I knew I wouldn’t be able to do a Saturday recap, so just for the hell of it, here’s the rest of Friday’s action:

@Phillies 6, Red Sox 4: Carlos Ruiz (.371) is now batting higher than any qualified catcher ever has for a season, and his 1.036 OPS is within hailing distance of Mike Piazza’s record (1.070). His 2-run single in the 1st (the biggest Win Probability event of the game) lifted him to .400 with RISP and 4 for 9 with the bases loaded (10 RBI).

• Cole Hamels (6-1, 2.48, 5.8 SO/BB) should be able to expand his library of old-school baseball histories after he signs his next contract.

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In this quiz, we have two lists of players. 

• Each player on the first list is related to exactly one player on the second list.
• Each player on the second list is related to exactly one player on the first list.
• A particular feat connects each pair of players. It is the same feat for all pairs.
• No other pairs of players have accomplished this feat.

Congratulation to Tristram12 who identified that in the pairs of players below (the lists are matched up now) each player homered in his first WS game, and both in the same game. Those games are here.

1976 Topps #441 Gary Carter All-Star Rookie

OK, we roll back the clock to 1969 and the bunch of teams that all came into existence that year. One of them, the Montreal Expos, is just a memory at this point. Let’s identify the franchise’s marquis players. Washington Nationals can also be considered, but I don’t think there’s anybody from the modern era even close enough. Continue reading →

@Tigers 6, Pirates 0: Conditions were good for a Verlander no-hit bid — he was at home, where his opponents have a .226 career BA (.240 away); Pittsburgh came in hitting .221; and just like last year’s May no-no, Detroit was scuffling along a couple of games under .500. He could smell it in the 8th, when he whiffed the side with a some 99-mph readings. But with 2 outs to go and a 1-2 count, Josh Harrison — the Pirate least likely to strike out this year — broke it up with a fine defensive swing.

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I was leafing through the ol’ Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract recently, when one of the “historical” reprints spoke to me in a way that it never had before. This passage about Wildfire Schulte is from a 1910 book co-authored by Johnny Evers:

Schulte proved to be … one of the rarest baseball treasures, a “third batter.” The third batter in any team is the most important. He must hit long flies, hit hard, bunt and run, because ahead of him in a well constructed team are two batters who are on the team for their ability to “get on,” and the third man must be able either to move them up or hit them home. — Johnny Evers with Hugh Fullerton, Baseball in the Big Leagues (Reilly and Britton, 1910). (emphasis added)

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Jose Bautista / Presswire

Time for 1977’s other expansion team to get the Rushmore treatment.

Let’s get started.

First of all, can you guess which batter has the most career WAR for the Blue Jays? I bet you get it wrong. Continue reading →

It is a logical assumption that it’s tougher to hit in the post-season than in the regular season, with back-of-the-rotation starting pitchers disappearing from view and the workloads of the very best pitchers being rationed less carefully.  No longer are the top arms being saved for more important occasions — those post-season games are the most important occasions.  The numbers back up the logical assumption, as you can see after the jump. Continue reading →

@Indians 6, Mariners 5: A 2-out, 3-run Jake-jack by Jose Lopez tied it in the 8th, and a walk-fueled rally off Brandon League in the 11th culminated in Carlos Santana’s payoff/walk-off that produced Cleveland’s 4th straight win and a 4-game lead in the AL Central.

• League gave just 10 passes in 61 IP last year and hadn’t walked 3 in a game in over 4 years.
• Walks played a key role in all 3 scoring frames for the Indians, who drew 8 in all and are MLB’s runaway leaders in that category, averaging 4.6 per game; San Diego is 2nd at 3.8.
• Enjoy it while it lasts: The Tribe are 9-1 in one-run games, a big reason they’re in 1st place despite being outscored.

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Later this season, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre and Chipper Jones could all pass the 2000 mark for career games at third base. Actually, barring injury or retirement, it’s a virtual lock. How  unusual is that? Let’s find out.

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Just a great photo.

Courtesy of Presswire