Red Sox 9, @Yankees 8 (10 inn.) — With one strike to go in the 9th, what might have been New York’s most rousing win this year was snatched away by degrees, and wound up as their most dispiriting loss. All for nought was their impressive 6-run rally in the 7th that built an 8-7 lead.
Cardinals 5, @Reds 4 (16 inn.) — The extra frames alone comprise an epic. Matt Adams homered in the 16th, his second in three innings, and this one stood up, leading St. Louis within a game of first-place Pittsburgh.
When Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs back in 1927, setting a season record that would stand for more than 30 years, how many of those homers did he hit in games that the Yankees lost? A grand total of nine. The other 51 homers were all hit in Yankee wins. Indeed, Ruth was merely tied for fourth in the majors in 1927 for home runs hit in team losses, behind Cy Williams (17), Hack Wilson (13) and Ken Williams (10), and tied with Babe Herman. You’ll find more information on such “futile homers” (homers hit in team losses) after the jump. Continue reading
John, here it is. Email me your mailing address and it’s yours.
Anybody else interested in one? I could make this available for sale to support this web site.
@Red Sox 2, Tigers 1 — Jon Lester bested Max Scherzer on the bottom line and helped deny his 20th win, giving up 8 hits over 7 innings but just one tally. Ninth-place hitter Will Middlebrooks flipped Detroit’s 1-0 lead with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 5th. Scherzer had allowed a .189 BA this year with 2 outs, RISP, and Middlebrooks was 3-23 in those spots.
I doubt anybody reading this cares about pitcher wins and losses. They are an archaic metric for judging pitcher performance. There is so much information available these days, that relying on a players record is inexcusable. However there is one group of people who still care about such things, the players, and quite frankly isn’t that for the best. I want my players caring more about the team accomplishment than the individual, and I don’t believe it is just lip service when a player says that it is irrelevant how they performed if the team lost. I was looking on Baseball Reference and found a game where I am sure the pitcher felt he let his team down, despite having maybe the best game of his life.
Here’s a seemingly random assortment of batters. Yet, these are the only players with a post-war season (since 1946) achieving a particular batting feat. What is it?
| Player |
|---|
| Rico Carty |
| Dusty Baker |
| Raul Mondesi |
| Roy Sievers |
| Sam Mele |
| Manny Jimenez |
| Larry Doby |
| Chris Singleton |
Hint: the fact that these players were all outfielders is not germane to the answer.
Congratulations to Richard Chester and Gary Bateman! They teamed up to identify that these are the only players to qualify for the league batting title in their rookies seasons, while batting .300 with 150 or fewer hits and 10 or more home runs.
More on precocious batters after the jump.
[Some think of Labor Day as summer’s end, but in my household, summer lasts as long as Roger Federer is in the U.S. Open. That used to buy us extra time…. But never mind such sadness — the stretch run is here!]
@Athletics 4, Rangers 2 — The AL West is a dead heat. The A’s, who last shared the top spot on August 9, have won 4 straight low-scoring games, yielding 7 total runs. Monday, after Texas tied on David Murphy’s 2-run HR in the 5th, a throwing error by reigning Gold Glover Adrian Beltre was followed by Coco Crisp’s home run off Derek Holland. The Oakland bullpen held that lead despite 8 baserunners in the last 4 innings.
Orioles 7, @Yankees 3 — The rainstorm had moved off by game time, but Baltimore breathed lightning and thunder in a 7-run 7th, matching the biggest inning for both teams this year (scored and allowed).
How is your favorite veteran ballplayer doing? He may have passed a notable career milestone and you missed it. To find out, or if you just have a fascination for round numbers, here’s a review of this year’s milestone moments and a look ahead to those still to come.