Mike Sandlock, catcher and infielder with three NL teams in the 1940s and 1950s, recently passed away at the age of 100. Sandlock is the 17th major-leaguer and first catcher to live 100 years.
After the jump, a look at the majors all-century team.
Two weeks into the new season and the clubs with the longest current winning streaks are the Braves and Twins. Which is interesting because both those clubs lost their first 9 games, only the second time since 1913 that two teams have stumbled so badly out of the gate.
More quirky tidbits from the young season are after the jump.
MLB walk rates are at historic lows, another artifact of a declining run scoring environment. Rates below 8% of PAs have been recorded in both leagues for the past two seasons, levels not seen since the 1960s in the NL, and not seen previously in the AL in the live ball era.
More after the jump.
The new “Chase Utley” slide rule was applied in Tuesday’s Jays-Rays game, and raised some immediate controversy, not least because the offending slide was among the most gentlemanly you’re likely to see in an attempt to break up a double play.
After the jump, it’s your turn to weigh in on the new rule.
Opening day is almost here. Every team but the Yankees has named their opening day starter, so here’s a team-by-team look at those selections, with some (hopefully) interesting related tidbits.
More after the jump.
Last season marked the 6th consecutive campaign with OBP below .330 for major league leadoff hitters. If it happens again in 2016, it will mark the first time since at least 1913 that that’s happened in 7 consecutive seasons. 2015 also marked the fourth straight season with at least 10% of major league teams posting a sub-.300 OBP from the number one hole; it’s the first time that’s happened in more than 40 years.
The good news (I guess) is that poor leadoff hitting didn’t stop the Kansas City Royals from becoming only the sixth team since 1913 to win the World Series with leadoff hitters posting a sub-.300 OBP. More on trends in leadoff hitting after the jump.
All of these pitchers played for a division champion. But, they also did something else to distinguish themselves from all other relief pitchers since divisional play began in 1969. What is this unusual pitching accomplishment?
The pitchers are:
Click MORE for links to these players’ Baseball-Reference pages.
The solution to the quiz is that these are the only relief pitchers on a division-winning team to face fewer than 3.75 batters per IP in a 50 IP season with zero starts. More on efficient relief seasons after the jump.
But, not the numbers (with lots of zeros after them) that you’re probably thinking about. Baseball’s annual rite of fall and winter has just about run its course. As of this writing, Baseball-Reference is recording 414 free agent signings since the end of last season, with only 8 more players still on the market.
How did your team do in the free agent sweepstakes? Find out after the jump.
The 2012 Minnesota Twins have the unfortunate distinction of being the only club in more than 35 years with some unusual position players on its roster. What unenviable characteristic distinguishes these clubs from among all other post-war teams?
| Rk | Year | Tm |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012 | Minnesota Twins |
| 2 | 1979 | Cleveland Indians |
| 3 | 1976 | California Angels |
| 4 | 1976 | San Diego Padres |
| 5 | 1976 | Texas Rangers |
| 6 | 1972 | Montreal Expos |
| 7 | 1968 | San Francisco Giants |
| 8 | 1959 | Philadelphia Phillies |
Hint #1: There were twelve such teams from 1920 to 1941, and seven more from 1942 to 1945. Seventeen of those 19 teams were Braves, Phillies, Athletics and Reds clubs.
Hint #2: The recent passing of 1960s Giant third baseman Jim Davenport led me to this topic (though he wasn’t one of the players that put the 1968 Giants on this list).
Congratulations to bstar! He correctly identified that only these post-war teams had two players qualify for the league batting championship with ISO of 0.05 or less. More after the jump.
The indispensable Play Index tool at Baseball-Reference.com has recently been updated to include game log data for the 1913 season.
After the jump, I’ll look at a few of the more unusual game feats from that season.