Baseball Junk Drawer

PTWSW #78: The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers

2012-01-22T03:02:00.001-06:00

Manager: Tommy Lasorda
Record: 63-47
Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
Owner: Peter O'Malley & Terry Seidler
GM: Al Campanis
Coaches: Monty Basgall, Mark Cresse, Manny Mota, Danny Ozark, Ron Perranoski

Future Hall of Famers: none

All-Stars: Dusty Baker, Steve Garvey, Pedro Guerrero, Burt Hooton, Davey Lopes, Fernando Valenzuela

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Dusty Baker, .320
OBP: Ron Cey, .372
SLG: Ron Cey, .474
OPS: Ron Cey, .846
2B: Steve Garvey, 23
3B: Ken Landreaux, 4
HR: Ron Cey, 13
RBI: Steve Garvey, 64
BB: Ron Cey, 40
SB: Davey Lopes, 20

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Fernando Valenzuela, 13
SO: Fernando Valenzuela, 180 (NL leader)
ERA: Burt Hooton, 2.28
IP: Fernando Valenzuela, 192.1 (NL leader)
CG: Fernando Valenzuela, 11 (NL leader)
SHO: Fernando Valenzuela, 8 (NL leader)
K/BB: Fernando Valenzuela, 2.95
SV: Steve Howe, 8

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Jerry Grote (b. October 6, 1942)

Youngest Player: Fernando Valenzuela (b. November 1, 1960)

First to Leave Us: Steve Howe (d. April 28, 2006). Howe was only 48 years old when he died in a pickup truck accident.

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Jerry Grote (debut September 21, 1963)

Last in Majors: Fernando Valenzuela (final game July 14, 1997)

First to Play For the Franchise: Bill Russell (April 7, 1969)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Mike Scioscia (October 2, 1992)

Pre-union Team: No team had more than two.

Reunion Team: The 1984 Chicago Cubs had four: Ron Cey, Jay Johnstone, Davey Lopes and Rick Sutcliffe. Incidentally, this makes two champions in a row that had the 1984 Cubs as a reunion team.

Accomplishments

Fernando Valenzuela, NL Cy Young Award
Fernando Valenzuela, NL Rookie of the Year Award
Dusty Baker, NL Outfield Gold Glove
Fernando Valenzuela, NL Pitcher Silver Slugger
Dusty Baker, NL Outfield Silver Slugger

Season Summary

The 1970's had been a frustrating decade in Dodger-land. The team was a perennial contender, with pennants in 1974, 1977 and 1978 to its name, but there was still something missing: a World Series title. The 1980 season ended up as another not-quite; after spending all year in the pennant race, they fell just short of the NLCS. The final series of the year was a three-gamer in L.A. against the Astros, whom they trailed, as luck would have it, by three games. Miraculously, they pulled off three one-run victories to force a tie-breaking, no-travel-expenses-necessary Game 163, but unfortunately for them, their luck ran out in that final game; the Astros romped to the first division title in franchise history with a 7-1 win.

Going into the 1981 season the Dodgers had many questions surrounding them. 15-year Dodger veteran Don Sutton, the NL's ERA leader in 1980, had left for Houston as a free agent. They had failed to land star center fielder Fred Lynn from the Red Sox, forcing them to acquire the much-less-stellar Ken Landreaux from the Twins in the middle of Spring Training. Their core players were aging: the famed infield of Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes and Steve Garvey was returning for its ninth season together, but all by then were over 30. Outfielder Reggie Smith was battling a shoulder injury that had hampered him the previous season, and he'd be limited to pinch-hitting duty for most of 1981.

The Dodgers' hopes rested on that ever-unpredictable wild card: young players. They had a fine up-and-coming hitter named Pedro Guerrero who was also able to fill in at almost any position. They had a backstop named Mike Scioscia who'd hit .254 the previous season as the Dodger catching corps' junior statesman. The one with the biggest upside, however, was a bulky, screwball-throwing Mexican lefty who'd dazzled as a September call-up. 19-year-old Fernando Valenzuela made 10 relief appearances late in the 1980 season without allowing a single earned run, and everyone was eager to see what he could do with a full season in the rotation. Manager Tommy Lasorda was so confident in the kid that he named him his Opening Day starter.

To the joy of Dodger fans, Valenzuela didn't disappoint. Facing the team that had knocked L.A. out the previous October, Valenzuela shut out the Astros on five hits, keeping his career ERA at 0.00 and giving the Dodgers a win to lead off the new season. His scoreless streak came to an end in the eighth inning of his next start, but Valenzuela still went the distance for a 7-1 victory. He pitched shutouts in four of his next five starts, and went nine innings in the two starts surrounding the last shutout, earning wins each time. After eight starts, his record stood at 8-0, with seven complete games, five shutouts and a 0.50 ERA. Fernandomania was in full swing, and the 20-year-old hurler was the talk of baseball. The entire Dodger team was off to a hot start too, holding a 5.5-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds after Valenzuela's eighth win.

As one would expect, such dominance wasn't sustainable over the course of a full season, and Valenzuela came back to earth in his next few starts. The Dodgers held onto first place, but a late-May/early-June slump coincided with a period of improved play by the Reds. On June 11 Valenzuela lost a 2-1 pitching duel to the Cardinals, while the Reds beat the Mets to pull within half a game.

Baseball's labor situation, however, was in a state of uncertainty. Owners and players had been battling for more than a year over the issue of free agent compensation, and the two sides had been unable to reach an agreement. On June 12 the players went on strike, the first midseason strike in the history of major league American professional sports. The two sides finally came to terms on July 31, but there was still the issue of how the postseason would be managed given that so many games had been cancelled.

Commissioner Bowie Kuhn decided on a controversial "split season" format which would add an extra tier to the playoffs. The four teams in first place at the beginning of the strike would be awarded playoff spots, while the standings would refresh for the second half. The team with the best record in each division during the second half would play its first-half counterpart for the right to play in the League Championship Series. Having already clinched a playoff berth by the narrowest of margins, the Dodgers put up a 27-26 record in the second half, which actually put their overall season record four games behind the Reds, who finished with baseball's top winning percentage. Thanks to those quirky rules, the Reds missed out on the postseason due to the fact that they finished a game and a half behind the Astros in the second-half standings. It meant the NL West Division Series would be an L.A.-Houston rematch.

The first two games took place at the Astrodome, where the Astros won both in their last at-bat. Alan Ashby and Denny Walling were the heroes for the hometown team, and reliever Dave Stewart was saddled with the loss both times. After the series headed back to Dodger Stadium though, the boys in blue regained their strength. Dodger pitching allowed only two runs in the next three games, while Dodger hitting plated twelve runs, resulting in three Dodger wins and a trip to the NLCS for Lasorda's men.

1981 saw Canada's first appearance in the MLB postseason, in the form of the Montreal Expos. The Expos were a hungry young team that had fallen just short of the playoffs the previous two years, and now they were tasked with beating the veteran Dodgers. The first two games were held at Dodger Stadium, but the home-field magic didn't do its trick like in the previous series, resulting in a split. Back in Montreal the Expos won Game 3, but the Dodgers pulled away in the late innings of Game 4 to send the series to the maximum.

Game 5 matched Valenzuela against Ray Burris, who'd shut out L.A. in Game 2 of the series. As one would expect, it was a tightly-fought pitcher's duel. The Expos struck first with an RBI double-play groundout in the first inning, but Valenzuela helped his own cause with an RBI groundout in the fifth. In the ninth inning, with the game still tied, Steve Rogers relieved Burris. After getting the first two outs, Dodger right fielder Rick Monday put his team on top with a solo homer that would prove to be the winning blow. In the bottom half, Valenzuela got the first two outs, but needed Bob Welch to nail down the third and clinch the pennant.

The New York Yankees had long been a thorn in the side of the Dodger franchise; the two were October rivals during the Brooklyn Dodgers' "Boys of Summer" era, and the Bronx Bombers had gotten the better of the Dodgers in both the 1977 and 1978 World Series. The Pinstripers were now the only thing standing in the way of the Dodgers' opportunity at redemption.

The Yanks were rested after sweeping the ALCS, and possessed home-field advantage in the World Series. The Dodgers, on the other hand, had to play Game 1 the day after winning the NLCS. Perhaps it was no surprise then, that the Yankees came away with victories in the first two games. With the Series headed to L.A., New York was halfway to dealing L.A. a familiar fate.

Lasorda sent Valenzuela to the mound for Game 3, and while the rookie didn't have his best stuff that night, he managed to come away with a complete-game win to keep the Dodgers' hopes alive. The big man walked seven batters and gave up nine hits, but the damage was limited to only four runs, a total the Dodger offense bettered by one. Game 4 was a slugfest, highlighted by the Dodgers' comeback from an early 4-0 deficit. In the end, the Dodgers walked away with an 8-7 win and a tied Series. Yankee ace Ron Guidry shut out the Dodgers for the first six innings of Game 5, but back-to-back homers by Pedro Guerrero and catcher Steve Yeager put the Dodgers ahead in the game, and by the end of the night, the Series.

Back to Yankee Stadium the Series went for Game 6. The score was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Yankee manager Bob Lemon made a controversial decision. With two outs and the pitcher's spot coming up, he elected to pinch-hit for starter Tommy John, a move that produced no runs. The very next inning the Dodgers erupted for three runs off reliever George Frazier. Frazier had taken the loss in Games 3 and 4, and with the Dodgers now leading, he was suddenly in line for his third of the Series. He would get it. Team Blue added four more runs the next inning, and they would go on to win by a score of 9-2.

At long last this Dodger team had the World Series title it had been unable to capture during the previous decade. It would prove to be the last hurrah for the famed Dodger infield as well, as second baseman Davey Lopes was traded to Oakland the following offseason. The World Series MVP Award was shared by Ron Cey, Guerrero and Yeager, as each of them had come up big with the bat. Valenzuela's amazing year netted him not only the Rookie of the Year Award, but the Cy Young Award as well, the first time any player had won both awards in the same year.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives
"The 1981 Baseball Strike," Time.com

Ian Controls the Universe

2011-12-16T11:12:00.001-06:00

At some point in our lives most of us undoubtedly have had the desire to control that which we cannot. As a diehard baseball fan is apt to do, I believe that things would be much better if I were in charge of MLB (and no one would be swapping leagues on my watch!). Megalomaniac that I am though, I'm not content to stop there. I often find myself wishing the on-field results could bend to my every whim.

Obviously, dictating the results would be meaningless in real life, as it'd produce nothing but hollow, unearned accomplishments. What if, however, I possessed covert omnipotence that allowed me to see whatever result I wanted? Tantalizing idea, is it not? While I wouldn't get to experience the joy of watching everything unfold, I could experience joy vicariously through the fans who did.

I got to thinking: what if I were granted this power for the next ten seasons? What would the next ten World Series look like? While it'd be tempting to go back and remove moronic rules like the Astros moving to the AL and a second Wild Card being added, I think it'd be a lot less complicated for me to play it as it lies. Not only will I go by the rules already on the books, but I'll choose my immediate champions based on what could realistically be expected from the organizations as currently constructed. After all, it'd be ridiculous to make teams simply get lucky; the players and management would have to produce situations where such results were reasonably within the realm of possibility. By announcing the results in advance I'd give these teams time to set themselves on the right path.

Before I announce my picks, I'd like to make something clear to anyone who isn't familiar with my thinking: I'm a fan of the game first, and my teams second. I root for both Chicago teams, yet the two of them would combine for one pennant in the next decade. I love seeing teams win their first championships, or at least their first in a long time. I've been following MLB since 1995, and my plan means I will have seen every team in the World Series by the time my dictatorship expires. Way too unrealistically even-handed? Of course it is, but if you were given this type of power, wouldn't you want to do something extraordinary with it?

So anyway, if I were dictator of all MLB results for ten years, effective January 1, 2012, what could we expect to see?

2012 World Series: Texas Rangers over Washington Nationals

First things first. I love the current Ranger team, and I'm still heartbroken over the way the 2011 World Series turned out. I don't want this core of players to go down in history as a great never-quite-was, so next year I'd have them seal the deal. Yes, the Angels are looking tough right now, but the Rangers are a well-run organization that's by no means ready to concede the division.

As for the Nationals, they have some up-and-coming talent, plus the ability to spend some money, so it wouldn't be a miracle if they contended for the World Series next season. They're one of two current franchises that's never appeared in the Fall Classic, so it'd be their turn get off the board. Why not do it against a franchise that originated in their city?

2013 World Series: Cleveland Indians over Pittsburgh Pirates

Cleveland is a city well-acquainted with heartbreak, and their World Series drought goes back to 1948. They have some of the best fans in the game, and their loyalty deserves to be rewarded sooner rather than later. They exceeded expectations this year, and it's not a stretch to think that in two years they could be playing with the big boys.

Why the Pirates? Why not? It's been over 30 years since they've appeared in the World Series, and they're a young team with the potential to make some noise in the near future. Besides, Pittsburgh and Cleveland have a pretty intense football rivalry, and I'm sure the long-suffering fans in northern Ohio would appreciate it if they could get their long-awaited championship at the expense of their Rust Belt rivals in a sport that actually matters.

2014 World Series: Chicago Cubs over Kansas City Royals

I apologize to my fellow Cub fans, some of whom might die without witnessing a championship in the next few years, but I figure two things: 1) The Cubs aren't currently poised for a pennant run, and 2) 2014 is fitting in several ways.

First of all, it'll mark the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field, and what better way to commemorate the century mark than with the stadium's first championship? Second, does anyone else remember the days of the three super droughts? It went: Cubs-1908, White Sox-1917 and Red Sox-1918. The Red Sox broke theirs in 2004, and the White Sox, whose drought began a year earlier, broke theirs the next year, so that means the Cubs, whose drought began nine years before the White Sox', should have theirs broken nine years later. It's almost too perfect.

The Royals haven't been to the postseason since 1985, when they won the World Series, but they've accumulated a boatload of minor league talent in the last few years. 2014 would be the season all that talent finds itself in full blossom and leads Kansas City to its first pennant in almost 30 years. They might be overlooked amidst all the excitement over the Cubs' drought ending, but they'd be good for the K.C. sports scene, and go down in history as a memorable World Series participant.

2015 World Series: San Diego Padres over Minnesota Twins

San Diego hasn't won a major league championship since the Chargers' 1963 AFL title, and they had none before that. It's time for the Padres to get the limelight they've never really had in the baseball world, as both times they've been involved in the World Series they were easily taken care of by a powerhouse from the AL.

The Twins are a nice little franchise, but their having won twice in my lifetime (albeit before I was a fan) means I'm not desperate to see them win it so soon. I would like to see them participate in the World Series at least once during Joe Mauer's career, though.

2016 World Series: Washington Nationals over Toronto Blue Jays

After falling short four years earlier, the Nationals would finally get their redemption. It will have been 94 years since the last title in the nation's capital by then, and baseball will return to its rightful place as the #1 sport in the city. Much-hyped young stars Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper by this point would be proven veterans, and they'd demonstrate the things you can achieve with well-selected #1 draft choices.

Their opponent would be the Toronto Blue Jays, the team with whom the Nationals franchise once shared a country. Still wearing their stitch-perfect uniforms which recall their awesome classic design, Alex Anthopoulos' boys would reward his shrewd management by giving Canada its first glimpse at deep October baseball since before the strike.

2017 World Series: Colorado Rockies over Baltimore Orioles

Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez would be 33 and 32 years old, respectively, by the time the curtain opened on the 2017 Fall Classic, and both would be getting their due accolades as veteran leaders and franchise icons for leading this team to its first pennant in a decade. The former would be generating some Hall of Fame talk by this point as well, and when the Rockies finally got their first sip of victory champagne it would only intensify.

The Orioles would be breaking a 34-year pennant drought, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards would be hosting its first-ever World Series. Hard to believe, isn't it?

2018 World Series: Tampa Bay Rays over Los Angeles Dodgers

Since Andrew Friedman has been running the show he's schooled everyone else in running a top-tier organization on a budget. The lack of a title is the only thing keeping the Rays from a truly amazing place in baseball history. Like the previous year's champs, they'd be redeeming themselves for a decade-old World Series loss here. Of course, if I were controlling more than just the World Series results, I'd have them as a playoff regular in the years leading up to this, which would hopefully mean their fanbase had started supporting them more, and had been anticipating this moment for some time.

The Dodgers, led by 34-year-old Matt Kemp, would be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Kirk Gibson-Orel Hershiser trophy by finally resurfacing in the Series. For all the big-budget Hollywood hype though, the Rays would make easy work of them.

2019 World Series: Milwaukee Brewers over Oakland Athletics

Milwaukee icon Ryan Braun would be almost 36 by the time he finally led the Brew Crew to the World Series, and the wait would be well worth it. The Seattle Pilots would be a half-century-old memory at this point, and the years of toiling as an also-ran would finally come to an end. The only thing marring the proceedings would be the between-innings interviews of former Commissioner Bud Selig, who now admires his one-time franchise from the Miller Park stands, and somehow manages to be an unavoidable sight throughout the postseason.

Billy Beane would have stepped down from running the A's by now (to seek out new challenges, of course), and the anti-Moneyball crowd (the few who still cared) would use this Oakland pennant as fodder for their argument. On the 30-year anniversary of the earthquake title and the 90-year anniversary of the first Cochrane-Foxx-Simmons-Grove powerhouse title, the A's would come up short of matching those teams' accomplishments.

2020 World Series: Houston Astros over Milwaukee Brewers

The "Killer B" era would be long gone, but those quinquagenarian players would be on hand to throw out a few first pitches. After a 58-year wait, the Astros would finally get to stand on top of the baseball world. They'd be doing it as a member of the American League, however, due to that stupid and unnecessary move foisted upon us by Selig and Co. (have I made it clear enough how I feel about that?).

The Brewers would become the first team to win back-to-back pennants since the 2010-12 Rangers won three in a row, but they wouldn't be able to repeat. In a fun twist, the World Series would feature MLB's only two league-switchers.

2021 World Series: Seattle Mariners over Cincinnati Reds

The Mariners would have spent the last nine years as baseball's only team without a World Series appearance. After waiting 44 years for this day, they wouldn't intend to lose.

The Reds would be seeing their first World Series action in 31 years, but they wouldn't have enough to defeat that upstart team in the Emerald City. Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., now in his early 50's, would famously equivocate when asked who he was rooting for.

Now that every team in baseball has won the World Series and all have appeared in it since I've been watching, how do the title and pennant droughts look?

World Series title:

Pirates: 1979
Orioles: 1983
Tigers: 1984
Royals: 1985
Mets: 1986
Dodgers: 1988
Athletics: 1989
Reds: 1990
Twins: 1991
Blue Jays: 1993
Braves: 1995
Diamondbacks: 2001
Angels: 2002
Marlins: 2003
White Sox: 2005
Red Sox: 2007
Phillies: 2008
Yankees: 2009
Giants: 2010
Cardinals: 2011
Rangers: 2012
Indians: 2013
Cubs: 2014
Padres: 2015
Nationals: 2016
Rockies: 2017
Rays: 2018
Brewers: 2019
Astros: 2020
Mariners: 2021

Is this absurdly equitable or what? In a span of 43 seasons every team would have won the World Series, and the Pirates would be the only one that hadn't won it in my lifetime. Heck, perhaps I could petition for one more year as reality-dictator just so I could give them the 2022 title.

Let's look at the pennants:

Braves: 1999
Mets: 2000
Diamondbacks: 2001
Angels: 2002
Marlins: 2003
White Sox: 2005
Tigers: 2006
Red Sox: 2007
Yankees: 2009
Phillies: 2009
Giants: 2010
Cardinals: 2011
Rangers: 2012
Indians: 2013
Pirates: 2013
Cubs: 2014
Royals: 2014
Padres: 2015
Twins: 2015
Blue Jays: 2016
Nationals: 2016
Orioles: 2017
Rockies: 2017
Dodgers: 2018
Rays: 2018
Athletics: 2019
Astros: 2020
Brewers: 2020
Mariners: 2021
Reds: 2021

Oh, those long-suffering Brave fans! 22 years without a pennant!

I have no illusions about the nearly-zero chance that this scenario would play out in real life. Parity of this sort would be unprecedented in any sport. There's no harm in imagining possibilities, however. Whenever I'm depressed (as I still am over the way this season ended), I can always come back to this post and imagine how much more beautiful it might be.

Award Pages Updated for 2011

2011-11-22T22:21:00.000-06:00

Now that the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards have all been announced, I've updated a few list posts accordingly.

Check out the ones that have changed:

Rookie of the Year Facts
The Second Place Award Winners

Go ahead. Relive the joy they brought you the first time you read them. You know you want to!

The Best Baseball-Reference Sponsorships, 2011 Edition

2011-11-18T11:25:00.000-06:00

Is it that time of year already? Well, the calendar says mid-November, so clearly it is! Yes, friends, it's time for Baseball Junk Drawer's annual list of the best Baseball-Reference sponsorship messages! Two years ago the first one earned me my 15 minutes of fame, and its followup last year fared respectably on the old hit counter. Regardless of how many readers they get me though, I love putting these things together, because they're just so doggone fun.

As always, entries that made the cut in previous years' editions are ineligible this time around. Fortunately for us, this year's crop of newcomers stepped up to the plate and delivered. Let's see what fine treats 2011 brought us, shall we?

10. 2009 New York Mets

MetsChokeAgain sponsor(s) this page.

At least this team decided to blow the season BEFORE Sept 1. We missed the drama and the obligatory September collapse and choke. M(y) E(ntire) T(eam) S(tinks)

The first time I read this it sounded to me like the ranting of a bitter Met fan. In that sense, the message works. After being eliminated from the playoffs on the last day of the season two straight years, the 2009 Mets mercifully decided not to dangle any hope in front of their fans. This frustrated Citi Field loiterer bemoans his situation where a 70-win mediocrity of a season is in some ways preferable to a winning one. You have to feel for the poor guy a little.

After reading it again, I realized it could've been the work of a smack-talking Met-basher. In that sense, this message is just immature and pathetic. Since I can't be sure though, I'll choose to regard it as the former.

9. Eric Hurley

Breast Enlargement Dallas sponsor(s) this page.

Enhance your appearance today!

Obviously this is a generic ad which doesn't demonstrate any particular wit. The sheer absurdity of it, however, caught me off-guard. What exactly could've been the reasoning behind it?

This ad doesn't approach you with a business-like handshake humbly requesting your interest, it invites, nay, exhorts, you to "enhance your appearance today!" And just how do they propose you improve your looks? Why, with breast enlargement, of course! Now obviously, if you happen to be male, the likelihood of you needing this particular service is pretty slim. No issue here, though! There are tons of women who want to check the statistics of a former Rangers pitching prospect who made five starts and had his career derailed by injuries! Right?

8. Ryan Braun

Willard Meier sponsor(s) this page.

What's to say? This guy's just a fabulous player.

What's to say indeed? We can all agree Ryan Braun is one of the best players in the game today, so why on earth should this sponsorship be recognized as anything but a straightforward, unremarkable statement of fact?

Oh...wait a sec. You thought he was talking about the guy on the Brewers? The MVP candidate? The Hebrew Hammer? Nope. Not that guy. The other one. Yeah, there's another Ryan Braun. This other one pitched for the Royals in 2006-07 and put up an ERA of 6.66. I think we can all agree that he is not, by any definition of the word, a fabulous player. Pretty sneaky there, Willard.

7. Tony Campana

Matt sponsor(s) this page.

Brett Gardner ain't got nothin'. Well, except the ability to get on base.

The comparison is striking. Both are lefty speedsters. Both play strong defense in mainly left and center fields. Both hit .259 this year. Indeed though, Gardner has the advantage in that all-too-crucial on-base percentage category, as he knows how to take a walk (and gets the occasional extra-base hit too).

Life as a Cub fan is never easy, and sometimes all you can do is cling to whatever similarities exist between one of your guys and a better player on a more-heralded team.

6. Pretzels Getzien

Dave Velazquez sponsor(s) this page.

Pretzels is an unfortunately-forgotten player. In addition to once winning 30 games, his nickname was Pretzels. That is awesome. I want to name my future dog Pretzels.

Like so many men once they reach a certain age, Dave here has gotten that twinge of desire to be a dog owner. As do all men at this stage of life, he's taken to dreaming about the name he could bestow on this canine companion, and what it would symbolize to posterity. His choice? Pretzels. It has an air of fun to it as well as a salty, rough texture. Surely this pooch will be a rugged, rambunctious little fellow who frequently comes home covered in dirt, yet maintains his endearing lovability with every flea bath. Such a heartwarming message, this.

5. Eric Bruntlett

Dan Mitsakos sponsor(s) this page.

Thanks for the '08 World Series, the game-ending unassisted Triple Play, and spending Summer 2010 in Scranton.

Scoring the winning run in two World Series games and accomplishing a rare in-game feat are pretty darn cool. They don't, however, necessarily make one a worthwhile occupant of a roster spot. Despite Bruntlett's semi-noteworthy place in Phillies history, he probably still has to pay for his own drinks in the City of Brotherly Love.

4. Bowie Kuhn

Al Fansome sponsor(s) this page.

In the neck and neck race for worst commissioner of all time, Selig has forged a little ahead of Kuhn.

I used to defend Selig to some degree. I thought he was too-often maligned because he made an easy target, and that many of his critics were simply knee-jerk blamers of the guy at the top. With the recent move of the Astros to the American League (necessitating year-round interleague) and the expansion of the playoffs, I'm fully and permanently in the anti-Selig camp. All I have to say to this message is "Preach it, brother!"

3. Fernando Rodney

Michael Shea sponsor(s) this page.

Fernando, save everyone their time. Next time just walk up and place the ball on a tee.

So I think what he's trying to say here is...Fernando Rodney is not a very effective pitcher. Tony Reagins' legacy lives on!

2. Bobby Cox

Robert B sponsor(s) this page.

I wouldnt let him manage the night shift at a day care center

Lost amid the Bobby Cox lovefest last year were the complaints he faced throughout his career about his teams frequently underachieving. Much of it was undoubtedly a case of polite people not wishing to speak ill of the soon-retiring. Now that Cox's farewell tour is over, he's become fair game, and guys like Robert here aren't afraid to take it to the online statistical resources. Old Bobby shouldn't feel too bad about this rather scathing comment, though. Lots of great managers would've made lousy security guards.

1. Ozzie Canseco

Baseball's first 40/40 man! sponsor(s) this page.

Canseco was a feared hitter and a great Celebrity Apprentice contestant. Err..wait. The Canseco brothers have fooled me again!

This one wins the award for making me laugh the hardest, which pretty much means I have to put it at #1.

I beg to differ about The Celebrity Apprentice though. Jose Canseco (or was it Ozzie?) was not a great contestant by any stretch of the imagination. The only thing that redeems his appearance was that immortal scene where he played catch with Gary Busey.

Sigh...another week of wading through BB-Ref sponsorships for my annual post, and it's already all over. Time flies when you're having fun. I realize that the prices on Baseball-Reference have gone up in the last year, but there are tons of reasonable options out there for those on a budget. If you want to keep the ultimate resource for the greatest game ever invented going, please consider sponsoring a page. Who knows? You might see yourself here next year!

Another Championship Goes to Waste

2011-10-29T00:34:00.000-05:00

The Texas Rangers were perfectly poised to win their first World Series title: They were the better team, they were the more likable team and their fans deserved it more. Everything lined up. This being reality instead of Hollywood though, they lost, and in heartbreaking fashion, no less.

By now we all know that if Nelson Cruz had played just a few steps back, the Rangers would've won the title yesterday. The Cardinals, as luck would have it, got the perfect location on David Freese's drive, and mounted a comeback for the ages. The game made for good drama, but the end result was something baseball could've done without. The last day of the regular season was a thrilling affair, the top two teams (who'd recently won titles) were upset in the first round, the World Series saw some close, exciting games, and what was it all for? A team winning its 11th World Series title. It's hard to get more anti-climactic than that.

I must say, the last three odd-numbered years have not been good. This postseason joins the ranks of 2007 in my book: enough hope dangled to make the crushing conclusion sting with especial poignancy. 2009 was also pretty bad, but the playoff picture itself offered few appealing options, so it was more a case of "little to cheer for in the first place."

For the sixth year in a row, the team I was rooting for in the World Series has lost. I didn't have a huge problem with the Phillies or Giants winning, but I preferred their opponents in those particular years. I guess this is the price I must pay for finally seeing my White Sox win it: six straight years of frustration (and counting). I still remember sitting in my dorm room gazing at that small black-and-white TV when Juan Uribe threw out Orlando Palmeiro by half a step. Had I only known that never again in my 20's would I enjoy a final out like that one...well, perhaps it's for the best that I didn't. The odds say that I should enjoy a similar elation again before my 30's run out, but our emotions tend to be driven by the present, and right now I'm one sad baseball fan.

Cardinal fans didn't need this. Not one bit. They had their year just a half-decade earlier, and Ranger fans have now seen their wait reach the quadruple-decade mark. My only hope is that this isn't this Ranger team's last chance. Yes, they have a great organization, and yes, they look like potential playoff contenders for years to come, but as many great teams that have fallen short can attest, you never know when the opportunity you're presented with might be your last. Hopefully the Rangers can take inspiration from the last team to lose two World Series in a row: the 1991-92 Atlanta Braves. They got their ring three years later, and while those Braves' legacy is viewed as somewhat disappointing, that 1995 flag flies forever. I sincerely hope these Rangers get their year in the near future.

Just so I don't sound like a complete wet bag, I'll say that I'm happy for a few members of the Cardinals:

42-year-old Arthur Rhodes has carved out a solid 20-year career, mostly as a lefty relief specialist, and now, with little likely left in the tank, he finally has a championship. I'm glad that he got to experience something like this before it was all said and done.

Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday are two classy veteran sluggers winning their first titles. Neither is a Hall of Fame lock, but both have the potential to make it some day, depending on how much longer they can play at their current levels. Either way, they've gotten their turn at the summit, and even if they end up as mere Hall-of-Very-Gooders, they can always boast that they were once World Champions.

What the heck, I'm even happy for Corey Patterson, who was left off the playoff roster. I guess I have a soft spot for the Cubs' former top prospect, even if he's turned into nothing more than a journeyman who occasionally shows flashes of usefulness while remaining severely flawed in other facets of the game. He's a popular whipping boy, but he's now a popular whipping boy with a World Series ring.

Thus ends the 2011 season chapter of Major League Baseball. The 2011-12 offseason chapter now begins, and I can have my life back. Hopefully the 2012 season chapter gives us a conclusion worth cheering about.

The Cardinal Narrative and the Ranger Imperative

2011-10-18T08:54:00.000-05:00

Oh, those St. Louis Cardinals. MLB's crown jewel in the Midwest. The National League's most storied team from the World Series era. Baseball's classiest organization, with a fanbase that appreciates and loves the game like none other. This is the franchise of Branch Rickey's transcendent organizational acumen, Stan Musial's gentlemanly grace, Ozzie Smith's joyful flair and today, Albert Pujols' all-around dominance and class-actiness. What miscreant would dare speak ill of such a glorious institution as the Redbirds?

That was how I'd perceived the public sentiment toward the Cardinals up until a few years ago. Perhaps the sample on which I based my judgment wasn't as comprehensive as it might've been, but my perceptions shaped my belief that I was a relative minority in hating them. Now granted, I'm a Cub fan, so I was in a position where I was expected to hate the Cardinals. There was more to it than that for me though; there was something deeper involved.

I've always been a fan of the game first and my teams second, so few things warm my heart more than a franchise winning its first-ever championship. Being a true fan of any team is an emotional investment that's often more wearying than it is exhilarating, and I vicariously experience that especial thrill of victory whenever I see those rooters soaking in the triumphant moment for the first time in their lives. The flipside to this brand of empathy though, is that it pains me to see a team with a significant history of championship success win. Sure, their fans love the team and all that, but I know that deep down it doesn't mean nearly as much to them as it would to the fans of those teams with less past glory to comfort them.

My hatred for the Cardinals is rooted mainly in the fact that historically, they're the National League's answer to the Yankees. True, they don't exude quite as much arrogance as those louts in the Bronx, but all the same, their fans are hardly starving for moments they can take pride in.

My own personal feelings aside though, I think the attitude toward the Cards has changed in the last few years, or at least it has within my range of vision. While I knew several people perceived Tony LaRussa as a bit full of himself, he'd always struck me as one of the most respected men in the game. These days, I more frequently hear criticisms of his overmanaging and complaining to the officials (not to mention that whole DUI incident). Mark McGwire, who at one time exemplified St. Louis' grand tradition of exceptional performance and ideal decorum, fell from grace after his evasive testimony before Congress on the steroid issue. Chris Carpenter, whose name at one time was synonymous with Cy Young's, has become better-known as one of the game's biggest jerks. Even opposing players are openly expressing their loathing for the boys in the Gateway to the West. With the internet increasing in significance every year, the less-well-mannered elements of the fanbase have emerged from the woodwork, and Redbird Nation's once-sterling reputation has gradually evaporated. Before we realized what was happening, the Cardinals had gone from a well-regarded symbol of splendor to a reluctantly-respected outcast.

Despite the Cardinals' losing some luster, there seemed to be a sentiment in the baseball world during this past NLCS that rooting for them was every fan's moral duty. Why, you ask? Because their opponent was the Milwaukee Brewers, who acted more like an NFL team than an MLB aggregation. Nyjer Morgan's smack-talking on Twitter, "Beast Mode" hand signals, crazy home run celebrations...yeah, it just turned people off. Never mind that the good citizens of Milwaukee hadn't seen a World Series title since 1957 and that the Cardinals were hardly a likable bunch. The Brewers deserved to lose for committing the unpardonable sin of appearing to think a little too highly of themselves.

I never bought into this anti-Brewer sentiment for a minute. While I'm far from a fan of cocky behavior, I most certainly love a jubilant team spirit, which the Brew Crew has in spades. What one man calls boorish antics another man calls a passion for the game that enhances the experience. Many old-school fans complain that baseball has gotten too boring and slow-paced for the younger generation to take an interest, but these same people will denigrate teams like Milwaukee who try to infuse some excitement into the proceedings. I guess when you're a small-market club without history on your side, you don't get the benefit of the doubt.

Going into the postseason, the Brewers were my #1 choice to win the World Series. Knowing it was almost certainly Prince Fielder's last stand, they decided to go for broke instead of dealing him for prospects last offseason. How could a guy like me root against a team without a World Series title, especially when they might not get another such opportunity for a long time? It was only natural. In the end though, the Brewers' run preventive abilities proved sorely lacking, and the kids with the packed trophy case got to flaunt another one in front of the desperate kids who'd have to dream about their turn for another year. Baseball's made to break your heart, they say, and just when you're tempted to forget, it pops its head up and reminds you.

All is not yet lost, however. Fans of my ilk still have one hope remaining, and it lies in the American League's representative. For the second straight year that would be the Texas Rangers, another title-less franchise. The 2010 World Series, as you recall, matched up the Rangers with the San Francisco Giants, who had yet to win a World Series after over a half-century in the City by the Bay. Needless to say, an oppressive burden was going to be lifted off the shoulders of the winning fanbase. The Giants ultimately prevailed, and after falling short of the postseason in an injury-plagued 2011, perhaps it's for the best that they did. Had they lost, they'd be left with all kinds of uncertainty about how wide their current window of opportunity is open.

In a way, it works out well that the Brewers lost. It's sad for them and their fans, most assuredly, but rooting for the Rangers to lose their second straight World Series wouldn't have been particularly pleasurable for me. As it now stands, the Rangers have a chance to compensate for last year's loss, and the only thing standing in their way is a team no one has to feel bad for if they lose. It's almost too perfect.

If the Cardinals do end up winning this World Series, my immediate reaction will be that we were cheated out of a great story, and that another World Series title went to waste. Still, if you'd told me before the 2010 season that the Rangers would win the next two pennants, I probably would've been shocked. This was a franchise that had never previously made it past the ALDS, as well as a league-mate of baseball's two richest teams. What they've done these two years is undoubtedly impressive, and it's something I'll always cherish as a fan of the game. While the media's narrow focus will probably remain on Boston and New York, it's nice to see their hype trumped by a team that's quietly gone about its business of building a well-balanced winner. As I said about those windows of opportunity though, they can close sooner than you think. The Rangers would be well-advised to capitalize now.

The state of Texas has yet to see a championship in Major League Baseball. At this point, the optimum outcome of this season would be for the Lone Star State to expand its place in baseball lore past the Astrodome and the phrase "Texas Leaguer." For the good of the game, for the preservation of a sense of justice, this needs to be the Rangers' year.

Oldest Ringless Players: 2011

2011-09-29T09:19:00.001-05:00

Last year you might have seen my post about the Oldest Ringless Players for each of the eight playoff participants. Of that octet, the one who became ineligible for any future ORP lists was Giants reliever Guillermo Mota. After one of the wildest yet greatest days in MLB history (which I can only hope gives Selig and his cronies pause about expanding the playoffs), we have our Elite Eight for 2011.

As I did last time, I'll consider any player who was on the 40-Man Roster at the end of the season and played at the Major League level for the team as being ring-worthy. The ORP's this time around are (with date of birth in parentheses):

Arizona Diamondbacks: Henry Blanco (August 29, 1971)
Detroit Tigers: Magglio Ordonez (January 28, 1974)
Milwaukee Brewers: Takashi Saito (February 14, 1970)
New York Yankees: Bartolo Colon (May 24, 1973)
Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez (June 2, 1972)
St. Louis Cardinals: Arthur Rhodes (October 24, 1969)
Tampa Bay Rays: Joel Peralta (March 23, 1976)
Texas Rangers: Darren Oliver (October 6, 1970)

Notes:

Ibanez, Oliver, Rhodes and Saito are all making their second consecutive appearances on this list, though Rhodes and Saito appeared with different teams last year.
As I noted last year, it might not be fair to include Saito, as he won the Japan Series in 1998. If you take him out of the equation, the Brewers' ORP is LaTroy Hawkins (December 21, 1972).
Rhodes appeared for Texas earlier in the year, which means he could be in line for a ring if the Rangers win the World Series.
As they did last year, the Rays have the youngest ORP. Previously it was Joaquin Benoit, who now plays for the Tigers.
Rhodes is the oldest player on this list for the second year in a row.
Four of these players are relief pitchers, and the rest are a starting pitcher, a left fielder, a right fielder and a catcher.

Personally, I'd be happy for any of these guys to get rings as individuals, but as members of a team, I can't say I'm rooting too hard for Blanco, Colon, Ibanez or Rhodes. All play for franchises that have won the World Series since I've been a baseball fan, and I love watching new teams get in on the glory.

Matters of Races

2011-09-27T10:39:00.000-05:00

What a situation we have with the Wild Card races, huh, folks? Over in the American League we have the Boston Red Sox, long a presumptive postseason lock, now tied with the hard-charging Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card lead! The Atlanta Braves, who spent most of their season in the same position as the Red Sox, now lead the St. Louis Cardinals by a mere game! With two games left in the season, two impressive comebacks are well within the realm of possibility!

Of course, none of this would be worth mentioning if the allegedly inevitable changes to the playoff system that Bud Selig is intent on inflicting upon us were in place. All four teams would currently be preparing for their spot in the play-in game, or whatever the fool thing's going to be called, and this last week would be devoid of drama.

Selig, I've often tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I can't be so charitable here. We have enough teams in the playoffs as it is, and all an extra Wild Card would do is cheapen postseason participation even further. For the good of the game, stop tinkering with stuff.

Baseball in Korea

2011-08-28T00:43:00.000-05:00

Hello, faithful readers. You may have noticed that my posts here have been less frequent than they once were. There's a big reason for that: I'm currently working in Korea, and I've been so busy adjusting to life here that I haven't had as much time or inspiration to write on this blog (though I do make an effort to put up at least one new post per month).

It just so happens that baseball is pretty popular in Korea, and I live in a city represented by a professional team. Yesterday I went to my first game, and I shared the experience on my Korean blog. If you want to read about it, you can check out my post here.

PTWSW #77: The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies

2011-08-14T12:28:00.001-05:00

Manager: Dallas Green
Record: 91-71
Ballpark: Veterans Stadium
Owner: Ruly Carpenter
GM: Paul Owens
Coaches: Ruben Amaro, Billy DeMars, Lee Elia, Mike Ryan, Herm Starrette, Bobby Wine

Future Hall of Famers: Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt

All-Stars: Steve Carlton, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Bake McBride, .309
OBP: Mike Schmidt, .380
SLG: Mike Schmidt, .624 (NL leader)
OPS: Mike Schmidt, 1.004 (NL leader)
2B: Pete Rose, 42 (NL leader)
3B: Bake McBride, 10
HR: Mike Schmidt, 48 (NL leader)
RBI: Mike Schmidt, 121 (NL leader)
BB: Mike Schmidt, 89
SB: Lonnie Smith, 33

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Steve Carlton, 24 (NL leader)
SO: Steve Carlton, 286 (NL leader)
ERA: Steve Carlton, 2.34
IP: Steve Carlton, 304.0 (NL leader)
CG: Steve Carlton, 13
SHO: Steve Carlton, 3
K/BB: Steve Carlton, 3.18 (NL leader)
SV: Tug McGraw, 20

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Pete Rose (b. April 14, 1941)

Youngest Player: Mark Davis (b. October 19, 1960)

First to Leave Us: Nino Espinosa (d. December 24, 1987) Espinosa was working as a scout for the Cubs when he died of a heart attack at the age of 34.

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Tim McCarver (debut September 10, 1959)

Last in Majors: Mark Davis (final game September 28, 1997)

First to Play For the Franchise: Larry Bowa and Tim McCarver (April 7, 1970)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Mark Davis (July 1, 1993)

Pre-union Team: No team had more than two of these guys.

Reunion Team: The 1983-84 Cubs, under general manager Dallas Green, had six each: Larry Bowa, Warren Brusstar, Bob Dernier (1984), Jay Loviglio (1983), Keith Moreland, Dickie Noles and Dick Ruthven.

Accomplishments

Mike Schmidt, NL MVP
Steve Carlton, NL Cy Young Award
Mike Schmidt, NL Third Base Gold Glove
Garry Maddox, NL Outfield Gold Glove
Manny Trillo, NL Second Base Silver Slugger
Mike Schmidt, NL Third Base Silver Slugger

Season Summary

There were 16 major league franchises when the Modern Era began in 1901, and by the mid-1960's each of them had a World Series title to its name...except one: the Philadelphia Phillies. They'd only won two league pennants in that time, and between their two appearances in the Fall Classic they'd only managed to win one game. The late 1970's had been a successful but frustrating period for the Phillies; from 1976 to 1978 they'd won three straight division titles but fallen short of a pennant each time. In 1979 injuries and a shaky bullpen did them in, and manager Danny Ozark was replaced by Dallas Green at the end of August. Before the 1980 season, many experts picked the Phillies to rebound with a roster back at full strength.

At the heart of the Phillies' attack were two superstars: third baseman Mike Schmidt and pitcher Steve Carlton. Schmidt led the league with 48 homers and a .624 slugging percentage, earning the NL MVP award in the process. The Phils' rotation wasn't anything special after Carlton, but fortunately, the lefty turned in a Cy Young-winning season where he notched 24 victories, posted a 2.34 ERA and led the league with 286 strikeouts. The bullpen also returned to form, led by closer Tug McGraw and his 1.46 ERA.

The National League was fairly tightly-packed in 1980. While Philly didn't spend much of the summer in first place, they were never far behind the Pirates or Expos, the two teams who'd gone down to the wire the previous season. Things got a little precarious in early August, when a stretch of poor play (the nadir of which was a four-game sweep in Pittsburgh) put them six games behind their two competitors (who were tied for first) on August 10. It looked like a repeat of last year's race was on the horizon, but the Phillies won eight of their next nine to get back into shape. Around that time the Pirates lost their mojo, and they soon fell out of the race. The Expos stayed in the running though, and they were tied with the Phils with three games left in the season. As if it had been written by Hollywood, the final three-game series matched up Montreal and Philadelphia. Philadelphia won the first game, then clinched the division in the second, when Schmidt's two-run homer in the eleventh sealed the deal.

The NLCS against the Astros was a dramatic affair; four of the five games went into extra innings. Game 1 was a pretty straightforward Phillie win, but the Astros knotted the series in Game 2 with a four-run explosion in the tenth inning. Game 3 was scoreless until the eleventh, when Denny Walling's sacrifice fly gave Houston a 2-1 series edge. With their backs against the wall, the Phillies carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth in Game 4 only to see it disappear on Terry Puhl's RBI single. Unfazed, Philadelphia scored two runs in the top of tenth on back-to-back doubles from Greg Luzinski and Manny Trillo to tie the series at two games apiece. The final game featured several late-inning rallies which kept either team from feeling safe, and once again, the matter was settled in extras. The winning blow proved to be Garry Maddox's RBI double in the tenth, giving Philly its first pennant in 30 years.

The Kansas City Royals, led by American League MVP George Brett, were a worthy World Series opponent. Behind rookie emergency starter Bob Walk, the Phillies managed to win Game 1, then rode an eighth-inning rally to victory in Game 2. The Royals won Game 3 on a tenth-inning single, then pulled even with a victory in Game 4. K.C. took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning of Game 5, but the Phillies scored two runs off relief ace Dan Quisenberry, the go-ahead run coming on a single off the Quiz's glove. McGraw escaped a jam in the bottom of the inning to preserve the win, sending the Series back to the City of Brotherly Love with the hometown team one win away from a long-awaited championship. The Phils controlled Game 6 most of the way; they carried a 4-1 lead into the ninth inning, but they wouldn't escape without some drama. The Royals loaded the bases with one out, and the second out required a great play from first baseman Pete Rose on a foul pop-up. McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to nail down the win.

After 97 seasons without reaching the top of the baseball mountain, the Phillies at long last sat on the summit. The World Series MVP matched the one from the regular season: Mike Schmidt's two homers, seven RBI and 1.176 OPS proved to be the Philadelphia side's standout performance.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

Second Wind: Dick Allen

2011-07-24T10:15:00.000-05:00

Enigmatic. Mercurial. Controversial. You've heard all the cliches when it comes to Dick Allen. In the public's mind they practically define him. Those cliches, fairly or unfairly, are probably the biggest obstacle standing between him and the Hall of Fame, but they ensure that he'll be remembered for a long time as one of baseball's most puzzling characters.

What if, though, Dick Allen had been remembered as a clubhouse leader? What if he'd had a chance to go out as the ultimate team player who was beloved by fans and teammates alike? Sound impossible? What if I told you that in February of 1979 Chuck Tanner was trying to get the Pirates to sign Allen? At the time Allen hadn't played since June 1977 as a member of the Oakland A's. He quit the team in July after being suspended the previous month for leaving the game without permission. He attempted a comeback with the A's in Spring Training of 1978, but was cut from the roster without being given much of a chance, and he ended up sitting out the 1978 season. Though Allen said he still hoped to return to baseball at the time, it proved to be the end of the line for him. His final career stats were as follows:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos
1963	21	PHI	NL	10	25	24	6	7	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	5	.292	.280	.458	.738	110	11	2	0	0	1	0	/75
1964	22	PHI	NL	162	708	632	*125*	201	38	13	29	91	3	4	67	138	.318	.382	.557	.939	162	352	8	0	6	3	13	*5
1965	23	PHI	NL	161	707	619	93	187	31	14	20	85	15	2	74	*150*	.302	.375	.494	.870	145	306	13	2	6	6	6	*5/6
1966	24	PHI	NL	141	599	524	112	166	25	10	40	110	10	6	68	136	.317	.396	.632	1.027	181	331	9	3	0	4	13	57
1967	25	PHI	NL	122	540	463	89	142	31	10	23	77	20	5	75	117	.307	.404	.566	.970	174	262	9	1	1	0	18	*5/46
1968	26	PHI	NL	152	605	521	87	137	17	9	33	90	7	7	74	161	.263	.352	.520	.872	160	271	7	1	2	7	15	*75/8
1969	27	PHI	NL	118	506	438	79	126	23	3	32	89	9	3	64	144	.288	.375	.573	.949	165	251	10	0	0	4	10	*3
1970	28	STL	NL	122	533	459	88	128	17	5	34	101	5	4	71	118	.279	.377	.560	.937	145	257	9	2	0	1	16	35/7
1971	29	LAD	NL	155	649	549	82	162	24	1	23	90	8	1	93	113	.295	.395	.468	.863	151	257	23	1	1	5	13	573
1972	30	CHW	AL	148	609	506	90	156	28	5	37	113	19	8	99	126	.308	*.420*	.603	*1.023*	*199*	305	13	1	0	3	16	*3/5
1973	31	CHW	AL	72	288	250	39	79	20	3	16	41	7	2	33	51	.316	.394	.612	1.006	175	153	9	1	1	3	3	3/4D
1974	32	CHW	AL	128	525	462	84	139	23	1	32	88	7	1	57	89	.301	.375	*.563*	.938	164	260	16	1	0	5	9	*3/4
1975	33	PHI	NL	119	481	416	54	97	21	3	12	62	11	2	58	109	.233	.327	.385	.712	94	160	19	2	1	4	4	*3
1976	34	PHI	NL	85	339	298	52	80	16	1	15	49	11	4	37	63	.268	.346	.480	.826	130	143	13	0	1	3	2	3
1977	35	OAK	AL	54	200	171	19	41	4	0	5	31	1	3	24	36	.240	.330	.351	.681	89	60	4	1	0	4	0	3/D
15 Seasons				1749	7314	6332	1099	1848	320	79	351	1119	133	52	894	1556	.292	.378	.534	.912	156	3379	164	16	19	53	138

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/3/2011.

What if Allen had extended his career by accepting an offer from Pittsburgh? He would've been a member of the "We Are Family" Pirates, a team whose historical image couldn't be any more antithetical to his. What would it have meant for Allen's legacy to be included on such a team? Let's presume the man once known as "Richie" had decided to reunite with his old manager from Chicago, and see if we can't venture a guess. Like the last Second Wind post, this is all for fun and (obviously) shouldn't be seen as anything resembling definitive.

Since Allen was a right-handed hitter whose defensive skills best suited him for first base, he likely would've been platooned with Willie Stargell. "What??" you might be shouting right now. "Platoon the MVP? Preposterous!" It sounds strange, I know, but what's often forgotten is that the lefty-swinging Stargell frequently didn't start against southpaws that year. Right-handed batters like Bill Robinson and Manny Sanguillen got the nod at first several times against lefties. In fact, the co-MVP Stargell only played in 126 games that year.

Imagine a rejuvenated Dick Allen forming a deadly two-headed monster at first with Stargell. It might've cost Pops some hardware, but it might've made those Pirates an even greater team than they were. As the regular first baseman against lefties and a valuable pinch-hitter off the bench, Allen puts up the following line:

G    PA   AB   R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP  HBP SH  SF  IBB
72   279  242  59   69  14   1  16   58   1   1  33  52  .285 .369 .550 .919  143  133   8    1   0   3   2

Holy cow! That's some great late-career production, and on a World Series champion, no less! As a prominent member of "the Family," Allen's image experiences a rehabilitation. Suddenly the tales abound of how his veteran presence helped the ship stay on course, and how his steady influence was an example to everyone on the team. Historically, the 1979 Pirates become not only a fun, memorable group of guys, but a redemptive tale for a player whose greatness is now universally acknowledged.

Allen decides to come back for another year, and as he's still used mostly against left-handers, he puts up respectable numbers:

G    PA   AB   R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP  HBP SH  SF  IBB
48   160  138  14   32   7   0   7   23   0   1  19  35  .232 .327 .435 .762  109   60   6    1   1   1   1

At age 38 he's no longer quite as feared, but he still proves capable of popping the occasional homer. Unfortunately, injuries limit him to only 48 games, and the Pirates aren't able to duplicate their success in 1980. Dick Allen was never an easy read, but when he decides to walk away at the end of the season, no one is much surprised.

What do Allen's career numbers look like now?

Year Age Tm  Lg G    PA   AB   R    H    2B  3B  HR   RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG   OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP HBP SH  SF  IBB
1963 21  PHI NL 10   25   24   6    7    2   1   0    2    0  0   0   5   .292 .280 .458  .738  110   11   2   0   0   1   0
1964 22  PHI NL 162  708  632  125  201  38  13  29   91   3  4   67  138 .318 .382 .557  .939  162   352  8   0   6   3   13
1965 23  PHI NL 161  707  619  93   187  31  14  20   85   15 2   74  150 .302 .375 .494  .870  145   306  13  2   6   6   6
1966 24  PHI NL 141  599  524  112  166  25  10  40   110  10 6   68  136 .317 .396 .632 1.027  181   331  9   3   0   4   13
1967 25  PHI NL 122  540  463  89   142  31  10  23   77   20 5   75  117 .307 .404 .566  .970  174   262  9   1   1   0   18
1968 26  PHI NL 152  605  521  87   137  17  9   33   90   7  7   74  161 .263 .352 .520  .872  160   271  7   1   2   7   15
1969 27  PHI NL 118  506  438  79   126  23  3   32   89   9  3   64  144 .288 .375 .573  .949  165   251  10  0   0   4   10
1970 28  STL NL 122  533  459  88   128  17  5   34   101  5  4   71  118 .279 .377 .560  .937  145   257  9   2   0   1   16
1971 29  LAD NL 155  649  549  82   162  24  1   23   90   8  1   93  113 .295 .395 .468  .863  151   257  23  1   1   5   13
1972 30  CHW AL 148  609  506  90   156  28  5   37   113  19 8   99  126 .308 .420 .603 1.023  199   305  13  1   0   3   16
1973 31  CHW AL 72   288  250  39   79   20  3   16   41   7  2   33  51  .316 .394 .612 1.006  175   153  9   1   1   3   3
1974 32  CHW AL 128  525  462  84   139  23  1   32   88   7  1   57  89  .301 .375 .563  .938  164   260  16  1   0   5   9
1975 33  PHI NL 119  481  416  54   97   21  3   12   62   11 2   58  109 .233 .327 .385  .712  94    160  19  2   1   4   4
1976 34  PHI NL 85   339  298  52   80   16  1   15   49   11 4   37  63  .268 .346 .480  .826  130   143  13  0   1   3   2
1977 35  OAK AL 54   200  171  19   41   4   0   5    31   1  3   24  36  .240 .330 .351  .681  89    60   4   1   0   4   0
1979 37  PIT NL 72   279  242  59   69   14  1   16   58   1  1   33  52  .285 .369 .550  .919  143   133  8   1   0   3   2
1980 38  PIT NL 48   160  138  14   32   7   0   7    23   0  1   19  35  .232 .327 .435  .762  109   60   6   1   1   1   1
18 seasons     1869 7753 6712 1172 1949 341  80  374 1200 134 54 946 1643 .290 .377 .532  .909  154  3572 178  18 20  57  141
Year Age Tm  Lg G    PA   AB   R    H    2B  3B  HR   RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG   OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP HBP SH  SF  IBB

His rate stats decrease ever-so-slightly, but those 23 extra homers don't hurt.

As he was able to wind down his career on a non-embarrassing note, Allen is seen in a much more positive light when his turn on the Hall of Fame ballot comes up. In real life, Allen never got more than 18.9% of the vote, and in 1986 (which is now his first year on the ballot) he got 9.6%. Does he suddenly transform into a slam-dunk first-ballot guy in this scenario? Well now, let's not get carried away. He still has his negatives, like poor defense and a personality that frequently got him into trouble, but his positives carry more weight this time.

His debut on the ballot is much stronger than the single-digit percentage he actually got in the early going. As time goes on his postseason heroics for the beloved "Family" start to overshadow his earlier off-field issues. People take note of his 1964 Rookie of the Year campaign, his 1972 MVP season, his being top-50 all-time in slugging percentage despite playing in a pitcher's era, and his similar home run total to Tony Perez and Orlando Cepeda in over a thousand fewer at-bats. With more and more media voices speaking on his behalf, his vote percentages get higher and higher until finally, Dick Allen, the Wampum Walloper himself...winds up in Cooperstown!

Dick Allen remains a flawed hero, and no one ever mistakes him for the perfect Major League ballplayer. What he lacks in personality though, he makes up for with the compelling narrative arc of his career.

PTWSW #76: The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates

2011-06-28T08:46:00.001-05:00

Manager: Chuck Tanner
Record: 98-64
Ballpark: Three Rivers Stadium
Owner: John W. Galbreath
GM: Pete Peterson
Coaches: Harvey Haddix, Joe Lonnett, Al Monchak, Bob Skinner

Future Hall of Famers: Bert Blyleven, Willie Stargell

All-Stars: Dave Parker

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Dave Parker, .310
OBP: Dave Parker, .380
SLG: Willie Stargell, .552
OPS: Dave Parker, .906
2B: Dave Parker, 45
3B: Omar Moreno, 12
HR: Willie Stargell, 32
RBI: Dave Parker, 94
BB: Dave Parker, 67
SB: Omar Moreno, 77 (NL leader)

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: John Candelaria, 14
SO: Bert Blyleven, 172
ERA: Bruce Kison, 3.19
IP: Bert Blyleven, 237.1
CG: John Candelaria, 8
SHO: Jim Bibby, Bruce Kison, 1
K/BB: John Candelaria, 2.47
SV: Kent Tekulve, 31

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Willie Stargell (b. March 6, 1940)

Youngest Player: Don Robinson (b. June 8, 1957)

First to Leave Us: John Milner (d. January 4, 2000)

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Willie Stargell (debut September 16, 1962)

Last in Majors: John Candelaria (final game July 7, 1993)

First to Play For the Franchise: Willie Stargell (September 16, 1962)

Last to Play For the Franchise: John Candelaria (July 7, 1993)

Pre-union Team: The 1977 Oakland A's had four: Matt Alexander, Joe Coleman, Dock Ellis and Manny Sanguillen.

Reunion Team: The 1985-86 New York Yankees each had three: Dale Berra, Mike Easler (1986), Omar Moreno (1985) and Ed Whitson.

Accomplishments

Willie Stargell, NL Co-MVP
Dave Parker, NL Outfield Gold Glove

Season Summary

If you've ever wondered which World Series champion was the tightest-knit group of guys, the 1979 Pirates might very well be your answer. Their team slogan was "We Are Family," and the Sister Sledge disco hit of the same name became the team's theme song. The patriarch of the "family" was first baseman Willie Stargell, the club's senior player, affectionately known to his teammates as "Pops." Between his veteran leadership and timely hitting, there was no better role model in the clubhouse.

As much fun as the season ended up being, things weren't rosy from the start. Less than two weeks into the season the Pirates traded starting shortstop Frank Taveras to the Mets for Tim Foli, a former starting shortstop who'd mostly ridden the bench at that point. Taveras was the better offensive player, but in the early going he'd shown inconsistent effort on defense and a temperamental attitude. In Foli the Pirates got a steadier defender, but there were questions about his bat. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, Foli rewarded them with the best year of his career, setting personal highs in batting and on-base average.

It took the Pirates until the end of May to get to .500, and even then, they were stuck hovering just above the break-even point for the next month. At the end of June they made a trade which bolstered their chances: They acquired third baseman Bill Madlock, a two-time batting champ, from the Giants in a six-player deal. The trade eventually allowed them to move usual third baseman Phil Garner to second, replacing weak-hitting second baseman Rennie Stennett.

On July 8 the Bucs won the second game of a doubleheader in Cincinnati, and it would prove to be the beginning of a stretch where they won 13 of 14. When the first-place Expos started struggling in early August, Pittsburgh jumped ahead of them, and they'd remain there for the next month. Montreal wasn't done yet, though. They went on a tear of their own and by late September they'd retaken first. On September 24, with Montreal leading by half a game, the Pirates and Expos began a four-game showdown at Three Rivers Stadium. The first two games were part of a doubleheader which the two teams split, but the Pirates won the next two to regain the top spot. Going into the last day of the season both teams were tied in the loss column, but the Pirates were ahead by two wins due to the Expos' having lost two games to rainouts. The Pirates won their final game, and fortunately for Pittsburgh, Phillie ace Steve Carlton shut out the Expos, clinching the division for the Steel City.

It was onward to the NLCS. The Pirates' opponent would be the Cincinnati Reds, who'd swept them out of the playoffs four years earlier in Pittsburgh's last postseason appearance. The Reds had home-field advantage, but that meant nothing to the Family; the Pirates pulled out extra-inning wins in the first two games, with Stargell's three-run homer cinching Game 1 and Dave Parker's RBI single deciding Game 2. Back home for Game 3 the pressure was off, and the Pirates rolled to an easy 7-1 victory, wrapping up their first NL pennant in eight years.

The World Series offered another rematch: Eight years earlier the Pirates had faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, and once again, Earl Weaver's birds were the last team standing in the Bucs' way. The favored Orioles got things off to a quick start in Game 1, with five first-inning runs proving to be all that they needed for victory. Pirate veteran Manny Sanguillen's ninth-inning single knotted the Series in Game 2, but Baltimore answered with victories in the next two games, the second of which included an eighth-inning comeback.

On the morning of Game 5, Pirate manager Chuck Tanner received some painful news: his mother had passed away. Despite his personal heartache, Tanner did everything he could to keep his team focused on the game, and the Pirates responded with a 7-1 win. Though they'd kept their hopes alive, Pittsburgh was still in the unenviable position of needing to win the last two games on the road. Game 6 was a pitcher's duel until the seventh inning, when the Pirates finally put two runs on the board, and they'd go on to win 4-0, leaving the entire season's fate riding on one game. The Orioles got an early 1-0 lead in Game 7, but in the sixth inning "Pops" Stargell showed he had one more heroic moment left in him, belting a two-run homer that put his team on top. The Pirates added two more insurance runs in the ninth, and Kent Tekulve retired all three batters he faced in the bottom half of the frame for a Series-clinching save.

The Pirates had beaten the odds: They'd dug their way out of a 3-1 hole, they'd done it against a team that looked better on paper, and they'd won the final two games in enemy territory. It seemed only fitting when the World Series MVP was given to Stargell, who hit three home runs and batted .400 in the seven games. From top to bottom though, the championship had been a family effort.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

The Roots of Hatred

2011-05-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

The New York Yankees. The very mention of the name evokes many images, some positive, some negative.

On one side you have the image of class. The Yankees are a franchise that's made excellence into a tradition to be respected and upheld. While other franchises have changed with the times, the Yankees have remained constant in many ways, standing as a monument to the game's splendor. Their history is untainted by trendy uniform changes and gimmicky ballparks; they just go out there every year expecting to win, because the Yankee brand symbolizes quality.

On the other side you have the image of a rich bully. The Yankees have built championship teams by drastically outspending their nearest competitors and at various times employing questionable business practices. They carry with them a boorish sense of entitlement, and it's trickled down to a sizable portion of their fanbase. Because they're the Yankees, everything they do is given special attention by the media, and the overexposure is enough to breed resentment from the average non-Yankee fan.

Your opinion of the Yankees is probably reflected in which of these images comes to mind first. If you're familiar with my blog, you know that I most certainly have no love for them. Recently though, I had the occasion to ask myself why. Over on Baseball Fever, my favorite forum for the National Pastime, I participated in a discussion about the Yankees that inevitably turned toward their payroll. I had probably best not recap the entire thing, since it abounded with histrionics and unnecessary taunts (mostly from others, not me), but in a weird way it made me think about what my issues really are with the hated Bronx Bombers.

The Anti-Yankee Hater Movement

Before I mention any points that were discussed, I should say I found it interesting to discover that there are some Yankee fans (and even a few sympathizers) who are extremely sensitive about the fact that people hate their team. They consider it a slight when someone calls them "evil" or accuses them of buying championships, and they refuse to stand for it. Among these people, "Yankee-hater" itself is a dismissive label. You know what I mean, right? "Oh, ignore him. He's just a Yankee-hater."

The implication, of course, is that anyone who hates the Yankees possesses no rational reason for doing so, and is merely reacting with reflexive rage. Now, if you think that sounds ridiculous and completely lacking in self-awareness, I share your view. When arguing with these types though, it forces you to be consistent and clear with your reasoning, so that you don't come across as blinded by emotion.

What is it I really hate about the Yankees? Well, if I had to state my main reason, it's that when I follow a sport I like seeing a variety of champions. I started following baseball in 1995, so that means I've seen five Yankee titles during my fanhood. Over a sixteen-year span, that's pretty significant. If I'm going to devote my attention to a game for seven months I don't want it to turn out I was watching a rerun the entire time. I've witnessed more than my tolerable quota of Yankee success, so if I hate the Yankees, it's because a Yankee title deprives me of the fresh storyline I was hoping for when the season began.

Is there more to it than that, though? I'll confess, I'm certainly guilty of bringing up the Yankees' payroll and referring to them as "evil" at times. Clearly their spending bothers me on some level, but what?

The American Way

I've preferred to keep politics off this blog, since what is baseball, after all, if not an escape from real-world issues? As this is something of an introspective post though, I guess I should reveal a little about my views: I'm a capitalist. Yep, that's right. I think free markets and competition are necessary parts of a healthy economy. I don't believe all rich people are conniving Gordon Gekkos who only achieved anything by trampling others, I believe many of them are good people who earned their fortunes fair and square. Truly then, it'd be hypocritical for me to espouse "underdogma," the idea that the underdog has inherent moral superiority to the overdog.

On the other hand, baseball and the business market are based on different models of competition. In the business world the consumer doesn't care which company is number one, he just wants to get his money's worth for a product or a service. Many similar businesses can coexist just fine regardless of which one is most profitable.

In baseball, the ultimate goal is to be number one in a given year. Sure, a team and its fanbase can enjoy a season that doesn't end with a World Series title, but over time they expect to win at least one. Without that all-important championship, history has a way of undervaluing your accomplishments. That's why I can't help but feel disappointed when a team wins a second championship in the same era. When that team looks back at their season they'll see an affirmation of the greatness they already knew was there; when their competitors look back they might see their best opportunity at immortality missed. While I believe in the power of free markets, it's hard to be a free market absolutist when dealing with a sporting model.

Competitive Balance and All That Jazz

Baseball, of course, doesn't have an absolute free market, due to the Competitive Balance Tax. Does that actually make a difference though? Well, since the CBT went into effect with the 2003 season, the only team to win back-to-back pennants has been the 2008-09 Phillies, and only the Red Sox have won multiple World Series. While certain teams have established themselves as playoff regulars during that span, we've had the variety of champions that I like in sports. If I based my verdict entirely on results, it'd be hard to argue that the Competitive Balance Tax has been bad for baseball.

Still, the CBT ceiling is set so high that only four clubs have ever had to pay it. The Yankees, in fact, are the only ones who pay it annually. Does something that affects so few franchises really have much of an impact? I suppose if nothing else it provides a psychological advantage. The Yankees can still spend far more than any other team, but there's something comforting about knowing the CBT is there as a possible deterrent against certain levels of excess.

Some would argue that our current three-tiered playoff system is responsible for producing more random outcomes, but the same system was in place when the Yankees won four World Series in five years. Interestingly enough, their payroll wasn't nearly as obscene back then relative to the rest of baseball (though they were still accused of buying championships at the time). What does that prove, if anything? Did the Yankees just get lucky? Was it a perfect storm of proper franchise management and financial power? Is it evidence that the CBT allows more teams to get in on the action? Heck, could it be coincidental? Were the lower-budget teams getting smarter at the same time the CBT went into effect? Honestly, I don't have the answers, I'm just asking rhetorically. My hunch though, is that it's a combination of several of these factors.

Get Off Your High Horse

So the Yankees' advantage has been slightly muted in recent years. Is their rich bully image becoming unfair? Hardly. They still have the resources to be in the running for any player they want, and their payroll still dwarfs their nearest competitors'. Still, they've won only one World Series since the CBT went into effect, so how can I say they're ruining the stories I'm looking for? Should I really hate them so much?

To answer this question I think we have to go back to that other image I mentioned up front: the one of class. Honestly, I don't blame the Yankees for spending the way they do. It's only natural to use the resources you have available to be successful. What I resent, however, is the idea that the Yankees are inherently better or more important than every other franchise because of those resources.

For all the Yankee hate that's out there, there's plenty of Yankee sucking up to balance it. Many media members are unapologetic in their desire that the Yankees (and their big market brethren) be perpetually successful, because heaven forbid they should have to pay attention to those trifling teams in the smaller cities. Essentially, it's no different than being a fan of the Kardashians: Possess a lot of bright, shiny objects and people will worship you. In my younger years I might have gotten caught up in the same hype. These days, I recognize it for what it is: elitism.

I can understand why certain franchises get more attention than others. For a team like the Yankees, it's due to their unparalleled success and the fact that they play in a huge media market. I don't see them as any more significant than say, the Cleveland Indians though. The Indians have their own unique place in baseball's rich history, and were it expunged, baseball would be no less poorer than if it were losing the Yankees' history.

A Final Word Amid All This Rambling

As a capitalist, I accept that life isn't fair, and that certain competitors will always have advantages others don't. I don't necessarily like it, but it's the nature of the beast. The Yankees' money doesn't make them evil, it merely makes any story they tell predictable and uncompelling. Even so, they have their place in baseball, and I certainly wouldn't deny them their right to build a winner (as some anti-Yankee haters would claim).

All I ask is that you don't try to tell me the Yankees are so successful because they possess superior business acumen or that they operate on a higher plane of class than baseball's great unwashed. Yes, the current administration has done a decent job running a team with an abundance of built-in advantages, but that in no way proves any moral or intellectual superiority on their part. If more Yankee supporters could admit that, there might be more respect behind the hatred.

The Last Living Player From Each Decade

2011-04-26T23:22:00.003-05:00

I apologize to my regular readers for not updating in a while. That "life" stuff has been taking up a lot of my time, and I haven't been inspired to write as much lately. Since I hate to go a month without posting though, I decided to do another list.

With the recent passing of Eddie Joost, the last surviving member of the 1940 Cincinnati Reds, there are now fewer than ten living Major League ballplayers from the 1930's. It got me thinking about who the last surviving player from each decade was, and since no one seems to have compiled it anywhere else, it couldn't have been a more perfect task for Baseball Junk Drawer. Thanks of course to Baseball-Reference, I was able to find the answers fairly easily, and here they are:

1870's: Charles Witherow (d. July 3, 1948)
1880's: Dummy Hoy (d. December 15, 1961)
1890's: Charlie Emig (d. October 2, 1975)
1900's: Smokey Joe Wood (d. July 27, 1985)
1910's: Red Hoff (d. September 17, 1998)
1920's: Al Lopez (d. October 30, 2005)

You might expect a list of this sort to be populated with unnoteworthy players who the longevity gods just happened to smile upon, but several of these guys hold a memorable place in baseball history.

Lopez is a Hall of Fame manager, of course, and while he wasn't a great player, he did at one time hold the record for most career games caught. He died just four days after the White Sox, the franchise with which he was most closely associated, ended their 88-year World Series drought. Though I didn't have this blog back then, I was most certainly a compulsive list-keeper, and I was fully aware that our last link to the decade of Ruth had been broken.

Hoy is famous for being perhaps the greatest deaf player in baseball history, and for a long time he was thought to be the originator of umpire hand signals (though further research has shown it not to be the case).

Wood is best known as a pitcher with a short-but-excellent peak, whose 1912 season was the stuff of legends (34-5 record, 1.91 ERA, 11.0 WAR). Arm trouble shortened his pitching career, but he managed to hang on as an outfielder for several years afterward. He became the baseball coach for Yale University after his playing days ended.

Hoff is noteworthy for living to the age of 107, tops among all MLB players. Most of the players on this list debuted in the middle or at the end of the decade they represent, but Hoff is the exception, debuting in 1911. Hard to believe a guy who played for the pre-Ruppert Yankees and called both Hal Chase and Frank Chance manager was still alive after the final episode of Seinfeld aired.

Witherow might not actually be the last survivor of the 1870's (and the National Association to boot), but since so many players from that era have slipped through the cracks in official record-keeping, he's the last we know of. The same could be said about Hoy, Emig or Wood as well.

Speaking of Emig, the Baseball-Reference Bullpen has an interesting tidbit about him. Apparently for many years he was among the unaccounted-for players, so he was never known in his lifetime as the 19th Century's last survivor. We don't know whether he ever had an inkling about it, but it's highly possible he died never knowing of the distinction he holds (at least until a researcher finds some other missing player who outlived him).

So that leaves us with the 1930's. That decade has six players remaining as of November 12, 2011:

Ace Parker (b. May 17, 1912)
~~Alex Pitko (b. November 22, 1914)~~
~~Ralph Hodgin (b. February 10, 1915)~~
~~Benny McCoy (b. November 9, 1915)~~
Art Kenney (b. April 29, 1916)
Al Veigel (b. January 30, 1917)
Mike Palagyi (b. July 4, 1917)
Bobby Doerr (b. April 7, 1918)
Al Brancato (b. May 29, 1919)

Some interesting names on this list, mainly the two Hall of Famers (one Cooperstown, the other Canton).

Who'll be the last survivor? I'm not crass enough to make any predictions, but I will keep this post up-to-date as long as one of these men is still alive, so that it can serve as a reference for any decade trivia-philes.

30 Teams, 30 Ramones Songs

2011-03-31T23:06:00.000-05:00

Last year I gave each team's upcoming season a theme song from the legendary Cheap Trick. This year each team is getting another theme song, only it'll be from another one of my favorite bands, the legendary Ramones. Let's dive into the punk rock archive.

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks: "Bop 'Til You Drop," Halfway to Sanity, 1987. Thanks to their hitter-friendly ballpark, Diamondback bats will be sending a lot of balls out of the field of play. Unfortunately, this team has little else going for it, so the hitters had better swing for the fences as much as possible.

Colorado Rockies: "It's Gonna Be Alright," Mondo Bizarro, 1992. The Rockies are rarely awful, even in years when they aren't contending. The inverse is true as well: when they contend they're never outstanding. If we know nothing else, we know the Rockies at the very least will be so-so.

Los Angeles Dodgers: "Love Kills," Animal Boy, 1986. Frank and Jamie McCourt surely loved each other at one time, if they no longer still do on some level. Unfortunately, all that's left of their beautiful romance is public feuding and a messy financial situation for the team they co-owned. Right now Dodger fans are more likely to quote the Ramones' view of love than Tennyson's.

San Diego Padres: "I Don't Care," Rocket to Russia, 1977. The Padres were in first place for most of 2010, and they still had trouble drawing spectators. Now Adrian Gonzalez is gone and the Padres are banking on the future again, so another apathetic baseball season appears to be in store for San Diego.

San Francisco Giants: "All the Way," End of the Century, 1980. After over a half-century in the City by the Bay, the Giants finally won a World Series last year. When you're on top the only thing you can strive for is to stay there, so the Giants are starting their course toward a hopeful repeat.

NL Central

Chicago Cubs: "The Job That Ate My Brain," Mondo Bizarro, 1992. It was clear that managing the Cubs had taken a toll on Lou Piniella's mental acuity when he moved Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen last year. Mike Quade handled the job well at the end of the season, but can he last a full one without losing his marbles?

Cincinnati Reds: "This Ain't Havana," End of the Century, 1980. Just two years ago Aroldis Chapman was an obscure amateur pitching in Cuba; today he's a first-class talent occupying a spot on a Major League roster. By the end of this season the Reds' young hurler could be a full-blown superstar.

Houston Astros: "It's a Long Way Back," Road to Ruin, 1978. It was only six seasons ago the Astros won the NL pennant. Today they find themselves a threat to finish in last place with a bare minor league cupboard. They have quite the uphill battle to climb if they want to reach the heights of the last decade.

Milwaukee Brewers: "I Can't Make it on Time," End of the Century, 1980. The Brewers have inspired a lot of optimism with their beefed-up starting rotation, but with several key players starting the season on the DL (Zack Greinke chief among them) they might be too far behind in the race by the time their roster is at full strength.

Pittsburgh Pirates: "Got Alot to Say," ¡Adios Amigos!, 1995. John Russell was a man of few words during his three years as Pirate skipper. With the vocal Clint Hurdle now at the reins, the Pirate clubhouse is going to have a much different feel to it.

St. Louis Cardinals: "Don't Go," Pleasant Dreams, 1981. With a top-heavy roster and Adam Wainwright lost to Tommy John surgery, the Cardinals' season is pretty much a lost cause. In St. Louis they won't be talking about how the team is playing, they'll be talking about their chances of keeping Albert Pujols.

NL East

Atlanta Braves: "I Remember You," Leave Home, 1977. "Hey, you look familiar! Aren't you that guy who used to be the Braves' third base coach?" "You bet I am, and after three and half years in Florida the Braves have brought me back as Bobby Cox's successor!"

Florida Marlins: "Garden of Serenity," Halfway to Sanity, 1987. For the last five years the Marlins have been the National League's worst draw. If you're looking for peace and quiet in southern Florida, you can always go to a Marlins game and enjoy the tranquility!

New York Mets: "We're a Happy Family," Rocket to Russia, 1977. With the Minaya administration no longer heading the Mets, the organization is starting to bear some resemblance to a functional unit of persons.

Philadelphia Phillies: "Come Back, Baby," Brain Drain, 1989. Philly fans never wanted Cliff Lee to be traded, and frankly, neither did he. That left only one remedy to the situation: the Phillies offered him a huge free agent deal and he accepted it! Baby.

Washington Nationals: "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement," Ramones, 1976. The Nationals have settled into a customary last-place position over the last few years, but it won't stay that way if Mike Rizzo has something to say about it. The Nats' GM signed Jayson Werth to a massive seven-year deal, along with veterans like Adam LaRoche and Rick Ankiel. If all goes well, a losing culture will be nipped in the bud.

AL West

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: "I Lost My Mind," Halfway to Sanity, 1987. Tony Reagins had to be frustrated after missing out on free agents like Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre. Even so, a sense of desperation is no excuse for taking on Vernon Wells' grossly-overpriced contract. Could it have been a mental health issue of some sort? If Reagins wants to be forgiven, he might do well to claim it was.

Oakland Athletics: "You Should Never Have Opened That Door," Leave Home, 1977. Moneyball was a good book, and in September we'll know whether it makes a good motion picture. Looking back though, it might've been better if Billy Beane had never given Michael Lewis a peek inside his organization. To this day he has a target on his back, and many people still judge the legitimacy of Sabermetrics by his successes and failures. Oh well. Despite creating a vehemently anti-Sabermetrics segment of baseball fandom, it's possible the book did more good than harm.

Seattle Mariners: "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You," Ramones, 1976. Mariner pitching allowed the second-fewest walks last season while Mariner hitting drew the second-fewest walks. Safe to say, the base on balls ain't very popular over Seattle way.

Texas Rangers: "I Don't Want You," Road to Ruin, 1978. Michael Young may be the highest-paid Ranger, but with the addition of Adrian Beltre he's little more than a rich man's utility infielder. Relations between Young and the front office have been strained all offseason, and his level of happiness with the defending AL Champs will be a topic of constant discussion.

AL Central

Chicago White Sox: "I Wanted Everything," Road to Ruin, 1978. Jerry Reinsdorf knows he's getting up in years, and he's sent a clear message to his organization: we're going for broke. The Sox's 2011 slogan, "All In," sums it up perfectly.

Cleveland Indians: "Don't Come Close," Road to Ruin, 1978. The Indians are clearly playing for the future, not the present. There are some promising youngsters in the organization, but the big club won't be anywhere in the vicinity of contention this season.

Detroit Tigers: "Babysitter," B-Side, 1977. What do you do when you have a talented but troubled young star? Hire a guy to keep an eye on him, of course! Former Major Leaguer Raul Gonzalez is being paid to supervise Miguel Cabrera, and for Cabrera's sake as both a person and a ballplayer, let's hope he can conquer his demons.

Kansas City Royals: "Something to Believe In," Animal Boy, 1986. The bad news is that it's going to be another lousy year in Kansas City; the good news is that the Royals' system is packed to the gills with top prospects. That hope for a brighter future should make it easier for fans to tolerate the current ineptitude.

Minnesota Twins: "In the Park," Subterranean Jungle, 1983. Target Field allowed the fewest homers in baseball last season. There'll be a lot of balls hit into play in 2011, but a sizable portion of the ones hit in Minnesota will remain within the grassy confines.

AL East

Baltimore Orioles: "7-11," Pleasant Dreams, 1981. Let's be frank: The Orioles simply aren't good enough to contend in the AL East. On the bright side, they have a plethora of veteran trade chips for the deadline, which should allow them to stock up for the future. Yes sir, July 2011 will be a month to watch in Baltimore.

Boston Red Sox: "High Risk Insurance," End of the Century, 1980. The 2010 Red Sox were a talented team hit hard by injuries. When you have a budget like Boston's, that's a signal to add more depth. With Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford now in the fold, these Red Sox have to believe they can absorb losses of last season's magnitude.

New York Yankees: "Too Tough to Die," Too Tough to Die, 1984. Yes, there are questions about their pitching staff, but come on. These are the Yankees we're talking about. Your team will have to fight them to the end like always.

Tampa Bay Rays: "Strength to Endure," Mondo Bizarro, 1992. Most teams on a micro-budget wouldn't be able to withstand the losses of three starting position players and most of their bullpen. The Rays, however, with their smart GM and knack for minor league development, still look like a possible contender in baseball's toughest division. This is an organization to be admired.

Toronto Blue Jays: "Glad to See You Go," Leave Home, 1977. With Vernon Wells' cumbersome contract off the books, the Jays can start preparing for the future with even more flexibility than they'd imagined. Nothing personal against a nice guy like Wells, of course, but he was such a financial burden that any team would've dumped him in a heartbeat.

It's been a long winter, but spring is finally here, and the world's greatest game is ready to be played! Let's kick back and enjoy every thrill the 2011 season has in store!

Second Wind: Keith Hernandez

2011-03-27T02:40:00.001-05:00

Once again, I'm starting a series while several others are still up in the air. Unlike Profiling the World Series Winners and Home For October though, this one doesn't require a certain number of posts to be complete; I can do as many or as few as I wish. Works out well, doesn't it?

So what's this new series? Well, every one of us can probably think of a few players whose careers would be viewed differently if they'd had more longevity. Perhaps it was an injury, perhaps it was an off-field issue, perhaps it was a simple loss of passion for the game, but these players hung it up when under different circumstances they might've had some good years ahead of them. It got me thinking...what if some of these guys had (drumroll please) a second wind? What if, just when their playing days appeared all but over, they experienced a revival? How exciting! How grand! There had to be someone out there who could simulate such scenarios! Well, hey! I came up with the idea! Why not me?

Just so there's no confusion, for this exercise we'll be adding seasons to these players' existing careers, not changing any seasons they actually played. Sure, it'd be nice to go back and improve on a few bad years, but we're presuming here that these guys bounced back from a downturn. Obviously it's impossible to know for certain how these hypothetical situations would've played out, but we can make reasonable guesses. Since this is all for fun anyway, we're allowed to take a little creative license if needed.

The first player we'll look at is the guy whose career gave me the idea for this project: Keith Hernandez. For anyone unfamiliar with Keith Hernandez's career, here's the CliffsNotes version:

Hernandez came up with the Cardinals in 1974, and by 1976 he was firmly established as their starting first baseman. He wasn't a prototypical first-sacker, as he relied more on doubles than home runs, but he knew how to take a walk and was one of the best defensive players ever at the position. He tied for National League MVP in 1979 and helped the Cards to a World Series title in 1982. In 1983 he was traded to the Mets, where he continued to be among the most durable and consistent players in the game. He helped them win the 1986 World Series, and the next year he was named the first team captain in franchise history. In 1988 injuries started catching up with him, as he played fewer than 100 games that year and the next. After the 1989 season he signed a two-year deal with the Indians which proved disastrous; he only played 43 games for Cleveland before a calf injury sidelined him for the season, and he didn't even make it to Spring Training next year due to a herniated disc. At 37 years old his career was through.

His final statistics were as follows:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos
1974	20	STL	NL	14	41	34	3	10	1	2	0	2	0	0	7	8	.294	.415	.441	.856	140	15	1	0	0	0	0	/3
1975	21	STL	NL	64	207	188	20	47	8	2	3	20	0	1	17	26	.250	.309	.362	.671	83	68	5	0	0	2	2	3
1976	22	STL	NL	129	428	374	54	108	21	5	7	46	4	2	49	53	.289	.376	.428	.803	127	160	8	3	2	0	5	*3
1977	23	STL	NL	161	645	560	90	163	41	4	15	91	7	7	79	88	.291	.379	.459	.837	125	257	17	1	3	2	11	*3
1978	24	STL	NL	159	633	542	90	138	32	4	11	64	13	5	82	68	.255	.351	.389	.741	108	211	12	2	1	6	11	*3
1979	25	STL	NL	161	698	610	116	210	48	11	11	105	11	6	80	78	*.344*	.417	.513	.930	151	313	9	1	0	7	5	*3
1980	26	STL	NL	159	690	595	111	191	39	8	16	99	14	8	86	73	.321	.408	.494	.902	147	294	14	4	1	4	4	*3
1981	27	STL	NL	103	444	376	65	115	27	4	8	48	12	5	61	45	.306	.401	.463	.864	142	174	9	2	0	5	6	*3/7
1982	28	STL	NL	160	694	579	79	173	33	6	7	94	19	11	100	67	.299	.397	.413	.810	127	239	10	2	1	12	19	*3/79
1983	29	TOT	NL	150	633	538	77	160	23	7	12	63	9	5	88	72	.297	.396	.433	.829	131	233	7	2	2	3	14	*3
1983	29	STL	NL	55	244	218	34	62	15	4	3	26	1	1	24	30	.284	.352	.431	.784	116	94	2	0	0	2	5	3
1983	29	NYM	NL	95	389	320	43	98	8	3	9	37	8	4	64	42	.306	.424	.434	.858	140	139	5	2	2	1	9	3
1984	30	NYM	NL	154	657	550	83	171	31	0	15	94	2	3	97	89	.311	.409	.449	.859	143	247	9	1	0	9	12	*3
1985	31	NYM	NL	158	682	593	87	183	34	4	10	91	3	3	77	59	.309	.384	.430	.814	129	255	14	2	0	10	15	*3
1986	32	NYM	NL	149	652	551	94	171	34	1	13	83	2	1	94	69	.310	.413	.446	.859	140	246	14	4	0	3	9	*3
1987	33	NYM	NL	154	676	587	87	170	28	2	18	89	0	2	81	104	.290	.377	.436	.813	120	256	15	4	0	4	8	*3
1988	34	NYM	NL	95	384	348	43	96	16	0	11	55	2	1	31	57	.276	.333	.417	.750	120	145	11	1	0	4	3	3
1989	35	NYM	NL	75	244	215	18	50	8	0	4	19	0	3	27	39	.233	.324	.326	.649	91	70	4	2	0	0	3	3
1990	36	CLE	AL	43	145	130	7	26	2	0	1	8	0	0	14	17	.200	.283	.238	.521	48	31	2	1	0	0	3	3
17 Seasons				2088	8553	7370	1124	2182	426	60	162	1071	98	63	1070	1012	.296	.384	.436	.821	128	3214	161	32	10	71	130
				G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/12/2011.

Now, let's just suppose this herniated disc never happens. Let's presume Hernandez rehabs as best he can from the calf injury, and that by the time Spring Training 1991 rolls around he's looking like an older-but-still-effective version of the guy who was the National League's best first baseman for almost a decade. While he's lost a step in the field, he's still adept at scoops and positioning himself smartly, making his defensive contributions a positive. It's no surprise when Hernandez turns in a nice little comeback season:

G    PA   AB   R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP  HBP SH  SF  IBB
139  557  478  69  141  24   2  12   74   2   0  72  81  .295 .390 .429 .818  126  205   11   4   0   3   6

All in all, the Indians end up happy their investment wasn't a total loss. However, Cleveland has no plans to resign Hernandez, as they're in the middle of a youth movement. New Indians GM John Hart has a system full of young players who need to develop, and with minor league prospect Reggie Jefferson expected to take over at first, the veteran Hernandez doesn't fit into their plans. Having shown he can still play, Mex hits the free agent market in hopes of catching on somewhere.

That's where the Montreal Expos enter the picture. They've just traded away first baseman Andres Galarraga, and manager Tom Runnells is talking about moving third baseman Tim Wallach across the diamond to replace him (a proposition Wallach isn't too happy about). To solve their dilemma, the Expos sign Hernandez to a one-year deal and allow Wallach to keep his regular post. Now 38, Hernandez is starting to look less like a star, but he's still better than alternatives like Greg Colbrunn and Archi Cianfrocco. During the 1992 season Hernandez proves he can still hit a little, but his defense is now average at best:

G    PA   AB   R   H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP  HBP SH  SF  IBB
112  416  366  45  96  18   2   8   48   1   2  47  59  .262 .349  .388  .737  110  142   9    2   0   1   3

This season isn't great, but it's certainly respectable for a 38-year-old. Because the Expos still have questionable depth at first base, Hernandez is invited back for a second season in Montreal. However, 1993 is when his power really starts to drop off, and he finds himself unable to play as frequently as he used to. He usually only starts against right-handers, and he's little more than a veteran placeholder at this point:

G   PA   AB   R   H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP  HBP SH  SF  IBB
97  322  286  29  73  13   0   5   31   0   1  34  52  .255 .336 .353 .690   82  101   7    1   1   0   1

By now it's clear that Keith Hernandez is nearing the end of the line. With lefty-swinging first baseman Cliff Floyd waiting in the wings, the Expos no longer have any need for his services. Still hoping to make one last go at it, Hernandez catches on with the flaccid Pirates for 1994, where his decline becomes even more pronounced:

G   PA  AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+  TB  GDP  HBP SH  SF  IBB
27  84  76   6  18   2   0   1   9    0   0   7  23  .237 .301 .303 .604   58   23   2    0   1   0   0

Used mainly as a pinch-hitter and an occasional starter against righties, Hernandez offers little production before he's released in late May. He doesn't resurface in 1995, making him yet another player for whom the strike signifies the end of an era.

After this second wind, what does Keith Hernandez's career now look like?

Year Age Tm  Lg  G    PA   AB   R    H    2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB   SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+ TB   GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1974 20  STL NL  14   41   34   3    10    1  2  0    2    0   0  7    8   .294 .415 .441 .856  140  15   1   0   0  0   0
1975 21  STL NL  64   207  188  20   47    8  2  3    20   0   1  17   26  .250 .309 .362 .671  83   68   5   0   0  2   2
1976 22  STL NL  129  428  374  54   108  21  5  7    46   4   2  49   53  .289 .376 .428 .803  127  160  8   3   2  0   5
1977 23  STL NL  161  645  560  90   163  41  4  15   91   7   7  79   88  .291 .379 .459 .837  125  257  17  1   3  2   11
1978 24  STL NL  159  633  542  90   138  32  4  11   64   13  5  82   68  .255 .351 .389 .741  108  211  12  2   1  6   11
1979 25  STL NL  161  698  610  116  210  48  11 11   105  11  6  80   78  .344 .417 .513 .930  151  313  9   1   0  7   5
1980 26  STL NL  159  690  595  111  191  39  8  16   99   14  8  86   73  .321 .408 .494 .902  147  294  14  4   1  4   4
1981 27  STL NL  103  444  376  65   115  27  4  8    48   12  5  61   45  .306 .401 .463 .864  142  174  9   2   0  5   6
1982 28  STL NL  160  694  579  79   173  33  6  7    94   19  11 100  67  .299 .397 .413 .810  127  239  10  2   1  12  19
1983 29  TOT NL  150  633  538  77   160  23  7  12   63   9   5  88   72  .297 .396 .433 .829  131  233  7   2   2  3   14
1983 29  STL NL  55   244  218  34   62   15  4  3    26   1   1  24   30  .284 .352 .431 .784  116  94   2   0   0  2   5
1983 29  NYM NL  95   389  320  43   98    8  3  9    37   8   4  64   42  .306 .424 .434 .858  140  139  5   2   2  1   9
1984 30  NYM NL  154  657  550  83   171  31  0  15   94   2   3  97   89  .311 .409 .449 .859  143  247  9   1   0  9   12
1985 31  NYM NL  158  682  593  87   183  34  4  10   91   3   3  77   59  .309 .384 .430 .814  129  255  14  2   0  10  15
1986 32  NYM NL  149  652  551  94   171  34  1  13   83   2   1  94   69  .310 .413 .446 .859  140  246  14  4   0  3   9
1987 33  NYM NL  154  676  587  87   170  28  2  18   89   0   2  81   104 .290 .377 .436 .813  120  256  15  4   0  4   8
1988 34  NYM NL  95   384  348  43   96   16  0  11   55   2   1  31   57  .276 .333 .417 .750  120  145  11  1   0  4   3
1989 35  NYM NL  75   244  215  18   50    8  0  4    19   0   3  27   39  .233 .324 .326 .649  91   70   4   2   0  0   3
1990 36  CLE AL  43   145  130  7    26    2  0  1    8    0   0  14   17  .200 .283 .238 .521  48   31   2   1   0  0   3
1991 37  CLE AL  139  557  478  69   141  24  2  12   74   2   0  72   81  .295 .390 .429 .818  126  205  11  4   0  3   6
1992 38  MON NL  112  416  366  45   96   18  2  8    48   1   2  47   59  .262 .349 .388 .737  110  142  9   2   0  1   3
1993 39  MON NL  97   322  286  29   73   13  0  5    31   0   1  34   52  .255 .336 .353 .690  82   101  7   1   1  0   1
1994 40  PIT NL  27   84   76   6    18    2  0  1    9    0   0  7    23  .237 .301 .303 .604  58   23   2   0   1  0   0
21 seasons      2463 9932 8576 1273 2510 483  64 188 1233 101 66 1230 1227 .293 .381 .430 .811  125 3685  190 39  12 75 140
Year Age Tm  Lg  G    PA   AB   R    H    2B  3B HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB   SO   BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  OPS+ TB   GDP HBP SH SF IBB

Well, his OPS+ is three points lower, but it remains a solid 125. He doesn't reach any special milestones, though he does add 375 games and probably about three or four Wins Above Replacement to his career total. Would it be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame? Sadly, I think the answer is still no.

First of all, a good portion of Hernandez's value came from his defense, a skill which is still underappreciated by Hall voters today. Second, despite being the league's best player at his position during the late 1970's and early 1980's, he was named to only five All-Star teams (starting just once), making him appear less highly-regarded in retrospect. Players like Steve Garvey and Pete Rose, who were more charismatic but less valuable, were better at attracting the fan vote.

As I said above in my CliffsNotes career recap, Hernandez wasn't a prototypical first baseman, and that may be the biggest thing working against him. Garvey wasn't nearly the player Hernandez was, but he looked like a great first baseman, consistently hitting .300 with 20+ homers and 100+ RBI during his prime. As such, Garvey's entire run on the Hall of Fame ballot overlaps Hernandez's. Garvey lasted the full 15 years, and the lowest percentage of the vote he ever got (20.5) was nearly double Hernandez's best (10.8).

Keith Hernandez was a great player, one I believe belongs in Cooperstown. While this second wind probably wouldn't have gotten him there, it at least would've erased any sense that his career was taken from us too soon.

PTWSW #75: The 1978 New York Yankees

2011-03-20T17:43:00.000-05:00

Manager: Billy Martin (1), Dick Howser (2), Bob Lemon (3)
Record: 100-63
Ballpark: Yankee Stadium
Owner: George Steinbrenner
GM: Cedric Tallis
Coaches: Yogi Berra, Art Fowler, Elston Howard, Dick Howser, Clyde King, Gene Michael

Future Hall of Famers: Goose Gossage, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson

All-Stars: Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Lou Piniella, .314
OBP: Willie Randolph, .381
SLG: Reggie Jackson, .477
OPS: Reggie Jackson, .834
2B: Lou Piniella, 34
3B: Mickey Rivers, 8
HR: Reggie Jackson, 27
RBI: Reggie Jackson, 97
BB: Willie Randolph, 82
SB: Willie Randolph, 36

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Ron Guidry, 25 (AL leader)
SO: Ron Guidry, 248
ERA: Ron Guidry, 1.74 (AL leader)
IP: Ron Guidry, 273.2
CG: Ron Guidry, 16
SHO: Ron Guidry, 9 (AL leader)
K/BB: Ron Guidry, 3.44
SV: Goose Gossage, 27 (AL leader)

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Paul Lindblad (b. August 9, 1941)

Youngest Player: Domingo Ramos (b. March 29, 1958)

First to Leave Us: Thurman Munson (d. August 2, 1979)

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Lou Piniella (debut September 4, 1964)

Last in Majors: Goose Gossage (final game August 8, 1994)

First to Play For the Franchise: Roy White (September 7, 1965)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Goose Gossage (September 22, 1989)

Pre-union Team: The 1973 Oakland A's had five: Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Jay Johnstone and Paul Lindblad. Like their ancestors from the '50s, these Yankees built championship rosters with old Athletics.

Reunion Team: The 1981 Oakland Athletics had seven: Brian Doyle, Ed Figueroa, Mike Heath, Cliff Johnson, Mickey Klutts, Jim Spencer and Fred Stanley. If Billy Martin couldn't manage the Yankees, he'd take as many of them with him as he could.

Accomplishments

Ron Guidry, AL Cy Young
Chris Chambliss, AL First Base Gold Glove
Graig Nettles, AL Third Base Gold Glove

Season Summary

After a turbulent but successful season in 1977, the Yankees had acquired a new nickname: "The Bronx Zoo." A circus atmosphere seemed to follow the Yankees wherever they went, and even a World Series title wasn't enough to convince some people that this group wasn't on the verge of imploding. Thanks to George Steinbrenner the Yankees were still the best team money could buy, and they didn't sit idly during the offseason. They signed ace relievers Rawly Eastwick and Goose Gossage, and acquired former All-Stars in pitcher Andy Messersmith and first baseman Jim Spencer. All was not well though; Yank manager Billy Martin didn't want Eastwick or Messersmith, and their acquisitions drove a wedge even further between him and the Boss. It wasn't without good reason that Martin opposed the moves; Messersmith was coming off arm surgery, and Eastwick was superfluous with Gossage and Sparky Lyle already in the pen.

The Yankees started the defense of their title solidly enough. Though they had yet to reach first place, they were only a few games behind the standings-topping Red Sox at the end of May. Martin, in a constant power struggle with upper management, decided to use the unwanted Eastwick sparingly; the pitcher got into only eight games before he was traded to the Phillies in mid-June. Messersmith proved to be as undurable as Martin feared, as he only made it into six games before going on the disabled list at the beginning of July. Meanwhile, the Yankees had begun slumping, and by the middle of July they had a double-digit deficit in the AL East race.

On July 23 Martin publicly criticized Steinbrenner and contentious superstar Reggie Jackson, saying "The two of them deserve each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." The latter accusation was a reference to Steinbrenner's conviction for illegal political contributions. The next day, after his statement had been widely circulated, Martin realized he'd gone too far and tearfully resigned, citing the need for physical and mental relief. His successor was the more even-keeled Bob Lemon, who'd recently been demoted from manager to scout by the White Sox and had served on the Yankee coaching staff two years earlier.

Whether it was Lemon's calming influence or the players finally reverting to the mean, the Yankees got back into the race on Lemon's watch. Over the next month and a half the Yankees went on a 34-13 run to make it into a first-place tie with the Red Sox, and shortly thereafter they took over sole possession of the top spot. Boston wasn't done yet, though. They went 12-2 over their last 14 games to finish the schedule knotted with the Yankees, forcing a one-game tiebreaker at Fenway Park. The Red Sox held a 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh when banjo-hitting Bucky Dent stepped up to the plate with two out and two men on. To everyone's shock, the shortstop delivered a three-run homer, his fifth round-tripper of the year, to turn the momentum in New York's favor. The Yankees would win by a final score of 5-4 to capture their third straight AL East crown.

For the third time in as many years the Yankees faced the Royals in the ALCS, and for the third time in as many years the Yankees emerged victorious. The only difference this time was that New York defeated Kansas City in a mere four games rather than the maximum five. Over in the National League it was the same story: The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS for the second straight year. Once again the World Series featured that most common of matchups: Yankees vs. Dodgers. After the first two games it looked like the Dodgers were going to avenge last year's loss, as they won them both. Behind their ace Ron Guidry, the Yankees bounced back with a 5-1 victory in Game 3, and Lou Piniella's 10th-inning RBI single tied the Series in Game 4. The next two games were all Yankees, as they won by margins of ten and five runs. Two feeble-sticked middle infielders, Dent and backup second baseman Brian Doyle, got three hits apiece in both contests, and Dent was even named World Series MVP. The Bronx Zoo Yankees now had back-to-back titles, and the 1978 team became the first World Series champion ever to replace their manager mid-season.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

Should We Be Keeping an Eye on the '82 Yankees?

2011-03-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

A long time ago (in blog years, that is) I did a post called "Which Team Had the Most Future Managers?", where I discovered that in the true sense of the question the answer was the 1956 St. Louis Cardinals. I concluded by saying it's unlikely we'll ever see their record of nine future managers broken due to expansion, however, when I was updating my master list to account for the upcoming season's three rookie skippers (John Farrell, Don Mattingly and Ron Roenicke), I noticed one team is getting awfully close. Since I assume you read the title of this post, you probably already know I'm talking about the 1982 New York Yankees.

Mattingly was a 21-year-old kid who got into seven games that year as a September callup. Once he manages his first game for the Dodgers this season, those Yankees' future manager total will be at seven. His teammates who've also had a turn at the helm are as follows: Bucky Dent, Butch Hobson, Lee Mazzilli, Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph and Edwin Rodriguez.

It got me thinking: Could this team possibly challenge the '56 Cardinals? If only two more players ascend to the managerial ranks they'll be tied. Are there any other prospects on the horizon? As far as I can tell, nine other men currently or have recently worked in professional baseball:

Steve Balboni: Currently a scout for the Giants. He had a brief minor league managerial stint in 2001, but at this point he's probably a longshot to return to the dugout.

Dave Collins: Resigned as the Marlins' first base coach in the middle of last year. I can't find anything that says he's currently employed in a baseball capacity, but the fact that he coached last year tells me he could possibly surface somewhere. Still, coaching first isn't exactly the fast track toward managing. The position exists mainly to help baserunners with their leads, a role well-suited for a noted base thief like Collins. The highest level at which he's ever managed is Class A-Advanced in both 2001 and 2007.

George Frazier: Currently a broadcaster for the Rockies. Hey, Larry Dierker made the transition with no previous managing experience. Could lightning strike again?

Ken Griffey: Currently manager of the Class A-Advanced Bakersfield Blaze in the Reds' system. Interestingly, Griffey might already be the unofficial eighth future manager from the '82 Yankees. On June 18, 1999 Griffey, normally the bench coach, managed the Reds for a single game while manager Jack McKeon left town to be with his wife, who was having breast cancer surgery. Because he never officially held the title though, his name doesn't show up in Baseball-Reference's database of managers. Given his advanced age (61 in April), his best hope may be to catch on as a bench coach for a Major League manager on the hot seat.

Dave LaRoche: Pitching coach last year for the AAA Las Vegas 51's in the Blue Jays' system. According to the 51s' website, Tom Signore is now the pitching coach. I'm not sure if LaRoche currently has a job, but he's had such a long career as a pitching coach that I doubt he'd suddenly want to start managing.

Bobby Ramos: Currently the Rays' bullpen coach. Bullpen coach is even lower than first base coach on the food chain, though Ramos does have seven years of minor league managing experience. His last season in that role was 1999, so it'd probably take a fluke of mammoth proportions for him to find his way back at the Major League level.

Dave Righetti: Currently the Giants' pitching coach. A few pitching coaches have ended up as managers (Ray Miller, Marcel Lachemann and of course, Farrell come to mind), so it's not inconceivable that Righetti could too. Rags actually has expressed an interest in managing, so he might be the best bet to make it eight (officially).

Dave Winfield: Currently holds an advisory position in the Padres' front office. He's been wearing a suit instead of a uniform for over a decade. I'm guessing he doesn't have his eye on managing.

Butch Wynegar: Currently the hitting instructor for the AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. Wynegar did manage in the minors for four years in the '90s, but he seems to have carved out a niche as a batting coach. I doubt he's anything resembling a managerial prospect.

After looking at the remaining possibilities, the 1956 Cardinals' record seems reasonably safe. Still, this list has one real possibility and a few outside chances. If one of them ever becomes the official number eight (or nine) you can bet I'll be the first to make note of his connection to the post-pennant hangover known as the 1982 Yankees.

Redistributing the Wealth, Part 2

2011-02-15T16:29:00.001-06:00

My last post had the honor of being linked by one Tom Tango. If you still remember it all these weeks later, it was the one where I continued what Joe Posnanski started by swapping 500 walks for 400 singles from various players' career batting lines and figuring out who they best compare to. Tango mentioned that the same thing could be done with other types of hits, and the one that piqued my interest was the possible swap of 500 walks for 180 homers.

While mainstream baseball thinking is moving away from using counting stats as a measuring stick for a player's value, there's no question that home run totals still make our eyes pop out once they reach certain levels. Let's see how differently we'd perceive certain players if we increased their power output and decreased their patience at the plate. Would they look more like Hall of Famers to the untrained eye?

Before we begin, there's one thing I'd like to note: This exercise works best when the comparable player plays the same position, or at least a similar one. Though I ran the numbers with many players, I excluded them from this post if a good positional comp didn't turn up. Something about comparing Ken Singleton to Andres Galarraga just didn't seem right.

Let's start with everyone's favorite extreme walker, Eddie Yost:

Real line: .254/.394/.371, 139 homers
New line: .260/.359/.440, 319 homers
Comparable: Robin Ventura (.267/.362/.444, 294 homers) or Ron Cey (.261/.354/.445, 316 homers)

About as perfect as you can get. Yost's offensive numbers compare quite well to two solid Hall-of-Very-Good third basemen, giving us a much clearer picture of how valuable his bat was (his glove is another story, as that career -12.2 dWAR is glaring).

Max Bishop

Real line: .271/.423/.366, 41 homers
New line: .280/.367/.474, 221 homers
Comparable: Joe Gordon (.268/.357/.466, 253 homers)

It's hard to find a close second base comparable for Bishop's new numbers, but it's interesting to note that he's ahead of Gordon in each category except total homers. Granted, Gordon didn't make the Hall until the VC put him in two years ago, but with numbers like these, Bishop probably would've gotten more talk.

Eddie Joost

Real line: .239/.361/.366, 134 homers
New line: .249/.314/.453, 314 homers
Comparable: Jose Valentin (.243/.321/.448, 249 homers)

Looking at career averages doesn't always give you the best statistical profile of a player. Joost essentially had two careers: one as a light-hitter who bounced around the infield (.225/.311/.301, 13 homers, 74 OPS+ from 1936-45) and the other as a power-hitting full-time shortstop (.248/.389/.404, 121 homers, 113 OPS+ from 1947-55). In this case though, there's some degree of similarity between Joost and his comp.

Valentin's change wasn't quite as drastic, though it is noticeable. From 1992-99 (his entire Brewers career) he put up a line of .240/.323/.421, 90 homers, 89 OPS+ while playing mostly shortstop. From 2000-07 his line was .246/.320/.468, 159 homers, 101 OPS+ while he bounced around the infield. The batting and on-base averages are pretty consistent, but that slugging sure jumped. Another interesting note: both players' shifts happened around age 30. Discoveries like these are one reason I love baseball.

Keith Hernandez

Real line: .296/.384/.436, 162 homers
New line: .300/.347/.500, 342 homers
Comparable: Orlando Cepeda (.297/.350/.499, 379 homers)

It's rare to see a hypothetical line end up being this close to a real one from a Hall of Famer at the same position. I fully acknowledge that Cepeda's a borderline inductee, but when one considers how much value Hernandez added with his glove (as opposed to the stick-first Cepeda), it only furthers my belief that Keith Hernandez belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Roy White

Real line: .271/.360/.404, 160 homers
New line: .277/.318/.476, 340 homers
Comparable: George Bell (.278/.316/.469, 265 homers)

Roy White is an often-overlooked player, but he wasn't that far off from a short-peaked slugger who once won the MVP.

John Olerud

Real line: .295/.398/.465, 255 homers
New line: .299/.363/.525, 435 homers
Comparable: Hal Trosky (.302/.371/.522, 228 homers)

Would Hal Trosky have been a Hall of Famer if his career had been longer? We can't be certain. Would Olerud be considered a stronger Hall candidate if he'd combined home run totals like these with a near-.300 average? We probably can be certain.

Jack Clark

Real line: .267/.379/.476, 340 homers
New line: .273/.340/.541, 520 homers
Comparable: Sammy Sosa (.273/.344/.534, 609 homers)

Now here are two players I never would've thought to compare. Sosa had the better glove, but he also played in much higher-scoring era, which makes his offensive output less impressive than Clark's. Indeed, they're pretty close in WAR (56.5 for Clark, 59.7 for Sosa).

Some players are easier to find comparables for if we only go halfway on the tradeoff How about we only swap 250 walks for 90 homers?

Dwight Evans

Real line: .272/.370/.470, 385 homers
New line: .274/.355/.496, 475 homers
Comparable: Frank Howard (.273/.352/.499, 382 homers)

If Howard had had Evans' defensive abilities and longevity he'd have a legitimate argument for the Hall of Fame. Evans is a borderline case himself, but I wouldn't consider it a black mark against the Hall if he were to be inducted someday.

Rusty Staub

Real line: .279/.362/.431, 292 homers
New line: .281/.348/.456, 382 homers
Comparable: Harold Baines (.289/.356/.465, 384 homers)

While Harold has his supporters, the majority opinion seems to be that he's not a Hall of Famer (and I'm with them on that). Staub stayed on the ballot for seven years, while Baines dropped off this year after just five. Considering the rate at which baseball thinking has advanced and the makeup of the writers has changed since Staub's candidacy, that sounds about right.

Lou Whitaker

Real line: .276/.363/.426, 244 homers
New line: .279/.347/.455, 334 homers
Comparable: Ryne Sandberg (.285/.344/.452, 282 homers)

Are 201 stolen bases and 38 homers really the only difference between a third-ballot Hall of Famer and a first-ballot dropoff?

Of course, there's the flipside to this exercise. What about those guys who hit a ton of homers but barely walked? How would they look with less force and more finesse?

Dave Kingman

Real line: .236/.302/.478, 442 homers
New line: .226/.345/.400, 262 homers
Comparable: Wayne Gross (.233/.337/.395, 121 homers)

I'm only including this one because I know Kingman was the first name that popped into many of your heads. Gross isn't an ideal comp due to his much-shorter career, but hey, Kingman did play a bit of third base when he first came up. Our suspicions are confirmed though, that Kong was nothing resembling a star player.

Andre Dawson

Real line: .279/.323/.482, 438 homers
New line: .275/.353/.431, 258 homers
Comparable: Dusty Baker (.278/.347/.432, 242 homers)

The biggest advantage Dawson has over Baker is that he stayed in center field longer. Well, that and the "Hawk" nickname. "Dusty" has a much more easygoing feel to it.

Juan Gonzalez

Real line: .295/.343/.561, 434 homers
New line: .290/.388/.488, 254 homers
Comparable: Tim Salmon (.282/.385/.498, 299 homers) or Larry Doby (.283/.386/.490, 253 homers)

Doby isn't the best comparison, as he was a center fielder, but the stats were so close I had to share them here. Salmon is a much better illustration of how un-Hall-worthy Juan Gone is, as he was a contemporary and a fellow corner outfielder.

Willie Horton

Real line: .273/.332/.457, 325 homers
New line: .267/.372/.384, 145 homers
Comparable: Tony Phillips (.266/.374/.389, 160 homers)

Fascinating! Horton's comp is another Tiger left fielder!

Tony Perez

Real line: .279/.341/.463, 379 homers
New line: .275/.370/.411, 199 homers
Comparable: Ron Fairly (.266/.360/.408, 215 homers)

No sir, nothing says "Hall of Famer" like being just a few notches above Ron Fairly.

Joe Adcock

Real line: .277/.337/.485, 336 homers
New line: .271/.381/.407, 156 homers
Comparable: Earl Torgeson (.265/.385/.417, 149 homers)

You know, I'd never realized how good Torgeson's on-base skills were. I'd always thought of him as an Overbay-esque first baseman who resembled a schoolteacher. A closer look at the stats suggests he was more of a Randy Milligan.

I once heard it said that Adcock could've had a Hall of Fame career had he not been injured and platooned. Perhaps that's true. Of course, a "Hall of Fame career" doesn't necessarily mean he would've been a worthy selection, only that he would've managed to get inducted.

Matt Williams

Real line: .268/.317/.489, 378 homers
New line: .261/.359/.415, 198 homers
Comparable: Sal Bando (.254/.352/.408, 242 homers)

Matt Williams was an interesting figure. Back when I was a teenager he felt like a great player, or at least something just below that level. Giant fans seemed to revere him, and by all accounts he was the type of guy any team would want on their roster. Now that I'm older and the passage of time has allowed for some perspective, I can see that he had one glaring flaw: he simply did not walk. He had great power, he had a good glove at third, but that .317 OBP is unacceptable, particularly for the high-offense era he played in.

If Williams lost some of that power and replaced it with on-base skills he'd be a touch ahead of a third baseman who has a much better Hall argument than many people realize. Of course, Bando's still borderline, and when we account for era he comes out ahead of Williams.

Vada Pinson

Real line: .286/.327/.442, 256 homers
New line: .282/.358/.388, 76 homers
Comparable: Max Carey (.285/.361/.386, 70 homers)

Now here's a discussion we could have: did Vada Pinson's balance of skills prevent him from a Hall of Fame career? Pinson is similar to Carey in many ways: both were fleet-footed center fielders who shifted to corner outfield positions in their later years. Pinson's career WAR was 49.3, Carey's was 50.6. Both spent a significant portion of their career in a low-scoring era. The difference is that Carey's game was built on walks and speed, while Pinson's was built on power and speed. If Pinson had been a walks-and-speed guy, could he have been a dominant leadoff man instead of a very good #2/#3 hitter?

While Carey's WAR isn't going to astound anyone (admittedly, without play-by-play data for Carey's career the stat is less reliable), those ten seasons of leading the league in steals are bound to turn some heads. Pinson's prime years weren't exactly a golden age for stolen bases, so on the surface his steal totals appear good-but-not-great. You might be surprised to learn that while Pinson never led the league in that category, he finished in the top five seven times, including four times in the top three. If his speed had been used at the top of the order, who knows? He might've been able to put some black ink in the steals column. It certainly helped Carey, Lou Brock (39.1 WAR) and Luis Aparicio (49.9 WAR).

Ernie Banks

Real line: .274/.330/.500, 512 homers
New line: .269/.361/.447, 332 homers
Comparable: Chili Davis (.274/.360/.451, 350 homers)

Banks is lucky he came up as a shortstop, because the first half of his career is the only thing that separates him from a very good outfielder/DH.

Finally, here's one that works best if we only go halfway:

Dave Parker

Real line: .290/.339/.471, 339 homers
New line: .288/.355/.444, 249 homers
Comparable: Andy Pafko (.285/.350/.449, 213 homers)

I'm not sure what "Pruschka" means, but I'm guessing it doesn't translate into "Cobra."

Redistributing the Wealth

2011-01-25T22:33:00.000-06:00

Joe Posnanski's recent column about exchanging walks for hits fascinated me. Numbers have long been an integral part of baseball (perhaps now moreso than ever before), and the very idea of re-imagining a player's career with a different statistical profile is sure to start a history geek's pulse racing. If you haven't read the piece yet, click on that link above and enjoy it for yourself before continuing any further.

Joe openly admits that he isn't the most technically-proficient stat-manipulator, and indeed, it does seem a little awkward that in his exercise 175 plate appearances simply vaporize from each player's career. Sabermetric legend Tom Tango left a comment though, stating that one could keep the plate appearances constant by exchanging 500 walks for 400 singles and 100 outs, leaving the player's overall value unchanged. Hey, I'm all for precision when possible, so it occurred to me that I could improve on Joe's work by making more precise calculations; that turned out not to be necessary, as Joe's calculations were pretty close to the ones I got. As long as you don't mind a few percentage points being off, you're fine if you stick with the original piece for the players he mentioned (it's much better-written anyway).

Even so, I knew there was further potential in this concept. If you shuffled the hits and walks from some other players' career lines, who would they be comparable to, if anyone?

One fascinating, statistically-quirky player is Eddie Yost, who demonstrated only one skill consistently in eighteen Major league seasons: the ability to draw walks (hence his nickname, "The Walking Man"). He finished his career with a truly unique line of .254/.394/.371. Even stranger, this production was coming from a third baseman! Could you imagine getting that type of production from the hot corner today? So how does Yost look if we exchange 500 walks for 400 singles and 100 outs?

New line: .288/.383/.399
Comparable: Kevin Seitzer (.295/.375/.404)

Chuck Knoblauch (.288/.378/.406) is actually a bit closer in batting line, but Seitzer works better as a comp because he played the same position. Let's take it a bit further though, and do another 500-for-400 swap.

New line: .319/.372/.423
Comparable: Cecil Travis (.314/.370/.416)

Travis was primarily a shortstop, but he also played a significant amount of third base.

There's an interesting development here though: Yost is suddenly better in each category than Hall of Famer George Kell (.306/.367/.414)! Now, I realize the general consensus these days is that Kell was a poor selection, but if Yost had put up this line, might he have been inducted instead? My first instinct says no, as Kell had a prominent broadcasting career and was selected to ten All-Star teams (Yost only made the All-Star team once). However, considering they were both lifetime American Leaguers from the same era at the same position, it's possible Yost would've taken some of those selections away from Kell. The mind wonders.

Just for fun, let's put another 400 singles on Yost's resume.

New line: .346/.361/.444
Comparable: None

At this point Yost has only 114 career walks and 3,063 career hits, making him the anti-Walking Man and the emptiest .340 hitter of all time. If he had managed to put up this line he either would've been elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot or he would've initiated the discussion about the true value of 3,000 hits sooner.

Personally, I associate Yost with the other walking Eddies of his era. We might as well take a look at each of them too.

Eddie Joost

Real line: .239/.361/.366
New line: .285/.346/.401
Comparable: Tony Fernandez (.288/.347/.399)

Not bad company.

Eddie Stanky

Real line: .268/.410/.348
New line: .324/.391/.395
Comparable: Luke Appling (.310/.399/.398)

As you can see, doing this exercise with short-career guys like Stanky affects their numbers more drastically. At least that .324 batting average would've left him unable only to run and throw, and it would've won him a comparison to a Hall of Fame infielder.

Eddie Lake

Real line: .231/.366/.323
New line: .323/.334/.400
Comparable: None

OK, now we're getting to a really obscure guy, but he was one of the four eagle-eyed Eddies. With an even shorter career than Stanky, he simply becomes his own inverse with a 500-for-400 swap. What if we only go halfway, deducting 250 walks and adding 200 singles?

New line: .281/.350/.365
Comparable: Dave Bancroft (.279/.355/.358)

Not bad. Now he compares to a lower-tier Hall of Famer, except his career was less than half as long.

As long as we're on the subject of patient infielders, how about Max Bishop, who probably would've been named Eddie had he been born about 20 years later?

Real line: .271/.423/.366
New line: .324/.405/.409
Comparable: Luke Appling (.310/.399/.398)

Pretty good. Very similar to Stanky and the same Hall of Fame comparable (albeit at a tougher position). With that .324 average Bishop might've been a Hall of Famer himself. Of course, when you think of Max Bishop you probably think of his awesome nickname "Camera Eye," so would the tradeoff really be worth it?

At this point, some of you are probably getting bored looking at these scrubs. You probably want to see the guys who are in the Hall of Fame debate. Fair enough. Let's look at some of them.

Not that anyone questions the eye-popping nature of Barry Bonds' numbers, but let's see how they'd look with a higher batting average attached to them:

Real line: .298/.444/.607
New line: .322/.436/.616
Comparable: Jimmie Foxx (.325/.428/.609)

Still a no-doubt inner-circle Hall of Famer. How about another swap?

New line: .344/.428/.625
Comparable: Albert Pujols (.331/.426/.624)

Yes, Pujols is still active, but let's be honest, Pujols could retire today and make the Hall on the first ballot. Say what you will about Bonds, you can't deny that he put up some incredible numbers (and I suppose his critics could use the word "incredible" multiple ways).

Ron Santo

Real line: .277/.362/.464
New line: .307/.352/.484
Comparable: Tony Oliva (.304/.353/.476)

Well, it's not the best comparison, but considering Oliva has a Hall of Fame argument with those numbers as a right fielder, how much better is Santo's case with slightly better numbers as a third baseman? I'm sure Santo would take this new line, and that .300 average would've gotten him inducted long ago.

How about another Cub third baseman, Stan Hack?

Real line: .301/.394/.397
New line: .333/.382/.423
Comparable: Rod Carew (.328/.393/.429)

Since Carew played both second and first, we can split the difference, as third falls between them on the defensive spectrum. Hack probably would've made the Hall with that line, and guys like George Kell probably would've been overlooked later on because they didn't measure up to Hack's standard.

As long as we're discussing third basemen, how about some others who manned the tweener station?

Graig Nettles

Real line: .248/.329/.421
New line: .277/.319/.441
Comparable: Shea Hillenbrand (.284/.321/.440)

Has anyone ever noticed what an odd career Shea Hillenbrand had? Seven seasons, two-time All-Star (starting in 2002), six different franchises, out of the bigs at age 32. He may be the least-distinguished comp so far, but there was definitely some talent there. If he hadn't been such a difficult personality, who knows what might have been?

As for Nettles (the guy we really should be talking about), his value was tied almost entirely to his defense and slugging, but he was good enough at both that his Hall case is stronger than many people realize. I'm not sure if this new line would've drastically improved his chances, but it might've bought him a few extra years on the ballot (Nettles dropped off after his fourth year).

Darrell Evans

Real line: .248/.361/.431
New line: .277/.352/.450
Comparable: Ken Caminiti (.272/.347/.447)

As you can see, Evans is basically Nettles with better on-base skills. His glove was only average, though, so like Nettles, this new line might not have done anything but buy him a few extra years on the ballot. What if we made another tradeoff?

New line: .303/.342/.468
Comparable: Cecil Cooper (.298/.337/.466)

I'm not a proponent of Evans for the Hall, but with 414 homers and a .300 average he likely would've made it. Of course, with that .342 OBP, he'd probably be considered overrated today rather than underrated.

Who's that comp? Cecil Cooper? No, it's not entirely fair, as Evans betters him in each category, had a longer career and played third base too, but even if Cooper had been a third baseman he probably would've gone down in history as good-but-not-great. As long as we're here, let's do something a little different. Let's add some walks to Cooper's line, take away a few singles and see who it compares to.

New line: .262/.349/.442
Comparable: Ron Cey (.261/.354/.445)

Perfect. A third baseman. Ron Cey was a very good player, but I don't think anyone would argue he's a few average points short of being an all-time great. Speaking of D. Evans though, what about that other one, Dwight Evans?

Real line: .272/.370/.470
New line: .300/.360/.488
Comparable: George Brett (.305/.369/.487)

Wow! Who knew that Dwight Evans' offensive numbers were potentially just a notch below George Brett's? He'd probably have a plaque in Cooperstown right now with this line.

Dick Allen

Real line: .292/.378/.534
New line: .329/.364/.553
Comparable: None

.329? During the Second Deadall Era? What personality issues?

Bobby Grich

Real line: .266/.371/.424
New line: .302/.358/.449
Comparable: Roberto Alomar (.300/.371/.443)

Boy oh boy, do you think Grich wouldn't love to cash in those walks right about now? True, Alomar was a better baserunner, but Grich was better defensively, so let's call it even.

Even though he's nothing close to a Hall of Fame candidate, how about the patron saint of the Three True Outcomes, Rob Deer?

Real line: .220/.324/.442
New line: .255/.313/.464
Comparable: Joe Carter (.259/.306/.464)

Well, at least he resembles a well-known, popular player. What if we did it again?

New line: .286/.302/.483
Comparable: None

He looks more respectable with that .286 batting average, but that .302 ain't gonna cut it. It would seem that the only thing that makes Rob Deer interesting is the extreme nature of his stats; he and Gorman Thomas are the only players with over 200 career homers and a batting average lower than .230 (it should come as no surprise that Thomas has an almost identical batting line to Deer's: .225/.324/.448). Just out of curiosity though, what if Deer were an even more extreme Three True Outcomes type? What would happen if we took away 400 singles, 100 outs and added 500 walks?

New line: .134/.346/.390

Now, that's just ridiculous. He has fewer career singles than doubles at this point! Besides that, if he were this bad at getting hits he probably wouldn't draw as many walks, since pitchers wouldn't be afraid to pound the zone against him. What if we went halfway and added only 250 walks and took away only 200 singles?

New line: .180/.335/.418

Still ridiculous, but at least closer to realistic. If Deer had put up this line for his career he'd be legendary.

As long as we're going the other way now, let's see how some well-known hitters who could stand to walk more would look if we took away some singles and added a few base on balls?

I've tried to avoid active players in this post, but I know Ichiro Suzuki's name was the first one that popped into many heads, so we'll make an exception for him.

Real line: .331/.376/.430
New line: .294/.389/.400
Comparable: Mike Griffin (.296/.388/.407)

So if Ichiro Suzuki drew more walks and hit fewer singles he'd be a 19th-Century outfielder. It doesn't account for his defense and baserunning, of course, but it gives you a good idea of how old-school a player the guy is.

Al Oliver

Real line: .303/.344/.451
New line: .274/.354/.431
Comparable: Rusty Staub (.279/.362/.431)

Question: Would Al Oliver's career have lasted as long as it did if he weren't such a good singles hitter? Oliver stuck around for 18 seasons trying to make a run at 3,000 hits, a mark he missed by 257. If he'd put up this type of line he might've retired earlier knowing he didn't have a shot.

Juan Gonzalez

Real line: .295/.343/.561
New line: .254/.357/.541
Comparable: Adam Dunn (.250/.381/.521)

Juan Gone suddenly places in the top ten all-time in Isolated Power. Not bad, but it doesn't make him any more Hall-worthy. I know the Dunn comp is a slight stretch based on numbers alone (and I'm violating my attempted no-active players policy), but Gonzalez with the new line is the perfect example of a Dunn type.

Dave Kingman

Real line: .236/.302/.478
New line: .190/.315/.452
Comparable: None

Is it really worth going below the Mendoza line just to be able to say you're patient at the plate? That OBP is still nothing special. Like we did with Deer, let's try another swap of singles-for-walks.

New line: .137/.329/.421

When you have to bring your BA down to .137 just to get your OBP up to league average, you probably aren't that great of a hitter.

How about we turn to some Hall of Famers? Let's see how the careers of some immortalized players would appear if we monkeyed with their stats.

Mickey Mantle

Real line: .298/.421/.557
New line: .327/.410/.571
Comparable: Stan Musial (.331/.417/.559)

Mantle was disappointed that he didn't finish his career with a .300 batting average (spending your final years during the Second Deadball Era will do that for you), so I'm sure he would've made this tradeoff if he could've.

Brooks Robinson

Real line: .267/.322/.401
New line: .291/.313/.419
Comparable: Garry Maddox (.285/.320/.413)

Robinson was such an outstanding defensive player that his Hall of Fame credentials aren't in doubt. However, he could hit a little too, a fact that often gets overlooked. With his new .291 batting average would he be remembered for greatness on both sides of the ball rather than just one? Given that his (admittedly imperfect) comp was remembered mainly for his defense too, it's possible his offense would remain underappreciated.

Luis Aparicio

Real line: .262/.311/.343
New line: .234/.320/.319
Comparable: Monte Cross (.234/.316/.313)

While this new line is equally valuable on a pure linear weights basis, might it have been more valuable in actuality, because Aparicio batted leadoff for much of his career? Granted, his OBP is still below league average, but if you had to bat him leadoff, wouldn't you rather have the second option?

Andre Dawson

Real line: .279/.323/.482
New line: .252/.333/.465
Comparable: Jesse Barfield (.256/.335/.466)

Amazingly, Barfield and Dawson were very similar players. Both were outfielders who played right and center, and both had great arms. If Barfield hadn't had his career cut short by a wrist injury, he might've found his way into some Hall of Fame arguments.

Jim Rice

Real line: .298/.352/.502
New line: .266/.363/.483
Comparable: Rocky Colavito (.266/.359/.489)

The walking-er Jim Ed is very respectable, but not exactly all-time great material.

George Sisler

Real line: .340/.379/.468
New line: .311/.391/.447
Comparable: Mark Grace (.303/.383/.442)

OK, so he's actually a bit ahead of Grace. It's just funny to put these two together. We all know Sisler's incredible peak is the real reason he's in the Hall, while Grace put up these numbers more consistently throughout his career.

Ernie Banks

Real line: .274/.330/.500
New line: .245/.340/.483
Comparable: Cecil Fielder (.255/.345/.482)

Banks is an interesting case. Most of his career value comes from the first half, when he played shortstop and put up numbers above and beyond the expectations for the position. The second half he spent as an average-to-below-average first baseman who padded his resume by compiling power numbers (I once saw someone call it "Alex Rodriguez turning into Eric Karros halfway through his career," a description that really nailed it). Those 500 homers may have helped Banks get into Cooperstown, but it's his early peak that makes him truly worthy.

Tony Gwynn

Real line: .338/.388/.459
New line: .312/.398/.439
Comparable: Elmer "Mike" Smith (.310/.398/.434)

Like Suzuki, an obscure 19th-Century outfielder is Gwynn's best comp.

Wee Willie Keeler

Real line: .341/.388/.415
New line: .313/.399/.391
Comparable: Richie Ashburn (.308/.396/.382)

Keeler's a bit ahead of Ashburn offensively, but it's the least we could expect for putting him in right field rather than center.

Harmon Killebrew

Real line: .256/.376/.509
New line: .287/.365/.525
Comparable: Willie Stargell (.282/.360/.529)

Two poor-fielding Hall of Fame brethren.

Rabbit Maranville

Real line: .258/.318/.340
New line: .284/.309/.361
Comparable: Garry Templeton (.271/.304/.369)

Maranville's defense must've been a lot better than we have the ability to measure, since his offense doesn't compare to anyone particularly great. Where was UZR when we needed it?

Roberto Clemente

Real line: .317/.359/.475
New line: .290/.369/.457
Comparable: Bruce Campbell (.290/.367/.455)

Like Brooks Robinson, Clemente is hardly a questionable selection, though a big portion of his value comes from his stellar defense. This new line is almost a dead ringer for a journeyman right fielder from the 1930's, but of course, the comparison isn't exactly fair, as the 1930's were a notably higher-scoring era than Clemente's 1960's. Clemente is considered overrated to a degree because his OBP was very BA-dependent, but he might actually be underrated today if he put up this line for his career.

Al Kaline

Real line: .297/.376/.480
New line: .321/.367/.495
Comparable: Joe Medwick (.324/.362/.505)

I don't have much to say here. I just thought it was cool that his best comp was a Hall of Famer (albeit a less-glorious one, due to the same issues as I mentioned above).

Willie McCovey

Real line: .270/.374/.515
New line: .300/.364/.531
Comparable: Hal Trosky (.302/.371/.522)

Once again we see a player whose peak came during the Second Deadball Era compare to a lesser player from the 1930's. Maybe we could try it the other way around?

Heinie Manush

Real line: .330/.377/.479
New line: .297/.389/.456
Comparable: Minnie Minoso (.298/.389/.459)

Well OK, Minoso's peak was during the 1950's, not the '60s, but it's still a good example of how out-of-control offense was during the Roaring 20's and subsequent Depression. I think most people would agree that Minoso, while not a sure-fire Hall of Famer, is more deserving of the spot Manush currently occupies.

As I've acknowledged throughout this piece, I'm aware that there are flaws to this exercise, and that I'm not much better than Joe Posnanski at playing with numbers, if at all. Still, hypotheticals are fun, and if baseball can't be fun, what's the point?

PTWSW #74: The 1977 New York Yankees

2011-01-20T22:13:00.001-06:00

Manager: Billy Martin
Record: 100-62
Ballpark: Yankee Stadium
Owner: George Steinbrenner
GM: Gabe Paul
Coaches: Yogi Berra, Cloyd Boyer, Bobby Cox, Art Fowler, Elston Howard, Dick Howser

Future Hall of Famers: Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson

All-Stars: Reggie Jackson, Sparky Lyle, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Mickey Rivers, .326
OBP: Reggie Jackson, 375
SLG: Reggie Jackson, .550
OPS: Reggie Jackson, .925
2B: Reggie Jackson, 39
3B: Willie Randolph, 11
HR: Graig Nettles, 37
RBI: Reggie Jackson, 110
BB: Roy White, 75
SB: Mickey Rivers, 22

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Ed Figueroa, Ron Guidry, 16
SO: Ron Guidry, 176
ERA: Ron Guidry, 2.82
IP: Ed Figueroa, 239.1
CG: Mike Torrez, 15
SHO: Ron Guidry, 5
K/BB: Ron Guidry, 2.71
SV: Sparky Lyle, 26

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Elrod Hendricks (b. December 22, 1940)

Youngest Player: Gil Patterson (b. September 5, 1955)

First to Leave Us: Thurman Munson (d. August 2, 1979). The Yankee family received a shock just two years later when their team captain, a licensed pilot, met an untimely end by crashing his private jet.

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Jimmy Wynn (debut July 10, 1963)

Last in Majors: Dave Bergman and Willie Randolph both played their final games on October 4, 1992.

First to Play For the Franchise: Roy White (September 7, 1965)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Willie Randolph played his last game for the Yankees on September 30, 1988, three days after Ron Guidry played his.

Pre-union Team: The 1972 Indians (Chris Chambliss, Graig Nettles, Fred Stanley, Dick Tidrow) and 1976 Orioles (Paul Blair, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Holtzman, Reggie Jackson) with four each.

Reunion Team: The 1979-80 Rangers (Ken Clay (1980), Dock Ellis (1979), Ed Figueroa (1980), Sparky Lyle, Larry McCall (1979), Mickey Rivers) and 1981 Athletics (Ed Figueroa, Cliff Johnson, Mickey Klutts, Fred Stanley) with four each.

Other: Yankee Stadium hosted the All-Star Game that year, the third time the World Series winner was the All-Star host.

Accomplishments

Sparky Lyle, AL Cy Young
Graig Nettles, AL Third Base Gold Glove

Season Summary

After the Reds romped over the Yankees in the 1976 World Series, owner George Steinbrenner vowed his team would be back stronger next year. He made good on his promise; first he signed Don Gullett away from the Reds to solidify the top of their rotation, then he landed Reggie Jackson from the Orioles to play right field and strengthen the heart of their lineup. Veteran outfielders Jimmy Wynn and Paul Blair were brought on as well, and two days before Opening Day the Yanks traded surplus outfielder Oscar Gamble to the White Sox for shortstop Bucky Dent. With a well-balanced roster and their talent level clearly upgraded, the Yankees began the season heavily favored to repeat as AL Champions. The question remained though, how well combative manager Billy Martin, the strong-willed Steinbrenner and this collection of large egos would be able to coexist.

As it turned out, the lack of chemistry wasn't enough to prevent the Yankees from winning, though they didn't run away with the pennant as many thought they could've. They spent less than half the season in first place, never with a sizable lead, and it was only a late hot streak that allowed them to make the playoffs. True to expectations, the clubhouse was a tumultuous environment. Catcher Thurman Munson was officially the team captain, but his star was often overshadowed by the charismatic and controversial Reggie Jackson. In May, Sport magazine published an interview where Jackson referred to himself as "the straw that stirs the drink" (speaking metaphorically about the Yankees) and said that Munson "could only stir it bad," a quote that did little to endear him to his new teammate.

Billy Martin's job security was called into question throughout the year due to strained relations with the front office and the sense that the team was underachieving, but he always managed to avoid the axe. The hard-nosed Martin was constantly at odds with the egotistical Jackson, and their feuding boiled over on June 18, when Martin pulled Jackson in the sixth inning of a loss to Boston for a lack of effort, prompting a dugout brawl. It wasn't until the last two months that the Yankees finally started playing to their highest capabilities. On August 6 they were 59-49, in third place and five games out of first; they finished the season on a 41-13 tear, pulling them ahead of the Red Sox and Orioles for another division title.

The ALCS rematched the Yankees with the Kansas City Royals, who they'd beaten en route to the pennant the year before. In 1976 the Yankees had won in five games when Chris Chambliss hit a walkoff blast; for the second year in a row, it came down to the ninth inning of Game 5. In the top half, with the Royals holding a one-run lead, the Yankees tallied three runs, taking the lead on Willie Randolph's sacrifice fly. Sparky Lyle followed by pitching a scoreless bottom half, punching the Yankees' tickets back to the World Series.

The Fall Classic presented a modern twist on the 1950's New York baseball scene, as what was once a perennial battle of the boroughs became a study in coastal contrasts. The National League Champion was the Los Angeles Dodgers, now representing the glamor of Hollywood rather than blue-collar family atmosphere of Brooklyn. As frequently happened two decades earlier, the Dodgers put up a good fight, but didn't have enough to knock off the men in pinstripes. After the Yankees won Game 1 on Paul Blair's twelfth-inning RBI single, the two teams split the next four games, setting up the most memorable performance of the Series.

Game 6 itself wasn't particularly close, but that night Reggie Jackson earned the nickname for which he'll always be remembered: "Mr. October." In three official at-bats against three different pitchers, Jackson sent the first offering into the seats, making him only the second player in history to notch three homers in a World Series game. The Yankees won it 8-4 to clinch their first title in 15 years, with Jackson's heroics earning him the MVP. In spite of all the drama behind (and in) the scenes, the Bombers had come together as a championship ballclub.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

1901 Milwaukee Brewers: The Original Brew Crew

2011-01-05T20:37:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the first installment of the "Home For October" series, which will focus on some of the most interesting teams not to qualify for the postseason!

For most of us the phrases "Milwaukee Brewers" and "American League" together bring to mind a blue-and-yellow ball-and-glove logo and the heroics of Robin Yount. For the ultra-old-timers (if any are still around), it recalls an era when the Junior Circuit was an unestablished outlaw trying to gain a foothold as a major league. Back when the American League was still the Class A Western League, there was a franchise in Milwaukee known as the Brewers, owned by attorney and Wisconsin state representative Matt Killilea. When league president Ban Johnson decided to take his loop to the big time, Killilea fought to keep his franchise located in the Cream City, and for a year he succeeded.

One American League strategy in the battle for respectability was to pilfer top talent from the National League, and the Brewers managed to land an established star: future Hall of Fame outfielder Hugh Duffy, who would also serve as manager. Duffy proved to be the team's second-best hitter in part-time duty (120 OPS+), but at age 34 it was his last season of significant playing time. After Sir Hugh, Milwaukee's only noteworthy poachings were pitchers Ned Garvin (perhaps the unluckiest hurler of all time) and Pink Hawley (a Wisconsin native who didn't have much left).

Nine Brewers were holdovers from the 1900 minor league team, including first baseman John Anderson, who led Milwaukee in all major offensive categories. Shortstop Wid Conroy, pitcher Bill Reidy and outfielder Irv Waldron also provided some value, but most of the others played like they still belonged in the minors. With such a thin roster, the Brewers never saw success; they got off to an 0-5 start and never recovered. By June it was clear they were going nowhere. Plagued by financial difficulties, Milwaukee began unloading its veterans, either through sales or outright releases.

The Brewers employed five players that year who were born in the state of Wisconsin, and three of them were brought on in the last two months (perhaps to give some local boys an opportunity on the cheap). 26-year-old Ed Bruyette didn't amount to much, but the other two (who were also significantly younger) went on to solid Major League careers. Davy Jones became famous as one of Ty Cobb's outfield-mates and played his last ML game in 1918 (all before reinventing himself as a baby-faced heartthrob on The Monkees, of course). George McBride resurfaced in 1908 with Washington, where he was a fixture at shortstop for nine years before easing into an eventual managerial role.

From the beginning, Ban Johnson had had ambitions of tapping into the St. Louis market. At the time St. Louis was the fourth-largest city in America, and the chance to supplant the Cardinals was an enticing proposition. Given the pitiful product on the field and the city's relative lack of size, the Milwaukee franchise was an ideal candidate for transfer. Talks of the Brewers moving to St. Louis heated up in July, but Matt Killilea, a loyal Milwaukee man, did everything he could to keep his team in town. In December Killilea finally relented, agreeing to the transfer while staying on as president. He soon changed his mind about staying on though (perhaps due to his failing health), and sold the soon-to-be "St. Louis Browns" to a syndicate led by Robert Hedges.

In the end, these Milwaukee Brewers were the inverse of their later namesake; they were moved after only one last-place season, whereas the Brewers of today are descended from a team (the Seattle Pilots) that was moved after only one last-place season.

Pre-union Team: No team had more than two. The teams with two included the 1896-97 Phillies, 1897 Pirates, 1898 Senators, 1899 Superbas, 1900 Beaneaters and 1900 Pirates.

Reunion Team: The 1904-05 Highlanders (John Anderson, Joe Connor (1905), Wid Conroy, Ned Garvin (1904)), 1905 Cardinals (Jimmy Burke, Tom Leahy, George McBride) and 1909 Senators (Wid Conroy, Jiggs Donahue, George McBride) each had three.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Google News Archives
Matt Killilea SABR biography

Home For October

2011-01-05T01:51:00.002-06:00

I've got a new series to announce! It's similar to Profiling the World Series Winners, but with a little more variety and a little less predictability (not that I don't love PTWSW, it's just that if you already know all the World Series winners you know which team is coming next).

Baseball's postseason is hallowed ground. Though many divisions and second-place berths have been added over the years (and more might be added still), it's managed to maintain its aura of exclusivity. October is when the best, most important and most interesting teams are playing, we like to believe. That said, not every team that misses the postseason is insignificant or uninteresting. If the only teams we chose to remember were the ones that played into October, a trip through the baseball archives would be a boring jaunt indeed.

That thought begat this new series, which I call "Home For October." How does "HFO" work? Simple. I'll be spotlighting a team for each year of the modern era that had an interesting story to tell without making it to the postseason.

What makes a team's story "interesting"? Any number of things! Some of the teams I chose narrowly missed the pennant, while others were historically bad. Some wildly exceeded expectations while others were spectacular flops. Some broke records or held an odd distinction. Some represent a turning point in franchise history, and some simply provide a snapshot of a bygone era. Basically, if I decide it's worth writing about, I'll write about it.

I only have two ground rules for my selections:

1. A team cannot have played past the officially-recognized regular season (duh). Tiebreaker playoffs are considered an extension of the regular season, so squads like the 1951 Dodgers, 1978 Red Sox, 2009 Tigers, etc. are all eligible. For years where no postseason was played (1901-02, 1904, 1994) I'll select a team that wouldn't have qualified based on their record when the season ended.

2. For variety's sake, repeat selections of a franchise need to be separated by at least eight years. In other words, if my selection for the 1984 season is the Mets, the Mets cannot previously have been selected more recently than 1976, and they can't be selected again until at least 1992.

When I originally got the idea for this series I thought I'd be selecting the "most interesting non-postseason team," but I quickly realized that a) there'd be a lot of franchise repetition, and b) "most interesting" is so subjective that I'd probably get disagreements from readers. By simply saying these teams are "interesting," I can (hopefully) avoid conflict. Of course, if anyone wants to leave a comment suggesting alternative teams for certain years, I welcome the discussion.

Here are all posts in this series:

1901 Milwaukee Brewers: The Original Brew Crew

PTWSW #73: The 1976 Cincinnati Reds

2010-12-22T00:44:00.002-06:00

Manager: Sparky Anderson
Record: 102-60
Ballpark: Riverfront Stadium
Owner: Louis Nippert
GM: Bob Howsam
Coaches: Ted Kluszewski, Russ Nixon, George Scherger, Larry Shepard

Future Hall of Famers: Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez

All-Stars: Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Ken Griffey, .336
OBP: Joe Morgan, .444 (NL leader)
SLG: Joe Morgan, .576 (NL leader)
OPS: Joe Morgan, 1.020 (NL leader)
2B: Pete Rose, 42 (NL leader)
3B: Cesar Geronimo, 11
HR: George Foster, 29
RBI: George Foster, 121 (NL leader)
BB: Joe Morgan, 114
SB: Joe Morgan, 60

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Gary Nolan, 15
SO: Pat Zachry, 143
ERA: Pat Zachry, 2.74
IP: Gary Nolan, 239.1
CG: Fred Norman, 8
SHO: Fred Norman, 3
K/BB: Gary Nolan, 4.19 (NL leader)
SV: Rawly Eastwick, 26 (NL leader)

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Pete Rose (b. April 14, 1941)

Youngest Player: Manny Sarmiento (b. February 2, 1956)

First to Leave Us: All are still living as of the date of this post. Incidentally, with 34 years and counting, this team holds the record as longest-entirely-surviving World Series Champion (second-best is the 1952 New York Yankees).

Last Survivor: See above.

First in Majors: Bob Bailey (debut September 14, 1962)

Last in Majors: Ken Griffey (final game May 31, 1991)

First to Play For the Franchise: Pete Rose (April 8, 1963)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Ken Griffey (August 17, 1990)

Pre-union Team: The 1969-71 Astros had three: Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Joe Morgan.

Reunion Team: The 1977 Expos (Santo Alcala, Will McEnaney, Tony Perez), 1977-82 Mets (Doug Flynn (1977-81), George Foster (1982), Joel Youngblood, Pat Zachry), 1983 Phillies (Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose) and 1984 Expos (Dan Driessen, Doug Flynn, Pete Rose) each had three.

Accomplishments

Joe Morgan, NL MVP
Pat Zachry, NL Co-Rookie of the Year
Johnny Bench, NL Catcher Gold Glove
Joe Morgan, NL Second Base Gold Glove
Dave Concepcion, NL Shortstop Gold Glove
Cesar Geronimo, NL Outfield Gold Glove

Season Summary

After finally winning the World Series the previous year, the Big Red Machine continued to roll. As great as the Reds' offense had been in 1975, in 1976 it was even better. Cincinnati led the NL in everything: runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers, stolen bases, walks, all the slash stats, and even strikeouts. Their pitching and defense fell to middle-of-the-pack, which meant they allowed more runs, but their lineup was so dominant that they still managed to win 102 games and finish ten games ahead in their division. For the second year in a row, Joe Morgan was named National League MVP, leading the team offensively and playing a solid second base.

In the postseason the Reds were flat-out unstoppable. For their first act, they swept the Philadelphia Phillies, winners of 101 games, in the NLCS. They won the first two games easily, and just when the Phillies looked to make it a series the Reds snatched away another victory. In Game 3 Philly held a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, but Cincy led off the inning with back-to-back homers from George Foster and Johnny Bench. The Reds then loaded the bases for Ken Griffey, whose chopper deflected off first baseman Bobby Tolan's glove, scoring Dave Concepcion with the winning run. For the second straight season the Reds were National League Champions.

The Reds' World Series opponent was the New York Yankees, who were playing in the Fall Classic for the first time in 12 years. Unlike their archrivals the year before, the Yankees didn't put up much of a fight. After an easy Red win in Game 1, Game 2 was the only one where New York even came close. With two out and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth, the game was tied. Griffey hit a grounder that resulted in a throwing error on Yankee shortstop Fred Stanley, and suddenly the winning run was on second. After an intentional walk to Morgan, Tony Perez struck the walkoff blow, singling to left and scoring Griffey. The Series shifted to Yankee Stadium, but even at home the Bombers looked helpless against the Reds; Cincinnati won the final two games by a combined score of 13-4, completing a sweep of the entire postseason and winning their second title in as many years.

Cincinnati's team OPS over the four games was an incredible .887, and their ERA was a dominant 2.00. For his two homers, six RBI and .533 batting average, Johnny Bench was named World Series MVP.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

PTWSW #72: The 1975 Cincinnati Reds

2010-12-21T14:16:00.000-06:00

Manager: Sparky Anderson
Record: 108-54
Ballpark: Riverfront Stadium
Owner: Louis Nippert
GM: Bob Howsam
Coaches: Alex Grammas, Ted Kluszewski, George Scherger, Larry Shepard

Future Hall of Famers: Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez

All-Stars: Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Joe Morgan, .327
OBP: Joe Morgan, .466 (NL leader)
SLG: Johnny Bench, .519
OPS: Joe Morgan, .974 (NL leader)
2B: Pete Rose, 47 (NL leader)
3B: Ken Griffey, 9
HR: Johnny Bench, 28
RBI: Johnny Bench, 110
BB: Joe Morgan, 132 (NL leader)
SB: Joe Morgan, 67

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Jack Billingham, Don Gullett, Gary Nolan, 15
SO: Fred Norman, 119
ERA: Gary Nolan, 3.16
IP: Gary Nolan, 210.2
CG: Don Gullett, 8
SHO: Don Gullett, 3
K/BB: Gary Nolan, 2.55
SV: Rawly Eastwick, 22

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Pete Rose (b. April 14, 1941)

Youngest Player: Don Werner (b. March 8, 1953)

First to Leave Us: Clay Kirby (d. October 11, 1991)

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Fred Norman (debut September 21, 1962)

Last in Majors: Ken Griffey (final game May 31, 1991)

First to Play For the Franchise: Pete Rose (April 8, 1963)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Ken Griffey (August 17, 1990). The Reds won the World Series that year, but Griffey never got a champagne shower, as he was released down the stretch. The season was a memorable one for Griffey though; he joined the Mariners for the final month, and with his son Ken Jr. became the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back homers.

Pre-union Team: The 1969-71 Astros had three: Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Joe Morgan. This trio was acquired by the Reds in one blockbuster trade before the 1972 season.

Reunion Team: The 1979 Phillies (Rawly Eastwick, Pete Rose, John Vukovich), 1983 Phillies (Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose) and 1984 Expos (Dan Driessen, Doug Flynn, Pete Rose) each had three.

Accomplishments

Joe Morgan, NL MVP
Johnny Bench, NL Catcher Gold Glove
Joe Morgan, NL Second Base Gold Glove
Dave Concepcion, NL Shortstop Gold Glove
Cesar Geronimo, NL Outfield Gold Glove

Season Summary

Since their pennant-winning season in 1970 the Reds had been widely known as the "Big Red Machine" for their offensive firepower. That machine, however, had always sputtered to a stop just short of a World Series title. In 1975 the Machine had its finest season ever, winning 108 games behind a lineup that scored 105 more runs than the next-best team. They led the NL in stolen bases (as well as success rate), walks and on-base percentage, and were second in batting average and third in homers. They also had the run preventive abilities to complement their offense; their defense was second in DER and TotalZone, and their staff of mostly finesse pitchers posted the league's third-best ERA+.

The 1975 season didn't exactly get off to a rip-roaring start. On May 2 the Reds were 12-12, and third baseman John Vukovich, named starter over 1974's defensively-challenged Dan Driessen, was a gaping hole in their batting order. The solution came through a radical change: left fielder Pete Rose would move to third, a position he'd only briefly played nine years earlier, and slugger George Foster would take over in left. There were some initial struggles, but once the players settled into their new roles the team became virtually unstoppable. On May 16 the Reds were 18-19; their record for the remainder of the season would be 90-35. They took over first place in early June, and a month later they'd built up a double-digit lead. They left the second-place Dodgers in their dust, winning the NL West by an astounding 20 games.

The Reds made quick work of the Pirates in the NLCS, sweeping them in three straight to meet the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Boston wasn't nearly the powerhouse Cincinnati was, but they wouldn't go down without a fight. Red Sox ace Luis Tiant pitched a shutout in Game 1, and it took a ninth-inning rally for Cincinnati to win Game 2. The Reds won Game 3 on Joe Morgan's tenth-inning single (after a controversial non-interference call on pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister), but Tiant pitched the BoSox to another victory in Game 4. The Reds bounced back to win Game 5, leaving them one win away headed back to Boston. Game 6 was a see-saw affair. The Red Sox went up 3-0 early, only to have the Reds storm back for a 6-3 lead. With two out in the eighth, Boston pinch-hitter Bernie Carbo tied it with a three-run homer, and the Red Sox would win in the twelfth on a walkoff blast from Carlton Fisk.

The Red Sox took another early 3-0 lead in Game 7, but those runs were the last they'd score for the season. The Reds chipped away for the next few innings before finally taking the lead in the ninth on another Joe Morgan single. Boston went down in order in the bottom half, and for the first time since 1940 (before any of their players were born) the Cincinnati Reds were World Series Champions. After years of coming up short, the famous "Big Red Machine" had finally reached the pinnacle. Pete Rose, the man whose position change had sparked their dominant run, was named World Series MVP.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

PTWSW #71: The 1974 Oakland A's

2010-12-04T17:26:00.000-06:00

Manager: Alvin Dark
Record: 90-72
Ballpark: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Owner: Charles O. Finley
Coaches: Jerry Adair, Bobby Hofman, Wes Stock, Bobby Winkles

Future Hall of Famers: Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson

All-Stars: Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Joe Rudi, .293
OBP: Reggie Jackson, .391
SLG: Reggie Jackson, .514
OPS: Reggie Jackson, .905
2B: Joe Rudi, 39
3B: Bert Campaneris, 8
HR: Reggie Jackson, 29
RBI: Sal Bando, 103
BB: Gene Tenace, 110
SB: Bill North, 54

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Catfish Hunter, 25
SO: Vida Blue, 174
ERA: Catfish Hunter, 2.49
IP: Catfish Hunter, 318.1
CG: Catfish Hunter, 23
SHO: Catfish Hunter, 6
K/BB: Catfish Hunter, 3.11
SV: Rollie Fingers, 18

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Vic Davalillo (b. July 31, 1936)

Youngest Player: Claudell Washington (b. August 31, 1954)

First to Leave Us: Deron Johnson (d. April 23, 1992)

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Deron Johnson (debut September 20, 1960)

Last in Majors: Claudell Washington (final game June 18, 1990)

First to Play For the Franchise: Deron Johnson (June 15, 1961)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Reggie Jackson (October 4, 1987)

Pre-union Team: The 1971 Chicago Cubs had three: Pat Bourque, Ken Holtzman and Bill North.

Reunion Team: The 1975-76 Cubs (Tim Hosley, Darold Knowles, Champ Summers, Manny Trillo), 1977 Rangers (Bert Campaneris, Darold Knowles, Paul Lindblad, Claudell Washington) and 1978 Yankees (Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Paul Lindblad) each had four.

Accomplishments

Catfish Hunter, AL Cy Young
Joe Rudi, AL Outfield Gold Glove

Season Summary

After two straight World Series titles the A's were battle-tested old pros in 1974. They were never out of first place after May 19, and they maintained a consistent pace once they got there to win the division by five games. Working in their favor was an incredibly balanced roster. Their batting and on-base averages were among the lowest in the AL, but when adjusted for pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum their team OPS+ was second in the league. They were also tops in stolen bases and a close second in home runs. On the pitching side they led the way with a 113 ERA+, and their strong defense once again allowed their pitchers to pitch to contact. Their staff exhibited fine control, posting the lowest walk rate, fewest hit batsmen, and the second-fewest wild pitches.

Oakland's ALCS opponent was the Baltimore Orioles for the second year in a row. Though the O's won one more game than the A's, their Pythagorean records gave Oakland an 11-game advantage. Baltimore won Game 1, but the A's proceeded to rattle off three straight wins and take the AL pennant. Incredibly, Oakland only got one hit in the clincher, that being Reggie Jackson's RBI double. They made up for their paucity of punch by drawing 11 walks, one from Gene Tenace with the bases loaded. It was all they needed for a 2-1 win.

These A's faced perhaps their toughest opponent yet in their third World Series. The Dodgers had won 102 games during the season behind a balanced attack that was remarkably similar to Oakland's, and the Blue Crew was seen as the favorite going into the Fall Classic. The A's extended their World Series winning streak to three though, by taking Game 1 3-2. The Dodgers won Game 2 by the same score, but the A's almost came back in the ninth. Pinch-runner Herb Washington (a sprinter with no baseball experience signed specifically to pinch-run) was picked off first for the second out, taking the wind out of Oakland's sails. The A's were unfazed, as they bounced right back to win Game 3 by (again) a 3-2 score. In the fourth contest the score was finally something different, but the result was again an A's win. Pitcher Ken Holtzman hit an unlikely home run in the third, and pinch-hitter Jim Holt's bases-loaded single broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth as Oakland won it 5-2.

For the first time since their run began, the A's didn't require a Game 7 to close out the World Series. Joe Rudi's seventh-inning homer in Game 5 gave the A's their final lead and they went on to win (appropriately) by a score of 3-2. Rollie Fingers was named MVP for his 9.1 innings of ace relief work and two saves. Second baseman Dick Green, though hitless in the Series, was the star on defense, participating in six double plays.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives

Award Pages Updated

2010-11-23T14:53:00.000-06:00

An early wish for a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm just checking in to announce a few updates to some older posts:

The Second Place Award Winners, Rookie of the Year Facts and Which Team Had the Most Cy Young Winners? have all undergone some changes. Now that the major award winners have been announced, the first two come complete with 2010 information. The last one didn't require any data updates, but it was originally constructed as a standalone post, so I made some edits in order that it might be updated more easily should any future staff be laden with Cy Young winners.

If you've read them already, go ahead, enjoy 'em again! If you haven't read them yet, what are you waiting for?

PTWSW #70: The 1973 Oakland A's

2010-11-20T07:17:00.002-06:00

Manager: Dick Williams
Record: 94-68
Ballpark: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Owner: Charles O. Finley
Coaches: Jerry Adair, Vern Hoscheit, Irv Noren, Wes Stock

Future Hall of Famers: Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson

All-Stars: Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Rollie Fingers, Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson

Team Leaders, Batting

BA: Reggie Jackson, .293
OBP: Gene Tenace, .387
SLG: Reggie Jackson, .531 (AL leader)
OPS: Reggie Jackson, .914 (AL leader)
2B: Sal Bando, 32 (AL leader)
3B: Bert Campaneris, 6
HR: Reggie Jackson, 32 (AL leader)
RBI: Reggie Jackson, 117 (AL leader)
BB: Gene Tenace, 101
SB: Bill North, 53

Team Leaders, Pitching

W: Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, 21
SO: Vida Blue, 158
ERA: Ken Holtzman, 2.97
IP: Ken Holtzman, 297.1
CG: Ken Holtzman, 16
SHO: Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman, 4
K/BB: Ken Holtzman, 2.38
SV: Rollie Fingers, 22

Tidbits

Oldest Player: Vic Davalillo (b. July 31, 1936)

Youngest Player: Glenn Abbott (b. February 16, 1951)

First to Leave Us: Gonzalo Marquez (d. December 20, 1984)

Last Survivor: Most are still living as of the date of this post.

First in Majors: Deron Johnson (debut September 20, 1960)

Last in Majors: Manny Trillo (final game May 20, 1989)

First to Play For the Franchise: Deron Johnson (June 15, 1961)

Last to Play For the Franchise: Reggie Jackson (October 4, 1987)

Pre-union Team: The 1968 Cleveland Indians had four: Vic Davalillo, Ray Fosse, Rob Gardner and Horacio Pina.

Reunion Team: The 1978 New York Yankees had five: Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Jay Johnstone and Paul Lindblad. Perhaps George Steinbrenner targeted these guys because he knew they could win under a meddlesome, overbearing owner.

Accomplishments

Reggie Jackson, AL MVP

Season Summary

Like the previous season, the A's were a top offensive team. They tied for the AL lead in OPS+, were third in homers and second in steals. They were great at avoiding double plays, grounding into the second-fewest twin killings despite frequently being on base, and it may have been what allowed them to score the most runs per game despite playing in a heavy pitcher's park. Their defense was once again fantastic, finishing second in TotalZone and DER, which helped their contact-oriented pitching staff post the fourth-best ERA+ in the Junior Circuit.

After winning the 1972 World Championship, the A's added some new faces to their lineup in hopes of a repeat. Former Cub outfielder Bill North took over in center, allowing Reggie Jackson to shift to right. First baseman Mike Epstein and catcher Dave Duncan were shipped out, allowing defensively-challenged catcher Gene Tenace's bat to stay in the lineup at first and new acquisition Ray Fosse to take over catching duties. Fosse wasn't the hitter Duncan or Tenace was, but his defense was superb, with 56% of opposing baserunners getting nabbed.

The AL West was a tightly-packed division for the first half of the season. The A's were as low as fifth place in June, but they were never more than six games back. On June 10 Oakland pulled above .500 for good, and before the month was out they'd worked their way into first. The second half was when the standings loosened up, and from August onward it was a two-team race between Oakland and Kansas City. On August 11 the Royals held a two-game lead, but the A's went on a 13-1 run to go up by five. By mid-September the A's had the division all but wrapped up, and they would win the West by six games.

Just as in 1972, the A's were shorthanded during the playoffs; Bill North injured his ankle at the end of September and was sidelined for October. Despite missing their leading base thief, the A's were able to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in the maximum five games in the ALCS. Catfish Hunter was the pitching star of the series, earning a win in Game 2, then tossing a shutout in the clincher. Bert Campaneris was the offensive star, batting .333 and hitting two homers (after clouting only four dingers during the season).

The surprising New York Mets were all that stood in the way of back-to-back Oakland titles. The Amazins had won the weak NL East with an 82-79 record, then upset the 99-win Reds in the NLCS. The A's won a Game 1 pitching duel, but the Mets showed the same mettle they had in reaching the Series by winning Game 2 in twelve innings. Oakland second baseman Mike Andrews allowed Game 2's deciding runs to score on two consecutive errors, and owner Charlie O. Finley was so incensed that he tried to get Andrews replaced on the roster by rookie Manny Trillo. It took an overruling by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn to prevent the move. The two teams split the next four to send the Series to Game 7, and the final match was decided in the third inning, when Campaneris and Reggie Jackson each hit two-run homers (the only Oakland round-trippers of the Series). The A's would hold onto the lead for a 5-2 win.

The A's became the first team to win back-to-back World Series since the 1961-62 Yankees. The victory was bittersweet though, as manager Dick Williams resigned immediately after Game 7, citing "personal reasons." Jackson was named MVP of the Series for his six RBI and five extra-base hits.

Acknowledgements:

Baseball Reference
Baseball Almanac
Google News Archives