What Google tells us about baseball players’ reputations

122 Replies

You probably know that if you type a search term into Google, it will give you a few autocomplete suggestions for that search, giving you an indication of the most popular searches done by the public.

Here’s an example:

If you type in Babe Ruth, Google suggests:

Babe Ruth stats
Babe Ruth quotes
Babe Ruth baseball

Makes sense, right? The three things people are most interested in right now are Ruth’s career stats, some of the colorful things he said, and a baseball associated with Babe Ruth. (This last one might be trending now because a Babe Ruth baseball was recently featured on an episode of White Collar.)

Here are results for some other players.

Barry Bonds stats
Barry Bonds trial
Barry Bonds steroids

Sammy Sosa skin
Sammy Sosa stats
Sammy Sosa white

Don Mattingly stats
Don Mattingly rookie card
Don Mattingly Hall of Fame

Manny Ramirez stats
Manny Ramirez news
Manny Ramirez comeback

Bud Selig salary
Bud Selig extension
Bud Selig net worth

Mickey Mantle quotes
Mickey Mantle stats
Mickey Mantle biography

Larry Bowa stats
Larry Bowa meltdown
Larry Bowa rookie card

Omar Vizquel baseball reference
Omar Vizquel hall of fame
Omar Vizquel 2012

Jose Canseco stats
Jose Canseco twitter
Jose Canseco Red Sox

Don Zimmer pedro
Don Zimmer Pedro Martinez
Don Zimmer fight

Pedro Martinez stats
Pedro Martinez and brothers foundation
Pedro Martinez jimmy fund

Robin Yount stats
Robin Yount rookie card
Robin Yount card value

George Brett pine tar
George Brett shits (seriously, because of the hilarious YouTube video)
George Brett stats

David Cone perfect game
David Cone stats
David Cone Hall of Fame

I could go on and on, but you get the idea…find any other interesting results?

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MikeD

12 years ago

I’m a bit surprised that “steroids” doesn’t pop up as one of the choices for Canseco or Manny.

I have no idea what that George Brett video is about. Now I’ll have to decide if I want to go and find it. Perhaps I should have breakfast first.

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

Here is the George Brett video. It’s very cleverly dubbed-in audio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6hu4aLXv7U

(it’s not safe for work!)

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Am I right in assuming that Billy Martin plays a significant role in the video in question?

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Hartvig

I see that he does not. I had forgotten all about that one.

It’s good to start you day with a good laugh as well as a good ….

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Hartvig

Double-tapered.
Never heard that term before. Good term.

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

I’ve pondered looking at this video all day, but have yet to click on it. I’m afraid of what disturbing things I might see.

Perhaps I’ll now go have dinner, a glass of wine, and ponder more.

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

Yes, it’s probably best to eat first.

You may not want to afterwards.

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Mattingly’s HOF credentials are impressive. How many first basemen with a lifetime avg. >.300, > 2,000 hits, > 600 xBH and multiple gold gloves (Donnie had 9), are NOT in the HOF? Add an MVP and league leading seasons in hits, doubles, RBI, BA, SLG, and OPS+ and I submit to you: Don Mattingly, Hall of Famer.

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

Amen to that! I locked horns with John Autin (in a friendly way of course) on that matter about a year ago. I pointed out that there was a parallel between Koufax’s career and Mattingly’s in that they each had a few great years and a few so-so years. John pointed out that Koufax’s great years were at the end of his career but Mattingly’s was at the beginning and that made a difference to the voters. He also pointed out that Koufax had a God-like image. Since that time I have seen that Mattingly’s career has a better parallel… Read more »

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

True, Dean had no trouble being voted in… but he’s controversial to this day. As for Mattingly, Dr. Remulak, is his 1985 really any better than Jim Rice’s 1978? Or Fred Lynn’s 1979? Or Kevin Mitchell’s 1989? Yes, he was great that year, but that’s not a Hall of Fame case. I just can’t really see Mattingly getting in while Fred McGriff is on the outside. While Mattingly was perhaps a shooting star, McGriff was a more productive player for much more time, by either fWAR or rWAR (WARP tells a different story, but the edge to Mattingly is still… Read more »

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

Ummm….What Dr. Doom said. Mattingly had a nice peak but it wasn’t that high of a peak and it didn’t last very long. (his MVP, btw wasn’t deserved…he won it due to the overemphasis on RBIs by MVP voters). It’s unfortunate that he got injured but that’s part of life. Lots of players could have had Hall of Fame careers if not for an injury or something else happening. There are 15 retired first basemen who are not in the Hall of Fame who have a higher career WAR than Mattingly. Granted not all of them are better qualified for… Read more »

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

I’ll also submit some other one-year MVP standout seasons to compare to Mattingly’s 1985 campaign: George Foster, 1977. Joe Torre, 1971. Jeff Burroughs, 1974. and I’ll throw in Keith Hernandez in 1979 just for comparison also:

OPS+

1. K Mitchell ’89: 192
2. Joe Torre ’71: 171
3. G Foster ’77: 165
4. J Burroughs ’74: 162
5. D Mattingly ’86: 161
6. Jim Rice ’78: 157
7. K Hernandez ’79: 151

birtelcom

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

Dizzy D in Google generated the suggestions:
Dizzy Dean
Dizzy during pregnancy
Dizzy diner [in Park Slope, Brooklyn — 3.5 stars on yelp]

Artie Z.

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

Well, Keith Hernandez misses the .300 AVG but it was .296 and his OBP was .384. He did have 2000+ hits, 600+ xBH, an MVP award (and a 2nd and 4th place finish), 11 Gold Gloves, and league leading seasons in runs (twice), avg, obp, walks, and doubles. Plus he twice led the NL in times on base, which isn’t on the main stats portion of the page but I find it impressive. Despite Mattingly’s high peak he beats Mattingly in career OPS+, 128 to 127, and in a little longer career. And as I like to point out to… Read more »

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Reply to Artie Z.

Hernandez’s use of PEDs, cocaine and cigarettes, preclude HOF consideration. Other than that, you are right, they both belong in the Hall. Mattingly’s career post-season avg. is the stuff that Mex can only dream of.

anon

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

While I abhor cigarettes, are you serious? You’d advocate ( in any percentage of an argument ) against a HOF induction because he smoked in the dugout? You’re crazy. No old-timers would be in then.

I’m pretty sure Jim Leyland’s got a shot at the HOF and I remember him smoking on the field in the early 90s.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to anon

The Keith Hernandez trade to the Mets: Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. That’s pretty bad. Looking at the ’83 Cards, it seems that they wanted to move George Hendrick to first to make room in the outfield for some nice prospects named David Green and Andy Van Slyke. Van Slyke worked out great, and they packaged Green et al to get Jack Clark. And they got back to the WS in ’85. So, maybe that was a good trade. But, can’t help but wonder if Keith Hernandez would have gotten to that ball faster before the flip to Worrell. If… Read more »

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

BAHAHAHA!!!! Sammy Sosa! Best one ever.

By the way, “Billy Ripken” will return stuff about the infamous card…

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

Oh, I don’t know. I give you…Ryan Braun!

Herpes
Steroids
Press Conference

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

The difference with Ryan Braun is that it is/will be changing rapidly. His reputation could get better, or worse. I think it’s tougher to do this with active players. The Sammy Sosa one just cracks me up, though.

12 years ago

Also, not a baseball player, but I had to do it…

John Autin
New Orleans
Extreme
Piano

Now that certainly raises some questions about our post leader! 🙂

And just to be fair, I typed in my own name and got:

Photography
Golf
Facebook

Blah!!! Boring!!!

vivaeljason

12 years ago

One of Mike Schmidt’s top three is “Mike Schmidt crying,” which I assume is from his retirement. Another is “Mike Schmidt comedy,” which I’m going to go ahead and guess is another Mike Schmidt, and not something along these lines:

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Mike.
Mike who?
Mike Schmidt.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Others I’ve found: “Roberto Alomar hiv” — google knows the rumors, peeps. “Vladimir Guerrero Yankees” — he wishes. “Derek Jeter herpes” (fourth one down) — moving right along. “Tom Seaver wine” — good to know that the best pitcher in Mets history is best noted as a boozemaker. “Nolan Ryan fight” — take that, Robin Ventura! “Paul O’Neill kicks baseball” — surprised that “water cooler” was not a top result. “Ty Cobb racist” — well, obviously. I’m disappointed “Ty Cobb fights with crippled man” was not one of the top results. “Cap Anson racist” — same, except for the “fights… Read more »

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Also, both Rogers Hornsby and Tris Speaker apparently were in the KKK, which is disappointing to find out if true. Don’t lead me astray, Google.

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Sadly, it’s definitely true in Speaker’s case. He did however redeem himself somewhat by working with Larry Doby when the Indians signed him.

12 years ago

Reply to Hartvig

A few points: 1) There’s no definitive proof that Speaker was a Klan member though there are rumors about it. 2) There have been various incarnations of the Klan over the years. The second one, which existed from 1915-1944, was the most powerful one. Membership peaked between 4-6 million men, up to 15% of the eligible population. Being a member of the Klan in that era simply wasn’t the shameful thing we think of it as today. 3) The Klan was strongly anti-Catholic. Assuming Speaker was a member, this may have been his hook. Speaker was definitely anti-Catholic and there… Read more »

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Hartvig

According to Timothy Gay’s book “Tris Speaker” that “Tris told a prominent writer in the 1910s that he was a member of the Klan”. He also grew up in the same town as Hiram Wesley Evans, who was an Imperial wizard in the KKK for 20 years and wrote 3 books about the “evils” of race mixing and the threat posed by immigrants. Speaker was 7 years younger than Evans.

That said, you’re right. There’s no definitive proof that Speaker was in the Klan or a racist. Circumstantial evidence and hearsay is not enough to make someone guilty.

12 years ago

Reply to Hartvig

Yeah, to me it’s a bit like the PEDs thing. The evidence is circumstantial and we definitely don’t have a complete list of all the players who were Klan members.

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

I was on Tommy John’s website last week, and there was a link to this painting that featured/was in part done by John, Gaylord Perry, Vida Blue, and Tom Seaver. In a photo of them, you could click on the player. Clicking on John brought you to said website. Clicking Perry and Blue took you to the Giants’ website. Clicking Tom Seaver… took you to his vineyard’s website. So I JUST learned that he was even into winemaking. I guess I’m late to the party.

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Weird, I don’t get crying as one of Mike Schmidt’s top three. I get stats, comedy, facebook. Crying doesn’t show up anywhere.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

That is weird. Does Google localize the autocomplete like it does other stuff? I’m about halfway between NYC and Philly, so maybe Schmidt’s retirement speech is more popular here or some such.

Nadig

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

I think Google does factor in the location: I’m in Pittsburgh, and the first result when I enter Prince Fielder is “Prince Fielder to Pirates.”

12 years ago

Reply to Nadig

Here’s a quite long blog post on Google’s autocomplete. It suggests that location as well as other factors are at work:

http://searchengineland.com/how-google-instant-autocomplete-suggestions-work-62592

Tmckelv

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

I too am from halfway between NYC and Philly (Somerset County, NJ) and I have “Comedy”, “Stats” & “Facebook” for Mike Schmidt.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Tmckelv

Howdy, neighbor!

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Mike Schmidt crying at his retirement press conference has been in the news recently due to Jason Varitek’s similar behavior.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Good call — by the way, Jason Varitek’s top result for me is “wedding.” I realize he was recently married, but jeez.

And I’d like to think that Mike Schmidt’s crying is always up there. Let me have that, Andy.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Perhaps they’re referring to an old Braves-Phillies matchup when Skip Caray announced, “Now here comes Mike Shit”. There was silence and muted laughter as (I believe) Pete Van Wieren and Skip were just dying laughing.

12 years ago

Nolan Ryan

Stats
Fight
Beef

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

See…I didn’t get “beef.” I got “rookie card,” with “foundation” soon thereafter. I’ll bet my theory on autocomplete being localized is somewhat spot on. Speaking of bet… Pete Rose yields “stats” “hall of fame” and “jr”. — HEAR THAT, HALL OF FAME?!? GOOGLE WANTS HIM IN. Shoeless Joe Jackson: “stats” “autograph” “comes to Iowa” — is the last one a Field of Dreams reference? Eddie Cicotte: “stats” “biography” “grave” What did we learn today? Google forgives gamblers. It does not, however, forgive errors. Fred Merkle: “boneheaded play” — I’m going to assume “boner” is blocked. Bill Buckner: “error” “curb” —… Read more »

Jason Winter

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Nolan Ryan has his own brand of beef. I live in Dallas, so I see it in the supermarkets, hear ads for it on the radio, and so on.

LJF

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa was the the short story by W.P. Kinsella that eventually led to the novel Shoeless Joe and the movie Field of Dreams. For those who don’t know, in the book the character that became Terrance Mann (played by James Earl Jones) was actually J.P. Salinger, the reclusive author of “Catcher in the Rye”

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Disappointed to find a Google search for “Moises Alou” did not autocomplete with “pee.” A Bing search yielded “pees on his hands” as the fourth choice. Bing is now my new default search engine.

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

It’s times like your post that I really miss the like button…

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

And see for me, #3 for Google is “urine hands”.

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Urine good hands…isn’t that the All State slogan?

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Does than mean Pedro Cerrano peed on his hands also?(All State spokesman….Pedro Cerrano = Dennis Haysbert). Sorry I went there.

Hats….for bats. Keep bats warm…..gracias.

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

Wait? Moises Alou pees on his hands? I thought that was Jorge Posada?

Note to self: To be safe, never shake hand of professional baseball player.

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Search Dick Radatz on Bing and the Jim Bouton story about Radatz being hired to throw oranges at a guy’s naked ass pops right up (and, lol, my HHS post regarding that story is on the first search page). Same search on Google, nothing. And no, I’m not paid by Microsoft. This search game is addictive.

Max

12 years ago

I tried a few different Mets players and on Todd Hundley (I went vague), it gave me “daughter” as the second choice. I think maybe people thought the girl who was Steve Phillips’ sidepiece was his daughter. Otherwise, I cannot figure out what that one is about, since there isn’t a Lawrence Fishborne Bernie Kosar thing going on either…

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Fritz Peterson yields “Movie” and “Mike Kekich.” Apparently, Matt Damon & Ben Affleck are making a movie based on the famous wife swap.

Nadig

12 years ago

Three more:

“Rafael Palmeiro viagra commercial”
“Ted Williams frozen”
“Roy Halladay anaconda”

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Nadig

a few more random ones:
“Jason Giambi brother” — SCORE ONE FOR JEREMY!
“Frank Thomas Mets” — you hear that, Big Hurt? The other Frank Thomas was BETTER.
“Miguel Tejada real age”
“Albert Pujols lyrics” — I wasn’t aware there was a song about El Hombre. Apparently Rick Ross raps on it.

Lawrence Azrin

12 years ago

Reply to Nadig

“Ted Williams frozen (head)” – hasn’t anyone ever told you that there’s no cryogenics in baseball?

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to Lawrence Azrin

There’s no more “like” button so I am submitting a write-in “like”.

Lawrence Azrin

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

Richard,Hartvig –

I don’t think that’s what Tom Hanks’ character (in “A League of Their Own”) had in mind, but thanks!

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Lawrence Azrin

If I had read this in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep my laughter would have been loud enough to wake everyone in the house.

Jeff Allen

12 years ago

Reply to Lawrence Azrin

Another write-in “like” from me.

12 years ago

#4 for Sparky Lyle is “nagging question”.

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Hmmm, I just checked Sparky Lyle, and for me it suggested “autographed baseball” at #4.

I’m disappointed “birthday cake” was not one of the choices.

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

Ah you must have read Bronx Zoo as well!

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Yes, and there are some images that just won’t leave my mind!

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

Ball Four tells of Doug Rader pooping on a birthday cake, taking Spary’s bit to the next level. A Doug Rader search yields neither “poop” or “birthday cake.”

12 years ago

Joe Morgan’s top four are honda, stats, saints, and…mexican mafia! Hmm…

12 years ago

Jim Palmer has some interesting ones:

#1 – trucking
#5 – underwear
#8 – how to brew
#10 – Jewish

LJF

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Ed – Jim Palmer Trucking is a major transport company where I live.

12 years ago

Oil Can Boyd = drunk

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Oil Can Boyd led to “drugs” when I searched him.

speaking of which, “Dock Ellis” has plenty of no hitter links but the letters LSD don’t actually come up on autocomplete.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Some more, because being cooped up with laryngitis is the worst:
Willie Mays “Hayes” — good to see Major League lives on.
Randy Johnson “bird” — funny that’s what lasts from a great career.
Curt Schilling “video game” — makes sense since Kingdoms of Amalur just came out, but still…
Pedro Martinez “midget” — wow….didn’t that guy pass away?
Moises Alou “breaks leg” — nope, urine hands isn’t popping up for me.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

“Can peeing on your hands make them tough?”
is #3 when I search.

12 years ago

Darrell Evans

Stats
Freedom
Trading my sorrows

Clearly there’s another Darrell Evans out there.

12 years ago

Wow, Kevin Mitchell was talented! I get baseball, football, and boxer among his top 5.

Artie Z.

12 years ago

“Keith Hernandez” brings up:

Seinfeld
stats
model (which is not for the baseball player Keith Hernandez)

Interestingly, if I type in “Keith Hernandez ” (with the space added so it looks like you are looking for something more specific) I get:

Seinfeld
Stats
Hall of Fame

And then the link to the guy doing the modelling

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Fun idea, Andy! But it might as well be called “What Heisenberg tells us…” — since this very discussion will alter the results.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

damn:
… you autocorrect
… Yankees
… lol (?)

I despise K:
… Kate
… Keith Hernandez
… Keith Olbermann

PhilM

12 years ago

The most “Google-famous”:

Sandy . . . Bridge (Koufax is #3)
Willie . . . Nelson (no Mays visible)
Barry . . . Weiss (Storage Wars?!)
Mickey . . . Mouse
Rogers . . . Sporting Goods
Babe . . . Ruth (finally!)

Just trying a twist — nothing much to see here, folks.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to PhilM

For me, the most famous Sandy is indeed Koufax…though autocomplete is suggesting that he is gay.

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Yet paradoxically, search Rusty Staub, and the gaydar function appears to be disabled. Koufax, twice married, Staub, a — ahem — confirmed bachelor. Do I dare search Mike Piazza? I think I’ll just let it be. Sam Champion breathes a sigh of relief.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

I was looking up Rusty Staub and found this:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1972.shtml

Nobody on the 1972 Mets had 100 hits!

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

For the record, since 1901, only teams other than the 1972 Mets without a 100 hit man were both in strike-shortened seasons (as was 1972, albeit slightly).
– 1981 Blue Jays
– 1994 Phillies

Other than 6 teams from the 1981 season, only team with just one 100 hit player was the 1906 Cardinals.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

Only one non-strike-year team had as few as one? And the ’72 Mets had zero? That’s an (awful) amazin’ stat. (The division winning Pirates had nine) And what a trying season overall for the Mets. Gil Hodges drops dead of a heart attack on April 2nd, right in front of all his coaches after a round of golf. Three days later they trade Singleton, Jorgenson, and Foli for Staub, who ended up being the only player on that team who had more hits than games played. However, he was gone after 66 after injury. Also injured were Bud Harrelson, Jerry… Read more »

birtelcom

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

Tommie Agee led the Mets in 1972 with 96 hits. The Mets played 156 games, missing six games because of the players’ strike. 96 hits over 156 games comes out to 99.7 hits over 162 games, suggesting Agee (1972 batting average: .227)was not exactly a sure thing to get to 100 even with the six extra games.

The ten lowest team batting averages over the past 100 years:
1968 Yankees.214
1972 Rangers .217
1963 Mets .219
1963 Colt 45s .220
1965 Mets .221
1967 Senators .222
1968 Senators .223
1969 Padres .22457
1967 White Sox .22460
1972 Mets .22473

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Remulak

I tried Piazza earlier…”gay” did not pop up.

12 years ago

Reply to vivaeljason

Hey we matched. I got the Koufax = gay thing too! Apparently, back in 2003, the NY Post published a story about Koufax being gay. I definitely don’t remember hearing about that.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Is that what the “nagging question” about Sparky Lyle was? I looked and only found an article which contains the sentence, “The nagging question is whether or not Jim Rice deserves to be in the HOF…..”.

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

Not very interesting:

http://cardboardgods.net/2007/06/15/sparky-lyle-in-the-nagging-question/

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

The “nagging” thing about this is that Rice’s dubious HOF selection is going to haunt us all for years. Just imagine how many times over the next few decades you’re going to read, “Well, If Jim Rice is in, then player X deserves to be in”. Should be great fun!

Doug

12 years ago

Bill Lee brings up Spaceman (of course), but also a reference to him pitching in the minors at age 63 (something I didn’t recall). Sure enough, B-R has the 2010 start for Brockton in an independent league: 5.1 innings, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 K, 0 BB and a W !

That game came “only” 41 years after his last minor league appearance, and 28 years after his last MLB game. Am guessing both are records.

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

I believe Buck O’Neil did something similar.

Luis Gomez

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Minnie Minoso played in his 70’s in the Minors.

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Luis Gomez

Right you are, Luis.

Minoso drew a walk, aged 77, for St. Paul of the Northern League. He also had a PA for the same team, 10 years earlier, which was his first minor league appearance since 1969, and his first professional appearance since 1980 with the White Sox.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Almonte, Nieto, Carmona: Each one could be a MLB player (Erick, Tom, Fausto). But in this case, they are the surprising autocomplete suggestions for “Zoilo.”

The ’65 MVP doesn’t come up until you type “V.”

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

You obviously don’t spend enough time looking up baseball stuff, JA. 🙂

“Zoilo Versalles” and “Zoilo Versalles stats” are #s 2 & 3 for me.

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

I get the same as Dr. D

Tmckelv

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

I think Zoilo Almonte is in Spring Training with the Yanks right now.

bstar

12 years ago

I was disappointed that “I-285” didn’t come up for Pascual Perez (he legendarily got lost on the I-285 loop before a scheduled Braves start). You have to type in “Pascual Perez I” to get it to come up.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

“Boilery” = Boileryard Clarke.

“Jhonny” = Johnny Depp; need a P to get Peralta.

“Jhou” = Jhoulys Chacin.

“Diz” #4 is this thread.

But for a sign of how much personal data Google is collecting (and/or a sign of my one-track mind):
“B” = Baseball-Reference.com

12 years ago

Johnny Bench brings up “called”. I didn’t get the reference but it’s in the urban dictionary. You’ll have to look it up yourself cause it’s definitely not pg-13.

12 years ago

Harmon Killebrew brings up Mormon. Had no idea but he converted to Mormonism in 1966.

Luis Gomez

12 years ago

Fernando Vanzuela: Jr(!) Still playing in the Mexican League.

Yovani: Gallardo (no surprise here).

Vinny: Testaverde (expecting Castilla, of course)

Joakim: Noah, then Soria.

There is location involved for sure. I just searched “Piazza” and it sows a local restaurant called Trattoria La Piazza.

Luis Gomez

12 years ago

It “shows” a local restaurant, sorry.

Luis Gomez

12 years ago

Mattingly: The Simpsons episode, when Mr. Burns tells him to get rid of his sideburns.

Steve Sax: The Simpsons.

Darryl: Strawberry, then Brinkley, a carrer Minor leaguer with an interesting 9/11 story.

Dave V.

12 years ago

Alvaro Espinoza:

in jail
wine
winemaker

Dave V.

12 years ago

Reply to Dave V.

http://randomballplayers.blogspot.com/2011/04/alvaro-espinoza.html

Dave V.

12 years ago

–Wade Boggs is the man:

beer
beer story
stats

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2009/05/the_legend_of_wade_boggs_and_a.html
http://www.totalprosports.com/2011/01/04/6-sports-rumors-that-are-total-bullsht/ (#1 is interesting!)

Dr. Remulak

12 years ago

Reply to Dave V.

Boogs search, no “sex addict.” More Google/Bing disappointment.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Dave V.

Well, from the first link I actually started counted up the beers as the author told the story(how much is a “half-rack” of beer?) but I estimated he had about 30 from the way the author told it. That sounds a little more reasonable although really high for a normal human. That’s what…30 beers in about a ten hour trip, 3 an hour, one every twenty minutes for ten hours. That’s humanly possible, but damn that is hardcore.

Jon SC

12 years ago

Here are 3 I find interesting:
“Kris Benson wife”
“Chuck Finley is forever” (from “Burn Notice”)
“Glenallen Hill phantom steal” (game vs. Tigers)
“Darrell Evans I am in Love with you” (huh? Actually a religious songwriter with the same name!)

Jeff Allen

12 years ago

Kevin Millar
-stats
-twitter
-wife
*No cowboy up or got heem, interesting

Red Schoendienst
-stats
-address
-statue
*Hm, a few stalkers out there…

Wafe Boggs
-beer
-carpet world
-stats
*And yet no fried chicken

Mark Koenig
-terranomics
-enron
-sberg
*I had to check 3 times to make sure I spelled this right. Apparently, being a member of the ’27 Yankees isn’t all it’s craked up to be.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Jeff Allen

Murderer’s Row.
The nine (most common) starters had ops+ of:
225
220
141
135
125
116
83
78

The guy with the 83 (Koenig) batted in the number 2 hole (.320 obp).
When he wasn’t playing, it was a fella named Morehart.
He may have had more heart, but he didnt have more bat.
He whacked at a 79.

What would happen if someone got in a time machine and gave Miller Huggins a copy of Moneyball? Did they have trash cans in 1927?

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1927-batting-orders.shtml

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

It’s interesting that Collins and Grabowski alternated behind the plate every day for the first 99 games.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

That would make perfect sense in a four man rotation, both for keeping the catchers fresh and for matching them with the same pitchers… Except that the NYY rotation was anything but consistent. And more often than not they utilized a Five-man attack. Only Waite Hoyt started more than thirty games. And his days off were: 0 – 0 1 – 2 2 – 4 3 – 9 4 – 9 5 – 9 6 – 9 9 – 1 As for catchers, only once did a NYY catcher start three games in a row. And it was Bernard Oliver… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

And just to illustrate how the curse of the bambino had already taken root, the three and four hitters for the ’27 Red Sox were

Phil Todt
and
Ira Flagstead

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

The Red Sox team OPS+
1925 – 78
1926 – 76
1927 – 77
1928 – 81
1929 – 80
1930 – 74
1931 – 79
1932 – 75

All but the 1929 season were league worst (1929 was 2nd worst to the White Sox).

And, people make fun of the Browns?

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

OPS+ for the last 10 years for NYY and Boston, with ranks in AL:

Year….BOSTON….YANKEES

2011….116(1)….106(3)
2010….109(T1)…108(3)
2009….105(4)….114(1)
2008….106(2)….101(T6)
2007….107(3)….116(1)
2006…..98(9)….111(1)
2005….111(T2)…115(1)
2004….110(3)….111(T1)
2003….118(1)….114(2)
2002….106(T3*)..114(1)
*3-way tie

Average 10-year OPS+: NYY-111 BOS-108
Average 10-year AL Rank: NYY-2.1 BOS-3

I’m not really sure what I’m trying to prove, other than I really wish my Atlanta Braves were still a team with a big budget every year.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

That should read 108.6 for Boston 10-year average. Yes, I just took the average of those ten numbers and assumed an equal # of PA.

anon

12 years ago

george steinbrenner seinfeld 🙂

vivaeljason

12 years ago

Reply to anon

I get the same thing for Jay Buhner.

Lawrence Azrin

12 years ago

#106/Voomo Zanzibar –

I don’t think that the weakness of the Red Sox #3/4 hitters had anything to do with any alleged “Curse of the Bambino”, it’s more because owner/president Bob Quinn was trying to run the team on a relative shoestring.

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to Lawrence Azrin

Tom Yawkey sure turned things around.

wedding halls in maryland

11 years ago

I relish, cause I found just what I used to be looking for.
You’ve ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye