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.

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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.

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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?

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.

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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.

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The pitchers in this quiz share the distinction of being the only post-war hurlers (those who played their entire careers since 1946) with a particular career accomplishment. What is it?

Over the holidays, we too soon lost one of the outstanding defensive centerfielders in baseball history. Longtime Oriole Paul Blair passed away in Baltimore, aged only 69.

Among contemporary centerfielders, Blair’s 174 WAR fielding runs from 1964 to 1980 were more than the combined total of Garry Maddox (102) and Ken Berry (69) in second and third place. That 174 mark ranks 4th all-time among centerfielders, close behind Jim Piersall (175) and Willie Mays (183), with those three trailing only the phenomenal total of 236 WAR fielding runs posted by Andruw Jones.

After the jump, more on the career of Paul Blair.

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The 2013 World Series champion Red Sox succeeded for a lot of reasons, including a league-leading batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Not only did Boston’s .329 BABIP lead the AL this past season, it was the highest BABIP for any team in more than 80 years, and third highest of all teams since 1916.

Undoubtedly, the Red Sox were a fine hitting team, so it shouldn’t be a great surprise that they produced a stellar BABIP. But, playing in an outstanding hitters’ ballpark shouldn’t be overlooked as a major contributor to good BABIP scores.

After the jump, more on team BABIP and the influences of home ballparks.

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Ken Griffey Jr. a first ballot inductee last week into the Circle of Greats, is the only player of the past 35 years (since 1979) with four consecutive seasons (1996-99) of 40 HR, 120 Runs and 120 RBI (actually, Babe Ruth, with 7 consecutive seasons from 1926 to 1932, is the only other player to do this).

But, another Junior, rather less well-known, is the subject of today’s quiz. Like Griffey, Junior Spivey was an All-Star who also was the only retired position player active in the past 35 years to accomplish a certain feat. What is it?

Hint: among retired position players to play their entire careers since 1901, Spivey is the 13th to accomplish this feat.

Doesn’t happen often, but looks like I’ve stumped our HHS readers. The secret to this quiz was in noticing that Junior Spivey compiled a pretty fair WAR total of 8.2 in only 457 career games. That is the most since 1978 for retired players with careers of 500 or fewer games, and only the 13th time with WAR over 8 since 1901. Those careers are after the jump.
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For the most part, major league baseball baseball in the 20th century was very stable, with franchises remaining in the same cities for stretches of 50 consecutive seasons (1903-52) and 29 more (1972-2000) to round out the century. And, the franchise relocations in the 20 intervening years were mainly in response to societal changes, chiefly the westward population movement.

The 19th century, though, was a different matter entirely, with numerous franchise shifts, failed franchises and new leagues starting up and folding. Of the 8 teams in the National League’s inaugural 1876 season, only the Chicago and Boston franchises have remained in operation continuously to the present day. The present-day Cardinals, Reds and Pirates all started in 1882, the Phillies and Giants in 1883 and the Dodgers in 1884. All of the 8 teams of the inaugural American League season in 1901 have remained in operation to the present day.

We don’t often talk about the 19th century game so, just for fun, here’s a look at some of the players and teams of that era. After the jump, an All-Star team composed exclusively of players who were the last to appear in the major leagues among those who played for a defunct or relocated franchise in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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This quiz concerns league champion teams with an unusual formula for success. Since 1901, these are the only championship teams with a particular characteristic. What is it?

Congratulations to RJ! He correctly identified these teams as the only pennant winners with every game started by a pitcher in his age 29 season or younger. More after the jump.

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