Major League Baseball players born on the day a U.S. President was inaugurated:
–The first major leaguer born on an Inauguration Day was born on March 4, 1861, the day Abraham Lincoln was sworn in (until the mid-20th century, scheduled inaugurations usually took place on March 4). The player born that day was apparently the child of patriotic parents because they named their brand new baby after the brand new president. Abraham Lincoln Wolstenholme was born in Philadelphia, cradle of the nation. Abe Westenholme grew up to play in three games in 1883 for the brand new National League franchise in Philadelphia, which eventually became the Phillies but was then known as the Quakers. The other MLB players born on the day a U.S.president was sworn into office were:
–Joseph Herr, who was born the day of Lincoln’s second inauguration (“with malice toward none, with charity for all…”), played in 66 games in the old American Association when it was considered a major league.
–Mike Lehane was born on April 15,1865, the day Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening, Vice-President Andrew Johnson being then sworn in as the new president. Lehane was another American Association guy, playing two seasons for the short-lived Columbus Solons franchise.
–Red Bowser got into one game as a member of the 1910 Chicago White Sox. He was born the day Vice-President Chester Arthur was sworn in as President, after James Garfield had died the previous day from gunshot wounds he had suffered back in July.
–Lefty O’Doul and Neal Brady were both born on March 4, 1897, the day William McKinley was sworn in for his first term as President. O’Doul was one of the best hitters in the NL from 1929 through 1932. Brady pitched a few games for the pre-Babe Ruth Yankees as a kid, then pitched mostly in the minors before popping up briefly with the Reds in 1925.
–Bill Hart was born on March 4, 1913, the day Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated for the first time. Hart’s middle name was Woodrow, which I assume was not a coincidence. He was a career minor leaguer who got his chance with the Dodgers during World War II, thanks to a perforated eardrum that disqualified him from military service.
–Alex Monchak was born on March 5, 1917, the day of Wilson’s second inaugural. Monchak played in the majors for a short time in 1940, served in the Army with valor on the European Front, and coached and scouted in the majors for a very long time, particularly as Chuck Tanner’s first base coach for years, a position he held for the Pirates’ 1979 World Champions. Born in 1917 during the segregationist Woodrow Wilson’s administration, Monchak died in 2015 during the Obama administration.
–John Easton was born on March 4, 1933, the day Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated for the first time. Easton was a Princeton grad and engineer who appeared as a pinch-runner for the Phillies in one game in 1955, and three times as a pinch hitter (0 for 3) for the Phils in 1959.
–Dave Boswell was born the day of FDR’s fourth inauguration, January 20, 1945. He was an important part of the Twins’ starting pitching staff in the last half of the 1960’s, when the Twins were one of the strongest teams in baseball. He got into an infamous fight with Billy Martin, his rather sociopathic manager, and arm injuries derailed his career.
–Kevin Maas was born on January 20, 1965, the day Lyndon Johnson was inaugurated for a term in his own right, after having ascended to the presidency on John Kennedy’s assassination.
Kevin Maas is Gary Sanchez’ recurring nightmare this offseason.
–Julio Santana was born January 20, 1973, Richard Nixon’s second Inauguration Day (Nixon’s
term foundered as the result of an intrusion on the Democratic National Committee, surely something no one would ever try to take advantage of again after that). Santana was a journeyman pitcher whose career might have fared better had he not pitched at the height of the hitting explosion of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
–Matt Morris was born on August 9, 1974, the day the aforementioned Nixon formally submitted his resignation and Gerald Ford was sworn in to succeed him. Morris is one of five pitchers to rack up 100 career Wins for the Cardinals since the end World War II.
–John Baker and Freddy Guzman were born on January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inagurated for the first time. Baker was a backup catcher for a few years and had a memorable game for the Cubs in 2014 when he came in to pitch at the end of a long extra-inning contest and scored the winning run to give himself the W. He works in the Cubs front office now, presumably a fun place to be at the moment. Guzman is an outfielder who accumulated about 100 career PAs in the majors over several years bouncing around with a few different organizations, and has played in recent seasons in the Mexican League.
We won’t know for a long time if any kids born today will end up in the majors, but personally I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a bunch of babies born today to women named Rosemary.
Kevin Maas wasn’t even all that great in 1990.
He just hit homers.
The hype came from the fact that the Yanx were a last place team for the first time in a quarter century, and he was the only thing to get hyped about.
Sanchez is a Catcher who has shown big defensive potential.
Maas played first, and wasn’t particularly good at it (especially compared to the injured guy he was covering for).
As for offense, Gary had 229 PA last year.
Here’s their stats, compared through Maas’ first 229 PA:
.299 / .376 / .657 / 1.032
.241 / .354 / .528 / .882
Greg Bird is a better cautionary comp to Maas:
.261 / .343 / .529 / .871
Voomo – I agree re: Sanchez. Here’s the list of players with OPS of .930 or greater with 200+ PAs in their first season:
Willie McCovey
Ted Williams
George Watkins
Albert Pujols
Ryan Braun
Wally Berger
Frank Thomas
Johnny Mize
Dale Alexander
Chuck Klein
Tommy Henrich
Moose Skowron
Bill Salkeld
Jose Abreu
Adam Dunn
Charlie Keller
Paul Waner
Del Bissonette
Frank Robinson
Earl Averill
That’s a pretty darn good list! The only real “busts” were Watkins, Alexander, Salkeld, and Bissonette. But they all debuted between ages 26-30, so probably weren’t great prospects (and none of those 4 completely dropped off…they all added 4 to 10 WAR after their initial season.
Sanchez could put up at .800 OPS going forward and he’d still be a top 2 or 3 catcher in the AL.
Sanchez is in good company on that list.
Alexander was still playing well when his major league career was cut short by a freak injury incurred during treatment for twisted knee. He made it back to the minors the next year and remained a productive hitter at that level for nine seasons.
“We won’t know for a long time if any kids born today will end up in the majors, but personally I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a bunch of babies born today to women named Rosemary.”
That made me laugh so loud it scared the dog.
Color me deprived, or depraved, or whatever you want to color me, but I don’t get the reference to the name Rosemary. Maybe I don’t watch enough TV? Please clue this poor ignorant soul in to the joke so I can scare MY dog too!
It’s a reference to the movie Rosemary’s Baby, in which Rosemary gives birth to Satan’s baby.
Oh, thanks! I actually never saw that movie (although I’ve HEARD of it, of course). And I’d forgotten (or maybe I never knew) that that was the plot.
You and your dog can be scared together: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary's_Baby_(film)
Thanks! If I can find it online, on YouTube or similar, maybe I’ll watch it in honor of our new Satan. 🙁
I’ll say this once.
Please, everybody, let’s leave politics behind when we come to this site.
This is one of the few places left in our society, online or off, where people are respectful and communicate thoughtfully.
Or, if we are going to talk politics, let’s actually talk politics. Because what this above quipping is is simply irresponsible puerile divisive retardation.
Understood. I tried to be as oblique as possible in the original post, only in the last line at the very end, and only in fun. I don’t think my comment in that last line of my original post could be fairly construed as any sort of serious political comment, just an off-the-wall punning-type joke, the kind of thing with which I’ve always liked to spice my posts a little. But I didn’t mean to offend, and will avoid the subject in the future.
Cap Anson and Jim O’Rourke have played through the most presidential administrations, 8 each. Anson played from Grant through McKinley and O’Rourke from Grant through T. Roosevelt (he didn’t play while McKinley was president). Nick Altrock and Jim Kaat have played through 7 administrations.
Tough for current players to rack up many administrations. Obama was our third 8-year president in a row — the first time that’s happened since Jefferson/Madison/Monroe. With David Ortiz retiring and A-Rod apparently done, only Bartolo Colon remains as a guy who’s been in the majors since 1997.
Minnie Minoso managed only five: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, and Carter. He didn’t have a PA during the Nixon administration.
That’s six for Minnie. Also, that’s four different Democratic Party presidents, which has been pretty much impossible to do, other than via the kind of courtesy appearances that Minnie was permitted.
Seven also for Nolan Ryan (Johnson thru Clinton). Six for Jack Quinn (Taft thru Roosevelt), Eddie Collins (Roosevelt thru Hoover), and Pete Rose (Kennedy thru Reagan).
If I have done my work correctly Don Heffner holds the record for most seasons played under 1 administration for his entire career. He played from 1934 to 1944, a total of 11 years under FDR.
Other suspects: Jamie Moyer, John Smoltz, Tom [Flash] Gordon, Cal Ripken Jr 5 (Reagan→Obama), Julio Franco 4 (Reagan→Dubya), Tim Raines & Harold Baines 5 (Carter→Dubya), Pete Rose 6 (JFK→Reagan), Phil Niekro 5 (LBJ→Reagan), Walter Johnson 5 (TR-Taft-Wilson-Harding-Coolidge), Cy Young 5, Nolan Ryan 7 (LBJ→ Clinton), Pud Galvin 6 (Grant-Hayes-Garfield-Arthur-Cleveland-Harrison), Carlton Fisk 6 (Nixon→Clinton)
You realize that this seems like a terrible jinx–maybe to the Presidency itself: References to Lincoln (assassinated), Garfield (assassinated), McKinley (assassinated), Wilson (serious stroke in office), FDR (had a stroke and died in office), Kennedy (assassinated), Nixon (impeached and resigned). Reagan (victim of an attempted assassination).
This idea did occur to me as I was writing — every paragraph seemed to include a reminder how, despite our national mythology, disorderly and even violent our strong-president democracy has been over the years. The rarity of our recent sequence of three presidents in a row serving a full eight years and leaving office relatively healthy is a reminder of that historic fragility. It also reflects a combination of improvements in both modern medicine and presidential security.
I had a pol-sci professor in college who made the argument that our system produces both consensus, and frustration with consensus. Radical ideas are incorporated into one or the other party’s platform after being shaved down a bit for popular consumption. In this way, policy change comes over time in an evolutionary process. But, it also runs the risk of nihilistic, even anarchistic and violent behavior by the fringe true-believers, who are purists and get frustrated when their ideas are homogenized.
The mythology is that Tecumseh or some other Indian leader put a curse on William Henry Harrison for the Battle of Tippecanoe, and that every President who was elected in a zero year from him forward was fated to die in office. It works for 140 years. Harrsion (1840), Lincoln (1860), Garfield (1880), McKinley (1900), Harding (1920), FDR (1940), JFK (1960). Of course, Reagan (1980) stopped the curse, but Hinkley’s bullet came pretty close W (2000) was never close personally to death, so the curse must be broken now.
Formidable curse.
Nowhere to put this but sad news as both Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte have died in separate car accidents in the Dominican Republic.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/yordano-ventura-and-andy-marte-have-died/
Among pitchers who debuted in the majors in 2013, Jose Fernandez is second in career WAR in the NL and Yordano Ventura the third in the AL.
OK, I’m stumped. What pitcher who debuted in 2013 has more WAR than Jose Fernandez?
Tanner Roark. By 0.1 WAR (13.3 vs 13.2)
Most pitching b-ref WAR, pitchers who debuted in MLB in 2013:
1. Tanner Roark 13.3
2. Jose Fernandez 13.2
3. Sonny Gray 9.8
If you use the fangraphs version of pitching WAR, which relies on FIP rather than runs actually allowed, Fernandez gets 13.9 career pitching WAR and Roark only 7.6.
B-R has Tanner Roark at 13.3 WAR and Fernandez at 13.2. Roark, though, had 102 more IP than Fernandez.
Ventura is the third youngest pitcher to allow no runs when starting and winning a World Series elimination game, when he went 7 scoreless to win game 6 of the 2014 series. The two younger pitchers (Bret Saberhagen and Johnny Podres) both pitched shutouts to win seventh games.
Lyndon Johnson’s inauguration should read January 20, 1965.
Correct! Thanks for catching the typo. LBJ was inagurated (after his 1964 landslide reelection), and Kevin Maas was born, on January 20, 1965. I’ve corrected the error in the text.