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February 16, 2012

Gary Carter career highlights

The baseball world learned Thursday the sad news of the passing of baseball Hall of Famer Gary Carter. The former catcher was only 53 years old when brain cancer claimed him.

Any time a person dies it is first and foremost a personal tragedy. Others can eulogize the man far better than I can. What I can do is provide a retrospective to his career. This is something I’ve done in the past here at THT when someone passes on.

Below is a list of Gary Carter’s career highlights. The list includes the greatest and most memorable games he participated in, as well as his personal best and worst moments. Also included are some odd or unusual or memorable moments he happened to be on hand for.

In chronological order:
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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

January 23, 2012

Career highlights: Orlando Cabrera

A fewdays ago, longtime shortstop Orlando Cabrera announced he’s retiring from baseball after 15 seasons.

When news like this happens, it’s natural to look back on a player’s career, and for me that means putting together a list of career highlights. This list includes the greatest and most memorable games Cabrera played in, his personal bests (and some worsts), as well as some oddities he was on hand for and great moments by other players that occurred in games in which he participated.


Cabrera in his element - fielding the ball.

Basically, it’s a list of Orlando Cabrera’s best “I was there for that game.” Here they are, in order:

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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

November 14, 2011

Charlie Lea career highlights

Over the weekend, former Expos/Twins pitcher Charlie Lea died at the rather young age of 54. This is jolting news, largely because the former Expos hurler was so young. It’s extra jolting on a personal note. For me, Lea was the first young pitcher I can remember who flamed out.

Oh, technically there were others, but Lea was the guy that stuck out in my mind. I remember he was really good when young, played in an All-Star Game, and then crashed. Others who crashed back then didn’t register with me. For example, I remember when Richard Dotson was really good, and then remember when he fell apart, but I didn’t realize he was that young. I knew Lea was young.

Now Lea is gone.

I can’t speak to what sort of person he was, but I can go over his career a little bit. Below are his career highlights. It’s something I often do here at THT when a player retires, dies, or goes into Cooperstown. (Basically, it’s what I do when it’s time for a retrospective of an individual).

Below are Lea’s highlights, lowlights, and memorable moments.
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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

August 05, 2011

Matt Stairs’ career highlights

Matt Stairs recently announced his retirement, which didn’t come as much of a surprise to those who knew he was still playing, but possibly jolted many who figured he left years ago.

He was a late bloomer, not making it to 100 games in a season until he was 29 years old, but then proceeded to play in 100-plus games for 12 straight seasons. He didn’t always start, though. In fact, he appeared as a pinch hitter in 521 of his career 1,895 games played. And he was a pretty good pinch hitter, launching a record 23 pinch-hit home runs.

But that’s not what he’s most famous for. He’s a ridiculously well-traveled player, spending time with 12 different clubs. Or 13, depending on how you count it. He began with the Expos in 1992-93, and ended with that same franchise in 2011, by which time the Expos were the Washington Nationals. Incredibly, that’s the only franchise he ever repeated with, and even then he didn’t repeat the same nickname, town, time zone, or nation. In all, Stairs played for at least one team in all six divisions, and at least two teams in all but the NL West.

That said, if you get a chance, make sure you check out his Baseball-Reference.com page. The highlight isn’t the stats, it’s the row of uniform numbers he had. There are 19 entries, which as far as I know is the most for any player on the site.

But he’s done now. In memory of him, I thought I’d assemble a list of career highlights. These are personal bests, impressive games he played in, and a lot interesting and irregular moments he was personally on hand for.

Here they are in order, presented by team-by-team that he played for:


Stairs and the swing that kept him in the game for years

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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

August 16, 2004

Baseball and Politics

Al Hunt, who's been covering politics for the Wall Street Journal since the 1960's, has written a column about baseball's potential move to the Washington area. A subscription is required, but I don't think I'm giving much away if I tell you he's in favor of a move by the Expos to Washington, but not Northern Virginia.

According to Hunt, it's expected that baseball's relocation committee privately will recommend Washington. But Peter Angelos, the owner of the Orioles, is concerned about the impact a Washington team may have on his revenues. Hunt makes the point that Angelos can be compensated for the decline in his franchise value, but placing a team in Northern Virginia would be a mistake. "Other than to appease Mr. Angelos, the Northern Virginia location makes no sense."

I've got to admit that I particularly like this point by Hunt:

As a citizen and taxpayer in Washington, I know that the economic benefits of a new team and stadium always are exaggerated. Since he took over, Mr. Selig has helped major league teams get over $3 billion of public subsidies for more than a dozen new or refurbished ballparks. That money would have been better spent on schools or health-care services. The fabulously rich owners of baseball teams should pick up the tab. But baseball is a cartel and it calls the shots.

Posted by: Dave Studeman


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