Comments
The last twenty comments in true blog fasion, with the links to their authors and the player commented upon.
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I couldn't agree more Eugene. He was a steady and dangerous hitter to the end.
Was he ticketed for a regular gig? The experts thought not.
$1 in LABR, CBS and Tout shunned him altogether.
Rotoman thought not.
He was slashing .227/.320/.455 in spring training. Pretty much what Rotoman and everyone else expected.
As I check out the various defensive metrics, I'm seeing more than the usual confusion.
dWAR 0.9
FRAA 7.7
DRS 5
FRAA says he was a far better center fielder last year than in 2018.
dWAR and DRS say he was worse.
Despite baggies' wishful thinking on Feb. 9, the experts went with Eugene.
CBS $16
LABR $13
Tout Wars $15
If they're right, AP4 is too low.
When spring training came to a crashing halt: 5 games, 5 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, no runs.
#3 Rob dernier, Harry wouldn't let Richie do that
My answer to # 3: Richie Ashburn.
Just kidding. But that's how bad I am at this stuff.
Trivia Corner
Can you hunt down the answers to these questions using Baseball-Reference and the Play Index?
1. How many home runs did Barry Bonds hit off of Roger Clemens in his career?
Hint: check out our Batter vs. Pitcher tool
2. Percentage of hitters in 2019 who worked a 3-0 count and struck out anyway, Over/Under: 8%
Hint: check out 2019 league splits
3. Who hit leadoff most often for the 1982 Phillies?
4. How many Opening Day starting pitchers can you name for the Washington Nationals since they moved to DC in 2005?
Hint: check out the Nationals franchise index
Answers from last Friday's edition at the bottom of this newsletter, answers for today's edition will be in this Friday's edition
Trivia Corner - Previous Edition's Answers
1. How many 9th-inning home runs were hit during the 2019 World Series? - Three
2. How many times have both teams hit at least 6 home runs in a game? - Twice, 2002-07-02 CHW-DET & 2019-08-16 ARI-SFG
3. Worst ERA allowed by a team that made the postseason, Over/Under: 5.00 - Over, 5.15 ERA for the 1996 Orioles
4. How many players can you name that had a hitting streak of at least 17 games in 2019? - Eight: Wilson Ramos, Michael Brantley, Christian Yelich, Kevin Newman, Yuli Gurriel, Marcus Semien, Bryan Reynolds, Anthony Rendon
Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter were the big names. Gene Tenace was the world series hero. I loved them all and knew all their stats, etc. Loved "Campy" Campinaris too.
Those were good times.
Joe Poz didn't include Steady Eddie in his top 100. I know that seems like blasphemy to everyone. If not, it should. Eddie had 500 HR and 3000 hits, mostly in the down hitting period of the 70s and 80s.
Some call him an accumulator, but you know what, it was that his peak lasted 20 years and he never had a career year. Every year was the same. Steady Eddie. 300/30/100 when those numbers meant something. But, even in advanced statistics, maybe even more impressive, he had an OPS+ of 156 for 3 straight years, then knocked it up a notch to lead the league with 157 in 1984. Steady Eddie.
Today, Joe Poz fixed his error by including Eddie as one of his favorite players.
Makes me smile to discover that there are several of us in the Paige tribe with photos of Satchel on our walls. I also grew up in Cleveland in the 40s and 50s, so Satchel Paige and Larry Doby have always been my favorite players from that era. So, not surprisingly, two of my 30-year+ fantasy team names are Paige in History and Doby in Center.
Seadogs, are you saying something might be gaining on me?
My photo of SP is also in a Monarchs uni, more of a baseball card pose, hands to his chest as if to begin his motion, looking to his left.
TMU, pictures of only two ballplayers are in my office, my son (an amateur who still occasionally catches at age 46) and Satchel Paige. The Paige picture is from the 1995 Baseball Calendar based on the Illustrated History of the game by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns. Paige is December and titled The Man who "Threw Fire." He is lounging in a dugout wearing a Kansas City Monarchs uniform.
So you're saying that when you look back, you can see a picture of Satchel Paige?
If I turn in my desk chair just now (I'm working from home), there's a photo of Mr. Paige on my home office wall.
Read Paige today. He was my favorite ballplayer, going back to early childhood when my dad introduced me -- no, unfortunately, not in person -- to his favorite player on the Cleveland Indians of 1948. I was 3 that year, so I don't remember exactly the timing. But, as I was growing up in Oberlin just 35 miles from Cleveland, Paige has always been part of my life, from stories of his struggles to his pitching prowess to his homespun humor. Baseball's greatest pitcher was one of my early heroes, and he's still hanging in.
He had a tie of Mike Schmidt and Frank Robinson at 20. That seems to be the last of the ceremonial rankings. Rickey at 24 was another. Trout at 27. Maddux at 31. Seaver at 41. Jackie at 42. DiMaggio at 56.
Schmidt and Robinson are close if not in the top 20, so he played it straight with them. The others in the top 20, ahead of them are Speaker, Hornsby, ARod, Josh Gibson, Gehrig, Clemens, Honus Wagner, and Mantle.
It leaves Ruth, Walter Johnson, Bonds, Mays, Cobb, Aaron, Musial, and Ted Williams by bWAR, plus Oscar Charleston and Satchel Paige, the best player and pitcher from the Negro Leagues. I think he puts Teddy Ballgame higher up the list due to the loss of 5+ years in two wars. I expect The Big Train will be dropped a couple slots. I think he will slot Paige either 5 or 6 and Charleston either 10th or ahead of Musial. I expect him to put Mays ahead of Bonds, but I wouldn't be shocked with Bonds #2.
That's a great story Neux.
I don't remember, I'm afraid. I've been afraid to ask if the auction records of bids are something Fantrax can let us have, mostly because I figure they don't keep them. In most cases, why should they? But I'm going to ask. I'm now unafraid. There is interesting info in their, stuff Alex has always tried to track, but doing it manually is kind of impossible beyond Nominated and Last Bid.
And putting Willie at No. 24 would be a disgrace.
Spencer Howard rolled out for Roll2.
Alas, no stats. Here's the B-R link.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=howard000spe
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Alex, thanks for the daily player updates. It's something to look forward to in these crazy days of isolation.