Here's the 2004 season preview for the Phabulous Phils. Enjoy.

History is what happens when no one's looking. So goes the old saying, and it's certainly true at Batter's Box, because when we received our 500,000th visit yesterday, the guy designated to mark the occasion was out of town (sorry about that). We're saving the really big celebrations for our one millionth visit, but until then, this is just a short, heartfelt Thank you! to absolutely everyone who, by their visits, lurks and participation, has helped makes Batter's Box the marvellous baseball community and respected idea exchange that it is today. This one's for you, Bauxites.

In part one of this series, I presented a system for the analysis of NCAA Division I stats for hitters. In that piece, I hinted at but did not actually present a system for analyzing pitchers' statistics. This article will explain the analysis of pitchers a bit more fully and present a top 50 for 2003. A top 50 for 2002 will follow shortly.

Decisions to be made
The good advice of friends unheeded
The best of plans mislaid

Just make sure you're planning to attend our "Baseball Day in Canada"!

While procrastinating writing my A's column, I spent some time flipping through my newly-arrived 2004 Baseball Prospectus, looking for nothing in particular. And "nothing in particular" really means "anything," and "anything," as any fan of The Zero Effect can tell you, is much easier to find than "something." Or such and such, blah blah blah.

Mark Saturday, March 27th, 1:00PM EST off on your calendars. It's the day the Blue Jays Cheer Club is having a coast-to-coast Jays event. Here's how you can be part of the fun:

Feisty '02 team/
Lost mojo. Tried to recoup/
With pricey shopping

Welcome to tha' O.C.! Our 2004 Preview Series now turns to the suddenly free-spending Anaheim Angels.

Today I vow that any Black Sabbath references I make will not look like I'm taking shots at Jays broadcasters. No offence was intended, Mr. Cheek!

Time for some Jays articles!

Mlb radio is broadcasting the first two hours of the Jays-Pirates tilt. The first 5 Jays have reached in the first, but Noah Hall was gunned down at the plate on a Josh Phelps double - the Jays lead 2 zip. Top pitching prospect Dustin McGowan gets the start.

Tom and Jerry and Mike are broadcasting the Dunedin affair versus the Yankees. That game is available to Gameday Audio subscribers. I am one, but since I am completely boycotting the Yankees (and this is not the last you'll hear of it, although there is no cabal) this year, I'll be listening to the Pirates-Jays game.

Not Your Father's Cardinals

In the summer of 1961, if it was daylight, I was playing ball. Most nights, I pretended to be asleep while listening to broadcasts on the earphone of my transistor radio and reading by flashlight about the Pastime and its history. I was a good reader for an eight-year-old, and there weren't enough books in the local library to satisfy my curiosity about Ruth, Cobb and DiMaggio. I liked aggressive players and "characters," so the Gashouse Gang had special appeal.

Fun fun fun in the Batter's Box!

Baseball's version of Ahasuerus will continue to wander in 2004.

I try. I hunger!

Thanks to the miracle of technology and the relatively advanced state of sabermetrics, evaluating a pool of ballplayers statistically, even one as large and disparate as the NCAA, has become pretty easy if you want to pour in the skull sweat, and can find the data.

I am expecting to win a coffee at "Roll Up The Rim" one of these days.