Barring major surprises this year, the 2015 season will begin with no active player owning 3,000 hits. That’s not unusual (see end of post), but it naturally makes us wonder who’ll be the next to that milestone. Who do you think has the best shot at 3,000 hits? The obvious candidates, and more, after the jump:
Since 1916, many pitchers have accomplished a certain game feat once in a career, several have done it twice, and one even did it three times. But, only these three moundsmen have managed that feat twice in the same season.
Dennis Martinez
Claude Willoughby
Dizzy Dean
What is this most unusual of repeat performances?
Congratulations to John Autin! He correctly identified that these are the only pitchers to start two games in the same season in which an opposing player hit for the cycle. More after the jump.
This post is for voting and discussion in the 49th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round completes the addition of players born in 1931. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading
An array of worthy challengers was no impediment for Mickey Mantle, who led wire-to-wire for a first ballot win and enshrinement in the Circle of Greats. Mantle was mentioned on over 85% of ballots with runner-up Eddie Mathews, also on the COG ballot for the first time, exceeding 60%. Jim Bunning and all of the holdovers in their last round of eligibility managed to attract sufficient support to remain on the ballot.
A much-heralded phenom from Oklahoma, Mantle had a tough time as a 19 year-old rookie in the Big Apple. Some tough love from his father in a famous phone call back home set the Mick straight, and onto his path to stardom as one of the outstanding center-fielders in major-league history. At his retirement after 18 seasons, Mantle’s 109.7 career WAR (15th all-time) was 4th among center-fielders, trailing only HOFers Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, and contemporary Willie Mays (who also debuted in the 1951 season). Forty-five seasons later, those four still hold down the same top 4 spots with no player since coming within 25 WAR of Mantle.
More on the Commerce Comet after the jump.
OK, I’m a little late with the Olympic imagery. Anyway … What feat has been achieved by only these five pitchers? No one in this century has even had an opportunity to do it.
Congratulations to Richard Chester! These five are the only pitchers with two World Series shutouts against the same team in different seasons. No one’s had a chance to do it this century because no pitcher has faced the same team in more than one Series; last year saw the first rematch of the century, but no pitcher from 2004 was on the same side in 2013. And of course, there hasn’t been an individual WS shutout since Josh Beckett’s 2003 clincher.
Our mystery player is a 20th century pitcher. Among other accomplishments, he:
Congratulations to James Smyth! He correctly identified our mystery pitcher as none other than Babe Ruth. I chose the Babe as the subject of this quiz to alert our readers that the good people at Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com have been busy, and have now updated their databases and search engines to include complete box scores and game logs back to 1914, Ruth’s debut season.
I am aware of the problem with comments and am working to resolve it.
After the jump is a list of the eight guys who started the most games for the Yankees at each of the eight fielding positions for the Yankees in 2013: Continue reading
What seasonal feat is shared by only these five players in MLB history? Small hints: (1) You can tell from the basic stats on their main B-R pages that they meet the two criteria. (2) Positions played are irrelevant. (3) The list will not grow this year, but a Yankee could make it in two years.
Congratulations to Insert Name Here! These are the only five MLB players with 15 or more seasons and 100+ games in every season. The implied hints were:
(a) The lack of a catcher — They rarely have long streaks of 100+ games, due to the physical toll of the job. Only Ivan Rodriguez, Carlton Fisk and Bob Boone had 15+ years of 100+ games; all three had several years with less than 100 games, and at least two of those in mid-career. I believe Brad Ausmus is the only catcher with 14 straight years of 100+ games played (not necessarily 100 at catcher); Jason Kendall did it in 14 of his 15 years. Also, most catchers end their careers as backups; out of 666 retired players with 100+ games in their last season, just 20 were catchers.
(b) Clemente and Daubert both died after a season of 100+ games; neither had planned to retire.
Ichiro Suzuki is the active player closest to joining this list, with at least 146 games in all 13 MLB seasons.
__________
Just by chance, we have a SS, a CF, a RF, a 1B and a 2B, for the start of a pretty good lineup — especially with Ashburn on hand to keep Little Louie out of the leadoff spot. You might glean a clue to the feat from one of the positions not covered. And there’s at least one other natural lead to deducing the feat, which applies to two of the five.
This post is for voting and discussion in the 48th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the first of two rounds of voting for players born in 1931. Rules and lists are after the jump.