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May 26, 2013
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Thursday, February 28, 2013Want to work for the Indians?The Cleveland Indians have a job opening for an Executive Development Fellow (EDF), Baseball Analytics. Not sure if you're one of those? Here is the job description, direct from Cleveland's front office: The Executive Development Fellow (EDF) for Baseball Analytics will be exposed to all facets of the Indians baseball operations during this intensive, structured 12-month immersion into the organization. The EDF will participate in a comprehensive orientation program, regular feedback meetings and a cross-functional mentorship program to facilitate enhanced organizational and career development. You can apply for the position on this page. A baseball card mystery: Felix the Cat and the CobraFelix Millan will always be remembered for choking up higher on the bat than anybody of his era, or for the last 50 years for that matter. I was always amazed that Millan never poked himself in the stomach while trying to complete a swing. Yet, he never did. By choking up a good seven to eight inches and perfecting the art of situational hitting, he made himself one of the game’s better contact hitters; he never struck out more than 35 times in a season. For his career, he batted a solid .279. In addition to being a nice complementary hitter, Millan was also a solid defensive second baseman. With soft hands and above-average range, “Felix the Cat” (a nickname that paid tribute to his quickness) did good work for the Braves and Mets during his 12-year career. He made three All-Star teams and won a pair of Gold Gloves.  Millan did not play again that season. When his contract ran out at season’s end, he decided to take his wares to the Japanese Leagues. He signed a contract with the Taiyo Whales, where he would win a batting title during the final three seasons of his career. While Ed Ott’s takedown of Millan altered his career, it is Ott’s teammate, Dave Parker, whom we see on Millan’s 1978 Topps card. Millan is attempting to finish off a double play as Parker, who was not exactly a timid base runner, makes his slide into second base. Parker was one of the game’s most physically intimidating players; at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, he made mince meat out of a few middle infielders in the mid-1970s. Unlike Ott, Parker does not appear to be close enough to Millan to knock him to the ground, but he does appear to make contact with Millan’s right knee. So while this experience won’t be as unpleasant as the play with Ott, it’s not exactly a simple play for Millan. Here’s what we know. The game took place at Shea Stadium, an afternoon affair, and must have taken place prior to mid-August. It is likely a 1977 game, though we know that Topps did occasionally dip into previous seasons. So when exactly did this game take place? In what inning did the play occur? And was Millan able to complete the double play, or did he have to settle for just the one out? 10,000 days since Vince Coleman and the tarp10,000 days ago, one of the most bizarre injuries in baseball history happened. It was Oct. 13, 1985, when a tarp machine ran over Cardinals star basestealer Vince Coleman. Weird, huh? Making it even more memorable, it happened in the postseason, just when the team could least afford to lose its leadoff hitter. Coleman was a rookie in 1985. In most aspects of the game, he wasn’t anything special. He had speed but was put in left field anyway, not a sign of the best fielding acumen. He could hit a little, but not much more than a little, with a .267 batting average. His 50 walks were nice but nothing special. He surely had no power, with just one homer on the year. But in one aspect of the game Coleman was great; he could run. Lord, could he ever run. In 1985, he stole 110 bases, easily topping the league. It would be the first of three straight 100-steal seasons. Whitey Herzog’s 1980s Running Redbirds loved to gamble on the bases, and no one was better at it than Coleman. So you’d think if anyone could outrun a tarp, it would be him, right? I guess not. It was before the game, and Coleman was doing some pre-game drills. There was also a light rain, and the grounds crew decided to bring out the tarp. However speedy he was, Coleman lacked eyes in the back of his head and failed to notice the tarp roller coming at him. Uh-oh. The tarp rolled over Coleman’s left leg, badly bruising it and chipping a bone in his knee. Coleman was done. At the time, it looked pretty bad for the Cardinals. Though Coleman wasn’t their best hitter—that was MVP Willie McGee—he was a key part of their offense, and they couldn’t afford to be without him at a time like this. The Cards had dropped the first two games of the NLCS to the Dodgers and entered today trailing two games to one. St. Louis needn’t have worried. The Redbirds exploded for nine runs in the second inning and evened the series at two games apiece. They also won each of the next two games to claim the pennant. However, St. Louis also lost Coleman for the World Series, which they lost in seven games to the Royals. But the part most people remember about the 1985 NLCS isn’t the games, though, it’s the bizarre injury to Vince Coleman. And that injury occurred 10,000 days ago. Aside from that, many other baseball events today celebrate their anniversary or “day-versary.” Here they are, with the better ones in bold if you’d prefer to skim. Click for more... Monday, February 25, 2013A baseball card mystery: finding Kent TekulveKent Tekulve was easily the skinniest player I’ve ever seen play in a major league game. He was listed at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds, but in reality, he could not have weighed an ounce over 165 pounds, perhaps even 160 pounds. He looked like a scarecrow on the mound. Taken a step further, I’d be tempted to say he looked almost skeletal out there. With a pronounced Adam’s apple and large wire-frame glasses, Tekulve hardly intimidated in the way of other great relievers of his era, like a Goose Gossage, an Al Hrabosky, or a bearded Bruce Sutter. That Tekulve even made the major leagues was a testament to his perseverance. Signed as a lowly regarded amateur free agent in 1969, he did not make his big league debut until the 1974 season, when he had already turned 27.  With excellent sinking action on his fastball, plenty of sideward movement on his slider, and a slow curveball that he used as a change-up, Tekulve became one of the great relief aces of the late 1970s and early 80s. Emerging as the Pirates’ primary closer in 1978, Tekulve saved 31 games. He matched that total the next season, coinciding with Pittsburgh’s second world championship of the decade. He also recorded the final out of the 1979 World Series to seal the title for the “We Are Family” Bucs. Tekulve’s pitching fell off somewhat in 1980, as his ERA rose to 3.39. In the strike-shortened season of 1981, he lost the closer’s role to a bullpen committee headed by Enrique Romo and Rod Scurry. Even though Tekulve forged the best ERA of any Pirates reliever, he had to settle for only three saves. To his credit, Tekulve regained the role of relief ace in 1982 and ‘83 before eventually being traded to the Phillies for hard-throwing left-hander Al Holland. Exceedingly durable, Tekulve pitched 90 or more games three times in his career. With his underarming motion, he practically never had a sore arm. He lasted through the 1989 season, pitching for the Reds at the age of 42 and more than making up for the late start to his big league career. Now that we’ve established his credentials, let’s tackle this week’s mystery. Tekulve’s 1981 Topps card shows him pitching in an afternoon game against the Mets at Shea Stadium. The baserunner appears to be Ron Hodges, the Mets’ longtime backup catcher, who is leading off second base. What assumptions can we make? This is probably a game from the 1980 season, though it is possible that it could be from a 1979 game. The situation is likely in the late innings, when Tekulve pitched the vast majority of his innings. So can we pin down this situation to a specific game, and a specific inning? Let’s go. 40,000 days since Pittsburgh’s all-time record hits .50040,000 days ago was a landmark day in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. It was Aug. 22, 1903, and on the face of it, there was nothing too special about that day. It was a nice day, as they swept a doubleheaders against the state rival Phillies to increase their lead in the NL pennant race to six games. But that doubleheader sweep did something else for the club. Those wins gave the team a cumulative franchise record of 1,409 wins and 1,409 losses, right at .500. They’d been under .500 for essentially their entire franchise existence but had finally fought their way out of the hole. Pittsburgh began in 1882 in the American Association, which was a major league back then. After a .500 first season, the team fell apart in 1883, finishing 31-67. (Yeah, seasons weren’t as long back then). They remained a bad team for a decade, and the franchise record bottomed out on Aug. 6, 1892 at 207 games under .500 (491-697). But bottoming out is another way of saying they began improving. That they did, though initially only a little bit, playing just over .500 over the next half-dozen years. Still, at the turn of the century they’d put together a great team, anchored by Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke. In 1901, they won their first pennant, then they repeated in 1902 and were cruising to a third in 1903. Though they were 141 games under .500 when 1901 began, they overcame that deficit with two months left to play in 1903. I doubt anyone recognized it when the doubleheader ended 40,000 days ago, but the Pirates' entire legacy was now at the break-even point. As it happened, they stayed there for a bit. The next day, the Pirates didn’t play, and the game after that was a tie. But on Aug. 25, they swept another doubleheader from the Phillies. Pittsburgh didn’t lose another game for two weeks, essentially wrapping up the pennant race. That run also ensured they wouldn’t fall under .500 any time soon. In fact, 40,000 days later, the franchise record is still over .500. While the Pirates have been brutally bad in recent years, they’re still 104 games over .500 (9,961-9,857). They spent much of the last 100 years about 500 games over .500, though. The Pirates were 200 games over .500 at the end of 2008 and 300 over when 2004 ended. At this pace, they’ll be back under come 2016. But of course, they could fix themselves. Regardless, no one knows what the future holds, but we do know what happened in the past, and 40,000 days ago the Pirates hit .500. Aside from that, many other baseball events today celebrate their anniversary or “day-versary.” Here they are, with the better ones in bold if you’d rather just skim. Click for more... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||