Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Sheez, I go away for a few days—to Venice thanks, or rather "grazie", to a surprise trip planned by my fabulous wife—and the standings go all kaflooey, not to be overly technical. The O's, and their makeshift staff, finally get overtaken by a member of the Yankee-Red Sox fascist regime, this time by the Sox. My Phils, and I use the term lightly, meanwhile go from nipping at the heals of the division-leading Nats to a half-game out of last, albeit in a very tight division. And the locals suddenly started to notice that Jim Thome's contract may not have been such a good long-term investment, especially when the term is getting longer all the time. Eric Gregg, the former umpire and current "Metro", and I use the term loosely, reporter, is starting to call for the start of the Ryan Howard era. To quote the Bard, "Oopha!?!"
What else did I miss while I searched for the best Venetian "Pizze" while attempting to find a public "water closet" for less than half (or rather 0,50) Euro? My interview with Promohthree, in which John Carroll attempts to make me sound halfways intelligent, was posted. Good luck there. And my fluff posts to fill in the site during my absence drew some fire. And, of course, Leon is getting laaaaaaarger!
Some weren't convince that Rickey Henderson and Mark McGwire, among the all-time walk leaders, learned to elicit a base on balls more consistently late in their careers. Yes, they talk walk-drawing to new levels late in their careers, but it's not like they were Alfonso Soriano early on in their careers either. I guess my choice of titles based on the worst pun possible—witness "Learning to Walk"—is not necessarily the most effective means. Yes, they did not "learn" how to walk, but my main criterion was how much an established player had upped his walk ratio from his previous career ratio.
Now, if we are talking about just those players who were sub-par at drawing a walk and became at least better than average, here are the new all-time Learning to Walkers:
| Name | Yr | BB Above Exp Pre | BB Above Exp | Diff |
| Reggie Smith | 1977 | -1.48% | 7.98% | .095 |
| Clay Dalrymple | 1962 | -2.52% | 6.39% | .089 |
| Richie Ashburn | 1954 | -0.17% | 8.54% | .087 |
| Danny O'Connell | 1956 | -2.85% | 5.23% | .081 |
| Joe Sommer | 1887 | -3.41% | 4.11% | .075 |
| Rocky Colavito | 1961 | -0.80% | 6.67% | .075 |
| George Selkirk | 1936 | -1.25% | 6.06% | .073 |
| Ron Santo | 1964 | -1.56% | 5.54% | .071 |
| Toby Harrah | 1975 | -0.12% | 6.76% | .069 |
| Johnny Evers | 1908 | -0.67% | 6.20% | .069 |
| Dick Siebert | 1944 | -3.55% | 3.31% | .069 |
| Kevin McReynolds | 1992 | -0.37% | 6.27% | .066 |
| Dick Gernert | 1953 | -1.07% | 5.57% | .066 |
| Bobby Bonilla | 1991 | -2.09% | 4.47% | .066 |
| Al Kaline | 1955 | -5.55% | 0.99% | .065 |
| Gary Matthews | 1981 | -0.59% | 5.95% | .065 |
| Sam West | 1939 | -1.91% | 4.62% | .065 |
| Jim Fregosi | 1964 | -2.39% | 4.13% | .065 |
| Vance Law | 1985 | -0.31% | 6.20% | .065 |
| Sherry Magee | 1910 | -0.63% | 5.88% | .065 |
| Cy Williams | 1916 | -2.52% | 3.94% | .065 |
| Fred Pfeffer | 1891 | -1.65% | 4.82% | .065 |
| Sal Bando | 1969 | -0.57% | 5.89% | .065 |
| Omar Moreno | 1978 | -1.48% | 4.98% | .065 |
| Tommy McCarthy | 1892 | -1.90% | 4.54% | .064 |
| Claude Cooper | 1915 | -1.94% | 4.48% | .064 |
| Jesse Barfield | 1989 | -0.90% | 5.49% | .064 |
That may be more befitting of the title. However, it leads me to a new idea. Can players learn how to walk after making it to the majors, and does it positively affect their careers (Sammy Sosa comes to mind)? More on that after I get over my jetlag.
http://cliffordsbrb.blogspot.com/archives/2003_10_26_cliffordsbrb_archive.html#10674495906710288
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