Baseball History/Birthdays

Instead of a book, why not do 365 birthday cards. A little over-sized, cardboard stock cover and four to eight pages.
$3.95 at your favorite card shop or at Amazon.

Quote: billryan

Instead of a book, why not do 365 birthday cards. A little over-sized, cardboard stock cover and four to eight pages.
$3.95 at your favorite card shop or at Amazon.

As the intended market I personally wouldn’t purchase birthday cards.

I like the idea of maybe doing the baseball season or 12 one month books but that might be an insane idea.

Do the 10 best days. And the two worst days. The general public might not be interested in the 138th best day....

Quote: SOOPOO

Do the 10 best days. And the two worst days. The general public might not be interested in the 138th best day....

I think that one of the strengths of what I've done so far is that baseball history sort of emerges from the write-ups in daubs and splashes. To me, the "best days" might include the strongest teams + the days with the most compelling stories and cast of characters.

Maybe discuss some number of teams - call it 'n'- with an an appendix listing all of the other teams without discussion. I'll keep turning it over in my head.

Quote: gordonm888

Maybe discuss some number of teams - call it 'n'- with an an appendix listing all of the other teams without discussion. I'll keep turning it over in my head.

I think that’s a great idea. 10 ‘best’ teams. And 10 ‘most interesting’ teams. And list the other 336 teams as well.

I must say I find this thread very interesting from a statistics point of view. However, I don't know the fine points of baseball very well and can't contribute any good team or ideas. Hopefully, the May 23 team is a strong one.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, there is a strong correlation for Canadian hockey players between date of birth (month and year) and success in the NHL. Anyone care to speculate why?

Quote: PokerGrinder

As the intended market I personally wouldn’t purchase birthday cards.

I like the idea of maybe doing the baseball season or 12 one month books but that might be an insane idea.

You aren't the target audience. Your significant other, your parents and favorite aunt is.

Quote: Wizard

I must say I find this thread very interesting from a statistics point of view. However, I don't know the fine points of baseball very well and can't contribute any good team or ideas. Hopefully, the May 23 team is a strong one.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, there is a strong correlation for Canadian hockey players between date of birth (month and year) and success in the NHL. Anyone care to speculate why?

I either read or heard this before (maybe Malcolm Gladwell) anyways I will let others think on it until you post the answer.

Quote: billryan

You aren't the target audience. Your significant other, your parents and favorite aunt is.

Lol I’m a baseball fanatic, how am I not the target audience?

I can tell you with 100% accuracy none of those people in my life are reading this book other than my dad who, yes you guessed it, is a baseball fanatic.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Lol I’m a baseball fanatic, how am I not the target audience?

I can tell you with 100% accuracy none of those people in my life are reading this book other than my dad who, yes you guessed it, is a baseball fanatic.

Because you don't buy birthday cards. Unless, of course, you are the sort that buys 1200 page coffee table books, in which case you can get the limited edition leather bound edition.

Quote: billryan

Because you don't buy birthday cards. Unless, of course, you are the sort that buys 1200 page coffee table books, in which case you can get the limited edition leather bound edition.

Oh I misunderstood what you were referring to. Who is the intended target of the birthday cards? Like I said my family and friends who aren’t baseball fans would never buy them.

Quote: Wizard

I must say I find this thread very interesting from a statistics point of view. However, I don't know the fine points of baseball very well and can't contribute any good team or ideas. Hopefully, the May 23 team is a strong one.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, there is a strong correlation for Canadian hockey players between date of birth (month and year) and success in the NHL. Anyone care to speculate why?

I remember from a Freakanomics book that this was the case - that professionals tended to be born in the early months of a year, Jan - March, because they had a physical advantage during school, being older than kids born late in the year. That encouraged them to focus on athletics.

I had that in mind when I did a quick check on number of baseball athletes born on a given date. I suspected also that more couples might conceive during February -baby born in Nov, then in July -baby born in April. I did a quick check -checking the 23rd day of each month and didn't see an obvious effect. We should remember that this tends to involve players born in the period 1855-2000 so cultural influences may have changed alot during this time period.

I also thought it likely that the number of players born on Dec25 would be low for many reasons - doctors do not tend to induce labor Christmas if they can avoid it. And couples try to avoid Dec 25 as a birthdate when they are trying to conceive. But I found above average number of athletes born on Dec 25.

Here's a fun idea that, in retrospect, should of been obvious: All-Star teams for months. I went with 25 player teams including 9 pitchers. In a quick, breezy way I compiled these teams for January and February, It is certainly possible that they could be improved, particularly the January Bench might be more balanced (its missing a backup catcher.)

Position	January	February
C	Darrell Porter	Elston Howard
1B	Albert Pujols	Eddie Murray
2B	Jackie Robinson	Roberto Alomar
3B	Edgar Martinez	Ron Santo
SS	Ernie Banks	Honus Wagner
LF	Brian Giles	Babe Ruth
CF	Max Carey	Cesar Cedeno
RF	Magglio Ordonez	Hank Aaron
DH	Willie McCovey	Vladimir Guerrero
P	Nolan Ryan	Justin Verlander
P	Early Wynn	Herb Pennock
P	A. J. Burnett	Dan Quisenberry
P	David Cone	Wes Ferrell
P	Bruce Sutter	Preacher Roe
P	Jon Lester	John Tudor
P	Dizzy Dean	Allie Reynolds
P	Schoolboy Rowe	Earl Whitehill
P	Tony Mullane	Burt Hooton
Bench	Johnny Mize	Alan Trammell
Bench	Hank Greenberg	Billy Hamilton (1890s)
Bench	Elmer Flick	Freddie Lynn
Bench	Jimmy Collins	Paul Blair
Bench	Bill Dahlen	Red Schoendiest
Bench	Curt Flood	Joe Gordon
Bench	Del Pratt	Roger Peckinpaugh
Bench	Chili Davis	Brian McCann

A problem with the January team was that they had four first basemen: Pujols, McCovey, Greenberg and Mize, as well as Ernie Banks who could have been slotted at 1B. I put Pujols at 1B and McCovey at DH, but it is a shame to leave Greenberg on the bench. Their outfield, by comparison, may prove to be a bit weak compared to other months.

February is loaded with al-time greats in the line-up: Ruth, Aaron and Wagner. And some of the other guys aren't too shabby. But I definitely had to dig deeper to fill out their pitching staff.

What do you think? If these two teams played 162 games vs each other, which would win more often?

January’s pitchers are definitely deeper, February has the better lineup but as they say good pitching beats good hitting.

I had some time to kill, so I added March- and Wow! Given the quality of players I left off of March (like Kirby Puckett and several other HOF players), this seems like the best month of the three. The March pitching staff puts it into contention for top month of the 12, I imagine.

Position	January	February	March
C	Darrell Porter	Elston Howard	Buster Posey
1B	Albert Pujols	Eddie Murray	Mel Ott
2B	Jackie Robinson	Roberto Alomar	Jeff Kent
3B	Edgar Martinez	Ron Santo	Home Run Baker
SS	Ernie Banks	Honus Wagner	Arky Vaughan
LF	Brian Giles	Babe Ruth	Willie Stargell
CF	Max Carey	Cesar Cedeno	Richie Ashburn
RF	Magglio Ordonez	Hank Aaron	Bobby Abreu
DH	Willie McCovey	Vladimir Guerrero	Curtis Granderson
P	Nolan Ryan	Justin Verlander	Lefty Grove
P	Early Wynn	Herb Pennock	Cy Young
P	A. J. Burnett	Dan Quisenberry	Clayton Kershaw
P	David Cone	Wes Ferrell	Tom Glavine
P	Bruce Sutter	Preacher Roe	Dazzy Vance
P	Jon Lester	John Tudor	Johan Santana
P	Dizzy Dean	Allie Reynolds	Kevin Brown
P	Schoolboy Rowe	Earl Whitehill	Mark Buehrle
P	Tony Mullane	Burt Hooton	Dutch Leonard
Bench	Johnny Mize	Alan Trammell	Wee Willie Keeler
Bench	Hank Greenberg	Billy Hamilton (1890s)	Dick Allen
Bench	Elmer Flick	Freddie Lynn	George Sisler
Bench	Jimmy Collins	Paul Blair	Jim Rice
Bench	Bill Dahlen	Red Schoendiest	Sam Thompson
Bench	Curt Flood	Joe Gordon	Dale Murphy
Bench	Del Pratt	Roger Peckinpaugh	Will Clark
Bench	Chili Davis	Brian McCann	Bobby Bonds

I like the monthly format. The March team
Is strong obviously when you have George Sisler on the bench, and what a pitching staff

Quote: Hunterhill

I like the monthly format. The March team
Is strong obviously when you have George Sisler on the bench, and what a pitching staff

Turns out that Sisler didn't walk very much at all. His career BA was .340 but his career OBP was only .379. He averaged 222 hits/season but only 37 BB/season.