Al Rosen passed away last Friday at the age of 91. The 4-time All-Star third basemen for the Indians in the first half of the 1950s, Rosen compiled an impressive 32 WAR in a career of only 7 seasons as a regular. After his playing days, Rosen served in an executive capacity for three franchises, guiding all of them to post-season appearances, including two pennant-winning seasons.
More on Rosen after the jump.
The Dodgers have operated continuously since their founding in 1884 as the Brooklyn Atlantics of the American Association. Brooklyn transferred to the National League in 1890, adopting the nickname Dodgers in 1911 and 1912, and returning to that moniker for good in 1932.
The Dodgers are the seventh of the original NL clubs in our Mount Rushmore series. Your task is to choose the four players who best represent this franchise. Have fun!
This post is for voting and discussion in the 88th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round adds to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1902. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading
The 87th round of voting for the Circle of Greats inducts Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, winning election in his debut on the COG ballot. The original Ironman was a near-unanimous selection, appearing on the first 28 ballots cast en route to a final vote share just shy of 90%.
More on Gehrig after the jump.
The 86th round of voting for the Circle of Greats inducts Hall of Famer “Steady” Eddie Murray. Proving that slow and steady wins the race, Murray earns induction more than a year after first appearing on the COG ballot with those eligible from the 1956 birth year.
More on Murray after the jump.
Minnie Minoso died on Sunday at the age of 89. The Cuban-born third baseman and outfielder broke the color barrier for the Chicago White Sox in 1951, en route on to an All-Star career with the ChiSox and Indians.
More on Minoso after the jump.
Baseball mourns the passing over the weekend of Ernie Banks, a week shy of his 84th birthday. The career Cub was famous for never playing a post-season game, but more famous for his Hall of Fame career that began in 1950 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League. Banks then entered military service, though he somehow found time to “moonlight” with the Harlem Globetrotters! After his discharge, Banks skipped the minors and went straight to the show, debuting in September 1953 as the Cubs’ first black player. That debut was also auspicious for multi-hit games in two of Banks’ first three contests, including his first home run off Gerry Staley of the Cardinals. A week later, Banks would again victimize Staley who had been enjoying an 18-win All-Star campaign. The St. Louis right-hander would soon have company among the many NL hurlers to be burned by Chicago’s young slugger.
After the jump, more on the career of Ernie Banks.
Matt Cain, ace of the Giants’ world championship teams in 2010 and 2012, saw his performance fall off sharply in 2013 and was a non-factor in 2014, pitching ineffectively through the first half of a season that was cut short by a wonky elbow. After surgery, Cain is said to be feeling fine and raring to go for 2015.
But, is there a reasonable expectation that Cain can regain the elite form he displayed prior to 2013? I’ll look at that question after the jump.
Defensive metrics, while still controversial, have come a long way from the raw fielding percentages and error counts that once were all that was commonly available. In Part 1, this post presents a view of team defensive statistics from 2014, using two of the advanced defensive metrics in use today. Part 2 will focus on individual players, identifying the best and worst fielders at each position.
More after the jump.
With Derek Jeter’s retirement, the 2015 season will begin without an active 3000 Hit man. But, that should change soon, likely with an unusual confluence of such hitters.
More after the jump.
