Baseball Engineer

Little Billy Makes His Play

John Cappello — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:06:28 +0000

Little Billy squeezed the handle of his new bat so hard his knuckles were glowing white. His new high performance stick with the composite barrel and optimum swing flex was supposed to eliminate all of his hitting flaws—at least that’s what his dad was banking on when he tossed his credit card onto the counter [...]

The Chase-inator and his Double-edged Sword

John Cappello — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:41:48 +0000

When Hanley Ramirez limped jogged casually strolled after a baseball that he had Pele’d down the left field line on May 17th, my first reaction was to cover the eyes of my two kids, who are young ballplayers. I didn’t want them to think that what Ramirez did was even possible. Saying that he [...]

Meet the new Park Factors — Part III

John Cappello — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:02:22 +0000

Taming the Wind

“This will be one of the most beautiful baseball parks of all time.”

—Vice President Richard Nixon, 1960, opening day at Candlestick Park

So many were fooled.

Players, sports writers, and even future presidents were in awe of the new home of the San Francisco Giants. Mesmerizing visitors with its lush green grass and the largest [...]

Meet the new Park Factors – Part II

John Cappello — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:14:05 +0000

[In Part I, we saw that traditional Park Factors do have a place in baseball—just not for measuring ballpark impact. In Part II here, we’ll mix some physics with home run trajectories to help us understand how a future system for rating ballparks might be designed. In Part III, we'll see what this system might [...]

Meet the new Park Factors – Part I

John Cappello — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:49:18 +0000

“It’s a park that could make you a hero or a bum.”

– Stan Musial on the Polo Grounds, 1957

Stan Musial was truly one of the most consistently great hitters baseball has ever seen. With a lifetime average of .331, his slumps were like comets—showing up every few years, then disappearing in a flash.

Yet, the [...]

Baker Street

John Cappello — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:37:11 +0000

In this winter of two-foot snowstorms, I was definitely looking forward to some hot stove baseball chatter at SABR’s local Connie Mack chapter meeting in Philadelphia. But, man, did I underestimate the lineup of guest speakers.

SABR members love to dig into the nuances of the game with their fellow researchers and learn something new, whether [...]

Mark McGwire’s Jacuzzi Moment

John Cappello — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:29:24 +0000

Unless you’ve been glued to the TV watching Monk marathons the past week, you heard that Mark McGwire, once the greatest show in baseball, finally made it official: he cheated.

McGwire’s admission to using steroids throughout the 1990s couldn’t have been much of a surprise to anyone, although it was strange he claimed to have kept [...]

Going Baerga

John Cappello — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:07:36 +0000

Until next season unfolds, Phillies fans are going to gripe that GM Ruben Amaro lost his mind sending Cliff Lee out of town just four and a half months after he acquired him in the genius transaction of the 2009 season.

But before getting too hung up on this “Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay” debate, remember [...]

The Smell of Resin

John Cappello — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:53:32 +0000

It’s a quote that was supposed to be cleverly relevant to the “aging in baseball” chapter of my first book Stealing Greatness.

“We play the game because of the smell of the resin, or the horsehide the ball was made of, or the click of the bat, or running down a fly, throwing as far as [...]

World Series Game 6: Grab Your Helmets

John Cappello — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:37:46 +0000

[The series heads to NY with the Yanks leading the Phils 3-2.]

Chase Utley better borrow Brian Westbrook’s helmet when he goes to the plate Wednesday night. If I was his opponent, I’d throw at him. Somewhere Alex Rodriguez has got to be making some noise about his pitchers protecting the not-so-loveable third baseman—and their ERAs—by making [...]