The Best of FanGraphs: April 30-May 4, 2018

Each week, we publish in the neighborhood of 75 articles across our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.

MONDAY, 4/30
Umpires Disproportionately Eject Non-White Players, by sydneyrpfp
This Community article explores the racial component to who umpires eject.

A Brief History of Booing in the Bronx, by Mike Bates
An excerpt: “This was not, of course, the first time Billy Martin had drunkenly fought with one of his own players. And it was the second night in a row that Martin had gotten into an altercation after midnight in the same bar. Neither man was disciplined by Steinbrenner, who planned on firing Martin anyway, and probably figured, why bother? That offseason, Whitson would request to be traded.”

The Next Generation of Second Basemen Is Arriving, by Craig Edwards
If you read this headline and didn’t picture, like, an army of second basemen coming over the horizon and didn’t immediately click, I don’t know how to help you.

A Former Yankees Prospect on the Athletics Is Suing the White Sox, by Sheryl Ring
An unpadded electrical box resulted in emergency surgery and then a lawsuit.

The Highly Unlikely Dangerous Diamondback, by Jeff Sullivan
*breaks out awful Steve Irwin impersonation* Look at this beauty, way out in first place, far from its natural habitat.

TUESDAY, 5/1
Hearts and Minds in the Heart of Ohio, by Chris Gigley
An excerpt: “These and other facts are contained in a thick binder stuffed with pages filled with old photographs, stats and stories about Clippers players, executives and ballparks that Sandry pieced together. Many of those photos are on display around the concourse and in a museum-like timeline decorating the walls of the bar in the left field building.”

Is Baseball Ready to Love Dick Allen?, by Shakeia Taylor
An excerpt: “As the years have passed, though — and as his Hall of Fame case has been evaluated and re-evaluated — those perceptions have shifted, giving way to a more complete understanding of what he endured. Many attribute his “bad attitude” to the racism and mistreatment he suffered in the minor leagues, an unfortunate trend that would follow him to the Phillies clubhouse.”

WEDNESDAY, 5/2
Trevor Bauer Might Have Conducted an Experiment, by Travis Sawchik
Please imagine Trevor in goggles and a lab coat for the duration of this article.

For Love of the Game: My Time at MLB Scout School, by Alexis Brudnicki
An excerpt: “I often have wondered if I will ever fit in anywhere in baseball, with the typically male crowd that the game welcomes. No matter who we see in the front office, and how many barriers women break, the question seems to remain for me, lingering as I know it does for so many other women in the game.”

Adam Ottavino Rebuilt Himself in a Vacant Manhattan Storefront, by Travis Sawchik
Which is pretty impressive what with all those people probably watching. Did he even get an instruction manual?

THURSDAY, 5/3
Turning Smoak Into Fire with Hernandez & Grichuk, by Nick Dika
This is also impressive because, after a quick Google search, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t isolate smoke and turn it into a fire, until now.

James Paxton’s One Simple Trick for Absolute Dominance, by Jeff Sullivan
Call 1-800-high-heat and you can be just like James

Albert Pujols and the Crawl to 3,000 Hits, by Jay Jaffe
Even machines slow down as they age.

FRIDAY, 5/4
Launch Angle Isn’t for Everyone, by Jeff Sullivan
And that’s just fine. Don’t give into peer pressure.

Kris Bryant Is Now a… Contact Hitter?, by Travis Sawchik
Everybody evolves, I guess?

The Fringe Five: Baseball’s Most Compelling Fringe Prospects, by Carson Cistulli
In the sixth annual installment of The Fringe Five, Carson “utilizes regressed stats, scouting reports, and also his own fallible intuition to identify and/or continue monitoring the most compelling fringe prospects in all of baseball.”