He did K only 114 times in 8333 PAs over 14 season career, In 2019 alone, Joey Gallo had the same number of Ks in 297 PAs.agsalaska said:
Some other strange oddities about Joe Sewell, who I had never heard of until I read this.
He finished his career with 74 steals and 74 caught stealing. OK. But in 1927 he stole 3 and was caught 18 times. How in the world does that happen?
Other than the amazing K stats, he only led the league three times in any categories.Thats it. For a hall of famer. Amazing.
- 1924 in doubles (45)
- 1928 Games (155)
- 1929 Sacrifices (41)
He must have been a good fielder because he lead the league several times in Fielding % as a SS.
BaseballReference.com oddities
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I thought that too. His career WAR was "only" 54.7. Compare that to Lance Berkman's 52.0 and he never got close to enough votes.Quote:Thats it. For a hall of famer. Amazing.
- 1924 in doubles (45)
- 1928 Games (155)
- 1929 Sacrifices (41)
I'm thinking maybe when Sewell played that players in general didn't strike out as much as they do now but by the 70s when he was voted in there was more appreciation for his incredible strikeout stats.
Or maybe someone noticed that he played for the '32 Yankees and said "hell everyone else on that team's in the Hall, might as well put him there too".
Now I'm exaggerating, only 6 of the 8 starting position players on that team made the Hall of Fame.
Yea that strikout number is the craziest number I have ever seen and worthy of the HOF by itself.
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
Teammate: "Joe, why are you so upset?"
Joe Sewell: "I struck out last month!"
Joe Sewell: "I struck out last month!"
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Quote:
Other than the amazing K stats, he only led the league three times in any categories.
1924 in doubles (45)
1928 Games (155)
1929 Sacrifices (41)
Thats it. For a hall of famer. Amazing.
This got me wondering if Harold Baines ever led the league in anything. Slugging in 1984. That's it.
Pie Traynor struck out 278 times in 8298 plate appearances and was a contemporary of Joe Sewell. He hit .320 in his career and his career OBP was .362…which seems low given his career average.
With only one degree of separation from Joe Sewell we can find Tony Lazzeri, Sewell's infield mate with the Yankees of the early 30s. He's not talked about much, he had a couple of teammates that were pretty good at making the headlines. But he accomplished the most rare feat ever in baseball.
Lazzeri is part of my all-time favorite baseball story, Grover Cleveland Alexander's relief appearance in game 7 of the '26 World Series. With two outs in the 8th Lazzeri struck out with the bases loaded after just missing a grand slam on a long foul ball that would have won the game for the Yankees.
In 1936 he became the first major leaguer to hit two grand slams in a game. In that game he had 11 RBIs, an AL record that still stands.
But the most unusual feat he accomplished was in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics on June 3, 1932. In that game he had a natural cycle (single, double, triple and home run in that order). That's only been done 14 times in history. Unassisted triple plays are more common than that (15 of those have been recorded). What makes Lazzeri's even more rare is that his home run was a grand slam, so what he did is called a natural grand cycle, something I had never heard of until recently. No other player has ever done that.
Now get this - I mentioned that his fame was overshadowed by his more famous teammates. On the day of Lazzeri's natural grand cycle, Lou Gehrig hit four home runs.
Lazzeri is part of my all-time favorite baseball story, Grover Cleveland Alexander's relief appearance in game 7 of the '26 World Series. With two outs in the 8th Lazzeri struck out with the bases loaded after just missing a grand slam on a long foul ball that would have won the game for the Yankees.
In 1936 he became the first major leaguer to hit two grand slams in a game. In that game he had 11 RBIs, an AL record that still stands.
But the most unusual feat he accomplished was in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics on June 3, 1932. In that game he had a natural cycle (single, double, triple and home run in that order). That's only been done 14 times in history. Unassisted triple plays are more common than that (15 of those have been recorded). What makes Lazzeri's even more rare is that his home run was a grand slam, so what he did is called a natural grand cycle, something I had never heard of until recently. No other player has ever done that.
Now get this - I mentioned that his fame was overshadowed by his more famous teammates. On the day of Lazzeri's natural grand cycle, Lou Gehrig hit four home runs.
Classic Gehrig, always making it about himself.McInnis said:
On the day of Lazzeri's natural grand cycle, Lou Gehrig hit four home runs.
Speaking of Lou, he had 7 straight seasons of at least 10 triples, including a league-leading 20 in 1926. He drove in at least 100 runs every single year of his career when he had the minimum # of plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. That's 1926-1938.
Three different times, Gehrig drove in more than 150 runs and didn't lead the league in RBI.
In 1937 he hit 37 HR, drove in 158 runs, and batted .351 and didn't league the lead in any of those categories.
In 1931, he led the league in runs scored (163), hits (211), HR (46), RBI (185) and finished 2nd for MVP. Lefty Grove won the trophy by going 31-4 with a 2.06 ERA and 27 complete games.
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Box Score for this Game.
NYY 20 23 5
Phil. 13 13 1
The Damn Yankees hit a total of 7 HRs.
Total of nine HoFers played in the game:
Yanks (6): Combs, Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey, Lazzeri & Gomez
As (3): Cochrane, Simmons & Foxx
NYY 20 23 5
Phil. 13 13 1
The Damn Yankees hit a total of 7 HRs.
Total of nine HoFers played in the game:
Yanks (6): Combs, Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey, Lazzeri & Gomez
As (3): Cochrane, Simmons & Foxx
And the game was played in 2:55! I wonder if the TexAgs game thread was complaining that people didn't have time to drink an extra beer?
It looks like Lazzeri actually had a natural grand cycle plus, having squeezed an extra single in between the triple and homer.
It looks like Lazzeri actually had a natural grand cycle plus, having squeezed an extra single in between the triple and homer.
Everyone knows that Gehrig was an RBI machine but the fact he hit so many triples is surprising. Even Ty Cobb exceeded 20 triples in a season only twice. One more way that Gehrig differed from most sluggers is that he didn't strike out much. He wasn't exactly Joe Sewell, but for someone with his power he made surprisingly good contact.Quote:
Speaking of Lou, he had 7 straight seasons of at least 10 triples, including a league-leading 20 in 1926. He drove in at least 100 runs every single year of his career when he had the minimum # of plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. That's 1926-1938.
In 1934 Gehrig led the AL in homers with 49 and struck out only 31 times, giving him an amazing HR/K ratio of 1.58, by far the best in history for a batter that led the league in homers. He also had more HRs than Ks in 1936 (49/46). The only other players that I could find who led their league in homers and have exceeded a ratio of 1.0 for a season are Ted Kluszewski (he did it twice) and Johnny Mize. Pujols came close one year. Kluszewski's ratio of 1.40 in 1954 is second behind Gehrig's and no only else is close to that. I think this is one record Gehrig owns that may be safe for a long time.
Just to compare other sluggers from his era and more recent times, I picked the best HR seasons for the following players and calculated their HR/K ratio.
Base Ruth, 1927 - 0.67
Jimmy Foxx, 1932 - 0.50
Lou Gehrig, 1934 1.58
Ted Williams, 1949 - 0.90
Roger Maris, 1960 0.91
Jeff Bagwell, 1994 - 0.60
Barry Bonds, 2001 0.78
Albert Pujols, 2006 - 0.98
The King, 2017 - 0.21
No one can deny the greatness of the Babe. He did have a couple of unique advantages though. He pitched in the dead ball era and batted in the live ball era. And he had Lou Gehrig hitting behind him.
The 1962 New York Mets starting rotation
Roger Craig: 10-24, 4.51 ERA
Al Jackson: 8-20, 4.40 ERA
Jay Hook: 8-19, 4.84 ERA
Bob Miller 1-12, 4.89 ERA
Closer
Craig Anderson 3-17, 5.35 ERA, 4 saves
The ERAs don't look too bad until you realize the league average per team was 3.94 in the NL that year. The Mets' team ERA was 5.04. The Cubs, who lost 103 games, had a team ERA of 4.54. The Colt 45s, also an expansion team, but not yet in the Dome, had a team ERA of 3.83.
Another few tidbits. The Mets gave up 147 unearned runs. The Cubs were second-to-last, giving up 102. The Mets allowed 192 home runs and also led the league in hit batters, wild pitches, and hits allowed.
Roger Craig: 10-24, 4.51 ERA
Al Jackson: 8-20, 4.40 ERA
Jay Hook: 8-19, 4.84 ERA
Bob Miller 1-12, 4.89 ERA
Closer
Craig Anderson 3-17, 5.35 ERA, 4 saves
The ERAs don't look too bad until you realize the league average per team was 3.94 in the NL that year. The Mets' team ERA was 5.04. The Cubs, who lost 103 games, had a team ERA of 4.54. The Colt 45s, also an expansion team, but not yet in the Dome, had a team ERA of 3.83.
Another few tidbits. The Mets gave up 147 unearned runs. The Cubs were second-to-last, giving up 102. The Mets allowed 192 home runs and also led the league in hit batters, wild pitches, and hits allowed.
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And Casey Stengel was the manager.
And Don Zimmer played 14 games.
And Gil Hodges played in 54
And Don Zimmer played 14 games.
And Gil Hodges played in 54
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
I will never get tired of the fact that the Colt 45s finished 7 games ahead of them Cubs in their first year as a franchise. That was a Cubs team with a 31-year-old Ernie Banks, 22-year-old Ron Santo, 24-year old Billy Williams and 23-year-old Lou Brock.agsalaska said:
And Casey Stengel was the manager.
And Don Zimmer played 14 games.
And Gil Hodges played in 54
Houston swept the Cubs in three games to start the season, outscoring them 15-2. I can't imagine what the feeling must have been like in Houston after that start. The Cubs lost their first 7 games and were 4-16 at the end of April. The Colts went 11-7 against them and the Mets got 9 of their 40 wins against them (split 9-9).
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That season also had 7 of the 10 teams in the NL finish with winning records including the odd 81-80 record for the Phillies. The three teams with losing records had 96, 103, and 120 loses.
You know one thing I have never gotten completely over is interleague play. Im 46 so I was 20 the first year it started in 1997. I still whenever I see a box score or turn a game on or look at a schedule immediately notice if the two teams are from opposite leagues. I was originally very much against it but am now indifferent to it. But I still notice it. My son has no idea what I am talking about when I mention it.
You know one thing I have never gotten completely over is interleague play. Im 46 so I was 20 the first year it started in 1997. I still whenever I see a box score or turn a game on or look at a schedule immediately notice if the two teams are from opposite leagues. I was originally very much against it but am now indifferent to it. But I still notice it. My son has no idea what I am talking about when I mention it.
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
For the first 3-4 years the Astros were in the AL, I would routinely get furious thinking magazines had left them out of the preview issue until I remembered they weren't in the NL anymore.agsalaska said:
That season also had 7 of the 10 teams in the NL finish with winning records including the odd 81-80 record for the Phillies. The three teams with losing records had 96, 103, and 120 loses.
You know one thing I have never gotten completely over is interleague play. Im 46 so I was 20 the first year it started in 1997. I still whenever I see a box score or turn a game on or look at a schedule immediately notice if the two teams are from opposite leagues. I was originally very much against it but am now indifferent to it. But I still notice it. My son has no idea what I am talking about when I mention it.
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I was in Atlanta for Astros/Braves Saturday night and noticed that you take Cobb Parkway to get to Truist Park.
Some Ty Cobb notes that make you just gape at the guy's ability.
Won 9 straight batting titles and 12 in 13 years with between 1907-1919. His averages those years were: .250, .324, .377, .382, .419, .409, .389, .368, .369, .370 (year he didn't win), .383, .382, .384.
Over that same stretch of time he led the league in runs scored 5 times, in hits 8 times, in doubles 3 times, in triples 4 times, in home runs once, in RBI 4 times, in steals 5 times, in OBP 7 times, in slugging 7 times, and in OPS 9 times. He also led the league in OPS at age 38 in 1925.
In 1925, he pitched the ninth inning of the second game of a double header on the last day of the season, retired the batters 1-2-3, and got credited for the save.
Four different times in his career, he singled, then stole second, third, and home.
His career average with a runner on third and less than two outs was .475. That's 151 for 318.
Some Ty Cobb notes that make you just gape at the guy's ability.
Won 9 straight batting titles and 12 in 13 years with between 1907-1919. His averages those years were: .250, .324, .377, .382, .419, .409, .389, .368, .369, .370 (year he didn't win), .383, .382, .384.
Over that same stretch of time he led the league in runs scored 5 times, in hits 8 times, in doubles 3 times, in triples 4 times, in home runs once, in RBI 4 times, in steals 5 times, in OBP 7 times, in slugging 7 times, and in OPS 9 times. He also led the league in OPS at age 38 in 1925.
In 1925, he pitched the ninth inning of the second game of a double header on the last day of the season, retired the batters 1-2-3, and got credited for the save.
Four different times in his career, he singled, then stole second, third, and home.
His career average with a runner on third and less than two outs was .475. That's 151 for 318.
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In 1962, Maury Wills of the Dodgers played 165 regular season games.
All 162 normal games, plus all three tie breaker playoff games.
That's one of those records that will never be broken.
All 162 normal games, plus all three tie breaker playoff games.
That's one of those records that will never be broken.
In over 11,000 ABs Cobb only hit 117 homers so he didn't have much power. Or did he?
My favorite Cobb story occurred in 1925 when he was near the end of his career. By then his hate/jealousy of Babe Ruth was legendary. I can't repeat his favorite epithet for Ruth, but suffice it to say that according to Cobb it was Ruth, not Jackie Robinson, that broke baseball's color barrier.
Cobb thought home runs were ruing the game and he told a reporter before a game that hitting home runs was no big deal, he could do it if he wanted. Then to prove his point he hit three that day, tying Ruth's record for most homers in a game. Then he hit two the next day, then he returned to his normal style of play. That story is documented below.
https://www.vintagedetroit.com/list-detroit-tigers-who-have-hit-three-home-runs-in-a-game/
One of my favorite books on any subject I've ever read was "Cobb" by Al Stump. A fascinating story. Sadly it turned out that Stump was a fraud and now it's hard to know what in that book to believe.
My favorite Cobb story occurred in 1925 when he was near the end of his career. By then his hate/jealousy of Babe Ruth was legendary. I can't repeat his favorite epithet for Ruth, but suffice it to say that according to Cobb it was Ruth, not Jackie Robinson, that broke baseball's color barrier.
Cobb thought home runs were ruing the game and he told a reporter before a game that hitting home runs was no big deal, he could do it if he wanted. Then to prove his point he hit three that day, tying Ruth's record for most homers in a game. Then he hit two the next day, then he returned to his normal style of play. That story is documented below.
https://www.vintagedetroit.com/list-detroit-tigers-who-have-hit-three-home-runs-in-a-game/
One of my favorite books on any subject I've ever read was "Cobb" by Al Stump. A fascinating story. Sadly it turned out that Stump was a fraud and now it's hard to know what in that book to believe.
You can trust much of anything in Stumps book.
Check out Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty by Charles Leerhsen. He actually does research and backs things up. He does spend a chapter breaking down many of the things wrong with Stump. Cobb was no angel, but its a shame that Stumps narrative is the only one that many people know.
Check out Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty by Charles Leerhsen. He actually does research and backs things up. He does spend a chapter breaking down many of the things wrong with Stump. Cobb was no angel, but its a shame that Stumps narrative is the only one that many people know.
Thanks for the recommendation. I just ordered it, its reviews on Amazon are great.
I'm assuming you meant to type that you cannot trust anything in Stump's book, right? What's amazing is that he prefaced that book by saying an earlier biography he wrote on Cobb was a dishonest fluff piece so he wrote the second one to set things right in which he included embellishments. He was caught selling fake memorabilia even including the gun that he claimed Cobb's mother used to shoot his father. As if Cobb's career needed another element of controversy.
I'm assuming you meant to type that you cannot trust anything in Stump's book, right? What's amazing is that he prefaced that book by saying an earlier biography he wrote on Cobb was a dishonest fluff piece so he wrote the second one to set things right in which he included embellishments. He was caught selling fake memorabilia even including the gun that he claimed Cobb's mother used to shoot his father. As if Cobb's career needed another element of controversy.
So they said this guys name tonight on MLB and I think he has a record that may not be repeated.
Brett Saberhagen, at 21 years old, started two games in the 1985 World Series throwing 18 innings allowing 1 run and winning both games. Game three and game seven against the Ozzie Smith led St. Louis Cardinals. What an incredible series.
Game seven was an 11-0 rout, yet he threw a CG Shutout. .
He went on to a very good albeit injury plagued career including two Cy Young awards, the last in 1989 but was an all star as late as 1994.
Brett Saberhagen, at 21 years old, started two games in the 1985 World Series throwing 18 innings allowing 1 run and winning both games. Game three and game seven against the Ozzie Smith led St. Louis Cardinals. What an incredible series.
Game seven was an 11-0 rout, yet he threw a CG Shutout. .
He went on to a very good albeit injury plagued career including two Cy Young awards, the last in 1989 but was an all star as late as 1994.
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
Saberhagen won the 1985 AL Cy Young Award and had 92 wins at age 25 but didn't even come close to 200 (167 in 16 years).agsalaska said:
So they said this guys name tonight on MLB and I think he has a record that may not be repeated.
Brett Saberhagen, at 21 years old, started two games in the 1985 World Series throwing 18 innings allowing 1 run and winning both games. Game three and game seven against the Ozzie Smith led St. Louis Cardinals. What an incredible series.
Game seven was an 11-0 rout, yet he threw a CG Shutout. .
He went on to a very good albeit injury plagued career including two Cy Young awards, the last in 1989 but was an all star as late as 1994.
Dwight Gooden won the 1985 NL Cy Young Award and had 121 wins at age 25. He also didn't make it to 200 wins (194 in 16 seasons).
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Ted Williams' talk time.
He's one of only two HOFers to actively serve in two wars. He was in WWII from 1942-1944 and in Korea from 1952-1953.
As such, during the seasons when he was 24-26, he played ZERO games.
In the seasons he was 33-34, he played in 43 games.
In 1942, when he was 23, he hit .356 with 36 HR and 137 RBI, winning the triple crown.
In 1946, back from the war, he hit .342 with 38 HR and 123 RBi.
In 1952, he played in just 6 games before being called back to duty. he was hitting .400.
He returned from Korea at the end of the 1953 season, playing in 37 games and hitting .407 with 13 HR.
In 1954, he hit .345 again with 29 HR and 89 RBI.
So now we'll play the "what-if" game. We'll give him an average of 145 games a year for the 5 years he missed in the service. That gives him an extra 682 games in his career.
What does that do to his career totals? Let's take a look (all simple math of course, no real measure of decline, injuries, etc.)
Games Played: He played in 2,292, good for 118th. With the war seasons, he would have been up to 2,974, which would have been 12th.
Runs Scored: He scored 1,798 (20th). Adjusted, it's, 2,333, which would be #1 all-time (Rickey Henderson the real leader at 2,295).
Hits: He got 2,654 of them, which is 77th all-time. Adjusted, it goes up to 3,444, which would be 7th.
Doubles: Real total is 525, good for 46th, tied with Willie Mays. Adjusted, it's 681, which would be 6th.
Home Runs: Real total is 521, good for 20th; Adjusted, it's 676, which would 6th all time, and would have been 2nd behind Ruth when Williams retired.
RBI: Real total is 1,839, good for 16th all-time. Adjusted, it's 2,386, which would be #1 all-time (Hank Aaron leads at 2,297).
Walks: Real total is 2,201, good for 4th all-time. Adjusted, it's 2,622, which would be #1 all time, even ahead of Gigantor Head himself (2,558).
Total Bases: Real total is 4,884, good for 25th. Adjusted, it's 6,337, which would be #2 all-time behind Hank Aaron (6,856)
His percentages otherwise
Average: .344 (7th)
OBP: .482 (1st)
SLG: .634 (2nd)
OPS: 1.116 (2nd)
Pretty solid resume for the greatest player of all time.
He's one of only two HOFers to actively serve in two wars. He was in WWII from 1942-1944 and in Korea from 1952-1953.
As such, during the seasons when he was 24-26, he played ZERO games.
In the seasons he was 33-34, he played in 43 games.
In 1942, when he was 23, he hit .356 with 36 HR and 137 RBI, winning the triple crown.
In 1946, back from the war, he hit .342 with 38 HR and 123 RBi.
In 1952, he played in just 6 games before being called back to duty. he was hitting .400.
He returned from Korea at the end of the 1953 season, playing in 37 games and hitting .407 with 13 HR.
In 1954, he hit .345 again with 29 HR and 89 RBI.
So now we'll play the "what-if" game. We'll give him an average of 145 games a year for the 5 years he missed in the service. That gives him an extra 682 games in his career.
What does that do to his career totals? Let's take a look (all simple math of course, no real measure of decline, injuries, etc.)
Games Played: He played in 2,292, good for 118th. With the war seasons, he would have been up to 2,974, which would have been 12th.
Runs Scored: He scored 1,798 (20th). Adjusted, it's, 2,333, which would be #1 all-time (Rickey Henderson the real leader at 2,295).
Hits: He got 2,654 of them, which is 77th all-time. Adjusted, it goes up to 3,444, which would be 7th.
Doubles: Real total is 525, good for 46th, tied with Willie Mays. Adjusted, it's 681, which would be 6th.
Home Runs: Real total is 521, good for 20th; Adjusted, it's 676, which would 6th all time, and would have been 2nd behind Ruth when Williams retired.
RBI: Real total is 1,839, good for 16th all-time. Adjusted, it's 2,386, which would be #1 all-time (Hank Aaron leads at 2,297).
Walks: Real total is 2,201, good for 4th all-time. Adjusted, it's 2,622, which would be #1 all time, even ahead of Gigantor Head himself (2,558).
Total Bases: Real total is 4,884, good for 25th. Adjusted, it's 6,337, which would be #2 all-time behind Hank Aaron (6,856)
His percentages otherwise
Average: .344 (7th)
OBP: .482 (1st)
SLG: .634 (2nd)
OPS: 1.116 (2nd)
Pretty solid resume for the greatest player of all time.
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Here's a good article on William's service history.
https://www.historynet.com/ted-williams/
In summary he joined the Marine Corps near the start of WW2. Instead of playing exhibition baseball during the war as he could have, he trained marine pilots for the F4U Corsair stateside. He had an agreement with the Marine Commandant after the war that his name could be used for recruiting purposes but that he wouldn't be recalled to active duty. A clerical error at the start of the Korean War led to him being recalled and after it was made public neither side wanted to deal with the publicity of Williams apparently being given preferential treatment.
In Korea he flew a F9 Panther in combat serving in the same squadron as John Glenn and was Glenn's wingman. The attached story tells of a bombing mission he returned from with his engine on fire and inoperable landing gear. He made a successful landing and flew another mission the next day.
As a rookie at 20 years of age he hit .327, 31 home runs and led the league with 145 rbi.
I think Kyle Tucker is probably on his way to a great career. But I would cringe when people called him TED when he was coming up. It honestly seemed sacrilegious.
https://www.historynet.com/ted-williams/
In summary he joined the Marine Corps near the start of WW2. Instead of playing exhibition baseball during the war as he could have, he trained marine pilots for the F4U Corsair stateside. He had an agreement with the Marine Commandant after the war that his name could be used for recruiting purposes but that he wouldn't be recalled to active duty. A clerical error at the start of the Korean War led to him being recalled and after it was made public neither side wanted to deal with the publicity of Williams apparently being given preferential treatment.
In Korea he flew a F9 Panther in combat serving in the same squadron as John Glenn and was Glenn's wingman. The attached story tells of a bombing mission he returned from with his engine on fire and inoperable landing gear. He made a successful landing and flew another mission the next day.
As a rookie at 20 years of age he hit .327, 31 home runs and led the league with 145 rbi.
I think Kyle Tucker is probably on his way to a great career. But I would cringe when people called him TED when he was coming up. It honestly seemed sacrilegious.
One reason Ted Willliams drove in so many runs, besides being the greatest hitter of his time, was that he had a leadoff batter who was good at getting on base and scoring runs.
Dom Dimaggio, William's next door neighbor in Boston's outfield for the bulk of his career, had a pretty good almost great career. He led the league in scoring twice and in 11 seasons made the all-star team seven times, ending with a career batting average of .298. He was better known for his defense, being considering the second best center fielder of both his league and his family. If he had played a few more seasons he might be in the HOF but he lost three years to WW2.
In 1949 he set a Red Sox record that has never been surpassed. Even Ted himself never matched it. As part of a pretty neat coincidence, or maybe a display of the power of genetics, he had a 34 game hitting streak.
Dom Dimaggio, William's next door neighbor in Boston's outfield for the bulk of his career, had a pretty good almost great career. He led the league in scoring twice and in 11 seasons made the all-star team seven times, ending with a career batting average of .298. He was better known for his defense, being considering the second best center fielder of both his league and his family. If he had played a few more seasons he might be in the HOF but he lost three years to WW2.
In 1949 he set a Red Sox record that has never been surpassed. Even Ted himself never matched it. As part of a pretty neat coincidence, or maybe a display of the power of genetics, he had a 34 game hitting streak.
Today is Charlie Gehringer's 120th birthday. He's one of baseball's most unknown superstars. His quiet, modest personality had a lot to do with that. He was nicknamed the Mechanical Man, being only one of two players to have had two separate consecutive games played streaks of 500+ games, Pete Rose being the other. The only player to have played in every inning of the first six All Star games.
Two good stories that show his humble, unassuming nature:
He started his career with Detroit as Ty Cobb was coming to the end of his. He had lost his father to whom he was very close just weeks before making his major league debut giving him something in common with Cobb. He said Cobb took him under his wing and acted like a father figure to him. Cobb gave him one of his own bats to use but Gehringer didn't like it, the bat being much too light. He used it anyway not wanting to show any disrespect to Cobb.
After he had become a star fans gave him a set of golf clubs. He batted left handed but the clubs were right handed. He didn't want to say anything so he learned to golf right handed.
I wish baseball had more of his kind today.
Two good stories that show his humble, unassuming nature:
He started his career with Detroit as Ty Cobb was coming to the end of his. He had lost his father to whom he was very close just weeks before making his major league debut giving him something in common with Cobb. He said Cobb took him under his wing and acted like a father figure to him. Cobb gave him one of his own bats to use but Gehringer didn't like it, the bat being much too light. He used it anyway not wanting to show any disrespect to Cobb.
After he had become a star fans gave him a set of golf clubs. He batted left handed but the clubs were right handed. He didn't want to say anything so he learned to golf right handed.
I wish baseball had more of his kind today.
This video right here is top notch baseballreference oddity content.
Orlando Hudson. The most average hitter of all time. Absolutely amazing
Orlando Hudson
Orlando Hudson. The most average hitter of all time. Absolutely amazing
Orlando Hudson
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
I watched this video a few days ago. This guy was co.pketely average and had an 11 year career (if I remember correctly) hung around because of speed and glove but had solid batting average every year.
Very interesting.
Very interesting.
Double Talkin' Jive...
Aggie1205 said:
You can trust much of anything in Stumps book.
Check out Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty by Charles Leerhsen. He actually does research and backs things up. He does spend a chapter breaking down many of the things wrong with Stump. Cobb was no angel, but its a shame that Stumps narrative is the only one that many people know.
I just finished this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the real Ty Cobb and the history of early baseball. It's a shame what Al Stump did to Cobb, in two different books and a series of magazine articles. In the first book, an autobiography that Stump was ghost writing, Cobb had objected to inaccuracies and threatened to sue Stump and the publisher but they ran out the clock and published it soon after his death. It's really sad.
The two most famous stories about Cobb's racism, the groundskeeper in Augusta and the bellhop in Cleveland, have been so unfairly misrepresented and Leerhsen does a good job of digging into both of them.
I won't spoil anything but there's an awesome story at the end of the book's epilogue about a pickoff attempt at first base with Wally Pipp that I think is the perfect summary of Cobb's career and his life.
Cy Young holds (at least) two records that will never be broken.
511 career wins
749 career complete games
I find it really amazing that there were 238!!! games where he started, pitched a complete game, and didn't get the win.
Heck, in today's game, 238 starts is 7 or 8 seasons worth. That's a pretty respectable career.
511 career wins
749 career complete games
I find it really amazing that there were 238!!! games where he started, pitched a complete game, and didn't get the win.
Heck, in today's game, 238 starts is 7 or 8 seasons worth. That's a pretty respectable career.
Smeghead4761 said:
Cy Young holds (at least) two records that will never be broken.
511 career wins
749 career complete games
I find it really amazing that there were 238!!! games where he started, pitched a complete game, and didn't get the win.
Heck, in today's game, 238 starts is 7 or 8 seasons worth. That's a pretty respectable career.
All that and he never even won a Cy Young Award.
AustinAg2K said:Smeghead4761 said:
Cy Young holds (at least) two records that will never be broken.
511 career wins
749 career complete games
I find it really amazing that there were 238!!! games where he started, pitched a complete game, and didn't get the win.
Heck, in today's game, 238 starts is 7 or 8 seasons worth. That's a pretty respectable career.
All that and he never even won a Cy Young Award.
And think, he pitched a ton of those complete games during the first 11 years of his career when fouls weren't even counted s strikes.
Well after going down the Cy Young rabbit hole I found myself looking at the Boston Braves, specifically the 1914 World Series Champion Boston Braves.
Boston finished 1913 69-82-3, the first time since 1909 they had lost less than 100 games. They started the 1914 campaign about like you would expect, going 2-7 in April and 8-15 in May. A 3-2 loss to Cincinnati on June 8 put there record at 12-28. Then, an odd thing happened.
They starting winning. A lot. The beat Cinci 3-2 the next day then swept the Pirates to start a 31, yes 31, game home stand. They finished June 16-13 but started July losing five in a row falling to 26-40.
Then, it happened. They go 18-5 the rest of the month, then 19-6 in August, and an incredible 26-5 in September. The finished the year 94-59-5 and swept the Athletics in the World Series.
They were 15 games back on July 4th, caught the leaders By Aug 25th, and finished 10.5 up.
One very odd note about that year is they left the dilapidated South End Grounds for Fenway park in August never to return.
Obviously the player stats are crazy and from a different time, but one thing that stood out to me was the ages of the players. In their starting eight they had a 20 year old, three 22 year olds, and a 24 year old.
1914 Boston Braves
Boston finished 1913 69-82-3, the first time since 1909 they had lost less than 100 games. They started the 1914 campaign about like you would expect, going 2-7 in April and 8-15 in May. A 3-2 loss to Cincinnati on June 8 put there record at 12-28. Then, an odd thing happened.
They starting winning. A lot. The beat Cinci 3-2 the next day then swept the Pirates to start a 31, yes 31, game home stand. They finished June 16-13 but started July losing five in a row falling to 26-40.
Then, it happened. They go 18-5 the rest of the month, then 19-6 in August, and an incredible 26-5 in September. The finished the year 94-59-5 and swept the Athletics in the World Series.
They were 15 games back on July 4th, caught the leaders By Aug 25th, and finished 10.5 up.
One very odd note about that year is they left the dilapidated South End Grounds for Fenway park in August never to return.
Obviously the player stats are crazy and from a different time, but one thing that stood out to me was the ages of the players. In their starting eight they had a 20 year old, three 22 year olds, and a 24 year old.
1914 Boston Braves
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
One thing I know I have brought up before but one thing completely lost in MLB 2023 is league loyalty. Growing up in the '80s it was alive and well, but the dead ball area took it to a different level. Of the 8 starting players listed, only three ever played a game in the AL. two played one game each, and one played a total of 81. You don't see that anymore.
The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -- Abraham Lincoln.
On the topic of rules that are different now, until 1929 in the AL and 1931 in the NL, balls that cleared the fence on the bounce after landing in fair territory were home runs.
Babe Ruth's 60 HR season was 1927.
I've sometimes wondered if it would be possible to dig through old newspaper stories and figure out how many of Ruth's HRs would be ground rule doubles under modern rules.
Sacriledge, I know.
Babe Ruth's 60 HR season was 1927.
I've sometimes wondered if it would be possible to dig through old newspaper stories and figure out how many of Ruth's HRs would be ground rule doubles under modern rules.
Sacriledge, I know.
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