The Hardball Times -- Chris Jaffe http://www.hardballtimes.com/main Baseball. Insight. Daily. en studes@hardballtimes.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-22T08:05:15+00:00 20th anniversary: Blue Jays mascot ejected http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/20th-anniversary-blue-jays-mascot-ejected/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/20th-anniversary-blue-jays-mascot-ejected/#When:07:09:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-22T07:09:15+00:00 50th anniversary: Jim Maloney: a star is born http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/50th-anniversary-jim-maloney-a-star-is-born/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/50th-anniversary-jim-maloney-a-star-is-born/#When:07:19:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-21T07:19:15+00:00 AL Central: state of the division http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/al-central-state-of-the-division-may-2013/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/al-central-state-of-the-division-may-2013/#When:07:09:15

It’s a quarter the way through the year, and how is the AL Central doing so far?

Well, they’re in the running for baseball’s most improved division. Heading into Sunday’s action (all info in this article is prior to Sunday’s games, unless stated otherwise), the entire AL Central has a combined record of 104-97, putting the division on pace for its first winning record since 2008 and it’s best overall record since 2006. If you exclude games pitting AL Central teams against each other, the division is 67-60. The AL Central can thank the AL West for its high marks so far, as the Central is 32-19 against the West.

What’s most striking about the division is how tightly packed all five teams are. Just five games separate first from last. That’s smaller than the lead the AL West leading Rangers have on the runner-up A's. Five games is less than the gap between the AL East’s cellar-dwelling Jays and fourth-place Rays, while nearly a third of the teams in baseball have a worse record than the AL Central’s last-place squad.

So, it’s a tightly packed division full of solid, though not spectacular, performances so far. This just might be a hard-fought race for the division title all season long. Let’s look a bit more in-depth, team-by-team.

Cleveland Indians


So far, the Cleveland Indians are the most improved team in the AL’s most improved division. After a horrible 94-loss 2012 season, the Indians are in first place at the quarter post with a 24-17 record. It’s a nice turnaround, but Cleveland fans can be forgiven if they are still cautiously skeptical. They were in first place last year at this time, too, and then fell apart.

Well, last year Cleveland’s hot start was done with smoke and mirrors; they were outscored on the season, even when the Tribe was standing in first. That ain’t the case this year, as Cleveland is above average in run scoring and run prevention.

The Indians' offense has been a real juggernaut so far. They are first in the AL in slugging percentage, second in homers, third in on-base percentage, fourth in doubles, triples, and batting average—yeah, they are hitting pretty darn well. In fact, their team OPS+ is a comically high 121.

Strangely, Cleveland ranks just sixth in runs scored, though. It isn’t as bad as it sounds, as there is a tight pack at the top. If you shift to runs per game, the Indians are tied for third in the AL. Still, to date their bats have been at their worst when it matters most, with lousy numbers when batting in close-and-late situations, as well as when the bases are loaded. Odds are that should improve as the year goes on. Then again, they won’t keep a 121 OPS+ all season long.

Aside from hitting, the Indians' other big strength has been their bullpen. Their main five relievers are all getting the job done. In 78 outings, Chris Perez, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith, and Rich Hill have a 1.96 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning. Granted, there are plenty of unearned runs there, but even adjusting for that fact, you have 2.64 runs allowed per nine innings by the bullpen’s core.

The only thing preventing Cleveland from running away with the division is its starting rotation, and more specifically, the back of their rotation. Justin Masterson and Zach McAllister have been dynamite at the top of the rotation, but the rest of the starters have been dreck. The non-Masterson/McAllister starters have averaged barely five innings per start while posting a 5.67 ERA. It’s a good thing the bullpen has been so good because three times out of five, the club really needs the relievers to save things.

Oh, and last but not least, Cleveland also has been aided by stellar defense, as their defensive efficiency is tops in the league. As bad as the back half of the rotation has been, it could be much worse if the gloves behind them weren’t limiting the number of hits opposing teams got against them. Position players and relievers are giving Cleveland a strong chance to win the division this year.

Detroit Tigers


The Tigers are supposed to win the division, and they very easily could, as they’re clearly in the mix of things.

This Detroit squad is pretty similar to last year’s team. The offense still is anchored heavily by Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. However, the lineup still has some gaping holes at DH and catcher. Overall, the team leads the league in runs scored—and hits, batting average, and on-base percentage—but then again, Comerica Park is playing like an extreme hitters' park so far. Baseball-Reference.com gives it a one-year park factor of 117. Thanks Coors Field copy-cat.

I have no idea what to make of this factor, as Comerica Park isn’t generally considered a hitters' park, let alone a whacky, crazy bat-rific type place.

Detroit’s fielding is still a sore spot; however, it has improved. Instead of being the worst defense in the league (as it was last year), now it’s merely among the worst defenses in the league. Hey, you take your progress where you can find it. (To be fair, the Tigers have a nice fielding average but are pretty bad going by defensive efficiency and total zone. WAR lists their defense as replacement-level).

The starting pitching, on the other hand, is fantastic. Heck, as I write this, uber-ace Justin Verlander has just the third-best ERA in the rotation behind Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister. That isn’t likely to continue, but it’s the case so far. Max Scherzer is also pitching pretty well. Their numbers are that much more impressive when you figure they prevent runs despite the gloves behind them.

The bullpen in Detroit is truly feast of famine. Like Cleveland, Detroit has a solid core of five relievers, as Jose Valverde, Drew Smyly, Darin Downs, Joaquin Benoit, and Al Alburquerque have combined for a 2.11 ERA in 71 outings. Damn shame for Detroit this is the 2010s and not the 1980s, and teams now use more than five relievers. The rest of the bullpen has an ERA north of 7.00 in nearly 40 outings. So, yeah, that hurts.

Looking at this team, you’d expect it to have a better record than a few ticks over .500, but they’ve lost four of six extra-inning games. That ties for the most extra-inning contests and losses by any AL squad so far.

Random note: reliever Alburquerque has a line unlike anyone else. He’s faced 69 batters so far and walked 13 while fanning 26. A majority of people never put the ball in play against him.

Kansas City Royals


For about a month, 2013 looked like it might be the start of something special for the Royals as they won 17 of their first 27. In a break with all recent tradition, they stood in first place in early May. Since then, they’ve reverted to form, dropping nine of their next dozen and are in danger of soon falling under .500.

Their successes have come from pitching and defense, and their failures from hitting. Aside from Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, and Lorenzo Cain, they have no batting threats to speak of.

That’s an understatement, as they have a brutally bad offensive infield. KC'sstarting second and third basemen are hitting under .200, and the shortstop has an empty .252 average. First baseman Eric Hosmer is the only one with an on-base percentage over .300, and he’s barely over it (.320) and is posting an even lower slugging percentage (.313). That’s what you’d expect from a utility infielder, not an everyday first baseman. (Hosmer is also their usual cleanup hitter, and KC vies with Houston for worst production in all baseball from the No. 4 slot.)

On the bright side, the Royals are last in the AL in batter strikeouts. And they’re great on the bases, 30 for 35 in stolen base opportunities. But they still need to figure out a way to steal first.

But Kansas City can pitch. James Shields, Ervin Santana, and Jeremy Guthrie all rank in the top 12 in the AL in ERA, with marks of 2.45, 2.77, and 2.82, respectively. They’ve only used seven relievers all year, and most of them have been pretty damn good. In fact, they are second only to Oakland in bullpen ERA.

Chicago White Sox


The Sox have gotten off to a rocky start. Things have improved for them over the last week, putting them in spitting distance of .500, but if you need a good week to get near .500 early in the season, odds are things aren’t quite going according to plan.

The team lost starting rotation stalwart Gavin Floyd to injury for the year, the bullpen has had some shaky moments, and half of their offense has been a giant black hole of suck. Yet there is a silver lining to this dark cloud for the Sox.

First, as bad as things have gone, they’re still just barely under .500. Five games back with 121 left to play isn’t so bad. Second, this is as bad as they’re going to play all year. It’s hard to imagine them doing much worse.

Just look at Chicago's lineup for a second. At least half of the hitters are replacement level or worse on the season. Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Jeff Keppinger, and Tyler Flowers all have been duds at the plate. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez has a nice batting average but not much more. So far, their entire infield has been even worse than Kansas City’s bunch. And due to injuries, fringe player DeWayne Wise has started in the outfield in almost half of the team's games.

The White Sox just can’t keep hitting this poorly. I’m not saying they’ll be good, but just a less malignant form of bleach. Some guys should improve a bit as the year goes on. Konerko is a decent bet to thurn things around, though he’s unlikely to revert to his prime. Some guys will lose playing time if they keep hitting this poorly. That’s clearly the case with Keppinger, who should find his way to the bench when Gordon Beckham returns from the DL.

Their offense clearly isn’t good and won’t be good, but it might be able to improve from 13th in the AL in runs scored.

Chicago has hung in the race so far despite their woeful hitting due to some typically solid starting pitching. Right now four Sox starters are having good years, with Chris Sale and Jake Peavy both having great seasons. John Danks should return from the DL soon, and, if healthy, should shore up the bottom of the rotation.

It’s funny. Had I written this review a week earlier, it would be a much darker take on the Sox. They were in last place and on pace for a 65-97 season. But in the 2013 AL Central, it takes just a brief winning streak to change things around. They’re still a pretty bad bet to win the division.

They depend on really great pitching, Peavy is always an injury risk, some of their other starting pitchers may fall off the pace, and Danks might not be fully healthy. But it looks like the Sox will be able to hang in there for a while.

Minnesota Twins


Aren’t the Twins supposed to be horrible? They were in 2011-12, dropping 195 games in the past two years. Now, they’re around .500 and were over .500 until a recent slump knocked them back. They’re still break-even in nine-inning contests but have had problems in extra-inning games.

Minnesota only has one bat worth fearing, but my God is it ever fearsome. Joe Mauer is hitting north of .350 with a rather unusual 17:2 ratio of doubles to homers.

However, while the Twins don’t have as many threats in their offense as Kansas City, the lows aren’t as bad as you might guess. Several of Minnesota’s non-Mauer hitters are still decent, and the club’s two main bench players, Oswaldo Arcia and Eduardo Escobar, have been very good.

Traditionally, the strengths of a pitching staff under manager Ron Gardenhire are control and the bullpen, and that’s the case this year. Minnesota is second in the league in fewest walks allowed. The bullpen has been very good, posting an overall ERA of 3.21. While it’s only the third-best bullpen ERA in the division, it’s also the fifth-best in the league.

The starting pitchers, however, can’t strike a person out. In a rather amazing fact for the 21st century, only one of the Twins' main five starting pitchers is averaging better than a strikeout every two innings, and that guy just barely (Pedro Hernandez has 15 strikeouts in 28 innings). Closer Glen Perkins leads the club with 23 strikeouts, a total that puts him tied for 76th in the AL.

The Twins are 12th in the league in ERA and 10th in runs scored. I don’t know how they stand only five games back, but I assume it won’t last.

Summing up


Really, all of these teams have their strengths, but all also clearly are flawed. Whichever squad can do the best job plugging up its holes should end up taking the division. This is one division in which a GM should consider making a trade sooner rather than later if he wants to win this year. That’s especially true for Detroit, Cleveland, and perhaps Kansas City.

Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-20T07:09:15+00:00 5,000 days since Eric Milton’s no-hitter http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/5000-days-since-eric-miltons-no-hitter/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/5000-days-since-eric-miltons-no-hitter/#When:07:01:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-20T07:01:15+00:00 40th anniversary: Bobby Valentine breaks his leg http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/40th-anniversary-bobby-valentine-breaks-his-leg/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/40th-anniversary-bobby-valentine-breaks-his-leg/#When:07:17:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-17T07:17:15+00:00 25th anniversary: The Jose Oquendo Game http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/25th-anniversary-the-jose-oquendo-game/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/25th-anniversary-the-jose-oquendo-game/#When:07:08:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-14T07:08:15+00:00 30th anniversary: Reggie’s 2,000th K http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/30th-anniversary-reggies-2000th-k/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/30th-anniversary-reggies-2000th-k/#When:07:18:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-13T07:18:15+00:00 Last remaining teammates http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/last-remaining-teammates/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/last-remaining-teammates/#When:07:06:15
The last few weeks at THT, I’ve had a theme in my columns: death. Or, to put a more positive spin on it, the theme has been long lives. Well, that sounds better.

Inspired by the recent passing of former Tigers pitcher Virgil Trucks at the ripe old age of 95, I did a lot of looking to figure out who are the longest-lasting players. First, I looked at who lived the longest time after playing in a World Series. Then I looked at the last surviving men to have played for some important managers.

Let’s try something similar to last week. Instead of looking at the last remaining links to managers, let’s look at teammates. When did dugout memories of stars fade completely from memory to history? Who were the last surviving teammates of some of the game’s biggest greats?

Let’s start with Joe DiMaggio. We’ll start with him and keep going back until we find whose teammates are all dead.

Last ones left


At any rate, DiMaggio. He’s both one of the games' iconic greats and someone who retired such a long time ago that there aren’t too many of his teammates left. His last season was 1951, 62 years ago. His last game is about as close to us in time as it is to the Oklahoma land rush.

From those Yankees teams through 1951, there are exactly 13 survivors. Two of those survivors are Hall of Famers. Longtime Yankee ace Whitey Ford went 9-1 as a rookie for the 1950 Yankees. At age 84, Ford is the second-youngest surviving DiMaggio teammate, behind only Bob Wiseler, whoever he is.

Even more well-known that Ford is his old battery mate, Yogi Berra. Famous for his on-field ability and off-field mis-speakings, Berra won 10 world titles, more than any other player. He turned 88 years old on Mothers’ Day. Most of DiMaggio’s other survivors are forgotten role players and marginal major leaguers from the late 1940s and early 1950s Yankees squads.

Go back one year before DiMaggio retired, and you come across the final season of another Hall of Famer, one with a much longer career: Luke Appling. Nicknamed Old Aches and Pains, Appling played for the White Sox from 1930 until 1950. When he began, he shared a dugout with Red Faber, born in 1888. And he lasted so long that a dozen of his teammates are still alive.

Of those 12, five are in their 90s, and a sixth, Bob Kusava, will join them later this month. The oldest is Tom Jordan, who caught a handful of games in 1946 and will turn 94 in September. The youngest, by three years, is Joe Kirrene. An 18-year-old prospect in 1950, Kirrene made his big league debut in Appling’s final game, the last day of the 1950 season. In fact, Kirrene batted just before Appling in the lineup. It would be interesting if Kirrene ended up becoming Appling’s last surviving teammate.

Take it back another year, 1948, and the most important retiring player was shortstop Arky Vaughan. All of his teammates from his glory days with the Pirates have since passed on, but he still has eight teammates left from his final seasons with the Dodgers.

Two terrific players retired in 1947, and here’s where we run into the first player on the verge of fading completely from memory into history. Longtime Giants star Mel Ott was the first NL player ever to hit 500 home runs, and he has only one former teammate left alive: Charlie Mead. When he passes, there will be none left.

The other first-rate player to retire in 1947 is Hank Greenberg, and his teammates have had better health. Eight of them are still alive, including Hall of Fame slugger Ralph Kiner, who was Greenberg’s teammate in his last season with the 1947 Pirates. His most famous surviving Tigers teammate is a player no one associates with Detroit: pitcher Billy Pierce. The Tigers traded him to the White Sox, where he later became a teammate of Appling.

Two notable players left in 1945, hit machine Paul Waner and slugger Jimmie Foxx. Both have approximately seven surviving teammates. The most famous by far is Foxx’s Red Sox teammate Bobby Doerr, the Hall of Fame second baseman.

Let’s go back before Pearl Harbor. 1941 was the final season for superstar pitcher Lefty Grove. (In fact, he announced his retirement on the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, Dec. 7.) When you go this far back, there aren’t may surviving players at all. There are just five people who played in 1941 that are still alive, but one played with Grove. Again, it’s Doerr.

All gone


Go back earlier, and you finally run into people who have no surviving teammates. The most recent all-time great to have no living teammates is the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig. The disease that killed him forced him to retire in 1939. An outfielder for that club was Tommy Henrich, who died on Dec. 1, 2009. He was the last Yankee left who heard Gehrig say that he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. The day Gehrig gave his famous speech, Henrich appeared as a pinch-hitter for the Yankees and made an out.

Speaking of great Yankees, there is none bigger than the Bambino, Babe Ruth. His last living teammate was Billy Werber. A shortstop, Werber played seven games for the early-1930s Yankees before catching on elsewhere as a starter. Werber died on Jan. 22, 2009, and thus narrowly missed being Gehrig’s last living teammate, as well.

Let’s take it back a few more years to 1930, when a trio of early Hall of Famers retired: Eddie Collins, Pete Alexander, and George Sisler. Collins, a four-decade second baseman with well over 3,000 hits, was last survived by first baseman Joe Hauser. The former Philadelphia A’s infielder died at age 98 on July 11, 1997.

Alexander is in the conversation for best pitcher of the 20th century, and ironically his career ended on perhaps the worst pitching staff of the 20th century, the 1930 Phillies. Another member of that Godforsaken staff was Ray Benge, who departed on June 27, 1997.

Sisler isn’t as big a name as either Alexander or Collins, and I’d skip over him if it wasn’t for the oddity of his last surviving teammate. Whereas almost every player’s last surviving teammate is someone he played with at the very end of his career, in Sisler’s case his last living teammate was someone from his rookie season. As a 22-year-old rookie with the 1915 Browns, he was a teammate with a 24-year-old pitcher named Chet "Red" Hoff. As it happened, Hoff became the longest living pro player ever, dying at age 107 on Sept. 17, 1998. Sisler was barely younger than his last living teammate—incredible.

Since we’re mentioning Hoff, it’s also worth noting that he’s the last surviving player with Hall of Fame infielder Bobby Wallace, whose career began in 1894. They overlapped on the 1915 Browns. Admittedly, Wallace was just a coach by then and played only on very rare occasions, but he did play, and Hoff was on the team. Thus, a man who nearly lived into the 21st century can say he played with a Hall of Famer who began playing in the 19th century.

Though the trio of 1930 retirees didn’t have any teammates live into the 21st century, the same can’t be said for the most famous men to quit playing in the late 1920s. Ty Cobb, the all-time leader in batting average, retired in 1928 but had teammate Ray Hayworth pass away on Sept. 25, 2002. Also retiring in 1928 was Tris Speaker, and his last teammate, Paul Hopkins, died on Jan. 2, 2004. Hopkins was also a teammate of Walter Johnson, who retired in 1927.

Taking it back further, you get perhaps the most famous non-Hall of Famer of them all, Black Sox left fielder Shoeless Joe Jackson. He was banned from baseball after the 1920 season, and his last surviving teammate didn’t even make it until 1990, let alone 2000. Zeb Terry passed away in March of 1988.

Let’s see, we’ve mentioned Ruth, Cobb, and Johnson; that’s three of the inaugural Cooperstown class of Hall of Famers. The other two are Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson. Their last survivors are a mixture of obscure and famous. The last man to say he laced up spikes with Wagner was Erv Kantlehner, a forgettable pitcher, who died on Feb. 3, 1990.

Mathewson’s last living teammate was himself a Hall of Famer. In fact, this Hall of Famer served as Mathewson’s teammate on two different squads. On July 20, 1916, John McGraw traded his longtime ace Mathewson along with two kids to the Reds. One of those kids was centerfielder Edd Roush. He lived another 72 years before passing away on March 21, 1988.

There is at least one other Hall of Famer whose last surviving teammate was another Hall of Famer. 19th-century slugger Ed Delahanty might be better remembered for his death than his career. Drunk and going through major emotional problems, he went over Niagra Falls without a barrel in the middle of 1903 after being thrown off the team train for his belligerent behavior.

But during his career, he was one of the best and most feared hitters of his generation. At any rate, while with the Phillies at the turn of the century, he teamed with a young Elmer Flick, who had a tremendous 10-12 year stretch before being felled by injuries. Though Flick’s career was shortened, his life wasn’t. He died at age 94 on Jan. 9, 1911.

Between Mathewson and Delahanty, the most famous player to retire has to be legendary pitcher Cy Young, he of 511 wins fame. While Young neared the end of his line with the 1911 Braves, he had a young infielder named Art Butler on the team. Butler died at age 96 on Oct. 7, 1984, the same day the Cubs lost Game Five of the NLCS to the Padres.

Going back to the 19th century, the pre-Babe Ruth home run champion was first baseman Roger Connor. He retired in 1897, and his last teammate, Ike Samuels, passed away 67 years later, on Feb. 22, 1964, at age 90.

The most famous player from baseball’s first 15 years is Charley "Old Hoss" Radbourn. A pitcher, Radbourn won 59 games in 1884, and has since become the object of a recent book and a current Twitter feed. Radbourn played his last game in 1891, but his final teammate died 61 years later, in 1952. That would be like Joe DiMaggio’s last teammate dying last year.

Well, lifespans were shorter back then. In fact, Radbourn himself didn’t even make it into the 20th century, dying at age 42 in 1897. That was 55 years before Arlie Latham, his 1891 Reds teammate, departed. He was 92 when he died on Nov. 29, 1952.

Radbourn, like Gehrig and everyone in between, has faded into history. Over the next decade or so, the same will be true of Grove, DiMaggio, and those who retired between them. All last living links are eventually broken.

Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-13T07:06:15+00:00 60th anniversary: Whitey Ford’s near no-hitter http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/60th-anniversary-whitey-fords-near-no-hitter/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/60th-anniversary-whitey-fords-near-no-hitter/#When:07:16:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-12T07:16:15+00:00 15,000 days since facial hair returns to baseball http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/15000-days-since-facial-hair-returns-to-baseball/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/15000-days-since-facial-hair-returns-to-baseball/#When:07:01:15
Click here to learn about THT's download subscriptions.]]> Chris Jaffe 2013-05-10T07:01:15+00:00