One of the motivating factors in the establishment of BaseballEvolution.com was the occasional (to be kind) disenchantment with the musings of professional sportswriters who, though paid to cover the game of baseball, often demonstrated (shall we say) a less-than-sophisticated understanding of the sport. Thus, from the inception of the site we have attacked what we like to call "Boneheaded Sportswriters" with a vicious venom. Nevertheless, running our own website has also shown us that - hey, you what, this ain't as easy as it looks. Thus, the venom with which we attack these guys is not quite as vicious as it once was.

Nevertheless, from time to time, we still take time to profile a prominant baseball analyst's mistake-laden work and dissect it unforgivingly. Enjoy!

You gotta wake up pretty early in the morning to scoop Jon Heyman.
Asher sought out to get some inside info on recent trades, as well as some potential blockbusters involving Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez. What he instead found was that Joe Heyman is completely worthless.

Homerun Explosions and Hometown Heroes
An anonymous writer for the Star-Gazette remains anonymous for a good reason, while a panel of "experts" wish that they had remained anonymous.

Underestimating Giambi
Media and fans alike still claim that Giambi's hitting isn't on par with his pre-steroid days. We've got the facts.

Babe Ruth and Segregation
Hey, guess what? Some people think Babe Ruth wasn't the greatest player of all time! Dayn Perry of Foxsports.com is one of those people.

Honorable Mention: The Chicago Tribune's Mike Downey mentioned in passing that it's premature to consider Mike Piazza a future Hall of Famer, since greats such as Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, and Rich Gossage are not yet enshrined. This is akin to believing that Jeff Bagwell might not have his number retired by the Astros because greats such as Dickie Thon, Kevin Bass, and J.R. Richard don't have their respective numbers retired yet.

Jeter Breathes, New York Media Applauds
If Keith, Scott, or Asher lived in New York City, we would have to change the "Bonehead Sportswriter" Award to the "Bonehead Sportswriter of the Day" Award because of a little publication by the name of the New York Post. These guys are seriously terrible. When Derek Jeter hit a three run homer in the eighth inning one Tuesday in April to beat the Royals (key points - eighth inning, the Royals), the Post treated it as though Jeter had just hit five homeruns in a single game to break Hank Aaron's career home run record and put the Yankees into the playoffs while also gathering his 3,000th hit and saving a child from a burning building. Jeter was on the front cover, the back cover, and no fewer than three pages in the middle. And the feat received the attention of about four Post columnists, all of whom appear to want Derek Jeter to run for God.

Fortune-Telling is a Lost Art
Jeff Passan makes some clearly solid predictions for the upcoming season, but is then somehow unable to defend their solidity.

Carter Listed Among the Greats

The Sporting News has compiled its "All-Decade Teams." Its picks throughout each decade push the boundaries here and there, but for the most part they are solid picks. However, our gaffe appears in the 1990s...

Stan Hack Is Overlooked Yet Again

In an article concerning the special Hall of Fame Ballot, ESPN.com's Rob Neyer wote the following:

There wasn't a great white third basemen from roughly 1935 through '45, and so you won't find a white third basemen from that period in the Hall of Fame.

To which we replied, "Stan Hack wasn't white?"

Neyer owned up to this oversight in a later email, so we forgive him here at Baseball Evolution, even though we are the biggest Stan Hack supporters outside of his kin. Yet to make certain that no one forgets, we've crowned Rob as our Co-Boneheaded Sportswriter for February.

Albert Belle: 40 Votes Is Too Many?
Teddy Greenstein falls prey to some biased reporting, as he decides that he does not like Albert Belle, then tries to find statistics to prove that he should not even be considered for the Hall of Fame.

2006 Yankees: Unstoppable Juggernauts?
Just before Christmas, ESPN's Bob Klapisch compared the 2006 Yankees with the addition of Johnny Damon to the infamous Murderer’s Row of the 1927 club. Bob, you win the final Baseball Evolution Bonehead Sportswriter for 2005.

Boneheaded MVP Analysis -

AL MVP: Undeserved MVP/Designated Loser?
Ian O'Connor of USA Today writes some disappointing and unwarranted A-Rod-bashing trash, while Ryne Sandberg unwittingly calls his own MVP/HoF credentials into question by writing that David Ortiz should have won the MVP...

NL MVP: Albert Pujols has finally won the National League MVP, edging out Andruw Jones after having been edged out by Barry Bonds for the last few years. But, in bigger news, cbs.sportsline.com, in announcing Pujols' victory, inadvertantly became the Bonehead Sportswriter of the Week, when it quipped:

"When you're the only player in league history to hit 30 homers in each of your first five seasons, is there any doubt who's MVP?"

We here at BaseballEvolution.com are still laughing our heads off. Hmmm, is there anything less tied to MVP candidacy than performance over the course of several seasons? How about:

"Albert Pujols' real first name is 'Jose.' Is there any doubt who's MVP?"

Everyone who attempted to turn the Josh Paul dropped third strike into some kind of conspiracy theory is a Boneheaded Sports Analyst for the playoffs.

Method to Predict Madness
A Chicago Tribune bonehead editor enlisted Phil Rogers to create a new system or rating playoff conteders' ability to win in postseason play. Rogers initially shows reluctance, but then loses all of our sympathy when he unveils a terribly flawed system that he becomes more comfortable in as he writes.

The Greatest Left-Handed Hitter in Baseball History!!!
The Annapolis newspaper carried an article by AP Sports Writer David Ginsburg. It would appear that Mr. Ginsburg already sees Rafie as one of the game's greats, hence his headline, "Select Company: Unassuming Palmeiro One of Game's Greats..."

Praised Be The Triple Crown Statistics
Tim McCarver makes such disgustingly obtuse statements about On-Base Percentage during a Fox Game of the Week that we had to expand our "Bonehead Sportswriter Award" to include sports analysts from all mediums.

Unable to Evaluate Closers
During the course of very few sentences, AP writer Alan Robinson criticizes Trevor Hoffman, praises Jose Mesa, and labels Danny Kolb a 'star reliever.'

Don't Tell the Giants...
Sports Weekly's Bob Nightengale earns our inaugural Bonehead Sportswriter Award for his reckless support of Pedro Feliz and the Barry Bondsless Giants.