The Off-Season

The Norfolk Tides’ 2010 season came to an end last Friday. Over the year, I scored 41 games for Baseball Advanced Media (BAM) or Baseball Information Solutions (BIS). Every one of those games were scored pitch-by-pitch, and consequently there’s a lot of information. There’s probably no more than five other people in the ballpark who have to watch the games as closely as I do — the BIS scorer(s) also working the game; the visiting team broadcaster (if there’s only one — some teams use two, even on the road; the Tides have two broadcasters who split the play-by-play on the radio, so neither has to watch every play); the scoreboard operator. Even the official scorer doesn’t have to watch every pitch; and at times will be looking at a video replay of a close decision.

This means that I’m in a good position to have informed opinions about most of the Tides. The Tides exist to develop players for the Baltimore Orioles, their current parent. And so, during the Tides’ off-season, I will be sharing my opinions about the 2010 Norfolk Tides. These opinions will be based on my observations and, in many cases, looking at baseball-reference.com for some context.

I will be using the format Bill James used in his Baseball Book 1991. He proposed ”basic questions” about each player and then answered them. The basic question for Nolan Reimold: Can he come back? The basic question for Brandon Snyder: Is he the Orioles first baseman of the future? The basic question for Chris Tillman: Will he ever stick?

Because these entries will be (presumably) read by Orioles and/or Tides fans, I’m going to assume that the readers know who most of these players are. While there will still be several players for whom the basic question is ”Who is he?”, there won’t be as many as there would be if I were writing this for a broader audience.