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Left on Base

• A very nice recap of the steroids events of the year.
• An article about the reliability of certain types of players, including documentation that power pitchers are less reliable than finesse pitchers (are you out there, A.J. Burnett?)
• Some good insight into how triples factor into the assessment of a batter's power.
• A great list and review of "game scores" by game for each major league pitcher.
• A list of the number of days each player spent on the disabled list for the last five years, and other great stats such as Major League Equivalencies for minor league players.

Player         Team    LOB%    BA/None On  BA/RISP     Diff
Sosa J.        ATL     85.1%       .278     .194      -.084
Clemens R.     HOU     82.3%       .214     .138      -.076
Washburn J.    LAA     81.8%       .279     .238      -.041
Halladay R.    TOR     81.5%       .233     .188      -.045
Pettitte A.    HOU     79.7%       .227     .203      -.024

Rueter K.      SF      62.3%       .274     .315       .041
Hendrickson    TB      62.2%       .303     .338       .035
Nomo H.        TB      62.2%       .289     .328       .039
McClung S.     TB      61.2%       .211     .296       .085
Lima J.        KC      60.7%       .285     .350       .065

Bill was perhaps the most famous writer in APBA history, as his “Linn on Leagues” column graced the pages of the APBA Journal for years. The Linn on Leagues column allowed APBA leagues around the country to communicate with each other, and it helped to create a real APBA community that lasted for decades. Even today, a majority of APBA fans will remember Linn on Leagues with fondness. After he let Jim Pertierra take over the APBA Journal leagues column, Bill became the NEL newsletter editor for almost a decade, reporting on the activities of our small league with the same intensity and clarity that he previously had brought to his coverage of the nation as a whole. Even after he stepped down as the NEL newsletter editor, he often took on the task of writing up the NEL playoffs, and he contributed to the fabric of the NEL tremendously by creating and operating the Joe Morgan and Steve Carlton awards. To say that Bill loved the Morgan and Carlton awards would be a significant understatement.

While Bill was well in touch with reality when it came to sports and current events, a touch with reality sometimes eluded him, often humorously, when it came to his own personal life. Perhaps the most infamous of Bill’s “wild and crazy” departures from reality was his “parting of the Santa Ana Freeway” back in 1973.

That fall, Bill flew out to California to visit me (and play some games head to head), but he also wanted to see Disneyland, so we agreed that we’d meet at an Angel game and then he’d come back to my house afterward. Bill was staying at the Disneyland Hotel, and you can see the “Big A” quite clearly from there, so he set out to walk from the hotel to the ballpark. What you can’t see from the Disneyland Hotel is that the Santa Ana Freeway splits Anaheim in two in that part of town, with no obvious bridges or overpasses nearby. The mighty “I-5” freeway is not just a normal road. It has 12 driving lanes, two onramp and two off ramp lanes, a 3-foot tall median divider, and two 6-foot tall protective walls on each side. None of this deterred Bill from the swift completion of his appointed rounds, however. He vaulted over the first fence, dashed through the 6 South-bound lanes, rested on the median, zigzagged through the 6 North-bound lanes, and casually exited the freeway with the same grace with which he’d entered it. When he told me what he’d done, I was speechless! Oh, and was the game that night worth all that effort? I’ll say! It involved one Nolan Ryan striking out his 383rd batter of the season to pass Sandy Koufax’s major league single season record for strikeouts.

As an APBA manager, Bill was among the very best ever in the NEL. His Frankfurt Falcons rank fourth in league history in divisional championships (and they will tie for third if they win this year), and they rank third in league history in total victories with an astounding 2961 wins (and counting). Bill’s excellence as a manager wasn’t due to longevity, however; he ranked fourth among active managers in terms of winning percentage, and there’s a distinct chance that, had he stayed alive, he would have moved into second place at the end of the 2006-07 season. Bill’s managerial style was one of gusto and imagination, and he liked to pinch hit and double switch at the drop of a hat. Back when relief pitchers could hit, Bill made a point of attempting to get every “fluke” hitting card and then using those relievers to go long, and he often lamented the rule change that made such “fun” illegal