(Though beaten to publication by the New York Times and MLB.com, your humble narrator insists that he had the idea first. So there.)
Out of some 1,200 players who appeared in a MLB game this year, about 85 were born in Venezuela. Of the 15 who logged 400+ PAs this year, five will be fixtures in the World Series lineups:
Counting this year’s Yankees, teams starting 3 or more nonpitchers age 36+ in any LCS game have now lost 8 of 9 series, and teams doing that in more than one game have lost 7 of 8 series:
Eddie Yost, the aptly-dubbed Walking Man who was the Senators’ regular third baseman from 1947-58, died last week, three days past his 86th birthday. Obituaries ran in the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Yost hung up his spikes after 1962 as the all-time leader in games played at the hot corner with 2,008, having surpassed by 145 games the old record-holder, Pie Traynor; he now ranks ninth in that regard. He was fourth with 1,614 walks drawn (now 11th). From 1949-55, he played in 829 consecutive games, at that time the fifth-longest streak in MLB history (now ninth).
The Giants, owners of 19 modern pennants, and the Tigers (11) have never met in the World Series. And very few players have had good years with both teams:
The Cardinals, Giants and Dodgers have each represented the NL in the World Series 18 times. Somebody is about to make it 19.
So last night, I conducted a little experiment on Twitter.
I tweeted, “I need you to name the first baseball player that comes to your mind. Doesn’t have to be a current player.” And what happened next was kind of amazing.
Tim Lincecum‘s 2012 regular season was so poor that many folks believed he had to be hiding an injury. The speculation began in April, after just two rough starts that followed a rocky spring training, and intensified through June and July, as the Giants’ erstwhile ace lugged a 6.42 ERA into the All-Star Break. As far as I’ve heard, no injury was ever disclosed; Lincecum never missed a start, and his second half was passable, with a 3.83 ERA. But his final numbers remained unsightly enough — a 5.18 ERA despite a friendly home park — that I wondered:
“Was that the worst full year by a multi-award-winning pitcher?”
The Yankees were dismissed by the AL champion Tigers, who not only swept the Bombers, but never allowed them to take a lead at any point in the 4 games.
How unusual is that? Let’s find out.
It came a day late, but there was nothing short about Detroit’s sweeping victory. Max Scherzer supplied the latest stellar start, holding the befuddled Yankees hitless for 5 innings before departing in the 6th, while validating his MLB K-rate title by fanning 10 of the first 19 batters, nine of them swinging. As in the opening round, the Bengal bats broke out their one big inning in the clincher, spanking CC Sabathia to the funky beat of 6 runs on 11 hits in 3.2 IP.
The Cardinals’ Señor Octubre (aka Carlos Beltrán) is out of the game with an injury, said to be his knee – will have to wait and see how serious it is. Losing Beltran didn’t hurt too much today as his replacement, Matt Carpenter, provided all the runs the Cards would need with a two-run homer in the 3rd. The two bullpens were stingy again, allowing a combined zero runs on only 2 hits and a walk in 4.2 innings of work. The Giants cranked 9 hits, but only one for extra bases, leaving 11 on base with an oh-fer in 7 RISP opportunities. In comparison, the Cards went 2 for 4 in those situations.
Yanks and Tigers go tonight, and it’s do or die time for the pinstripers. They have their ace on the hill, so they are set up to at least prolong the series, and maybe start a comeback to get the ALCS back to the Bronx.
If you were trying to think of the last left-hander before Phil Coke to save consecutive LCS games, well, it’s been a while. Hasn’t happened since Randy Myers in games 2 and 3 of the 1990 NLCS. Coke is the first to do it in the ALCS. Last time in the World Series – Tippy Martinez of the Orioles in games 3 and 4 of the 1983 classic.