Baseball in Fort Wayne

Geoff over at Ducksnorts has announced the availability of a ddownloadable excerpt of his Ducksnorts 2009 Annual. If you follow the Wizards/TinCaps at all or are a Padres fan, YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK. Here’s what Geoof has to say about it:

I am pleased (and relieved) to announce that excerpts from the Ducksnorts 2009 Baseball Annual are now available as a free download (PDF, 226k). The download is 24 pages long and includes the following:

• From “Player Dashboards” — An explanation of what these things are, some league context, and dashboards for Adrian Gonzalez and Jake Peavy
• From “Padres Farm Report” — An explanation of depth charts, player capsules, and commentary; also a spotlight on center field, with reports on Will Venable, Drew Macias, Cedric Hunter, Brad Chalk, Blake Tekotte, Jaff Decker, and Rymer Liriano
• From “Hatching a Franchise” — The introductory essay, plus a detailed review of June 1969 (including top performers of the month, a brief list of events from around the world, and the Padres ‘69 amateur draft)

The entire 254-page book will ready for purchase on Tuesday. Myron Logan over at Friar Forcast has this to say about initial impressions:

I read through most of the preview, and I’m amazed at how detailed the commentary is. I mean, it’s not like you get a few comments on the players. With Gonzalez and Peavy, the two players available in the preview, it’s basically a full-blown essay. And a very fun, informative read, too.

I also really like the presentation of the stats, especially giving last years season line, plus the DS community projection and Geoff’s own personal projection. On Gonzalez and Peavy, the community was remarkably close (as was GY).