September 2, 1918 — Senators 8, Athletics 3
There is a sort-of point to this one, believe it or not. It started with a search for the lowest team-leading home run total. Result: Three teams in modern history were led by players with exactly one home run. They are the White Sox of 1908 and ’09 — the tail end of the “Hitless Wonders,” who shocked the mighty Cubs in the 1906 World Series — and the 1918 Senators, on whom we’ll focus.
Jeff Cirillo is a true throwback player, the only player in the expansion era with an unusual batting feat, accomplished since 1935 only by these hitters. What is this now rare seasonal feat?
| Player |
| Jeff Cirillo |
| Ted Williams |
| Jackie Robinson |
| Joe DiMaggio |
| Lou Gehrig |
| Zeke Bonura |
| Luke Appling |
| Charlie Gehringer |
| Gus Suhr |
| Joe Medwick |
Hint: from 1920 to 1934, this feat was accomplished a total of 30 times by 20 different players.
Congratulations to Artie Z! He correctly identified the players in the quiz as those since 1935 to have one or more seasons driving in teammates and being driven in by them 100 or more times each. That is, R – HR and RBI – HR are both 100 or more. Jeff Cirillo, with 11 HR, 111 Runs and 115 RBI in 2000, is the first and only player since 1949 to accomplish this feat. The 43 times this has been done since 1920 are here. The 6 times this was done from 1901 to 1919 are here.
And, congratulations to Richard Chester! He solved the follow-up quiz, identifying Sammy Sosa’s 2001 season as the first and only season since 1949 with Runs plus RBI totaling to 300 or more. Here’s that list.
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April 8 in Detroit — Tigers 13, Red Sox 12 (11 innings):
In one of the year’s wildest tilts, Detroit rallied twice from death’s door to complete an opening-series sweep. After 4 innings it was tied at 7, with both starters drubbed and departed. Boston forged ahead in the 6th when Adrian Gonzalez punished the first pitch from lefty Daniel Schlereth, and behind Vicente Padilla‘s four scoreless innings, they took a 3-run lead into the 9th. It seemed a routine first save try for the newly anointed closer, Alfredo Aceves.
This post is for voting and discussion of the fourth round of voting for the Circle of Greats, which adds players born in 1965. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading
As expected, Greg Maddux was the winner of this round by an enormous margin, essentially by acclamation, and becomes the third Circle of Greats inductee, joining Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell.
–Our first three inductees collectively generated 232.3 career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) (b-ref version) in the NL and -0.1 WAR in the AL.
–Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander were rather clearly the two greatest NL pitchers over the 1900 to 1930 period. Since then, 1930-2012, its seems to me a very close call for “Best Pitching Career in the NL” between Seaver and Maddux. Maddux may get a slight edge, with Seaver having spent a few of his late, but still productive, years over in the AL. What do you think? Tom and Greg did have somewhat contrasting styles: Seaver more the strikeout pitcher, Maddux more the contact/groundball guy, though really they were both great all-around. Both had spectacular peaks as well as long-term value, and were also respected as individuals. More election result details after the jump.
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A lengthy musing about Adrian Beltre and a certain legendary third sacker….
Given Beltre’s strong hitting since 2010 (combined 137 OPS+) plus two more Gold Gloves, the Hall of Fame speculation is no longer idle stathead talk. He’s already #11 on B-R’s career WAR list among third basemen, and could move up to #7 as soon as this year. (WAR values herein are from Baseball-Reference unless noted.) Even by conventional measures, his counting stats — among 3Bs, he’s already 13th in hits, 9th in total bases, 7th in extra-base hits — plus his 4 Gold Gloves puts him within sight of HOF range, before his 34th birthday.
Which HOF-caliber third baseman’s career most resembles Beltre’s? It has to be Brooks Robinson.
Sean has added a Batting Split Finder which, right now, is available here:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/split_finder.cgi
It’s currently beta but should launch officially next week, along with a Pitching Split Finder.
Here are a few tweets I’ve made today using the new tool:
I swap sports magazines with my friend Z-bo. He subscribes to Sports Illustrated, while I get ESPN: The Magazine, just because it comes free with my online Insider sub. We save them up for 3-4 months and then trade, so by the time I get around to reading SI, it’s old news — which can be interesting in its own way.
From the “Hot/Not” box in SI’s June 11 issue:
Following up from my piece a few weeks ago on 2012 batting streaks, here is a review of the longest game streaks in 2012 for pitchers.
After the jump, check out long streaks for both effective and ineffective pitching performances in 2012. Which ones are most surprising or noteworthy for you?
I don’t want to make too much of this, but here it is: