I love that Pedro's thorn was Piazza. One of the greatest games I ever attended was Expos @ Dodgers in 1997, Pedro vs. Ismael Valdes. The Dodgers won 1-0 on a Piazza homer and Otis Nixon twice went over the fence to rob David Segui of a home run.
Jimmy Wynn was my absolute favorite player when he was with the Dodgers. But since I was in LA, I noticed that there wasn't a ton of overlap with Nolan Ryan. Most of it had to be when Nolan was walking everyone (nearly 7 per 9 innings his last season) with the Mets & earned his way out of town via trade to the Angels. It wasn't until he was with the Angels that it started to come together for him. Wynn had a few at bats in his last season when he split time with the Yankees and Brewers. But I can't imagine he faced Ryan much that season, and I can't imagine it went well. He hit .175 that final season.
Joe. Look up Chris Hoiles vs Randy Johnson. I think that's your guy for who owned him. I don't have access to the stats but I think Hoiles was his nemesis
I did a similar exercise a year or so ago looking at these match-up’s, I believe Whitey Ford was well up there. On Seaver, I always recall Tommy Hutton owning him.
That’s who I thought of as well. And we were correct - Hutton did hit Seaver: batting 320 against him in 62 plate appearances, with 11 walks, three home runs and 11 RBI.
I knew there was going to be a Spahn vs. Musial reference in there somewhere! I once had a "coffee table" baseball book on the great, fun, cool, amazing moments from the last 50 years in MLB. One of the chapters was on Spahn vs. Musial.... You had two all-time greats, with VERY long careers, both in the same league, and before expansion. Naturally, they'd face each other A LOT....
Joe, I think I speak for everyone when I say you have to tell the Billy Williams Bob Gibson story. If you've written it I must have read it, but I don't remember. At least post a link where we can find it please.
I read a column about Gene Mauch decades ago in which Mauch told of watching Fergie Jenkins & Richie Hebner box scores. Seems Fergie threw low fastballs & Richie hit low fastballs. If Richie hit Fergie, then both men were on top of their games. Must be some reason I remembered that all this time,
But that HR he hit against the Expos was the #1 highlight of his career. He rescued the Dodgers & sent them to the World Series. I watched that HR from a pizza joint while waiting for a Pizza before going back to work. I thought I was about to watch the Dodgers go down in flames. Then Monday struck. I believe it went out over centerfield at Montreal stadium. My apologies if the details aren't entirely clear 40 years later. In my mind, it's second to the Kirk Gibson HR in the LA Dodger history of big HRs.
What a fun article. A baseball nerd article, meant as the highest compliment. You really can’t do this for other team sports, because the pitcher- batter dynamic is unique in a team setting.
But you could do the same for tennis. Most are familiar with the head to head of the big 3, but there are tons of other players- men and women for which a similar analysis would be fun.
Got to meet Seaver back in 1998 when he came to the middle school I teach at to talk to the captains of our sports teams (he was a spokesman for Chase and one of the dads was a VP there and set it up). I remember him saying Warren Cromartie always gave him trouble. Wonder if that's true.
Yes, the 60s Giants were famous for having tons of talent and not winning. Not only did they develop McCovey, Cepeda, Marichal, Perry, the Alou brothers, Hart, and Bill White in a short span of years, they had Willie Freaking Mays during that whole time. They did win a pennant in 1962, but sheesh.
They just couldn't get by the Koufax/Drysdale Dodgers. They won over 90 games eight times in the 60s, won the NL once and finished 2nd 5 times. When the Dodgers run ended in 1967, Mays was 35 and the team was starting to age. Also, the Cardinals started to be the dominant team. They still seemed, at that point, to have the every day lineup, plus the pitching that they had been lacking to win. Looking at their lineups, it's hard to imagine, but in those days you had to win the entire league or there was no playoffs.
Randy Johnson - I'm curious how many of those 26 walks Rickey turned into doubles by stealing second and how many resulted in a run.
I love that Pedro's thorn was Piazza. One of the greatest games I ever attended was Expos @ Dodgers in 1997, Pedro vs. Ismael Valdes. The Dodgers won 1-0 on a Piazza homer and Otis Nixon twice went over the fence to rob David Segui of a home run.
Jimmy Wynn was my absolute favorite player when he was with the Dodgers. But since I was in LA, I noticed that there wasn't a ton of overlap with Nolan Ryan. Most of it had to be when Nolan was walking everyone (nearly 7 per 9 innings his last season) with the Mets & earned his way out of town via trade to the Angels. It wasn't until he was with the Angels that it started to come together for him. Wynn had a few at bats in his last season when he split time with the Yankees and Brewers. But I can't imagine he faced Ryan much that season, and I can't imagine it went well. He hit .175 that final season.
Weekend Fun Read idea: Strange statistical combinations (either for season or career) that only one player has achieved:
For example, something like: Only player to hit 35 doubles, have 15 steals, no caught stealings, and 10 hit by pitch in a single season
Joe. Look up Chris Hoiles vs Randy Johnson. I think that's your guy for who owned him. I don't have access to the stats but I think Hoiles was his nemesis
Nice! Hoiles did indeed do quite well against Johnson, hitting .290/.421/.710 with 4 HRs and 6 walks in 38 PAs.
I did a similar exercise a year or so ago looking at these match-up’s, I believe Whitey Ford was well up there. On Seaver, I always recall Tommy Hutton owning him.
That’s who I thought of as well. And we were correct - Hutton did hit Seaver: batting 320 against him in 62 plate appearances, with 11 walks, three home runs and 11 RBI.
Thanks for the work. Was too lazy yesterday to look it up
I knew there was going to be a Spahn vs. Musial reference in there somewhere! I once had a "coffee table" baseball book on the great, fun, cool, amazing moments from the last 50 years in MLB. One of the chapters was on Spahn vs. Musial.... You had two all-time greats, with VERY long careers, both in the same league, and before expansion. Naturally, they'd face each other A LOT....
Joe, I think I speak for everyone when I say you have to tell the Billy Williams Bob Gibson story. If you've written it I must have read it, but I don't remember. At least post a link where we can find it please.
I think we need one of these done for power-washing specialist Brandon McCarthy.
Kershaw's Strat cards IIRC always kill RH's and give up power to LH's. Which plays right into Dunn's wheelhouse
I read a column about Gene Mauch decades ago in which Mauch told of watching Fergie Jenkins & Richie Hebner box scores. Seems Fergie threw low fastballs & Richie hit low fastballs. If Richie hit Fergie, then both men were on top of their games. Must be some reason I remembered that all this time,
Of course, Rick Monday’s primary claim to fame will always be his appearance as part of the Big Blue Wrecking Crew.
But that HR he hit against the Expos was the #1 highlight of his career. He rescued the Dodgers & sent them to the World Series. I watched that HR from a pizza joint while waiting for a Pizza before going back to work. I thought I was about to watch the Dodgers go down in flames. Then Monday struck. I believe it went out over centerfield at Montreal stadium. My apologies if the details aren't entirely clear 40 years later. In my mind, it's second to the Kirk Gibson HR in the LA Dodger history of big HRs.
What a fun article. A baseball nerd article, meant as the highest compliment. You really can’t do this for other team sports, because the pitcher- batter dynamic is unique in a team setting.
But you could do the same for tennis. Most are familiar with the head to head of the big 3, but there are tons of other players- men and women for which a similar analysis would be fun.
Got to meet Seaver back in 1998 when he came to the middle school I teach at to talk to the captains of our sports teams (he was a spokesman for Chase and one of the dads was a VP there and set it up). I remember him saying Warren Cromartie always gave him trouble. Wonder if that's true.
According to Baseball-Reference, in 62 PA Cromartie hit .317/.339/.400 with 5 doubles and 5 Ks against Seaver. Not bad; I'd take it.
Yes, the 60s Giants were famous for having tons of talent and not winning. Not only did they develop McCovey, Cepeda, Marichal, Perry, the Alou brothers, Hart, and Bill White in a short span of years, they had Willie Freaking Mays during that whole time. They did win a pennant in 1962, but sheesh.
They just couldn't get by the Koufax/Drysdale Dodgers. They won over 90 games eight times in the 60s, won the NL once and finished 2nd 5 times. When the Dodgers run ended in 1967, Mays was 35 and the team was starting to age. Also, the Cardinals started to be the dominant team. They still seemed, at that point, to have the every day lineup, plus the pitching that they had been lacking to win. Looking at their lineups, it's hard to imagine, but in those days you had to win the entire league or there was no playoffs.
Bench hit three homers in one game off Carlton. Twice.