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| Jul-28-09 | | Jim Bartle: I listened to a few radio interviews with Rose while he was still playing (and before managing) and they were great. No cliches "one game at a time" stuff, but a lot of insight and things I hadn't thought about. On the other hand, Rose the manager played Rose the ballplayer at first base far past the time his production merited status as a regular. In 84 and 85 he was the weakest first baseman in the league, and no other manager (at least one trying to win) would have played him regularly. But Rose wanted the hit record and he got it. |
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Jul-29-09
 | | Phony Benoni: So how good a lead-off hitter was Rickey Henderson? Take a look at this game from July 29, 1989: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... 4 runs, 5 stolen bases--and no at bats. It's the second coming of Herb Washington! This was probably a good strategy for Rickey against Randy Johnson; a look here: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... shows that he batted .119 (7 for 59) against Johnson, with 30 strikeouts. However, he also waited out 26 walks, and got a decent OBP out of the whole deal. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | whiskeyrebel: Very interesting stat. I feel very glad that Henderson seems to finally be receiving proper credit. He was totally unique in his time and much greater a player than most folks thought he was. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: Certainly a great player, underappreciated during his career. But not really unique, because Tim Raines was sort of a junior Rickey for a number of years. Very similar, just not quite as good. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | dzechiel: To true baseball fans (those who can cite the Infield Fly Rule from memory): I'm just finishing a book called "Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract." This tome is the size of a phone book, but will change the way you look at the game. "Abstract" is divided into two parts. The first analyzes the game decade by decade, starting in the 19th century, tracking changes to the game, how it was played and who attended games. The second part uses the concept of "Win Shares" to select the 100 best baseball players at each of the nine positions. For those who are unfamiliar with Win Shares, it is an effort to compare players from all eras by normalizing the data (compensating for the live ball vs the deal ball eras, compensating for players whose home filed was a hitter's park vs a pitcher's park, etc). Bill James does the job and has a TON of interesting facts and stories to go with his analysis. Highly recommended IF you are a student of the game. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | playground player: <dakgootje> I know ERA isn't everything, but I think Mr. 10.26 had also lost seven games in a row. When the Yanks came to bat in the first inning, they really teed off on him. <To all and sundry> Take the steroids out of modern baseball, and you take out damn near everything. I saw Mark McGwire a year after he was off the juice, and I didn't recognize him--he looked like a college professor. Yes, they do have a lot of great training and coaching tools today that they didn't used to have, but to me the thought of today's pitching staffs trying to cope with Al Simmons, Ralph Kiner, Willie Mays, or Mickey Mantle is just laughable. Thank you, <Phony Benoni>, for this year-round hot stove league! |
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Jul-29-09
| | Phony Benoni: <dzechiel> Doesn't sound like a book I'd want to read through. Keep on hand for reference, sure, but read? Bill James has been mentioned around here before, and I know enough to shut up and not argue with his ideas. He certainly knows more than I do about these things, and I admire his attempt to normalize data so that various eras can be compared mre fairly. But, even so, sometimes I long for the good old days when nobody had even heard of on-base percentage. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: I don't think James is the bad guy with overuse of new statistics. Well, maybe a little bit. The problem are others who have been "inspired" by him and take the statistical analysis to ridiculous lengths. I have the Historical Baseball Abstract, and it's great. But as PB suggests, it's not the sort of book you just sit down and read. It's nice for reading short sections at a time, and for looking up things when you're curious. There are two editions of the book. The biggest change (aside from moving current players up the lists) was the switch from Lefty Grove to Walter Johnson as the greatest pitcher of all time. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | dzechiel: <Jim B and PB> Well, all I can say is I'm on the 85th best pitcher (the last position analyzed) and I have read every word up to this point. While this book is browse-able, you will miss an awful lot of interesting detail in perusing it instead of reading it. |
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| Jul-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: When you finish it, move on to "Baseball Mangers." Also excellent. I just saw that Derek Jeter already has 2,600 hits. I wouldn't have thought he was approaching 3,000, but he's playing his fourteenth season as a regular, hasn't been injured much, and has hit consistently if not spectacularly. I wonder which players have reached 3,000 in the fewest number of seasons. I'll bet Jeter will be among them, though he won't be one of those with the fewest at-bats. |
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Jul-29-09
| | Phony Benoni: The answer looks like Pete Rose, who did it early in his 16th season; nobody else before year 17. Here's a chronological list, with day of 3000th hit, first year, and season in which the 3000th hit was achieved (Musial and Mays each missed a year for military service) 08/04/1894 Cap Anson 1871 24
06/09/1914 Honus Wagner 1897 18
09/27/1914 Nap Lajoie 1896 19
08/19/1921 Ty Cobb 1905 17
05/17/1925 Tris Speaker 1907 19
06/03/1925 Eddie Collins 1906 20
06/19/1942 Paul Waner 1926 17
05/13/1958 Stan Musial* 1941 17
05/17/1970 Hank Aaron 1954 17
07/18/1970 Willie Mays* 1951 19
09/30/1972 Roberto Clemente 1955 18
09/24/1974 Al Kaline 1953 22
05/05/1978 Pete Rose 1963 16
08/13/1979 Lou Brock 1961 19
09/12/1979 Carl Yastrzemski 1961 19
08/04/1985 Rod Carew 1967 19
09/09/1992 Robin Yount 1974 19
09/30/1992 George Brett 1973 20
09/16/1993 Dave Winfield 1973 21
06/30/1995 Eddie Murray 1977 19
09/16/1996 Paul Molitor 1978 21
08/06/1999 Tony Gwynn 1982 18
08/07/1999 Wade Boggs 1982 18
04/15/2000 Cal Ripken 1981 20
10/07/2001 Rickey Henderson 1979 23
07/15/2005 Rafael Palmeiro 1986 20
06/28/2007 Craig Biggio 1988 20 |
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Jul-30-09
 | | jessicafischerqueen: Thank you for the important <non sea> Bass material!! I will try to find him on <youtube> now. I never saw that show before. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: Quite a list, PB!
It looks as if Jeter will reach 3000 in 17 seasons, right up with the greatest. It surprises me. Though Jeter has been an excellent hitter, he's never been spectacular, never had a monster season at bat.I'd never thought he fits in that group. He's just been amazingly consistent, gets a lot of at-bats, and hasn't been injured much. |
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Jul-30-09
| | Phony Benoni: Jeter has snuck in under the radar--which is remarkable, considering he's a lifelong Yankee. Despite that, he's always impressed me as a class guy, and I'll be happy to see him make it. Ichiro Suzuki is one to watch out for. He should go over 2000 hits in this, his ninth season. If he can keep up his pace, he'll hit 3000 early in season 14, smashing all records. However, due to his late start, he's already 35; age has to start telling sometime. Alex Rodriguez should go over 2500 hits this year, so another four years should see him through in season 20. We also forget that he doesn't just hit home runs--and how long he's been around. He's still only 33. Albert Pujols will likely go over 1700 in this, his ninth season, so he could make it by 16 or 17. Looking at the active leaders in hits (http://www.baseball-reference.com/l...), I'd also tap Garret Anderson (talk about under the radar!) and Johnny Damon as possibles. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: Garrett Anderson, another case of a player who is consistently good for many years without having any MVP-type years. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | A.G. Argent: Anybody see highlights of last night's game, Dodgers v Birdos? The only link I can provide is - http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/in... - Check out Manny's catch. Even in making a borderline spectacular catch (seen better; Joe Rudi come's to mind), Manny still manages to do it in his own inimitable, Manny style. He actually snagged it at the top of the fence as he was on his way down from his leap. Ain't sure I ever seen that. Also look at Pujols sweep with his glove in mid-air, leaping to grab the toss, swiping the runner as he passed under him all in one motion. Ain't seen that too often, either. That whole game was 15 innings of highlights. Quite sure you didn't mind the outcome, Jim. (Sorry, Dave Z.) Dodgers drop four straight, Giants take three straight. Keeps you interested, eh. Oh, and by the by, notice the bloody Yanks are now tied with the LAD for the best record in MLB. I'm just sayin'. (They're baaaaack.) |
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| Jul-30-09 | | A.G. Argent: I loved that Garret Anderson-led Angel WS Champs team of '02. (Sorry, Jim). One of the Wild Card teams to take it all. And they're still perrennial contenders. Has so much to do with Scioscia. Great manager. And I hate that Anderson is a Brave now. I won't get into how intensely I dislike the Braves (can I say that here?). |
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| Jul-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: Anderson is OK with me. He tossed me a ball during batting practice at the 02 Series. Wasn't his fault I just turned away at the wrong moment. |
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Jul-30-09
| | Phony Benoni: Hating particular baseball teams is not only OK, it's traditional. Perhaps even required. By the way, anybody catch this play?
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?... Now that's hitting the ball on the button. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | technical draw: I hate the Atlanta Braves, hate hate hate. |
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Jul-30-09
| | Phony Benoni: OK, what is it about the Braves? I always thought of them as sort of bland, but then I'm an American League fan. Were they, like the Yankees, too good for too long? Is it Ted Turner? Is it the broadcasters on WTBS? Is Bobby Cox the Antichrist? Should they just have stayed in Boston to distract all the fans from Fenway Park? Or is it all that "America's Team" hubris? That is ridiculous. Everyone knows that the Detroit Tigers are America's Team. Or, at least, should be. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: Only team worth hating is the Yankees, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to win, which doesn't work. (Their great teams of a decade ago weren't built with expensive free agents.) Plus the ridiculous new stadium they built. George Steinbrenner has been the classic fun villain to hate. Now that he's halfway out of the picture it's not as fun. |
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Jul-30-09
 | | kutztown46: I stop by here once in a while to read the baseball chatter. For years I was a big baseball fan - started by idolizing Mickey mantle as a young boy and then became an Orioles fan in time for their glory years in the early 70's. These days, I'm thoroughly disgusted with MLB. I'm sure my team's fortunes have something to do with it. Davey Johnson put together a strong Orioles team in the 90's but then the pompous idiot owner fired him. I don't think they have had a winning season since. I was a big fan of Cal Ripken so I continued following the Orioles. After he retired, I still paid attention to follow Mike Mussina. After he left to go to the hated Yankees (but who can blame him), I have not watched an Orioles game since. Today, I don't know a single player on the team. Since I live in the Phillies home area, I do pay minimal attention to them but that's it. Oh, back when I paid attention to MLB, I hated the Braves, too. Reasons: Ted Turner, Jane Fonda, Jimmy Carter and the tomahawk chop. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | technical draw: <OK, what is it about the Braves? > The chop-chop and Jane Fonda. |
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| Jul-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: Whichever teams you root for, it's too bad when traditionally strong teams such as the Orioles or Cincinnati become consistent losers. I felt the same when the Yankees were down, or the Dodgers. |
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