Kuzul

Everyone has perfect 20/20 hindsight. I know I do.

Some think the sweep job the Cards did was in retaliation to Brandon Phillips’ name calling and some are in agreement that he should have kept his mouth shut.

If he is attempting to become public enemy No. 1, he took the correct fork in the road. After his “hulkish” posturing after leveling Nationals catcher Will Nieves, he drew the ire of Pudge Rodriguez and many Washington fans.

What are the real problems facing the Reds since the beginning of the series with the Cards?

1. Brandon Phillips to start with. Calling the team a “bunch of bitches” right after getting it handed to you is as lame as it gets. Why stir up a hornets nest after they have already hit you with a good shot in the forehead?

2. Why was Travis Wood sent to Louisville prior to the series? He has been the most effective starter we have had recently. Do the brass know something we don’t? Well, it doesn’t look like it.

I know somebody had to vacate a spot so we could trade Chris Dickerson (who was still on the DL) for Jim Edmonds, which is a trade that I applaud. Why wasn’t Edmonds used against Adam Wainwright?

3. Wainwright is the best starting pitcher in baseball, or at least in the National League. The man is a picture of consistency.

4. The Cards showed they can both pitch and hit in the same game. The Reds couldn’t do either during any of the games.

5. Scott Rolen showed his maturity by acting as peacemaker and then his loyalty for going after Chris Carpenter for talking about Dusty Baker.

6. The Cardinals won three games going away in the Reds yard, and they do not have a winning record on the road. That is distressing. The Reds end their play with the Cards in St. Louis during Labor Day weekend.

7. The Reds quickly went from the hottest team in the league to the coldest.

8. The Cardinals are this good with only two starters (position players) from their 2008 squad—Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols, and that was just two years ago.

9. Johnny Cueto was suspended for seven games. Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa were both suspended for two games. Scott Rolen and Chris Carpenter were fined but not suspended and Reds reliever Russ Springer was also fined.

Should we panic? No, I don’t think so.

Some changes need to be made or it won’t get any better. I would like to see more of Edmonds as he could be a big factor down the stretch.

I don’t think Jay Bruce is going to be effective wherever he is put in the lineup. His strikeout ratio is way too high. We need more production from him if he is to continue starting.

The comment about strikeouts can be cut and pasted to Drew Stubbs’ account as well, in spades!

The Reds are facing one of the best pitchers in the league on Friday in Josh Johnson. I don’t want to see another two-hit shutout. Do you?

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Dusty Baker finally gets me. No, I mean he really, really gets me.

How difficult it must be to go to the mound and tell your closer to hit the bricks. Regardless of how dire the situation, and believe me it was dire, it still must be a gut churner.

To tell your highest paid man on the current roster that his day is over has done one of two things. It has either brought the manager to an epiphany that says “I have seen this too many times,” or “Someone has got to clean up this mess he just made.”

Pulling your closer from the game is tantamount to raising the white flag and saying, “It’s over, we’ve had enough.”

With so much emphasis put on the closer today, it puts the manager in a tough situation.

If he pulls him, he is screaming to the world that his man just doesn’t have it today. If he stays with him and allows him to build on the mess he’s made, he will most likely lose the game.

I have been hyper-critical of Coco all season long, and now it looks as though Dusty has finally come around.

When a Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, or Johnny Cueto give way to Coco with a three run lead and a performance worthy of their scrapbook, they deserve more than to see the bases filled with singles and walks, and a winning run coming to the plate.

Remember the game against Atlanta?

The Reds were ahead 9-3 when the Braves came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Mike Lincoln gave up four singles, Nick Massett gave up a walk and another runner reached on an error.

Dusty brought in Arthur Rhodes who promptly struck out slugger Jason Heyward for the first out of the inning with the bases loaded.

Instead of Dusty leaving Rhodes in while he was hot, he motioned for the closer. On a 2-2 pitch he served up a grand salami to pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad, losing the game 10-9.

Far too many times this season, Cordero has blown saves, loaded the bases and still got a save, and continues to be called in every time the game is on the line.

Don Cable recently wrote a comment on one of my articles stating that he didn’t understand why teams had one man that they exclusively leaned on when they were between a rock and a hard place. I agreed with him then and more so now.

Kudos to Massett who came through in spades yesterday with the bases loaded and only one out. A $1M man picking up a $12M man, go figure.

I know there have been times this season when Cordero pitched flawlessly. But too many times has his pitch count gone over 30 for one inning. He is constantly walking at least one and giving up a hit or two every time out of the pen.

Baker needs to give the ball over to Rhodes, Massett and rookie Jordan Smith more at the end of the game.

I have said it before and I will say it again. We simply will not win the division with Cordero remaining the exclusive closer.

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The Reds and Cards are in one of the longest running one and two pennant races in history. Neither team can really put substantial distance between themselves and the other.

Both squads have strong talent and deep rosters.

Let’s take a look at the way the teams stack up against each other, position by position.

CATCHER

Yadier Molina is one of the best defensive catchers in the game. His average has dropped this season to .243 and his run production has dropped as well.

The Reds do not have a “true” starting catcher. They rotate (not platoon) Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan, and with the production they get from the duo places them high on the list in both leagues.

Advantage: REDS

FIRST BASE

Albert Pujols is arguably the best player in the game today, and has been for a few years. He is a rare bird indeed, blending excellent power with a high average.

Prince Albert is currently batting .305 and is second in the NL in home runs and RBI. He is also second in the league in OBP.

His counterpart Joey Votto is only in his third full year in the majors. He has a legitimate chance at winning the Triple Crown this year, and is having an MVP-type season himself.

He leads the league with a .324 average and OBP at .423. He is currently tied for second with Pujols in home runs with 27 and is fifth in RBI.

Advantage: EVEN

SECOND BASE

Skip Schumaker ranks near the bottom in almost all offensive categories for second basemen. A natural outfielder, he was relegated to the middle infield position last season.

The Reds Brandon Phillips made the All-Star team for the first team this year and leads the league in runs scored and is second in total hits. Many people see him as the best defensive second baseman in the National League.

Advantage: REDS

THIRD BASE

Cardinal rookie David Freese was having an exceptional season until injuries forced him to the DL. He re-injured himself in a rehab game and it is unknown how long he will be out. Journeyman, Felipe Lopez is taking his place at the hot corner in the interim.

Scott Rolen has won seven Gold Glove Awards and is enjoying his best season since 2006 when he was still with St. Louis. He is hitting .299 with 18 HR and 62 RBI.

Advantage: REDS

SHORTSTOP

Brendan Ryan has played the majority of the season at shortstop for the Cards. He is batting .223 with two HR and 21 RBI.

Reds shortstop Orlando Cabrera came to the Reds just prior to Spring Training and has been a welcome addition. He is the missing link which makes the Reds the best infield in the National League.

He is batting .260 with three HR and 37 RBI, and has been a decent hitter in the clutch.

Advantage: REDS

LEFT FIELD

Matt Holiday has been on fire lately. Since July 18, he has hit 15 HR and driven in 40 while batting ,318.with an OBP of .393.

Prior to the All-Star break Gomes was batting near .300 and was in the top five in RBI in the NL. He has since slid downward to the .275 range with 66 RBI.

Advantage: CARDINALS

CENTER FIELD

Rookie Colby Rasmus is batting .276 with 18 HR and 47 RBI.
Reds rookie Drew Stubbs is batting only .226 with 13 HR but leads Rasmus in RBI with 49.

Advantage: CARDINALS

RIGHT FIELD

John Jay has taken over the reigns in right field after Ryan Ludwick was traded in July. In only 123 AB Jay is batting .366

Reds under-achiever Jay Bruce is batting .254 with 10 HR and 41 RBI.

Advantage: REDS (slightly)

STARTING PITCHERS

Adam Wainwright, Cris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, newly acquired Jake Westbrook, and Jeff Suppan is certainly one of the most formidable rotations in the Major League. The Cards ERA for their starters leads the league at 3.32. They are 45-32 and have held the opposition to a BA of .260. Wainwright has the lone shutout for the Cards this year.

The Reds have had many different starters this season. Their current rotation of Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, Travis Wood, and Edinson Volquez could almost be called Bronson and the Babies.

The starters stats for the Reds are as follows: 41-28 with an ERA of 4.07 with an opposing BA of only .256. Homer Bailey and Cueto have the only two shutouts for the Reds this year, ironically back-to-back.

Advantage: CARDINALS (slightly)

BULLPEN

The Cardinal bullpen has not been their strong suit this season. Kyle McClellan, Blake Hawksworth, Mike MacDougal, Dennis Reyes, and Trever Miller are all front men for closer Ryan Franklin.

Their bullpen is only credited with 23 saves in 31 opportunites with an ERA of 3.71 with an OBA of .252

The Reds bullpen has been toyed with all season with men being sent back and forth to Triple-A Louisville. It is currently stocked by Sir Arthur Rhodes, Nick Massett, Logan Ondrusek, Bill Bray, and Jordan Smith with Francisco Cordero in charge of heart attacks and strokes.

They are credited with 31 saves in 42 chances and have posted an ERA of 3.99 while holding the opposition to a .251 BA.

Advantage: EVEN

BENCH

The Reds have a stronger bench by far. Chris Heisey, Layne Nix, Miguel Cairo, Paul Janish, Juan Francisco, and either Hernandez or Hanigan make choices alot easier for Manager Dusty Baker.

The Cards bench is lead by Randy Winn, Jason LaRue, Aaron Miles, and Aaron Craig.

Advantage: REDS

You may draw your own conclusions, but any way you dissect it, the teams matchup very well. It should be a nail-biting finish to a wonderful season.

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Throwing Edinson Volquez into the Lions Den has turned out to be a bad move.

He looked fantastic the first time out, but since then has been unrecognizable.

In only 12 innings he has given up 14 hits, 11 earned runs, ten walks and surrendered three long balls. All that pans out to an ERA of 8.25.

Apparently he has been thrown to the wolves much too early after having Tommy John surgery. He performed very well in his rehab assignments at Louisville, but his second and third starts have been horrendous.

I believe it was a mistake to bring him up so soon. They need to send him back down for more work and bring Matt Maloney back up.

In his two starts with the Reds, Maloney was only one out away from pitching quality games in each. His totals prior to being sent down to Louisville were 11 IP, 11 H, 4 ER with 2 B and a HR. An ERA of 3.09 and a WHIP of 1.14 belie his 0-2 record. His ERA+ is 140.

Being deadlocked with the Cardinals in the NL Central this late leaves little room for experimentation. Volquez should be on the next bus to Kentucky to make room for Maloney.

Since being down at Louisville, Maloney has won both his starts and had two quality appearances, giving up a total of 1 ER.

When engaged in a playoff hunt, every game means something. The worst thing to do is sit and do nothing. Just watching and continue to throw the former All-Star into the fray with hitters who are on their game will not get the job done.

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What in the name of Babe Ruth is Jason Heyward doing on the National League All-Star squad? Were the voters drunk when they voted or what?

Did he make the starting team because of his stellar performance? Don’t make me laugh, eh.

Let’s look at his numbers for a minute. Currently, he is ranked 74th in the NL in batting with a .251 mark. That’s impressive, yes?

He is 42nd in the league with 11 HR and 31st in RBI with 45.

He ranks dead last in starting right-fielders in the league in AVG, is in a three-way tie for fifth place in HR, and ranks fifth in RBI. We are talking right-fielders only folks, not all outfielders.

What about those numbers has an All-Star ring to it?

He started out the gate with a full head of steam, hitting a HR and driving in four in his pro debut.

He has been as inconsistent as can be imagined, fluttering between .176 and .300, but has been in a nose-dive since June 10, dropping from .272 daily to his current .251.

His reputation certainly preceded him, as everyone thought he was “all that.” The fans seemed to rush to the MLB sites to cast their vote for the “J-Hay Kid.”

This particular case clearly gives credence to having the voting only for a couple of weeks, maybe in late June. The first few weeks of a season are not nearly enough to allow someone to make a valid decision on the “best of the rest.”

It must be disappointing to a player who has worked his ass off (enter Jonny Gomes) and is finally one of the leaders in the three basic statistics for the outfield.

Heyward has no business whatsoever being associated with the game. He is currently on the DL and I believe should be still on the shelf for the ASG. All that notwithstanding, the man has not earned a place on the squad. It will show in his resume that he made the All-Star team in his rookie year.

Many people, myself included, are crying about the legalized thuggery perpetrated on Joey Votto by voters and Charlie Manuel alike. Even as much as Votto belongs there, I believe that Heyward does not belong there perhaps more.

The entire procedure for selecting an All-Star team needs to be reworked. Fans, by and large, aren’t knowledgeable enough to make educated choices, as the curious case of Jason Heyward illustrates in living color.

If the fans should be able to vote, no more weight should be given to it than say, 25-30 percent.

The game was originally intended to showcase the best players in both leagues, not rookies who have “great prospect” written all over them, or players who usually have good seasons (hi Joe Mauer and Ryan Braun).

Players are pulling out of the game and the HR Derby at an alarming rate. It is getting to be the Midsummer Disgrace instead of Classic.

Bud (Judge Landis wannabe) Selig messed it up a few years ago by allowing the winning league to host the World Series opening game.

So far the only thing that has been done that makes sense is having Arthur Rhodes selected to the National League team.

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Much has been said about Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt during the trade frenzy, but not quite as much has been mulled over Houston’s Lance Berkman.

Sure, the Yankees are mentioned anytime someone serves his name into play; And he would be a helluva Designated Hitter, but that is not what this article is about.

What kind of fit would he be for the Cincinnati Reds? Wait, don’t laugh yet. I know we have Joey Votto at 1B, but Berkman can also play in the outfield.

Keep in mind this is all based on the assumption that Lee doesn’t come to the Reds.
 
I know he is having a down year at the plate, but seriously I believe much of that can be ascribed to the lousy team he is playing on. If nobody gets on base it is extremely difficult to drive them in.

One of the biggest reasons I can see for the Reds to try to get him, is the fact that he is the best active hitter against the Reds, especially at Great American Ball Park.

Look at this: In 51 games played at GABP he is hitting .339 with an OBP of .458 and a SLG of .765, with 21 HR and 55 RBI. The only places he has done better (other than Minute Maid Park) is Petco and the old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

So, do you want him for ya or agin’ ya?

Where would we put him you say? I thought you would never ask. As a switch-hitter, he is even more valuable.

Berkman could platoon with Jay Bruce, who is a notorious poor hitter facing southpaws. Against right-handers, Bruce could move to center, while Berkman stays in right. He could spell Gomes in left and be available to play first whenever Votto needs a break. So, finding a place for him is not a problem.

What would the Astros want in return for Fat Elvis? I am glad you asked.

Their pitching is horrible across the board, so a pitcher who has been tried by fire would be essential. Enter Homer Bailey.

They are inadequate everywhere with the exception of the outfield and Jeff Keppinger in the middle of the infield.  Todd Frazier and Miguel Cairo can both play all around the infield, so they would become attractive entering the deal.

Ramon Hernandez would be a good suggestion as well behind the plate, since the Reds have a more than capable catcher in Ryan Hanigan.

My offer: Send Bailey, Hernandez and Cairo to Houston for Lance Berkman.

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The Baseball Jimmy with Caesar Cliffius Eastham and Sir Illya Charleton Harrell

Illya Harrell: Cliff, As Jerry Reed so eloquently sang in Smokey and the Bandit we, “Have a Long Way To Go and a Short Time To Get There.”

Down to brass tacks, who should the Reds attempt to acquire before the Major League trade deadline?

After writing a “Reds Need Lee” piece a couple of weeks ago, I got greedy—like Yankee greedy…and I wish to apologize for that.

After Ryan Rayburn calmed me down and set me straight. I got to thinking about the Reds’ needs.

Besides the huge bat of Gary Mathews Jr. (that’s sarcasm for those Mathews fans out there—all two of you), the Reds needs are about as sexy as your granny’s floppy fun bags. 

With a couple of middle relievers, they’re in the race for the long haul.                    

Cliff Eastham: I liked your piece on Lee and I am all over it.

With Edinson Volquez due back at any time, the Reds rotation could heal itself. He, Johnny Cueto, and Bronson Arroyo form a trio of starters that most teams would love to have.       

There is where the problems begin. Who would you want filling the fourth and fifth holes? Aaron Harang and Mike Leake? Harang is so inconsistent it is beyond scary.

Leake apparently needs to be babied for the remainder of the season, which makes me, an old-schooler, sick to my stomach. He isn’t a flame-thrower, so he should be able to endure a complete season with his 88 mph heater.

How about Homer Bailey? Wonder what kind of shape he is going to be in when he returns?

Could one or more of those guys serve as trade bait for Cliff Lee, a tried and true veteran who doesn’t walk anyone?

Illya Harrell: It’s pretty obvious to me that Bailey suffered what I like to call a “phantom injury.”  If you remember, he complained about hitting the DL.  That could be his attitude or an excuse to get him back to Louisville for “rehab starts.”

Mind you, he was out of options and the Reds would have had to waive him before sending him down.  And there is no way he would have cleared the waiver wire.

I do think Homer will be an above average pitcher.  But not with the Reds.  For some reason he just doesn’t seem to gel with the team or, more likely, Dusty.

There’s been a lot of talk about Lee going to Minnesota.  The Twins farm is stacked with pitchers.  But they are almost all righties. 

What’s your feeling on a Homer- and the lefty Travis Wood-for-Lee deal? 

I’d go Homer and lefty Matt Maloney in a heartbeat.  But I’m more than iffy sending Wood over for a rent boy.  If Lee would guarantee to sign an extension, I’d ship Seattle Homer and Wood with a big smile on my face.

That would open up my master plan, sending Leake to the pen for a good portion of the remaining season.  Leake would return as a starter late in the season. 

Harang is a more than adequate fifth starter until then.  What to do with Harang after that? Who really cares? 

Cliff Eastham: I like the way you think—and everybody thought you were just another pretty face.

I have to agree with you on Bailey; someday he will be very good. A scenery change will probably wake him up.

Maloney has at least had an opportunity to play with the big boys while Wood is still wearing a bib.  I like Maloney a lot, but I think Wood has more potential than Matt.

With that being said, this would be my offer to the Mariners: Bailey and Maloney for Lee. On the face of it, that makes more sense to me than the Rolen for Double EE and all the baby pitchers the Reds had last year.

The Reds have an abundance of talent-laden young arms in Louisville and some here already. Sam LeCure will be a good one, but I digress.

As for the middle relief, Aroldis Chapman will be popping up out of the hole soon, and they just called up Bill Bray.

We probably disagree on this, but I would shop Coco Cordero around and keep using rookie Jordan Smith as much as possible in the meantime. That kid is really impressive.

I honestly can’t see Cincy winning the division with a closer no more reliable than Coco. I fully expect to see him go to the mound with a blind fold and a cigarette to face the music. Ready, aim, fire!

Caesar Cliffius Eastham and Sir Illya Charleton Harrell would like to thank you for enjoying our column!

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If the New Red Machine needed servicing, vis-à-vis an oil change, they got it at the right time.

Fresh (or shall I say stale) from a sweep at the hands of the lowly Seattle Mariners, the Reds borrowed the broom from the M’s and took it to Oakland with them.

They swept the A’s, salvaging a split of the six-game road trip.

Being only a half-game behind the division leading St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds welcomed the hapless Cleveland Indians to Great American Ball Park. With the Cards losing to Kansas City and the Reds dominant performance against the Tribe in game one, the Reds find themselves atop the NL Central once again.

It is a much better view looking down at the Redbirds and not up.

Aaron Harang pitched a quality game as he gave up only three runs and eight hits in seven innings. The blemish on the performance was the uncharacteristic five walks he issued.

Brandon Phillips, who switched places with Orlando Cabrera in the order, was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Cabrera had identical numbers. Scott Rolen smashed a two-run jack in the second inning to give the Reds a 2-0 lead which they never relinquished.

Logan Ondrusek and Micah Owings pitched near flawless relief to close the show. It was so refreshing to have a big lead in the ninth and not see it squandered.

Side Notes

What the hell do we need with “Lil Sarge?” Seriously, did Dusty’s friendship with the real Sarge have anything to do with that? The man is clearly shot, and will be brought up and will take time from Jonny Gomes, Laynce Nix, Drew Stubbs, and Chris Heisey.

Gary Matthews, Jr. only had one really decent year, and the Mets threw him on the scrap heap a week ago. When did we become junkmen or BFI investigators (trashmen)? It really bothers me that Jocketty gave him even a minor league contract. He will turn out to be the resurrection of Corey Patterson and Willy Taveras all in one.

Jay Bruce has had three multi-hit games in a row. During that time he is batting .800 with three RBI.

Heisey is only batting .250 with one HR and two RBI when he plays and is batting .400 with three HR and three RBI in only 10 PH appearances.

Gomes had cooled just a bit before the final game with Oakland. Since then he is batting .364, with two RBI. He is currently in fourth place in the NL with 51 RBI.

The month of June has not been friendly to Coco Cordero. In 10 appearances he has 10 IP, given up six ER, one HR, five BB and has an Earnie of 5.40. He has four saves and blown two saves, but not to worry, the offense bailed him out both times allowing him to back-up to a win in both cases.

It will be nice to have Edinson Volquez back in the rotation in a couple weeks. Sam LeCure will probably be shipped to Louisville when he arrives. The bullpen has improved but stills needs improvement.

All-Star Voting

Joey Votto is currently in fifth place. I can’t believe he is trailing both Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder.

Phillips, Cabrera, and Rolen are all fifth at their respective positions. That is tough to swallow.

Gomes, though leading left fielders in most offensive categories, is currently 14th in voting for all outfielders.

I would like to see the voting go to the players, managers, and coaches. They see who the best players are and if the voters were not allowed to vote for their own players, a better All-Star team would be fielded.

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Is Stephen Strasburg a good pitcher? Absolutely.

Isn’t his ERA Bob Gibson-ish? So far, so good.

Is he a great pitcher? It is too early to say.

Four starts, three of them quality starts, is not enough sampling to put a Cy Young crown on his head and begin preparation for his Cooperstown enshrinement.

He has looked fantastic in his less-than-handful starts, and I applaud him. In 50 years of watching this game, I have seen some would-be-greats come and go.

When Jay Bruce was called up to the Cincinnati Reds at the end of May in 2008, “Brucemania” took over the Queen City and most of baseball.

In his first 12 games he was batting .457, with an OBP of .554, with three HR, 11 RBI, and 14 R. Immediate comparisons of Mickey Mantle ensued, and since he cooled off during his rookie campaign, the only thing left that resembles Mantle is his strikeout proclivity.

Before you start screaming at me, I am not wishing failure or anything negative for Strasburg. I am only suggesting that we let the kid breathe while he is getting his sea legs.

The Reds have a pitcher doing time on the farm. Maybe you have heard of him—Aroldis Chapman. A flame-throwing southpaw who throws so hard you can hear it. Everybody associated with the Reds thought he would be an early or mid-season call up.

Chapman is now 5-5 with a 4.12 ERA with AAA affiliate Louisville. He pitched in relief of Edinson Volquez yesterday and now has the brass looking at him as a possible bullpen resident.

I have heard the buzz about the possibility of Strasburg being selected to the All-Star team. That is ludicrous. The man has a season (career) total of 25.1 innings of MLB work thus far, hardly a resume suitable to stand alongside Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun.

Strasburg has looked as impressive as anybody who has been handpicked to play with the big boys. In those 25 innings he has a record of 2-1 with a beautiful ERA of 1.78, 41 Ks, and only five BB. He has been touched for only two long balls, and his WHIP is a microscopic 0.947.

In 1976 the Detroit Tigers brought up a rookie by the name of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych (may he rest in peace). He looked like he was going straight to Cooperstown, no question.

In his first 14 games he was 10-2, with an ERA of 1.60 and a WHIP of 0.999 in 112 innings. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award in the American League and finish second in CY voting with a 19-9 record and a 2.34 ERA.

So what happened to The Bird and “Birdmania?” Injuries. Knee problems were the first indicators of what was to be, followed eventually by a torn rotator cuff. He finished his career in 1980 with only 29 big league wins and a 3.10 ERA.

Gone was the glory, gone was his corner in Cooperstown, he never won seven games in a season following his rookie year. He was killed by his own dump truck in 2009 at the young age of 54.

So, let us give room and breathing space to young Strasburg. He needs to be a kid, and experience the feelings of the game and not be hounded by the press after every outing.

Fame and glory are fleeting things at best. In the Holy Bible we are given a snapshot of the shortness of life by James, “What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.” (James 4:14 Contemporary English Version).

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If you are a true baseball fan, you’re probably a regular visitor to Baseball-Reference.com. 

If you are a sports writer, you most likely set your sails for Baseball-Reference.com prior to writing your baseball pieces.

What exactly is Baseball-Reference.com?

It is a virtual warehouse of statistics covering every player who has played an inning of Major League Baseball.

It is the vast file cabinet where all baseball numbers reside, waiting to be retrieved at your command.

If you want to know what Roy Halladay’s career record is against the New York Yankees, you will find it there. By the way, as of this morning (Saturday, 6/19/2010) he is 18-7 with a 2.98 ERA, and the Yankees are collectively batting .241 against him.

All of that information is found with less than a handful of mouse clicks. Impressive?

I wouldn’t think of beginning a baseball article without spending some time at Baseball-Reference.com.

I must warn you, if you have never visited the site, be prepared to clear your day calendar as it is addictive and can cause the clock on the wall to go by much faster than usual.

I enjoy the site so much (I’m a subscriber) that I wanted to find out more about the site and discover a little about the man behind the statistic factory known as Baseball-Reference.com

The following is an interview I conducted with the founder of the site, and President of Sports Reference LLC, Sean Forman.

CE: Sean, first I want to thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions and to enlighten the public on the many attributes of Baseball-Reference.com. My first question is, when did you launch the site?

SF: April 1, 2000.  I had to wait until I could find a cheap web host offering 200MB of disk space.

CE: My how times change. Today, 200MB is a bb rolling around in a boxcar. What was the impetus for this endeavor, what drove you to develop such a fantastic source for baseball fanatics?

SF: Basically, at that time there was no site that had historical stats.  You couldn’t get Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb’s stats on the internet.  I also thought that the Internet was the perfect form for an encyclopedia.  Centrally updated for all, lots of good hyperlinking and infinite space available.

CE: Do you have a background in sports, mathematics, computers or what is the extent of your knowledge and experience?

SF: I have a Ph.D in Applied Mathematical and Computational Sciences from the University of Iowa.  I played a lot of sports growing up through high school.  Golf was actually my main favorite.  I’ve always loved sports stats from sorting my baseball cards by stats on the back, keeping track of my fantasy league’s stats, or collecting tackle stats for my dad’s football team while in junior high.

CE: Almost everything on the site is free. The “Play Index” area (probably 95 percent) is free to sample and experiment with, but due to the enormous amount of information that is crunched in such a short time, a subscription is required to gain full access to it. What are some of the things it enables a researcher to discover?

SF: I like to say we put a friendly face on the RetroSheet data.  You can search for things like all five-hit games against the Yankees.  The most doubles by a catcher in the 1950s.  The most pitches thrown in relief in 2000, and lots, lots more.  You can get 95 percent of the data for free, but we think that last five percent is a compelling reason to subscribe.

CE: I concur completely. Being a Cincinnati Reds fan, I was watching a FoxSports Ohio game broadcast by Chris Welsh who mentioned that he had a subscription to Baseball-Reference.com.  Obviously, the site is so popular, it is not only frequented by bloggers and freelance writers like myself, but also professionals such as Welsh and so many other writers and announcers. Did you ever, at the beginning, envision the far-reaching effect of this website?

SF: Certainly not.  It was really just a site that I wanted to use.  I have to admit that it is a lot of fun to sit in a press box or in the press room at the winter meetings and see most of the writers on your site at one time or another.

CE: Everything is menu-driven and linked together seamlessly. The entire process seems overwhelming and daunting to me. The fact that so many numbers are crunched and moved around every day, by the box scores of 14 or 15 games, that my head spins just thinking about it.  How are your pages updated after each game? What has to be entered manually on a daily basis?

SF: Nothing happens manually. There are like 20,000 or more pages that are updated each morning, so it is all automated.  We purchase the data for the in-season, so that arrives each morning and it all starts while I’m asleep. Occasionally something breaks or the stats don’t arrive, but generally it is seamless.

CE: I can’t imagine the programming that went into that design. Not only are the old school “tried and true” statistics such as BA, HR, RBI, OBP, ERA, etc. found there, many stats that most of us have never heard of can be found there as well. What are your personal thoughts on sabermetrics?

SF: I’m obviously a fan.  I have a copy of every Baseball Prospectus ever written and really got into this because of an interest in sabermetrics.  The field has obviously exploded, so I struggle sometimes to keep up with all of the research going on, spend time with my family and run our company (we have six, soon-to-be seven sites now).  I don’t think we are at the bleeding edge like FanGraphs or Baseball Prospectus, but we try to be very easy-to-use and also present numbers and data that will expand fan’s interest in the game.

CE:  I know that you have expanded your online presence to include the National Football League and the National Basketball Association. What other sports are offered by your company and do you have plans for further expansion?

SF: We have baseball, football, basketball and hockey. The Olympics data behind our Olympic site is just insane.  It takes things like wind speeds for individual long jump attempts and much more.  We just launched college basketball in the winter and we expect to launch college football this summer.

CE: Do you offer special customized (paid) services to high-profile clients?

SF: We can do specialized things every once and awhile, but we are pretty focused on the consumer.

CE: How about player photos? Have you entertained the thought of placing photos of the players on their pages? What legal hurdles would that bring with?

SF: We just did add photos for players who debuted pre-1960.  We have the post-1960s in hand, but as you mention, those are at first glance not in the public domain, so it’s on my to do list to talk with our attorney as to whether we can use those or not.  I’m hoping we can work something out.

CE: As a writer and baseball historian I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for the services you provide. I want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions and share this information with me and the rest of the baseball community.  Thank you and I wish you all the success in the world.

SF:   You’re welcome Cliff.  It has been a very rewarding project to build and create.  I’m just so happy that people like the site as much as they do and want to use it.

Just a few other things that the site allows you to do are:

Find information about how a player does against left-handers; night games, away games, at a certain park, with runners in scoring position with less than or two outs.

It lets you know the percentage of runners a catcher has thrown out; what a pitcher’s stats are with a 3-1 count; what a pitcher’s stats are the third time in a game that he faces a batter.

It is just fascinating what all you can find.

You can see the 555 teammates that Tommy John had during his career.

Have you ever heard of the six degrees to Kevin Bacon? There are only five “degrees” from Babe Ruth to Barry Bonds: Tony Lazzeri, Phil Cavaretta, Minnie Minoso, Jim Morrison, Bonds.

If you have never visited the site, or have been in seclusion for several years, go to Baseball-Reference.com and have yourself a blast.

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