The 2015 Red Sox were a thought experiment gone awry. The team was built around its 2013 championship core, but augmented in such a way as to capitalize on major league baseball’s current pitcher-friendly environment…. Read more »
It’s an even year; they’ll win it all. … Wait, I need more than that? Oh, well, I guess there’s more to the story then. While it is true that this is an even year,… Read more »
The annual rite of Spring is upon us–the release of the 17th iteration of the Out of the Park Baseball sim, out for the general public Tuesday. Much like the other nine versions of the game I’ve… Read more »
Think about a moment that helps sum up the 2015 Nationals season. A team that most experts picked to win the National League East easily in a division with two teams at the beginning of… Read more »
We’re down to the Wild Four of the 2016 Effectively Wild Tournament. #1 Ned Garver (78%) continues to be the force of the tournament, defeating Drafts of Everything. #1 Gonny Jomes (51%) continued his winning ways as he rallied past Sam’s Morbid Moments by just 2 votes.
Corey Smith and Rob Mains join Ryan Sullivan to talk about the upcoming Rays game in Cuba, the Nationals, the SABR Analytics Conference, and Adam LaRoche.
Groundskeepers are like offensive linemen: we often don’t notice them until they mess up. Without regular maintenance, your lovely baseball field can go from this: to this: (Let’s not forget that we’re less than a year removed from a… Read more »
For the Houston Astros, the 2015 season represented some sort of near-redemption, an almost-coronation that brought them back into the good graces of fans across Houston. They finished 86-76, won the Wild Card game against… Read more »
“Bautista with a drive, deep left field, no doubt about it!” Independently, those eleven magical words don’t add much value, though when collectively exclaimed from the voice of Kenny Albert they evoke an unparalleled escape… Read more »
We move on to the Effective Eight in Round 3 of the 2016 Effectively Wild Tournament. The #1 and #2 seeds have all advanced; here’s how it happened: #1 Ned Garver (78%) rolled past the Burritos…
“My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’” -Forrest Gump Things felt different when the Yankees geared up for their Wild Card showdown with… Read more »
Jerry Dipoto overhauled much of the Mariners’ roster this offseason. Will it be enough to give King Felix the chance to pitch in the postseason?
Andrew Patrick and Mike Carlucci join Brandon Lee to talk about Harper-Bautista-Gossage, break down our Wild Four tournament, preview the Angels/A’s/Giants/Dodgers, and play “Guess the ’06 BP Player Comment.”
I attended the Society for American Baseball Research’s Analytics Conference in Phoenix. It started Thursday, March 10 and ran through Saturday, March 12. (I was going to post daily updates, but didn’t, for networking/going-out-for-drinks reasons.)… Read more »
Byung Ho Park, the Twins’ big free-agent acquisition this offseason, has already shown why the Twins spent the $12.85 million posting fee to negotiate with the 29-year-old Korean slugger. On March 6, Park clubbed his… Read more »
Brandon Lee, Mike Carlucci, Nick Strangis, and Ken Maeda banter about Force Awakens rewatches and then resume their draft of favorite Star Wars things with three more rounds.
It’s down to the Sweep Sixteen in Round 2 of the 2016 Effectively Wild Tournament. First, the decisive results of the second half of Round 1:
After a record streak of 20 straight losing seasons–this team lost 105 games as recently as 2010–the Pirates have made the postseason three straight years. In a way, though, it’s been unfulfilling. They’ve failed to… Read more »
I know it’s over – still I cling I don’t know where else I can go -The Smiths ************************ .272/.313/.385 84 wRC+ -Bo Hart Last year, my theme for this piece was “not yet,” as… Read more »
Last offseason, the Chicago White Sox appeared to be going into the 2015 season in “win-now” mode. They signed Jeff Samardzija. They signed Melky Cabrera. They signed David Robertson. Adding those three guys with the incumbents… Read more »
Tell me you predicted the Texas Rangers would win the AL West in 2015. Go on, tell me! Of course you didn’t. I didn’t. Nobody did! And yet, there they were, sitting atop the standings… Read more »
Welcome to the second half of the first round of the 2nd Annual 2015 Effectively Wild Tournament Bracket Classic. The results from the first opening eight matchups:
Let’s take a Quantum Leap for a moment. I’ll be Al Calavicci to your Dr. Sam Beckett. We materialize in the dry heat of the desert. As I check my handlink, I inform you that… Read more »
Mark Sands and AD are back to preview the upcoming Detroit Tigers season. While the Bob Seger lead-in to our 2015 season preview still feels on-point, we missed pretty badly on our prediction that Detroit… Read more »
Outside of the Upper Midwest, admitting one’s Twins fandom is akin to declaring vanilla your favorite ice cream or missionary your favorite sexual position. The Twins are both unremittingly dull and steadfast in their belief… Read more »
Welcome to the first half of the first round of the 2nd Annual 2015 Effectively Wild Tournament Bracket Classic.
2016-wild-four-card-garverIn yet another take on March Madness, Banished to the Pen has again compiled 32 of the Effectively Wild podcast’s classic topics, favorite players, and most enduring/endearing running jokes.
Sam Miller described the San Diego Padres entering the 2015 off-season as “the boringest franchise” (Effectively Wild, episode 591). But after spending much of the 2000s mired in the range of 70 wins, General Manager… Read more »
Ben Suissa and Mark Sands join Ryan Sullivan to talk about the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Dexter Fowler, Ian Desmond, and baseball Steph Curry.
First things first: Bull Durham, the motion picture, requires no defense. I’ve already written that the 1988 feature film, “along with 1984’s The Natural, establishes the archetypal standard for the splurge of popular baseball movies that would… Read more »
What a difference a year makes. Going into 2015, the Milwaukee Brewers returned qualifying players at six of the eight field spots (with a seventh within a handful of plate appearances) and solidified the last… Read more »
