Derek Bain

Derek Bain is a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family. Hardball Retrospective: Evaluating Scouting and Development Outcomes for the Modern-Era Franchises was published in 2015 and received runner-up honors in the Shelf Unbound 2016 Best Indie Book contest. In "Hardball Retrospective: Evaluating Scouting and Development Outcomes for the Modern-Era Franchises," I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-2013) on their original team. I calculated revised standings for every 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 "actual" team results to assess each franchise's scouting, development and general management skills. "Hardball Retrospective - Addendum 2014 to 2016" focuses on the results from those seasons while encompassing standings and statistics dating back to 2010. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. “Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, combines a series of articles written over an 8-year period for Seamheads.com and my Baseball Analytics blog along with three new compositions. Topics encompass the examination of the front office acumen of top MLB executives, the art of base running on an individual and team basis, the path to success for each franchise established since 1960 and a comprehensive look at individual and league statistics with regards to batted balls in play. The "Minors vs. Majors" chapter assesses every franchise's minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations. Volume 1 (American League edition) of "Hardball Architects: Evaluating Roster Construction and Team Performance Based On Player Acquisition Methods", published in July 2020, examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises. "Hardball Retrospective", “Hardball Retrospective - Addendum 2014 to 2016”, “Hardball Retroactive” and "Hardball Architects - Volume 1 (American League)" are available in digital and paperback format on Amazon. Expanding on my research for the books, I’ve contributed articles to Fangraphs, Seamheads and Baseball Analytics. My latest series focuses on retro reviews of classic baseball computer games.