For a personal project, I’ve been searching for royalty-free images of baseball players. I’ve come across a goldmine on Flickr. A huge collection by Boston Herald-Traveler photographer Leslie Jones is here, courtesy of the Boston Public Library. The collection is simply amazing. I just had to share some of my favorite photos.

When I first saw this photo, it looked fake. But going by their listed heights, Eppa Rixey (6’5″) stands a full foot taller than Rabbit Maranville (5’5″). While Maranville was small for his era, Rixey must have been considered a giant.

That’s 1,345 wins in that photo (Smoky Joe Wood—117, Cy Young—511, Lefty Grove—300, and Walter Johnson—417). Continue reading →

Nobody got swept, so we’re still in business with another quad-play day.

Let us know what grabs you about today’s games.

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Or not.

Given the ridiculous amount of debate and discussion the 2012 AL MVP race has given us, I felt it was only appropriate to hand out a few offbeat awards of my own. Of course, the floor is open to all suggestions for awards, as long as we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Leave ’em in the comments section, kids.

Anywho, without further ado: here are a dozen awards I’m proudly giving out.

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Former major league pitcher Jim Kaat is providing the TV color commentary for MLB Network coverage of the Tigers-Athletics series. In an HHS reader discussion of that series (and others), a side discussion arose on Jim Kaat’s HOF credentials, during which I offered up the unusual factoid that Kaat’s “historical span” (for want of a better term) covers some 69 seasons of major-league baseball, from 1939 to 2007. This notion is based on the fact that Kaat pitched to both Ted Williams and Julio Franco.

HHS reader RJ thought this might make an interesting blog topic, so let’s find out.

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Is Bryce Harper pressing, or is it too soon to judge from 10 ABs (6 Ks)? Am I crotchety to be irked by headlines focused on Carlos Beltran’s 2 HRs, when the score was already 7-3 in the 6th before he got going? Do you, too, feel younger seeing Andy Pettitte on the mound with his cap pulled low? Who knew that Ichiro could breakdance? These and other matters are officially open for discussion!

Yankees 7, @Orioles 2: It was close all the way, and then it wasn’t. Jim Johnson, the MLB saves leader who had never allowed a HR to any current Yankee (127 PAs), hung a 2-0 pitch to Russell Martin leading off the 9th, and the dam burst, washing away all prior impressions of what had been a close-fought game. But some memories of exciting plays and interesting decisions seeped back the day after:

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Following are the only players since at least 1918 with an unusual, three-part accomplishment. What have these players done that distinguishes them from all of their brethren?

Hint: a player active in 2012 is on track to join this list

Looks like HHS readers could solve only 2/3 of the puzzle. The three-part accomplishment for which the group above has exclusive domain reads like this:

1. played in the post-season of his rookie season (kudos to reader Josh)
2. had a hit streak of at least 4 games to start his post-season career (more kudos to reader RJ)
3. hit safely in each of the first two regular season starts of his rookie season (this was the stumper)

Congratulations to Yoenis Céspedes, who on October 10th joined this group with hits in his first four post-season games.

Recently I made the “shocking” discovery that the AL and NL don’t have the same season WAR totals (on a per-team basis), even before interleague play. Of course I wondered why that is. After much verbal head-scratching on my part, Ed very kindly pointed out that the obvious answer I had been rejecting was, indeed, the answer:

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As the 1972 playoffs began, the bloom was off the League Championship Series. Born in ’69, the first six tilts had produced five sweeps and a 3-1 rout, and those who had opposed the newfangled divisions were feeling vindicated. But the ’72 affairs at last would show the concept’s up side: Both were full-length thrillers with momentum shifts, late rallies, daring moves, hard feelings and controversy, with 5 of 10 games settled by one run.

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Eye-opening play at the plate to limit Oakland’s damage in the 3rd: Rookie RF Avisail Garcia needed a perfect throw to nab Coco Crisp, and that’s just what he unleashed. It’s nice to hear Jim Kaat in the booth again, describing it as a “good baseball play” by all concerned — the decision to send Crisp, the way Garcia charged and delivered a one-hop throw that sat up nicely for Gerald Laird, and Crisp’s back-door slide that almost escaped the tag. Doug Fister backed it up with another called third strike to end what might have been a big inning.

Now let’s get that run back, Miggy!