June 25, 2008 - Milton Bradley and More -

To Dante Bichette, Jim Rice, Dale Murphy, and all of the notorious home/road splits of the past, we may now need to bid adieu. For it appears that in 2008 we may be witnessing the most notorious home/road split season of all time.

As you know, Milton Bradley is a talented player whose home games are played in a hitters park, so you probably figured that his numbers are aided somewhat by playing at The Ballpark in Arlington.

But if you are like Asher, you had no idea as to how disparate his splits actually are.

After Asher took a look at the splits of the two notorious Texas Rangers, he decided to look around the league a little more, and discovered not only that Milton Bradley may have some history-making company, but also happened upon two of the most underrated players in baseball.

February 1, 2007 - Ground Ball Pitchers
It hasn't taken much prompting to get us to write a Splitsville article concerning home/road splits lately. This time a cheap shot at Kevin Brown has led to an interesting discovery concerning groundball pitchers in general.

You've probably seenKeith rant about Chien-Ming Wang's home/road splits being affected by the Yankees allegedly softening their infield dirt before home games. An extreme groundball pitcher like Wang with a lackluster infield defense like the Yankees' would underscore this effect.

Are the Yankees the only team smart enough to employ this tactic?

January 25, 2007 - Mike Piazza Goes to Oakland
As Mike Piazza heads off to the fifth team of his career (and, interestingly, his third California team), he will be playing his home games in what is largely considered a pitchers park. But this is nothing new to Mike Piazza. In this era of tiny ballparks, Mike Piazza has spent his career playing his home games exclusively in pitchers parks. He started his career out at Dodger Stadium in 1993, which in the 1990s drastically favored pitchers (somehow, in 2006 it magically became a hitters park). He was then traded to the Marlins for five games in 1998; the Marlins played in vast Joe Robbie Stadium. Then he moved onto the Mets, and Shea Stadium, which was also a pitchers park, though not as drastically as Dodgers Stadium. Finally, Piazza moved last year to Petco Park in San Diego, which stands out as one of the only two or three pitchers parks to have been built in the last decade.

The impact on Mike Piazza’s career numbers has been impressive.

January 17, 2007 - Sammy's Return to Texas
There is news out of Arlington, Texas, that the Texas Rangers have made an offer to Sammy Sosa on a one year, $500,000 minor league contract. Whether Sosa has consciously chosen to go back to the Rangers or the Rangers were the only team interested, Sammy probably could not have chosen a better place to go.

So, the question is – Will Sammy Sosa have a successful comeback with the Texas Rangers?

In his first ever Splitsville article, Asher assures us that if Sosa is healthy, the Ballpark in Arlington will convince the baseball viewing public that Sammy Sosa is once again a viable major league outfielder.

June 1, 2006 - Splitsville: April/May
You always hear that you shouldn’t take April stats too seriously. Fortunately, we now have May statistics with which to compliment them. For the players with vastly disparate April and May stats, Keith decides which month more accurately reflects each player’s abilities.

January 9, 2006 - Splitsville: 2005 Batters
Brewers, Blue Jays, Phillies, Rangers, and Mets fans: see how a careful analysis of split statistics elucidates your team's offseason moves. Also, Indoor/Outdoor splits are explored for the first time in Splitsville history.

November 30, 2005 - Splitsville: 2005 Pitchers 11/30/05
After sifting through some interesting staring pitching splits concerning Pre/Post All Star Break, Home/Away, and Lefty/Righty statistics, Keith uncovers a trend among relievers that might just alter the way you analyse them from now on.

September 27, 2005 - Splitsville: Analyzng the Greats
Keith unearths some interesting numbers on Hoyt Wilhelm, Eddie Murray, Dick Allen, Bob Tewksbury, Eddie Mathews, The Big Hurt, and Tony Perez in his inaugural analysis of baseball splits.