5-18-25 There have been a lot of baseball themed movies. Some are good, some are bad. When you think about a baseball movie you generally think about the overall experience. How good is the story; how does the plot unfold. You generally do not think about how the actors played baseball. They need to be somewhat realistic but that is not the major focus. Here is a video that one man evaluates the baseball aspect of the movie. Check out "I Watched Every Baseball Movie and Ranked Them by How Well the Actors Played Baseball".
5-25-25 Speaking of baseball movies, one of the most popular baseball movies over the last 20 years was "Moneyball" We all know the story by now. Most, if not all of us has seen the movie. It really played up the analytics over the baseball scouts and managers. It protrayed Billy Bean as not caring at all what the baseball people said. He put 100% faith in the numbers. It made for a nice movie but how much of it was real and how much was just a Hollywood story? I found this video that took a look at "Moneyball: Baseball Truth or Hollywood Fiction?"
6-1-25 Javier Baez is an interesting player. Offensively he will swing at anything and has some success doing that. Defensively he has bounced around the infield. He had a good arm but was never really a standout at any spot. This year the Detroit Tigers were hit with a rash of outfield injuries. The decided to try Baez in centerfield and see what happens. They really didn't have many other options. Well it worked. I found this video that showcasing his new postions. Check out "Javier Baez is a Center Fielder Now ... And It's Working"
6-8-25 You don't hear about it often but umpires get scored every game. It is a way of judging umpires and a way to help them improve. Like any rating system there are plusses and minusses with the system. No system can be perfect. One issue with the umpire rating is that it is now public so the media and fans voice their opinions for whatever that is worth. Usually it just throws confusion and over reaction into the mix. See for yourself, take a look at "Everything Wrong with Ump Scorecards".
6-15-25 Baseball contracts have sure changed over the years. Before free agency guys had to beg to get a raise. Owners had little incentive to take care of players. Free agency gave more power to the players. Draft and collective bargaining also affected things. Now teams want to try to lock up players early in their career, in effect buying some years of potential free agency from the player early in their careers. With all the changes some of the contract extensions have been good and some have been bad. Here is a video that looks into the "Best Contract Extensions in Baseball History".
6-22-25 We move from the best contract extensions to the worst contracts extensions in Baseball history. These teams got it wrong when trying to buy some control over the players. You can't always get it right. Did the analytics get it wrong. Was the guy not as good as the club thought. Or did the agent do a great job for the player and sell the club a bill of goods. Injuries also can have a big impact. We all know that injuries can change a players career. Check out the video that looks into the "Worst Contract Extensions in Baseball History".