From: kbos@carina.unm.edu (Kurt "Some Guy" Bose)
Subject: R.S.BB FAQ V1.22 (9/25/92)
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 11:11:39 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque


Well, thanks to a kind person who let me mail this to myself, I can now say
that I have the FAQ updated.  I had a problem transferring files to my 
account, so this is very late in coming, but here it is!  I used a friend's
account to mail this to my carina account.  It would be hairy to try this
with the files I plan to put at wuarchive, so that isn't solved, but I've had
enough people bug me for this so I got it done.  Again, any help is much
appreciated...


              Rec.Sport.Baseball FAQ V1.22 - last update: 9/25/92

      Hello, and welcome to the FAQL for Rec.sport.baseball!  This is a
monthly posting that hopes to answer some of your questions about the game,
and this group.  The FAQ is an ever-changing beast, with additions and other
revisions necessary frequently, at least in the beginning.  For this reason,
please read the whole FAQL, even if you've been here a while.  Once the FAQL
settles down, it will be possible for the net.vets to save a copy and not
worry about it changing for a good long time, but with the FAQ still in its
early stages, everyone needs to help.  But enough administrivia...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX TO SECTIONS....

      1] Getting along with other people on R.S.BB
      2] Ticket information
      3] Team Contact Information
      4] Schedule Information
      5] Archives
      6] Statistics
      7] Miscellaneous

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GETTING ALONG WITH OTHER PEOPLE ON R.S.BB

      Before posting, you should make a strong effort to be familiar and
well-versed in netiquette.  Suggested reading: "A Primer on How to Work With
The USENET Community" and "Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette".

      Please remember that the other person is human, too.  They've got ideas,
they've got opinions, and at least half the time, they're not asking to be
flamed.  :)  At any rate, experienced netters should already have an idea about
how a person should behave, and newcomers to Usenet should be fine as long as
they remember to be polite, remember to heed dire warnings about the evils of
wasting bandwidth (mostly by remembering to cut down on quotes, sigs, and to
confine "Me Too" posts to E-Mail), and remember to duck if they offend anyone.
The Guidelines for Posting are important, and they're effective.  Use them.

      In this newsgroup, several points are important enough, though, as to
warrant special mention or repeating.  Please cut down on what you quote,
especially when replying to one line in a 300 line stream of data.  If you're
in need of ticket or schedule info, READ THIS FAQ!!!!!!!  Sorry, it's kinda
important.  If you need a question answered, ask people to reply to you via
E-Mail.  Then post the answer yourself.  (Of course, one of the leading 
pastimes on this net is to post Trivia Quizzes.  If you want to stump people,
go ahead.  We LIVE for that.  Oh, and don't use your stat books to answer
at once and ruin everybody's fun.

      Also, the group dynamics here are interesting.  Several of the fans
here are interested in sabermetrics, a term coined to describe the study of
baseball statistics.  This group includes many of the more prominent posters
here.  Accordingly, there are other people here who object to the idea that
much of the game can be broken down so effectively.  Every so often, these
"stat-heads" and "stupid RBI lovers" (both somewhat offensive terms to some
people, smile when you say it...) go head to head in flamewars that carry
titles like "Value of Stats" or "Chemistry in Baseball".  While if you feel
your point of view is so different and refreshing that it must be said, you
are welcome to post, note that we've heard most of it before.  Just to set
the record straight, the more numbers-minded folk are just as knowledgeable
about the game as their old-school counterparts, watch as many games, in some
cases even play the game at competitive levels.  Many of them can converse
as easily about swings and mechanics as they can about DA and OPS*.  For the
most part, they are just using their skills to enjoy and understand the game
as much as people who don't stare at the Sunday paper with a calculator in
hand.  Who knows?  They might even be able to do a good job managing a team.
(Other "stat-heads" include Dave Johnson, Tony LaRussa, Earl Weaver, and 
Branch Rickey.)

(*) Don't worry if you don't know what these mean yet.  Most abbreviations 
    will become clearer to you once you read about the statistics used here.
    [Statistic review article still under construction]
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TICKET INFORMATION

     Here are the addresses and phone #s for each of the teams in the major
leagues, at least as far as I know.  

[I will take updated information from the 1993 Red and Green Books when
they are released.  It's sufficiently late in the season that I think any
updates can wait that long.  I know there are 1-800 numbers for a few of
the teams; I just want to hold off on updates until the R&G books are out.]

Form:

      Team
       Stadium
       Stadium Address
       Team offices (I think)
       Ticket information

American League

  Baltimore Orioles                    Boston Red Sox
   Orioles Park At Camden Yards         Fenway Park
   333 West Camden Street               4 Yawkey Way
   Baltimore, MD 21201                  Boston, MA 02215
   301-481-6000                         617-267-1700
   410-685-9800                         617-267-8661

  California Angels                    Chicago White Sox
   Anaheim Stadium                      Comiskey Park
   Box 2000                             333 West 35th Street
   Anaheim, CA 92803                    Chicago, IL 60616
   714-634-1300                         312-559-1212
   714-634-2000                         312-924-1000

  Cleveland Indians                    Detroit Tigers
   Cleveland Municipal Stadium          Tiger Stadium
   Cleveland, OH 44114                  2121 Trumbull Avenue
                                        Detroit, MI 48216
   216-961-1200                         313-962-4000
   216-241-5555                         313-682-1401

  Kansas City Royals                   Milwaukee Brewers
   Royals Stadium                       Milwaukee County Stadium
   Box 419969                           Milwaukee, WI 53214
   Kansas City, MO 64141
   816-921-2200                         414-933-4114
   816-921-8000                         414-933-1200

  Minnesota Twins                      New York Yankees
   Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome         Yankee Stadium
   Minneapolis, MN 55415                Bronx, NY, 10451
   612-375-1366                         212-293-4300
   612-375-7444                         212-293-6000

  Oakland Athletics                    Seattle Mariners
   Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum      Kingdome
   Oakland, CA 94621                    Box 4100
                                        Seattle, WA 98104
   415-638-4900                         206-628-3555
   510-568-5600                         206-628-3555

  Texas Rangers                        Toronto Blue Jays
   Arlington Stadium                    SkyDome
   Box 1111                             300 Bremner Blvd., Suite 3200
   Arlington, TX 76004-1111             Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5V 3B3	
   817-273-5222                         416-341-1000
   817-273-5000                         416-341-1111


National League

  Atlanta Braves                       Chicago Cubs
   Fulton County Stadium                Wrigley Field
   Box 4064                             1060 W. Addison St.
   Atlanta, GA 30302-4064               Chicago, IL
   404-522-7630                         312-382-5050
   404-522-7630                         312-404-4467

  Cincinnati Reds                      Houston Astros
   Riverfront Stadium                   Astrodome
   Cincinnati, OH 45202                 Box 288
                                        Houston, TX 77001
   513-421-4510                         713-799-9500
   513-421-7337                         713-799-9555

  Los Angeles Dodgers                  Montreal Expos
   Dodger Stadium                       Stade Olympique
   1000 Elysian Park Avenue             Box 500, Station M
   Los Angeles, CA 90012-1199           Montreal, Quebec, Canada H1V 3P2
   213-224-1500                         514-253-3434
   213-224-1400                         514-253-3434

  New York Mets                        Philadelphia Phillies
   Shea Stadium                         Veterans Memorial Stadium
   Flushing, NY 11368                   Box 7575
                                        Philadelphia, PA 19101
   718-507-6387                         215-463-6000
   718-507-8499                         215-463-1000

  Pittsburgh Pirates                   San Diego Padres
   Three Rivers Stadium                 Jack Murphy Stadium
   Box 7000                             Box 2000
   Pittsburgh, PA 15212                 San Diego, CA 92120-0020
   412-323-5000                         619-283-4494
   1-800-289-2827                       619-283-4494

  San Francisco Giants                 St. Louis Cardinals
   Candlestick Park                     Busch Stadium
   Box 24308                            250 Stadium Plaza
   San Francisco, CA 94124              St. Louis, MO 63102-1722
   415-468-3000                         314-421-3060
   415-467-8000                         314-421-3060

  Colorado Rockies                     Florida Marlins
   Suite 4100                           100 NE 3rd Avenue
   1700 Lincoln                         Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
   Denver, CO 80203

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEAM CONTACT INFORMATION

      [Due to limited interest, I cannot in any good conscience ask people
to take time out of their schedules to answer what will likely just be a slew
of scheduling questions.  I ask people who are on mailing lists, or know of
them, to write me with information about them.  I will, in future posts,
include a list of team mailing lists in this document.]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCHEDULE INFORMATION

	Every year, the official schedules for MLB are printed in several 
places, including most of the "preseason" guides to Major League Baseball.
If your preview issue doesn't have schedules, get one that does!  But, if
you are unable or unwilling to do so, your next stop should be to the USA
Today Baseball Weekly, which, in addition to being the best weekly baseball
mag out there, gives pretty good schedules for the next week or two for all
leagues, major and minor.  Failing that, the ticket information above is the
best place to get info on rainouts, made-up games, changes due to newly
scheduled tractor pulls, concerts, or whatever.  _Please_ try not to post to 
the net if you can at all help it.  Of course, if you can't help it, we'll
try to help you out.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ARCHIVES

      An archive has been set up for this FAQ and (hopefully) several other
files that have information that might be wanted by some.  While the area is
not filled with much (if any) information as you read this, as posts of
interest appear, they will be saved for future reference at this site.  This
includes the official List of Averages for Major League Baseball, net.style,
as well as various postings made by r.s.bb contributors, including the text
of Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First" routine, Brian Engel's list of
"Bermanisms", (are you accepting updates, Brian?), the fielding diagram (in
GIF format) that Project Scoresheet uses to compute its defensive stats, 
sources and programs to project the path of a player's career and set up
effective lineups.  As the archive and FAQL becomes more finalized, posts
with detailed information on each major league club will join these files.
The site is as follows:

wuarchive.wustl.edu  128.252.135.4
/doc/misc/sports/mlb

NOTE:  The archiver is currently unable to upload to the site.  Watch the
newsgroup for information on the opening of the site.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STATISTICS

      Because of the explosion in statistical analysis in baseball, a new
term has been coined for the study of baseball stats, "sabermetrics".  For
many years, the only statistics available were, for the most part, counting
numbers, such as "home runs", "triples", and "runs batted in".  However, in
the last fifteen years or so, the application of scientific and statistical
methods to the game of baseball has led to new knowledge and theories that
challenge traditional thinking on baseball strategy and call into question
the usefulness of several widely accepted statistics.  The "new breed" of
statistics, for the most part, attempt to remove some of the biases of the
more commonly known statistics, and hope to allow the public to see through
the misperceptions that traditional statistics tend to give.  This research
is by no means gospel, however.  Many of these new statistics only confuse 
the issue, and the flaws in these confuse the issue greatly.  There is no
"One True Statistic" that completely satisfies everyone and puts the question
of "who's the best" to rest; at least, not yet.
      To completely discuss, or even list all of the indices and measures
that are commonly used in this newsgroup would require more space than this
document allows.  Another post, currently under construction, will attempt to
enumerate the various systems and statistics in use here, with particular
emphasis on the pros AND cons of the stat, along with its uses.

NOTE:  I am hoping that lots of people will help me to get this article
in production.  While I'm familiar with most of the common systems, I'd like
any qualified reader who feels that they can help to send in submissions for
the article.  Especially necessary are the pros and cons of each stat or
index.  It's just as important to know what a stat DOESN'T do as it is to know
what it CAN do.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MISCELLANEOUS

      a) What's this expansion draft about?
      b) What's a rookie?  How long does he stay that way?
      c) How do you determine free agency?
      d) What's salary arbitration, and who gets it?
      e) What's a 10-and-5 man?
      f) Hho wins the batting and ERA titles?
      g) How do waivers work?
      h) What's the "infield fly" rule?
      i) What's a "park factor"?
      j) There are a lot of baseball books out here!  What do I get???
      l) Can a player's minor league career tell us anything about his
         major league career?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A) WHAT'S THIS EXPANSION DRAFT ABOUT?

1992 NL Expansion Draft

Who drafts:  Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins (is the order determined yet?
The Rockies won a coin flip to get the 27th pick in the June 1992 amateur
draft;  will there (or has there been) another coin flip or does this
automatically get reversed for the expansion draft?)
  (note:  I still don't know who gets first pick a/o if there's been
   a coin toss or whatever) 

When:  On November 17.

Who is eligible:  Every player in team systems except 1991 and 1992 draftees
and players who were 18 or younger when signed for the 1990 season, unless
any of these players have appeared on the 40-man major league roster.

NOTE: Carlos Delgado, catching prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays, need not
be protected.  This is official, from the Commissioner's Office.

Who must be protected:  Players with no-trade contracts and 10/5 players
(unless the player waives his guaranteed protection).

NOTE: Established teams are not required to make their lists public, before
or after the draft.  This is also official.

How it works:  The 26 present teams protect 15 players.  Rockies and Marlins
pick one player alternately, until each team loses one player.  End of first
round.  NL teams then protect three more players, AL teams protect four.
Second round of draft, followed by second round of protection.  Draft continues
until all 12 NL teams lose three players, eight AL teams lose three players,
and other six AL teams lose two players.  Total of drafted players is 72.

How it affects free agents:  If player declares free agency before the
draft, he is not included in team's draft-eligible pool unless team re-signs
him before the draft.  If player is offered and accepts arbitration, he
is like every other player in the organization.  (Oh yeah, the new teams
would just LOVE to get right into the arbitration fun!)

The draft will be televised in its entirety on ESPN.
**********

B) WHAT'S A ROOKIE?  HOW LONG DOES HE STAY THAT WAY?

A rookie, for those who don't know, is a general term for a player who has
not played major league baseball before.  Players who are new to the
major leagues and meet the qualifications for a "rookie" are also eligible
for a "Rookie of the Year" award, awarded to the best first year player in
each league.

Here are the official qualifications to allow a player to be eligible for
"rookie" status:

Not more than 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues during
a previous season or seasons, nor more than 45 days on a major league
roster during the 25-player limit (excluding time in military service, or
on the disabled list).  The "25-player limit" refers to the number of players
on a major league roster who are available to play, from the beginning of the
regular season to September 1.

**********

C) HOW DO YOU DETERMINE FREE AGENCY?

[editor still waiting for a good explanation of free agency]

**********

D) WHAT'S SALARY ARBITRATION, AND WHO GETS IT?

Eligibility - Any Club, or any Player with a total of three or more years
of Major League service, however accumulated, but with less than six years
of Major League service, may submit the issue of the Player's salary to
final and binding arbitration....In addition, effective in 1991 and
thereafter, a Player with at least two by less than three years of Major
League service shall be eligible for salary arbitration if: (a) he has
accumulated at least 86 days of service during the immediately preceding
season; and (b) he ranks in the top seventeen percent (17%) (rounded to the
nearest whole number) in total service in the class of Players who have at
least two but less than three years of Major League service, however
accumulated, but with at least 86 days of service accumulated during the
immediately preceding season.

**********

E) WHAT'S A 10-AND-5 MAN?

Any player who has ten years of Major League service overall, and has 
accumulated the last five years of his service time with the same team, is
considered to be a "10 and 5" man, and is entitled to certain privileges,
not the least of which is right of veto over any trade.  Also, 10-and-5 men
must be protected by their club for the expansion draft in November 1992
if still on the roster.

**********

F) WHO WINS THE BATTING AND ERA TITLES?

Qualifications for batting championship: Highest batting average based on a
minimum of 3.1 appearances at the plate per game played by the team.  Plate
appearances include at bats, walks, sacrifices, times hit by pitcher, etc.

NOTE:  In some cases, a player with a high batting average may not qualify
for the batting title because he did not have enough plate appearances to
appear on the list of league leaders.  It is permissible, for purposes of
determining the championship, to add enough at bats to bring the total 
number of plate appearances to the minumum, and compute the batting 
average for this player by dividing the number of hits earned by the player
by his actual at bats PLUS the number of at bats necessary to bring that
player up to minimum standards.  This will have the effect of lowering 
that player's average for purposes of comparison to other players.

I know of no batting race in which this was used to determine a batting
champion.  If YOU do, please post, so I can add it to the FAQL.

Qualifications for pitching championship: Lowest earned run average with a
minimum of 1 inning pitched per game played by the team.

**********

G) HOW DO WAIVERS WORK?

[editor still waiting for a good explanation of waivers]

**********

H) WHAT'S THE "INFIELD FLY" RULE?

      When a fly ball is hit in the infield, it would be easy for a defense
to let the ball drop to the ground, pick it up, and get a double play
because the runner(s) wait for the ball to drop in order to avoid having
to tag up on a fly ball.  Confusing, right?  Well, the infield fly rule was
developed to remove this loophole.  What it means is that when there are
runners at first and second, and possibly third, and there are fewer than
two outs (i.e., a double play is possible), and a pop fly is hit within
reach of a defensive infielder, the batter may be called out by the umpire,
without a play even being made by the defender.  This removes the temptation
to let the ball intentionally drop.  Runners are then allowed to attempt
a base advance at risk of being thrown out on the basepaths.

**********

I) WHAT'S A "PARK FACTOR"?

      Not all ballparks are the same.  The Green Monster in Boston turns
fly balls into homers, homers into doubles, and doubles into singles.  A 
player will always have an easier time hitting home runs in Atlanta than in
the Astrodome, while a pitcher has a lot more room for error in Oakland than
in Wrigley Field in Chicago.  The "park factor" is the degree, either 
subjective or statistical, to which a players production is shaped by his
environment rather than his ability.  In order to get a true picture of a
player's talent, it is necessary to filter out these illusions created by the
park in which he plays.  A subjective observation might be as simple as, 
"The Metrodome should be blown up!  Did you see how that ball just shot up
off that carpet?  That just won't happen anywhere else in the majors!", while
a more statistical approach might be to look at a stadium, determine how many
runs were scored there and elsewhere, and dividing by some figure to bring
those two measures together.  Whatever approach is used, however, it cannot
be denied that the differences between the major league ballparks exist and
have a very real effect on the game.  (Nor should it.  The individuality of
each ballpark lends character and enjoyment to the game.)

**********

J) THERE ARE A LOT OF BASEBALL BOOKS OUT THERE?  WHAT DO I GET???

      Periodically, Greg Spira has taken to posting an excellent article
covering some of the better non-fiction work available on the subject of
baseball.  Because the article is fairly long, it won't be repeated here,
but will be saved in the archive at wuarchive.  Presumably, Greg will 
continue to post his list when possible, but be sure to check the archive
if you can't wait.

[Greg's article will be placed at the site pending his permission for me to
do so.  If he denies permission, his post will be added to the FAQL as a
separate post...if he allows it.  Greg?]

**********

K) MINOR LEAGUE NUMBERS CAN'T PREDICT MAJOR LEAGUE SUCCESS, CAN THEY?

      Actually, every study ever done concludes that they can.  At least,
they can if looked at properly.  At first glance, it's easy to be skeptical,
especially after you've watched the PCL for many years.  There, players 
regularly hit over .300, only to fall flat on their faces in the majors.  If
these players hit there, the saying goes, why can't they hit in the majors,
when that .280 hitter in Pawtucket can hit .300 in Boston?  Again, the 
answer lies in illusions, not just park illusions, but league illusions. The
"park factor" outlined above exists for minor leaguers as well as major
leaguers.  When that factor exists all over the league, the illusion is able
to become more powerful.
      Of course, minor leagues are, by definition, of lower quality than the
majors.  Thus a player that hits .300 in the minors won't necessarily hit that
well in the American League.  He's batting against Jose Bautista, after all,
not Roger Clemens.  Still, that can be adjusted for, to throw out that mirage,
and still can provide a good benchmark.
      But if minor leaguers do as well in the majors as they did when coming
up, why is it that minor league batting champions don't win ML batting titles?
Why didn't Bernardo Brito (minor league HR champion several times over) ever
become the next Babe Ruth?  First of all, if he was that good, he wouldn't be
in the minors.  That's a knee-jerk answer, but it holds true a surprising 
percentage of the time.  The true stars, from Ty Cobb to Ken Griffey Jr., go
through the minors like a Rocket.  The adage "All men will rise to the level
of their incompetence" exists in baseball, at least most of the time.  Also,
the (dreaded) park illusions exist here.  It's easier, as said before, to
hit homers in Atlanta than Shea Stadium; this is as true in the Sally League
as it is in the National League.
      Finally, it must be noted that major league performance is not the
best at predicting future greatness.  The 1992 season of Brady Anderson is 
more in keeping with his minor league performance than his Orioles seasons.
The _average_ player sees his batting average change as much as 25 points
from year to year.  Still, with the correct adjustments made to a player's
minor league career, one can predict how he'll do in the majors.

At least, he can do it easier than he could have predicted Anderson...

**********
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The list of contributors to this list is now well over 100, and it would be
time consuming (and voluminous) to post.  Suffice to say that this list is
the work of several attempts to codify a FAQList, and at one time or another,
many or most of the people whose opinions you are reading in this newsgroup
have contributed to this document, either by sending questions, supplying an
answer, or just sending support.  Thanks, everyone.  This is YOUR doing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please send all submissions, changes, questions to kbos@carina.unm.edu.  This
FAQ will be posted approximately once a month, and also when major changes
occur.  Please note the Version # given in the subject line and the last update
date given to determine how comprehensive the changes are. 
-- 
Kurt Bose (as in Daisy, not Rose) *  kbos@carina.unm.edu * Make outs, not walks!
Keeper of the R.S.BB FAQ, and Junior Stathead {tm} * Yay!  Gary Blickhan's back!
Be kind...don't disillusion the RBI-lovers. * Net.Agent, "Doublin" David Rossing
I'd rather see Doug Dascenzo pitch than suffer through Roger McDowell's batting.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball