Author Archives: Doug

The Old Baltimore Orioles and the Transformation to Modern Baseball

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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 →

Albert Reaches 3000 Hits

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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 →

Impasse: Marathon Plate Appearances

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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 →

Career Seasons by Late Bloomers – Batters Edition

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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 →

New faces in new places: 2018 AL Edition

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“You can’t tell the players without a program” has never been more true in today’s game, with hundreds of free agent signings every year. To that end, MLB has helpfully provided projected starting lineups for all major league clubs as we head into the start of the new season later this week. After you’ve perused the MLB post, I’ll highlight some of the changes in each team’s lineup. More after the jump. Continue reading →

Sixty feet six inches and the birth of relief pitching

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This season marks 125 years since pitchers first launched their offerings from the current distance of 60½ feet from home plate. That’s 10½ feet or more than 20% further than before the 1893 season, a massive change that launched the 1890s “ultra-live ball” era but also introduced the more lasting change of pitchers who were used fairly frequently in relief roles. More after the jump. Continue reading →