care if I agree or disagree with their viewpoint, it's amazing how so many people can interpret an individual's career performance. The same could be said for a season performance. Justin Morneau? 2006 MVP? Really? I disagree obviously, but I love to see people either lay out their case rationally or irrationally. Both have merit in the world of baseball because baseball at its heart is both a mental grind and an emotional intensity.

My World of Baseball-Part III: Clix

This is the post where we diverge from the conventional world and into a place where I sense I am isolated. I have an unhealthy fascination with Sportsclix. I would imagine that if it were popular when I was a child, Strat-o-matic would have a similar hold on me. For the uninitiated, they are approximately 3 inch high baseball figures of various players throughout the league and in history (for the 2005 series) released in three series from late 2003-2005. I first saw them in a Rob Neyer article on ESPN, I bought a couple on ebay, and then the fascination began in a few ways.

I wanted them all, I still do....they are a little difficult to find these days. At some point in the future, I'll post my want list for those who have no use for them lying around the shelves of your domicile. Also, the game itself was fun to play. You got to set up a team with a certain number of points (usually 1000) and play 9 innnings. A typical game took 1.5-2 hours and it always, always!! was very low-scoring; 1-0 and 2-1 were representative scores.

This is the reason why there was nothing more satisfying then "clicking" your player's abilities to the next level. Each player had base abilities and as you failed or succeeded at an at-bat, fielding attempt, pitch sequence, etc....based on the roll of the dice, the player would go on an individual hot or cold streak. And you could get hotter and hotter or really impossibly cold. Every "click" would bring a different set of events that could possibly occur. You have to try it to enjoy it. It fed the probabitician (now a real word) and baseball aficionado in me.

I will detail the clix in later posts aesthetically in later posts when I take some photos of them and can better describe the various poses and what the different levels of rarity meant. This, however, is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of my collecting habits....

My World of Baseball-Part II: Fantasy Baseball

Being a fan of a team and/or of the game provides, for me, a visceral thrill when there is success or an amazing athletic or historic feat. It's an emotional investment, a heart-pounding, seat of the pants roller coaster of joy and disappointment. And yet, I love every gut wrenching moment of it.

On the other hand, there's the more intellectual side, the playr evaluation side, the side which fulfills my childhood dream of being a GM (I was not a very good little league player, but that is a story for another time)...and that is fantasy baseball. Many people play this, most people probably play it more seriously than I do, but I am an avid player. Not as intense as I once was, but still I like to do well, to say the least.

I started playing in 2001. I don't remember what made me want to participate in my first draft. I even think the first one was an autodraft...I don't do those anymore. I made my rankings and waited. Jeff Bagwell was my first ever first round pick. I don't think it was a particularly good pick. I drafted four teams that year and I was hooked. One team finished in the top 500 overall for Yahoo fantasy baseball in 2001 led by the ghost of Roberto Alomar. Through subsequent years, the number of teams has fluctuated as my obsessiveness fluctuated, peaking with 11 teams in 2003. 2008 saw only two teams. I wouldn't say that I'm an expert, but I have been fairly successful, finishing in the top 3 approximately 70% of the time. This was the first year that I failed to win a league. 2005 was the pinnacle when I won four leagues ranging from 6 to 16 teams.

The point is this...I will give my thoughts about fantasy baseball. I have a feew very defined drafting strategies that I will share. I will also share my rankings whenever I make them up. I trust a lot of sites out there for info, but I tend to be unconventional in my drafting ways. Though this unconventional way has become the new conventional way. My thoughts come closest to mirroring Eric Karabell on ESPN in baseball and my drafting method is pretty close to that of Rotoworld.com. But I wasn't reading those sites when I began....

Fantasy baseball is a method for me to immerse myself in the details of the baseball world off the diamond. It may not be "real", but it's definitely fun. Let's play two.

My World of Baseball-Part I: My Fandom

Editor's Note: I wish I owned a scanner. This is first on the wishlist.

Baseball is an escape of sorts. It's an idealization of physical skill and mental concentration to bring about a larger goal on a competitive level. This has been waxed poetically about for decades ranging from Henry Chadwick, Grantland Rice, Bill James, Ken Burns, and Joe Posnanski with many in between. Each game is a story and each discrete event in the game has been predicated by previous thoughts and actions. It is a graceful tug of will and ability.

That, however, is not my role. I am a fan. I haven't played a full-scale version of baseball since I was 11. I am an intense, introspective fan. The daily travails of my favorite team can be etched across the gleams and grimaces on my face. The accomplishments which shape baseball lore are lights of memory in my life, regardless of whether I cheer for them or not.

I am a Phillies fan; it is deeply rooted. I attended the 1983 World Series when I could barely walk. I attended the NLCS Game 6 in 1993 in Veterans Stadium when the Phillies went to the World Series for the first time in my life. I moved to the west coast three years ago, so now I am a fan at a distance. I managed to see three Phillies games this year in three different cities: San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles, including NLCS game 3.

In other years, I was there for the 13 game winning streak in 1991, the John Smoltz near no-hitter thrown against them in 1990?, the Randy Ready triple play, the Ricky Jordan grand slam, the last hurrah of Mike Schmidt, fireworks game, Phanatic's birthday games, the Lenny Dykstra inside the park home run against the Mets, the booing of Scott Rolen before the trade, Curt Schilling striking out 16 Yankees....I've seen a lot of Phillies games live in my life (maybe 200?). I've also lived in St. Louis and the Bay Area and gone to their stadiums because I love it, simple as that. Like many other fans, I watch/follow games on TV/internet/radio.

It is not the only way I follow. I am an avid reader of books, magazines, and internet sites. I collect baseball cards. I have very few people in my life who can take a lot of baseball commentary in a day. So I have decided to write about it through my undecidedly biased prism.