Aaron Gleeman is an American writer primarily covering the Minnesota Twins for The Athletic and is the former Editor-in-Chief at Baseball Prospectus. [1] He co-hosts Gleeman and the Geek, a Twins Baseball podcast. He was the co-founder and main operator of the baseball statistics website, The Hardball Times before leaving to write for NBC Sports. In 2006, Gleeman was featured in a short profile in Sports Illustrated. [2] He is the author of the book, “The Big 50: Minnesota Twins: The Men and Moments that Made the Minnesota Twins.”
Gleeman is a graduate of Highland Park High School in St. Paul, MN. After high school, he attended the University of Minnesota as a journalism major. However, the Minnesota Daily did not hire him as a staff writer, despite annual attempts (although they did give him one freelance story which ran on the Daily website) and Gleeman eventually dropped out of the University without obtaining his degree.
On November 25, 2003, Gleeman used his blog to introduce a new statistic called Gleeman Production Average. [3] The name was later changed to Gross Production Average to make it more palatable. The formula is
where OBP is on-base percentage and SLG is slugging percentage. The result is a number that resembles a batting average but reflects the player's ability to avoid outs and hit for power.
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a true percentage.
On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are represented. An OPS of .800 or higher in Major League Baseball puts the player in the upper echelon of hitters. Typically, the league leader in OPS will score near, and sometimes above, the 1.000 mark.
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where AB is the number of at-bats for a given player, and 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR are the number of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs, respectively:
Larry Kenneth Robert Walker is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 1997, he became the only player in major league history to register both a .700 slugging percentage (SLG) and 30 stolen bases in the same season, on his way to winning the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). The first player in more than 60 years to record a batting average of .360 in three consecutive seasons from 1997 to 1999, Walker also won three NL batting championships. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2009, and was named the 13th-greatest sporting figure from Canada by Sports Illustrated in 1999. In 2020, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Keith Anthony Phillips was an American professional baseball utility player who had an 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career from 1982 to 1999. He played regularly at second base, but also had significant time as a shortstop and third baseman. In addition, Phillips showed his versatility with over 100 game appearances in the outfield corners and as a designated hitter.
Stanley George "Frenchy" Bordagaray was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and third baseman for the Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees between 1934 and 1945. He had a .283 batting average with 14 home runs and 270 runs batted in over 930 major league games for his career.
Jason James Kubel is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Cleveland Indians.
Jamey Blake Carroll is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals. He was primarily a second baseman but also spent some time at third base and shortstop.
The Hardball Times is a website which publishes news, original comments and statistical analysis of baseball each week Monday through Friday, in addition to the Hardball Times Annual book which features essays by leading sabermetric personalities. The website features the slogan "Baseball. Insight. Daily." Run by current owner Dave Studeman and David Gassko, it was founded by Aaron Gleeman and Bill James assistant Matthew Namee in 2004. Fangraphs acquired the site in 2012. The Hardball Times went on temporary hiatus in early 2020 due to decreasing traffic caused by the delay of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez Jr. is a Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals, and San Diego Padres. Cruz is a seven-time MLB All-Star. Known for his power hitting, he has won four Silver Slugger Awards and two Edgar Martínez Awards.
Gross production average (GPA) is a baseball statistic created in 2003 by Aaron Gleeman, as a refinement of on-base plus slugging (OPS). GPA attempts to solve two frequently cited problems with OPS. First, OPS gives equal weight to its two components, on-base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage (SLG). In fact, OBP contributes significantly more to scoring runs than SLG does. Sabermetricians have calculated that OBP is about 80% more valuable than SLG. A second problem with OPS is that it generates numbers on a scale unfamiliar to most baseball fans. For all the problems with a traditional stat like batting average (AVG), baseball fans immediately know that a player batting .365 is significantly better than average, while a player batting .167 is significantly below average. But many fans do not immediately know how good a player with a 1.013 OPS is.
The Colorado Rockies' 1997 season was the fifth for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Denver, Colorado, their fifth in the National League (NL), and third at Coors Field. The team competed in the National League West, finishing in third place with a record of 83–79. Right fielder Larry Walker won the NL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP), becoming the first Rockies player and Canadian-born player to do so in MLB.
Adam Johnson is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Minnesota Twins in 2001 and 2003.
Jonathan Henry Jay is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the first base coach for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Angels.
Jonathan Brian Weber is a professional baseball player. An outfielder, Weber bats and throws left-handed. Considered a journeyman, Weber has played professionally in minor league baseball since 1999, without playing in Major League Baseball.
Levi Burt Michael is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins with the 30th overall pick of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, but never played in the majors after spending eight seasons in the minor leagues.
Byron Keiron Buxton is an American professional baseball center fielder and designated hitter for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the second highest-rated prospect in baseball according to MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus in 2015.
The Philadelphia Phillies 2013 season was the 131st season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies played their first game of the season against the Atlanta Braves on April 1.
The 2018 Seattle Mariners season was the 42nd season in franchise history. The Mariners played their 19th full season at Safeco Field, their home ballpark. After the Buffalo Bills of the NFL clinched a playoffs spot for the first time since 1999, The Mariners entered this season with the longest active playoff drought in the four major North American professional sports, failing to make their first postseason appearance since 2001. At several points in the season, the Mariners were 10 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card race, but ended up finishing eight games behind them. The Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention on September 22 with the Athletics win against the Minnesota Twins. The Mariners began the season on March 29, 2018 against the Cleveland Indians and finished the season on September 30 against the Texas Rangers.
The 2022 Minnesota Twins season was the 62nd season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 13th season at Target Field and the 122nd overall in the American League. The team finished third in the American League Central with a 78–84 record.