This post is for voting and discussion in the 46th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round is for voting on the group of players born in 1933. Rules and lists are after the jump.
“Arriba” was Roberto Clemente‘s nickname and an apt one it was. TheFreeDictionary.com defines the idiom as “an expression of pleasure, approval or elation”, a sentiment that Clemente inspired in most who saw him play.
I only saw Clemente at the tail end of his career, but his skill and passion for the game were still plainly evident. I have quite vivid memories of the 1971 post-season when Clemente, with an 18-hit barrage good for a .383/.420/.596 slash, carried his team to a World Series championship, capped by a game 7 home run off Mike Cuellar that stood until the 8th inning as the only run of a taut pitchers’ duel ultimately decided by a 2-1 score.
Even among the pantheon of all-time greats who graced baseball’s stage in the 1960s, Clemente holds an honored place. Indeed, a compelling case can be made that he was among the two or three most dominant players of his time.
More on Clemente after the jump.
Some players have career years in which they far exceed their previous best performance and, as it turns out, any subsequent performance. Using FanGraphs leaderboards, I’ve identified the record-holders of this type.
This post takes a quick look at the players who had the largest difference between their best and second-best seasons in a variety of different statistical categories. Thanks to HHS reader Richard Chester for the idea for this post.
These players in this quiz have the distinction of being the only pitchers since 1916 with an unusual (and very unexpected) game accomplishment. What is it?
| Rk | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Wakefield |
| 2 | Sloppy Thurston |
| 3 | Larry Benton |
| 4 | Mat Latos |
| 5 | Alex White |
| 6 | Jeff D’Amico |
| 7 | Mike Mussina |
| 8 | Willie Fraser |
| 9 | Don Mossi |
| 10 | Preacher Roe |
| 11 | Ralph Branca |
Hint: this feat has been accomplished only by starting pitchers. None of these players has done it twice.
No fooling quiz solver extraordinaire Richard Chester. He correctly identified these players as the only pitchers to be credited with a win when surrendering 5 or more home runs. More on winning when you shouldn’t after the jump.
The players in this quiz had an unusual game accomplishment, made more unusual in the context of their careers. What is the quirky game and career feat achieved by no other retired players since 1916?
| Earl Averill |
| Bob Johnson |
| Bill Salkeld |
| Jim Hickman |
| Mike Hegan |
| Albert Hall |
| Eric Valent |
| Randy Hundley |
Hint: figuring out what HOOT means may help you solve this quiz.
Congratulations to John Autin! He correctly identified that some of these players hit for the cycle in their only 4-hit game (ergo, it Happened Only One Time). The others hit for the cycle and had a namesake with only one 4-hit game. See the comments for my mea culpa.
This post is for voting and discussion in the 45th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round completes the group of players born in 1934. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Earned Run Average (ERA) is, of course, the standard measuring stick of pitcher effectiveness, based on the inescapable logic that the pitcher’s ONLY job is to prevent runs from scoring (while the more elemental Runs Allowed Average would presumably be the metric that most closely correlates to run prevention, in the interests of being “fair” to pitchers and not judging them based, in part, on the errors made by their defense, I will defer to convention and concede that ERA is THE “go to” measurement).
But, how does a pitcher compile a low ERA? Firstly, of course, by limiting the runners who reach base and, then, limiting the baserunners who score. This post will break down those two attributes of pitcher skill and look at the pitchers of the past 5 decades plus who have been most proficient in each.
No, not that Shrek. This one is catcher Ossee Schrecongost (I ran into Ossee in my last quiz, by dint of his 3 qualifying seasons with matching HR and triples: one with deuces; and two with singletons). Ossee played around the turn of the 20th century (and happily also went by the shorter “Schreck”). As I scrolled down his player page, I was struck by this:
So, six straight seasons leading AL catchers in putouts (i.e. mostly catching his pitchers’ strikeouts) despite ranking mostly in the middle of the pack in games caught (excepting his one season leading the AL, Schreck played between 16 and 29 games fewer than the catcher placing first in games caught).
More on strikeout-dominant pitching staffs after the jump.
Interesting group of different kinds of players. That’s the attraction of this quiz.
But this ballplayer potpourri are the only players with a season since 1901 with a particular batting accomplishment. What is this unusual exploit?
| Rk | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nap Lajoie |
| 2 | Paul Waner |
| 3 | Ichiro Suzuki |
| 4 | Lou Brock |
| 5 | Zack Wheat |
| 6 | Phil Rizzuto |
| 7 | Curtis Granderson |
| 8 | Heinie Manush |
| 9 | Pepper Martin |
| 10 | Lonnie Smith |
Congratulations to Artie Z! He correctly identified these players as having the only seasons since 1901 with 120 runs scored and matching triple and HR totals. For whatever reason, having a season with those two totals matching seems to be strongly correlated with going to the HOF. More on this curious quirk after the jump.
Another HOF vote has come and gone, happily with better results than last year’s fiasco. But, there will be some crowded ballots in the next few years, so one can only hope that deserving players don’t drop off with unseemly haste.
There will, in fact, be so many notable players on coming ballots that I thought it could be useful to try to organize them in some structured way, if only to provide an objective way to assess the performance of voters in the coming elections.
After the jump, a handicapper’s guide to coming Hall of Fame elections.