Cards, I-Rod

My St. Louis Cards reached .500 (for a day anyway). Not bad for a team 8 games under earlier this month. Now Pujols is playing like the monster he is, the pitching is decent, and Rick Ankiel's comeback as a position player after flunking out as a wild pitcher is inspiring. It helps, too, that they play in the weakest division in the majors!

Ivan Rodriquez doesn't get the attention he deserves. At age 35, Pudge is already the all-time leader in doubles among catchers with 498, having passed Ted Simmons earlier this year. He should have about 2500 hits by the end of the year, which gives him a pretty decent shot at being the first catcher ever to achieve 3000 hits. Cooperstown should be awaiting his arrival whether he makes that milestone or not.

Reyes' SB's

Another note: Jose Reyes, with 70 Stolen Bases and over a month left in the season, is on pace to become the first 80+ base stealer since 1988, when some guy named Rickey Henderson (ha!) had 93. In fact, SB individual totals took a precipitous drop in those years--after 6 100+ seasons in the 1980's (3 each by Henderson and by Vince Coleman), no one had more than 78 in the 1990's, and 70 was tops through 2006 this decade.

I'm Back: Granderson's Triples, A-Rod's HR's

Hey, if anyone out there has been noticing the absence of blog entries--sorry, we've been in transition with packing, moving, intermittent access to the internet and starting grad school. Don't know how regular this will be the rest of the way...

Anyway, how about that Curtis Granderson? He has 21 triples with over a month left in the season--and he missed getting number 22 by failing to stop at third and continuing on for an inside-the-park home run today. (I wonder if any others of his 17 HR's this year were "extended triples.") The last time anyone had more than 21 triples was 58 years ago, 1949, when Dale Mitchell had 23. (Willie Wilson in '85 and Lance Johnson in '96 each had 21). If Granderson should get as many as 24, that would be the most since Kiki Cuyler had 26 in 1925!

Meanwhile, the doublers have slowed down considerably. Whereas earlier it looked like we might have the first 60+ doubles season since 1936, that ain't gonna happen with Magglio Ordonez and Matt Holliday tied for the major league lead with 43 each.

And, finally, I must agree with those who say Bonds' homer record won't last a generation--A-Rod is way ahead of the pace with 507, having just turned 32 last month. To put that in perspective--Frank Thomas, a renowned slugger and future Hall-of-Famer, is over seven years older and has exactly one more homer (A-Rod will pass him any time now for 20th place). Put another way, every other active player with 375+ homers (just 3/4's of the way to 500) is 35 or older!

Stolen Base and Base on Balls Highs & Lows

Fewest Base on Balls (plate appearances per, min. 5900 PA)

Shawon Dunston, 203 BB, 6276 PA, 30.92 PA/BB
Charlie Comiskey, 197, 6005, 30.48
Ozzie Guillen, 239, 7133, 29.84
Art Fletcher, 203, 6039, 29.75
Hal Chase, 276, 7939, 28.76
Everett Scott, 243, 6373, 26.23
Tom Corcoran, 382, 9339, 24.45
Enos Cabell, 255, 6304, 24.34
Willie Davis, 418, 9822, 23.50
Ivy Olson, 285, 6630, 23.26

Most Base on Balls (plate appearances per, min. 5900 PA)

Ted Williams, 2019 BB, 9769 PA, 4.84 PA/BB
Barry Bonds (thru 6/28/07), 2504, 12397, 4.95
Babe Ruth, 2062, 10617, 5.15
Mickey Mantle, 1733, 9871, 5.70
Eddie Yost, 1604, 9164, 5.71
Jim Thome (thru 6/28/07), 1412, 8094, 5.73
Mark McGwire, 1317, 7660, 5.82
Frank Thomas (thru 6/28/07), 1596, 9461, 5.93
Joe Morgan, 1865, 11329, 6.07
Rickey Henderson, 2190, 13346, 6.09

Fewest Plate Appearances per Stolen Base (min. 5900 PA)

Vince Coleman, 752 SB, 5970 PA, 7.94 PA/SB
Billy Hamilton, 912, 7576, 8.31
Rickey Henderson, 1406, 13346, 9.49
Lou Brock, 938, 11235, 11.98
Willie Wilson, 668, 8317, 12.45
Jack Doyle, 516, 6570, 12.73
Tim Raines, 808, 10359, 12.82
Davey Lopes, 557, 7340, 13.18
Hugh Duffy, 574, 7745, 13.49
Delino DeShields, 463, 6652, 14.36

Most Plate Appearances per Stolen Base (min. 5900 PA)

Cecil Fielder, 2 SB, 5939 PA, 2969.5 PA/SB
Jay Buhner, 6, 5927, 987.8
Frank Howard, 8, 7353, 919.1
John Olerud, 11, 9063, 823.9
Ernie Lombardi, 8, 6349, 793.6
Vic Wertz, 9, 7020, 780.0
Carlos Delgado (thru 6/28/07), 11, 7577, 688.8
Mark McGwire, 12, 7660, 638.3
Rico Petrocelli, 10, 6170, 617.0
Deron Johnson, 11, 6620, 601.8

Loney's no Baloney

First baseman James Loney of the Dodgers is making major league pitching look like Little League stuff. He's now batting .478 (22 for 46) since being called up a few weeks ago. He's slugging .848 with 14 RBIs, has hit safely in all 10 starts and is 3 for 4 as a pinch-hitter. Whoa, Nellie--think he can keep it up? He showed promise in his first big league stint last year, batting .284 and slugging .559. Twenty-four of his 51 career hits are for extra bases, inclding an impressive 7 triples in just 148 career at bats! And he strikes out less than once every 10 ABs! This dude looks for real!

Trouble Hitting Triples

Congrats to Frank Thomas on his 500th homer today. Frank is now one of the elite in touching all four bases. But his record is less auspicious when it comes to triples--he's only hit 11 for his career. His rate of at bats per triple is the "highest" (i.e., worst) of any player who ever had 7000+ ABs, and third-worst among those with 6000+ . And all three of those worst are active or recent player. Here's the list:

Mark McGwire, 6 triples in 6187 AB, 1031.2 AB per triple
Mike Piazza (active), 7 in 6705, 957.9
Frank Thomas (active), 11 in 7666, 696.9
Boog Powell, 11 in 6681, 607.4
Eric Karros, 11 in 6441, 585.5
John Olerud, 13 in 7592, 584.0
Robin Ventura, 14 in 7064, 504.6
Jose Canseco, 14 in 7057, 504.1

The old Bash Brothers of Oakland may have bashed plenty over the walls, but they were more crash than dash when it came to legging it out on a gapper. Those two form the top and bottom slice of bread on this triple-less sandwich.

More on Fewest Saves

Expanding the lowest save percentage to include those with between 500 and 600 career games pitched in relief (GPIR), we find two active guys with miniscule save percentages!

Rheal Cormier, 575 GPIR, 2 saves, 0.35 %
Ray King, 543GPIR, 2 S, 0.37 %

Both these guys are lefties who usually are brought in to face only one or sometimes two batters, and so rarely finish games. Others of note:

Felix Heredia, 509, 6, 1.18 %
Tony Fossas, 567, 7, 1.23 %
Dennis Cook, 594, 9, 1.5 %
Russ Springer, 528 (thru 6/26/07), 8, 1.5 %

One guy with just under 500 GPIR:

Jason Grimsley, 480, 4, 0.83 %

And another Jason with a HIGH percentage just under 500 GPIR:

Jason Isringhausen, 485, 263, 54.2 %


Most of the highest and lowest percentage guys are from recent years. It would seem that, whereas pitching staffs used to spread the saves around a bit more (quality guys like Rollie Fingers and Goose Gossage only had saves in 37.6 % and 32.1 % of appearances, respectively), they now specialize to such an extent that one guy often has 95+ % of a team's saves in any given year. So if guys go their whole career without ever being the main closer, the saves are few and far between, instead of still collecting around 5 or so a year as in earlier years (1960s-80s).

Hot Young Hitter

The dude that just hit a walk-off 3-run pinch-hit homer for Cleveland, 27-year-old Kelly Shoppach, is now batting .382 (26 for 68) with 8 doubles, 4 homers, and 9 walks for a .676 slugging pct. and .455 on-base pct. The catcher is not getting many starts because he's on the same team as catcher Victor Martinez, who's having a career year with .313 avg., 14 HR and 62 RBI's. But Shoppach is either gonna have to find another position, or the Indians will be trading one of them, because Shoppach's stats aren't those of a back-up catcher!

Relievers with Lowest & Highest Percent of Saves

I didn't realize before just how unlikely it was that Alan Embree, at age 37 and in his 13th year as a reliever in the majors, would at this stage in his career get a chance (due to Huston Street's injury) to be a closer. A little research reveals that, before this season, Embree actually had the LOWEST EVER percentage of saves in relations to games pitched in relief among those who've pitched 600+ games in relief. Before this year, he had 8 career saves in 704 games pitched in relief, for a percentage of 1.1. In 12 seasons, his high in saves was 2, achieved exactly twice. Four other years, he had 1 save, and six times he had zero. Now, in the last month or so, he's doubled his career total with 8 more! He's also moved "down" (or is it"up"?) the list of "top" (bottom?) 10 in terms of LOWEST percentage of saves to games pitched in relief:

Rich Rodriguez, 607 games in relief, 8 saves, 1.3 %
Mike Myers, 848 (thru 6/25/07), 14 S, 1.7 %
Mark Guthrie, 722, 14, 1.9 %
Steve Reed, 833, 18, 2.161 %
Alan Embree, 740 (thru 6/25/07), 16, 2.162 %
Chuck McElroy, 647, 17, 2.6 %
Paul Quantrill, 777, 21, 2.7 %
Hector Carrasco, 636 (thru 6/25/07), 19, 3.0 %
Bob Groom, 771, 27, 3.5 %
Julian Tavarez, 615 (thru 6/25/07, now starting), 22, 3.6 %

And the HIGHEST percentage of saves to games in relief, among those with 600+ such games:
Trevor Hoffman, 849 (thru 6/25/07), 501, 59.0 %
Mariano Rivera, 737 (thru 6/25/07), 422, 57.3 %
Dennis Eckersley, 710, 390, 54.93 %
John Wetteland, 601, 330, 54.91 %
Troy Percival, 605 (thru 6/25/07), 324, 53.6 %
Billy Wagner, 684, 339, 49.6 %
Rick Aguilera, 643, 318, 49.5 %
Rob Nen, 639, 314, 49.1 %
Randy Myers (no relation to Mike), 716, 347, 48.5 %
Tom Henke, 642, 311, 48.4 %
Lee Smith, 1016, 478, 47.0 %
Bruce Sutter, 661, 300, 45.4 %

Just one more entry full of fascinating, totally useless information!

A Good Hart

How's this for a hot streak: Corey Hart (who I just added to my Fantasy team a week ago) has gone: in his last 8 games: 14 hits in 38 AB (.368) with 5 homers, 11 runs and 13 RBI's (and 3 stolen bases)
In the month of June (19 games so far): 25 for 77 (.325) with 8 HR, 19 runs, 18 RBI's and 7 SB's.
Hart is a 25 year old rightfielder with the Brewers who played just over half a season as an official rookie last year after a 21-game stint in 2005.
Perhaps most impressive is his speed/power combo. 30 HR and 30 RBI's is the well established standard. 40-40 has only been accomplished a handful of times. Consider this: if his most recent 19-game rate were extended across a 162-game season, he'd have approximately 68 homers and 60 SB's! If there ever were a 60-60 guy, the world would crown him superman!
By the way, 2007 could be the first season in quite a few years without a 30-30 guy. As we near the midpoint of the season, the best prospects are Brandon Phillips (13 HR, 15 SB) and Jimmy Rollins (13 each). But Phillips' previous career high in HR's is 17, and Rollins' HR production has fallen off (4 in last 51 games) after an explosive April.

Next come David Wright (12 HR, 16 SB), Grady Sizemore (11 and 22), Eric Byrnes (11 and 14) and Ian Kinsler (13 and 11).

My Doggie, Part II

My wife reminds me that I should mention how Bowser got his name. My wife was watching her Braves on TBS one night soon after we brought the pup home, and heard them talking about Jeff Blauser. "Blauser," she repeated. "That would make a good name for our dog." Not wanting him saddled with the handle of a 3rd-rate infielder from my rival team, I talked her into dropping the "l" and changing the spelling to the standard doggie name.

My Doggie

On a personal, completely non-baseball note (although he is a big Cardinals fan, despite my wife's claims of seeing him do the Tomahawk Chop): Happy 14th Birthday to Bowser, our miniature schnauser. He's deaf and slow these days, but precious to us, all the more so after life-saving emergency surgery last Sept. I'm glad he's still here to celebrate another birthday. Can you tell we're kind of sweet on this mutt of ours?!

Gagne's Back

It looks like closer Eric Gagne is back in top form after overcoming some serious injury problems the past two years, and on into this year. Gagne was unimpressive in his first two years in the bigs as a starter. Then the Dodgers moved him to closer in 2002. And it was lights out! For the next three years, through 2004, he had 52, 55, and 45 saves in consecutive years (152 total saves in three consecutive seasons is a record that may last a long, long time). His ERA's during those years? 1.97, 1.20, and 2.19. Oh, yeah, and he had, for the 3 years combined, 365 K's in 247 innings! In 2003, way over half (137, or very close to it) of the 247 outs he recorded were by strikeout. I believe he set an unbelievable record for number of consecutive saves in save opportunities (i.e., wihtout blowing any saves) during that time.
Then, as I said, injuries came into play, limiting him to 16 games and 9 saves in 2005-6. This year, he's missed some time in both April and May. Beginning with May 29, however, he's saved 5 games (and won one today!) and allowed no runs in 8 2/3 innings with 10 K's. He'd have considerably more saves were he not with the hapless Texas Rangers. Still, his 0.50 ERA so far has to be encouraging. If he's back all the way, and can sustain it without injury, at age 31 he still can be one of if not THE greatest, most ting closer ever (most folks, I suppose, would rank Eckersley or possibly Rivera, who seems to be back on track, for best ever as of now).

Ryan who? Ludwick, that's who!

Outfielder Ryan Ludwick's walk-off homer for the Cardinals in the 14th inning last night was his fourth homer in his past 24 at bats, this after having no home runs in the previous 58 at bats this season. I think this guy likes the clutch: his other 3 homers are a tie-breaking (eventually game-winning) three run shot in the 7th (he had a 2-run hit in the ninth in that game, too), a 9th inning pinch hit homer, and a game-tying pinch homer in the 7th inning. Not bad for a dude I'd never heard of until a month or so ago. He's 28 years old, and has shown promising power (13 HR in 227 AB) in parts of three seasons from 2003-05 with the Indians (he apparently spent all of 2006 in the minors). The hang up has been (and continues to be) his average: now .238 for his 137-game career. Here's hoping that improves, and he resembles Mike Schmidt (whose early average problems improved as his career went on) more than Dave Kingman (whose average remained miserable for most of his career).

Most Strikeouts in Season by Pitching Teammates

665 Randy Johnson (372) and Curt Schilling (293), 2001 D'backs
650 R. Johnson (334) and Schilling (316), 2002 D'backs
624 Nolan Ryan (383) and Bill Singer (241), 1973 Angels
592 Sandy Koufax (382) and Don Drysdale (210), 1965 Dodgers
588 Nolan Ryan (327) and Frank Tanana (261), 1976 Angels
557 Sandy Koufax (306) and Don Drysdale (251), 1963 Dodgers
550 Rube Waddell (349) and Eddie Plank (201), 1904 Philadelphia A's
547 Nolan Ryan (367) and Frank Tanana (180), 1974 Angels
547 Sam McDowell (283) and Luis Tiant (264), 1968 Indians
546 Nolan Ryan (341) and Frank Tanana (205), 1977 Angels
544 Mickey Lolich (308) and Joe Coleman (236) 1971 Tigers

Widest Margin to Lead the Majors in Wins

Since 1900:
+9 Walter Johnson, 1913, 36 wins (2nd, 27 by Tom Seaton)
+9 Lefty Grove, 1931, 31 (22, Wes Ferrell)
+8 Grover Alexander, 1916, 33 (25, Walter Johnson & Jeff Pfeffer)
+7 Joe McGinnity, 1900, 29 (22, William Kennedy)
+7 Cy Young, 1901, 33 (26, Joe McGinnity)
+6 Jack Chesbro, 1904, 41 (35, Joe McGinnity)
+6 Don Newcombe, 1956, 27 (21, Frank Lary)
+5 Christy Mathewson, 1905, 31 (26, Rube Waddell)
+5 Dazzy Vance, 1924, 28 (23, Walter Johnson)
+5 Bob Feller, 1940, 27 (22, Bucky Walters)
+5 Denny McLain, 1968, 31 (26 Juan Marichal)
+5 Bob Welch, 1990, 27 (22, Dave Stewart & Doug Drabek)

Cust Saved, Roaring Lamb

Well, it looks like my Cardinals have extended Jack Cust's chance to make a career for himself in the majors. Cust is the 28-year-old slugger who had hit just 5 homers in 144 at bats in parts of 5 seasons with four different teams before this year. Then, with the A's as his fifth team, he started the year on fire, hitting six homers in his first seven games and eight in his first 13 after getting called up in early May. Then, word is, the scouting report became known that what had kept him in the minors all these years was he couldn't hit the breaking ball. And the bottom fell out: from May 22 to June 14, he had 7 hits in 52 AB's with exactly zero homers, one run, two ribbies and 23 K's--ouch! Many were surprised he was still on the roster as the series with the Cards started on Friday. I don't know if the Cards have been feeding him fastballs or what (of course, the Cards have one of the worst starting rotations in memory: their best ERA is a dismal 4.66!), but Cust has proceeded to go 8 for 10 with 6 runs scored, 3 RBI's and (today) a homer.

Meanwhile, Mike Lamb is coming on like a lion for the Astros: he's 11 for 15 with 2 homers and 10 RBI's (including a grand slam today) in his last 4 games. Lamb is a guy who shown lots of potential in the past but at age 31 remained a part-time starter (usually platooning, sitting out against lefties). Who knows, maybe these hot streaks will be turning points in these guys' careers.

Willie Harris, .400 Hitter

Did you know that the majors had a .400 hitter this late into the season? Willie Harris of the Braves has gone 8 for his last 10 to raise his average to .412 for the year. Trouble is, he's still only starting half the time, almost never against lefties and not always against right-handed starting pitchers. He's actually been over .400 most of the year, having dropped below it before his current sizzling hot streak. And with 8 doubles in 97 AB's, his slugging percentage is .546, even though he only has one homer! With 8 stolen bases in 10 tries in the mix, you'd think Bobby Cox might write his name on the line up card at least five or six times a week.

Rose's Dubious Record

Ever wonder how Pete Rose managed to break Ty Cobb's hit record despite a much lower career average? Look no further than the single season plate appearance leaders. Rose is the only name to appear more than once among the top ten, and his appears four times! When the next player to repeat on the list, Ichiro Suzuki, shows up a second time tied for 16th all-time with 752 just last year, one of those he's tied with is--you guessed it--Pete Rose, listed for the fifth time. I guess something can be said for longevity and consistency, and staying healthy. But the guy wasn't even among the elite hitters of his generation! (Carew and Clemente, certainly, would rank as better hitters of his time). He just wore down that record by showing up at the plate 1870 more times (the equivalent of three full years) than any other player in history.

It's About Time!

Under the category of "Good Things Come to Those Who Wait":
Before the past 3 weeks, Alan Embree had pitched in 729 games, all but four of them in relief. How many saves did he have to show for his efforts? Would you believe a total of 8? Now, suddenly, at the age of 37, with A's closer Huston Street on the DL, Embree has gotten the chance to be a closer, at least temporarily, after 15 years of toil with eight different clubs. And he's making the most of it, with 7 saves in his first eight chances.

Al Reyes of Tampa Bay has a similar story. The 37-year-old Dominican bounced between the majors and minors for 11 years, 1995-2005, earning a total of six saves in almost 300 games. After not appearing in the majors at all last year, he won the closing role this year, and has responded with a perfect 17 saves in 17 opportunities. There's a lesson in persevering to make your dreams come true in these guys' stories.

Triple Splurge

Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers had a recent 8-game stretch in which he hit 6 triples. If that doesn't sound so impressive, consider that those 6 triples alone would put him in 4th place in the majors after 60 games. He now has 12 in 60 games, an impressive rate of one every 5 games, which would give him 30 or more for the year, a number reached just once in the last 100+ years. Even more impressive, Granderson also has 19 doubles, which with 8 homers and a .291 avg. gives him a .583 slugging percentage, 8th best in the majors.

500 HR Club Redoux

I mentioned a month ago that 2007 could see as many as four additions to the 500 HR club (Frank Thomas, A-Rod, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez). All would still seem a pretty good bet to make it: Manny is most in doubt. He only needed 30 HR this season to hit 500, and he's hit over 30 (often WELL over) the past 9 and 11 of the past 12 years. But so far in 2007, he's only got 8, so he'll need to pick it up (I still wouldn't bet against him). Another interesting development: Seemingly washed up Gary Sheffield has found new life, hitting 15 homers in just over 1/3 of a season. If he hits 30 more, he'll hit 500 this year!

The club admissions HAVE come in bunches before. Consider this: From the time Ruth inagurated the club in 1929 through 1964, only three other players earned admittance (Foxx, Ott, and Ted Williams. Lou Gehrig certainly would have made it, but ALS struck him at age 36 or 37 and froze him at 493 HR). Then, from 1965 through 1971, the club mushroomed suddenly from 4 to 11 (adding Mays in '65, Mantle and Mathews in '67 (all "Ma"'s!), Aaron in '68, Banks in '70 and Killebrew and Frank Robinson in '71.) Then from 1972 to 1995, only 3 more were added (McCovey in '78, Reggie Jackson in '84, and Mike Schmidt in '87). Eddie Murray joined in '96, then the floodgates (or should I say "juiced blood" gates) opened again, with McGwire added in '99, Bonds in '01, Palmeiro and Sosa in '03, and Griffey (who just might have done it cleanly) in '04, for a bloated total of 20, and still expanding. Soon very few fans, no matter how rabid, will be able to name every member from memory (I doubt I could without reviewing the list immediately before trying).

Schilling Comes Within an Out of a No-No

Curt Schilling just had a no-hitter broken up with two out in the 9th by Shannon Stewart. Schilling then retired the next batter (who was the potential winning run!) to win 1-0. Schilling had a perfect game through the first 14 batters before a batter reached on an error. Too bad for Curt. At least he didn't blow the win!

4 Ks in Inning Oddity

Most folks think 3 strike outs in an inning is the maximum, "striking out the side," since, by definition, 3 outs of any kind means the inning is over. But they still credit the pitcher with a "strike out" even when the last strike is dropped or otherwise hits the ground, and the batter reaches base before being tagged or thrown out. So FOUR strikouts in an inning has been done 46 times over the years. Here's the oddity: only one pitcher has done it more than once (Chuck Finley) and he did it THREE times. Not only that, the three occurrences were all in less than a year's time! (5-15-99, 8-15-99, and 4-16-00). Must have some full moons in the middle of those months!

ANother oddity: I recognize three knuckleballers among those who've done it (that's not so odd, since a knuckleball strike is more likely to be a wild pitch or passed ball). The odd part: Phil Niekro did it in 1977, Charlie Hough in 1988, and Tim Wakefield in 1999.

And what, you may ask, about Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Sandy Koufax, or Pedro Martinez? Not a one of them did it even once.

500 Saves, redoux

My man (on my Fantasy team, so he's "my man") Trevor Hoffman is within one save now of 500. An incredible feat--to be consistent enough to remain the "closer" for enough years to compile that many saves. Any chance the FIRST guy to 400, to 450 and to 475 (Lee Smith) could get his ticket punched to Cooperstown? Please?!

Power Outage

The big home run hitters get all the glory--how's about the guys LEAST likely to hit one out? Starting with the highest at bats for a career and working our way down:
Hall-of-Famer Rabbit Maranville managed 28 HR in 10,078 AB (1 for every 359.9 AB) from 1912-35--the last 2/3rds of his career, then, was after Ruth showed how it COULD be done.
Ozzie Smith had the same number (and made the same Hall) in a few fewer AB's (28 in 9396, 1/335.6) from 1978-96. The rarity of the feat for the Wizard of Oz might explain why Jack Buck was so stunned when Ozzie did it in the 1985 NLCS that he could only say, "Go crazy, folks; go crazy!"
Larry Bowa outdid both of these, hitting 15 in 8418 (1/561.2), less than one a year from 1970-85.
Don Kessinger did only slightly better, with 14 in 7651 (546.5) from 1964-79. All four so far were middle infielders.
Then we have somebody named Donie Bush, who managed 9 HR in 7210 AB (801.1) in the dead-ball days of 1908-23 (including 1 in his last 3288).
Eddie Foster managed 6 in 5652 (942), including none in his last 2702, in the same era as Bush.
The next notable recent (my lifetime) guy is Otis Nixon, with 11 HR in 5115 AB (465).
The guy with the most ABs to rank fewer than 1 HR per 1000 AB is Jimmy Slagle, who incredibly had only 2 in 4996 AB, one every 2498! He played from 1899-1908. Muddly Ruel also ranked "over" 1000, with 4 in 4514 (1128.5), and his career (1915-34) extended into the early power days. Al Bridwell hit 2 in 4169 (2084.5) from 1905-15, and Tommy Thevenow had 2 in 4164 (2082) in the power-packed years of 1924-38. (MLB lists Davy Force with 1 in 4251, but that included the pre-major years of 1871-75. Same with Bob Ferguson, 1 in 3468, 1871-84)
Some more recent players of note: Bud Harrelson, 7 in 4744 (677.7), 1965-80;
Jerry Remy, 7 in 4455 (636.4), 1975-84;
Roger Metzger, 5 in 4201 (840.2), 1970-80.
Frank Taveras outdid all his contemporaries of 4000+ AB. He hit 2 HR in 4043 (2021.5) from 1971-82. He and Nixon could steal a base, but didn't quite have the "power/speed" combo thing down.
A lot of people's choice as worst HR hitter all-time is Duane Kuiper. He hit one solitary homer in 3379 AB from 1974-85.
Emil Verban had 1 in 2911 from 1944-50. (Dave Eggler and Mike McGeary had 0 in over 2400 AB each, but that includes 1871-75 again) Bill Holbert had 0 in 2393 from 1876-88. Not only that, he had a .208 career average and .232 slugging pct., yet stuck around for the 1st 13 years of the NL!
In our day, again: Enzo Hernandez had 2 in 2327 (1163.5) from 1971-78, a .224 avg. and .266 slugging pct.
Rafael Belliard had 2 in 2301 (1150.1), 1982-98. Despite a .221 career average and .259 slugging, Rafael only changed teams once in 17 years!
Woody Woodward had exactly 1 HR in 2187 AB, 1963-71.
And the modern-day (post 1900) non-pitching player with the most AB without ever hitting a homer? Tom Oliver, with the ultimate power outage in 1931 AB in power-crazy 1930-33. Unlike many other guys on this list, Oliver was a decent hitter: 101 doubles, a .277 avg. and half-way decent .340 slugging pct.

Am I living up to the promise of providing totally fascinating, useless information, or what?!

My Man Franco

48-year-old Julio Franco stole a base yesterday, his second in limited playing time this year. My hero! I may have mentioned earlier, Franco is going where no man has gone before. A few pitchers (knuckleballers Phil Neikro and Hoyt Wilhelm, old-timer Jack Quinn) pitched regularly to age 48 and beyond. And a few position players (Minnie Minoso, for one) made a few token, gimmick appearances older than that. But, according to my research, Franco is the first player in the 132 year history of major league baseball to continue playing an offensive (non-pitching) position as a regular, continuous member of a roster past age 46. Carlton Fisk? Topped out by then. Pete Rose? Same thing? Many Mota? Not even close. Franco is a freak of nature. I went to a Braves-Mets game last year and saw two players to tell my grandkids about. First, I saw Pedro Martinez, who may end up the greatest winning percentage pitcher of all-time (at least among those with 150+ wins). And his ERA vs. the average ERA of his time would likely be near the best all-time. But perhaps an even greater story will be seeing 47-year-old Julio Franco hit a 2-run double and field his potition flawlessly. Go, Julio, my hero!

Magglio's Doublemania

Magglio Ordonez leads the majors by a good bit with 26 doubles in 52 games so far, an incredible double every two games rate. Can he become the first since 1936 to hit 60+ doubles in a season? (Todd Helton just missed in 200 with 59). We'll see. In his favor are his consistency so far (13 doubles in April, 13 in May), his durability (playing in 52 of 53 games so far) and a decent history of hitting 'em in the past (47 and 46 in 2002 and 2003). Against him? He hasn't hit so many the past 3 years, and he can't expect to continue his torrid hittting (.345 so far, a good bit above his career average) for a full season. Still, I hope he makes it. One other note: Ordonez's doubles and average have enabled him to take the major league lead in slugging pct. (.660), despite having only 12 HR's compared to A-Rod's and Prince Fielder's 19.

Record Frequency of Getting Plunked

41-year-old Craig Biggio is S-L-owwwwly approaching the all-time record for times being hit by a pitch in a career. After getting hit 282 times in his first 19 years, he's only taken one not-so-free pass in the first 47 games this year (maybe old bodies don't take the bruising as well). He now stand 4 away from the all-time record of 287 by Hughie Jennings. Because Jennings played mostly before 1900, many already consider Biggio the leader of "modern" major league baseball, having passed Don Bylor a couple of years ago. But I've read recently that 1893 (when moder rules of pitching were implemented) is a better marker of the start of the modern period, in which case most of Jennings career would qualify. Anyway, I was wondering who has been hit most often, based on Plate appearances per HBP (hit by pitch) here is the top ten among those with 90+ career HBP. (How's this for a totally useless list?)

19.43 PA/HBP Hughie Jennings 287 HBP, 5576 PA, 1891-1903
25.34 PA/HBP Ron Hunt 243 HBP, 6158 PA, 1963-1974
25.68 PA/HBP Craig Wilson 90 HBP, 2311 PA 2001-present
26.29 PA/HBP Dan McGann 230 HBP, 6047 PA 1896-1908
26.64 PA/HBP Tommy Tucker 272 HBP, 7247 PA 1887-1899
27.68 PA/HBP Jason LaRue 94 HBP, 2602 PA 1999-present
28.55 PA/HBP Curt Welch 173 HBP, 4939 PA 1884-1893
30.20 PA/HBP Fernando Vina 157 HBP, 4742 PA 1993-2004
31.91 PA/HBP Jason Kendall 212 HBP, 6764 PA 1996-present
31.95 PA/HBP Kid Elberfeld 165 HBP, 5272 PA 1898-1914

and the next 5 highest from the "modern" era (1900 on)
35.07 PA/HBP Steve Evans 111 HBP, 3893 PA 1908-1915
35.21 PA/HBP Don Baylor 267 HBP, 9401 PA 1970-1988
36.29 PA/HBP David Eckstein 109 HBP, 3956 PA 2001-present
37.57 PA/HBP Doc Gessler 92 HBP, 3456 PA 1903-1911
39.87 PA/HBP Minnie Minoso 192 HBP, 7656 PA 1949-1964, etc.

What to make of it? Since the average player might average only a few HBP per 500 or so AB, the reasons these players stand out are likely 2: Big threats like Don Baylor, Frank Robinson (8th all-time with 198 HBP), Andres Galarraga (178 HBP) and Carlos Delgado (150 and counting) get crowded a lot, but to keep from giving the pitcher an advantage there, instead of bailing out they hold their ground and take a freebie. Also, tending to be bigger and slower, they naturally get hit more. Others, like Hunt and Eckstein and Biggio, are scrappy players with a "whatever it takes to get on" attitude who perfect the art of spinning INTO a pitch and getting nicked (it counts even if it just hits the uniform) without making it look TOO obvious (the rules say the batter is obliged to TRY to get out of the way, but when was that last enforced?) Anyway, that's the end of this earth-shattering, totally waste-of-time analysis of a freaky stat.

500 Saves

Trevor Hoffman is 5 saves from becoming the first reliever to save 500 games. And with Mariano Rivera struggling mightily and raising speculation that he's lost it at age 37, Hoff may remain the only one in this 500 Club for awhile. He'll be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame upon eligibility. In the meantime, I have to raise my voice one more time and ask, "Why isn't Lee Smith (now #2 all-time with 478 saves) already in Cooperstown?"

Ruth's Competition in his early years

It's well-known that the Babe exploded onto the scene, dominating the home-run category like no one before or since. When he first hit an eye-popping 54 in 1920, nearly doubling the all-time record he had just set as a part-time position player the previous year, his nearest competition had a measly 19. And in 1921, when he upped it to 59, second best was only 24. 1922 was the first year some other players got into the long-ball act, with Rogers Hornsby hitting 42, Ken Williams 39, and Tilly Walker 37. I did a little research, curious to find out what players not named Ruth hit the most homers through the 1920's (It wasn't until the late 1920's or 1930's that big-name sluggers like Ott, Foxx, Gehrig, Hack Wilson and Greenberg got into the act).

Through 1922, Tilly Walker of the Philadelphia A's led the way with 77 HR's in 1920-22. He was already 34 years old by then, though, and retired the next year. Behind him at that point were Ken Williams with 73 in those 3 years, Hornsby with 72, and Cy Williams with 59. These three then comprised the top three competitors to Ruth throughout much of the decade. Hornsby, of course, is a well-known hall-of-famer, 2nd to Ty Cobb all-time in career batting average. He was no slugger early on, averaging only 7 HR's/year from 1916-20. But with the advent of the live ball, he adapted with the times and cranked it up. The other two guys, though, Ken Williams of the St. Louis Browns and Cy Williams of the Phillies, are no hall-of-famers, and are deserving of more attention.

Cy hit 41 in 1923, giving him 100 for the 1920's to that point, just behind Ken Williams' 102 and ahead of Hornsby's 89. Through 1924, it was Cy with 124, Ken with 120, and Rogers with 114. Hornsby took the lead (and held it for the rest of the decade) among Ruth's competitors with 39 in 1925 for a 1920-25 total of 153 (K. Williams, 145; C. Williams, 137). Gehrig busted out as the first REAL competitor to Ruth with 47 in 1927. Through 1928, 8 long years after Ruth had burst through with 54 in a single year, 35+ homers in a season had only been achieved 6 times by five players not named Ruth (Hornsby twice, Ken Williams, Cy Williams, Tilly Walker and Gehrig).

Anyway, through 1929, the totals for the entire decade are as follows: Horsnby, 250; Cy Williams, 202; Ken Williams, 190. Those totals are a far cry from Ruth's 467 for the decade. But these three, in turn, are a good bit ahead of the next highest: 146 each by two of Ruth's teammates, Bob Meusel and Gehrig (who compiled 145 of that in just 5 full seasons).

Cy Williams retired in 1930 at age 42 with 251 career homers, third all-time on the list at that point behind Ruth's 565 and Hornsby's 279. Ken Williams retired in 1929, 4th on the all-time list at that time with 193. The even livelier ball of the 1930's meant that Gehrig, Foxx, Ott, Wilson, Al Simmons, and Greenberg soon flooded past these forgotten Williamses (unrelated to each other). But one claim can never be taken away from these unsung Williamses. They will forever stand first and second on the list of homers by players born before Ruth (Hornsby was a year younger than the Babe).

Homers Down

Despite A-Rod's record 15 dingers in April (and he's heating up again), homers are down a good bit this year. Still not at pre-steroid levels, but here are the figures: in the AL it's down from 2.25 a game last year to 2.05 this year (and a high of 2.42 back in 1996). That's the lowest since 1.83 in 1993. In the NL, where pitchers are real men and hit for themselves, the rate is naturally lower. There, the fall has been steeper, from 2.19 last year to 1.74 this year (and a high of 2.32 in 2000). 1.74 would be the lowest, also, since 1993 (1.72). Maybe this isn't a bad thing. I remember when 40 HR's meant someone was an all-star slugger. (From 1990-1993, the majors averaged less than 3 who reach that number per year. By contrast, an average of 11 or 12 have reached it the last 11 years). And if the drop means that steroid testing is working, in my opinion that's worth experiencing the thrill of the long ball a little less often.

Following up on Last Year's Posts

Following up on some posts from last year: on 8/22/06 I speculated that the low ERA in 2006 among qualifiers (162+ IP) might be the highest ever (the record high low being Lefty Grove's 2. 81 in 1929. Well, Johan Santana just slipped under that with 2.77, the highest the major-league low has been since 1951, when it was a tick higher at 2.78. Here are the top ten highest Major-league leading ERA's:
1. 2.84 1929 Lefty Grove
2. 2.78 1951 Saul Rogorin
3. 2.77 2006 Johan Santana
4. 2.76 1987 Nolan Ryan & Jimmy Key
5. 2.71 1979 J. R. Richard and
1950 Sal Maglie
7. 2.67 1960 Frank Baumann
8. 2.66 1938 Bill Lee (NOT Bill "Spaceman" Lee)
9. 2.63 1925 Dolf Luque and
1922 Phil Douglas

It's interesting to me that the years are spread so much--you might think a particular high-scoring era would be overrepresented on the list.

Back on 8/25/06 I speculated that 2 or 3 players would reach 50 homers by the end of the year, with a possible high of about 58. I nailed that: Ryan Howard led with 58. Big Papi David Ortiz was the only other over 50, with 54, while Albert Pujols just missed with 49.

Lefties, Righties, and Career Home Runs

Here's a little piece of statistical trivia: Of the 4 players to have hit over 600 homers (before Sosa joins them soon), 2 hit from the left side (Ruth and Bonds), and two (Aaron and Mays) from the right. Of the 20 to have hit 500+, 9 were lefties, 9 righties and 2 were switch hitters (Mantle and Murray). And of those to have hit 450 or more--you guessed it--15 were lefties, 15 righties and 2 switch-hit. how about that for even distribution? Of course you might not consider it even in another way, since right-handed hitters outnumber lefties by a good bit. When you go down to those with 400+, you add 4 lefties and 6 righties, for a total of 19 lefties, 21 righties and 2 who switch-hit.

Switch hitting Sluggers

The promised breakdown of top career switch-hitting home run hitters (only 9 months after promised): (LH=left-handed, RH=right-handed)

536 Mantle 257 LH, 13.5 AB/HR; 106 RH,15.9 AB/HR (data missing for 1st 6 yrs of his career)
504 Murray 362 LH, 21.1 AB/HR; 142 RH, 26.0 AB/HR
368 Chipper Jones 288 LH, 16.9 AB/HR; 80 RH, 20.8 AB/HR
350 Chili Davis 233 LH, 25.8 AB/HR; 117 RH, 22.8 AB/HR
314 R. Smith 251 LH, 19.8 AB/HR; 63 RH, 32.9 AB/HR
306 Ruben Sierra 216 LH, 25.3 AB/HR; 90 RH, 28.7 AB/HR
287 Bobby Bonilla 182 LH, 25.9 AB/HR; 105 RH, 23.8 AB/HR
287 Bernie Williams 179 LH, 30.1 AB/HR; 108 RH, 22.9 AB/HR
248 Ted Simmons 146 LH, 38.1 AB/HR; 102 RH, 30.6 AB/HR
248 Jose Valentin 227 LH, 18.7 AB/HR; 21 RH, 56.9 AB/HR
246 Ken Singleton 185 LH, 27.4 AB/HR; 58 RH, 36.2 AB/HR
245 Mickey Tettleton 169 LH, 19.3 AB/HR; 76 RH, 18.9 AB/HR

and some more guys still active:
232 Tony Clark 175 LH, 17.1 AB/HR; 57 RH, 20.5 AB/HR
230 Lance Berkman 208 LH, 14.1 AB/HR; 22 RH, 40.8 AB/HR
211 Carlos Beltran 158 LH, 22.1 AB/HR; 53 RH, 23.0 AB/HR
146 Mark Teixeira 106 LH, 16.8 AB/HR; 40 RH, 17.8 AB/HR

Observations: most tend to hit HR's more frequently for the left side, perhaps reflecting that more natural lefties take up switch-hitting, or maybe too just because they get more practice (against right-handed pitchers) from that side.

Tettleton was the most even in power from both sides. Beltran's and Teixeira's homers are also very evenly distributed. Valentin and (a surprise to me) Berkman are sorely lacking in right-handed power. Makes one wonder if they'd be better off batting LH all the time!

Ichiro Caught

Oops, looks like I jinxed Ichiro Suzuki--he got caught stealing yesterday to end his AL record of 45 consecutive SB's without being caught.

Also, I came across Carlos Beltran's amazing career stolen base percentage: so far he's stolen 233 bases and been caught only 34 times, for a percentage of 87.3, better than Tim Raines' tops of 84.7% among the Top 100 in career SB's (340+). Beltran stole 13 of 13 in 2000, 31 of 32 in 2001, 41 of 45 in 2003 and 42 of 45 in 2004, including 28 of 28 after being traded to Houston.

Ichiro Update

By the way, Ichiro Suzuki has now been successful on an unbelievable 45 stolen base attempts in a row. He stole his last 39 last year without getting caught (to finish the year 45 of 47), and has so far stolen 6 this year wihout getting caught. He was only batting .260 with a measly 2 SB's as of 9 games ago, but has since gone 18 for 38 with 4 SB's during a 9-game hitting streak, raising his average to a more Ichiro-like .317.

Aramis, Cust, Carmona

Since coming over to the Cubs from Pittsburg during the 2003 season, Aramis Ramirez has consistently hit home runs at the pace of about one every four games played. Check it out:
2003 63 g 15 HR 4.2 g/HR
2004 145 g 36 HR 4.03 g/HR
2005 123 g 31 HR 3.97 g/HR
2006 157 g 38 HR 4.13 g/HR
2007 34 g 9 HR 3.78 g.HR
Oops! He hit one out today, so he's getting a little ahead of himself with 10 in 35 games so far in 2007, a rate of one every 3.5 games. Still, it's not a crime to IMPROVE on consistency!

And how about rookie outfielder Jack Cust with the A's. The 28 year old has now hit 7 HR's (and struck out 15 times--oh, well) in 10 games since being called up earlier this month. His hit totals so far are 2 singles, 1 double and the 7 dingers.

One more turnaround of note: Pitcher Fausto Carmona of the Indians is now 5-1 this year with a 2.55 ERA after hurling a 4-hit shutout today. This after a horrible rookie year in 2006, when he went 1-10 with a 5.42 ERA.

Are guys like Cust and Carmona worth adding to a fantasy team based on a few weeks' spectacular play? Such additions are chancy. Last month I added troubled former top draft pick Josh Hamilton to my roster based on 5 HR's in his first 30 AB's. He's since hit an unspectacular 3 HR's in 87 AB's. Similarly, I added the Cards' John Rodriguez when his average was well over .400 in mid-May last year. A month later, a slump had knocked him down to a maybe once-a-week starter. I think he's out of the big leagues now.

Base Stealer Minutia

Everyone knows that Rickey Henderson is tops in career stolen bases with 1406, 468 more than the man he passed, Lou Brock, now in 2nd place. But who is the top percentage stealer of all-time? "Caught stealing" became an official stat only in more recent times, but from what I know, the old-timers like Ty Cobb weren't the best percentage-wise. So here's the list (based on top 100 all-time in steals, or 340+):

84.7% Tim Raines (8o8 steals out of 954 attempts)
84.1% Eric Davis (349 of 415)
83.3% Willie Wilson (668 of 802)
83.11 Barry Larkin (379 of 456)
83.07 Tony Womack (363 of 437)
83.0 Davey Lopes (557 of 671)

Lopes would have been the all-time leader in his day (1970's+), as the ones now ahead of him came later. BTW, Eric Davis would be the all-time leader had he retired a little earlier. He was successful on only 14 of his last 26 steal attempts; subtract those, and he would have been at 86.1% (335 of 389).

How about the worst base stealers, percentage-wise? Again, based on 340+ career steals:

65.3% Rod Carew (353 of 540)
68.5 Brett Butler (558 of 815)
70.9 Billy North (395 of 557)
71.2 Omar Vizquel (369 of 518, as of yesterday)
71.4 Steve Sax (444 of 622)

A surprise to see hall-of-famer Carew as the worst--guess he should have stuck more to hitting! Lou Brock, I believe, said you had to make it at least 2/3's of the time to call it base-stealing--otherwise it was called "gambling."

And how about this for an arcane statistic: lowest number of games per stolen base. Eliminating those who played before 1900, when stolen bases were given out liberally, here's the list:

1.82 Vince Coleman (1371 g, 752 SB)
2.19 R. Henderson (3081, 1406)
2.42 Ron LeFlore (1099, 455)
2.76 Otis Nixon (1709, 620)
2.79 Lou Brock (2616, 938)
2.84 Omar Moreno (1382, 487)
2.87 Bob Bescher (1228, 428)
2.96 Billy North (1169, 395)

It helps to retire early, like Coleman did, to make this list. On the other hand, Henderson played well into his 40's, and still ranks 2nd! Bescher is the only old-timer on the list, from the pre-longball days. And North is the only one among the best here, and among the worst in percentages. That means he was doing a lot of running; also, he wasn't that good at getting on base, so when he did, he rarely stayed put!

Home Run Milestones

Looks like this could be a monumental season as far as home run milestones. Of course, the most obvious, most talked about, most hated and dreaded is Bonds' chase of Aaron's 755. Barry is within 10 now, having hit 11 in 30 games, including 3 in his last 16 ABs. It's only a matter of time. Word is that Aaron does NOT plan on being on-hand for the occasion.

Lost in all the hoopla and controversy surrounding Bonds are:

Sammy Sosa, in a comeback, looking to become the 5th ever to hit 600+ (5 to go after hitting 7 so far). Of course, he's no cleaner than Bonds when it comes to steroid suspicions. Then there is Ken Griffey, Jr., who earlier today tied Rafael Palmeiro (yet another 'roid user) for 9th all-time at 569, and could easily end the year at no. 6 (currently held by Frank Robinson, 586).

Then there are FOUR players with a decent chance of joining the 500 club this year: Frank Thomas (491, 4 in 2007); A-Rod (479, 15 in 2007, might hit 500 around--get this--his 32nd birthday!); Jim Thome (477, 5 in 19 games this year before his injury, from which he expects to return soon); and Manny Ramirez (476, 6 in 2007, including 4 in his last 8 games).

If they all make it, the 500 Club will be getting a little crowded, with 24 members. The 600 club, with 5, will have more than the 500 Club had when I was born in 1962. The exclusive club then had only Ruth, Foxx, Ott and Ted Williams, before the gates burst open in the 1960's and early 70's with Matthews, Banks, Mays, Aaron, Mantle, Robinson, Killebrew and McCovey added in short order. Still, I'm pretty sure that four new members have NEVER been admitted in any one year!

Francisco Redoux

I wrote last summer about Francisco Cordero's amazing turnaround as a closer after being traded from Texas to Milwaukee. Well, he's picked up this spring where he left off last fall. So far, in 12 games, he has 10 saves, has given up 0 (that's zero) earned runs and two hits in 11 1/3 innings with 19 strikeouts. That's lights out!

Old Men Gettin' it Done

First post of the new season. Anybody out there reading it? Leave a comment if you are.

I noticed Kenny Loften, who'll turn 40 in a month, has been successful on 63 of 72 stolen base attempts from 2005 on. That's an incredible 87 1/2 %, even more incredible at his age! He may be the last 600 career stolen base guy for a long time, with that stat taking a back seat in this homer-crazy age.

Guess who's second on the active stolen base list? The guy everyone loves to hate--Barry Bonds, with 510. And he has cranked it up the last couple of weeks (in HR's, not SB's!). Through the 1st 8 games, he only had one homer and was batting a measly .192, giving some slight hope that at age 42, the injuries and bad press, etc. had finally caught up with him, and maybe Aaron's 755 would stand until A-Rod got there. But, alas, since Apr 12 the old guy has hit 7 out in 32 AB's. He's now 2nd in slugging for 2007 to A-Rod, and could top Aaron's HR mark before the all-star break. The walks are picking up, too--6 in his last 9 plate appearances, I believe! One consolation on the homer record--perhaps Bonds won't hold the crown for too long, as a rejuvenated A-Rod now has 478 at age 31. If he can avoid injury, keeps the motivation and avoids mental meltdowns a la last year, 800 wouldn't seem out of the question.

Looks like another rejuvenated old-timer, Sammy Sosa, will become the 5th ever to reach 600 HR's sometime soon. After hitting just 14 in 2005 and not playing last year, he has 7 in the first 22 games this year at age 38, and now stands at 595.