Tag Archives: MLB

Remember: The Stove Takes Time To Get Hot

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Somebody mentioned this a day or two on Twitter, but it goes without saying: The baseball off-season develops far slower than the off-seasons of other sports. When free agent time in the NFL or NBA comes around, there is rapid-fire news of signings, several days in which you can’t turn on ESPN without Adam Schefter showing up to tell you the latest. Really, does that guy ever sleep?

But in baseball… it’s a slow burn. Oh, there is often some early jolt like the Joe Maddon and Paul Molitor hirings, but the players take awhile. It’s likely we won’t see a large number of signing for another month, around the winter meetings, and some players might not be signed until spring training has begun.

So, much like an actual stove, you have to give the hot stove some time to heat up before you can cook.

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.

Mr. Octobers of Last Night (October 16, 2014)

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The Mr. Octobers of last night are Madison Bumgarner and walk-off HR hero Travis Ishikawa.

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

PP Alex Gordon 13

P Madison Bumgarner 11

PP Travis Ishikawa 10

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6*

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5*

P Pat Neshek 5*

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

P Kelvin Herrera 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

PP Eric Hosmer 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 Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

Last Night’s Mister Octobers (October 15, 2014)

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Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers:

Orioles/Royals: Kelvin Herrera (the whole bullpen for the Royals was fantastic, but Herrera went longest) and Alex Gordon (simply for that amazing catch, if anything. I mean, jeez, I thought he’d get killed doing that.)

Cardinals/Giants: Yusmeiro Petit and Buster Posey.

 

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

PP Alex Gordon 13

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8*

P Yusmeiro Petit 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6*

PP Matt Carpenter 6

P Madison Bumgarner 6

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5

P Pat Neshek 5

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Travis Ishikawa 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

PP Buster Posey

P Kevin Gausman 3*

PP Delmon Young 3*

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

PP Eric Hosmer 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 Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

 

Last Night’s Mister Octobers (October 14, 2014)

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Mr. Octobers of yesterday are…

 

Cardinals/Giants: Jeremy Affeldt (by virtue of highest WPA in yesterday’s game) and Travis Ishikawa (for his early 3-RBI hit)

Orioles/Royals: Greg Holland (for slamming the door) and Lorenzo Cain (for continuing to be the most exciting man on the field)

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

PP Alex Gordon 8

PP Mike Moustakas 8

P Andrew Miller 8

PP Nelson Cruz 6

PP Matt Carpenter 6

P Madison Bumgarner 6

P Wade Davis 5

PP Pablo Sandoval 5

PP Kolten Wong 5

P Pat Neshek 5

P Jeremy Affeldt 5

PP Travis Ishikawa 5

P Greg Holland 5

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

P Kevin Gausman 3

PP Delmon Young 3

PP Joe Panik 3

P Jake Peavy 3

P Yordano Ventura 3

PP Eric Hosmer 3

P Jered Weaver 3*

P Yusmeiro Petit 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 Crawford 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1

The Previous BAL-KC Playoff Matchups… yes, there was one (and there could have been 3!)

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Don’t believe the people who say that this ALCS is the first time that Baltimore and Kansas City’s baseball teams have met in the playoffs. It’s wrong.

Oh, to be sure, this is the first time the MLB franchises- the Royals and Orioles- have met. But it’s not the first time Kansas City and Baltimore have sent their nines against each other. It’s the second… and there could have been at least two more, had they been played. Using a few other resources, such as Baseball-Reference, SABR, and their joint wiki, here is the hidden history of Kansas City and Baltimore in the postseason..

 

1923 Little World Series: Kansas City Blues def. Baltimore Orioles, 5-4

Throughout history, there have been many incarnations of a Triple-A World Series, pitting the best teams in America that aren’t Major League. And in 1923, we had the only time that we can be sure Kansas City and Baltimore played each other in a postseason series, as they faced each other in a best-of-9 series, at the time going by the name “Little World Series”, although the Sporting News also referred to as the “Junior World Series”. It was a match-up between the American Association and the International League.

Winning the IL for the fifth straight season, the 1923 Orioles were in the midst of perhaps the greatest minor league dynasty in history, as they would ultimately win the IL every year from 1919 to 1925. Under Jack Dunn- best known for being the man who discovered Babe Ruth- they’d gone 111-53 to win the pennant by 11 games over Rochester, and would later be named as the 19th greatest minor league team in history. Their roster was stacked with players who either had or would have major league careers.

The most notable, of course, would be 23-year-old future Hall-of-Famer Lefty Grove, who pitched to a 3.11 ERA as he set the IL record for strikeouts in a season that year with 330 Ks in 303 IP. However, his 27-10 record wasn’t even the best on the team- that belonged to the 29-year-old Rube Parnham, who went 33-7 with a 3.18 ERA. The righty, interestingly enough, only pitched in six MLB games in his career for the 1916-1917 Philadelphia Athletics.

Also on the Orioles that year was Grove’s fellow Hall-of-Famer Chief Bender, then 39 years old, who had pitched in all but one of his 459 career MLB appearances on the mound (in addition to some small stints as a position player). Pitching in 18 games with Baltimore, he was less than effective and had a 5.03 ERA.

Other notable Orioles included Tommy Thomas (who would go on to pitch parts of 12 seasons in the big leagues), 2B Max Bishop (who tied for the IL lead in HR at 22 and who would go to 15th all-time in MLB OBP), Jimmy Walsh (who had been primarily an outfielder in the majors during the 1910s) and Clarence Pitt, a mid-season acquisition from Rochester who hit .357 in 1923 but who never played a MLB game.

In contrast to the runaway Orioles, the Blues had been in a neck-and-neck race before grabbing the AA title. In fact, in a article dated Sept. 30 in the October 4 issue of Sporting News, it was said that it would be “almost a miracle” if they were to come through in their race with the St. Paul Saints. That same article, entitled “St Paul Counting Team As Safely In”, is in fact more of a preview of a Saints-Orioles series than anything. But Kansas City won an astounding 10 of their last 11 games to finish the year with a 112-54 record, the second best in the history of the American Association and just barely ahead of St. Paul at 111-57. Unlike the Orioles, the Blues lacked many big names or future stars, instead being made up mainly of older veterans, such as their 37-year-old player-manager Wilbur Good (who’d played parts of 11 years in the bigs), 30-year-old Bunny Brief (who had already played all 184 of his MLB games), and 36-year-olds Beals Becker (who had been second in the 1914 National League batting race) and Lena Blackburne (most known for his role in the infamous “rubbing mud” that is placed on baseballs before being put in play). There was also 25-year-old Dud Branom, who hit .348 but would ultimately only have 30 games with the Athletics in 1927. Pitching-wise, the Blues were led by Jimmy Zinn, who went 27-6 with a 3.94 ERA, and Ferdie Schupp, who went 19-10 with a 4.23 ERA. Also in the rotation: Ray Caldwell, winner of 134 career MLB games.

Bad weather plagued the Little World Series, and in fact it ended after MLB’s World Series. Starting on October 10th in Kansas City, it didn’t end until October 25th- 16 days later- in Baltimore, where Kansas City won the 9th and deciding game 5-2, defeating Grove and Parnham in the final game behind homers by Bill Skiff and Brief. It was only because of Baltimore’s play at home that the series had even gotten that long, as Kansas City had gone 3-1 to start the series.

That would be the last time Baltimore and Kansas City would have two professional baseball teams meet in the playoffs… but it’s not the last time that it could have happened.

1929 Negro World Series: The Kansas City Monarchs would have played the Baltimore Black Sox

The Negro Leagues were infamously disorganized, with record-keeping at times being hit-or-miss and the with league schedules often haphazardly taking place between barnstorming tours and other exhibitions. In addition, there was the problem of money (several Negro Leagues ended up folding long before integration) and, of course, the racism they faced, which often closed them out of stadiums and hotels. So, with that in mind, perhaps it is isn’t surprising that the Negro World Series (also called the Colored World Series, depending on the era) was an on-and-off affair. Well, in 1929, it was an “off” year, thus depriving the world of a matchup between the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League and the Baltimore Black Sox of the short-lived American Negro League.

We’ll never know what would have happened had they done so, but any such series would have featured at least three Hall of Famers: Jud Wilson (with Baltimore), Bullet Joe Rogan (with Kansas City) and Andy Cooper (also with Kansas City).

1939 Negro World Series: The Kansas City Monarchs would have played the Baltimore Elite Giants

Ten years later, the Negro American League champion Kansas City Monarchs would have faced the Negro National League champion Baltimore Elite Giants. But, like in 1929, the Negro Leagues World Series was not in existence at the time.

That was a shame, as this series would have been even more star-studded than the 1929 edition would have been. Hall of Famers Hilton Smith, Turkey Stearnes and Willard Brown, as well as Buck O’Neil (who should have been a Hall of Famer for his work off the field alone), were on the Monarchs, while the Elite Giants had a 41-year-old Biz Mackey and a 17-year-old catcher named Roy Campanella.

We’ll never know what might have happened, but it really fires up the imagination, doesn’t it?

—

So, there you go, the previous playoff match-ups between Baltimore and Kansas City. Oh, sure, two of them never really happened, but, still, that’s way more than is needed to render any claim that this is the first time that Kansas City and Baltimore have met in the playoffs false!

 

Last Night in One GIF (Division Series Day One)

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Through the postseason, I’ll be posting a GIF that summarizes the events of the previous night.

Much like Nori Aoki here, the Royals had a bit of an unusual way of getting there, but in the end it worked out for them last night.

Meanwhile, as for the Orioles/Royals game, here’s a artists rendition of the Orioles’ 8th inning:

2014 ALDS and NLDS predictions

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Here are my predictions for the 2014 ALDS and NLDS series:

The Orioles are a good team and have a flare for the dramatic, and also seem to like giving the middle finger to any sort of baseball logic and sense. However, I do not think they can beat the Tigers rotation. Their only shot will be to get to the soft underbelly that is the Detroit bullpen. However, it’s entirely possible that the Tigers’ won’t give them that chance. Tigers in 4.

The Royals/Angels series is a bit less clear, partly because I haven’t seen them “live” as much as I’ve seen the O’s and Tigers, but also because they are very different teams (while the Orioles and Tigers have more-or-less the same approach as each other). The Royals, as we saw during the Wild Card game, are an old-style team that loves to bunt and steal, while relying on pitching to try and make up for all the times that might fail (the Royals actually were one of the worst teams in the league in certain offensive categories this season). The Angels are more of a standard modern team at the plate, with a big-name lineup that was the league’s most productive offense, led, of course, by Mike Trout. Their pitching, however, is nowhere near as big-name as their lineup. With such different teams going at each other, and with strengths going against strengths, this could be anyone’s series. That said, I think the Angels are the better overall team, so I think they will win it. Angels in 4.

The Cardinals/Dodgers matchup is one that has happened many times before- they are two of the flagship teams of baseball and stalwarts of the National League. They met last year in the NLCS and the Cardinals won in 6, but I think this time it’ll be different. The Cardinals no longer have postseason man-god Carlos Beltran, Michael Wacha is still recovering from injury (although certainly the Cardinals maintain a very deep rotation) and Yadier Molina isn’t fully healthy either. The Dodgers, meanwhile, now are another year wiser and experienced, and, oh, right, have Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke all nice and lined up to pitch in order. If not for the fact Hyun-Jin Ryu is going to be coming off an injury and that Dan Haren has long had trouble against the Cardinals, the starting rotation situation for the Dodgers would look almost as good as Detroit’s looks like against the Orioles.

While the Cardinals do have the advantage in bullpen, experience and overall team depth, all of that might mean diddly-squat, though, because this is a best-of-five series and to win the Cardinals will likely have to win at least two games against the 1-2 punch of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke (there are rumors that Don Mattingley will try to go with a 3-man rotation). I don’t think they can, even with Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn. Dodgers in 5.

The Nationals hold a edge against the Giants because  of the Wild Card game. Because the Giants had to play that, they probably won’t be able to have Bumgarner pitch until Game 3. Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson, of course, are also perfectly good (and Ryan Vogelsong has his moments), but they aren’t Bumgarner. The Nationals, meanwhile, will have Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister and Gio Gonzalez. So, advantage in the rotation. Nationals also hold the advantage in offense, with a deeper lineup that features two players (Denard Span and Jayson Werth) who were top-10 in batting average in the NL this season and with Bryce Harper having heated up after the All-Star Break and Adam LaRoche. While you can never count out Buster Posey and the rest of the Giants, I feel like the Nationals will win in 4.

 

So, there you go.

Yesterday’s Mr. Octobers (October 1, 2014)

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Brandon Crawford hit a game-changing grand slam- the first in postseason history hit by a shortstop. Madison Bumgarner controlled the game from the mound, becoming the first LHP to have a complete game shutout on the road in a winner-take-all game since one “Sandy Koufax” in 1965.

So, needless, to say, they are yesterday’s Mr. Octobers!

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

PP Brandon Crawford 1

P Madison Bumgarner 1

PP Brandon Moss 1*

P Brandon Finnegan 1