Almost Cooperstown

Back in 2000 Sean Forman was a graduate student with a love for baseball.  He never imagined that he'd create a wide-ranging enterprise - Sports-reference.com that encompasses not only baseball but American football, basketball, hockey, soccer and college football and basketball.  

The sites are so user-friendly and have become a go-to platform to get statistics for players, teams and leagues associated with all those sports.   Now they've created a subscription service Stathead.com that allows the data to be searched and parsed even more easily which is great since there is SO MUCH data. 

We talked with Sean on how it all began, how it's used today and how fans can use a few cool tips to get more out of Baseball-Reference.com! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

At some points of some seasons, if they are clearly out of the playoff race, do MLB teams try to lose intentionally?   The answer is yes and no.  Acquiring high draft picks can often backfire as can a fire sale of a team's best and likely most expensive players. 

Is the gamble worth it?  The Astros & Rays might say yes.  But the Angels, never quite bad enough to get a top draft pick, might want to consider trying something different.  We talk about teams that tank, teams that seem like they are but are not, and what are the risks and rewards of tanking the season. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

First-off we did Ted Simmons wrong since his career average was .285 which is much higher than Andruw Jones' career .254 BA.  Simmons had 248 HR's which is among the best (13th) all time for a primary catcher.  Simmons' speech was the best from any of the three players although Larry Walker and Derek Jeter acquitted themselves well.  

10 HOFers passed away over the 2 year period but only 4 people were inducted. We feel and discuss that there could easily be 30 or more that could be inducted which would still keep the percentage of players at 1%.  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

Like a shooting star, sometimes players have one incredible season that they desperately try to replicate.  For those that are unable to 'do it again', they are deemed 'one-season' wonders. From Rookie-of-the year to being out of MLB in 3 years actually has happened and it's not always due to injury!  We remember some names that many have forgotten, and others that most people know but don't realize had one amazing outlier season! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

We were actually kind of shocked to find out that there have only been 32 knuckleball pitchers in MLB history.  Hoyt Wilhelm has the only no-hitter for a knuckleballer blanking the Yankees in 1958.  The Yankees won the WS that season. There are some notable and memorable names of the 32 but also many that most fans have never heard of.  

Why aren't there more knuckleball pitchers?  Listen to this episode to find out! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

There have been close to 40 complete games pitched in MLB this season so far.  The modern era all-time single season record for a pitchers is 41 complete games in 1904. Since then the number has been reduced such that Shane Bieber led MLB with 3 complete games in the last full season 2019.  This year 3 players already have 3 complete games.  Over the years complete games have dwindled and that trend is likely to continue.  Better relief pitchers compared to what used to be the case might be a reason.  But hitters knowledge of the pitchers has never been better.  Batters watching replay of their AB's during the game helps them refine their approach in future ABs.  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

What Shohei Ohtani is doing this season is amazing. Just making it to the Major Leagues is incredibly difficult.  How about changing positions from  being a position every day player to a pitcher?  Or a pitcher needing to become a position player in order to stay in the big leagues?  Players like the Cardinal’s Rick Ankiel come to mind but there are plenty of other MLB players who've adapted on the fly in order to remain at the highest level of baseball.  

We also talk about the Olympics again for some reason. 

 Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

This year there were a slew of big deals for excellent players at the July 30 trading deadline.  it may have even been the most good players traded ever at the deadline.  We talk about the most significant trading deadline deals over the past 60 years since there were not that many before 1969 when divisional play began and there were more than two league champions. 

A couple of corrections.  Cliff Lee went to the Phillies at the deadline and they did make the WS again in 2009 but the Yankees won that one.  Kevin Brown as Gordon said did pitch a while for the Dodgers and only pitched one year for the Padres but it was a before season move though the Padres did reach the WS. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

Interleague play has been a part of MLB since 1997.  This season there will be 20 interleague games for each team.  We think that's too many and that winning a playoff spot should not be so dependent on performance against the OTHER league.  With expansion on the horizon there will almost assuredly no longer be a need to have an interleague game played nearly every day.  There are some interleague rivalries worth keeping but do fans really want to watch their favorite teams play 20 interleague games each season?  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.

The role of baseball player-manager was fairly commonplace in the early years of #MLB,  Some great players like HOFers Nap Lajoie, Lou Boudreau, Bill Dickey, Frankie Frisch, and Honus Wagner to name a few.  We talk about why there are no longer player-managers in baseball and who of today's players might be a good player-manager.  Then we talk about the Olympic Games not just because baseball and softball are back in the Games! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.