All three AL Central contenders had day games in the same time zone. Two trailed early but pulled it out, while the other let a lead slip away…. (P.S. I liked D.C. so much, I’m going back for another quickie — look for me in the stands Thursday afternoon, and in the blogs again by Sunday.)
Tigers 6, @White Sox 4 — Joaquin Benoit came out of hiding and shut down two major threats, one handed to him and the other of his own devising, as Detroit salvaged something from their Windy City visit.
This 1993 Fleer Ultra card perfectly captures Kevin Appier’s deceptive (and unique) delivery. He would use that delivery to earn over nine wins above replacement in 1993. (Image courtesy of comc.com)
As I built the Hall of Stats, I came across many players who are rated highly by Hall Rating (a formula based on Baseball-Reference‘s WAR and WAA) but not remembered in the same way by Hall of Fame voters and the general public. I have covered several of those players here—including Larry Walker, Rick Reuschel, Curt Schilling, David Cone, and Urban Shocker.
Many players of this ilk are considered Hall-worthy by objective-minded fans—even if the Hall of Fame voters don’t necessarily agree. I recently named my Personal Hall of Fame while bloggers Bryan O’Connor, Ross Carey, Dan McCloskey, and Dalton Mack did the same.
I’m interested in consensus—particularly where these Personal Halls of Fame, the Hall of Stats, and Baseball Think Factory’s Hall of Merit agree about a player and the Hall of Fame does not. Just looking at the players above, so far Walker, Reuschel, and Cone are supported by everyone except the “real” Hall of Fame. Schilling is missing only induction from the Hall of Merit while Shocker isn’t supported by either the Hall of Merit or Bryan’s Hall).
Today, I want to talk about the player who ranks #1 in Hall Rating among players left off every one of these lists—that is, until Dalton included him. It’s Kevin Appier.
Appier, a right-handed starting pitcher, made his debut for Kansas City in 1989. He pitched for the Royals until a trade in 1999. From 1999 until 2004, he bounced around from the Athletics to the Mets to the Angels before finally returning to Kansas City. He won 167 games and lost 137 (playing mostly for a miserable Royals team). He posted an ERA of 3.74 (during the height of the steroid era, which helped push his ERA+ to 121).
What caused me to look closer at Appier was a comment at the Hall of Stats by Eric Ho Rulz. “Eric”, who I assume is a Royals fan who saw Appier often, questioned my easy admittance of Bret Saberhagen into my Personal Hall while Appier received barely a look. And it’s true—I wrote several articles where I debated the players on my borderline. Appier was even left out of those.
@Cardinals 4, Pirates 3 (14 inn.) — With Jon Jay on 2nd after a single and a steal, Adron Chambers sliced a hit to left, and Jay just beat the throw, giving Chambers his first RBI this year and first-ever game-winning hit. That capped the Cards’ late comeback, and trimmed their division deficit to 2 games. Jay had 4 hits, and Redbirds hurlers held Pittsburgh scoreless for the last 11 stanzas.
Since I hit you with such a nasty quiz yesterday, here’s one I think will be easier.
Below are the 1982 season lines for 3 players. They are the only players from that season with a particular season batting accomplishment that can be described by (some of) the common batting totals shown. What is this seasonal batting feat?
| Player | Year | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | SH | SF | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Bernazard | 1982 | CHW | 137 | 630 | 540 | 90 | 138 | 25 | 9 | 11 | 56 | 67 | 88 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 5 | .256 | .337 | .396 |
| Rafael Ramirez | 1982 | ATL | 157 | 669 | 609 | 74 | 169 | 24 | 4 | 10 | 52 | 36 | 49 | 27 | 14 | 16 | 5 | .278 | .319 | .379 |
| Bob Boone | 1982 | CAL | 143 | 539 | 472 | 42 | 121 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 58 | 39 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 5 | .256 | .310 | .337 |
Hint: among expansion-era players (seasons since 1961), the same feat was accomplished only 3 times before 1982, and also only 3 times after 1982, all by different players.
Congratulations to Bix! He identified the players in the quiz as those with a lot of sacrifice bunts, despite having a bit of pop in their bats – a rare combination indeed in the modern game. It wasn’t always thus – more after the jump.
Rangers 2, @Astros 1 — Texas finished off a sweep, as Yu Darvish flirted with a no-hitter for the 2nd time against Houston this year, surrendering a first-pitch home run to Carlos Corporan with 1 out in the 8th. Darvish retired the first 17 Astros (with 11 Ks) before issuing a walk that led to catcher A.J. Pierzynski being ejected. He left after 8 innings, 115 pitches, yielding just those two baserunners, with a career-high 15 strikeouts. Joe Nathan finished neatly for his 35th save.
I’m back, and ready for the stretch run! By the way, Theodore Roosevelt Island is my new favorite spot in D.C.
@Dodgers 8, Rays 2 — Clayton Kershaw picked up his shortstop on both ends, with 8 innings of 3-hit ball (getting a DP right after 2 of the 3 Dee Gordon errors), while stroking the game’s biggest hit, a 2-out, 2-run single in the 2nd after Gordon whiffed with 2 in scoring position.
The players in this quiz all played their entire careers since 1946, including seasons in which they played primarily in the infield. They are also the only players from this era with a particular season accomplishment.
What is this unusual seasonal feat? The HHS panel was stumped on this one. The solution is after the jump.
| Player |
|---|
| Bob Meacham |
| Jose Uribe |
| Luis Gomez |
| Bobby Knoop |
| Bobby Wine |
| Gene Tenace |
| Mario Mendoza |
| Brendan Ryan |
| Willy Miranda |
| Ed Brinkman |
| Roy McMillan |
Hint: it is not a mistake that one of these players is included in a list of infielders.
Continue reading
Top current 2013 Wins Above Replacement (baseball-reference version) totals in each of the six divisions, after the jump. Continue reading
This post is for voting and discussion in the twenty-sixth round of balloting for the Circle of Greats. This round adds those players born in 1947. Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading
Here’s a full set of notes on a short slate, and then a three-day pass for your Game Notes narrator. He’s off to D.C., to play Uncle John with the next generation of Autins. See you again on Monday. Until then, keep hitting the cutoff man! Or woman.
@Royals 5, Red Sox 1 — K.C. kicked off a 4-game home series by beating Boston from start to finish, their 14th win in the last 16 games, to reach 59-53 — their best mark in 10 years at this point in the season. Bruce Chen has been Panama red-hot since stepping up to the rotation. He blanked Boston on 5 hits for 7.2 innings, improving to 5-0, 1.79 overall (65.2 IP), with a 1.14 ERA in 5 starts.