Around the Majors: Spring training begins

1) Pitchers and catchers report today for the Angels, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mariners, Mets, Orioles, Rangers and Tigers.

2) The Mets signed free agent P Jose Lima to a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 30    2   4.91   14  14   73.1   32  3.93 13.62   8   3   0   6   5  Royals       
2004 31    1   4.07   36  24  170.1   93  4.91 11.25  13   5   0   9   9  Dodgers      
2005 32  -50   6.99   32  32  168.2   80  4.27 15.42   5  16   0   6  15  Royals       
CAREER  -126   5.21  344 231 1550.1  968  5.62 12.73  89  98   5  84 103 
LG AVG     0   4.47          1550.1 1131  6.56 13.02  87  87 

Lima just missed the American League record for worst single season RSAA–

RSAA                          YEAR    RSAA    
1    Pat Caraway              1931      -51   
2    Jose Lima                2005      -50   
T3   Snake Wiltse             1902      -44   
T3   George Caster            1940      -44   
T3   Todd Van Poppel          1996      -44   
T6   Rube Bressler            1915      -42   
T6   Roy Halladay             2000      -42   
T6   Jim Walkup               1937      -42   
T6   Nels Potter              1939      -42   
T10  Jason Bere               1995      -41   
T10  Matt Keough              1982      -41   
T10  Jim Abbott               1996      -41   
T10  Jack Lamabe              1964      -41   
T10  Elmer Myers              1917      -41   

He ranks 5th on the all time list for worst career RSAA (since 1900)–

RSAA   
1    Herm Wehmeier              -161   
T2   Bobby Witt                 -130   
T2   Kevin Jarvis               -130   
4    Mike Kekich                -127   
5    Jose Lima                  -126   
6    Jimmy Haynes               -120   
7    Phil Ortega                -119   
T8   Jack Fisher                -118   
T8   Todd Van Poppel            -118   
T10  Leo Sweetland              -110   
T10  Harry McIntire             -110   

3) The Reds signed OFs Tuffy Rhodes and Quinton McCracken to minor league contracts, with invitations to spring training, and designated P Jung Bong for assignment.

RHODES
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1993   24    6  .400  .519  .919  .739   9.00  .278   3    7    2   20  Astros/Cubs
1994   25   -3  .318  .387  .705  .457   4.38  .234   8   19    6   95  Cubs         
1995   26   -7  .156  .122  .278  .023   0.68  .098   0    3    0   23  Cubs/Red Sox
CAR        -12  .310  .349  .659  .428   3.99  .224  13   44   14  225 
LG AVG       0  .336  .413  .748  .500   4.87  .268  17   78   15 
POS AVG      7  .345  .424  .768  .529   5.26  .275  17   72   26 

MCCRACKEN
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2003   33  -20  .276  .271  .547  .184   2.54  .227   0   18    5  115  Diamondbacks 
2004   34   -6  .328  .381  .709  .397   4.24  .273   2   13    3   74  Mariners/Diamondbacks
2005   35  -13  .313  .298  .610  .290   3.24  .237   1   13    4  134  Diamondbacks 
CAR        -88  .337  .375  .712  .383   4.40  .276  20  242   87  954 
LG AVG       0  .341  .429  .770  .500   5.15  .270  78  330   50 
POS AVG     19  .347  .436  .783  .520   5.41  .273  79  318   82 

4) The Pirates released P Joe Roa.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2002 30   -2   4.04   14  11   71.1   35  4.42 11.61   4   4   0   4   4  Phillies     
2003 31  -11   6.14   28   4   51.1   38  6.66 14.20   1   3   0   2   2  Phillies/Rockies/Padres
2004 32    2   4.50   48   0   70     47  6.04 14.53   2   3   0   3   2  Twins        
CAREER   -21   4.94  120  19  266    154  5.21 13.94   9  16   0  12  13 
LG AVG     0   4.33           266    197  6.67 12.87  15  15 

5) The White Sox claimed P Rusty Tucker off waivers from the Padres.

6) Today’s birthdays–

RON CEY, AGE: 58
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1975   27   33  .372  .473  .845  .670   6.22  .283  25  101    5  158  Dodgers      
1976   28   32  .386  .462  .848  .681   6.40  .277  23   80    0  145  Dodgers      
1979   31   32  .389  .499  .888  .674   7.04  .281  28   81    3  150  Dodgers      
CAR        207  .354  .445  .799  .586   5.44  .261 316 1139   24 2073 
LG AVG       0  .331  .388  .720  .500   4.48  .264 155  834  176 
POS AVG     24  .334  .401  .735  .505   4.62  .263 189  891  117 

GEORGE EARNSHAW, 1900-76
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1929 29   35   3.28   44  33  255    149  5.26 12.81  24   8   1  21  11  A's          
1931 31   23   3.67   43  30  282    152  4.85 10.63  21   7   6  16  12  A's          
1932 32   10   4.78   36  33  245    109  4.00 13.22  19  13   0  17  15  A's          
CAREER    11   4.38  319 249 1916   1002  4.71 13.22 127  93  12 113 107 
LG AVG     0   4.34          1916    697  3.27 13.38 107 107 

ALEX GONZALEZ, AGE: 29
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2003   26   -4  .313  .443  .756  .477   4.58  .256  18   77    0  150  Marlins      
2004   27  -26  .270  .419  .689  .335   3.43  .232  23   79    3  159  Marlins      
2005   28  -11  .319  .368  .686  .405   3.88  .264   5   45    5  130  Marlins      
CAR       -128  .291  .391  .682  .358   3.68  .245  81  375   23  896 
LG AVG       0  .343  .437  .780  .500   5.30  .270 111  450   60 
POS AVG   -101  .321  .383  .703  .396   4.24  .263  58  337   74 

JOE HESKETH, AGE: 47
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1985 26   15   2.49   25  25  155.1  113  6.55  9.85  10   5   0   9   6  Expos        
1991 32   17   3.29   39  17  153.1  104  6.10 11.45  12   4   0  10   6  Red Sox      
CAREER    25   3.78  339 114  961.2  726  6.79 12.48  60  47  21  55  52 
LG AVG     0   3.94           961.2  610  5.71 12.40  54  54 

CHARLIE IRWIN, 1869-1925
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1894   25  -20  .379  .422  .801  .430   7.48  .289   8   95   35  128  Cubs         
1898   29  -31  .297  .305  .602  .311   3.55  .240   3   55   18  136  Reds         
1901   32  -31  .277  .293  .570  .291   3.15  .227   0   45   17  132  Reds/Dodgers
CAR       -134  .330  .344  .674  .402   4.90  .267  16  488  180  989 
LG AVG       0  .352  .381  .732  .500   5.97  .289  25  512  179 
POS AVG    -45  .343  .367  .710  .471   5.55  .278  23  509  167 

BARRY JONES, AGE: 43
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1990 27   14   2.31   65   0   74     45  5.47 11.68  11   4   1  11   4  White Sox    
CAREER     1   3.66  348   0  433    250  5.20 12.78  33  33  23  34  32 
LG AVG     0   3.75           433    279  5.79 12.10  24  24 

CANDY LACHANCE, 1870-1932
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1902   32  -21  .309  .351  .660  .380   4.08  .279   6   56    8  138  Red Sox      
1903   33  -20  .303  .328  .631  .373   3.68  .257   1   53   12  141  Red Sox      
1904   34  -28  .265  .283  .548  .304   2.57  .227   1   47    7  157  Red Sox      
CAR        -88  .318  .379  .697  .452   4.98  .280  39  690  192 1263 
LG AVG       0  .344  .378  .721  .500   5.68  .283  32  643  215 
POS AVG    -16  .334  .386  .720  .496   5.55  .284  37  730  198 

JIMMY RING, 1895-65
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1917 22  -18   4.40   24   7   88     33  3.38 12.89   3   7   2   3   7  Reds         
1920 25  -23   3.54   42  33  267     73  2.46 12.30  17  16   1  13  20  Reds         
1926 31  -18   4.57   39  23  183     76  3.74 13.87  11  10   2   9  12  Giants       
1928 33  -38   6.40   35  25  173     72  3.75 16.60   4  17   1   7  14  Phillies     
CAREER   -15   4.11  389 294 2362    835  3.18 13.44 118 149  11 132 135 
LG AVG     0   3.68          2362    743  2.83 12.50 131 131 

CUB STRICKER, 1860-1937
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1889   29  -26  .323  .288  .611  .380   4.84  .251   1   47   32  136  Spiders      
1890   30  -28  .318  .320  .638  .372   5.00  .244   2   65   24  127  Infants      
1893   33  -28  .252  .225  .477  .158   2.63  .183   0   20    4   59  Senators     
CAR       -184  .306  .294  .600  .392   4.92  .239  12  259  278 1196 
LG AVG       0  .325  .354  .679  .500   6.23  .263  32  384  229 
POS AVG    -70  .320  .331  .650  .461   5.72  .251  24  343  242 

UGUETH URBINA, AGE: 32
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 29   15   2.81   72   0   77     78  9.12 10.17   3   4  32   5   2  Rangers/Marlins
2004 30    0   4.50   54   0   54     56  9.33 12.17   4   6  21   5   5  Tigers       
2005 31    8   3.62   81   0   79.2   97 10.96 10.85   5   6  10   7   4  Tigers/Phillies
CAREER    76   3.45  583  21  697.1  814 10.51 11.00  44  49 237  58  35 
LG AVG     0   4.36           697.1  513  6.62 12.85  39  39 

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

“Lee Sinins’ Sabermetric Encyclopedia is best reason yet developed to own a computer. I think I must own a copy of every baseball encyclopedia there is or ever was, and occasionally I find that I still need to pull out one of the others, but not very often; the Sabermetric Encyclopedia covers 97% of my needs. Whether I’m working or playing, calculating or daydreaming, the Sabermetric Encyclopedia pops up to help out. I turn it on in the morning; I turn it off when the house is on fire. Otherwise, I’m using it.”–Bill James


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