Category Archives: Baseball

Famous for Something Else: Ernie Nevers

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Ernie Nevers is a Hall of Famer in both Pro Football and College Football, a star of the early days of the NFL, and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams.

But he also had a baseball career, pitching for three seasons for the St. Louis Browns:

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W
1926 24 SLB AL 2 4 .333 4.46 11 7 4 4 0 0 74.2 82 41 37 4 24 16 1 1 1 326 96 4.19 1.420 9.9 0.5 2.9 1.9 0.67
1927 25 SLB AL 3 8 .273 4.94 27 5 13 2 0 2 94.2 105 61 52 8 35 22 2 1 5 397 88 4.83 1.479 10.0 0.8 3.3 2.1 0.63
1928 26 SLB AL 1 0 1.000 3.00 6 0 2 0 0 0 9.0 9 4 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 36 146 4.79 1.222 9.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.50
3 Yrs 6 12 .333 4.64 44 12 19 6 0 2 178.1 196 106 92 13 61 39 3 2 6 759 93 4.56 1.441 9.9 0.7 3.1 2.0 0.64
162 Game Avg. 7 15 .333 4.64 53 15 23 7 0 2 217 238 129 112 16 74 47 4 2 7 922 93 4.56 1.441 9.9 0.7 3.1 2.0 0.64
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/20/2014.

He also pitched a bit in the Pacific Coast League:

Year Age AgeDif Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G IP H R ER BB WHIP H9 BB9
1928 26 -3.4 Mission PCL 14 11 .560 4.37 29 206.0 202 108 100 69 1.316 8.8 3.0
1929 27 -1.6 Mission PCL 7 8 .467 4.56 36 148.0 194 92 75 60 1.716 11.8 3.6
2 Seasons 21 19 .525 4.45 65 354.0 396 200 175 129 1.483 10.1 3.3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/20/2014.

So, that’s the baseball career of Ernie Nevers, another player who is famous for something else.

The Pitcher is the Third Most Important Position In Sports (behind Goalie and QB)

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Not too long ago, I saw a ad for a Sports Illustrated book entitled NFL Quarterback: The Greatest Position In Sports.

I immediately recognized this as bull. Oh, maybe being the QB is the most glamorous position in sports, but that’s just one definition of greatest. As far as the greatest importance, quarterback isn’t it.

No, rather, a ice hockey goalie is. NFL teams can go far with average or only-slightly-above average QBs. Doug Williams had nearly as many career interceptions as he did touchdowns and never made a Pro Bowl, but he was hot at the right time to help Washington stomp Denver in January of 1988. Trent Dilfer threw more interceptions in his career than touchdowns, but his Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. The Jets got to within one game of the Super Bowl twice with Mark Sanchez as their quarterback. The Broncos won a playoff game with Tim Tebow at QB.

But, look at hockey, and I’m going to guess you’ll have trouble finding a champion who didn’t have a good goalie (and those that didn’t have good goalies that ended up winning probably had that goalie playing the best few weeks of his career). If a goalie is standing on his head, he can turn a mismatch into a even one, turn an underdog into a favorite, and make even the most unlikely of upsets possible (see: Miracle on Ice, Jim Craig, 1980 Olympics, which given his lack of success in the pros may fall into the “greatest few weeks of his life” category).

Now, to baseball, as Madison Bumgarner showed us this October, the third most important position in sports is the pitcher. Way back when, when men were men, arms were expendable and relievers were just guys who’d come in if somebody was doing really, really, bad, the pitcher was perhaps just as important as the goalie in hockey. Old Hoss Radbourn infamously singlehandedly pitched the 1884 Providence Grays to the title, throwing 678.2 IP, pitching in 75 of the team’s 112 games and starting 73 of them. His 59 wins that season is a record that will never be broken. In 1904, Jack Chesbro set the modern-era record for wins with 30 for the New York Highlanders, he pitched in 55 of the team’s 151 games, and started 51 of those appearances.

Those were the days when “wins” or “losses” meant far more than they do today, since pitchers were all but assured of going the full game, and their opposite numbers were expected to do the same, making the W-L record more analogous to a heavyweight fighter.

Since then, the worth of an individual pitcher has gone down. Having one or two or even three or four good pitchers is no guarantee of success like a good goalie or a good QB is. That’s because, well, it’s rare that they are in the game the whole time, and as good as they are they still can’t control their own offense. Just look at how Detroit’s great starting pitching has been constantly foiled in postseasons past by a suspect bullpen, or how Philadelphia’s “Big Four” starters of Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt failed to even get to a World Series because their team’s offense took a holiday.

Still, as Bumgarner showed us this past month, there are still times that a pitcher can make all the difference. If Madison Bumgarner isn’t pitching, it’s likely that the Royals win the World Series. A single player isn’t supposed to decide an entire series. Not anymore.

But nobody told Bumgarner that. And he went on to show just how important the position of pitcher is.

Headlines From Around The Continuum (October 30, 2014)

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, as well as some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “Giants Win” or “Bumgarner MVP”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Headline: Giants win Game 7 and Series, Bumgarner MVP after 5-inning save

San Francisco Chronicle: DYNASTY (also used in Stockton and probably some other papers)

San Francisco Examiner: YES! YES! YES!  (Also used in Marin, Santa Cruz, etc)

Kansas City Star: ALMOST HOME

Foxsports.com: MAD MAN

CBS Sports: Giants on top of the world

SI.com: FIVE SEASONS. THREE TITLES. ONE INCREDIBLE FRANCHISE.

ESPN.com: ANOTHER GIANT MOMENT

Arizona Republic (Phoenix): ANOTHER GIANT OCTOBER

Enterprise-Record (Chico, CA): GIANTS TRIUMPH!

Eureka (CA) Times-Standard: ‘MAD’ ABOUT YOU

Fresno Bee: TRI-UMPHANT (emphasis on the Tri)

Lodi (CA) News-Sentinel: GIANT HERO (Bumgarner)

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): TROPHY TRILOGY

Merced (CA) Sun-Star: A 3-RING CIRCUS FOR GIANTS

Modesto Bee: 3-RING CIRCUS

The Herald (Monterey, CA): BACK ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Oakland Tribune: MAD-NIFICENT! (also used in San Jose, etc.)

The Desert Sun (Palm Springs): A GIANT VICTORY

Daily News (Palo Alto): THE NEW MR. OCTOBER

Sacramento Bee: A NEW DYNASTY

Salinas Californian: MADNIFICENT (no dash)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Giant performance

The Reporter (Vacaville, CA): THRICE AS NICE (also used in Vallejo)

Pueblo (CO) Chieftain: THE BOYS OF ‘BUMMER’

Bradenton (FL) Herald: Total MADness

Augusta (GA) Chronicle: TO THE END

Des Moines (IA) Register: BUM(GARNER) FINISH FOR ROYALS

(Nampa) Idaho Press-Tribune: PUSHED TO THE LIMIT

Chicago Tribune: SAN FRANCISCO FEAT

Journal Star (Peoria, IL): GIANT STEP

Hutchinson (KS) News: Royalty to the end

Junction City (KS) Daily Union: Oh so close

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: ‘It was a great run’

Wichita (KS) Eagle: No fireworks, no joy

Times-Picayune (New Orleans): GIANT WIN

The Times (Shreveport, LA): GIANT EFFORT

Herald News (Fall River, MA): CEMENTING A LEGACY

Missourian (Columbia, MO): Heartbreak

New Tribune (Jefferson City, MO): ROYALS BUMMED

Joplin (MO) Globe: ROYAL BLUES (also used in Springfield, MO)

St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: Royals’ dream season falls short

News-Topic (Lenoir, NC): A GIANT MOMENT (This paper devoted a large amount of above-the-fold space to the Series due to Bumgarner being from nearby Hudson, NC)

Lincoln (NE) Journal Star: Kansas City bummer

Omaha World-Herald: HEARTBROKEN IN K.C.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: GIANTS TRIUMPH AGAIN

Reno Gazette-Journal: BEST AFTER 7

Times-Union (Albany, NY): Giants stand tall again

New York Times: A Pitcher Rises To The Moment, And Jaws Drop

Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY): DYNASTY BY THE BAY

Sandusky (OH) Register: It’s a Giants world

Register-Guard (Eugene, OR): A GIANTS DYNASTY

Morning Call (Allentown, PA): BASEBALL’S DYNASTY

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: EMBRACING VICTORY (with image of Buster Posey hugging Bumgarner after game)

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA): A SAN FRANCISCO TREAT

Dallas Morning News: Another Giant conquest

Salt Lake Tribune: BUMGARNER RULES

USA TODAY: GIANTS STAND TALL AGAIN

Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA): BUMMED OUT

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison): GIANT MOMENT

Starphoenix (Saskatoon, Canada): GIANT VICTORY

Metro Vancouver: GIANTS REIGN AGAIN

El Heraldo (Baranquilla, Colombia): Los Gigantes se dieron el baño de gloria (Can roughly be translated into something like “The Giants bath in glory”)

Novedades de Quintana Roo (Cancun, Mexico): El gigante de las Grandes Ligas se consagra tricampeón (roughly can be translated as “The Giants are enshrined as three-time MLB champions)

Milenio (Guadalajara, Mexico): Enormes. (“Huge”)

El Norte (Monterrey, Mexico): SI SON GIGANTES! (“Yes there [they?] are Giants!”)

Milenio Novedades (Yucatan, Mexico): Gigantes vuelvan al trono (Giants return to the throne)

El Nacional (Caracas, Venzuela): Gigantes se coronaron en la casa de los Reales (“The Giants were crowned in the house of the Royals”)

Virgin Islands Daily News: San Francisco nets a Giant victory

 

…Woo, that’s a lot.

Last Night’s and This October’s MR. OCTOBERS

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It’s over. And, once again Madison Bumgarner is last night’s Mister October for pitching. For position player Mr. October, it’s Pablo Sandoval.

And that means that MADISON BUMGARNER AND PABLO SANDOVAL’S ARE 2014’S MR. OCTOBERS!

 

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 51

PP Pablo Sandoval 35

P Yusmeiro Petit 18

P Kelvin Herrera 15*

P Greg Holland 15*

PP Lorenzo Cain 15*

PP Alex Gordon 13*

PP Eric Hosmer 13*

P Yordano Ventura 13*

PP Brandon Crawford 11

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Billy Butler 10*

PP Mike Moustakas 8*

P Andrew Miller 8*

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5*

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3*

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1*

Headlines From Around The Continuum (October 29, 2014)

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “Royals Win” or “Game 7 Tonight”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Headline: Royals rout Giants, Force Game 7

San Francisco Chronicle: Blowout delivers fitting end: Game 7

San Francisco Examiner: Party on hold

Kansas City Star: HEAVENLY (as in… “Seventh Heaven”… get it?)

Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Up against the wall, Royals force Game 7

Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ): Yep, we’re having a World Series Game 7

Eureka (CA) Times Standard: A ROYAL CRUSH

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): ROYALS FLIP THE SCRIPT

Merced (CA) Sun-Star: ROYAL RALLY FORCES GAME 7 SHOWDOWN

The Herald (Monterey, CA): GOING TO GAME 7 (This was also in other papers throughout the country)

Sacramento Bee: S.F. FACES SERIES SHOWDOWN; Giants must overcome history

The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA): IT’S ALL ON THE LINE TONIGHT

Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA): NO BUM A BUMMER

The Record (Stockton, CA): One more game for everything

Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA): A ROYAL ROUT (This was also in other papers throughout the country)

Ventura County (CA) Star: SERIES TO SEE GAME 7

Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune: ONE LAST GAME

Des Moines (IA) Register: SEVENTH HEAVEN

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA): Royals spank Giants to force Game 7 (“Spank” isn’t a word you see in newspaper headlines that much)

Decatur (IL) Herald & Review: Safe at home (this was also used in Syracuse)

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: HOME SWEET HOME. (with the period)

American Press (Lake Charles, LA): GET READY FOR A GAME 7

Herald News (Fall River, MA): ROYALLY ROUTED

Joplin (MO) Globe: ALL EVEN

News-Leader (Springfield, MO): KANSAS CITY CULMINATION

St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 1

Bozeman (MT) Daily Chronicle: GAME 7

Santa Fe New Mexican: Royals make statement in forcing Series Game 7

Reno Gazette-Journal: IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS

New York Times: One Game to Go

The Repository (Canton, OH): KANSAS CITY FELLS GIANTS TO TIE SERIES

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA): ROYAL SHUTOUT

Times Record News (Wichita Falls, TX): ONE MORE GAME

El Universal (Cartagena, Colombia): Reales aplastan a San Francisco (Royals crush San Francisco)

El Informador (Guadalajara, Mexico): Joven Maravilla empata la Serie Mundial (“Young Marvel ties the World Series”- referring to Yordano Ventura)

Reforma (Mexico City): HABRÁ REY ESTA NOCHE (Roughly “There will be a king tonight”- this headline was also used in El Norte)

Lider Informativo (Nuevo Laredo, Mexico): REALES CONTRAATACAN; HOY SE DEFINE (Roughly “Royals Strike Back; Today it will be defined.”)

El Siglo de Torreon (Mexico): HABRÁ SÉPTIMO JUEGO (“There will be a seventh game”)

 

Note that some papers seemingly didn’t have their front pages up (yet) on Newseum, so I might update later if they go up.

Last Night’s Mr. Octobers (October 28, 2014)

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Yordano Ventura and Lorenzo Cain were the Mr. Octobers of last night’s rout.

Tonight: Game 7. While Madison Bumgarner has basically clinched being the pitching Mr. October, the position player title also is up for grabs. And, of course, the MLB title.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 31

P Yusmeiro Petit 18

P Kelvin Herrera 15

P Greg Holland 15

PP Pablo Sandoval 15

PP Lorenzo Cain 15

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Eric Hosmer 13

P Yordano Ventura 13

PP Brandon Crawford 11

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Billy Butler 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Link

Over at Hall of Very Good, you can find my latest “Wisdom and Links”. This week, I look at Buster Posey’s early Hall of Fame case and honor Oscar Taveras in the best way possible.

Headlines from around the Continuum (October 27, 2014)

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “Giants win” or “Game 5 Tomorrow”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

 

Headline: Giants win Game 5, one win away from WS Title

San Francisco Chronicle: World Class

San Francisco Examiner: Ace of October

Kansas City Star: DOMINATED

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock): Bumgarner does it again

Bakersfield Californian: MAD BUM

Enterprise-Record (Chico, CA): ROYALS BUMMED (this was in other papers too)

Oakland Tribune: SHOW-STOPPER (this was used in other papers too)

Merced (CA) Sun-Star: BUMGARNER IS PITCH PERFECT

Sacramento Bee: GIANTS FANS WATCH MAKING OF LEGEND

Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA): ONE TO GO

Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA): BUMGARNER BRILLIANCE

Santa Maria (CA) Times: BRILLIANT BUMGARNER

The Record (Stockton, CA): MASTERFUL, MAGNIFICENT, MADBUM

Ventura County (CA) Star: MAD ABOUT BUMGARNER

Washington Post: Giants on verge

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: ACE UP THEIR SLEEVE?

Salina (KS) Journal: Royals in trouble

Joplin (MO) Globe: SHUTOUT

St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: FACING ELIMINATION

Omaha World-Herald: A Giant step closer to the crown

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): BLANQUEADA LOS PONE A UN TRIUNFO (not entirely sure, something about “putting the bleach out” to win)

Headline: Oscar Taveras, Cardinals Super-Prospect, passes away after car accident

St. Louis Post Dispatch: TAVERAS KILLED IN CRASH

La Presse (Montreal): FIN TRAGIQUE POUR UNE ÉTOILE MONTANTE (“A TRAGIC END TO A RISING STAR”- note that Taveras spent parts of his childhood in Montreal)

 

Last Night’s Mister Octobers (October 26, 2014)

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Madison Bumgarner is awesome. Seriously, there are no other ways to truly describe his performance.

Also, so is Brandon Crawford, who had 3 RBIs last night.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Madison Bumgarner 31

P Yusmeiro Petit 18

P Kelvin Herrera 15

P Greg Holland 15

PP Pablo Sandoval 15

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Eric Hosmer 13

PP Brandon Crawford 11

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Hunter Pence 10

PP Billy Butler 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

PP Buster Posey 5

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

PP Brandon Belt 3

P Zack Greinke 3*

PP Matt Kemp 3*

P Bud Norris 3*

P James Shields 3

P Doug Fister 3*

PP Wilson Ramos 3*

P John Lackey 3*

PP Matt Adams 3*

P Trevor Rosenthal 3*

PP Bryce Harper 3*

P Ryan Vogelsong 3

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 26, 2014

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A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic-and extremely common- headlines like “Giants win” or “Game 5 Tonight”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Headline: Giants win Game 4 big, tie up series.

San Francisco Chronicle: After the rain, Giants pour it on

Kansas City Star: FRISCO MELT

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): Fit to be tied

Modesto Bee: On the big stage, little things count

The Herald (Monterey, CA): EVENING IT UP

Oakland Tribune: GIANTS 2-2 GOOD (also the headline in San Jose and other affiliated papers)

Sacramento Bee: Bochy goes with gut, brings Giants back from the brink

Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, CA): MAUL BALL

Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel: GIANTS’ BATS COME ALIVE TO TIE SERIES

The Record (Stockton, CA): Ushering his way to a dream (on a SF Giants usher from Stockton)

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, IA): Royals flush

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: REDEMPTION TONIGHT

St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: ROYALS LET THE GIANTS SLIDE BY IN CRUSHING DEFEAT

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): IMPONEN RESPETO EN SU CASA (Something along the lines of the “Imposing respect in their house” or “Command respect at home”, referring to the Giants)

Check back throughout the series for more headlines!