As a complement to Andy’s Mount Rushmore series, this post looks at the most durable teammates for each club. This idea was inspired by a discussion in the Royals’ Rushmore thread. That discussion aroused my curiosity and, I’m guessing (or hoping), the curiosity of other readers as well.
As a preview to future Mount Rushmore posts that Andy will soon be directing his attention towards, the longest tenured teammates for the original 16 major league clubs are after the jump.
Sorry, West Coast fans, but I won’t get to those games tonight as well as some others.
Nationals 7, @Braves 4: First meeting of the year between Washington and host Atlanta, and the series winner will take away at least a share of first place. The Braves had fallen off the perch by losing 5 of 6, averaging 2 runs and 5.5 hits per game while going 2 for 22 with RISP. Tonight, the visitors jumped out with 4 in the 1st, but Tim Hudson tightened and Atlanta chipped it down to 1. Then with 2 gone in the top of the 7th, it all went south for the Braves.
1979 Topps #68 - Joe Niekro
We turn our attention to the Houston Colt .45’s, who came into being in 1962. Three years later they were rebranded as the Astros.
In their first 35 years, the Astros had limited success with just a couple of post-season appearances. Come 1997, though, they had 6 playoff appearances in 9 years, culminating with their lone World Series appearance in 2005. They’ve been pretty dismal since then, though.
Let’s take a look at their best players. Continue reading
David Wright / Presswire
Let’s move back to 1962 and start off with the New York Mets. This is going to be pretty interesting, I think.
Before you click through, just a comment about this photo–I think it’s insanely cool to see 3 sets of eyes locked onto the ball.
Angels 3, @Mariners: Dan Haren‘s 4-start losing streak (5.79 ERA therein) was no match for Seattle’s .232 BA/.291 OBP. Haren bested his previous high by 2 with 14 strikeouts in a 4-hit, no-walk shutout. His 126 pitches were the 3rd-highest total in MLB this year.
I’ve returned to the newspaper industry recently, doing some agate shifts for a wire service that assists the San Francisco Chronicle. To the uninitiated, agate is the small print located in sports sections where scores, stats, and other items of record can be found. It’s not generally a place for sabermetrics.
The evening’s theme was dominant starters:
@Cardinals 4, Padres 0: Adam Wainwright went the distance just like old times, racking up 9 Ks mainly with the curveball that’s been known as one of the best around ever since he froze Carlos Beltran to clinch the 2006 NLCS. Beltran was his benefactor Tuesday, driving in the game’s first 2 runs in the 1st and 6th innings.
1985 Donruss #297 Willie Wilson - what a great photo, showing Wilson's eyes locked on the incoming pitch as he's about to lay down a drag bunt
We finish the 1969 round of expansion with the Kansas City Royals. Just as a reminder, we’re trying to figure out which four Royals we’d put up on a monument for the team. The selection criteria are entirely up to you–best player, best performer, best embodiment of the team…
The Royals started on fire, with 3 second-place finishes in the first 6 years, followed by 4 first-place finishes in the next 5 years. After losing the World Series in 1980, they finally won it all in 1985. Sadly, in the subsequent 27 years they haven’t made the playoffs at all and haven’t even sniffed the post-season since the late 1980s.
There are an awful lot of players for this franchise who deserve consideration. Let’s dig in. Continue reading
Below are matched pairs of pitchers. What feat connects each of these pairs of pitchers?
Congratulations to Cubbies and Ed! They identified that, since 1922, these are the only pairs of pitchers who, in the same season, recorded fewer strikeouts than runs allowed, with a minimum of 125 strikeouts. Here are those seasons, and the pitchers’ stat lines.