Former Oakland Athletic and Tampa Bay Ray Dan Johnson will be signing a minor league deal with the White Sox, likely with an invitation to major league camp at spring training. The lefty-hitting first baseman has spent the majority of the last few seasons in AAA and also had a stint in Japan in 2009.

Johnson may be most familiar to fans as the guy who hit the dramatic bottom of the ninth inning, two out home run against the Yankees in the final day of the 2011 regular season that sent that game to extra innings. The Rays eventually won the game and dumped the Red Sox from the playoffs.

With a career line of .235/.334/.405, Johnson is pretty much the definition of a replacement level player. And with Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn inhabiting the roster, barring significant injuries, Johnson is unlikely to see the major league roster.

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I received the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook yesterday and I'll give Phil Rogers credit this year. He compiled an interesting list for the White Sox. And, given the shallowness of the White Sox system, it's difficult to criticize the placement of any player. He also managed to escape not one but two scheduled chats on BA's website, eventually leaving it to John Manuel to answer questions, so he did not have a further opportunity to say anything outrageous. And for those of you who entered the John Ely pool, he waited until all the way at the write-up for #31 to mention his boy. So congratulations to HappyHuman for winning this year's Winston-Salem Warthogs beanie.

Baseball America's full list, along with my commentary, is after the jump. As the top ten was released prior to the publication of the book, I won't repeat the comments I made on those players here. Also note that the book goes to press in December so it does not reflect the Jason Frasor or Carlos Quentin trades. From Manuel's chat, it was clear that Simon Castro would have made the top ten. It's unclear where Pedro Hernandez, Miles Jaye and Dan Webb would have been on the list, if anywhere, though I'd expect that at least the first two would have made it.

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Joe Cowley authored an opinion piece entitled "White Sox should make Chris Sale their closer, not put him in the rotation".

Well, allow me to retort. Joe's words are in bold:

The White Sox began the week tossing promotions around.

Buddy Bell had a snazzy new vice-president title thrown on the sign in his parking spot, and Nick Capra was named director of player development.

It's January so it's not unusual for promotions to happen at the start of the year.

Even left-hander Chris Sale took time out after his return from honeymooning in Maui to discuss his promotion. Sale, 22, is preparing to make the jump from proven reliever to promising starter.

That's great!

Too bad Sale’s promotion might be the one the Sox regret in early May.

I guess Cowley, like Keith Law, thinks Sale can't start in the big leagues.

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The spring training schedule once again presents multiple opportunities to see or hear the White Sox in preseason action. The schedule includes six games on television (five on Comcast SportsNet and one on WGN), nine games on WSCR and twelve games on chisox.com (all of those webcasts are free).

Of course, the press release does not actually tell you exactly which games will be on what. For example, this is how they describe the TV coverage:

The first televised game will be March 9 against the Cubs on WGN-9 at Camelback Ranch at 2:05 p.m. CST. Comcast SportsNet will carry five games, starting with a March 23 game against Arizona at Camelback Ranch in Glendale. CSN will wrap up its spring TV schedule April 3 against Houston at Minute Maid Park at 7 p.m.

Thanks for that, I guess. [Edit 7:30pm: The White Sox put up the other dates. The six games are 3/9 v Cubs; 3/23 v Diamondbacks (night game); 3/25 v Giants; 3/29 v Dodgers; 4/1 v Reds; and 4/3 v Astros (night game).]

The real fun will be this:

WSCR broadcasts the first of its nine games on Monday, March 5 at 2:05 p.m. CST when the White Sox open spring training against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Glendale. WSCR again will feature the on-air tandem of Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson. Four of the nine game broadcasts (March 10, 17, 24 and 25) feature an "interactive" format, allowing listeners to interact with Farmer and Jackson, as well as pre and post-game host Chris Rongey during the broadcast.

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The White Sox released their list of non-roster invites to their major league camp at spring training. Included are players who signed minor-league contracts: RHP Brian Bruney, LHP Leyson Septimo and Eric Stults, C Damaso Espino and Hector Gimenez, INF Dallas McPherson and Ray Olmedo and OF Delwyn Young.

Receiving invites from within the organization are OF Jared Mitchell, Jordan Danks, Brandon Short and Trayce Thompson, RHP Jacob Petricka and Brian Omogrosso, C Michael Blanke and Josh Phegley and INF/OF Jim Gallagher and Tyler Kuhn.

As it appears that there are bullpen spots open for competition, Bruney in particular has a strong chance of making the opening day roster. The lefties, Septimo and Stults, have an outside chance. The remaining minor league signings are roster filler for Charlotte.

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Jake Peavy is a topic that usually elicits a negative kneejerk reaction from White Sox fans. And with good reason. While it's a bit unfair to lump Peavy in with Alex Rios and Adam Dunn because he actually has done okay when he's pitched, that sort of highlights the issue: $17 million is supposed to buy you "very good" and "makes 30+ starts".

Over in a fanpost on the right rail, there was a discussion about whether Peavy has pitched better than the results show. Those who think he has cite to his FIP, which in 2011 was significantly better than his ERA (3.31 versus 4.92). Those who think he hasn't point to his unremarkable BABIP (suggesting no bad luck) and his terrible strand rate, which was coupled with hitters teeing off on him to the tune of .355/.400/.555 when runners are on base (as opposed to .216/.246/.297 with the bases empty).

One theory for his inability to pitch with runners on base is that he is mentally weak or, to put it more mildly, he is so pissed off that he let someone on base that he loses the ability to pitch. His animated nature when bad things happen lends credence to this argument.

On the other hand, one of the other things Peavy and every other pitcher does when there's a runner on base is pitch from the stretch instead of the wind-up. And some pitchers have mechanical issues pitching from the stretch. I suggested that perhaps this was part of the answer because I had noticed throughout the season the difficulty Peavy appeared to have with his mechanics generally. I also noted that Peavy was unable to throw side sessions for most of the season and that is pretty much the only time other than during games a pitcher can effectively work on mechanics.

All this naturally led me to Peavy's Pitch F/X data at the indispensable Brooks Baseball. After the jump, I'll show you what I found. And, for those who prefer to "enjoy the game for what it is", be warned that there are graphs.

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Baseball Prospectus published its list, authored by Kevin Goldstein, which includes 20 names:

Four-Star Prospects
1. Addison Reed, RHP
Three-Star Prospects
2. Nestor Molina, RHP
3. Trayce Thompson, OF
4. Jake Petricka, RHP
5. Simon Castro, RHP
6. Keenyn Walker, OF
Two-Star Prospects
7. Eduardo Escobar, SS
8. Jhan Marinez, RHP
9. Myles Jaye, RHP
10. Tyler Saladino, SS
11. Andre Rienzo, RHP

12. Juan Silverio, 3B
13. Jared Mitchell, OF
14. Brandon Short, OF
15. Pedro Hernandez, LHP
16. Gregory Infante, RHP
17. Erik Johnson, RHP
18. Michael Blanke, C
19. Dylan Axelrod, RHP
20. Ozzie Martinez, SS

Note that #12-20 are not necessarily Two Star Prospects, as Goldstein does not assign stars after #11. Some commentary from me after the jump.

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The White Sox announced the signing of Venezuelan RHP Luis Martinez for $250,000. Here is Baseball America's scouting report:

Martinez, who turns 17 on Jan. 29, is 6-foot-4, 195 pounds and gets good downhill angle on an 88-91 mph fastball that has hit 92, an increase from the 84-88 mph velocity he was showing last summer around July 2. He has a projectable frame with long arms and plenty of room to fill out, so he should have at least a plus fastball in time. Martinez has a solid delivery, a high-70s curveball that is his best secondary pitch and he mixes in a changeup as well.

Martinez is the largest single expenditure on an international amateur free agent since the Dave Wilder scandal years. In 2010, the club signed LHP Jefferson Olacio for $125,000, which, as near as I can tell, was the post-Wilder record.

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Of the 438.1 relief innings by White Sox pitchers in 2011, the pitchers throwing 212 of those innings will no longer be in the bullpen. The bulk of those innings were from Sergio Santos and Chris Sale, meaning the White Sox will need to replace a significant amount of high leverage innings.

Of the 2011 stalwarts, Jesse Crain, Matt Thornton and Will Ohman all appear to be returning. Addison Reed was considered a near sure bet to be in the 2012 opening day bullpen and Jason Frasor's departure only bolsters his chances. That leaves an open competition for as many as three spots (assuming a seven man bullpen).

And that competition has already begun. A number of the primary candidates, as well as the dark horses, have been pitching in various Winter Leagues. And while Spring Training performance will likely be the primary driver of roster decisions, past performance usually dictates the opportunities a player gets in Arizona. So how have the bullpen hopefuls done in their most recent past performances?

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Danks is not that much more valuable than Lopez. Sorry, he’s just not. - Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner, 10/20/09.

Cameron, of that Seattle Mariners blog and Fangraphs, forever endeared himself to White Sox fans - and etched his name into the SSS Ring of Ire - with that assertion.

First, let me set the stage for this episode of "When Rosterbation Goes Wrong". It was October 2009 and Cameron was writing his "Dave's 2010 Off-Season Plan" for the Mariners. His team had just completed a surprising 85-77 season. Of course, there were many who questioned whether that reflected the true talent of that team - to use one simple measure, their Pythagorean record was 75-87.

The White Sox were coming off a 79-83 season and that probably was an accurate representation of the team. Chris Getz and Josh Fields had not yet been traded. Gordon Beckham was still presumed to be the likely third baseman. The 2010 starting rotation was presumed to include Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd and John Danks. The fifth spot was somewhat open, with Freddy Garcia and Daniel Hudson the two primary candidates.

Now the proposed trade: John Danks for 3B/2B Jose Lopez, reliever Mark Lowe and starter Jason Vargas. While you stifle your laughter, after the jump is Cameron's rationale.

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With all this talk of the White Sox being unable to sign Mark Buehrle due to payroll constraints, the coverage of the trade of Sergio Santos and the idle speculation regarding possible trades of John Danks, Carlos Quentin and Gavin Floyd, the White Sox beat writers completely missed the most important White Sox story of the offseason: the retirement of Donny Lucy. So, once again, it's left to us at South Side Sox to pick up the slack.

As we all know, Donny was a key performer. His career line of .250/.318/.425 is excellent for a catcher. But it's not just his superlative on-field skills that mattered. As a Stanford graduate, he brought a Greg Maddux-esque cerebral approach to the game. Scouts raved about his ability to handle pitching staffs, which is no surprise considering he is a summa cum laude graduate of the White Stag Leadership Camp. His mere presence inspired all those around him. Donny was Tim Tebow before Tim Tebow was Tim Tebow. Without all that Jesus crap.

I mean, just look at that picture of Donny. It says composure without conceit. Valor without vengeance. Hair without dandruff.

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The extremely early CAIRO projections are out. CAIRO has a better track record than the simple Marcel projections but not quite as good as some of the other projection systems. And this was its projected 2012 AL Central standings:

Tigers 89 73
Indians 87 75
White Sox 77 85
Royals 73 89
Twins 66 96

These projected standings aren't worth a lot because it's early in the offseason and rosters change. But I thought I'd see if the Computer was doing anything crazy and calculate my own projection for the 2012 White Sox based on CAIRO's invidual player projections.

I generally stuck with the playing time estimates by CAIRO. The only one I changed was Chris Sale because he's projected as a relief pitcher. After the jump, you can see the assumptions and projections and judge for yourself.

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This was difficult. Painfully difficult. As has been noted by numerous commentators, the White Sox farm system is the worst in baseball. And it's not a close question. Colin argued this morning that the White Sox can't compete in 2012 without some significant luck. Another pillar to his argument could be that the they don't have any near-ready prospects that project to be of the impact variety. The farm system pretty much graduated anyone who could help - four of my top five prospects from last year's list are included in Colin's analysis, as well as Alejandra De Aza (who was not eligible for the list). Only Addison Reed is ready to play a prominent role in 2012. And that's as a reliever. It will be unlikely that the White Sox can absorb injury to a key contributor (or ineffectiveness), particularly on the position player side.

But the thinness of the system across all levels is the reason this list was difficult to write (and may be a further argument for trading away major leaguers in a rebuild). After Reed, who is near sure bet for an above average major league reliever, and the newly acquired Nestor Molina, it really becomes a toss-up. I had to whittle down from more than 20 names on my initial list - and that's because it's hard to tell the difference between such marginal prospects. In the upper minors, there's some maybe bench players, a couple maybe middle relievers and a couple maybe starters. In the lower minors, even if you squint real hard, it's difficult to find much more than a few lottery tickets and a guy whose upside is an average player. So if you don't see your favorite Marginal White Sox Prospect on this list, it's probably because I couldn't fit all the guys that I grade essentially the same into this numerically finite list

Before we dive into this morass, I'd like to briefly consider what the farm system has produced in the last few years. While consistently ranked near the bottom, the club can point to some recent successes. In 2012, we will likely see pre-arbitration White Sox products starting at three positions: outfield (Dayan Viciedo), second base (Gordon Beckham) and third base (Brent Morel). De Aza spent most of his career with the Marlins but one could arguably add him to that list. Likely to be in supporting roles are Tyler Flowers and Brent Lillibridge (like De Aza, the White Sox finished the product but didn't develop him). On the pitching side, Chris Sale is moving to the rotation. Reed will be in the bullpen.

This is different than in recent years (I will let you decide whether it's better), particularly on the position player side where it was not unusual for there to be just one starter. Now on to the list.

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The Minnesota Twins selected RHP Terry Doyle from the White Sox in this morning's Rule 5 Draft. While people like to talk about Johan Santana or Joakim Soria as examples of how "hidden gems" can be found in the draft, that was under the old rules. Starting with the 2007 draft, teams were given another year of team control over players before they are eligible to be selected.

Adam Foster at Project Prospect further quantifies why you shouldn't care:

• Not a single No. 1 overall Rule 5 Draft pick has provided the team that selected him above-replacement-level MLB value in more than a decade.

• The average Rule 5 Draft pick since 2007 has yielded the following career WAR value: Median: 0.0 WAR. Mode: 0.0 WAR. Mean: 0.2 WAR.

• Nealy half of the players selected in the Rule 5 Draft since 2007 have spent 0 days in the big leagues.
• Over a third of the players selected have yielded below-replacement-level career WAR values.
• The cumulative WAR value of every player selected since 2007 is 14.0.

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May 21, 1999 - December 7, 2011

We are gathered here today to remember Mark Alan Buehrle. He came to us for $167,000 as a draft-and-follow from the 38th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Today, he leaves us for a four-year, $58 million contract with the Miami Marlins (per Ken Rosenthal).

My favorite Mark Buehrle memory is when he came out of the bullpen in the 14th inning to get the last out in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, recording the only save of his career.

Please add your memory - or at least your name - to the guestbook below.

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Kenny Williams arrived at the Winter Meetings last night and it didn't take him long to send his first volley by trading closer Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays for RHP Nestor Molina. Molina is a 22 year old who reached AA at the end of last season. The direction of the White Sox now is pretty clear: rebuilding.

Molina burst onto the prospect scene this season. After relieving for his entire minor league pitching career, he transitioned to the starting rotation at High A Dunedin and was sparkling: 108.1 IP, 102 H, 14 BB, 115 K. After a late season promotion to AA New Hampshire, he continued his dominance: 22 IP, 12 H, 2 BB, 33 K.

His stuff doesn't appear to be of the overpowering variety. There seems to be some debate about velocity, which KW confirmed by saying it was from "90-96 MPH". That's a pretty wide range. It's possible that high end is what he touched when relieving and now he's more in the 90-93 range as a starter. There also is some question about the consistency of his slider, though it does appear that it is a plus pitch when it is on. He also throws a changeup. There is no dispute, however, that he has an excellent splitter. His control is obviously well above average and his command appears to be quite good, as well. His makeup is considered to be off the charts. Amusingly, like Santos, Molina was a position player until 2008 when he was converted to a full-time pitcher. (Video of Molina pitching.)

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Yesterday, the Rays signed Jhonny Nunez to a minor league contract. Nunez had been the last remaining player acquired in the trade that sent Nick Swisher to the Yankees (with Kanekoa Texeira) and brought back Wilson Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Nunez. While Swisher, amusingly, still has one year remaining on the undermarket contract he was signed to when the White Sox had him, now is a good time to quantify just how terrible the trade was. And hopefully never think of it again.

At the time of the trade, it was rumored that Swisher didn't "fit" in the White Sox locker room and he also was accused of sulking during his subpar 2008 season: .219/.332/.410 and a wOBA of .325. That was slightly below league average offense. He played all three outfield positions, as well as first base, but he spent the most time in centerfield. Depending upon how one viewed his defense, he was worth 1.3 fWAR or -0.8 rWAR. I think rWAR was overly harsh on his defense, based upon his other seasons, and fWAR may be slightly optimistic. 1 WAR seems like a nice round number to use for his approximate value.

While he probably earned the $3.5 million the White Sox paid him, this was by far his worst season and represented a significant decline. Of course, the primary driver of his bad offense was a .249 BABIP - well below his career average. His other offensive components - home runs, walk rate, strikeout rate - remained in line with his prior seasons. And he was 27 years old, usually known as the prime of a player's career.

Whether his was a skill decline was the subject of significant debate both on SSS and elsewhere. I will be kind and not name the disbelievers on this site (they know who they are) but, objectively, the better argument at the time was that it was not a skill decline but one largely attributable to luck and other correctable factors. It should have been expected that, going forward, Swisher would perform much more like 2006/2007 Swisher and not 2008 Swisher.

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ESPN's scouting guru published his "Top 50 MLB players age 25 or under". It also included nine more players he considered for the list. No mention of Chris Sale.

Here are some of the pitchers included at the backend of the list, or in the 'also considered': Ivan Nova. Brandon Beachy. Mike Leake. Craig Kimbrel. Mike Minor. Jon Niese.

Now, perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise because Keith Law never was enamored with Sale. Just after the 2010 Draft:

Keith, what are your thoughts on Chris Sale?

Klaw(1:25 PM)

I ranked him 47th. The White Sox took him 13th. You do the math.

Keith, what was your reason for ranking him that low again?

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This is the final post in my four part epic on the new CBA.  Read Part I, Part II and Part III.  This post will be the catch-all, covering many of the smaller changes.  Some of it is really inside baseball stuff and I've put those things towards the end of the post.

Instant replay

Instant replay will be expanded to include fair/foul and "trapped" ball plays.  Just another step towards the day when robot umpires rule America.  This continues baseball's trend of incrementally implementing review of various plays.

All-Star Game

If selected to the All-Star team, participation in the All-Star Game will be required unless the player is unable to play due to injury or is otherwise excused by the Office of the Commissioner.  Appears to be another attempt by Bud to make the All-Star Game mean something.

Drug testing

Commencing in Spring Training 2012, all players will be subject to hGH blood testing for reasonable cause at all times during the year. In addition, during each year, all players will be tested during Spring Training. Starting with the 2012-2013 off-season, players will be subject to random unannounced testing for hGH. The parties have also agreed on a process to jointly study the possibility of expanding blood testing to include in-season collections.

While still leaving a lot to be desired, baseball can continue its claim of having the most comprehensive drug testing regime of any North American professional league.  There is apparently some debate whether hGH actually is "performance-enhancing".  I recall similar debates about steroids.  Regardless, hGH is viewed by the public as performance-enhancing so, if nothing more, it is a good PR move.

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December 15, 2009 - November 23, 2011

We are gathered here today to remember Juan D'Vaughn Pierre.  He came to us, with $10.5 million, from the Los Angeles Dodgers for John "Phil Rogers' Boy" Ely and Jon Link.  Today, he leaves us.

My favorite Juan Pierre memory is when he reached base twice from the leadoff position in his first two plate appearances and then got picked off twice.

Please add your memory - or at least your name - to the guestbook below.

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It looks like this is going to take four posts now. Read Part I and Part II. This post will cover realignment, playoff format, player compensation and roster expansion.

Realignment and Playoff Format

As most are already aware, the Houston Astros will be moving to the American League West in 2013. This will result in each league having three divisions with five teams apiece. As each league will now have an odd number of teams, it will also result in interleague games being played throughout the season. The contemplated balancing of the schedules will also likely result in an increase in the number of interleague games teams play.

As early as next season, but certainly for the 2013 season, a second Wild Card will be added to the playoffs. The two Wild Card teams in each league will play a single playoff game, the winner of which will advance to the Division Series. The decision regarding the 2012 playoffs will be made prior to March 1, 2012.

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Because the changes to the CBA are radical and involved, my analysis of it is being broken into multiple posts. The first post covered the amateur draft and international amateur free agents. This post covers free agency.

Free agent compensation

After this offseason, gone will be the much maligned Elias Rankings, which ranked players as Type A, Type B or no type free agents and accordingly provided teams draft picks as compensation for another team signing their free agents, so long as the team offered the free agent salary arbitration or the free agent signed with another team prior to the deadline to offer arbitration. And that likely run-on sentence was a simplification of the system. The new system appears to be simpler and fairer, particularly to the players.

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Major League Baseball and the Players Association unveiled their new Basic Agreement today which, upon the expected approval of the owners and the players, will extend baseball's labor peace another five years. The CBA contains some rather radical changes, including major changes to free agency, the amateur draft, international signings, playoff format, league alignment, interleague play, player compensation and drug testing. Some changes are immediate, while others will be phased in.

Every CBA presents new inefficiencies that can be exploited. I've generally stayed away from the analysis of what the new inefficiencies may be and how they may be exploited because I haven't the time to read the whole agreement right now and I probably couldn't figure them out right away anyway. I'm generally discussing how the CBA affects the White Sox in the immediate future. But I do also spend a lot of words discussing some of the finer details of specifically what is being changed from the old agreement and how this affects baseball generally.

Because the changes are numerous, this is being broken into multiple posts. The first covers the amateur draft and international amateur free agents. The second covers free agency. The third covers everything else.

Amateur draft

Commissioner Bud Selig and some of the owners have long sought to control spending on the Rule 4 Draft, otherwise known as the amateur draft. High school players who have graduated, all junior/community college players and four-year college players who have completed their junior years or are 21 years old are eligible for this draft if they are residents of the United States, a United States territory or Canada.

The current method for curbing spending is the Commissioner's office’s "slot recommendations", which provide for a recommended bonus amount for each draft pick. Its name says it all: they're just recommendations. There are no real penalties for going "over slot" other than a stern talking to. Many teams thus ignore the recommendations, although some teams, including the White Sox, do generally adhere to them.

Selig was particularly irate at the spending in 2011. Though only seven teams had ever spent over $10M on the draft before 2011, ten teams did so in 2011 alone. The Pirates ($17.01M), Nationals ($15M), the Royals ($14.01M), Cubs ($11.95M), Diamondbacks ($11.93M), Rays ($11.48M), Mariners ($11.33M), Padres ($11.02M), Blue Jays ($11 M) and Red Sox ($10.98M) spent eight figures on the draft.

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Remember, remember the 18th of November

South Side Revolution and plot.

I see no reason why South Side Revolution

Should ever be forgot.

Comrades, today is a great day.  Today is the anniversary of South Side Sox throwing off the callous chains of The Cheat and finally realizing the dreams of SSSers: blogosphere supremacy.

One year ago today, I spoke to you of the decay at the very center of SSS.  Like the butt cancer in The Cheat's butt, The Cheat was a cancer in our hearts, eating away at the aspirations of the People.  Many scoffed at me when I said SSS would be great again.  They jeered when I promised a new dawn, for ourselves and our children.  They now scoff and jeer at the rats in their foul cells beneath my basement.

Jealous of the paradise we have created here, many have attempted to challenge the ascendancy of SSS.  Chicago White Sox Examiner was quickly dispatched.  Beerleaguer was drowned in his product.  In front of his children, of course.  Brett Ballantini learned that SSS uses the MSM for its own ends and discards as quickly as it befriends.  And I vaguely recall a skirmish with something called the Herald Daily.  But I don't concern myself with the prattle of provincial "publications."

Yes, comrades, we have indeed accomplished much in a year.  And today we can celebrate our victory around the pike still skewering the rotten skeleton of The Cheat.  But a revolution is never complete.  Even now, amidst the revelry, the Central Committee - guided by the steady and unerring hand of Dear Leader, Jim Margalus - is vigilant to the continuing threats from outsiders, as well as from the counterrevolutionaries in our midst.  We will repel all pretenders to the Chicago White Sox blogging throne.  And we will smoke out the traitors from their vile lairs in the dark recesses of SSS.  The means of blogging will remain ours, now and forevermore.

Photographers are far more anonymous than the writers whose stories their photographs accompany.  But there's a reason the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" came to be: a good photograph can tell you more about the subject - and more quickly - than words can.  The image to the right is a perfect example.  I doubt there are many reading this site who have never seen it as it is one of the most iconic baseball photographs of all-time.  The 1910 shot of Ty Cobb sliding into third - and through Jimmy Austin of the New York Highlanders (later Yankees) - pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Cobb.  Cobb's teeth are clenched, a look of pure intensity on his face, as he completes a ferocious slide in a cloud of dust.  He's watching the ball sail into left field, the result of his spiking of Austin, and he's about to get up and take home.  That's Cobb.  And Charles M. Conlon captured it.

"The Big Show" is a sequel to a 1993 collection of Conlon's photographs, Baseball's Golden Age.  I love these books because, while including the game's greats like Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Joe DiMaggio and Christy Mathewson, the majority are photographs of players who are long-forgotten.

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