Blog Archives
BBBA Members Presence On The MLB Reports: Lots Of Content Heading To Our Site!
Chuck Booth (BBBA President/Majority Owner mlbreports.com) Follow @chuckbooth3024
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As some of you have probably already surmised, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance has infiltrated the mlbreports.com big time over the last few months.
These are talented writers that love the game as much as we do, and we have the pleasure of sharing some of their work on our place of the web. I hope you embrace their work, and click the links over to their home sites.
I was named the President of the BBBA back in August and since I returned from my year-long MLB journey in October – I have been working with a lot of pro bloggers.
In 2011, I was lucky enough to have been tutored on baseball writing by our ‘website founder’ Jonathan Hacohen. It is my wish to help out as many other independent bloggers as humanly possible as a ‘pay it forward’ maneuver.
MLB Reports is happy to give our social media power to the cause.
Chuck Booth – Current Majority Owner (Left) and Jonathan Hacohen MLB Reports Founder and former Owner (Right) – MLB Reports Brass at the Rogers Center during 2012. This website has grown into Millions of views and established a great record of prediction on Gambling 101 topics.
The MLB Reports will still stick to its core of content – and this additional material will act as supplemental. We may reach over 2000 posts for the 2016 calendar season.
We have Sully’s Baseball Podcast for 366 episodes this year, and he runs a daily MVP segment during the regular season and playoffs called ‘Who Owned Baseball’.
We are still going to be hardcore when it comes to Gambling on baseball. Hunter Stokes will run a weekly blog on all MLB Futures, and will have MLB Power Rankings during the regular season.
I will be helping Hunter write all of the 2016 MLB Team Payroll articles – and we are going to be going heavy on this aspect going forward – as it is one of our biggest strengths. The plan is to update them a hell of a lot more.
We also have MLB Shutout Survivor and MLB Runs Scored Survivor coming back for 2016.
We also update the website every time there is a no-hitter, cycle or top 50 contract handed out. There are widgets on our sidebar window of the home page. Of course, we also have a Tommy John Surgery ALL – Time List page we keep here at the site too.
I also will be updating the Interleague Results every day – and keep a running total of the records.
I have taken the MLB Scheduling off the site because it is to time intensive to maintain. i still hate the fact that no MLB Website offers monthly and yearly running pages for their schedule like the nhl.com does, but there are not enough hours in the day to keep it true.
Look for more posts, and more coverage for all of your favorite teams and players in 2016!
If you haven’t had enough of your baseball fix, I am also operating the BBBA’s website over at bbba.work
Thanks for reading and for your time,
Chuck Booth
BBBA President/Majority Owner of mlbreports.com
mlbreports@gmail.com
Home Of Sully Baseball 20 minute Daily Podcast + #WOB, #SullyMetrics, Baseball Analysis (Audio + Written, Salaries, Tommy John Surgery) BBBA coverage, Gambling 101, Interleague, Cycle and No – Hitter History + Wicked Daily Content,) We are not your average “Cookie Cutter” Website. Also our motto is “THE TRUTH STINGS LIKE A CATCUS!”
Confessions Of A Ball Park Chaser – 2015 Edition Part 2: Why I will See 220+ MLB Games in 2015
This was taken for a news paper article. It was in June of 2008. I was in the best shape of my life mentally and physically..
We finished off earlier in the week about the chance for me to play NCAA Baseball that was foiled by knee problems and concussions. Looking at reconstructive knee surgery in late 1994, I was seeking a second and third opinion on the matter. If you have to read that blog to catch up it is available right here.
On a night in Sept of that year I was in the wrong place at the wrong time helping a friend move. I was a victim of a serious home invasion. It was truly a life or death situation at points. It ended with all of receiving baseball bats to the back of the head before they left.
In the minutes after it was over, I was on an adrenaline rush, so I never realized how much damage had been done with the impact. I did go to the hospital that night, but we never wanted to divulge that much information about what happened to us. I was given some painkillers, and I passed a quick eyeball test with the doctor in the emergency room.
I stayed up for almost 2 days straight. Previous head injuries had told me not to sleep that much if all. I drank alcohol and took painkillers. at will.
When I went to work 3 days later, I knew I was in trouble. I started having vision problems and felt nauseous. Within 3 months – I stopped working entirely and didn’t want to leave the house at all. I never went to my knee appointments, as I had gone through similar symptoms with my brain after a concussion at 16. Worse part of the whole ordeal, was not demanding a CT scan on the night of the incident. Read the rest of this entry
2 And A Hook Podcast Ep #9: LAA, SD, MIA And SEA Chat With Great Guests
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MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast.
‘2 And A Hook’ is an expression from Baseball: ‘Throw the guy 2 Fast balls and then a Hook’ (AKA Curve Ball, Wiggly one, Chair etc..)
By James Acevedo – Host (Podcast Veteran ) Follow @yankeeman1973
Guests On The Show
On today’s podcast, brought to you by MLB Reports ( www.mlbreports.com ) & yours truly The Bench Warmers Show, I talk to the boss man Chuck Booth as he returns to do his segment! 8 Minutes and a 18 Segment Follow @chuckbooth3024
Chuck makes a HUGE announcement about MLB Reports & then we talked about contract stuff like arbitration, Super 2, & service time…
Also we talk about these guys Wil Myers, Yasiel Puig & Chris Archer on why they should have been up in the major leagues since the beginning of the season!
Then I talk to LAA correspondent Joshua Jones (34 Minute Mark and a 18 Minute Segment) Follow @JoshJones4 about the Angels season & what might or might not happen…
Next up was Bernie Olshansky (53 Minute Mark and a 13 Minutes Segment) Follow @bernieolshansky about the padres & what moves they might make for the future…after that i talked to Mariners/Marlins correspondent.
The last guest of the show is the 2nd longest active writer on the MLB Reports website Sam Evans (1 HR and 12 Min Mark and a 25 Min Segment) ( @RJA206 ) as we get into the mariners/marlins & whats been going on with both of these teams!
I then get into everyone’s favorite segment Stats & Facts (29, Minute Mark (5 minutes) 1 HR, 7 Min Mark ( 5 Minutes ) and, 1 HR 37 MIN (20 Minutes) – so go check it out & SPREAD THE WORD!!! Thanks Read the rest of this entry
Triple Play Podcast Ep # 13 – Around The Horn w/OAK/KC/COL/TOR + Bean Wars + The Genius Beane
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The Triple Play Show will have 5 shows per month. Each show will be about 1 hour.
By The Big Ticket Show ( AKA Triple Play Podcast on http://www.mlbreports.com) Follow @bigticketshow
Guests in this Podcast – Chuck Booth (MLB Reports Owner and Lead Analyst)
On this week’s show Chuck Booth joins us to break down all the biggest stories in MLB. We also go Around the Horn with Chuck to discuss the A’s, Rockies and Royals current situations and declare the worthy few that belong on their respective Mt Rushmore’s. Bethubb.com best bets end the show as always. Happy Father’s Day!!!!!!!
Intro – 10 Minutes, Toronto Blue Jays talk from 10 Minute to the 18 Minute Mark. OAK chat – 18 minute – 33 Minute Mark, COL Talk 33 Minutes – 44 Minute Mark. Kansas City Royals Chart 44 Minutes Mark – 59 Minute Mark. Late Jays Talk Bethubb Best Bets 1 hour 1 MIN mark to 1 hour 9 Minute Mark.
Quick Facts: Catsfish Hunter was 7 – 2 in the Post Season for the 1972, 1973 and 1974 World Series Winning A’s – and only 2 -4 with the 3 Post Seasons with the Yankees. Still 5 World Series Winners was great. Chuck also meant Ewing Kauffman (Chuck thought his nickname was Charlie in the podcast – maybe because his name his Charlie) when talking about the Royals MT. Rushmore for the franchise.
Yogi Berra did indeed play in 14 World Series and won 10 of them in his Yankees days.
To Keep Reading and Listen to this Podcast click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY or scroll past the Triple Play Logo.
Nate Freiman: Beane Finds Yet Another Hidden Gem… And The A’s Next 1st Baseman
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All Nate Freiman did was carry the Country of Israel during the recent World Baseball Classic Qualifying Tournament. Can this First Base giant do the same in Oakland?
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
Baseball is a funny game sometimes. One minute you’re crying the Chris Carter blues. Then before you know it, Nate Freiman appears. That is how Billy Beane works my friends. Just when you think he might be slipping, he pulls a magic rabbit out of his hat (better known as the waiver wire in baseball terms).
On February 11, 2013, I wrote an article outlining Billy Beane’s error in trading Chris Carter. While I have always endorsed the talents of Jed Lowrie, it was my opinion that giving up a future star in Chris Carter was too high of a price to pay.
The trade (which actually took place on February 4th) saw the Astros acquire yet another stud First Base prospect. I wondered out loud what the Astros would do with all their First Base talent (Brett Wallace, Jonathan Singleton, Nate Freiman and veteran Carlos Pena).
It seemed like too many bats and not enough positions in Houston, despite the newfound need for a Designated Hitter. A little over a month later, March 23rd to be exact- I had my answer. Nate Freiman was on his way to Oakland.
The star for Israel in this year’s World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament was going to get the opportunity of a lifetime.
While some felt the A’s were simply acquiring roster depth, I saw a different vision. The A’s had their replacement for Brandon Moss at First Base.
Billy Beane had an uncovered yet another gem that was going to thrive in Oakland. Remember Josh Reddick 2012? Meet Nate Freiman 2013.
Nate Freiman Interview:
WBC 2013 Final Results, Recap And Review
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- Congrats to the Dominican Republic: The 2013 World Baseball Classic Champions!
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
After the initial WBC in 2006, the tournament returned in 2009. The decision was made to have the WBC played three years after the inaugural edition and then four years later from there.
As result, after a long wait for baseball fans…the third World Baseball Classic was back for the 3rd edition in 2013.
It was a thrilling March- with the final 2 countries facing off for global baseball supremacy: The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The DR won the game 3-0 behind the MVP bat of Robinson Cano.
Congrats to the Dominican Republic on being crowned the 2013 WBC Champions!
Yoenis Cespedes: While Cuba Misses Their Star in the 2013 WBC – the A’s Slugger Looks to be an A.L. MVP Candidate
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From Cuba to A.L. MVP? Despite not being able to represent his native country in the WBC, Cespedes is a year older and wiser. The more he adjusts to North America life and baseball, opposing pitchers will shudder even more each time Cespedes comes to the plate.
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
It’s pretty ironic if you ask me. The 2013 World Baseball Classic is here and Cuba is off to a huge start. I had to pick a winner and went with Cuba as my pre-tournament favorite. Considering that Japan has won both editions of the WBC, Cuba was definitely going to be in tough. To top it all off, they are starting off the first two rounds in Japan. Why is it ironic? For Cuba is missing its biggest star for the tournament. Yoenis Cespedes, the Oakland A’s star outfielder is in Arizona for Spring Training.
Far away from the bright lights of Japan, where Cuba finally beat its nemesis this week in WBC play after several failed attempts in the past. With that monkey off their back, Cuba has made the statement that they are ready to win it all. But yet without their biggest star. For when one defects from Cuba, they are forever banished from representing their country again in any baseball capacity.
I couldn’t help but think watching Cuba play in Japan this week that in fact Cespedes and the A’s opened their season last year in Japan. Cespedes actually started off his season with a bang out there and never looked back. On March 29th last year, Cespedes had a home run in the 2nd game of the A’s young season. That bomb in Japan was the start of the legend. Who knew that Cespedes would actually be in Japan a year too early? For all the success that Cuba has enjoyed thus far in the 2013 WBC, imagine if they had Cespedes anchoring that lineup?
Cuba may very still win the 2013 WBC. My money is on that happening. But if Cuba falls short yet again, the what if scenarios will endlessly get bounced around. What if the team had Aroldis Chapman? Alexei Ramirez? And most of all, Yoenis Cespedes? Until Cuba allows its defectors to come home again, the talent drain will continue to affect the country in international tournaments.
Yoenis Cespedes 2012 Highlights Mature Lyrics so Parental Guidance is Advised:
My Adventures As A MLB Fancave Top 30 Finalist In Phoenix!
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By Aaron Roberts (Dodgers Correspondent / MLB Fancave Top 30 Finalist 2013): Follow @Bertsball
Here are all of the videos I have done for the MLB Fancave and also my latest blog entries. Bookmark the next link here for this will have all of the dedicated information for my quest to be in New York as an MLBFancave Dweller all of the 2013 Year. Thanks to the MLB Reports for allowing me this platform! Right after the videos and a page break – are the 3 days I spent in Phoenix with 29 other prospective cave dwellers.
The Videos:
Interview with Adam Kennedy:
Dodgers and Angels Fan In Love – MLB Top 30 MLB Fancave Finalist Video:
Taking the Campaign to the streets of LA:
Get to know your LA Dodgers MLB Fancave Representative:
Vote For me (Thomas Roberts AKA – #CapeintheCave):
You can vote for me by either clicking on this link here: – This Link also contains my 2 minute application video.
Or going to the MLB Fan Cave website, clicking on “Vote” at the top and finding “Thomas Roberts.” I have my submission video on there so you can watch that as well. You can also come be my friend on Twitter Follow @bertsball Facebook (Facebook.com/Bertsball) Instagram (@Bertsball) and my Blog (Bertsball.blogspot.com) I post about the Dodgers, Baseball and my campaign frequently on each of them.
Thank You so much and I appreciate everyone’s support! Read the rest of this entry
Cuba Is Ready To Win The 2013 World Baseball Classic
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Pedro Luis Lazo. One of Cuba’s greatest pitchers of all-time. Considered also one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball not to pitch in the big leagues. A legend, he represented Cuba in the 2006 and 2009 WBC tournaments. He will be missed in this year’s edition.
By Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
Going into the 3rd edition of the World Baseball Classic, the #1 question that I get asked on a daily basis is: “Which country will win it all?” A fair question, as all sports fans (not just baseball ones) love to predict champions before the first game is even played. Given that Japan has won the first two WBC titles (2006 and 2009), they have to be the favorites going into this year’s tournament. But as every new WBC edition begins, every country begins to get hungrier and hungrier. We had a qualifier tournament recently, the inaugural one for a WBC. 16 countries battled it out to win the 4 coveted spots into the tournament. Chinese Taipei, Brazil, Canada and Spain will field teams next month.
Canada and Chinese Taipei were two of the four countries that did not receive automatic entries and were required to qualify. Brazil and Spain were the newcomers that got their first taste of the WBC…and evidently loved it. So who will be it folks? Japan beat Korea in 2009 and Cuba back in 2006. Ironically, Cuba lost to Japan twice back in the 2nd round of 2009. If not for Japan, Cuba would have at least WBC title under their belts. Maybe two. So who does Cuba get in their group as part of the 1st Round of the 2013 WBC? Japan, of course. This time around, things will be different. Cuba is ready to knock the Japanese gorilla off their backs and take the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Chris Carter: The Future Star That Will Make Billy Beane Regret His Trade Mistake
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Chris Carter: A career .283 hitter in the minors, with a .378 OBP and .535 SLG. The perfect combination of power and patience. He will prove to be the one that got away from Billy Beane.
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
Mark down the date of February 4th, 2013. The day that Billy Beane broke my heart. In preparing for my latest A’s feature, the working title of the article was “Chris Carter: The Next Great A’s Superstar”. Then fate intervened. Or rather, Beane decided to pull off one too many trades. After a successful offseason that saw the A’s GM bolster significantly bolster his playoff squad, Beane decided that one more blockbuster move was in order. Jed Lowrie was headed to Oakland, with Chris Carter (the good one), Max Stassi and Brad Peacock going over to the Astros. For the purpose of this piece, I will be focusing on the loss of Carter. Stassi is a former 4th round pick of the A’s and a young 21 Year Old catching prospect. With Derek Norris ready to grab the A’s catching job for the next decade, I can see how he was expandable. Peacock was a 41st round pick of the Nationals. A 25 Year Old arm that may develop one day, but crashed and burned last season in AAA. With the A’s pitching depth, I can see how he could be ticketed out-of-town for a change of scenery. But Chris Carter? Really Billy??!! You worked your magic to get him in the first place from the Diamondbacks. I certainly hope that your return pans out (Jed Lowrie and Fernando Rodriguez). Right now, I simply cannot see the logic of this move.
MLB Reports State Of The Union Part 2: Going Forward
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By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
So I left off the other day talking about some sweeping changes at the site. What I want to talk about next – is what to expect. Our website is revving up to start the baseball year. We plan on posting 3-5 times a day. We will range from about 9 AM EST all the way through to 9 PM EST. Most MLB teams will have about 3-4 articles a month. Once per month May-October, we will also have our Monthly Power Rankings like we had last year. Our Lead Writer Sully will be posting a 20 minute daily PODCAST on the site.
In addition to this, MLB Reports presents the ‘Triple Play Podcast” – will be going ahead with Patrick and Chris with the Big Ticket Show, for about 5 PODCASTS a month during the regular season and about 1-2 per month in the winter months. These PODCASTS will feature yours truly 2-3 times a month as a guest. We will also have Saul Wisnia (Red Sox Correspondent), Jonathan Hacohen (MLB Reports Founder) and other personalities as part of the show.
We plan on interacting with the readers by way of Facebook and Twitter, when we start-up in March. So we will let you know. We have about 7 different general writers and reporters, 5 special analysts and 24 Team Correspondents so far. The goal is to find the 6 new Correspondents from the teams we have left (PHI, ATL, SEA, SD, KC and COL We continue to search for awesome independent writers, that can cover these teams with the same kind of passion our other Correspondents have displayed.
We still plan on having a weekly Fantasy Baseball article, a once a month Cooperstown article and a once a month – live interview from our ‘Junior Reporter’ Haley Smilow. We are also open to many suggestions by our readers, if they have great article ideas.
I am trying to write my historical series on all 30 teams, but am still trying to make it to the regular season first. I have written entire series already for the Nationals, Phillies, Expos, Blue Jays and Rays already here. The plan is to write 1-2 series a month for the teams not done yet. By the end of 2014, we will have a full chronicled series for each team. This will be our legacy. We strive on our mission to include all 30 MLB Fan bases. All of our dedicated Correspondents exhibit the kind of passion for baseball that I am truly proud of. You can see all of their biographies here.
Our general writers and Reporters can be found here.
News:
One of our writers, Thomas Roberts (Dodgers Correspondent), is a top 52 finalist for the MLB Fancave. We hope that he can make it to New York. Please check out the interview (and vote for him on the links provided there) I did with him here
We are going to have 5-6 dedicated pages from our General Writers. I will run a page called “The Baseball Booth”. This is the same as a page listed below here that is for MLB Player Awareness Weeks. In a sub-page to that are my best baseball road-trips advice links here.
Jonathan Hacohen will have his own page called the J-HAY Page.
Saul Wisnia is accomplished writer. He has authored 10 sports books and is one of the best Red Sox authors of late. His page is called the Words Of Wisnia. He will run additional Red Sox articles, and he will have many other fun things to browse in his subpages. You can find all of his archives for his own website here.
Paul Francis Sullivan (Sully) will have his own dedicated page called ‘Sully Baseball’. It is up to Sully to post anything and everything on his own page. I only know whatever he does around baseball is entertaining and worth the time. On the main page, Sully will post his daily Podcast. Subscribe to his daily podcast here.
We may have another website that we will have on board with us to cover a team thoroughly through a dedicated page. We are not finalized yet, so I will announce this on Twitter and Facebook.
We have a few writers from the strosbros.mlblogs.com with us covering the Astros. Lee White and Richard Perez will be keeping it real.
We have Tigers Correspondent Matthew Lafave of the examiner.com – to keep us up to date with what is going on in Detroit.
By the time the regular season rolls on, we will have all 30 MLB Teams Payroll and State Of The Unions done. We are close to finishing the State Of The Unions already. You can view these here.
Here are some really important pages at the Reports. It also says what they are about.
https://mlbreports.com/paystat/
We are going to end every baseball year with a ‘STATE OF THE UNION’ Address for each team and also look forward to the next year’s Payroll for all 30 MLB Teams. This is in addition to all of the other information we will put out in our normal articles. More than ever, team’s salary and current 25 or 40 Man Rosters, are becoming more important to the fanbases. We will take a detailed look at both of these for you and provide some analysis. It will keep us busy and definitely on top of our game. We will be doing these in stages and not all at once, so please check back often for more updates.
https://mlbreports.com/mlbhistory/
This page has links to the entire 30 MLB Teams listed (for a minimum 5 Part Series on each club). These Franchise Series are signature website articles that take 3-4 times the normal amount of regular pieces to write. Do yourself a favor and follow along with us as we take the next 2 years to complete this mission. It is a great way to learn about your Franchises history, including the players, pitchers, management, mascots and the parks they have played in.
https://mlbreports.com/gwr-tracker/
This full-page lists all of the Games I went to in establishing the new “Guinness Book Of World Record” for “Fastest To See A Full Home Game In All 30 MLB Parks from April.6-April.28/2012. The write-ups include many pictures and stories of how I arrived at all 30 MLB Parks and what the travel entailed. I promoted the trip by using Facebook and Twitter and met several top MLB Park Chaser Experts along the way. For someone who may have a similar goal, I think you will find this page quite entertaining.
https://mlbreports.com/awareness/
This was a Twitter concept first driven to a webpage by promoting unheralded players not receiving their due credit. Each week, the MLB Reports will select an active MLB Player and a retired MLB Player to focus their attention on. We will write tweets about the players and showcase them on this page. It is our hope that we can receive some feedback with out twitter followers and website readers. Suggestions may always be presented to us for future nominations.
https://mlbreports.com/wbc-2013/
You have asked for it readers and now it is here! An entire page devoted to the upcoming 2013 edition of the World Baseball Classic! After the initial WBC in 2006, the tournament returned in 2009. The decision was made to have the WBC played three years after the inaugural edition and then four years later from there. As result, after a long wait for baseball fans…the third World Baseball Classic will be back in the year 2013!
The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***
Chuck Booth- Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames: To learn more about my “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here . You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days- click here. I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB. You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports
Please e-mail me at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
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Who Is Thomas (Aaron) Roberts?: He Is A Top 52 Finalist For The 2013 MLB FanCave!
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By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
All of us hardcore fans have seen the MLB Fan Cave for the last few years. Heck, if it wasn’t for the MLB accepting applications for the Season 1 – I personally would have never joined Twitter, interacted with winners Mike O’ Hara and Ryan, before eventually meeting the MLB Reports Founder (Jonathan Hacohen) through conversing with those guys over my baseball travel book. Jonathan did a book review for me, then asked me to guest blog for him during the 2012 World Series. 1 year and half later, I bought the website, meanwhile our site has continued a friendship with the Cave Dwellers from the 1st 2 seasons. Last year, we interviewed Eddie Mata – and did a follow up story with Mike O ‘ Hara on life after the Cave.
A few months ago, I came across a genuine fan of the LA Dodgers and baseball in general. Thomas (Aaron) Roberts has since been our Dodgers Correspondent here. I can tell you that the man loves baseball and anything to do with it. I never even knew he applied for the MLB Fan Cave in 2013, then last week he sent me a link that he was a top 52 finalist.
This is no small feat and any of us would love to be in Roberts shoes. I will do anything within my power to help him along, because he is a deserving person to be sent to New York. Just by watching his video entry, it is abundantly clear that he belongs at the Fan Cave. So please click the link and then after viewing, read the interview I conducted with Thomas (Aaron) Roberts afterwards.
Thomas (Aaron) Roberts MLB Fancave Video:
MLB Reports State Of The Union Part 1: Sully Baseball Joins The MLB Reports!!
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By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
It has been a great day at the MLB Reports.com. So much so, that I thought we would write our own State Of The Union Article. We are rapidly becoming one of the best independently owned – and fan run websites around the internet. I know this is because we have awesome readers who share the same passion as we do. I took over this website in November after writing for about 1 year. Jonathan Hacohen (Founder, previous owner) had a vision that I have continued to run with. We were searching for like-minded writers that share the same baseball passion as we do. Since November 2oth, we have added 22 MLB Team Correspondents – and several new specialist writers. We have taken a bit of a different direction but with the same model in mind. We will get to some of those people in Part 2 of the State Of The Union.
We are all here to work our tails off about spreading the game of baseball through written word. We spend countless hours researching, writing, editing, checking stats, uploading pictures, tweeting, sharing on Facebook and interacting with a lot of you – in order to operate this website. We are not making Millions, hell it really doesn’t pay very much at all. We do it for the love of the game.
Having said this, we have some really exciting news to pass on. Paul Francis Sullivan (please call him Sully) Follow @sullybaseball is joining our MLB Reports team as our Lead Baseball Writer and #1 personality. Nobody works harder in the business than Sully. He will be writing several articles a week and posting daily PODCASTS. I am not lying here… Daily! Sully has put up a daily PODCAST for over 110 days in a row now. He usually talks on them for about 20 minutes or so. He will share these with you. In the last 10 months, Sully also has written over 335 articles on MLB Baseball. This man loves the game and we are ecstatic beyond belief to have him part of our team. We all hope that you support and welcome him.
Sully has been writing baseball forever – and you will love his style. He will also have his own page here at the MLB Reports – that he will be able to post other stuff other than articles and podcasts.
Here is his quick biography:
Sully has appeared in the HBO Sports documentaries “Curse of the Bambino” and “Reverse the Curse of the Bambino” as well as on ESPN2’s Cold Pizza and NESN’s “Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey.” He has performed stand up comedy all across the United States and appeared on the TV show “Monk.”
He is currently a producer for Wild Eyes Productions in Los Angeles. Sully has previously produced such shows as”Axe Men”, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Bonnie Hunt Show.” He received an Emmy nomination for his work on San Francisco public television.
An award-winning filmmaker, he directed the feature film “I’ll Believe You” as well as many short films including “Sergi” as featured on PBS’ “Independent Lens.”
Sully’s personal blog is here
He has been a contributing baseball writer for USA Today, Baseball Digest, The Hardball Times and Time Out New York. His videos can be found on the Sully Baseball channel on YouTube.
Quick look at Sully Baseball’s Youtube Video Page:
Sully is jack of all baseball trades for skills. Audio, video, writing, producing and directing. He will be entertaining as anything you will hear or read on online – guaranteed!
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***
Chuck Booth- Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames: To learn more about my “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here . You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days- click here. I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB. You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports
Please e-mail me at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
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Billy Beane Found His Catcher in Seattle: John Jaso is Ready to Lead the A’s Back to the Playoffs
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday January 20th, 2013
A .372 OBP in 2010. A .394 OBP last season. Can you blame Billy Beane for LOVING John Jaso?
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
My name is Jonathan Hacohen. And I am a John Jaso fan. There…I have said it. Feels very good to get it out. Ok, so I don’t own any John Jaso t-shirts or jerseys. I wouldn’t recognize him if I hit him with my car. But when #27 (formerly #28 on the Rays) comes up to bat, I know that good things will usually happen. Remember that .372 OBP in 2010? I sure do. So do many Tampa Bay Rays fans. For you see my friends, John Jaso is a special breed of baseball player. He is a catcher with patience. He won’t hit for great pop, but he finds ways to get On Base. That is a skill that served him very well back in his aforementioned first full MLB season.
From that season on, I came to expect great things from Mr. Jaso. But then 2011 hit. Or actually, he didn’t. A .224 AVG with a .298 OBP was good enough for the Rays to dump Jaso on the Mariners for Josh Lueke. Remember him? Do I really have to say more? The Rays, for all the talk of their poor offensive showing and need for major league bats, decided that John Jaso just didn’t fit into their system. So Jaso was off to Seattle and Jose Molina was brought on board. The same Jose Molina who hit .223 last season with a .286 OBP. The same Jose Molina who got paid $1.5 Million last season. John Jaso on the other hand got paid $495,200 last year. What did he do? Only hit .276 with a .394 OBP. Plus a .456 SLG for good measure. His reward? A one-way ticket to Oakland with a 30 second stopover in Washington. The man can’t win. A good or bad season, either way MLB GM haven’t shown faith in this kid so far in his career. But then, most GMs are not Billy Beane. Despite being apparently set at the position for 2013, Beane proceeded to trade for Jaso and dump George Kottaras, to catch with Derek Norris. Beane said on record that he would have kept Kottaras unless Jaso was made available. So does Billy Beane know something that Andrew Friedman, Jack Zduriencik and Mike Rizzo don’t? The answer is yes. Beane knows which players he wants and usually, he will get them at the end. Now John Jaso is set to bring flair, leadership and of course, On Base skills to Oakland. The playoff picture just got much rosier for the A’s.
Bartolo Colon: Ready For One More “BIG” Season in Oakland
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Bartolo Colon saw his 2012 season end early due to a PED suspension. He is scheduled to return in April. Does he have one more big year left in the tank?
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
Bartolo Colon (or Fatolo as he is known in inner-baseball circles), is set to make his major league return in April, 2013. Back in August, 2012 Colon received a 50-game suspension for the use of a Performance Enhancing Drug (PED). This suspension came a week after Melky Cabrera received his 50-game ban. With only 5 games left in his suspension, Colon will be back in early-April (health permitting). But as much as fans discuss his performance on the field, Colon’s weight always seems to be the center of attention. Generously listed at 5’11” and 265 lbs. on the Baseball Reference site, Colon won’t be winning modelling contests anytime soon. Billy Beane said it best in Moneyball, when he made it clear to his scouts that the team wasn’t trying to sell jeans. They were trying to win ballgames. Regardless of his weight and appearance, as long as Bartolo Colon can get the job done, I say hand him the ball every 5th game. Babe Ruth wasn’t a small guy, but he sure got the job done. Colon may not have the talent possessed by Ruth, but he can still be effective on most given nights. When baseball has 1-2 pitchers falling to Tommy John surgery on a weekly basis, there is something to be said for a pitcher that can go out there and give his team a good chance of winning. That is the Bartolo Colon that the A’s are hoping for in 2013. With a $3 Million salary this year and approximately $2 Million in incentives to be earned, Colon has all the incentives in place to give the A’s the workhorse they need this upcoming season.
Adam Lind: Ready For His Last Season in the Big Leagues
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Adam Lind better hope he continue his decent second half in 2012 for the Jays, where he hit.304 with 4 HRs and 25 RBI in 161 AB after his recall from Las Vegas. As an AL East Contender, the Jays can’t afford any struggles like his 2012 first half. It could be curtains for a Career if he is sent to the Minors.
Jonathan Hacohen (Baseball Writer and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
Living in Toronto, I have watched MANY Adam Lind At-Bats in my time. Watching Adam Lind recently, I start to ponder back to the days of Russ Adams and Josh Towers. Watching each of these players (hit and pitch respectively), I continually asked myself one question: how do these guys still have jobs? Perhaps the manager really likes them. Perhaps the organization sees immense potential. I am not really sure, but eventually the Adams and Towers bubbles came to burst. In 2013, I sense the same thing will happen to Adam Lind.
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1: The Hitters
Saturday, Dec.01/2012
How important was Cespedes to The A’s Lineup in 2012? They went 82-47 with him in the lineup and 12-21 without him. He was the biggest reason the team soared into the playoff race and won the AL East. Beane secured him in Free Agency before the start of last year. He is signed for 3 more years at 9 Million Dollars Per Year.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
A few months ago, our Lead Columnist/Website Founder (Jonathan Hacohen) wrote a brilliant piece about the assembly of the Oakland Athletics roster. He called it “MoneyBall 2.” Right after the piece, the A’s surged to the greatest record in the second half of the season and won the AL West. The team is now constructed of power hitters and power pitchers. The man behind it all is Billy Beane. I will not get into too much of this philosophy as you can read that piece here. What I intend to do is to show the roster of how it was comprised by Beane in the form of a roster tree. It is just like a family tree, however this shows trades dating back 2,3,4,5,6 fold etc.. in order to show you the mastery of the GM’s ability to field a roster on a limited budget.
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers: Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers click here.
Florida Baseball and The San Juan Rays
Thursday November 15th, 2012
Alex Mednick (Baseball Writer and Analyst)
Last week Jonathan Hacohen, the founder of MLBReports.com called to my attention that the Tampa Bay Rays are an anomaly. Ultimately, if you look at the way their team is structured and where their talent lays, and the kind of game that Joe Maddon manages the Rays are ultimately a National League team; displaced in the AL East. The Rays greatest strength is their depth of pitching that they can reach into the bowels of an amazing farm system ripe with young talent. But from there on out, they rely on an offense that generates runs due to other inefficiencies.
Joe Maddon might very well be the best manager in baseball. He possesses a unique approach to the game, that if had to be categorized, is definitely more national league style than american league. He has to be creative in how he manufactures runs, as his offense does not boast the big sluggers other AL East teams do. He does, however, have a plethora of pitching talent available.
With B.J. Upton leaving town, and Carlos Pena only a carcass of what he once was, there is ultimately zero power left in their lineup. Their DH for the past two years have been the likes of an aging Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Luke Scott. Ownership is constantly complaining about attendance and looking for bargain free agents like Johnny Damon to bring in at the end of their careers and hopefully attract some Yankees and Red Sox fans to the stadium.
At this point, the Rays power hitters are Evan Longoria, Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist. They have an amazing nucleus of pitching talent, including David Price who just won the AL Cy Young, and they are mentioning trading almost all of their starting pitchers. This is understandable, as you have to dish out talent to bring back offensive talent that they are in great need of. But I still have major gripes with the way owner Stuart Sternberg has approached the past 4 seasons in St. Petersburg, and I will get into more detail about this in a little while. Read the rest of this entry
The Coors Field Effect: Part 3 of A 3 Article Series
Wednesday, September.19/2012
Even with playing teams in the NL West with Parks like Petco, Dodger Stadium and AT &T Park, a Rockies player gets 81 games of AB versus 27 against the other 3 California parks or a 75-25 % split. The Rockies continue to lead the MLB for Home Averages year in and year out-even with the Humidor Room taking effect.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Both myself (and Lead Baseball Columnist and Founder) Jonathan Hacohen think alike on some points as writers will often do when working for the same website. Jonathan wrote a brilliant piece on the ballooned numbers that a player in Colorado receives as a byproduct of playing at Coors Field. My head started spinning and swirling and I knew it to be true from my memory bank. My Part 2 column, dissected the Coors Field Effect on some previous players, plus what has transpired in the last decade since the Humidor Room has been implemented. You must read the 1st 2 parts of this series to fully understand what I am going to tell you here.
For Part 1 of the Article Series: Carlos Gonzalez on the Trade Block? Buyer Beware! click here
For Part 2 of the Article Series: The Humidor Effect at Coors Field-One Decade in click here
The numbers don’t lie in either of the first two parts to this series- with the Rockies having led the league in 19 out of the 20 Years for Home Batting Average overall in the MLB and every year in the NL since they have existed. This includes heavy hitting AL clubs, with hitter friendly parks such as: Yankee Stadium (Old or New), Citizens Bank Ball Park or Fenway Park. What people also fail to realize is that the Pitchers also account for about 140-150 AB at home per year. So really there is no way a Colorado team should have a higher BA than a team from the AL if that is the case? Wrong. The Batting averages for positional players from 1993-2002 in Colorado ranged from an average of .325-.345 every year. May I point out they also led the Major Leagues in overall batting average every year for this span in the Pre-Humidor days too!
A Todd Helton Walk-off Shot at Coors:
The Humidor Effect On Baseballs at Coors Field: One Decade In Part 2 of 3 Article Series
Saturday, July. 14/2012
Since the Humidor room has been put into use at Coors Field, Team batting averages have dropped 8-10% and HRs have dropped 20-25% yearly. The Rockies still have routinely finished in the top 7 in all offensive categories for every year since 2002. This year, they lead MLB in every offensive category.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)– In the first 10 years of Coors Field, or the Rockies existence for that matter, the baseballs were being belted out of the park at a historically record rate. Some of this was due to the steroid era. Most of it was arrived at by the dry air of Colorado. The reason is simple, in dry air the ball travels further than in thin air, thus causing more frequent home runs. Baseballs being stored in drier air become harder and therefore explode off of a bat when contacted. After nearly a decade with inflated numbers at Coors Field for offense, a decision was made by baseball and the Colorado Rockies to start holding/storing the game baseballs in a room-sized Humidor-that was installed at the Park in order to keep them moist. This was done so the baseballs will not carry as far when hit with impact. Elevation would still play a role in the baseball games. Baseballs carry farther in the thinner air and especially when they are rising in trajectory. Remember that in Denver, you are nearly a mile above sea level already. In fact, there are purple bleacher tickets that you can buy at Coors Field that indicate where that mile marker is.
The cause and effect is harder on pitchers, whose curveballs curve less with the thin air than at sea level-leading to fewer strikeouts and the result is less pitches to use in their arsenal. So has the Humidor worked since being implemented before the start of the 2002 season? The answer is yes. The amount of HRs hit now sits with the rest of the MLB Parks that are amongst the top 10 over the last decade. The averages have dropped only around 10% of what they were, however Colorado is routinely in the top 4 or 5 parks for average on a yearly basis in the MLB and dominate the NL in home average. In 2012, the hotter temperatures(and dry air) have helped the team to lead every offensive category in the Major Leagues once again. Now, there is still a decisive advantage to playing at Coors for hitters when it comes to playing an 81 game schedule there. I am going to look at the careers of some previous players to show you the weighted advantage of having this park as a home venue. We are going to look at the careers of Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Carlos Gonzalez and Garrett Atkins. It is easier to use the hitters as a barometer when deciphering this study because not many pitchers ever prosper again in any city after playing for the Colorado Rockies. See: (Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez, Mike Hampton and Jason Jennings once they left Coors Field or before they arrived at Denver after playing somewhere else first.)
For Part 1 of the Article Series: Carlos Gonzalez on the Trade Block? Buyer Beware! click here .
For Part 3 of the Article Series: The Coors Field Effect: Part 3 of A 3 Article Series click here.
An Interview with ‘Rogers Center Expert’ and “MLB reports Founder” Jonathan Hacohen
Monday April 16th, 2012
Follow Chuck Booth’s streak all the through to the bitter end. Schedule is this link:
https://mlbreports.com/gwr-tracker/ or at his official website for all updates!
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and- @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)– For once the shoe is on the other foot. I asked the MLB Reports Founder and ‘Lead Columnist’ Jonathan Hacohen if I could interview him 5 months after he interviewed me. Jonathan and I came into talking by both talking to the MLB FanCave guys at the same time on twitter last June. Jonathan was really interested in My baseball book “The Fastest Thirty Ballgames” and I sent him a copy of it if he agreed to do a review. Jonathan finished the book and gave one of the most incredible reviews for my book that I have ever seen for any baseball book anywhere. Somewhere I had given up all of my creative writing energy in the process while writing this said book. Jonathan followed up with an interview later. During the World Series, he offered up a chance to do a guest article since I knew a lot about the ballparks in Texas and St. Louis. Now I am sure it was all part of his master plan: the one guest article turned into a once a week article, before I even realized it myself, I was writing 2 articles a week and craving more! I messaged Jonathan about a potential run at the record to see all 30 MLB Parks before anyone on this planet. The reason is the man loves baseball. He was just as fired up as I was! From there we have worked together as a team to provide a different kind of article series that has ever been seen by a baseball writer and website. I am happy to finally meet Jonathan today live in person for the Jays game during this record chase. Before we write about that, I had a chance to talk the man about baseball life, the MLB Reports and the Rogers Center. Here is what we discussed… Read the rest of this entry
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