I was at the debut of the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) in Springfield IL tonight. Saw Tony LaRussa, Dave Stewart and Keith Foulke there. Mo’ne Davis played center and lead off the first inning
Scott Simkus
@scottsimkus.bsky.social
Author: Outsider Baseball: The Weird World of Hardball on the Fringe. Historian: Member of the Seamheads team, rebuilding Negro league stats.
My wife (Borat’s voice) is an art teacher. She inherited some vintage paper supplies for her classroom, some dating back to the 50s, and in the pile is this baseball wrapping paper, likely from the 1970s..
In 1952, 45-year-old Satchel Paige threw a 12-inning shutout (with 9 strikeouts) against the Detroit Tigers. That summer he went 12-10 with a 3.07 era and 10 saves. Two shutouts.
What are the 5 biggest baseball stories of the 21st century so far? In no particular order, here’s mine: A. PED reckoning B. World Baseball Classic (and globalization, generally, from Ichiro to Ohtani) C. Banana Ball D. Contraction of minors E. Optimization- training, stat cast, replay. And yours?
I rebuilt the 1943 Negro league stats now included as part of the official MLB statistical record. A huge breakthrough in my research was uncovering this 4-page Homestead Grays press release from late in the season, hidden in the archives at Howard Univ. It was a road map for finding box scores.
Jacob Misiorowski (RH phenom pitches tonight vs Mets) has a bizarre split slash vs Lefties. LHB are slashing .098/.189/.142 against him in 229 PA. Righties have gone .204/.254/.331 in 193 PA. It’s jaw-dropping how dominant he’s been this season, currently 10-4 1.62 whip of 0.757
We’re five, six years away from robot players, robot umps, bot fans, and what not.
Craig Calcaterra@craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 3w agoIt's interesting that the AI-in-the-dugout story focuses on teams using AI for pitch selection right around the same time teams are beginning to go all-in with calling pitches from the dugout.
I have to mute the TV during the mic’d up player stuff. Cringe
Can’t sleep so I’m sitting here wondering what kind of career Willson Contreras might of have had if he’d come up as a LF or 1B instead of as a catcher?
This is where I bought most of my baseball cards back in 1978 and 1979. Grocery store is long gone…
Baseball Crowd Source: has the increase in earlier, twilight starts the past few seasons had any impact on the batter’s performance? Good or bad? This is when you have all those nasty shadows criss-crossing the diamond. Seriously, somebody out there must know, right?
Cubs fans, crazy observation: very soon, this year probably, Kyle Schwarber will pass Kris Bryant and Javier Baez (combined) in career home runs. He’s only 10 behind those two guys. If you’d told me this back in 2016, I’d have thought you were crazy.
Software Engineer-sports dorks: Dream Job Alert!!!
Sports Reference@sports-reference.com · 2mo ago📣 Sports Reference is hiring a Senior Software Engineer and two Software Engineers! Learn more about these positions and apply now at the links below 👇 Senior Software Engineer: sports-reference-llc.breezy.hr/p/9befdf74c0... Software Engineer: sports-reference-llc.breezy.hr/p/79e583d55a...
Funny blog post from pal Jeff Polman, via Craig Calcaterra. Curse the AI baseball slop!
Craig Calcaterra@craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 2mo agoCome for the "thank you!" feeling you'll get when you read someone else pointing out an enraging thing that has really been bugging you, stay for 20-foot-tall Ken Griffey Jr. hitting a home run from the Kentucky side of the Ohio River somehow. jeffpolman.com/2026/06/16/n...
Incentivize starters working longer with ONE rule change. Starters: 4 balls = walk, 3 strikes= strikeout. But for Relievers: 4 balls = walk, 4 strikes = strikeout.
Jomboy Media (Unofficial)@jomboymedia-mirror.bsky.social · 2mo agoMax Scherzer wants MLB to make starters throw a minimum of 100 pitches before they can get taken out of the game (via @_mlbfits)
Charles Oakley looks like a new character from the Hunger Games
Avery Wilson has to be Top 5, all time. A cappella Star-Spangled Banner is TOUGH and this guy just crushes it on the regular.
This raw milk weirdo is the first person I’ve ever seen who looks like Babe Ruth.
Clyde Frazier looks like he could step on the court and play right now, except for those cheese fries he’s eating
People aren’t talking about this enough, but: if the Bears move to Hammond, Indiana, Sundays in autumn—time Chicago are gonna be GREAT for hanging out downtown or near the lake. I’m not going to do it, of course. Too tired. But others might get into it.
Young peeps, gather ‘round: When I was a little kid (Bird and Magic were rookies) the NBA Finals were broadcast on tape delay here in the Chicago market. Seriously. They’d broadcast the games late at night, after the local 10 o’clock news.
Gorilla Playing Saxophone with Balloons has dropped out of the White House concert
Pardon the language here, but did MLB pull out their lively summer balls last night? Five teams scored more than 10, two reached 15.
