The American Association Almanac

 After years without a website, the American Association Almanac is finally back on the web with a new and improved approach. The original idea was to find a web-builder format that would support my fairly large data files so they could be shared with those interested some of the same things I'm most interested in. But it was a struggle finding it. Finally last June I discovered google sites and it was perfect for my purposes. At the time I was in the middle of researching the American Association playoffs and did not want to divert my attention. But now that the Fall Almanac is out, I've been able to spend some time getting two sections of the new website produced. Please look at the section on the Home Run Leaders of the deadball era. https://sites.google.com/view/aaalmanac/hr-leaders There you will find profiles for eight players who led their teams in home runs during the year in which that team hit its greatest number of homers from 1902 to 1920. Once you're there, fin...

Vol. 16, No. 2 of the American Association Almanac: The Playoffs, 1953-1957 Hot off the presses! Just released: The American Association Almanac 's  37,000-word report on the American Association playoffs (print only) from 1953 to 1957. Data collection began in April and was completed through 1962 by mid-June when the writing process began. The original intent was to include game accounts through 1962 but that idea proved unfeasible. This way I was able to dedicate the wordage necessary for capturing the essence of each contest. In all, 84 games are covered. As it states in the Introduction: This issue of the Almanac examines the American Association playoffs from 1953 to 1957 and accounts for all 84 playoff games for that time period. A brief introduction provides background for the contestants for each year, followed by a scoring summary and highlights for each season’s playoff.  Accounts for each of the 84 games contain essential information for documenting each event alon...

The idea for this 36,000-word report (Vol. 16, No. 2 of the American Association Almanac) came about as the result of a discussion with my wife about the teams with the most home runs in the American Association. The question came up about how a team's home run output might look good on paper, but what about the home runs it gave up? The only way to know is to collect the data and compare it. The results were surprising in some areas, not so surprising in others, but making distinct conclusions required a protracted, sustained effort over a period of four-plus months of work laying the groundwork. Fun work, but arduous and intricate...and at times frustrating, esp. with the way box scores can differ from one publication to the next.  Writing for this issue began in late-January. After editing and production (including layout), the issue was complete and ready for mailing two months later, a six-month project. There was no way I could collect the data for each season for of the eigh...