Around the Majors: Bonds denies retirement story

by
February 20, 2006

1) Barry Bonds denied the version of his retirement story that USA Today presented. According to the paper, Bonds said he will retire at the end of the season, regardless of whether he breaks Hank Aaron’s HR record.

Bonds told MLB.com, “If I can play [in 2007], I’m going to play; if I can’t I won’t. If my knee holds up, I’ll keep on going. I’m playing psychological games with myself right now. I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment if things don’t work out this season. So I go back and forth. Back and forth every day. These are the things that are going through my mind. This is what I’m struggling with.”

YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2003   38  115  .529  .749 1.278  .897  16.75  .341  45   90    7  130  Giants       
2004   39  152  .609  .812 1.422  .929  22.08  .362  45  101    6  147  Giants       
2005   40    6  .404  .667 1.071  .795  10.45  .286   5   10    0   14  Giants       
CAR       1502  .442  .611 1.053  .814  10.70  .300 708 1853  506 2730 
LG AVG       0  .336  .413  .749  .500   4.89  .266 244 1102  206 
POS AVG    146  .346  .440  .786  .546   5.49  .271 301 1200  273

Bonds ranks 2nd on the career RCAA list–

RCAA    
1    Babe Ruth                  1795   
2    Barry Bonds                1502   
3    Ted Williams               1475   
4    Ty Cobb                    1369   
5    Lou Gehrig                 1247   
6    Stan Musial                1204   
7    Mickey Mantle              1099   
8    Rogers Hornsby             1084   
9    Tris Speaker               1053   
10   Hank Aaron                 1032

Bonds has already passed Aaron for HR above the league average–

HOMERUNS                        DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE    RCAA    
1    Babe Ruth                   622      714       92     1795   
2    Barry Bonds                 464      708      244     1502   
3    Hank Aaron                  457      755      298     1032   
4    Mark McGwire                405      583      178      665   
5    Jimmie Foxx                 403      534      131      985   
6    Willie Mays                 390      660      270     1008   
7    Lou Gehrig                  377      493      116     1247   
8    Ted Williams                376      521      145     1475   
9    Mel Ott                     374      511      137      989   
10   Mike Schmidt                367      548      181      623

2) The White Sox named Mark Buehrle as their Opening Day starter.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 24    8   4.14   35  35  230.1  119  4.65 12.35  14  14   0  15  13  White Sox    
2004 25   29   3.89   35  35  245.1  165  6.05 11.59  16  10   0  16  10  White Sox    
2005 26   36   3.12   33  33  236.2  149  5.67 10.80  16   8   0  16   8  White Sox    
CAREER   138   3.63  197 172 1224    730  5.37 11.30  85  53   0  85  53 
LG AVG     0   4.51          1224    855  6.28 12.92  69  69

Buehrle ranks 8th in the majors in RSAA over the past 5 years–

RSAA 
1    Randy Johnson               194   
2    Pedro Martinez              184   
3    Tim Hudson                  153   
4    Roy Halladay                148   
5    Curt Schilling              146   
6    Roy Oswalt                  137   
7    Johan Santana               136   
8    Mark Buehrle                132   
9    Roger Clemens               119   
10   Barry Zito                  112

He’s 7th on the White Sox career RSAA list–

RSAA  
1    Ted Lyons                   286   
2    Ed Walsh                    258   
3    Red Faber                   250   
4    Billy Pierce                233   
5    Eddie Cicotte               183   
6    Thornton Lee                155   
7    Mark Buehrle                138   
8    Wilbur Wood                 129   
9    Hoyt Wilhelm                 98   
10   Keith Foulke                 95

3) The Reds hired Billy Hatcher as 1B coach.

4) The Indians traded 1B Andy Tracy to the Orioles for a player to be named later.

YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2000   26    2  .339  .484  .824  .519   5.88  .260  11   32    1   83  Expos        
2001   27   -8  .190  .236  .427  .085   1.56  .109   2    8    0   38  Expos        
2004   30   -2  .235  .250  .485  .116   2.08  .188   0    1    0   15  Rockies      
CAR         -8  .302  .418  .720  .402   4.58  .224  13   41    1  136 
LG AVG       0  .347  .444  .792  .500   5.49  .272  10   39    5 
POS AVG     -1  .343  .446  .789  .484   5.36  .272  10   41    3

5) Today’s birthdays–

ELROY FACE, AGE: 78
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1959 31   14   2.71   57   0   93     69  6.68 11.32  18   1  10  13   6  Pirates      
1960 32   10   2.90   68   0  115     72  5.63  9.55  10   8  24  11   7  Pirates      
1962 34   21   1.88   63   0   91     45  4.45  9.20   8   7  28  12   3  Pirates      
CAREER    46   3.48  848  27 1375    877  5.74 11.28 104  95 193 114  85 
LG AVG     0   3.79          1375    802  5.25 12.15  77  77 

BILL GULLICKSON, AGE: 47
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1987 28  -14   4.86   35  35  213    117  4.94 11.45  14  13   0  12  15  Reds/Yankees
1993 34  -19   5.37   28  28  159.1   70  3.95 13.16  13   9   0   9  13  Tigers       
1994 35  -14   5.93   21  19  115.1   65  5.07 14.44   4   5   0   4   5  Tigers       
CAREER   -29   3.93  398 390 2560   1279  4.50 11.65 162 136   0 146 152 
LG AVG     0   3.85          2560   1593  5.60 12.31 142 142 

TOMMY HENRICH, AGE: 93
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1947   34   38  .372  .485  .857  .698   6.88  .287  16   98    3  142  Yankees      
1948   35   49  .391  .554  .945  .705   8.18  .308  25  100    2  146  Yankees      
1949   36   41  .416  .526  .942  .728   8.76  .287  24   85    2  115  Yankees      
CAR        280  .382  .491  .873  .659   7.20  .282 183  795   37 1284 
LG AVG       0  .353  .400  .753  .500   5.22  .274  84  592   52 
POS AVG     52  .359  .422  .780  .534   5.64  .282  95  630   56 

LIVAN HERNANDEZ, AGE: 31
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 28   50   3.20   33  33  233.1  178  6.87 11.26  15  10   0  18   7  Expos        
2004 29   14   3.60   35  35  255    186  6.56 11.54  11  15   0  14  12  Expos        
2005 30   -1   3.98   35  35  246.1  147  5.37 13.34  15  10   0  12  13  Nationals    
CAREER    14   4.11  284 283 1950.2 1328  6.13 12.84 110 104   0 108 106 
LG AVG     0   4.33          1950.2 1463  6.75 12.88 109 109 

RYAN LANGERHANS, AGE: 26
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2002   22    0  .000  .000  .000  .000   0.00  .000   0    0    0    1  Braves       
2003   23   -1  .267  .267  .533  .188   2.25  .267   0    0    0   16  Braves       
2005   25    1  .348  .426  .774  .513   5.44  .267   8   42    0  128  Braves       
CAR          0  .344  .418  .762  .499   5.28  .266   8   42    0  145 
LG AVG       0  .339  .428  .767  .500   5.07  .268  10   43    5 
POS AVG      6  .349  .455  .804  .554   5.71  .269  14   50    6 

BRIAN MCCANN, AGE: 22
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2005   21   -4  .345  .400  .745  .436   4.60  .278   5   23    1   59  Braves       
CAR         -4  .345  .400  .745  .436   4.60  .278   5   23    1   59 
LG AVG       0  .339  .428  .767  .500   5.07  .268   6   23    3 
POS AVG     -6  .314  .385  .699  .385   3.94  .248   5   23    1 

SAM RICE, 1890-1974
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1917   27   23  .360  .369  .729  .644   5.10  .302   0   69   35  155  Senators     
1919   29   23  .376  .411  .787  .629   6.15  .321   3   71   26  141  Senators     
1923   33   24  .381  .450  .832  .614   6.44  .316   3   75   20  148  Senators     
1930   40   25  .407  .457  .864  .613   7.21  .349   1   73   13  147  Senators     
CAR        225  .374  .427  .800  .572   5.97  .322  34 1078  351 2404 
LG AVG       0  .357  .404  .760  .500   5.26  .289 102 1148  171 
POS AVG    227  .374  .441  .816  .570   6.16  .305 139 1269  205 

MUDDY RUEL, 1896-1963
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1922   26  -16  .333  .302  .634  .353   3.69  .255   0   28    4  116  Red Sox      
1924   28  -14  .370  .331  .702  .414   4.30  .283   0   57    7  149  Senators     
1928   32  -16  .342  .320  .662  .347   3.73  .257   0   55   12  108  Senators     
CAR       -110  .365  .332  .697  .423   4.44  .275   4  532   61 1470 
LG AVG       0  .360  .409  .769  .500   5.36  .292  55  613   85 
POS AVG   -103  .348  .361  .709  .429   4.60  .272  32  563   44 

JUSTIN VERLANDER, AGE: 23
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2005 22   -4   7.15    2   2   11.1    7  5.56 16.68   0   2   0   1   1  Tigers       
CAREER    -4   7.15    2   2   11.1    7  5.56 16.68   0   2   0   1   1 
LG AVG     0   4.36            11.1    8  6.16 12.63   1   1 

CLYDE WRIGHT, AGE: 65
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1968 27  -15   3.93   41  13  126     71  5.07 12.07  10   6   3   6  10  Angels       
1974 33  -18   4.42   38  32  232     64  2.48 12.34   9  20   0  12  17  Brewers      
CAREER   -32   3.50  329 235 1728.2  667  3.47 11.72 100 111   3 102 109 
LG AVG     0   3.50          1728.2 1042  5.43 11.90  96  96

The 2006 edition of the sabermetric baseball encyclopedia is available and is now shipping. Also, for the first time, there will be a subscription package available to get the encyclopedia updated every day during the 2006 season. The encyclopedia can be ordered at http://www.baseball-encyclopedia.com

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