Will the MLB-Japan All-Star Series be on MLB Network? Yes! And I have a schedule

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Good news everyone! It appears that, in the darkness of November, we will be seeing some MLB baseball after all. MLB is sending a team of players over to Japan to play some games against the Japanese National Team, “Samurai Japan” (in essence a NPB all-star team), and, guess what? We’ll be able to see it on television here in the states! Now, they haven’t released any sort of news release yet, but I did some of my own research, in that I looked at MLB Network’s website and looked at their schedule.

MLB’s team is going to be good, at least at the plate, with players like Robinson Cano, Adam Jones, Bryce Harper, Yasiel Puig, Jose Altuve and Justin Morneau having confirmed they are going (Albert Pujols was going to go too, but pulled out). Hisashi Iwakuma is the most notable pitcher going that we know of so far, and it should be fun seeing him pitch in front of (and against) his fellow countrymen.

As far as the Japanese team, it’s going to be very interesting to see how they do, as this will provide a WBC-esque look at Japanese players against MLB competition. Names to keep a close eye on include Kenta Maeda (a pitcher who might be be headed to MLB next year), Shohei Otani (who can both pitch AND play as a position player, and who considered heading to the USA out of high school but later changed his mind and stayed in Japan), Pacific League batting champ Yoshio Itoi, and 2014 Japanese hit champ Tetsuo Yamada.

Here’s the schedule in East Coast time, all games below will be on MLB Network and many of them will be shown again on tape delay at a more reasonable hour for Americans:

November 11, 4 AM: MLB vs. combined team of Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants (at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, not far from Osaka)

November 12, 4 AM: MLB vs. Samurai Japan (at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka)

November 14, 4 AM: MLB vs. Samurai Japan (at the Tokyo Dome)

November 15, 4 AM: MLB vs. Samurai Japan (at the Tokyo Dome)

November 16, 4 AM: MLB vs. Samurai Japan (at the Tokyo Dome)

November 18, 5 AM: MLB vs. Samurai Japan (at the Sapporo Dome)

November 20, 4 AM: MLB vs. Samurai Japan (in Okinawa)

I’m particularly looking forward to the game at Koshien, as it’s the most historic of all Japanese ballparks and I think it’ll be neat to see MLB players play on the all-dirt infield there.

So, rest well knowing that we aren’t too far away from some more baseball.

The Greatest HoF Player Managing Career

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With Paul Molitor taking over the Twins, there will now be two Hall of Fame players managing in the big leagues (Ryne Sandberg is managing the Phillies). It’s a trend that is becoming more and more rare, a result of the fact that Hall of Famers now are more-or-less set for life. If they are managing or coaching, you can be sure it is for the love of the game and/or a want to pay it back by teaching the next generation.

Back before ballplayers were set for life with salaries, the Hall of Fame player managing was more common, often playing at the same time. Of the five initial members of the Hall of Fame (Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson), only Ruth had never managed a single game in the majors, and would until his death dream of doing so.

But, the question we have today is: of managers who are in the Hall of Fame primarily for their playing days, who was the best?

There are many ways of looking at it:

As far as total wins, it’s probably Fred Clarke. Fred Clarke was a great player of the 19th century and early 20th century for Louisville and Pittsburgh, and was elected in 1945 by the Old-Timers Committee. As a manager, he went 1602-1181 on his career.

However, there is one problem. While his primary position he was inducted as was left field, his managerial efforts also were a big reason. He was dubbed the first of the successful “boy-managers” on his plaque, and he was a player-manager at the age of 24! He was still playing when he managed the Pirates to four NL pennants and a World Series title in the 1900s. So, while technically he had the most wins for a manager who was inducted as a player, there is that caveat.

In fact, that caveat exists for a lot of managers who were players. Cap Anson, for example, while inducted as a 1B, was also heralded for his player-managing on his HoF plaque. Joe Cronin also had his managerial days mentioned, as did Hughie Jennings, Lou Boudreau and Frankie Frisch. Interestingly, the player-who-managed with the most wins who had no reference whatsoever to his managerial career on his plaque is… Frank Robinson.

Okay, but wins are one thing. What about the balance between wins and losses? Frank Robinson won 1065 games, to be sure, but he lost 1176.

Well, for qualifying managers (at least 320 games skippered), the manager who was a HoF player with the best winning percentage is Frank Chance, of the famous “Tinkers-To-Evers-To-Chance” poem. While he went in as a 1st basemen, his time as a manager was also very successful, as he had a .593 winning percentage and won four NL pennants and two World Series titles for the Cubs (it was a long time ago). However, like Clarke, Anson, and the like, his managerial career was prominent on his plaque. Mickey Cochrane, who also could qualify for his success as a manager, also had his managerial success noted on his plaque.

As far as I can tell, the player-who-managed with the best winning percentage with no reference whatsoever to his managerial career on his plaque is… King Kelly. Yes, King Kelly, the RF/C/3B who had a 16-year career in the 19th century. He is just barely eligible, because managed 330 games in his career, all as a player-manager. His .539 winning percentage puts him ahead of others such as Gabby Hartnett (.536), Eddie Collins (.521) the earlier-mentioned Cobb (.519) and Bob Lemon (.516). And before you ask, Yogi Berra (a .522 winning percentage) did have some of his managerial feats mentioned on his plaque (his 1964 AL pennant).

So, what does this mean? Does this mean that Molitor and Sandberg are doomed to be slightly-above-average-at-best managers?

Of course not. Hall of Fame players who became managers are a far too small sample size, for one, especially Hall of Fame players who become managers without first being player-managers. And, what’s more, it’s silly to think that how good a ballplayer is on the field can be directly translated into how they will be as a manager, especially when one considers that they are also at the mercy of the players that are provided to them.

Still, it is interesting. And now you know some of the best managers in history who were Hall of Fame ballplayers.

Link

Over at Hall of Very Good this week, I have links to some of the best World Series stories of 2014. Check it out!

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.

Rest Day

Aside

Nothing new today, but look out in the coming days as the Baseball Continuum kicks the offseason into high gear!

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