loved the Ted Kluszewski reference which I have long known and admired. It reminds me of Joe Dimaggio not being known for 349 and 333. Those were his career HR and SO totals going into his final season which some have decried as a season too far. That final year he added 12 HR and 36 SO to take his career numbers to 361 and 369. Had he retired a year earlier he would have the only player ever with more than 300 career HR and fewer SO than HR. he's number 1 on the list of best HR to SO ratio. Number 2 and 3 are Yogi Berra and Kluszewski. 4-10 are Williams,Mize, Musial, Gehrig, Klein, Ott and Barry Bonds.
Another win Joe! But for me the reason to await baseball - is that this last WS was quite a Doozy. Add the Mariners vs. Blue Jays series, and oh gosh, really good baseball and close games ... all the way to the end.
Two coaching little things stick in my mind - the first was PATS vs. Seahawks SB - Marshawn had driven the ball down to the 2 or 3. Clock Ticking. And for whatever reason, BB did not call a timeout... So then the Seahawks.... blew it. The no timeout call... a small coaching decision but it paid off.
The 2nd came in the WS, last game, late in the game, Dave Roberts inserts Andy Pages in CF. Mr. Hit it (Ernie Clement) hits it deep.... Though Pages runs into Hernandez, he makes the catch! And the Dodgers start clawing back...
I love the manager handing over the ball to the new reliever. No, I love the manager taking it out of the current pitcher's hand. As if it's the only one. "Look we need to keep this game going, and you're not going to be part of it, so I'm going to need that ball."
College baseball; starts in 10 days if you want to see a baseball thrown in anger. Most of the first weekend games are mismatches but there's a fun series in Surprise, Arizona between Stanford, Arizona, Michigan, and Oregon St. And Globe Life in Arlington will see its first competitive games of the year: The Shriner's Series features Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and Vanderbilt. Good ball... and cheap!
I'm also reminded by Joe's story that Skip Bertman at LSU didn't take the ball from his pitcher, he had the pitcher hand the ball off to whoever was relieving him to show comraderie and faith in your teammate to finish the job. A small wrinkle, but one I always liked.
Your comment on Kluszewski hitting 40 homers while striking out less than 40 times reminds me of Stan Musial's 1943 season when he hit 20 triples and only struck out 18 times.
And, while we are pondering stats, here's one: .242. That's the batting average of Cleveland Indians outfielder John Lowenstein in BOTH 1974 and 1975. Then he slumped in 1976 to .205.
But in 1977, he bounced back to his old self AND AGAIN HIT .242!
I just checked out Mickey Vernon's BBR page, and it seems like he is a forgotten star. Two batting titles, 7 x AS, and 2495 hits. He also missed two full seasons to military service. Based on his seasons before and after those two years, he probably puts up at least 300 more hits (assuming no injuries). That gets him to around 2800 hits, and there are no eligible players with more than 2800 hits who aren't in the HOF unless they have some sort of scandal associated with them.
It's interesting to look back at players who missed years due to military service, segregation, lockouts and strikes, epidemics, etc. and wonder what could have been. I'm sure there will be a few borderline guys who fall short of milestones due to the Covid shortened season and the looming lockout.
loved the Ted Kluszewski reference which I have long known and admired. It reminds me of Joe Dimaggio not being known for 349 and 333. Those were his career HR and SO totals going into his final season which some have decried as a season too far. That final year he added 12 HR and 36 SO to take his career numbers to 361 and 369. Had he retired a year earlier he would have the only player ever with more than 300 career HR and fewer SO than HR. he's number 1 on the list of best HR to SO ratio. Number 2 and 3 are Yogi Berra and Kluszewski. 4-10 are Williams,Mize, Musial, Gehrig, Klein, Ott and Barry Bonds.
Another win Joe! But for me the reason to await baseball - is that this last WS was quite a Doozy. Add the Mariners vs. Blue Jays series, and oh gosh, really good baseball and close games ... all the way to the end.
Two coaching little things stick in my mind - the first was PATS vs. Seahawks SB - Marshawn had driven the ball down to the 2 or 3. Clock Ticking. And for whatever reason, BB did not call a timeout... So then the Seahawks.... blew it. The no timeout call... a small coaching decision but it paid off.
The 2nd came in the WS, last game, late in the game, Dave Roberts inserts Andy Pages in CF. Mr. Hit it (Ernie Clement) hits it deep.... Though Pages runs into Hernandez, he makes the catch! And the Dodgers start clawing back...
Mike Bossy was known for his wrist shot. (Isles fan since inception.)
I love the manager handing over the ball to the new reliever. No, I love the manager taking it out of the current pitcher's hand. As if it's the only one. "Look we need to keep this game going, and you're not going to be part of it, so I'm going to need that ball."
College baseball; starts in 10 days if you want to see a baseball thrown in anger. Most of the first weekend games are mismatches but there's a fun series in Surprise, Arizona between Stanford, Arizona, Michigan, and Oregon St. And Globe Life in Arlington will see its first competitive games of the year: The Shriner's Series features Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and Vanderbilt. Good ball... and cheap!
I'm also reminded by Joe's story that Skip Bertman at LSU didn't take the ball from his pitcher, he had the pitcher hand the ball off to whoever was relieving him to show comraderie and faith in your teammate to finish the job. A small wrinkle, but one I always liked.
Poetry, pure poetry. Thank you!
Magnificent!!
I love every word of this and now I desperately need the Shohei 5 HR perfect game.
I love this soooo much.
.247, a number Joe has told us about before...
The batting average of Khris Davis for FOUR years in a row, 2015-18 (and .244 in 2014)
Your comment on Kluszewski hitting 40 homers while striking out less than 40 times reminds me of Stan Musial's 1943 season when he hit 20 triples and only struck out 18 times.
And, while we are pondering stats, here's one: .242. That's the batting average of Cleveland Indians outfielder John Lowenstein in BOTH 1974 and 1975. Then he slumped in 1976 to .205.
But in 1977, he bounced back to his old self AND AGAIN HIT .242!
Good stuff, Joe.
This is why.
We missed you in Naples today, Joe—truly hope you can reschedule. Stay safe!
I just checked out Mickey Vernon's BBR page, and it seems like he is a forgotten star. Two batting titles, 7 x AS, and 2495 hits. He also missed two full seasons to military service. Based on his seasons before and after those two years, he probably puts up at least 300 more hits (assuming no injuries). That gets him to around 2800 hits, and there are no eligible players with more than 2800 hits who aren't in the HOF unless they have some sort of scandal associated with them.
It's interesting to look back at players who missed years due to military service, segregation, lockouts and strikes, epidemics, etc. and wonder what could have been. I'm sure there will be a few borderline guys who fall short of milestones due to the Covid shortened season and the looming lockout.