The Hardball Times -- Steven Booth http://www.hardballtimes.com/main Baseball. Insight. Daily. en studes@hardballtimes.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-21T08:09:15+00:00 The fall of Mickey Hatcher http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-fall-of-mickey-hatcher/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-fall-of-mickey-hatcher/#When:09:07:15 Mike Scioscia's right-hand man, Mickey Hatcher. Hatcher and Scioscia go way back to the late 1980s Dodgers teams and are central figures of the legends and lore surrounding the 1988 Dodgers.

The first thing this says is that Arte Moreno and Jerry Dipoto mean business. It was not a charity move signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson to big-money contracts.

With all of the talk of cheaper beer prices and huge Angels billboards on the freeway less than a mile from Dodger Stadium, Moreno wants to win. He wants to be the King of Los Angeles and wants to be right up there in the conversation with the Yankees and Red Sox as the big-spending, win-at-all-costs ballclubs. But with Pujols obviously pressing and the rest of the offense sputtering, somebody had to take a fall, and that fall had to be one that would be felt throughout the clubhouse, even in (especially) the manager’s office.

Did Hatcher deserve it? No matter whose fault it actually is when the offense is under-performing, all signs point to the hitting coach.

Is it his fault that Pujols’ walk rate is in a free fall and he was hitting .213 with two home runs a quarter of the way through the season? Is it his fault that the criminally overpaid Vernon Wells is never going to be the guy he was five years ago, or that Torii Hunter is playing like the slowly declining 36-year-old outfielder he is?

Perhaps not, but if you do look at most of the Angels lineup, almost nobody is having a good offensive year. Three starters, two of whom (Erick Aybar, Peter Bourjos) have played their entire major league careers under his tutelage, are hitting under .200. Yes, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout are looking strong, and Kendrys Morales looks like his comeback is going well, but Howie Kendrick and Alberto Callaspo are also off to relatively slow starts. You’re not going to fire Scioscia, and the pitching staff seems to be pretty much doing its job, so if someone is going to be on the chopping block, Hatcher is as good a candidate as anyone.

Like all pro sports, it’s “what have you done for me lately.” It doesn’t matter that Hatcher is part of by far the most successful coaching staff in Angels history. It does not matter that as recently as 2009 they went to the ALCS. While playoff appearances in six of 12 seasons would be a disappointment to the Yankees or Red Sox, it would be an immovable dynasty to anyone else. Moreno, however, is looking for that kind of success, and the fact that the Angels have had two “down” years in a row and are limping out of the starting gate in the third has he and Dipoto concerned. They invested a lot in the team in the offseason, and as of now are not seeing results.

In Hatcher’s best seasons, the Angels pretty much adopted a hitting style similar to the one he had as a player. In 2002, the Angels led the majors in runs per game with 5.25 but did it without the gargantuan power that many other teams relied on. Troy Glaus hit 30 homers, Garret Anderson had 29 and Tim Salmon had 22, but ultimately they were 21st in the majors in home runs.

They were, however, seventh in slugging and third in RBIs, which showed they had gap power. They did led the majors in batting average at .282 and were sixth in on-base percentage at .331. The Angels relied on good contact hitting, good power and smart baserunning over daunting power.

The last few years, though, the offense hasn’t been horrible, but it also hardly has been champion-like. In 2011, where they were 86-76, the Angels offense was not so bad, but they also were never really a challenge to the Texas Rangers in their division, or the Rays or Red Sox in the Wild Card race. Most of their numbers were middle-of-the-road.

Their runs-per-game tally was 4.12 (18th in the majors), their .253 batting average 15th, and their OBP of .313 was 21st. The teams' power numbers were average, with their 155 homers ranked 13th and the .402 slugging percentage at 14th. Their pitching was decent but—combined with an average offense—made them only the fringe Wild Card contender they ended up being and not the championship contender Moreno wanted. For 25 or so teams, that is okay, but with Moreno’s visions of perennial World Series contention and unseating the Dodgers as the Kings of Los Angeles, it is not good enough.

Management figures Pujols will pull out of his doldrums sooner or later and hopes guys like Trout and Trumbo will ease into carrying the team, but aside from a trade or two, they are stuck with Wells, Hunter and this team. To make a change, Hatcher was the easiest one to let go and give a little jolt to the team and the iconic manager, who may have to start worrying about himself if the Angels don't turn it around this year.

Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2012-05-21T09:07:15+00:00 The continuing adventures of Hiroki Kuroda http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-continuing-adventures-of-hiroki-kuroda/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-continuing-adventures-of-hiroki-kuroda/#When:09:16:15 Hiroki Kuroda made a move this offseason that stunned many Dodger fans by signing with the New York Yankees. It could be said that the in-limbo Dodgers didn’t want to spend eight figures on an aging pitcher, but that same “aging” pitcher had one of his best years in 2011. His disappearance will rob the middle of the Dodgers rotation of a stabilizing presence that kept the team semi-competitive last year.

On the other hand, the Yankees were desperate for starting pitching depth, can hand out eight-figure contracts like pocket change, and give a guy possibly in his last year a realistic run for a championship. Whoever won or lost in this scenario will not be known for sure until October, but all sides involved have reasons both to celebrate and be concerned.

Kuroda was nothing if not solid for the Dodgers. In three of his four years in LA, he made over 30 starts. He never had an ERA over 3.76, and that figure declined his last two years, culminating in a 3.07 mark for 2011. He has had a solid strikeout rate, punching out 6.7 per nine innings, and it was over 7.0 in his last two seasons.

Batters did not get on base against him much, either. While his 8.6 hits-per-nine innings (H/9) is a little higher than one would like, it is more than made up for by his low 2.1 walks-per-nine (BB/9). Kuroda throws the ball over the plate, he makes batters swing, and while they will get some hits off him, he rarely gets in over his head.

You can point at his record, but know that in nine of his 13 losses in 2010, he pitched a quality start, and seven of his 16 losses last year were also quality starts. With any offensive support, he would’ve been a 15-game winner in both of the last two seasons, easily.

Kuroda also is durable. The only season in which he missed significant time was 2009 when he was hit in the head by a Rusty Ryal line drive. The only major red flag was the increase in homers hit off him last season. Opponents went deep 24 times last year, while they never hit more than 15 in any previous season. With him spending much of his time this year pitching at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Rogers Centre, that may be a problem.

The Dodgers lost the heart of their rotation. Clayton Kershaw should have another scary-good year, and Chad Billingsley can be counted on to eat 200 innings, but his declining whiffs and increasing hits and walks are concerns. LA's $10.5 million man Ted Lilly also ate quite a few innings for the Dodgers, but his decent–looking stat lines were greatly helped by a huge September. Whether this portends garbage-time bottom-feeding or a new inspiration remains to be seen.

A few seasons ago, Aaron Harang was a top-of-the-line starter; he had a few bad years but then seemed to redeem himself as a San Diego Padre last year. Chris Capuano pitched passably last year for the Mets after being out almost two seasons. Kuroda was able to take some of the pressure off Billingsley and Lilly last season, and it remains to be seen who will do so this year.

This is not a bad rotation, but it's probably a downgrade from last year. It was the pitching that inched the Dodgers toward respectability in 2011, carrying an inept offense. With little or no offensive upgrades and the pitching stagnant at best, it’s their weak division and perhaps some magic dust from the new ownership group that Dodgers fans can base their hopes on.

The Yankees look longingly to Kuroda. CC Sabathia is the resident horse of the rotation, but it's a mixed bag after that. A.J. Burnett was anything but a reliable No. 2, and the Yanks have now shipped him off to Pittsburgh. While Ivan Nova came out of nowhere last year, it’s hard to say what he’ll do in 2012.

New York also does not know what to expect from Phil Hughes. Michael Pineda is an intriguing find, but Kuroda is money. He will have the No. 2 or No. 3 slot in the rotation and, with the big Yankee bats, will not feel the pressure of his offense not scoring runs. He is playing for a team that does whatever it takes to win, as opposed to one teetering on instability and bankruptcy. It may not all be wine and roses, though.

The NL West is a dream come true for pitchers. Dodger Stadium, Petco Park and Pac Bell Stadium are all very pitcher-friendly parks, and while Coors and Chase are homer-friendly, neither the Diamondbacks or Rockies have had lineups that seriously took advantage of their dimensions. Compared to that, the AL East is the cauldron of doom. Kuroda will play many games in homer-friendly Yankee Stadium, Fenway and Rogers Centre against teams that can hit.

The Red Sox were in the top three in virtually every major offensive category, the Blue Jays would be a perennial contender in virtually every other divisions, and while you could laugh all you want at the Orioles, they do have four guys who hit over 20 homers last year. The Rays don’t scare too many people offensively, but with their pitching, they are in virtually every game. The Yanks will also spend some quality time with powerhouse offensive teams like the Angels, Rangers and Tigers. They also have the DH.

Kuroda may still be the right guy for the job, though. He is known to be a big-game pitcher. He is 2-1 in playoff games, shutting out the Cubs and a powerful Phillies team in 2008 while getting roughed up in 2009 by virtually the same Phillies team. He is quite unflappable, though he will be tested by the psychotic and hyper-adrenalized East Coast media.

Kuroda is not the ace Sabathia is, but neither is he the head-case that Burnett is, or the (so far successful) reclamation project known as Freddy Garcia. His ERA will go up, but so will his wins. Perhaps the ultimate victory here will be that Sabathia for once may not feel like he has to do it all on his own.

Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2012-02-22T09:16:15+00:00 The top 10 career hit batters: The method to the madness http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-top-10-career-hit-batters-the-method-to-the-madness/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-top-10-career-hit-batters-the-method-to-the-madness/#When:10:03:15 Albert Pujols/Ryan Braun/Tony La Russa brouhaha over a couple of plunkings, it is perhaps time to shed light on the ol’ HBP. While that was pretty much about differing interpretations of “the code” along with La Russa’s understandable hysteria about an injury near-miss on his star player, this is more about the scrappers who willingly “take one for the team” with varying degrees of blatancy.

A look at the historical top 10 of players hit by pitches provides a rather colorful cast of characters. There is Hughie Jennings, the turn-of-the century (1800s/1900s) king of the hit-by-pitch, plus there are a few of his contemporaries on the list who didn’t necessarily shy away from inside pitches.

There also are a couple of modern scrappers on the list, including the active leader, Jason Kendall, and soon-to-be Hall of Fame candidate, Craig Biggio. Sprinkle in a few classic power hitters like Frank Robinson and Don Baylor with slightly old-school dirty uniform-types like Ron Hunt, and you pretty much have the list.

When you check their motives, you get a lot of similar reactions, but also some unique anecdotes. In some ways, this group of guys has much in common, but is also very different. When we take a look at each of these guys, we shall see what brings this bizarre brotherhood together and sets them apart.


10. Jake Beckley, 183 HBP

Hall of Famer Beckley played from 1888 to 1907 and in those seasons stole 315 bases and hit for a marvelous line of .308/.361/.436/.797. He didn’t hit a lot of homers, but could be counted on to hit 20-30 doubles and double figure triples in his best years. For a guy who averaged only about eight HR a year, he managed over 80 RBIs eleven times.

Unlike some of the characters in this story, Beckley’s huge HBP numbers were probably almost as much as a reflection of his long career as it was his proclivity for getting plunked. It may also be a reflection of the era where baseball, on the surface at least, was a more of a rough-and-tumble barroom brawl of a game than the comparatively quaint one today.

Four guys in the top 10 list of HBP were players in the turn-of-the-20th-century era, and seven are in the top 20. Some of that aggressiveness has returned in the last twenty years, where the careers of eight of the top 20 recipients reside. To compare eras, in 1896, when all four top-10 turn-of-the century guys were playing, 636 players got plunked in a 132-game season, amounting to five per day, averaging 53 per team over the season.

The aggression continued through the 1920s. In 1922, there were 598 HB among 12 teams playing 154 games, averaging just fewer than four per day, about 36 per team.

From the 1920s through the 1940s, the game became more genteel, perhaps a result of its increasing professionalism and stability. Teams only averaged a little over 20 HBPs per year over those decades.

Things did get more aggressive in the 1950s. In 1956, the sixteen teams averaged thirty HBP per team, while in 1965 the twenty teams managed 34 per team in a slightly longer 162-game season. The 1970s and the 1980s kept the averages in the low 30s.

The 1990s saw pitchers and batters become more aggressive once again. In 1996, teams averaged 40 HBP per team. The slightly more aggressive stance continues until today. In 2010, teams averaged over 51 HBP per team.

While it is not perhaps up to the level of the rough-and-tumble turn-of-the-20th-century teams, the number of hit batters is increasing. You can call it more aggressive pitching, thinner pitching talent due to expansion, strategic decisionmaking by batters and coaches or more hitters willing to get plunked, but over the years, the numbers are coming back up.


9. Minnie Minoso, 192 HBP

Modern baseball fans most likely remember Minoso as the old Cuban guy whom once every decade since the 1970s would make a cameo appearance with a professional team in hopes of setting the record for most decades playing professional baseball. What many don’t remember is that he was quite a player in his day, hitting for power and speed and also helping to break the color barrier. He also was the first black player to play for the White Sox.

He played in the All Star Game seven times, led the league in triples three times, stolen bases three times and had four 20-plus homer seasons, along with four seasons each where he drove in more than 100 runs and scored over 100 runs. Perhaps his best all-around year was 1956, when he had 21 HR, 88 RBI, 18 SB and hit .316/.425/.525/.950.

Minoso would do whatever it took to win, including crowding the plate to get plunked. He led the AL 10 times in getting hit by pitches, with his high being 23 in 1956. While more aggressive than some eras, the 1950s were a relatively slow period for the hit batter, so his high of 23 pales in comparison to the all-time season high of 51 set by Hughie Jennings in 1896, but beats by quite a bit the other leaders of his era.

Solly Hemus led the league in HBP with 20 in 1952, while Nellie Fox won with only 17 in 1955. In comparison to modern players, Chase Utley led the league in HBP in 2007-09, getting hit 25, 27 and 24 times respectively. Biggio led in 1996 with 34 HBP, and Jason Kendall led in 1998 with 31.

The pitchers in Minoso’s time were hitting batters a lot less, so Minoso’s numbers perhaps reflect a very aggressive guy at the plate. He also led the league in caught stealing, which may reflect his aggressiveness and/or lack of base stealing skills.

His speed, combined with his large amounts of extra base hits, may reflect a fine power/speed combination, but aggressiveness surely had something to do with it. Minoso was certainly a very aggressive guy both trying to get on base and trying to advance once he did.


8. Frank Robinson, 198 HBP

For many of the players on this list, the amount of HBPs is one of the top two or things these players will be remembered for. You only need to look to Biggio’s arm guard in Cooperstown to understand this.

Robinson, needless to say, is not in that category, but he is the ringleader of a certain school of thought regarding the HBP. You have the two-fisted brawlers of the turn of the 20th century like Beckley and Jennings, and you also have the “plate crowders,” of which Robinson is a member, along perhaps with Minoso and Don Baylor.

Most of the ten guys on this list probably belong on the “plate crowder” list, because the HBP is often a result of a game of chicken pitchers and hitters play. A hitter seeks to own the plate, while a pitcher will pitch inside to drive him off. Robinson, while perhaps not blatantly looking to get hit, was the king of the guys who would not be driven back by an inside pitch.

Like we said, Robinson probably didn’t lose too much sleep about making this list. In 21 seasons, he hit 586 HR—all without chemical enhaccement. He hit at a clip of .294/.389/.537/.926, and was certainly not one-dimensional, averaging 28 doubles per season. He had four years where his OPS was over 1.000, and could be counted on, until his later years, to hit .300.

His best year was 1966 with the Orioles, where he scored 122 runs, had 49 HRs and 122 RBI, and hit .316/.410/.637/1.047, all league-leading stats. He was a shoo-in for the MVP that year.

One of his tools was the HBP, and he celebrated how much he liked crowding the plate. He led the league seven times, getting hit 20 times in 1956 (a race with Minoso?), and 18 times in 1966. Even late in his career, he would still rack up double figures in HBP. His batting average declined later in his career, but his OBP remained high, along with his power numbers, and the HBP was prominent in his bag of tricks.

Asked by an announcer what his solution to getting knocked down and hit so much was, he answered simply, "Just stand up and lambast the next pitch," which he often did. One can say that he makes this list due to his longetivity, which may be true, but you can also say, with his aggressive hitting stance, he would‘ve racked up more HBPs in more aggressive eras.


7. Dan McGann, 230 HBP

McGann played during the turn of the twentieth century, where plunking batters was a more accepted part of the game, and there wasn’t an army of umpires, commissioners and “special assistants” to throw out warnings and suspensions every time someone got hit.

While not a Hall of Famer, McGann had a very solid career and played on some memorable teams. In his twelve-year career—virtually all as a regular—he had a .284/.364/.381/.745 average. While not known as a great slugger, he would get near to double figures in triples most years, hitting 15 in 1902, 14 in 1905 and 12 in 1899.

McGann also averaged 22 stolen bases per year. One year, he got over 100 RBIs despite hitting only eight homers and also led the league in sacrifices in 1903 with 30. He was also a solid fielder, regularly finishing near the top of the list every season on Range Factor and Fielding Percentage.

He was a valued member of the supporting cast of many great teams. McGann played one year (1898) with the Orioles on a team that featured hall-of-famers Wilbert Robinson, John McGraw, Jennings and Willie Keeler. He also played six seasons and was team captain on the Giants teams coached by John McGraw and featuring Christy Mathewson. They finished in first place twice and won a World Series.

McGann comes off as a guy who knew his role on his great teams, an unselfish scrapper who would do whatever it took to compete and win. He led the league six times in HBP, getting hit 37 times in 1899, playing part of the year as a teammate to the king of the HBP, Jennings. He was hit 24 times and 23 times 1902, also leading the league in both instances.


6. Ron Hunt, 243 HBP

Hunt was a guy who also had a decent twelve-year career as a major leaguer, making two All-Star teams, hitting .273/.368/.347/.715. He didn’t have a lot of power or speed, but as his OBP suggests, he did get on base. His batting average was unremarkable yet strong and he would get his share of walks and HBP, to make him a valued player. He helped re-introduce the HBP as a valid strategy for getting on base.

Hunt’s motto was, “Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball.” He thought it ironic that he started getting plunked mainly when he was a member of the Giants. "Why would you hit me to face Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Jim Ray Hart?" he said to Baseball Digest in 2000.

Hunt always insisted he never deliberately got hit by a pitch, but simply stood his ground at the plate, leaning into the pitch. Some disagreed. He had some notable run-ins with Leo Durocher and Milt Pappas, and Sparky Anderson also accused him of never trying to get out of the way of pitches.

Either way, Hunt led the league in HBP each year from 1968 to 1974. His 50 HBP in 1971 is the modern record (only one behind Hughie Jennings). He also has a record for being hit three times in an April 29, 1969 game against the Cinnicinatti Reds. When he retired in 1974, he held the modern record for HBP, which would eventually be broken by Baylor and Biggio, whom he certainly inspired.


5. Jason Kendall, 254 HBP

Jason Kendall is the current active leader in career HBP, but “active” may be a technicality. He is 35, his stats have been in decline, plus he has been out all year with shoulder problems. If his career is done, he has indeed had a good one.

His career batting line of .288/.366/.378/.744 reveals a pure hitter. Kendall was never the power guy, but got plenty of singles and doubles, not to mention walks and hit-by-pitches. He rarely struck out, finishing in the top 10 in the National League in at-bats per strikeout most seasons of his career. Kendall has 189 SB, with over 20 in three straight years (1998-2001), remarkable for a catcher. Among his biggest assets was his durability. Ten times in his 15 seasons, he caught over 140 games, the latest being in 2008.

Contributing nicely to his OBP was his tendency, purposefully or otherwise, to get hit by pitches. He led the league in 1998 with 31, which equaled his previous season's total. Five times in his career, he got hit 20-plus times, and nine times he was hit in double figures.

These numbers may not be huge and gaudy, but when you compare him to a member of the non-arm pad crowd, check out Edgar Renteria, who has been in the league about as many years as Kendall. He has been hit a grand total of 31 times in his career. Derek Jeter, who conceivably could get in the top 10 of HBP before his career is done, has been hit 158 times, compared to Kendall’s 254.

Kendal is the son of legendarily hard-nosed catcher Fred Kendall, and Jason’s coaches, some of whom played with Fred, poke fun at Jason. "I've got to ask Fred what he thinks about his son wearing that pad (on his left biceps)," joked Tim Flannery, a former teammate of Kendall's father told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "Fred wouldn't wear that pad."

"It's not something I work on in the offseason," the son said to the Gazette about being hit so much. "I'd rather get hit on the (biceps) and have a bruise for a week than get hit in the ribs and have it hurt for a month.


4. Don Baylor, 267 HBP

As much as Don Baylor will be remembered for being plunked 267 times in his career, he certainly will be remembered for something besides that. He hit 338 HRs in his career, including 36 in 1979, 34 in 1978 and 31 at the ripe old age of 37 in 1986. He stole 285 bases, including 20-plus in eight straight seasons. While his lifetime batting average was a less-than-stellar .260, he more than made up for it with a nice .342 OBP.

His best season was probably 1979, where besides the 36 HR, he scored a league-leading 120 runs and had 139 RBIs, plus 22 steals. His .296/.371/.530/.901 hitting line was also at or close to his personal highs in those categories. He got his only MVP and All-Star appearance that year. He was also a pretty decent manager, helping to make the expansion Rockies respectable before going out with the Cubs.

As far as the plunking went, Baylor was open and philosophical about it. No evasive, winking answers from him. To none other than People magazine, more known for celebrity gloss-ups than hard-hitting baseball stories, Baylor laid it on the line.

He summed up his philosophy simply, saying, "My first goal when I go to the plate is to get a hit," he said. "My second goal," he continued, "is to get hit." He expanded on it, saying. "When the ball is inside, I don't back away," he stated, as he strode into an imaginary pitch. "Common sense says back away, but I guess common sense isn't that common. I just stiffen up and take the blow."

He saw getting hit as part of the battle between a pitcher and a hitter, and the pitcher trying to chase the hitter off the plate. "(G)etting hit is my way of saying I'm not going to back off," he said.

He wasn’t above some gamesmanship, either. On close plays, where the ball would skim his forearm, Baylor had been known to assist the umpire. "Sometimes you can't hear the ball hit," he says. "It just goes breezing across your arm. When that happens I go right to first. I don't wait for a call."

Baylor falls somewhere in between '60s/'70s guys like Robinson, who crowded the plate to intimidate pitchers and would willingly accept getting hit by a pitch, and modern guys like Kendall and Biggio, who unashamedly looked at it as a tool in their repertoire for getting on base.


3. Tommy Tucker, 272 HBP

Tucker was a first basemen who played most of his thirteen seasons (1887-99) for the Boston Beaneaters, the precursor to the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. His best season was in 1889, when he hit .372/.450/.484/.934 for the Orioles. He also scored 102 runs, had 99 RB’s and smacked 22 doubles. While he didn’t have much home run power, he didn’t strike out much and had quite a bit of gap power.

His lifetime numbers of .290/.364/.373/.737 further reveal a guy who was a truly skilled hitter who made good contact and found ways to get on base. Among his skills at getting on base was his getting hit by pitches frequently, at least early in his career. In five of the six seasons between 1887 and 1892 he led the league in HBP, with the most being 33 in his best career year of 1889.

Although he would continue to get hit at double-figure rates throughout the rest of his career, it was those early years where he was at his peak. Tucker was hit 272 times, and his biggest misfortune was being a contemporary of Jennings, the king of the HBP. He never got to truly enjoy his fame.


2. Craig Biggio, 285 HBP

Biggio is the modern leader of getting hit by pitches. At the plate, he was a gutsy, competitive hitter. He had a strong, but not spectacular, batting average, and he could hit for power and made the most of his opportunities on the basepaths. His .281 career BA may not seem HOF-worthy, but combined with a decent amount of walks and HBP, his .362 career OBP was very good.

In his peak years, Biggio could be counted on to score well over 100 runs, made easier with guys like Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez and Lance Berkman hitting behind him. He also had power, leading the league in doubles three times, including 51 in 1998. He was good for 30-40 a year, even hitting 40 at age 39 in 2005.

Biggio would get 15-20 HRs a year, hitting as many as 26 in 2005. He averaged 20 steals a season but had as many as 50 in 1998 (at age 32) and 47 in 1997. He found ways to help his team win, and the HBP was one of them.

He led the league in HBP five times, the most being in 1997, when he was hit 31 times. Most of his HBP came in the middle of his career. In his first full six seasons, he was hit a total of 35 times, pretty much equal to his one-season mark in 1997. In 1995, he got hit 22 times, and it started a trend.

For his next 11 seasons he was hit an average of 21 times, which seemed to roughly coincide with the Astros’ rush of success over those years. Between 1997 and 2005, they made six playoff appearances, including winning a pennant and making it to the NLCS twice. Did Biggio’s getting plunked frequently play a role in this? Let the reader decide.

Biggio’s HBP rate would perhaps be higher, but in his last two seasons, he either would avoid the inside of the plate or pitchers pitched away from him. In 2006 he was hit only nine times, while in 2007 only three. Another respected baseball journal, The Onion, had some fun with this:
"You guys perpetuated this by comparing me to Hughie day in and day out," said a chain-smoking Biggio, showing reporters from over 50 media outlets the bundles of hate mail he has received from baseball fans.

"Listen to these people: 'Quit now before you break the hearts of fans everywhere, Craig.' 'Hey Craig Bitch, I'll kill you and your family if you break the record.' 'Jennings did it without an arm guard.' Do you think they had even heard of this guy before you people had my countdown on the front page every day? Jesus Christ!"

"More than anything, I just want to be hit by three more pitches so all of this will go away," said Biggio, who claims he has not slept in weeks and has developed multiple stomach ulcers. "Now I know why Don Baylor quit at 267."

It will be an interesting conversation to see if Biggio makes it in the Hall next year. But even if he doesn’t, his old arm guard has a cherished place.


1. Hughie Jennings, 287 HBP

Jennings is probably one of the best players nobody except history junkies and HBP obsessives has ever heard of. His record of 287 HBP is just one of the things he was good at. He played parts of eighteen seasons, but was a regular for seven. He could hit for average, did not hit a lot of homers, but had plenty of extra base hits. He also stole his share of bases.

The 1896 season was his year for the ages. He hit .401, had a .472 OBP (despite walking only 19 times), and slugged .488. He scored 125 runs and knocked in 121 despite not hitting any home runs. He was hit 51 times, a single-season record to this day.

His best years were with the Orioles, where he helped them win three straight championships in 1894, 1895 and 1896. In 1984, he hit .335/.411/.479/.890, scored 134 runs, drove in 109, and had 37 stolen bases, 16 triples and 28 doubles. In ’95 he hit .386/.444/.512/.957, scoring 159 runs, hitting in 125, smacking 41 doubles and stealing 53 bases.

Perhaps spurring him on was the fact that he was playing for a very good team. The Orioles he played for were one of the best teams ever. The teams featured Hall of Fame manager Ned Hanlon and a lineup with six future Hall of Famers: first baseman Dan Brouthers, second baseman McGraw, shortstop Jennings, catcher Wilbert Robinson, right fielder ”Wee" Willie Keeler, and left fielder Joe Kelley.

In those five years with the Orioles, he took on a role not unlike the role Biggio had with the Astros of the late 90s and early 2000s. He set up the guys behind him by getting on base—and since he normally didn’t walk a lot, he took his share of hit batters. He got hit 27 times in ’94, 32 in ’95, 51 in ’96, and 46 each in ’97 and ’98.

Jennings did have one scare, when he was hit in the head by a pitch from Amos Rusie in the third inning, but he managed to finish the game. As soon as the game ended, Jennings collapsed and was unconscious for three days.

Those were his main years as a regular, and while he continued to get plunked at a high degree even later into his career, he didn’t play a lot of games. Only once after 1897 did he play more than a 100 games, and many of his later playing seasons were primarily as a coach, where he would make cameo appearances on the field.

So he got the record of HBP by, for all intents and purposes, playing eight seasons. That can be figured by dividing his 1284 games by 140 (the amount of games that probably constitutes a full season by a starter). That makes his HBP figure even more impressive.


Others worthy of mention

Besides Kendall, there are three other active players in the top 20 of HBP, with varying chances of making it in the top 10. Jason Giambi is tied for 13th with Carlos Delgado, and while it is conceivable he may hang around another year, he needs 11 to catch Beckley, and he won’t do it as a reserve in this stage of his career.

Derek Jeter is No. 16 with 158, 25 behind Beckley. If he can play three or four more years as a regular and not get the museum piece treatment Biggio got in his last year or two, he may have a shot at the top 10.

Alex Rodriguez is 18th with 156, 27 behind Beckley. He should make it in the top 10 barring injury or a sudden drop of effectiveness. He wants to make a run at Barry Bond’s home run record, and probably someone will pay him to do it. He should be able to pass Robinson on the list and make a run at McGann or Hunt. Other modern players in the top 20 include Delgado, Fernando Vina and Brady Anderson.

Other players on the Top 20 list include turn-of-the 20th century guys like Curt Welch, who besides getting hit 173 times in ten seasons, had years where he stole 89 and 95 bases, respectively (1887 and 1888) There is Kid Elberfeld, known as “the Tabasco Kid,” who got hit 165 times in 14 seasons and Hall of Famer Fred Clarke, who besides being a model of consistency behind the plate, was hit 154 times in 21 seasons.

Notably absent, or nearly absent, on the list are guys that played from 1920-1980. Robinson, Hunt and Minoso are the only ones in the top 20. The list is overloaded with players from the last 20-30 years or players that played during the 1890-1910 period. Even the top 30 is overloaded with players from these eras. Nellie Fox, who played from 1947-65 is an exception, as is red-ass Carlton Fisk, whose career was split up evenly between the 1970s and 1980s.

It must come down to more aggressive hitters and pitchers in the modern and turn-of-the-20th-century eras. The latter game was more physical and aggressive, plus it probably had less oversight than the modern game, while the game throughout most of the twentieth century became more professional and fan friendly. Things game did become more aggressive in the 1990s, with pitchers pitching more aggressively and batters not only willing to take a hit for the team, but also deliberately seeking to get hit.

It's difficult to say where it goes from here. Utley led the NL in HBP three straight years, from 2007-2009, with 25, 27 and 24 HBP, respectively, while Carlos Quentin has 23 so far this year. It looks like the aggressive trend is continuing as far as the HBP goes. With a few exceptions, most HBP leaders in the 1920s-1980s had fewer than 20, while the trend continues in 2011 that the leaders will finish in the mid-20s. In the near future, at least, body armor may be a pretty safe investment.


Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2011-08-18T10:03:15+00:00 Who can use Rafael Furcal? http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-case-for-rafael-furcal/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-case-for-rafael-furcal/#When:10:16:15 Rafael Furcal is playing right now for his career. On several levels, the next week to two months can determine where it goes from here. His contract for the Dodgers is about to run out, Dee Gordon will be the Dodgers starting shortstop next year and Raffy will be looking for a job.

It has been a bad year for him, but he is showing flashes of returning to being a semblance of his former self, as evidenced by his play against the Nationals last Saturday night. He made two sterling plays at shortstop that helped stop up a leaky Dodgers pitching performance, then hit a walk-off double in the ninth to get the Dodgers a much-needed win. If he plays well, he can perhaps end up on a contender for the stretch run and set himself up for a decent contract next year. If that game was a fluke, he may be doomed to watch Gordon audition for next year while sitting on the bench, while having to perhaps hope for a minor-league deal to catch on to another team next year.

He turns 34 in October, too old and with too much history to merit a long term, double-figure contract, but not too old to get a starting job on a good team if he plays his cards right.

There are other issues at hand. It seems that Jamey Carroll is the Dodgers infielder contenders are most interested in. He is cheaper than Furcal and has been more durable and effective this season. The gamble would be that Furcal, if he can return to all-star form, can still be one of the best shortstops of the game and play a truly pivotal role on a contender. The question is who would want to take on the salary and the risk. You know exactly what you are getting with Carroll, but what are you getting with Furcal?

Furcal, in top form, is a multi-talented player. He can hit leadoff, he has some power and he is an amazing fielder. Five times in his 12-year career, he has had an OBP of greater than .350. He has pretty consistently stuck around his .283 lifetime batting average. He will score runs when he has bats behind him, and earlier in his career was one of the top base stealers. He has power—when healthy he is good for 25-plus doubles a year and can get at or near double figures in homers and triples.

On defense. he is usually in the top three for Range Factor/Game at his position, and while he has certainly committed his share of errors (including the notorious three-error inning a couple of years back) one can also see that he is also near the top for assists and pu-outs. His busyness can be attributed to playing a large amount of his games behind groundball pitchers, especially early in his career.

It’s not to say the injuries and age haven’t slowed him down. In 2009, his last truly healthy year, he hit .269/.335/.375/.711, down a ways from his career figures of .283/.349/.407/.756. His average and OBP were down, but his nine homers and 28 doubles said he still had some power (for a shortstop). His stolen bases were also significantly down. The next year, while he played in only 97 games, he looked to be returning to form. His .300/.366/.460/.826 matched, nearly matched or exceeded his career highs, while his stolen bases and power numbers were similarly good. His fielding stats gave remained consistent.

While injuries and salary would be an obvious concern to any potential Furcal suitors, if healthy, it would be reasonable to suggest that even if he played at his by mediocre (by his standards) 2009 level, he would still represent a significant upgrade over many contending teams’ shortstops.

In the AL East, Derek Jeter isn’t going anywhere for the Yankees, and the combination of Marco Scutaro and Jed Lowrie seems to be getting it done for the Red Sox.

The Rays, however, are in an interesting situation. While they are certainly in contention, the talk is as much about who they are going to unload as who they will add. The team is not sure if it's a seller or buyer yet, which "is typical of a team with no room for budgetary error and plenty for restocking the cupboard," writes Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. In between the B.J. Upton and James Shields speculation, there is a hole at the shortstop position. Reid Brignac wasn’t cutting it offensively, and got sent to the minors. The current platoon of Elliot Johnson and Sean Rodriguez is no solution. Bill Ladson of MLB.com says Tampa Bay has interest in Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond, perhaps in a deal involving Upton.

Desmond has popped up in many trade scenarios, with the Nationals looking for power bats in the outfield. Statistically, Desmond is similar to Furcal—he is slower, but has a lot of range, commits too many errors and brings some gap power. He has taken a step back offensively from his first full season, but comes much cheaper than Furcal would. If Desmond is not available and the Dodgers are willing to pick up a large chunk of Furcal’s salary, this could make sense.

The AL West contenders all seem to be set at shortstop. Elvis Andrus is the shortstop of the present and future in Arlington, while Erick Aybar is the incumbent in Anaheim.

In the AL Central, while many of the teams are calling the Dodgers' Ned Colletti about Hiroki Kuroda, the contenders are in little need of shortstops. Jhonny Peralta is having a career year for the Tigers, while Asdrubal Cabrera of the Indians has joined the elite class for the position. Alexei Ramirez has been decent for the White Sox. In need of help at the position are the Twins, hanging on ever-so precariously in the race. The Twins seem focused on improving their bullpen first, although Ken Rosenthal said that they were interested in Desmond. So like the Rays, they probably prefer the long range returns of a player like Desmond over renting an aging player like Furcal.

In the NL, the contending teams in the East look pretty set on shortstops. Despite some silly trade rumors, Jimmy Rollins is staying in Philly, at least for the season. While Alex Gonzalez is not exactly setting the world on fire in Atlanta, the Braves seem more concerned with trying to net some relief help.

The NL Central and West are different stories.

In the Central, the Pirates don’t know what to do with finding themselves actually in the race, and it looks like they don’t want to either pay the prices or give up the prospects to make a serious move. "This club deserves something to help them, but at this point the acquisition costs are just so high that it's been a challenge," said GM Neil Huntington. Incumbent Ronny Cedeno is having a good year in the field, leading all shortstops with a 5.26 Range Factor/nine Innings and a competent year at the plate, so they’ll probably not make a move there. The Cardinals seem to be happy with Ryan Theriot, and are more concerned with shoring up their pitching staff, which they did on Tuesday.

The wild cards are the Brewers and Reds. Yahoo Sports said the Brewers were involved in talks with the Dodgers about a trade for Kuroda and Furcal. The Brewers are in “win now” mode after acquiring Francisco Rodriguez, and they have a strong fielding shortstop in Yuniesky Betancourt, but with his offensive numbers at .253/.273/.371/.644, they may be after some punch. Furcal could help them in this regard. They have also shown interest in Clint Barmes and Carroll, two players with more versatility than Furcal.

Despite being only four games out of first place, the Reds have ooked like sellers instead of buyers at the deadline, giving up Jonny Gomes to the Nationals, so they probably won’t look to fill needs at shortstop, now manned by an aging Edgar Renteria and a primarily defensive Paul Janish.

The NL West has some opportunities for someone like Furcal. The enemy otherwise known as the Giants, has an old Miguel Tejada who may or may not come off the DL soon, and while he mends, Brandon Crawford and Mike Fontenot are offensively ineffective. Furcal would be a nice gamble for the stretch run, and help fortify the Giants' middle infield, which has been decimated by injury. The Giants, after acquiring Carlos Beltran, look to be out to win.

Among the best opportunities for Furcal lies with the DBacks, who recently lost Stephen Drew for the season. There hasn’t been a big trade buzz, but it’s hard to believe they’re feeling set for the stretch run with Willie Bloomquist and Cody Ransom at shortstop.

Furcal is not a blue-chip guy anymore, not someone who is going to change anyone's fortunes by himself. That being said, despite his age, his injury history and his contract, he should be an attractive option for many teams. Some of the borderline or more financially challenged teams would be helped because the Dodgers would surely pick up the bulk of his salary, and he will surely be a free agent after the season.

If healthy, he provides a bat, some speed and some fielding prowess, not to mention a veteran presence in the clubhouse. To more veteran teams like the Giants, Braves or Red Sox, he would provide immediate veteran depth to teams who have holes in that position and could use some short-term help to make a long run in October. The Dodgers would not expect much for him, and it would give Furcal the opportunity to play for a contender and the Dodgers the chance to give Gordon playing time.

Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2011-07-28T10:16:15+00:00 Minor league ball’s SoCal dilemma http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/minor-league-balls-socal-dilemma/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/minor-league-balls-socal-dilemma/#When:09:01:15
It is also home to UC Santa Barbara, one of the finest universities on the west coast and also a legendary party school (the Halloween party at least used to be like none other). Its baseball team has included the likes of Michael Young, Barry Zito, Skip Schumaker and Ryan Spilborghs at different times.

For awhile, it was a pretty good minor league baseball town, too. For most of the years between 1940 and the late 1960s, it was home to the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate. For many years, they were one of the stronger teams in the California League, and even when they weren’t so dominant, they helped produce many players who went on to have fine major league careers.

The team was with the Brooklyn Dodgers through World War II and the 1950s, served as a Mets affiliate for their notorious inaugural 1962 season, then had roughly a half decade more of being in the Dodgers system.

The teams played on the late and lamented Laguna Field (perhaps not that lamented; it was hard finding good information on the park). While it seated only 2,083, it had dimensions of a major league park, with the centerfield fence at 440 feet.

The ballpark also had its quirks. It’s proximity to the coast led to several games being called due to excessive fog, and its low altitude and proximity to the coast led to occasional flooding. The home runs hit over the short right field fence would drop in front of Mom’s Italian restaurant, once a famous local eatery.

While there was an obscure D-level minor league team known as the Santa Barbara Barbareans (originally the Pasadena Millionaires) in 1913, the first major league affiliated team played in 1941. That team was the Saints, and it was the C-level farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The 1941 squad was probably the most successful one to ever play there. Player/manager Bud Clancy played dual roles, leading the league with a .363 batting average and coaching the team to a championship. The batting average was no coincidence; he had a long, successful major league career, and at age 40 could still feast on minor league pitching.

Another standout on the team was Manuel Perez, who won 21 games and had a 1.68 ERA (split with a San Bernardino team that disbanded midseason). League MVP Spider Jorgensen was also on the team, hitting .332. They finished the regular season in third place but defeated Bakersfield in the first round before toppling Fresno in the championship.

Perhaps the greatest contributor the team had didn’t produce much of a playing career. Branch Rickey saw potential in Bob Fontaine, who didn’t last long as a pitching prospect but went to work for Rickey after the season and eventually became quite an executive himself. While working with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Fontaine signed Willie Stargell. Later, with the San Diego Padres, he signed Dave Winfield and Ozzie Smith.

Due to World War II, the California League suspended operations in 1942, cutting the season short. The Saints were the dominant team that year, standing in first when the season was halted. Ed Nulty led the league with ten homers, while Chuck Sylvester paced the circuit with 88 RBI. Another league leader was Vic Lombardi, with 114 strikeouts in 120 IP.

It wasn’t until 1946 that the team and the league resumed operations. They returned that season as the Santa Barbara Dodgers. It was another fine year, where they finished second out of six teams.

The big star was Irv Noren, who hit .363 and led the league in hits with 188, doubles with 33, triples with 14, and RBIs with 129. He also stole 28 bases. Noren eventually would go on to an 11-year major league career, highlighted by his 1954 season, when he hit .319/.377/.481/.859 and was selected to the all star team. Santa Barbara made it to the playoffs but lost in the first round to Modesto.

In 1947, they finished fourth but still made it to the championship, which they lost to Stockton. Their leader both on and off the field was 30-year-old Ray Hathaway, who both coached the team and won 18 games with a 2.39 ERA.

That season also saw the professional debut of Dick Williams, who would go on not only to have a thirteen-year playing career in the majors, but also serve as the manager of the world champion Oakland A’s teams of 1972 and '73, along with playoff teams for the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres.

In 1948, Santa Barbara won the championship, defeating Stockton four games to three. Williams came into his own, hitting .335 with 16 HR, 90 RBI and 16 SB in 97 games. The strength of the team, however, was in the pitching. Walter Olsen won 17 games with a 2.16 ERA, while Frank Meagher won 18 games (leading the league) with a 3.08 ERA.

At least by their standards, 1949 was a down year. The team finished 75-65 but was in fourth place and did not have any players that had long major league careers. Louis Damman led the offense with 21 HR and a .303 BA, while player/manager Chet Kehn won 16 games with a 2.93 ERA and also hit .312 (talk about doing it all).

Their first truly bad year was 1950, when they went 53-88. However, in 1951, Santa Barbara came back with a vengeance, taking first place and winning the championship. They were led by player/manager Bill Hart, a member of the Clancy/Kehn/Hathaway “do it all” school, hitting .282 with 22 home runs.

In 1952, they finished in third, losing in the first round of the playoffs. The highlights were the season of pitcher Jake Abbott, who won 23 games with a 2.19 ERA and pitched 275 innings—before pretty much falling off the map after that.

That season was also the debut of Jim Gentile, one of the top first basemen in the majors during the early 1960s. His big year was in 1961, when he hit 46 HR with 141 RBI, and had a line of .302/.423/.646/1.069 for the Baltimore Orioles.

The 1953 season would be the last year of minor league baseball in Santa Barbara for awhile. The Dodgers reduced the number of C-level affiliates after the season. That year was most memorable for the emergence of Sparky Anderson, who played in all 141 games for the Dodgers, scoring 98 runs and stealing 13 bases.

Of course, Anderson would go on to be the first manager to win a World Series in both leagues, with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976, and the Detroit Tigers in 1984. That season was also the debut of Larry Sherry, who would go on to be the 1959 World Series MVP for the Dodgers.

In 1962, the California League, still a C-level league, returned to Santa Barbara and Laguna Field with the Rancheros, a Mets affiliate. While the Rancheros fared better than the Mets that year (it was the notorious inaugural 49-123 team), they were in the middle of the pack in the Cal league.

Most noteworthy was the debut of Paul Blair, who would have a long and successful career, winning eight Gold Gloves and being selected to two All-Star games. The Mets would move to Salinas after the season.

In 1963, the Ponderosas came back for another season, once again as a (now Los Angeles) Dodgers affiliate, and now considered Class A. Apparently, the Dodgers were lured by the $1.00 per year rent and offered to revamp the aging field. They finished in sixth place, but saw the debut of Wes Parker, the first baseman who won six Gold Ggloves in a nine-year career for the Dodgers.

While 1964 was another mediocre year as far as wins and losses, two more stars began their careers on the team. Jack Billingham went on to be one of the horses for the 1970s Big Red Machine, winning in double figures ten times in thirteen seasons. Also debuting was seventeen-year old Willie Crawford, who would become a fixture in right field for the Dodgers in the 1970s.

The '65 campaign was even worse. The team finished in last place, but also featured the debut of Don Sutton, who showed greatness in going 8-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 101 strikeouts in only 84 innings. This performance told of what was to come, as Sutton won 324 games and struck out 3,574 batters in a 24-year major league career.

Another standout on an otherwise bad team was Tom Hutton, who would hit .294 with 20 home runs and go on to have a fine 12-year career in the majors, mostly with the Phillies.

It was a so-so year in 1966, with the most notable achievement being the emergence of Bill Sudakis, who played infield for Santa Barbara but went on primarily to be a catcher in the majors.

The 1967 season was the final one for minor league baseball in Santa Barbara. The Dodgers said they had lost $100,000 on the team, and the crowds only averaged 225 despite the future marquee talent that played there. Still, Billy Grabarkewitz emerged, hitting 24 long ball, stealing 39 bases and batting .287/.433/.492/.924. He went on to an eight-year major league career, including an All-Star appearance in 1970.

Charlie Hough also pitched that year, going 14-4 with a 2.24 ERA before going on a 25-year major league career. Von Joshua also played part of his first season there before embarking on a ten-year major league career.

The Dodgers moved to Bakersfield the next year, and minor league baseball went away perhaps to stay. Despite local resistance, Laguna Field was torn down in 1970 in favor of an equipment yard, and it was a further example of minor league baseball’s failure in coastal Southern California.

The Dodgers pulled out of Santa Barbara originally perhaps to consolidate their low minor teams, but also in possible anticipation of moving out west. The Brooklyn Dodgers moving to the west coast was not a whimsical move on Walter O’Malley’s part, and he probably knew that minor league baseball surviving anywhere near a large metropolitan area with a major league team was a longshot.

It could have also been a business decision, or a desire t play in better conditions. Coastal areas in Southern California do often get hit by fog and blustery weather, even in summer time.

The second departure was all about business. The team wasn’t drawing crowds despite Santa Barbara being a Dodger town and the possibility of seeing phenoms like Sutton, Parker or Grabarkewitz. It was an old field, and perhaps the local fans preferred seeing the major league version of the team a two-hour drive away.

Television also played a role. With more games on television, it was easier for casual fans to watch the major leagues in their living rooms for free than it was to make the trek to see a Single-A game.

Any attempt to return a team, if there was one, probably would have meet huge resistance from the locals. The increasingly affluent coastal cities did not want the tax hikes and the increased local congestion a minor league team and stadium would bring.

The owners of the Ventura County Gulls ran into that problem in 1987 and were forced to move the team after only one season. Even blue-collar Oxnard had trouble finding a stadium for their independent team in the 1990s.

So much for minor league baseball in the Southern California coastal cities. At the same time, it thrives in the Inland Empire of California, where teams play in newer stadiums and regularly hit attendance figures well into the six figures every year. Rancho Cucamonga, the current Dodger Single-A affiliate, had 447,000 fans show up in 1995, while Santa Barbara never even reached six figures in attendance.

The fans in that area are more apt to go to the local park than make the long trek to a major league park, while the growth-oriented city governments are much more open-minded to new stadiums. The sport also does well in inland central California cities like Stockton or Bakersfield, where there are sizable markets that are far away from the larger markets that house the major league teams.


Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2011-07-14T09:01:15+00:00 Falling down: The descent of the Dodgers http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/falling-down-the-descent-of-the-dodgers/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/falling-down-the-descent-of-the-dodgers/#When:09:03:15 Falling Down, Michael Douglas’ character D-FENS has a very bad day that seems to get worse and worse as it goes on. That pretty much sums up the last two decades-plus of the Dodgers.

Both D-FENS and the Dodgers have their breakdowns in Los Angeles, and while D-FENS goes on a spree of violence, the Dodgers have gone on a spree of slowly but surely alienating their loyal fan base, saving the violence for some unlucky fans of rival teams.

And while you can say that society and surrounding circumstances played a role in both of their demises, the fault is ultimately their own, and many of the mistakes that have been made have compounded each other. While D-FENS ends up in the ocean off Venice pier, it is still not certain whether the Dodgers have hit bottom yet.

The Dodgers, D-FENS and his former employers were lured out to the Los Angeles area by the postwar boom in the Los Angeles area. Walter O’Malley saw a huge opportunity in LA and took advantage of it, both contributing to and being a part of the huge growth the area underwent in the 1950s and 1960s.

D-FENS’ former bosses, the aerospace industry, came out at about the same time, creating tons of great jobs and huge economic growth in the area.

The Dodgers made it into nine World Series from 1957-1988 and won five of them. The team was regularly at or near the top of the league in attendance, and Dodger Stadium was an amazing and safe place to see a ballgame. The explosion of the defense industry created a huge number of jobs and a big middle class, which made Los Angeles both a great place to live and a great place to catch a ballgame.

For all the characters in our story, the late 1980s and early 1990s were the beginning of the end. The cold war was winding down, and the Air Force didn’t need as many long-range bombers, and the aerospace industry, due to a combination of modernization and the availability of cheap labor elsewhere, began to slowly but definitely surely pull out.

As a result, many middle-aged guys (like D-FENS) who came out in the 1950s and 1960s lost their jobs. The Dodgers won their last World Series in 1988, and little did anyone know at the time, it would be the last time they would be in one.

D-FENS didn’t handle his decline well, going on a one-day violent rampage that saw him end up dead in the Pacific Ocean right off Venice Beach. The Dodgers' decline has been slow and painful and probably will get worse before it gets better.

Little did anyone know that Kirk Gibson’s homer was the beginning of a slow, downhill slide whose culmination is the Dodgers filing bankruptcy. O’Malley stayed around until 1997, and the teams were some bad, some good and some in between, and in all cases could not find their way to the postseason. Whether unhappy about not getting an NFL team or unable to keep pace with the increasing salaries of free agents, he sold the team to Fox.

While many Dodgers fans were unhappy at O’Malley’s departure, it was obvious some of the old magic was missing. It’s not that they didn’t try.

The teams—featuring a homegrown, talented nucleus of Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Orel Hershiser and Ramon Martinez and supplemented by free agents like Darryl Strawberry and Brett Butler—seemed to underachieve every year. While fans would bemoan the loss of the "family vibe” around Dodger Stadium, they were also hoping that the corporate Godzilla would create a west coast version of the Yankees that would steamroll the rest of the league.

They got the lost “family vibe” thing right. Fox’s first major move was to ship off the disgruntled Piazza. When O’Malley guys Fred Claire and Bill Russell expressed displeasure at being left out of the thought process of that move, they were shown the door, also.

It was a purge Josef Stalin would’ve admired. They brought in big names, including Davey Johnson, Kevin Malone and the notorious Kevin Brown, but the result was ultimately pretty much the same: Four third-place finishes, two second-place finishes and no playoffs.

Perhaps bored with baseball and hungry to conquer other empires, Rupert Murdoch moved on. The team played at roughly the same level as it did during the post-1988 O’Malley years, but the folksy atmosphere the O’Malleys carried around the ballpark was gone. Long gone.

Enter Frank McCourt. How he even got an MLB team, much less the Dodgers, is a mystery. Allegedly, the funds he used to buy the team were completely leveraged, much of it Fox’s money. It is hard to believe there were not more suitable candidates interested in buying the team. Bud Selig playing the Man on the White Horse in 2011 is perhaps his way of over-compensating for some of the poor decisions or non-decisions he made when he allowed McCourt to buy the team.

In McCourt’s defense, and it is not inconsiderable, the team has won more than it did under the post-1988 O’Malleys or Fox. In 2004, the Dodgers won 93 games, made the playoffs and even won their first playoff game since 1988. Of course, it was largely a team built up by Fox man Dan Evans and managed by holdover Jim Tracy, but even the harshest cynics had to give McCourt a breather on that one.

They’ve had three other playoff appearances since then, including two trips to the NLCS. Not exactly George Steinbrenner, but still much more successful than Fox or late-period O’Malley. He also did get Joe Torre as a manager and did what he had to do to get Manny Ramirez, whose hot hitting nearly single-handedly fired up the Dodgers playoff run in 2008.

McCourt always seemed so notoriously cheap. Except for Ramirez, which he surely regrets now, he avoided signing any big-name or high-priced free agents, which irked Dodgers fans. Whatever successes he had were through the still-productive minor league system, i.e., cheap talent like Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, or by GM Ned Colletti’s shrewd moves of signing mid-level free agents to short contracts (Casey Blake, Hiroki Kuroda).

It was good enough to get the Dodgers into the playoffs, but when they’d run into a truly championship-caliber team (i.e., the 2008-09 Philadelphia Phillies), their weaknesses would be revealed.

Dodgers fans, due to the team’s rich history, felt and feel entitled to a championship-caliber team every year. When McCourt would get them to the playoffs, they would be temporarily satiated, but when he didn’t, especially after the implosion of 2010, they turned on him. When he and Jamie filed for divorce and his financial mis-adventures were revealed, it became ugly.

There is reasoning behind McCourt’s or his minions running of the team. That he hired Billy Beane acolyte Paul Di Podesta as his first GM says a lot. Beane’s goal, stated in Moneyball, was to figure out the number of wins needed to make it to the postseason and put together a team—highly based on sabermetrics and with very-limited resources—that would be able to get that many wins. He would accept rolling the dice in the playoffs against better-financed and talent-heavy teams.

While that is a smart strategy for a small-market team, McCourt saw it as a cheap and efficient way to run a big-market team. McCourt figured that 85-90 wins would be enough to win in a mediocre NL West, so he built teams he hoped would achieve that goal, then roll the dice in the playoffs. It worked in 2008 and 2009, although the Dodgers looked way overmatched against the Phillies, and were bounced in five games both times.

It didn’t work in 2010. The team got off to a pretty good first-half start and then completely fell apart. Going into 2011, amid the divorce and surrounding drama, it didn’t look good and is so far playing up to expectations. With MLB taking over operations and the bankruptcy, it looks as bad as it could get, but it’s not over.

McCourt is a junkyard dog who will fight MLB tooth and nail, leaving the team in a legal no-man’s land, unable to make it better. This is far worse than anything the world has ever seen with this franchise, and as of right now there is no redemption, not even the kind that D-FENS got from the barrel of Robert Duvall’s gun.

So there are two roughly parallel stories here. A well-paid, upper-middle-class aerospace worker gets laid off from his company in changing times. Unable to find a job, and with his marriage falling apart, he descends into madness on the streets of Los Angeles, abandoning his car in rush-hour traffic and bashing up gangbangers, neo-Nazis, a convenience store and a fast food restaurant.

You also have a storybook franchise sold amid changing times in the sports world, passed from owner to owner, slowly getting worse and worse, now a bad team playing in a beat-up old stadium in front of a rapidly declining fan base. D-FENS’ descent was ultimately resolved in one day, though we may be lucky he didn’t happen upon the present-day Dodger Stadium, whose conditions may have further fueled his rage. The Dodgers situation, sadly, is a long way off from resolution.

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So what is the secret? Is it just a natural progression of the developmental path the team was already making under Doug Melvin? What role does Towers play in all this, and how about Kirk Gibson as a manager?

Offense


Offensively, the D-backs' stats are roughly the same as they were last year. Losing Reynolds and Adam LaRoche has certainly helped them cut down their strikeouts from 2010’s record level, but they are still high. The .252/.325/.424/.740 tag they have this year appears to be about the same as the .250/.325/.416/.740 they hit in 2010, but when compared to the rest of the league in 2011, it is a slight improvement, or at least shows there is little or change in the face of better pitching. Their team batting average was .250 in 2010, which rated them 11th in the league, while their .252 (as of June 15) is eighth. Their OBP is .322 in 2010, fourth in the NL, while the .325 mark they hit in 2010 was seventh.

The same is true in OBP and OPS, where the numbers are slightly worse in 2011, but better in relation to the rest of the league. They are on a path to hit about the same amount of homers this year as they did last year, but while they ranked third last year, they are first so far this year. They are on pace to slightly increase run production from last year, but while they were eighth in runs scored last season, they are third in 2011, which implies more than a slight increase.

Places they have moved the needle positively include speed. Their 52 stolen bases and 890 total bases, on top of the runs scored, show a team that is more aggressive and more successful on the base paths.

The offensive personnel changes have had little effect. Last year's starters Reynolds and LaRoche were basically replaced by platoons that have somewhat increased efficiency at the plate at the expense of power.

Kelly Johnson is morphing into a one-dimensional power hitter, Stephen Drew’s offensive stats, gap power and decent OBP have pretty much stayed the same. Chris Young’s power has been about the same, but his stolen bases have declined, as has his average and OBP. Justin Upton looks to be getting closer to his breakout 2009 numbers than his relatively disappointing 2010.

The big progression so far is with Miguel Montero. His .282/.362/.490/.852 tag is solid, and if he keeps up the pace will eclipse his career highs in doubles and homers.

Team speed has improved, strikeouts have gone down some, and while offensive numbers appear about the same as they did last year, they have improved in relation to the rest of the league. The big difference is, despite an older roster, it is younger players like Upton, Young and Montero carrying the load, while veterans are playing a more supporting role, such as Xavier Nady and Willie Bloomquist. But overall, it does little to explain the change from the basement dwellers of last year to the semi-contenders of this year.

Defense


Defensively, it’s a mixed bag. They got better in some areas than in 2010, but worse in others. The culmination is probably a zero-sum.

Behind the plate, Montero is throwing out runners at a higher rate, and displays a better range factor than in 2010; the stats for the Juan Miranda/ Nady platoon are nearly identical in all facets to LaRoche in 2010. Johnson at second base seems to have declined in both range factor/9 and runs saved, while Drew is about the same as he was. The Ryan Roberts/Melvin Mora tandem at third brings better range than Reynolds in 2010, but fewer runs saved.

Gerardo Parra continues to be a solid defender in left field. Young seems to have declined in center field, with a lower range factor and runs saved, while Upton is better in right field than he was.

It looks like, based on the info, while the defense isn’t doing a huge amount of favors for the team compared to last year, it isn’t bringing it down either. There are not a lot of power throwers on the pitching staff, so it is necessary for the Diamondbacks to at least have a decent defense, which they do.

Starting pitching


While the 2010 Diamondbacks bullpen deservedly gets much of the blame for their woes, the starters that year didn’t exactly set them up for success, either. Ace Dan Harendidn’t have a good year and was shipped off to the Angels. Edwin Jackson and Rodrigo Lopez had ERAs over 5.00. Ian Kennedy was the only consistent arm on the staff.

It got so bad that retreads like Dontrelle Willis and Kris Benson got long looks. While the 2011 rotation is still probably the worst in the division, it is solid in the front end. Kennedy is the ace, with a 3.23 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and six wins, and is on pace to pitch over 200 innings. Kennedy doesn’t dazzle, but hitters are hitting only .220 against him and he doesn’t walk too many and generally keeps the ball in the park.

Daniel Hudson has established himself as a solid No. 2. He strikes out more guys than Kennedy and gives up more hits, but otherwise relies on a similar formula. Joe Saunders is being a healthy version of Joe Saunders. You know what you’re getting: a mid 4s ERA, a WHIP of about 1.4 and not too many strikeouts. In Arizona terms, that means No. starters. Josh Collmenter is looking strong, with four wins in 13 starts, a 1.12 ERA a WHIP of 0.78, and two straight shutouts. After that it’s a little scary, but three solid starters as opposed to only one amount to a nice difference over a year.

Bullpen


Towers' biggest contribution was stocking up the bullpen.

The 2010 bullpen was horrendous. Original closer Chad Qualls was torched for an 8.29 ERA, a 2.00 WHIP, and opponents hit .363 against him. He didn’t have much help. Only two bullpen members had ERAs under 5—Blaine Boyer and Aaron Heilman—and theirs were well in excess of 4.00. Their overall ERA of 5.47 did no favors for the beleaguered starters and the average offense.

Towers signed J.J. Putz, a successful closer in the middle of the 2000s, but much injured since. He throws some heat, has an ERA of about 2.00, and has 15 saves. David Hernandez, a product of Reynolds’ trade to the Orioles comes in with a 3.18 ERA and10.2 K/9. He walks too man, but is still a huge upgrade over last year. Esmerling Vazquez and Sam Demel, overwhelmed last year, have become solid middle relievers. .With more pitchers getting quality starts and a more reliable and less overworked bullpen to hand the ball to, it can mean only good things for the DBacks.

Managing and coaching



It is difficult at best to determine the effect of the manager on a team (at least in quantifiable terms), but the team's more aggressive approach on the bases has paid some dividends, so some of that credit must go to manager Kirk Gibson. He must also receive credit for hiring on Don Baylor and Alan Trammell, two character guys who not only had storied playing careers but also experience as major league managers. Other coaches Matt Williams and Eric Young are also character guys who had long, productive playing careers. Pitching coach Charles Nagy also deserves some credit for the improvement of the pitching. With this group, it looks like a more disciplined, yet more aggressive team. Gibson, assuming the D-Backs hold up, would have to be mentioned in any Manager of the Year discussions.

Conclusion


As of July 15, the Diamondbacks are 37-32, 2.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants. They’ve been inconsistent lately. They’ll have to win Thursday to avoid a sweep by the Giants, which they preceded by sweeping the Marlins. Before that, they lost three out of four to the Pirates.

That being said, they’re not in a bad spot. The Giants look like the team to beat, but are hardly insurmountable. The Rockies are even more inconsistent than the D-Backs, while the Dodgers are a mess and the Padres in full rebuild mold. It is a funny division. The Rockies have this uncanny ability to get hot late in the season. If the Dodgers hitting and pitching actually come together, they may make some noise, while the Padres, with not much more talent last year, nearly made it in the playoffs. It looks right now to be a dogfight between the Diamondbacks and Rockies to see who will contend with the Giants for the division. Compared to where they were last year, the DBacks must be pretty happy.

Credit?

People may be quick to give Kevin Towers credit for the turnaround, and he did bring in Putz and Hernandez, who have helped solidify the bullpen, but his other moves haven’t added up too much. Mora hasn’t given them much of anything, while Miranda, Roberts and Nady have been solid platoon guys, but not much more. Pitching acquisition Armando Gallaraga and his 5.91 ERA haven’t pitched in a month.

Towers may yet put his mark on this team, but he hasn’t yet. The credit goes to the maturation of starting pitchers like Kennedy and Daniel Hudson, plus the solidification of the bullpen. Montero has become one of the best hitting catchers of the game; Upton has developed into a front line player, while Young, Johnson and Drew continue to give good depth to the starting lineup.

Some credit must be given to the previous administrations, including Josh “organizational advocacy” Byrnes and Joe Garagiola Jr., who drafted and/or traded for many of the core Diamondback players. You also can’t ignore Gibson and his coaching staff, who took a team from cellar dwellers to possible division contenders in less than a full season.

Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2011-06-16T15:44:15+00:00 Willie Davis: Disappointment or misunderstood? http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/willie-davis-disappointment-or-misunderstood/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/willie-davis-disappointment-or-misunderstood/#When:09:02:15 Andre Ethier’s recent 30-game hitting streak brought up memories of Willie Davis, the man who currently holds the Dodger record hitting streak of 31 games.

Davis, who passed away in 2010, was as enigmatic as any player in Dodger history. He played fourteen of his eighteen seasons (twenty, if you count two seasons in Japan) with the Dodgers, and he still has more hits, extra-base hits, triples, runs scored, at-bats and total bases than any other Dodger during their years in Los Angeles starting in 1958.

He has a decent-sized group of of baseball people who call him an under-performer, and a pretty good group of defenders. There is also a sizable group of people who do both. Davis tantalized with his raw skills and his flashes of baseball brilliance, but also alienated due to his inconsistency, his supposed character flaws and work ethic. There are plenty of anecdotes to fuel both sides’ fire.

Davis was born in 1940, and was a star in three sports for Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Boyle Heights area of LA. He was best known there for running a 9.5 second 100-yard dash, and he set a city record for long jump at 25 feet, five inches.

His skills caught the attention of Dodgers scout Kenny Myers, who signed him after graduation in 1958. Davis is best known in minor league circles for scoring from first nine times on singles when he played with Reno. After tearing up Triple-A with Spokane in 1960 (30 stolen bases, 12 home runs, .346/.377/.566/.933), he came up to the Dodgers in 1960.

Between 1961 and 1977, Davis averaged 147 games played . He led the league in triples twice, in 1962 and 1970, and finished with 138 overall, which is the fourth-most by any major leaguer since 1945. He also stole at least twenty bases in eleven straight seasons between 1962 and 1972.

Davis was also a fine fielder, winning Gold Gloves in 1971, 1972 and 1973, was regularly top five in Range Factor per game in CF, and was often in the top five for defensive WAR. His statistical liabilities were a poor on-base percentage (career .311 OBP), mostly due to his unwillingness to take walks, and while his career .279 BA is respectable, it's far from overwhelming.

Davis had a roller coaster ride in the 1960s, where he had years in which he hit .294, .285 and .284, then follow it up with years where he hit .245, .238 and .250. He did find consistency in the 1970s, which probably brought his career mark to a decent level. His two biggest memories were his 31-game hitting streak in 1969 and his three-error inning in the ill-fated 1966 World Series against the Orioles.

His statistically best seasons were between 1969 and 1971. In ‘69 he hit .311, got his OBP up to .356, and had 24 SB. In 1970, he hit .305, had a decent .331 OBP, led the league with 16 triples and had 38 SB and 93 RBI. In 1971, he had a solid .309/.330/.438/.769 campaign with 33 doubles, 10 triples and 20 SB.

Davis was actually quite a consistent player in the 1970s. His batting average hung around .280, he’d get 20-25 steals and hit double figures in homers and still get his share of doubles and triples. Not the perennial All-Star many pegged him to be, but still very solid for a pre-steroid thirtysomething.

His true inconsistencies were in the 1960s. In 1962, he hit 21 HR with 10 triples, 32 SB and .285/.334/.453/.787. Davis then followed that in 1963 with .245/.281/.346/.646 with serious declines in all counting categories, too. He had a strong 1964 season, but followed it with a weak one in 1965. It wasn’t until 1969 that he gained consistency.

Not a bad career. The fact that he was a regular starter for the Dodgers and other teams for sixteen years speaks for itself as far as his team’s confidence in him as a player. The question is that many people saw a Hall of Fame talent in Davis, but also saw his inability or unwillingness to do what he had to in order to make himself into that player.

People he played with would rave about his talent. "He was so talented," former teammate Maury Wills once said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "God really blessed him with some great tools—for any sport, really—speed, strength, agility—everything an athlete needs in order to make the big time."

In Tom Adelman’s Black and Blue, centered around the 1966 season and World Series, teammates recalled a play where he beat out a rundown between second and third, turned the corner, got caught in another rundown between third and home, and beat that. Another recalled him scoring from second on a bunt hit down the third base line, scoring before fielder Bob Aspromonte even picked up the ball.

Buzzie Bavasi summed up the ambivalence about Davis when he said. "There was nothing more exciting than to watch Willie run out a triple,” Bavasi, who was the Dodgers GM early in Davis’s career, once, told the Los Angeles Times. "He could have been a Hall of Famer, but he had million-dollar legs and a 10-cent head."

John Roseboro was less than ambivalent when he derided Davis’s work ethic. “He was egotistical….One time I asked to help him with his bunting, and he told me he didn’t need any help. ‘How many (bleeping) bunts did you beat out this year?' he asked me. I never tried to help him after that. Willie wasn’t willing to work.”

Others defended his work ethic. Steven Travers, in Dodgers Past and Present, paraphrased Vin Scully when he said “Willie had worked as hard as anyone to be a center fielder, as any player he had ever observed, and the results were spectacular.” Manny Mota, then a Pirate, remembered Davis studying Matty Alou and making adjustments which greatly increased his consistency at the plate.

"Matty wasn't even hitting balls out of the infield, and he was getting hits,'' said Mota, now a special instructor for the Dodgers.” He used a really heavy bat and swung down on the ball. After seeing that, Willie starting using a heavier bat and doing the same thing, just to use his speed. The next year, Willie had a 31-game hitting streak.''

One of Davis' staunchest defenders is Bill James, who called Davis the 27th-best center fielder of all time when he released The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001. He said that many of Davis’s ups and downs in the 1960s can be attributed to the deadball era, and using James’s adjustments, his equivalent career batting average would’ve been .302, as opposed to .279. While James said that’s not what he would’ve necessarily hit in a “normal” era, his numbers, with adjustments, were vastly higher than his actual 1960s stats.

His opinion of Davis was this. “He should not be regarded as a failure, merely because he played his prime seasons in such difficult hitting conditions.”

An enigma he was and probably always will be, but Davis’s biggest crime is having what was perceived as Hall-of-Fame skills and not following it up with his performance. That being said, it’s hard to look back on a career where he played eighteen seasons—almost all as a starter and a top-of-the-order hitter, where he helped the Dodgers win two World Series and play in a third—as a very successful major league career, Hall of Fame or not.

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Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Steven Booth 2011-05-03T16:21:15+00:00 Does Roberto Alomar belong in the Hall of Fame? http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/does-roberto-alomar-belong-in-the-hall-of-fame/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/does-roberto-alomar-belong-in-the-hall-of-fame/#When:09:02:15 Roberto Alomar is getting in the Hall of Fame this year, and while it would be foolish to question the greatness of his career, was it really a Hall of Fame career? Before the gnashing of teeth and composing of hate mail by pro-Alomar types begin, let’s examine his career a little closer, and compare it to careers of other HOF second basemen, plus some solid non-HOFers who may or may not get in.

First, let’s all understand that these HOF or non-HOF second basemen are not judged in a vacuum. They must be judged alongside other players that play other positions. Let’s also understand that I haven’t lost much sleep worrying about Robbie’s HOF credentials, but on the surface, while he had a great career, it is hard for me to place him in the immortal class of souls that are in the HOF.

Are they letting these guys in too easily? Or am I just completely out of the loop on who gets selected for the hall.

No one can question that Robbie had a great career, and you can even say he was the best second baseman of his generation. He played a key role in helping the Blue Jays win the World Series in 1992 and 1993 and was also one of the centerpieces of the fine Indians teams of the late 1990s. His combining with Omar Vizquel made up one of the best middle infield combos in that time period.

He hit over .300 nine times in his career, and did so over a ten-season span between 1992 and 2001. He had speed, stealing over 30 bases eight times, and he also brought power, having an SLG over .500 four times and an OPS over .800 nine times.

He was considered one of the best fielders in his era. He was in the top five for Range Factor/per nine innings (RF/G) six times, led the league in fielding percentage three times and won ten Gold Gloves (more than any other second baseman). Having guys like Vizquel and a young Tony Fernandez playing next to him much of his career helped, and he was usually near the top of the list at his position for errors committed, but he was still a very good fielder.

The John Hirshbeck spitting incident, as outrageous as it seemed when it happened, didn’t hurt his chances getting in the hall on the second try. While we will discuss it further, Alomar was offensively, and quite possbily defensively, the best all-around second baseman of his era.

It would be hard to have a conversation about Hall-of Fame second basemen without mentioning Rogers Hornsby’s name. Hornsby was perhaps the best pure hitter of the game besides Ty Cobb. He was so obsessed with hitting that he wouldn’t read newspapers or watch movies in fear of endangering his eyesight. As a full-time player, he hit over .400 three times, including .424 in 1924. He also regularly hit over .300, doing so for 13 straight seasons.

He certainly was not a one-dimensional hitter. Seven times he hit over 40 doubles, and he reached double figures in triples eight times. He could also be reasonably counted on to hit double figures in homers, including 42 in 1922 and 39 in 1925.

His OBP was over .400 ten times, including a .507 mark in 1924, and he led the league in OBP nine times. The fact that he hit in the live-ball era of the 1920s may diminish his power numbers somewhat, but his career batting line of .358/.424/.577/1.010 would be difficult to reach for anyone.

It would be impossible to expect anyone to live up to these expectations; Hornsby’s numbers were iconic. The age-old question is whether the Hall of Fame should reserve itself for players like him or make room for others who had great careers but may not necessarily live up to such iconic status. The hall voters have already answered this question for us, so for players like Alomar, do they reach the heights of the many second-tier Hall of Famers?

One contemporary of Hornsby’s who made it in the hall was Frankie Frisch, the “Fordham Flash,” whose baserunning and hitting skills made him the mover and shaker for early 1930s Cardinals Gashouse Gang teams. He hit over .300 eleven straight times. He also had over 20 stolen bases eleven times, including 49 in 1921 and 48 in 1927. Overall, he led the league in steals three times.

One of Frisch's best abilities was avoiding strikeouts. His at-bat-per-strikeout figure of 33.5 is 14th-best all-time, and he led the league in that regard three times. He also had some power. While he didn’t hit a ridiculous amount of homers, he did hit over 30 doubles eight times in his career and had double figures in triples six times. His career OPS of .801 reflects this pretty well.

Frisch had over 100 RBI three times in his career, pretty remarkable for a leadoff hitter. He was also strong defensively. Eight times he finished in the top five in the league in defensive WAR, leading the league in 1923 and 1927. He also led the league in Range Factor four times. He was part of four World Series winners, twice with the New York Giants early in his career, and later with the Philadelphia Athletics and the Tigers.

Frisch’s numbers are very comparable to Alomar’s. Alomar had more power, Frisch was perhaps a stronger fielder, but in most other ways they were similar. It took Frisch five times to make it in the hall, and he stayed active in the game after his retirement in 1937 as a manager and announcer.

How does Alomar compare with more contemporary players? While not exactly a contemporary, Joe Morgan was a modern era Hall of Fame second baseman with a unique skill set who deserves perusal.

To many people, Morgan is best known as the ESPN guy who enlightened and/or annoyed them until last season on their twice-weekly broadcasts. “Little Joe,” who was only 5’ 7", played 22 seasons, most memorably as part of the Big Red Machine of the 1970s. Morgan, along with Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion, led the Reds to consecutive World Series titles. Morgan was also the NL MVP in 1975 and '76, the first second baseman in the NL to do that.

Morgan was a very, very good hitter. While his lifetime average was only .271, he hit between .288 and .327 during his peak years with the Reds, and his mildly disappointing batting average may be partially explained by him playing much of his career in the dead-ball 1960s.

He was considered by some the finest base stealer of his generation, as he stole over 30 bases nine times, including 60-plus in 1973, 1975 and 1976. For his career, he swiped 689 bases at greater than an 80% success rate.

Morgan drew many walks, leading the league three times and being in the top five 18 times. His hitting and plate discipline resulted in an excellent .392 on-base percentage, and his seasonal OBP was over .400 nine times. Morgan scored over 100 runs eight times, perhaps as much due to his fine OBP and baserunning as to having guys like Bench and Perez batting behind him.

Morgan also had good power. He hit 268 home runs to go with 449 doubles and 96 triples, excellent power for a middle infielder of his era. His OPS was over .800 eight times, and Morgan led the league in SLG with a score of .576 in 1976.

He also very good defensively—winning five Gold Gloves—and in the early 1970s was regularly in the top five among second basemen for Range Factor and Total Zone Runs.

One number that stands out for Morgan is his power/speed number of 385.9, which puts him at No. 6 all-time.

His OBP dwarfs anyone on this list not named Hornsby, and while there are many corner infielders and outfielders who have a higher mark, there aren’t many middle infielders. His speed and power were similar to Alomar’s, and Morgan was probably the superior fielder.

So it looks like Alomar compares fairly well to Hall of Fame second basemen of previous eras. How does he compare to his own era? How does he match up to Ryne Sandberg, who was sort of in Alomar’s era, sort of in the generation before, and how does he match up with contemporaries like Craig Biggio and Jeff Kent, two guys who may get some consideration when they are eligible in the coming years?

If Robbie was the best second baseman of the 1990s, Sandberg was the best of the 1980s. Their careers did overlap some, but Ryno was on his way out when Alomar’s career was about to take off. Like Robbie, Sandberg could hit for average, had speed and power and could field. He was undoubtedly the offensive leader of the Cubs, pacing the team in offensive WAR five times, and he led the perennially mediocre Cubs to their first two playoff appearances since 1945.

Sandberg scored over 100 runs seven times, and had 30-plus stolen bases five times in his career. He hit over 20 HR five times in his career, including 40 in 1990. He was only the third second baseman in National League history to do this, joining Hornsby and Davey Johnson.

He was a very strong fielder, winning the Gold Glove nine times in a row, and his defensive numbers back that up well. Ten times in his career he was in the top five among second basemen for RF/G, and he led the league in Zone Runs four times, being in the top five eight times.

Alomar was perhaps a better pure hitter than Sandberg, which his career mark of a .300 average and a .371 OBP reveal, compared to .285/.344 for Sandberg. Power numbers had Sandberg at a slight advantage, with his .452 SLG at a slight advantage over Alomar’s .443. Sandberg had more of a home run stroke, hitting 282 in 16 seasons, while Alomar hit 210 in 17 seasons, while Alomar was stronger with doubles (504-410), and they were roughly equal on triples. Alomar was a stronger base stealer (474-344).

The end result was Alomar’s stats being slightly superior to those of Sandberg’s but still very close and comparable.

Craig Biggio’s career was roughly in the same time frame as Alomar’s, playing his first game with the Astros in 1988 and retiring in 2007. Biggio was a catcher when he first came up, played 2B the bulk of his career, and played in the outfield his last couple of seasons.

He played a similar role on his teams as Sandberg and Alomar did. As a leadoff hitter, Biggio set the table well, hitting over .300 four times and having an OBP over .400 four times, with his OBP topping .350 11 years in a row. He was a top-10 base stealer five times, including leading the league with 39 in 1994.

Biggio hit over 20 homers eight times and 40-plus doubles five times, leading the league on three different occasions. He was an underrated fielder, regularly finishing in the top 10 in range factor and the top five in his position in fielding percentage.

Is Biggio Hall of Fame material? Measured against Alomar and Sandberg, he hit more homers (290) than Sandberg, but did it in 20 seasons. Sandberg’s and Biggio’s averages were about the same (.285/.281), while Biggio’s .363 OBP was superior to that of Sandberg’s .344. (All the times Biggio was plunked by pitches contributed to this). Sandberg had a stronger SLG (.452-.433) and their OPS rates were the similar. Sandberg was probably the superior fielder of the two. Sandberg’s power and fielding probably give him a slight edge, but Biggio’s stats are very comparable.

Jeff Kent is a very interesting case. While he didn’t have the speed of Alomar, Sandberg or Biggio and was not a leadoff hitter type, his power numbers are superior and, at least in his prime, he was a decent fielder.

While in some years he had the luxury of hitting around Barry Bonds, Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell and Carlos Beltran, hitting 20-plus homers 12 times can’t be ignored. Having 100-plus RBI eight times can’t be overlooked, either. Kent could be counted on during his peak years to have an OPS of better than .800, including over .900 three times and 1.000 once.

His career numbers of .290/.356/.500/.855 are close to, as good as, or better than any of the modern guys, so if Sandberg is in the hall and you’re talking about putting Biggio there, Kent should be in that conversation, also. Kent was known as a curmudgeon, at least compared to the all-American Biggio and Sandberg, but no one can question that he meant business when he was between the lines.

From perusing all the statistics of all the second basemen previously mentioned, one cannot question Alomar’s belonging in the hall. There is a continuing debate on who is hall-worthy and who isn’t, but based on the current standards, he belongs.

His career numbers hold up well to Frisch and Morgan, if not Hornsby. Compared to his contemporaries, his numbers range from comparable to superior when weighed against Sandberg, Biggio and Kent. So he does belong, even if that aura of immortality doesn’t follow him around the way it does others.

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