Major League Baseball thread

[Arturo2nd]

One of my great wishes is that the Veterans Committee will finally put Minnie Minoso in the Hall of Fame. Minoso, a very dark skinned Cuban, was the first player of African heritage to appear in a game for one of Chicago's major league teams. His hustle and enthusiasm combined with his outstanding play to quickly make him a fan favorite. His success paved the way for Ernie Banks and other Chicago stars.

The old Comiskey Park was a notorious pitcher's haven. Minnie would average 15 home runs a year there, but hit 20 or more in his two years with Cleveland. In 9 full years with the White Sox he made 6 All Star teams, won 3 Gold Gloves, led the league in triples and stolen bases three times apiece, scored at least 100 runs four times and over 90 three other years, and drove in over 100 runs four times. He also routinely led the majors in being hit by pitches. His lifetime batting average was.298; .304 with the White Sox.

Baseball-Reference.com lists his birth year as 1925, but in the book We Played the Game Minoso says he was born in 1922. Thus, he he was 28 when he first appeared in a Chicago uniform. Ironically, a series of White Sox publicity stunts that had him appear as a DH in 1976 and 1980 may have cost him an earlier induction. It is not as though he is undeserving. Baseball-Reference.com ranks him 22nd among left fielders, ahead of such luminaries as Jim Rice and Lou Brock. Sadly, Minnie Minoso passed away in Chicago on March 15, 2015 and the chance was lost to honor him while he was still living.

[Arturo2nd]

Roger Clemens denies that he ever used steroids. Former Yankee and Clemens personal trainer Brian McNamee claimed he did. McNamee's testimony changed several times. Jason Grimsley stated that he received amphetamines and steroids from McNamee during the time McNamee was employed as Clemens personal trainer. Andy Pettitte testified that Clemens told him McNamee had injected him with HGH, but later testified he might have been mistaken about the conversation. Clemens was indicted for perjury and obstruction of Congress and tried twice. The first trial ended in a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct. Clemens was found not guilty of all counts by a jury in the second trial.

The baseball facts are that Roger Clemens won 354 games and seven Cy Young Awards and was a 20 game winner five times. Ordinarily he would be elected to the Hall of Fame the first year he appeared on the ballot. The allegations of steroid use have kept him out so far. It should be noted that he had won 192 games, 3 Cy Young Awards, and 4 ERA titles pitching for the Red Sox in Fenway Park in the years prior to the alleged commencement of steroids. Assuming that he did use steroids, he was a virtual lock to win over 200 games and be enshrined in the Hall. His record with the Red Sox is better than several pitchers who have been inducted.

At first glance, the suspicion is that Clemens started using steroids when he joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997. It is not so clear when the facts are examined more closely. In 1996 Roger Clemens was 10-13 with a 3.63 ERA; he led the league in strikeouts. The 1996 Red Sox were fourth in the league in runs scored, 12th in fielding and had a weak bullpen. None of their other starters posted an ERA below 5.00. The 1997 Blue Jays were not very good offensively, but were 3rd in fielding and had a strong bullpen. It is easy to imagine that Clemens was left in too long or the Red Sox bullpen allowed inherited runners to score, all while the fielders were giving away outs. It must have been nice to pitch in a normal park like Skydome after all those years in Fenway.

Roger Clemens had those two big Toronto years and pitched until he was 44 with several more big years with the Yankees and Houston. Walter Johnson won 23 games and led the league in strikeouts at the age of 36. Such luminaries as Cy Young, Warren Spahn, Gaylord Perry, and Randy Johnson all had big years when they were past the age of 36. Those four Hall of Fame pitchers had 20 game winning seasons in their forties without a trace of steroid use.

So, it is not clear when or if Clemens used steroids in compiling his records. His record with the Red Sox should put him in the Hall eventually. He is reported to be an arrogant and surly jerk. Many Hall of Fame players fit that description. It seems to accompany men who will work hard enough, are ultra-competitive, and have the self confidence to put up first ballot Hall of Fame numbers.

[Arturo2nd]

This is a shout out to the Chicago Cubs who finally broke the long running string of non-championship seasons. This crew looks like they may be able to notch a few more. Theo Epstein is believed to have more top level talent in the pipeline, too.

The image of "lovable losers" only arose in the latter part of the 20th Century and was always misleading. After all, the Cubs have made 17 previous playoff appearances since the start of divisional play in 1969. In the years 1906 to 1945, the Cubs appeared in the World Series 19 times, winning twice. The Tinker to Evers to Chance bunch won those two Series while winning four pennants in five years. They hold the still standing record of 116 wins, 36 losses and 3 ties set in 1906. This was near the beginning of a ten year stretch in which they had the highest winning percentage of any team in the history of major league baseball.

The Chicago franchise is one of only two that has played continuously since the National League was founded in 1876 and was largely responsible for organizing the league. (The Atlanta Braves, then based in Boston as the Red Stockings, is the other surviving franchise.) The team won the pennant 6 times during the first 11 seasons. Then, Hall of Famer King Kelly was traded to Boston and Chicago would not have another pennant winner until the White Sox won in the American League's inaugural season of 1901. Adrian "Cap" Anson, the team's first baseman and manager from 1876 to 1897 was the first player to amass over 3,000 hits. He is still the teams all time leader in WAR.

So welcome back, Chicago Cubs. Don't wait so long between championships next time. Chicago is a great city and deserves more parades.

[Arturo2nd]

I recently saw an article written by a Detroit Tigers fan that correctly identified Bill Freehan as the best catcher in Tigers' history. The two positions with the fewest players elected to the Hall of Fame are catcher (14) and third base (13). Ivan Rodriguez, Joe Mauer, Adrian Beltre and Chipper Jones are pretty much shoe-ins when they become eligible, and Scott Rolen may bring the total up to 16 Hall of Fame inductees for each position. It is interesting that the prototype for each position is a strong defensive player with some power. Most managers will sacrifice batting average and power in favor of strong defense and pitcher rapport behind the plate. They will also tolerate lesser defense at the hot corner to add a strong bat to the lineup.

At first sight, Bill Freehan does not strike the modern fan as a Hall of Fame candidate. He played 14 seasons with a cup of coffee at age 19 counting as a 15th. His BA/OBP/SLG line was .262/.340/.412. So why does Baseball-Reference.com rank him as the 14th most productive catcher of all time? The site ranks him ahead of Hall of Famers Buck Ewing, Roy Campanella, Roger Breshnahan, and Ernie Lombardi, not to mention the head scratching honorees Rick Ferrell and Ray Schalk. Admittedly his WAR/WAR7/JAWS numbers of 44.7/33.7/39.2 are below those of the average Hall of Fame catcher's of 52.7/34.2/43.4 and those average numbers will rise when Ivan Rodriguez and Joe Mauer are inducted.

What is missing is the context. Bill Freehan had the misfortune of playing the early part of his career in the pitching dominated years of the mid-1960s. His offensive production was further suppressed by frequently playing with injuries. His contemporaries recognized his value by awarding him five consecutive Gold Gloves and electing him to 11 All Star Teams in his 14 full seasons. Freehan would often play first base to give his body a break from the abuse of catching and create a platoon advantage against left handed pitching. If we have numerical standards for the average Hall of Famer, clearly some Hall of Fame players must have numbers below that standard.

So now the question becomes why did the BBWAA ignore his candidacy when he appeared on the ballot in 1982? I believe that he was the victim of unfortunate timing. Offensive statistics normalized during the 1970s when Freehan was in his declining seasons. But what was worse was that Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, and Carlton Fisk appeared on the scene and had long careers in more favorable conditions. Plus, Jim Sundberg set new standards of defensive excellence in the late 1970's. So Bill Freehan was forgotten.

But those of us who saw him play know that he was one helluva ballplayer.

[IronMan]

Another "rebuild" year for the White Sox.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by IronMan

Another "rebuild" year for the White Sox.

Trading Chris Sale to the Red Sox should have them up and running in no time.

[Arturo2nd]

Ken Boyer was one of the two perennial National League All Star third baseman when I was growing up and collecting baseball cards. Eddie Matthews was the other. In fact, Milwaukee and St. Louis were often the only two teams in baseball that had solved the third base “problem.” The American League had only two years in the period 1955 to 1963 where any of the league's teams received the minimum of 2.0 WAR that Baseball-Reference.com sets as the level of competence for a starting player from the third base position. In contrast, Boyer and Mathews would be chipping in from 3.5 to 7.0 WAR for their teams, and Don Hoak, Jackie Robinson and Ron Santo beginning in 1963 made strong contributions in some years. Ken Boyer was the best fielding third baseman of his time as his five gold gloves attest. Boyer was a seven time All Star in his twelve years as a regular. (He would play in eleven All Star games because from 1959 through 1962 two games were played each season.)

Boyer would typically hit.300 with 25 to 28 doubles, 5 to 10 triples, 24 home runs and 95 RBIs. He usually batted behind Stan Musial in the forth or fifth spot in the order. He won the MVP award in his last productive season by leading the league in RBIs while the Cardinals became World Champions in 1964. As with many players from that era, he lost a couple of years to military service. I thought of him as a Hall of Fame caliber player and was surprised when the BBWAA failed to elect him and the Veterans Committee has left him out. He ranks 14th among third baseman on Baseball-Reference.com's list with numbers slightly below average for the position.

The strange thing about Boyer's WAR/WAR7/JAWS of 62.8/46.3/54.5 is that it is actually better than those of eleven of the nineteen leftfielders in the Hall. Plus, Boyer had a shorter career than such luminaries as Willie Stargell, Joe Medwick, Zack Wheat, Jim Rice, and Lou Brock. Boyer contributed more to his teams than Dick Allen, who many people feel belongs in the Hall, in the same number of seasons played. It seems strange that third basemen who are being held to higher standards than leftfielders, when the defensive demands are so much greater at third base, but it is true. The average WAR/WAR7/JAWS for a Hall of Fame leftfielder is 65.1/41.5/53.3 vs 67.5/42.7/55.1 for a third baseman.

So why did Boyer get left out? He managed successfully in the Cardinals system after his career and was promoted to manage the big club in 1978 when the team mutinied under Vern Rapp. He brought the team in third with 82 wins the following season. The team was not really ready to contend and Boyer left after 51 games in 1980 with a losing record. He would die of cancer at age 51 in September 1982, but I don't remember if he left because of illness. He was known as quiet, lead by example type, but it is telling that Curt Flood and Bob Gibson thought very highly of him. Not many white folks impressed those two gentlemen. Perhaps, we ought to start a campaign for him before no one is alive who remembers him.

[footstep]

No base ball here actually. I mean, this sport isn't really popular.
I start to love this game it because of the movies I've seen about, books I've red, etc...
Base ball History is rich , a lot of stories, legends, anecdotes etc.....

[IronMan]

Originally Posted by Brian249x

Trading Chris Sale to the Red Sox should have them up and running in no time.

You're too kind.

[tsunamiSD]

Well.... I'm glad for the three that got enough votes, but really disappointed in the writers who didn't vote for the 4th person who should have been elected in.


Tim Raines made it.

Jeff Bagwell made it.

Ivan Rodriguez made it.

But the second best closer of all time, Trevor Hoffman, again didn't make it, as he got 1% less votes than needed for induction.