This post is for voting and discussion of the fourth round of voting for the Circle of Greats, which adds players born in 1965. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

As expected, Greg Maddux was the winner of this round by an enormous margin, essentially by acclamation, and becomes the third Circle of Greats inductee, joining Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell.

–Our first three inductees collectively generated 232.3 career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) (b-ref version) in the NL and -0.1 WAR in the AL.

–Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander were rather clearly the two greatest NL pitchers over the 1900 to 1930 period. Since then, 1930-2012, its seems to me a very close call for “Best Pitching Career in the NL” between Seaver and Maddux. Maddux may get a slight edge, with Seaver having spent a few of his late, but still productive, years over in the AL. What do you think? Tom and Greg did have somewhat contrasting styles: Seaver more the strikeout pitcher, Maddux more the contact/groundball guy, though really they were both great all-around. Both had spectacular peaks as well as long-term value, and were also respected as individuals. More election result details after the jump.
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A lengthy musing about Adrian Beltre and a certain legendary third sacker….

Given Beltre’s strong hitting since 2010 (combined 137 OPS+) plus two more Gold Gloves, the Hall of Fame speculation is no longer idle stathead talk. He’s already #11 on B-R’s career WAR list among third basemen, and could move up to #7 as soon as this year. (WAR values herein are from Baseball-Reference unless noted.) Even by conventional measures, his counting stats — among 3Bs, he’s already 13th in hits, 9th in total bases, 7th in extra-base hits — plus his 4 Gold Gloves puts him within sight of HOF range, before his 34th birthday.

Which HOF-caliber third baseman’s career most resembles Beltre’s? It has to be Brooks Robinson.

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Sean has added a Batting Split Finder which, right now, is available here:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/split_finder.cgi

It’s currently beta but should launch officially next week, along with a Pitching Split Finder.

Here are a few tweets I’ve made today using the new tool:

• Most HR at home in 2012: Miguel Cabrera 28, Curtis Granderson 26. Most HR away in 2012: Adam Dunn 21, IkeDavis/Hamilton/Stanton 21
• Most HRs coming on an 0-2 pitch over the last 5 years: Miguel Cabrera 11, R Braun V Wells A Soriano 10, K Morales M Kemp 9
• Most HRs coming on an 3-0 pitch over the last 5 years: J Upton 5, M Napoli B Butler 4
• Most career home runs leading off an inning: Barry Bonds 184, Rafael Palmeiro 151, Hank Aaron 149, Mark McGwire 148, Rickey Henderson 142
• Most times striking out as 1st batter of the game since 1916: Henderson 408, Brock 362, Tony Phillips 249, Biggio & BOBBY Bonds 233
• Most RBI in Sep/Oct last season: Chase Headley 32, Miguel Cabrera 30, C Granderson 27, Torii “Homophobe” Hunter 27
• Most HR in 2012 when facing the starting pitcher for the 4th+ time in the game: Mike Trout 4, Ryan Bruan & Zack Cozart 3
• Most HR in 2012 when facing the starting pitcher for the 1st time in the game: Granderson 14, Carlos Beltran & AJ Pierzynski 12
• Over the last 20 years, most triples while batting 4th: Jeff Kent 30, Vlad Guerrero 27, Larry Walker 20, Bernie Williams 19, Scott Rolen 18

I swap sports magazines with my friend Z-bo. He subscribes to Sports Illustrated, while I get ESPN: The Magazine, just because it comes free with my online Insider sub. We save them up for 3-4 months and then trade, so by the time I get around to reading SI, it’s old news — which can be interesting in its own way.

From the “Hot/Not” box in SI’s June 11 issue:

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Following up from my piece a few weeks ago on 2012 batting streaks, here is a review of the longest game streaks in 2012 for pitchers.

After the jump, check out long streaks for both effective and ineffective pitching performances in 2012. Which ones are most surprising or noteworthy for you?

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I don’t want to make too much of this, but here it is:

• In 1998, an expansion year when both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa surpassed the season home run record with 70 and 66, respectively, the home run rate across the major leagues was 2.7% of all plate appearances.
• In 2012, after 10 years of random P.E.D. testing, Miguel Cabrera led the majors with 44 HRs, and the home run rate was … still 2.7% of all plate appearances.

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At the end of this post is a table of the major league players who have been known as “Cliff”, listed in descending order of career WAR (total WAR for position players, pitching WAR for pitchers). Continue reading →

The first in a series(?) reviewing random games from the season just past. We begin at the beginning:

April 6: Arizona 5, San Francisco 4. The Opening Day starters were Tim Lincecum and Ian Kennedy, a pair of righties taken 10th and 21st in the pitching-rich 2006 draft. (Brandon Morrow went 5th, Clayton Kershaw 7th, Max Scherzer 11th … and alas, Luke Hochevar went #1.)

The shape of things to come: Tim Lincecum yielded 3 runs on 2 HRs in the 1st inning and 5 runs over 5.1 IP, taking the first of his league-high 15 losses. The two-time CYA winner would stumble into the All-Star break at 3-10 with a 6.42 ERA, reviving memories of Denny McLain‘s rapid descent. Few could have dreamed that The Freak’s stellar postseason work — out of the bullpen, no less — would help key another title run.

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The Dec. 26 edition of Jim Caple’s CSI: Box Score (spoiler alert!) featured the only home run ever hit by Steve Christmas, who had a brief career as a catcher and first baseman with the White Sox from 1983-86. That got me reminiscing….

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