Damn it. Jose Fernandez faces T.J. surgery, after just 36 major-league games. Damn it!

OK, a few notes from Monday, and some Sunday junk.

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After two years of two-way futility at shortstop, Dee Gordon crossed over to second base this season — his fourth in the majors, at age 26 — and is off to a flying start, batting .336 with an MLB-high 24 stolen bases in his first 35 games.

One narrative for a successful SS-to-2B transition goes like this: “Defensive woes got in his head, dragging his whole game down. Playing second eased that pressure, freed his mind, and let his other skills shine.” More on that angle, after the jump.

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@Dodgers 6, Giants 2 — LA scored twice in the 6th, 7th and 8th to overcome their rivals’ early edge. Fortunes turned quickly after Matt Cain walked Dee Gordon leading off the 6th. He stole, Puig’s popup fell in front of a lumbering Moose, and Han-Ram walked to load the bags for Adrian Gonzalez. Southpaw Jeremy Affeldt got the slugger on a scoring DP, leaving the tying run on third for Matt Kemp, whose career line says .336/.957 off lefties. What would Bruce Bochy do?

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@Rangers 8, Red Sox 0 — Paging Mike Mussina and Dave Stieb … Shaking off the strange events two innings back, Yu Darvish came within one out of a no-hitter. But on his 126th pitch, David Ortiz ripped a hard grounder past the diving second baseman/short-right-fielder, foiling Darvish for the second time on history’s doorstep.

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Willie Wilson, all-star center-fielder with the dominating Kansas City Royal teams of the 1970s and 1980s showed up recently as one of the players in a quiz I was researching. Rest assured you quiz afficionados will get your chance to try your luck, but first I wanted to tell you about what I found to be a truly startling result.

Those who remember Willie will recall a lightning-fast singles hitter who, unfortunately, couldn’t take a walk to save his life. Thus, he ended up his playing days with a .285/.326/.376 slash, good for just a 94 OPS+. But, wait. Wilson parlayed that 94 OPS+ into a nice 46 career WAR in just over 2000 games. How many outfielders have done that? Actually, only Willie. And, among those with a career OPS+ of 95 or worse, there’s nobody else even close.

So, how did Willie rack up the WAR? More after the jump.

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Orioles 3, @Rays 1 — Baltimore’s 2-run burst with two outs in the 2nd stood up behind Ubaldo Jimenez and three RPs who got 10 outs to sweep the carpet clean, giving the O’s their second night alone in first place. Coming off his first good outing of the year, Jimenez was nicked right off the bat, walking leadoff man Ben Zobrist to trigger Tampa’s opening run. But in the next half, after David Price brushed aside the first two, J.J. Hardy doubled to the gap, and Steve Pearce whistled a full-count fastball to the seats.

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In honor of Yogi‘s induction into the COG, a related quiz involving players who have a particular game accomplishment since 2012 that no other player has managed. What is it?

Or, maybe it is over? Congratulations to Richard Chester! He correctly identified that since 2012 only these players have produced the game-winning margin at the earliest possible moment, via a 1st inning lead-off home run on the road, en route to a shutout of the home team.  After the jump, more on getting ahead early and making it count.

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Happy 70th birthday to a pioneer, who debuted 50 seasons ago by striking out Charley Smith. And a very happy 83rd to one of his teammates. Now, on to a bunch of first starts tonight — most of which I won’t get to, ’cause we lead with the wild finish:

@Pirates 2, Giants 1 — “Here’s the throw to the plate, the slide, and he is … out!!  We go to the 10th inning!”

Wait …

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These players enjoy the distinction of a certain seasonal batting feat since 1901 of which only they can boast. What is it?

Bonus: Hebner’s season is the most recent with what related accomplishment?

Congratulations to the Goof and Stuart! They teamed up to solve the two parts of today’s quiz, both related to efficient run production. In particular, only our quiz players have a season since 1901 with 80+ RBI produced from fewer than 100 hits. Richie Hebner’s season doing that is also on a second list of players with an 80 RBI season since 1901, with RBIs amounting to more than half of total bases. More after the jump.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the 57th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG).  This round completes the addition, that was begun in the previous round, of those players born in 1925.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →