Cal was my brother's favorite player. He seemed to be the most universally loved player before Jeter. Maybe even more so.
Philadelphia's Shibe Park originally had a 515 center field. They dropped it to 468 from 1925-1950, but it stayed at 447 until 1968. It's pretty amazing to think about the Mays and Aaron home run totals when you consider the size of some of those old NL parks and the higher mound in the mid-60's in the meat of their careers.
My favorite HOF class will always be George Brett, Nolan Ryan, and Robin Yount (I think maybe Carlton Fisk also got in that year too).
14 years ago today Bill Mueller became the only person in history to hit a grand slam from both sides of the plate in the same game
On August 2, 1921, all 8 players implicated in throwing the 1919 World Series were acquitted in a jury trial in Chicago. The jury deliberated for three hours and found all Black Sox innocent of all criminal charges. During the 1921 offseason, Chicago federal judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis was appointed as the first commissioner of baseball. The day after the verdict, Landis issued a statement that all 8 were banned for life. They were previously ruled ineligible. Landis banned them. Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned. Although accused of throwing the 1919 series, he set a World Series record for 12 hits that stood until 1964. He led both 1919 teams in batting average during the series, hitting .375 and he did not commit a single error during the series. Jackson was a .356 lifetime hitter, behind only Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby.
On August 6, 1969, Billy Martin was managing the Minnesota Twins. Two of his starters, pitcher Dave Boswell and outfielder Bob Allison, got into an argument in an alley outside a bar near the team hotel. As manager, Martin intervened. He knocked Allison unconscious and gave him 20 stitches, putting him on the 21 day DL. Allison still finished the season 20-12 as the Twins won 97 games and their division.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20272947/don-baylor-1979-american-league-mvp-angels-dies-age-68 Former AL MVP Don Baylor died at age 68.
One of my friends growing up would yell "Don Baylor" every time we played wiffle ball, then lean into the pitch to get hit. Baylor used to just flex his bicep and lean into it.
When you really look at what goes into hitting a baseball, PEDs are so overstated for a player like Bonds.
On August 11, 1994, Randy Johnson threw the last pitch of the 1994 baseball season when he struck out Ernie Young. The strike lasted into 1995 as owners prepared to start the season with replacement players and the sides reached an agreement April 2.
That Expos team was so fucking good too. You almost have to wonder if that season plays out and they make, and probably win the World Series if they would still be in Montreal.
Yeah, a couple pages back, Gwynn had a shot a .400 that year and Williams/Griffey were chasing Maris too. The original air date for Ken Burns Baseball on PBS was when the World Series was supposed to be played that year.
The Expos were a damn good team in 94 but they get romanticized a tad too much. They didn't even have the best record in baseball until just a few days before the strike. They were 3rd in baseball in run differential. Good club but not far and away the best team like say the Dodgers this year. Yes I'm salty that Mattingly's best club gets forgotten.
Albert Pujols has 609 home runs which ties him with Sammy Sosa for most HRs by a foreign born player.
1994 Pedro wasn't 1999 Pedro. He was their #2. Jimmy Key was better in 1994 than anyone the Expos had. Agree they would have been tough but I think a lot of people get skewed bc of what guys did later in their careers.
They were also a young team coming into their own, sort of like Kansas City in 2014. Did that Expos team still have Mark Langston?
They were but they weren't going to change a ton in 2 months. No. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MON/1994.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1994.shtml http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...=1994&ind=0&team=&rost=&age=&filter=&players=
I don't think that's fair to say, just go back to 2014 and look how KC surged the last 2 months of the season. Sure, it wasn't until the next season they won the World Series, but young teams can change a lot over 60-ish games.
10 years ago today: the GOAT hit his 762nd and final home run. In honor of that, here are my 10 favorite Barry Bonds stats (in no particular order): 1. If you turned all 762 of Bonds' career home runs into outs, his career on-base percentage would be .384, the same as Alex Rodriguez's career OBP. 2. Bonds' career stat line on 3-0 counts: .393 BA / .967 OBP / 1.054 SLG / 2.020 OPS 3. Bonds reached base just 330 fewer times than the all-time leader, Pete Rose.. in 3,284 fewer plate appearances 4. In 2004 Bonds reached base more times (376) than he had official at-bats (373) 5. In a four year span (2001-2004) Bonds put up the 1st , 2nd, 4th, and 8th best OPS seasons of all-time. 6. From 2001-2004 Bonds played in 573 games and reached base safely in 536 of them. 7. Bonds is one of the 7 players all time in the 300HR/300 steals club. He's the only member of the 400HR/400 steals club. He's also the only member of the 500HR/500 steals club 8. In 2004 Bonds had the highest ever OPS at the all-star break at 1.421 .. his second half OPS was exactly 1.421 as well, giving him a total OPS that year of 1.421 (the all time record) 9. From 1986 to 1998 (before the alleged PED use began) Bonds lead the majors in WAR with 99.6 -- second over that span was Ken Griffey Jr. with 65.6 WAR. Bonds' 99.6 WAR in those 13 seasons would've put him 20th best all-time for position players 10. If Bonds stepped back on the field today, he would have to make 1,412 straight outs for his career OBP to drop below .400
I've said it before, I'll say it again, revoke the HOF Voting privileges for those who refuse to vote him into the HOF.
- Craig Biggio drove in 1,175 runs in his 20 year career. Barry Bonds’ home runs alone drove in 1,174 runs. - 2001-2004 fWAR (FanGraphs’ version of WAR): Barry Bonds: 46.6 fWAR New York Mets: 46.6 fWAR Milwaukee Brewers: 45.3 fWAR Kansas City Royals: 31.0 fWAR Detroit Tigers: 30.9 fWAR Montreal Expos: 30.7 fWAR - 26.3% of Barry Bonds’ 12,606 career plate appearances ended with a home run or a walk. From 2001-2004, that number was 39.5%. - In 62 career plate appearances against Randy Johnson, Barry Bonds hit .306/.452/.551 - 49.1% of Barry Bonds’ 2,935 career hits were extra base hits. Barry Bonds ranks second behind Hank Aaron for most career extra-base hits. To showcase how truly ridiculous this % is, here’s how it compares to the rest of the top seven on the all-time extra base hits list: Hank Aaron: 39.2% Stan Musial: 37.9% Babe Ruth: 47.2% Willie Mays: 40.3% Alex Rodriguez: 40.9% Ken Griffey Jr.: 42.9%
There are already 116 MLB players with 100+ strikeouts this year. Last year there were 139 that had 100+ Ks. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Hank Aaron had zero 100+ strikeout years in 64 combined MLB seasons
Prior to 1929, there was no ground rule double. If you bounced a ball into the seats, it was a home run. The AL enacted a ground rule double in 1929. The NL followed in 1931. On September 12, 1930, the Dodgers Al Lopez hit the last bounced home run in major league history.
Cleveland win their 20th straight game tonight, tying an Al record. Posting now so I can bump in the future
On September 19, 1986, the White Sox Joe Cowley no hits the Angels. The White Sox released him after he failed to win another game. In 1987, the Phillies released him after he lost every start. He is the only pitcher in major league history to throw a no hitter and never win another game.
Here are some of the great Ted Williams' stats from 1941-1947: 1941: Hit .406 1942: Won the triple crown and set the all time OBP record at .553 1943: Fought in WWII 1944: Fought in WWII 1945: Fought in WWII 1946: Won the MVP 1947: Won the the triple crown
Bob Feller 1940 27-11 2.61 led the AL in wins, era, complete games (31), shutout, innings, and strikeouts. Finished 2nd in MVP voting behind Hank Greenberg and there was no Cy Young. 1941 25-13 3.15 led the AL in wins, innings, and strikeouts. Finished 3rd in MVP voting behind DiMaggio and Williams. 1942 WWII 1943 WWII 1944 WWII 1945 WWII 1946 26-15 2.18 led the AL in wins, innings, and strikeouts. 1947 20-11 2.68 led the AL in wins, innings, and strikeouts. Finished his career in 1956 with 266 wins and 2581 strikeouts. Could have pushed Christy Mathewson 373 for 3rd all time in wins and would easily have passed CY Young 2803 strikeouts. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, he was visiting his terminally ill dad in Iowa and was supposed to drive to Chicago to sign a contract extension with the Indians that would have made him the highest paid pitcher in baseball. Instead, he went to the US Navy recruiting office and enlisted.
How many MLB records will likely never new broken? Other than career saves or a single game record, I don't see any pitching records falling. Also hard to imagine the hitting streak record going down or an of Ricky Henderson's SB records being touched.
Other than Johnny Vander Meer throwing 2 consecutive no-hitters (no one will ever throw 3), I'd say: Cy Young's 511 career wins & 749 complete games (!) Ripken's 2632 consecutive games Ty Cobb's .366 career avg Bonds' .609 On Base Percentage in a single season Barry Bonds 232 walks in a single season, 2558 walks in a career, and my person favorite - 688 career intentional walks (2nd all time is 307)
Cy Young is at 511 and the closest post-dead ball era pitcher near him is Warren Spahn at 363. Among the 24 pitchers who have won 300 games, Nolan Ryan is the only one to pitch 25 or more seasons. You would have to average 21 wins a year and have the longest career among those guys.
The saves record will be hard for someone to beat. Rivera was on a playoff team for every season except 1 iirc. More wins equals more save opportunities. He was also incredibly fortunate with injuries too outside of one lost season near the end of his career. He was really good, obviously, but he wouldn't have near as many saves if he played on .500 teams. Kimbrel is the closest active closer and he's not even halfway to Rivera's 652.