Author Archives: Doug

A handicapper’s guide to coming HOF elections

Another HOF vote has come and gone, happily with better results than last year’s fiasco. But, there will be some crowded ballots in the next few years, so one can only hope that deserving players don’t drop off with unseemly haste.

There will, in fact, be so many notable players on coming ballots that I thought it could be useful to try to organize them in some structured way, if only to provide an objective way to assess the performance of voters in the coming elections.

After the jump, a handicapper’s guide to coming Hall of Fame elections.

Continue reading

Quiz – Post-war Pitchers (stumped)

The pitchers in this quiz share the distinction of being the only post-war hurlers (those who played their entire careers since 1946) with a particular career accomplishment. What is it?

Rk Player
1 Frank Baumann
2 Gene Brabender
3 Nino Espinosa
4 Art Fowler
5 Dave Freisleben
6 Mark Gardner
7 Mike LaCoss
8 Ramon Martinez
9 Frank Pastore
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/7/2014.

For bonus points, Art Fowler is also in a group with Jack Quinn, Dutch Leonard, Dizzy Trout, Nolan Ryan and Goose Gossage as the only live-ball era pitchers with a certain game accomplishment. What is that feat?

Looks like I’ve got a stumper. The key to this quiz was in noticing that all of these pitchers had a similar number of career complete games. They, in fact, are the only pitchers to go undefeated in 15 or more complete games over an entire career. Clayton Kershaw with 11 wins and Kyle Lohse with 10 top the list for active pitchers who have never lost a CG. The bonus quiz answer is after the jump.

Continue reading

Paul Blair 1944-2013

Paul BlairOver the holidays, we too soon lost one of the outstanding defensive centerfielders in baseball history. Longtime Oriole Paul Blair passed away in Baltimore, aged only 69.

Among contemporary centerfielders, Blair’s 174 WAR fielding runs from 1964 to 1980 were more than the combined total of Garry Maddox (102) and Ken Berry (69) in second and third place. That 174 mark ranks 4th all-time among centerfielders, close behind Jim Piersall (175) and Willie Mays (183), with those three trailing only the phenomenal total of 236 WAR fielding runs posted by Andruw Jones.

After the jump, more on the career of Paul Blair.

Continue reading

Home field advantage and “hitting ’em where they ain’t”

The 2013 World Series champion Red Sox succeeded for a lot of reasons, including a league-leading batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Not only did Boston’s .329 BABIP lead the AL this past season, it was the highest BABIP for any team in more than 80 years, and third highest of all teams since 1916.

Undoubtedly, the Red Sox were a fine hitting team, so it shouldn’t be a great surprise that they produced a stellar BABIP. But, playing in an outstanding hitters’ ballpark shouldn’t be overlooked as a major contributor to good BABIP scores.

After the jump, more on team BABIP and the influences of home ballparks.

Continue reading

Quiz: Junior-sized All-Star (stumped)

Ken Griffey Jr. a first ballot inductee last week into the Circle of Greats, is the only player of the past 35 years (since 1979) with four consecutive seasons (1996-99) of 40 HR, 120 Runs and 120 RBI (actually, Babe Ruth, with 7 consecutive seasons from 1926 to 1932, is the only other player to do this).

But, another Junior, rather less well-known, is the subject of today’s quiz. Like Griffey, Junior Spivey was an All-Star who also was the only retired position player active in the past 35 years to accomplish a certain feat. What is it?

Hint: among retired position players to play their entire careers since 1901, Spivey is the 13th to accomplish this feat.

Doesn’t happen often, but looks like I’ve stumped our HHS readers. The secret to this quiz was in noticing that Junior Spivey compiled a pretty fair WAR total of 8.2 in only 457 career games. That is the most since 1978 for retired players with careers of 500 or fewer games, and only the 13th time with WAR over 8 since 1901. Those careers are after the jump.
Continue reading

The “last to play for” All-Star Team

For the most part, major league baseball baseball in the 20th century was very stable, with franchises remaining in the same cities for stretches of 50 consecutive seasons (1903-52) and 29 more (1972-2000) to round out the century. And, the franchise relocations in the 20 intervening years were mainly in response to societal changes, chiefly the westward population movement.

The 19th century, though, was a different matter entirely, with numerous franchise shifts, failed franchises and new leagues starting up and folding. Of the 8 teams in the National League’s inaugural 1876 season, only the Chicago and Boston franchises have remained in operation continuously to the present day. The present-day Cardinals, Reds and Pirates all started in 1882, the Phillies and Giants in 1883 and the Dodgers in 1884. All of the 8 teams of the inaugural American League season in 1901 have remained in operation to the present day.

We don’t often talk about the 19th century game so, just for fun, here’s a look at some of the players and teams of that era. After the jump, an All-Star team composed exclusively of players who were the last to appear in the major leagues among those who played for a defunct or relocated franchise in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Continue reading

Quiz – Champions with a difference (solved)

This quiz concerns league champion teams with an unusual formula for success. Since 1901, these are the only championship teams with a particular characteristic. What is it?

Rk ▴ Year Lg Tm
1 2012 AL Detroit Tigers
2 2008 AL Tampa Bay Rays
3 2003 NL Florida Marlins
4 1995 NL Atlanta Braves
5 1985 AL Kansas City Royals
6 1984 NL San Diego Padres
7 1972 NL Cincinnati Reds
8 1971 NL Pittsburgh Pirates
9 1906 AL Chicago White Sox
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2013.

Congratulations to RJ! He correctly identified these teams as the only pennant winners with every game started by a pitcher in his age 29 season or younger. More after the jump.

Continue reading

Seth Smith and the (almost) lost art of pinch-hitting

This past season, the Athletics’ Seth Smith passed career milestones for 2000 total PAs and 200 PAs as a pinch-hitter. Among all players meeting both those criteria since 1950, Smith is easily the majors’ most proficient pinch-hitter. Which is ironic, considering that pinch-hitting has declined to record lows, in terms of both frequency of use and the effectiveness of the strategy.

More on the decline of pinch-hitting after the jump.

Continue reading

Quiz – Journeymen and a HOFer (solved)

What does a HOFer have in common with a bunch of journeymen? (Okay, maybe a few are more than just journeymen).

That’s the question for this quiz involving the only players since 1901 with a particular career quirk. Can you spot it?

Our HHS readers were all over this one. Kudos to Artie Z for being first to articulate the basic idea that the quiz players had all played st least twice on teams in their final season in a city before relocating. The additional criterion which the group expressed in various ways is that only these players have also played for at least 3 different franchises.

More on our peripatetic pros after the jump.

Continue reading