@Orioles 7, Rockies 2 — Adam Jones and Chris Davis had big days, with a homer and a double each, and Scott Feldman bested Jhoulys Chacin, as Baltimore took the rubber game and kept pace with both wild-card leaders.
Dodgers 5, @Phillies 0 — Ho-hum. Clayton Kershaw cut his ERA to 1.80 with eight 3-hit innings, and he chipped in an RBI double, as the Dodgers won again, of course. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
A quickie version of Thursday’s action from your substitute reporter. The real thing will return soon.
The 3-way NL Central race heated up with the Cardinals and Reds both gaining ground on the front-running Pirates, who saw their lead shrink to just two games. The AL East and AL West races also tightened with the closest pursuers in each division both gaining ground on the front-runners. In the AL Central, Detroit hosted Kansas City to begin a 5-game set that could be a make-or-break series for the upstart Royals and tell us if they really are for real.
Alfonso Soriano has been in the news this week with his stellar play in his return to pinstripes. Appropriate then that he is included in this list of recent power hitters.
Really simple quiz. What is the career accomplishment shared by only these players over the past 25 seasons (since 1989)? Note for players active before 1989 that, to be included in this list, they must have achieved this career accomplishment only within the the 1989 to 2013 period.
| Player |
|---|
| Jeff Bagwell |
| Barry Bonds |
| Carlos Delgado |
| Chipper Jones |
| David Ortiz |
| Rafael Palmeiro |
| Albert Pujols |
| Manny Ramirez |
| Alex Rodriguez |
| Alfonso Soriano |
| Sammy Sosa |
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.