What WHIP is in baseball
WHIP is my all-time favorite baseball statistic. I’ll get into why in a bit. What WHIP measures is how many base runners a pitcher allows in an average inning. It’s a pretty easy way to calculate a pitcher’s effectiveness.
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Why Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young Award
If you want to sound like you know baseball, one of the fun facts you can drop is that Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young award. He was so good for so long, that sounds astounding. But if you look it up, it’s true. Here’s why Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young award.
Why Dwight Gooden isn’t in the Hall of Fame
Why isn’t Dwight Gooden in the Hall of Fame? That’s a fair question. I saw him pitch when he was at his best. And when he was at his best, he was at least as good as anyone else I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Furthermore, one of his comparables is Roy Halladay, who is in the Hall of Fame. What’s the difference?
1934-36 Diamond Stars baseball cards
The 1934-36 Diamond Stars is one of my favorite baseball card sets of all time. At first glance it looks like a Goudey copycat, but it’s a good set in its own right. And it’s a pre-war set that’s just a bit off the beaten path.
The 1934-36 Diamond Stars was a set of 108 baseball cards issued by National Chicle, of Cambridge, Mass. Jefferson Burdick gave it the designation of R327.
Jose Uribe baseball card value: Not what you’re hoping
There are a number of Youtube videos talking up the value of Jose Uribe’s baseball cards. The 1990 Fleer Jose Uribe, to be precise. So here’s some straight talk about what’s going on with regard to Jose Uribe baseball card value, and why some people think it’s absurdly valuable.
Read More »Jose Uribe baseball card value: Not what you’re hoping
Eephus pitch in baseball
An eephus pitch in baseball is a slow curveball thrown at an absurdly low speed, usually 60 miles per hour or less. Since it’s much slower than a typical baseball pitch, slower than even a knuckleball, it can catch a hitter off guard. However, if a major league hitter gets the timing right or the pitch doesn’t move like it should, it can be an easy pitch to hit.
The name eephus comes from a Hebrew word that means “nothing.” It’s a slow, junk pitch, something of a novelty, and generally better liked by fans and broadcasters than hitters.
Bobson Dugnutt: The man, the meme, the legend
Bobson Dugnutt was a fictional baseball player in the 1994 console game Fighting Baseball, the Japanese version of MLBPA baseball published by EA. He was a bench player for the Milwaukee franchise, a backup outfielder and pinch hitter.
Lack of a license to use the real names of baseball players led to the game designers using some creativity to come up with believable-sounding names. Bobson Dugnutt was the most absurd name in the meme inspired by the game.
Baseball card junk wax era
The baseball card junk wax era refers to a period of time in the 1980s and 1990s when Topps and its competitors made far more cards than the market could absorb. Excruciatingly high demand prior to 1994 propped up prices somewhat, but prices did not recover after the 1994 baseball strike.
People argue about when the junk wax era started. It could be as early as 1981 but was certainly in full swing by 1987. The end was definite, in 1994, when players went on strike and Bud Selig, the acting commissioner of baseball, cancelled the World Series.
When will baseball cards make a comeback?
Anyone who collected baseball cards in the 1980s and 1990s knows how the hobby has changed. In the 80s and 90s, baseball card shops proliferated like vape shops, popping up anywhere there was empty real estate. New sets were released almost monthly. And then the bubble popped, leaving us to ask, when will baseball cards make a comeback?
I would argue that the parts of the hobby that are going to make a comeback already did. The reason 1980s and 1990s baseball cards aren’t coming back is complex, but there are several reasons why those cards probably will never be as valuable as they were at their peak.
Why collect baseball cards?
When I was a kid, baseball cards were something everyone collected. Today, it’s an obscure hobby. So why collect baseball cards?
People collect cards for any number of reasons, including the thrill of finding a card when they least expect it, a relatively inexpensive means to enjoy the sport of baseball, and even, to a degree, to make money.