In a belated sequel to my earlier post for batters, this post looks at established pitchers who recorded a different kind of career year: a single season with more WAR than for their entire preceding career. More after the jump.
The NL East has to be baseball’s surprise division this season, with the upstart Braves and Phillies so far besting the pre-season favorite Nationals, currently just a .500 team after running away with the division a year ago. For the Phillies, it’s their second straight year as a 40-40 club, a back-to-back they also accomplished in the 1949 and 1950 seasons, the latter a pennant-winning campaign. So, what’s a 40-40 team? If you guessed 40% of PA and 40% of IP given to players aged 25 and under, you nailed it. More after the jump.
The 3-0 pitch is possibly one of the most predictable events in baseball, a short interlude in which the competitive game usually takes a break. We’ve all seen it – the hitter resting his bat on his shoulder and affecting body language that tells everyone in the ballpark that he won’t be swinging. And, the pitcher responding by grooving a center cut fastball. Heck, even the umpire gets into the act, expanding his strike zone to include anything even close to being a strike. After this, the game resumes, with the batter suddenly dialed in and looking to do some damage to the still vulnerable pitcher. As familiar as that scenario seems, things have been changing in recent years, as more hitters are taking their cuts on 3-0 offerings. More after the jump. Continue reading
This is the third in a series of posts on the 1890s Baltimore Orioles by HHS contributor e pluribus munu. if you’ve written something you’d like to share with the HHS community, drop me a note at doughhs@hotmail.ca.
In 1897, Oriole manager Ned Hanlon was quoted in The Sporting News, saying: “We didn’t play ball in 1889 as we play it now.” Although the pitching change of 1893 had been made midway in that eight-year interval, the article went on to specify something entirely different as the point of Hanlon’s remark. “In the old days, once a man got to first base the next batter walked to the plate and promptly attempted to knock the cover off the ball.” By 1897, however, teams were increasingly playing what was called “scientific baseball” or “inside baseball”: they were focusing on complex one-run-at-a-time tactics that required hitters to execute their at-bats in support of team strategies, rather than swinging away to try to build up their individual batting records. Continue reading
Thanks again to e pluribus munu for contributing these posts on the 1890s Baltimore Orioles. if you’ve written something you’d like to share with the HHS community, drop me a note at doughhs@hotmail.ca.
In his first post, epm identified that Orioles’ manager Ned Hanlon completely overhauled the Orioles’ personnel and style of play over the space of two years, from 1892 to 1894, and, in doing so, turned a last place team into a championship club. In part two, epm takes a closer look at this new style of play and its influence on the major league game. More after the jump. Continue reading
It is my pleasure to introduce a series of posts by e pluribus munu, a regular contributor to the HHS community. Just a reminder that if you’ve written something that you might like to have posted, drop me a line; my e-mail address is on the About page.
The subject of epm’s posts is the old Baltimore Orioles, as in 19th century old. If you’re not familiar with them, they were one of four American Association (AA) franchises (the others were in Louisville, St. Louis and Washington) that were absorbed by the NL in 1892 following the AA’s demise. The Orioles finished dead last in a 12-team NL in that 1892 season, but turned that around to become league champions just two years later, the first of three straight championship seasons. How did they do it? epm will answer that question and many others as he takes it from here. Continue reading
Future first ballot HOFer Albert Pujols continues adding to his resume of career milestones, becoming the 32nd player to reach 3000 hits with an opposite field single against the Mariners last Friday. After joining Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds last season as the only players to reach 600 doubles and 600 home runs, Pujols now joins Hammerin’ Hank, Stan Musial, Willie Mays and A-Rod as the only players with 3000 hits, including 1200 for extra bases. More after the jump. Continue reading
Brandon Belt last Sunday turned in a 3 for 5 afternoon, including a home run, to lead his Giants to a 4-2 win over the AL West-leading Angels. But, the talk of the game was not Belt’s three hits or his home run, but rather his first inning line out on a 3-2 pitch, the 21st pitch of that AB. That is the most pitches in a single plate appearance since MLB started officially recording such things in 1988. More after the jump on marathon plate appearances. Continue reading
The term career season usually denotes the best of a player’s career. For this post, though, I’m looking at single seasons equal or better than a player’s entire previous career. While such seasons may be fairly common early in a player’s career, they become scarcer as a player ages, so much so that only late bloomers are likely to post such campaigns when approaching or passing age 30. After the jump, more on players having this unusual type of career season. Continue reading
MLB has helpfully provided projected starting lineups for all major league clubs as we embark on this new season. After you’ve perused the MLB post, I’ll highlight some of the changes in the lineups of each of the NL teams (see my earlier post for the AL rundown). More after the jump. Continue reading