Mule Haas and Moose Haas were not related

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/haasmu01.shtml

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/haasmo01.shtml

Awesome.

W said:

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Mike Schmidt….he was not immune to the cavernous Astrodome. 2nd lowest career slugging % (.440) and 3rd lowest career OPS in the dome.

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But he did have one big fly there. Anyone who remembers the dome will probably remember that the big speaker suspended from the roof above CF was hung about 50 ft higher than the rest of the speakers, courtesy of Schmidt.

McInnis said:

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W said:

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Mike Schmidt….he was not immune to the cavernous Astrodome. 2nd lowest career slugging % (.440) and 3rd lowest career OPS in the dome.

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But he did have one big fly there. Anyone who remembers the dome will probably remember that the big speaker suspended from the roof above CF was hung about 50 ft higher than the rest of the speakers, courtesy of Schmidt.

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Was he a sound engineer as well?

Probably not but I've never seen anyone hit the ball harder than him in my 60 years watching baseball.

knoxtom said:

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The Porkchop Express said:

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The greatest minor league player of the 20th century might have been Gary Redus of the Reds.A 15th-round draft pick, Redus started in Rookie bal in 1978 with Billings of the Pioneer league.

In 68 games, he scored 100 runs got 117 hits, 19 doubles, 6 triples, 17 HR, drove in 62, stole 42 bases, walked 62 times and had the unlikely slash of .463/.559/.787 for an OPS of 1.346. He had 199 total bases in 68 games.

A few of those numbers over 162 games equals: 238 runs scored, 279 hits, 45 doubles, 14 triples, 41 HR,
148 RBI, 100 steals, and 148 walks.

After a struggle year in 1979, he hits .301 with an .880 OPS in A ball Tampa in 1980 and .333 in Triple AA Indianapolis in 1982 with an OPS of 1.003 and a .604 slugging percentage, driving in 93 runs in 122 games

He finally made the big club as a starter at age 26 n 1983, but he could never find the magic. He stole 322 bases in the majors, but hit just .252 and never hit more than 17 HR. He didn't bat above .250 until he was a 32-year-old part time player for the Pirates in 1989. .

Ironically, he was fantastic in 15 post-season games for Pittsbugh, including hitting .438 with a 1.313 OPS in the 1992 NLCS vs. Atlanta.

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I saw an interview once with Pete Rose and the interviewer said to Pete that they had just completed a study of players rates of popping up and who popped up more than any other player.

Rose said... "it's Gary Redus isn't it?"

Interviewer waited a second and said... "How the hell did you know that?"

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Sounds like when they asked Jordan which team he has his lowest scoring average against and he knew it was the warriors b3cause of manute bol. Jordan said he wasn't a good defender, he just screwed everything up

Reminds me of Chris Berman…..Gary Redus a bedtime story.

I just realized that Dan Quisenberry had finished top 5 in Cy Young voting five times from 1980-1985....including some top 10 MVP voting.

Was he THAT good? Or did no one know how to value closers in the early 80s?

The Porkchop Express said:

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McInnis said:

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W said:

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Mike Schmidt….he was not immune to the cavernous Astrodome. 2nd lowest career slugging % (.440) and 3rd lowest career OPS in the dome.

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But he did have one big fly there. Anyone who remembers the dome will probably remember that the big speaker suspended from the roof above CF was hung about 50 ft higher than the rest of the speakers, courtesy of Schmidt.

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Was he a sound engineer as well?

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Well he made sure no one else was ever going to hit that speaker again.

Maybe the hardest hit ground rule double ever?

RIP Rickey Henderson. That sucks.


4th all time in games played (3081)
60th in career OBP (.401)
15th in career offensive WAR (105.2)
3 times had over 100 runs/walks/stolen bases. No other player has ever done it once
79th in career extra base hits.

Stole his first base as a pro in 1976 at 17 and his last in 2005 at 46(I am 47 and have no idea how that is possible)

Here is one

In 1975 Jose Sosa, a cousin to the Alou brothers, was the first Astro to ever hit a HR in his first career plate appearance. He had 8 more career plate appearances and finished his career with a .333 batting average. Maybe he should have taken up a position rather than been a relief pitcher.

Whoa

Yes he was that good. You probably know this but he was a submarine thrower and the royals were really good then.

Arguably the 3 greatest outfielders of all time - Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron - all started and ended their careers in the same city, but with a different team.

Ruth's first season was in 1914 when he was 19. He hit in 5 games and pitched in 4 for the Red Sox. his last season was 1935 with the Boston Braves - his only season in the National League. he played in 28 games, only hit .181, but still had a .431 SLG % and .789 OPS because 6 of his 13 hits were home runs.

Willie Mays debuted with the NY Giants in 1951 as 20-year-old, hitting .274 in 121 games with 20 HR and playing in the World Series. His rookie season ended in a Game 6 loss to the Yankees. His final year was with the New York Mets in 1973 where he hit .211 in 66 games. The last game of his career was a Game 7 loss in the World Series to the A's.

Hank Aaron debuted at age 20 in 1954 for the Milwaukee Braves, hitting .280 in 122 games. His last season was also in Milwaukee, with the Brewers in 1976 when he was 42. he hit .229 with 10 HR that year.

That is pretty remarkable

Everyone knows Don Larsen, but there is also a Dan Larson....and both pitched for Houston and Chicago Cubs

Don't confuse them in your Immaculate Grids!

The Porkchop Express said:

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AgRyan04 said:

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I just realized that Dan Quisenberry had finished top 5 in Cy Young voting five times from 1980-1985....including some top 10 MVP voting.

Was he THAT good? Or did no one know how to value closers in the early 80s?

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He was routinely pitching 40%+ of the Royals' games, going way over 100 innings, and almost never walked anybody. He pitched 129-139 inning 4 years in a row (82-85) and his walk totals were 12, 11, 12, 16. In 1980 he was 12-7 with 33 saves. That's like some Hoyt Wilhelm action.

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I just looked him up because I was curious, his strikeout totals are almost as amazing as the walks... because they are so low. He pitched over 1000 big league innings and only had 379 strikeouts. I can't imagine a guy with a K/9 rate that low being a closer ever again.

For reference, Lee Smith pitched 1200 innings and had a bit over 1200 Ks. And Goose Gossage pitched 1800 innings and had 1500 Ks. So even in a time where guys K'd less often, Quissenberey's K rate was extraordinarily low.

That's amazing.

Every time I see a sidearm pitcher I compare him to Dan Quisenberry. Even in youth ball. I saw a kid last year in 12u that almost released that low and it drew the obvious comparison. I am pretty sure every grown man over 45 or so had the same thought.

I bet the defense LOVED playing behind him.



Also, and tell me if I am missing something, it looks like he started one game in his career and completed it.

I immediately think of Kent Tekulve - first saw him pitch (on tv) in the '79 WS vs the Orioles. Quiz perfected the style.

Thinking about HOFers....how many World Series champions that didn't have a HOFer on the roster?

Starting in '00 and going backwards, most have at least two.

1997 Marlins - 0 - but could make the case Sheffield should be but isn't because of steroids

The 1988 Dodgers barely with 43 year old Don Sutton on the roster

1981 Dodgers - 0

The Dodgera are saved by Don Sutton again in 1978....but he was at least a contributor on that squad

That's all I see going back to the 50s

Never seen Mantle wearing 6

Mickey Mantle was originally assigned #6 since he was seen as next in line for Yankee greatness after Ruth (#3), Gehrig (#4), DiMaggio (#5).  After a slow start however, he was sent down.  By the time he returned, Bobby Brown had returned from military service & was given back… https://t.co/fAbjiGIgoe pic.twitter.com/pGizKlL36H

— Jim Koenigsberger (@Jimfrombaseball) January 14, 2025

Dante Bichette - multi-time All-Star slugger

Career WAR 5.7 !?!?

I would have guessed he had a season or two where his WAR was around that.

Can someone walk me through his 1999 season?

.298 BA
34 HR
104 R
134 RBI
.895 OPS

but a -2.3 WAR ?

My guess would be two main factors, first he was likely a terrible outfielder at this point of his career. So probably a negative dWAR. Second, 1999 was in the middle of the steroid era, and his .298 average was only the 81st best BA in the league. He was also only 25th best in HRs.

So as ludicrous as it sounds, a .300 season with 34 homers was a replacement level season in 1999 because WAR compares you to your peers in a given season as well.

AggieEP said:

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My guess would be two main factors, first he was likely a terrible outfielder at this point of his career. So probably a negative dWAR. Second, 1999 was in the middle of the steroid era, and his .298 average was only the 81st best BA in the league. He was also only 25th best in HRs.

So as ludicrous as it sounds, a .300 season with 34 homers was a replacement level season in 1999 because WAR compares you to your peers in a given season as well.

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So he would have been better off being a DH.....and, I suppose, all DH WAR should be discredited.

For example, in the same year, Edgar Martinez had a 4.9 WAR with the following stat line as a DH

86 R
24 HR
86 RBI
.337 BA
1.001 OPS

So his OPS and BA were higher but his run scoring numbers were significantly less.....and that is worth a 7 point swing in WAR? Basically the difference between Edgar and Bichette was the WAR of an MVP candidate

That's crazy.

Perhaps, Bichette led the league in errors from an outfielder in 1999 with a whopping 13 errors and also -34 defense runs saved.

One other factor I forgot was the home field adjustment in WAR. Coors field pre-humidor was just a bonkers place to hit. So his season was actually just average in 1999 for the typical hitter playing at Coors. His OPS+ was only 102.

If you move him to DH it knocks out the negative dWAR but it can't help for the park adjustment factored into WAR. And Edgar was playing at Safeco field at this point, which played as an extreme pitchers park even during the roid years.

For another data point that will illustrate just how wild 1999 was offensively, look at Larry Walker

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walkela01.shtml

His 1999 and 1997 seasons are remarkably close in many ways with his offensive performances. In 1997 he has a 9.8 WAR and wins the MVP, in 1999 he has a 5.1 WAR and finishes 10th in MVP voting.

Me neither. That's a good one. And fairly recent.

Huh

AgRyan04 said:

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Thinking about HOFers....how many World Series champions that didn't have a HOFer on the roster?

Starting in '00 and going backwards, most have at least two.

1997 Marlins - 0 - but could make the case Sheffield should be but isn't because of steroids

The 1988 Dodgers barely with 43 year old Don Sutton on the roster

1981 Dodgers - 0

The Dodgera are saved by Don Sutton again in 1978....but he was at least a contributor on that squad

That's all I see going back to the 50s

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A couple of years more recent that your search, but there weren't any on the 2002 Angels. Actually, at the current time, neither team in that Series has a HoF player. I would guess that Dusty Baker will get in eventually as a manager.

Probably a bit recent to for the 2015 Royals to be really looked at.

With the 2010-2012-2014 Giants, I really only see one - Buster Posey.