Derek Bain

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family. Co-chair of the SABR Games and Simulations Committee since August 2022 along with Mark Wendling. Visit my Amazon author page to check out my books, promotional videos, and post a review if you're a Hardball Retro fan! My Books: “Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds”, published in September 2024 with co-author John Racanelli, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds was recognized with the 2025 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award. Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League Teams)”, published in July 2020, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.  Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League Teams)”, published in April 2022, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. “Hardball Architects” examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set (American League and National League). All key moves are scrutinized for every team and Sabermetric principles are applied to the roster construction throughout the lifetime of the organization to encapsulate the hits and misses by front office executives. Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. A cross-section of essays that I penned for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog spanning nearly a decade touching on subjects including "Taking the Extra Base", "General Manager Scorecard", "Worst Trades", "BABIP By Location" and "Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic". Rediscover your favorite hardball arcade and simulations in "Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser" or take a deep dive into every franchise's minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations in "Minors vs. Majors". “Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. In Hardball Retrospective, I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-present) on their original teams. Using a variety of advanced statistics and methods, I generated revised standings for each season based entirely on the performance of each team’s “original” players. I discuss every team’s “original” players and seasons at length along with organizational performance with respect to the Amateur Draft (or First-Year Player Draft), amateur free agent signings and other methods of player acquisition. Season standings, WAR and Win Shares totals for the “original” teams are compared against the real-time or “actual” team results to assess each franchise’s scouting, development and general management skills. Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here “Hardball Retrospective - Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each "original" team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 - 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Contact me on BlueSky - @hardballretro.bsky.social

Pirates – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1955 Roberto Clemente 376.8 1953 Roy Face 132.6 1964 Luke Walker 38.1 1952 Dale Long 32.6 2015 Jung Ho Kang 32.2 1999 Scott Sauerbeck 28.6 2003 Ronny Paulino 25.9 1987 Jim Gott 17.4 1959 Rocky Nelson 17.3 1951 George Metkovich 16.1 Correctly answered Rod Humphrey, Matthew Bloss, Michael Danes, Michael Murray, Jon … Read more

Phillies – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 2005 Shane Victorino 124.4 1960 Clay Dalrymple 90.9 2015 Odubel Herrera 65.7 1970 Willie Montanez 64.8 1990 Dave Hollins 61.5 1969 Deron Johnson 56.5 1955 Ed Bouchee 55.3 1961 Jack Baldschun 49.1 1974 Gene Garber 47.5 1989 Dickie Thon 41.6 Correctly answered by Rod Humphrey, Matthew Bloss, Michael Danes, Jon Winkler, Brian … Read more

Athletics – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1952 Hector Lopez 65.5 1957 Bob Cerv 54.6 2007 Jack Cust 49.3 2013 Stephen Vogt 44.1 2004 Marco Scutaro 42 1956 John Wyatt 39.5 1955 Ray Herbert 38.4 1976 Jeff Newman 38 1976 Vida Blue 37.9 1955 Tom Gorman 37.5 no correct answers! Select one of the four choices then click Vote … Read more

Yankees – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1950 Elston Howard 198.6 2003 Hideki Matsui 117.6 1998 Alfonso Soriano 76.7 2014 Masahiro Tanaka 59.6 1968 Gene Michael 46.3 2009 Ivan Nova 38.1 1974 Elliott Maddox 31.6 1974 Rudy May 27.9 1954 Tommy Byrne 27.7 1974 Jim Mason 19.2 Correctly answered by Rod Humphrey, Michael Danes, Jon Winkler, Tom Siegler, Neil Bush, … Read more

Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball II – III – IV

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This is the tenth entry in a series focusing on computer baseball simulations to supplement the chapter “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser” from my Hardball Retroactive book along with the corresponding post at Baseball Analytics. The series focuses on baseball simulations – games in which the primary emphasis is on managerial strategy … Read more

Mets – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1969 Wayne Garrett 97.2 1963 Ron Hunt 55.6 1975 Skip Lockwood 46.6 1962 Jim Hickman 41.2 1967 Ron Taylor 39 1962 Joe Christopher 34.7 1975 Dave Kingman 33.9 1964 Jack Fisher 33.6 1962 Al Jackson 31.4 2000 Timo Perez 24.7 Correctly answered by Bryan Hartman and Rich Gordon Select one of the … Read more

Senators I / Twins – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1954 Harmon Killebrew 365.1 1954 Jim Lemon 103.9 1950 Pete Runnels 99 1990 Shane Mack 89.2 1964 Al Worthington 59.9 1963 Rich Reese 50.5 1962 Jim Merritt 44.7 2004 Matt Guerrier 40.4 1980 Doug Corbett 35.9 1953 Johnny Schmitz 29.6 Correctly answered by Rod Humphrey, Matthew Bloss, Michael Danes, Michael Murray, Jon … Read more

Pilots / Brewers – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1978 Gorman Thomas 112.1 1983 Teddy Higuera 97.5 1969 Tommy Harper 69.7 2003 Brady Clark 46.3 2009 Casey McGehee 41.2 2012 Nori Aoki 33 2003 Scott Podsednik 32.5 1969 Marty Pattin 32 1968 Mike Hegan 31.5 1969 Skip Lockwood 28.1 Correctly answered by Rod Humphrey, Matthew Bloss, Michael Danes, Michael Murray, Jon … Read more

Dodgers – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1951 Jim Gilliam 224.3 1955 Sandy Koufax 195.1 1959 Maury Wills 162.9 1979 Fernando Valenzuela 135.3 1995 Hideo Nomo 44.2 2006 Takashi Saito 42.3 1950 Norm Larker 36.3 2013 Hyun-jin Ryu 36 2008 Hiroki Kuroda 27.3 1956 Sal Maglie 25.1 no correct answers! Select one of the four choices then click Vote … Read more

Royals – Other Acquisitions (1950-2018) – Win Shares Leaders

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Year Player WS 1969 Al Fitzmorris 69.1 2007 Joakim Soria 62.8 1969 Paul Schaal 62.7 1969 Dick Drago 62.2 1998 Jeff Suppan 47.2 1987 Jim Eisenreich 43.6 1969 Bob Oliver 30.6 1969 Roger Nelson 29.3 1969 Pat Kelly 25.7 1994 Tom Goodwin 25.3 Correctly answered by Rod Humphrey, Matthew Bloss, Michael Murray, Jon Winkler, Brian … Read more