For the first ten years (one year was not played) it was played, the World Series was not the affair it is recognized for today. It was simply an event for the city it was playing in and a place for gambling. In his new book The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912, Mike Vaccaro claims that 1912 was the year that the Series captured the hearts of Americans and transcends into America’s Pastime.

Vaccaro paints a vivid and engrossing picture of the hostile conditions that surrounded the 1912 event, putting the New York Giants and the Boston Red Sox. The Giants, led by legendary hurler Christy Mathewson and revered and hated manager John McGraw, against the Red Sox, known as “The Speed Boys” and featuring future Hall of Famer Tris Speaker and phenom Smoky Joe Wood.

Far from what we see today – pitch counts, pitching specialists, middle-relievers – baseball at the turn of the 20^th century featured toughness that isn’t seen often today.

Smoky Joe Wood, worn out from the regular season, fought through nine indomitable innings in game one to give the Sox an early series lead. Giants hurler Jeff Tessreau’s fingernail would later be ripped off his middle finger. Speaker played through a severely sprained ankle. Players talked trash in newspapers about the opposing teams, and sometimes their own team.

Vaccaro presents baseball’s seedier side. The affairs that took place in 1912 predated the infamous Black Sox Scandal and are nearly as disturbing. With his team leading the Series 3-1, Sox owner James McAleer made it clear to manager Jake Stahl to bench a rested Wood in New York in order to force an additional home game and thus an extra day of gate sales. In fact, McAleer was quoted as saying he wouldn’t mind if the Series went 21-games.

Not only sports-oriented, The First Fall Classic also shares what happens in America during that time. Vaccaro shares courtroom scenes from the ongoing trial of the young century, Charles Becker, a corrupt NYPD lieutenant, was accused of arranging the murder of a bookmaker. On the campaign trail, three presidential hopefuls offered little hope of social or racial equality. Taft was seen as a sports fanatic and Roosevelt as a bull-moose while Wilson was seen as an overt racist.

Vaccaro claims that the 1912 Series elevates baseball to a national obsession, but outside of Beantown or Gotham, does not provide evidence as to how that was possible.

The Series itself was not even that spectacular in the first place. It was simply too many errors (28 in eight games, compared to 25 in the 1919 fixed-Series) the blunders by the players and coaching staff, an owner who messed with his own team, arrogant players on the Giants, and Red Sox players who fought on the team train, and loyal fans of the Red Sox who were denied their usual seats, all for the sense of profit. The Series ended with an anti-climactic sacrifice fly, to the delight of a half-empty Fenway Park.

The First Fall Classic, however, has touched upon the subject of how baseball has been a huge factor in American society. What Vaccaro does well is painting the Series of 1912 against the events happening in the second decade of the 20^th century. The book is a page-turner sure to entertain sports junkies (especially this Red-Sox hater).

The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912
by Mike Vaccaro
Doubleday, 2009

Charles Taylor “Piano Legs” Hickman

Born: 3/4/1876 Taylortown, Pa

Died: 4/19/1934 Morgantown, West Virginia

Charles Hickman, AKA Piano Legs, was also called Cheerful Charlie by teammates and fans alike, because of his outgoing, affable character on and off the field. His father was named Isaac Newton Hickman, which makes me think his grandfather was a real hoot at parties. He was called Piano Legs because of his heavily muscled legs and the slow ponderous foot speed that came with them.

He was signed by Frank Selee in 1896 to be a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters, but saw little action over the 3 seasons in Boston, shuffling between the minors and the big club. He appeared in just 40 games both on the mound and in the outfield and 1st base. After compiling a 6-0 record in 1899 he experienced arm problems half way through the season and did not pitch again for the Beaneaters.

He was sold to the Giants for the 1900 season where he was made the starting 3rd baseman. Hickman proved to be a fine hitter with a .313 average, which included a 27 game hitting streak, and 9 home runs, which was good for 4th in the league. His defensive abilities were another story. Never graceful on the base paths or fielding his position, Hickman committed 86 errors while playing 120 games at 3rd. Still a major league record for fielding futility. After slumping in 1901 Hickman was dealt to the American League. After just 28 games with Boston he was sold to Cleveland, primarily do to his inability to field his position. He would finish with a .361 average, 11 home runs and 110 rbi. All good for 2nd place in the league. He would also commit 40 errors at first base. During the season Hickman, Nap Lajoie, and Bill Bradley would become the 1st teammates to hit back to back to back home runs.

In 1903 Hickman would hit 12 home runs and drive in 97, both once again, good for 2nd in the league.

Partially do to his fielding acumen, and his inability to get along with manager Bill Armour, Hickman was dealt to the Tigers during the 1904 season. In 1905 Bill Armour would become manager of the Tigers, and would rub the affable Hickman the wrong way once again. He would be sold to the Senators and would hit .311 while committing 38 errors in just 85 games at 2nd. During the season he would commit 5 errors in a game at 2nd base, another record for fielding futility for Piano Legs.

Over the next 3 seasons he would see limited playing time with 3 different teams. While his hitting was still pretty good, he was never able to play the field at any position, with anything even approaching acceptable.  Throughout his career he would play every position except catcher and would prove equally inept at all of them. A knee injury in 1908 slowed him down even more, and no team signed him for the 1909 season. He would go on to play in the American Association for 3 years putting up impressive offensive numbers, but his inability to field any position and his ponderous base running would finally bring his career to an end in 1911. He would retire at the age of just 35.

During retirement he would scout for the Indians on and off for 14 years. He would coach baseball at West Virginia University for 5 years, serve 3 terms as Mayor of Morgantown, as well as 1 term as sheriff. He would die from heart problems at the age of 58 in 1934.

Piano Legs Hickman was one of the more powerful sluggers of the deadball era. He once cleared the left field wall by 100 feet at League Park in Cleveland, a distance approaching 500 feet. He is routinely compared to Babe Ruth for his ability to hit a baseball for long distances.

“There used to be a man on the Giants, named Charley Hickman. He was one of the best natural hitters who ever wormed his way into baseball, but when he got on, the bases were blocked.”

                                         Christy Mathewson, Pitching In A Pinch

Batting Record
Year Team             G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB HBP  SH   SB   AVG   OBP   SLG   BFW Year Team
1897 BOS N            2     3    1    2   0   0   1    2    0   0   0    0  .667  .667 1.667   0.0 1897 BOS N
1898 BOS N           19    58    4   15   2   0   0    7    1   1   1    0  .259  .283  .293  -0.3 1898 BOS N
1899 BOS N           19    63   15   25   2   7   0   15    2   2   1    1  .397  .433  .651   0.0 1899 BOS N
1900 NY  N          127   473   65  148  19  17   9   91   17  17   4   10  .313  .359  .482   1.7 1900 NY  N
1901 NY  N          112   406   44  113  20   6   4   62   15   7   0    5  .278  .315  .387  -0.1 1901 NY  N
1902 BOS A           28   108   13   32   5   2   3   16    3   4   0    1  .296  .339  .463  -0.1 1902 BOS A
1902 CLE A          102   426   61  161  31  11   8   94   12   3   8    8  .378  .399  .559   2.7 1902 CLE A
1902 TOT A          130   534   74  193  36  13  11  110   15   7   8    9  .361  .387  .539   2.6 1902 TOT A
1903 CLE A          131   522   64  154  31  11  12   97   17   6   7   14  .295  .325  .466   1.3 1903 CLE A
1904 CLE A           86   337   34   97  22  10   4   45   13   2   9    9  .288  .318  .448   1.6 1904 CLE A
1904 DET A           42   144   18   35   6   6   2   22   11   0   4    3  .243  .297  .410   0.1 1904 DET A
1904 TOT A          128   481   52  132  28  16   6   67   24   2  13   12  .274  .312  .437   1.7 1904 TOT A
1905 DET A           59   213   21   47  12   3   2   20   12   5   6    3  .221  .278  .333  -0.2 1905 DET A
1905 WAS A           88   360   48  112  25   9   2   46    9   2   8    3  .311  .332  .447   2.8 1905 WAS A
1905 TOT A          147   573   69  159  37  12   4   66   21   7  14    6  .277  .311  .405   2.6 1905 TOT A
1906 WAS A          120   451   53  128  25   5   9   57   14   4   8    9  .284  .311  .421   1.2 1906 WAS A
1907 WAS A           60   198   20   55   9   3   1   23   14   4   1    4  .278  .338  .369   0.5 1907 WAS A
1907 CHI A           21    23    1    6   2   0   0    1    4   0   0    0  .261  .370  .348   0.1 1907 CHI A
1907 TOT A           81   221   21   61  11   3   1   24   18   4   1    4  .276  .342  .367   0.6 1907 TOT A
1908 CLE A           65   197   16   46   6   1   2   16    9   1   2    2  .234  .271  .305  -0.6 1908 CLE A
Total NL ( 5 Years) 279  1003  129  303  43  30  14  177   35  27   6   16  .302  .343  .447   1.3 Total NL
Total AL ( 7 Years) 802  2979  349  873 174  61  45  437  118  31  53   56  .293  .327  .438   9.4 Total AL
Total    (12 Years)1081  3982  478 1176 217  91  59  614  153  58  59   72  .295  .331  .440  10.7 Total

I’m not sure if this will be a regular feature or not (and if so, any suggestions for a catchier title are more than welcome!), but here are a few links to sports-related stuff I’ve enjoyed reading this week…

Baseball

The Mets injury crisis has been well covered with Weekly Hit Ground Ball: If the Mets didn’t have bad luck … (Baseball GB) and a rather nifty graphic of how often each Met was hurt via A picture of disarray (The Hardball Times).

A look back at past technology with Clocking Pitch Speed in 1917 (Wezen Ball).

Flip Flop Fly Ball has updated with some more fun baseball infographics. Well worth a look.

I also finished reading Roger Kahn’s The Head Game. He really is a great writer, genuinely warm and interesting, and this was a fascinating look at the history of baseball through the perspective of the pitcher. Christy Mathewson was quite the player, wasn’t he?

Football

Twohundredpercent has just had a refit, and always is full of good content, covering every level of football.

So, what have you enjoyed looking at this week?

Jonathan Sanchez erupts with excitement after tossing a no-hitter.

Friday night the city of San Francisco erupted as Jonathan Sanchez stunned fans across the nation with a no-hitter. Sanchez was fantastic from start to finish. He dominated San Diego’s lineup with his fastball for the first three innings. Then in the fifth Sanchez unloaded the junk, dazzling the opposition, the umpires, and the crowd. Sanchez struck out a career best, 11, and 8 of those K’s came in the fifth inning or later.

As each frame read “0″ across the scoreboard, fans began to understand the uniqueness of the occasion. Sanchez was perfect through seven innings. No hits, no walks, no errors. He even managed to get by Tony Gwynn in the 7th. Gwynn had broken up Lincecum’s no-hit bid in the 7th the night before.

Meanwhile the offense poured 7 runs of support for Sanchez. Pablo Sandoval contributed to his rock-star season with a 420 ft bomb to deep right-center field. Although it didn’t matter at that point, Sanchez was untouchable.

As tension mounted around AT&T Park, fans began avoiding the words, “no-hitter” and “perfect game”. In a community full of superstitious freaks nobody wants to jinx the bid.

Sanchez is greeted in the dugout by his father.

Chase Headley was up next with five outs away from the perfect game. Headley tomahawked a ground-ball to third base. Juan Uribe jumped out in front of the ball and knocked it to the ground with his chest. Uribe, with a rocket arm, bobbled the ball one-too-many times to get Headley out at first. The perfect game was lost. As the stomaches of 30,000 plus people wrenched, the scoreboard flashed “E5″. Relief. The no-hitter was still intact. Sanchez regained the momentum by inducing a fly out and a strike out to end the inning

In the top of the ninth inning, Sanchez toed the rubber in attempt to make baseball history. Renteria fielded the first ball cleanly to put out Luis Rodriguez at first. Edgar Gonzalez batted next. Again Sanchez’s fastball was launched into the deep part of the outfield. Jonathan didn’t even bother to watch the ball, he was disgusted. But as Aaron Rowand went full sprint into the wall, he somehow ended up with the ball in his glove. There was simply magic in the air. Rowand completed yet another fantastic play in center.

26 outs of no-hit baseball and now Everth Cabrera was the only blockade between Sanchez and a trip to the history books. Sanchez threw two quick balls but got a foul and a called strike to follow up. One pitch left. Sanchez hung Cabrera up with a nasty curve that bit down from the top of the strike zone. Brian Runge, the home-plate umpire, waved his hands with authority to call the third strike. The stadium and the players burst into celebration. Possibly one of the most exciting moments since Barry Bonds set the homerun record. Fans began hugging each other, some even broke into tears. Sanchez and his father certainly did.

Jonathan Sanchez sent shock waves through the San Francisco baseball community. He let the nation be introduced to just how special 2009 baseball has been for San Francisco. He overcame his recent struggles and took advantage of his chance for redemption. Sanchez imprinted his name in the history of baseball.

Pitch Count
It was the first no-hitter by a Giant since 1976 and the first in the waterfront stadium. The last Giant to pitch a no-hitter was John Montefusco. Ed Halicki did it as well the year before Montefusco. There have been 5 players to pitch a no-hitter as a San Francisco Giant and 13 total in franchise history; Christy Mathewson did it twice (1901 and 1905).

Jonathan Sanchez tips his cap to 30,000 fans chanting his name.

On Friday night Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres, striking out eleven while not walking a batter.  The only baserunner for the Padres came on an eighth-inning error by third baseman Juan Uribe (who had entered the game as a defensive replacement — oof).

This got me wondering about how many other no-hitters there have been where the pitcher did not issue a walk or hit a batter, but didn’t get a perfect game because of an error.  After doing some checking, I think I have a complete list of such occurrences since 1901.

[There are a few games in the 1880s that are also possibilities, but I can't find information that would confirm their status as perfectos-but-for-error(s).  One reason for this is that hit by pitches are often not listed, as opposed to walks, in simplified box scores and writeups.  It may well be that Pud Galvin would have thrown two perfect games but for errors, but I don't really have a way to check (unless I have failed spectacularly as a google-meister).  Other 19th-century pitchers who may qualify in this category include "Old Hoss" Radbourn, Charlie Buffinton, and John Clarkson.]

Anyway, here is the list since the founding of the American League.  Again, it’s always possible I missed one, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, but I think I got them all:

• Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants, 6/13/1905, against the Cubs.  He beat Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown in this game to pick up his second career no-hitter.  Two Cubs reached base via errors.  Mathewson won 31 games in 1905, and of course famously threw three shutouts in the World Series that year as well (the last one on one day’s rest).  In their next matchup, Brown began a streak of nine straight wins over Mathewson.
• Nap Rucker of the Brooklyn Superbas (later Dodgers), 9/5/1908, against Boston (known as the Doves at that time).  Three baserunners reached on errors.  Rucker, who struck out 14 batters in this game, was a fine lefty with the misfortune of pitching for some bad Brooklyn teams.  He finished with a career record of 134-134.  Rucker was later in life the mayor of Roswell, Georgia.
• Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators, 7/1/1920, against the Red Sox in Boston.  The only baserunner for the Red Sox reached on an error by second baseman Bucky Harris in the seventh inning (who had driven in the game’s only run in the top of the frame).  This was Johnson’s first career no-hitter.  Unfortunately, it was also his last victory in 1920, as he developed a sore arm following the game and only made two more appearances on the mound the rest of the season.
• Bill McCahan of the Philadelphia Athletics, 9/3/1947, against Washington.  The only baserunner for the Senators came with one out in the second inning, when first baseman Ferris Fain botched a toss to McCahan on a pitcher-covering-first play.  McCahan had starred in baseball and basketball at Duke, and in addition to pitching for the Athletics played in the National Basketball League (a forerunner of the NBA) for the Syracuse Nationals.
• Dick Bosman of the Cleveland Indians, 7/19/1974, against Oakland.  The only baserunner of the game for the A’s came on Bosman’s own throwing error in the fourth inning.  The following year, he was actually traded to Oakland.  Bosman, who won the AL ERA title in 1965, is also known for starting the first game for the Texas Rangers (and the last one for Washington before that version of the Senators moved to Texas).  He was also a pitching coach in the majors for a number of years.
• Jerry Reuss of the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6/27/1980, against San Francisco.  Reuss beat the Giants 8-0 at Candlestick, striking out only two batters but allowing only one baserunner, which happened when shortstop Bill Russell committed a throwing error in the first inning.  1980 was a great year for Reuss, who won 18 games, finished second in the Cy Young voting to Steve Carlton, and was selected by The Sporting News as its Comeback Player of the Year.  He was also the winning pitcher in that year’s All-Star Game.
• Terry Mulholland of the Philadelphia Phillies, 8/15/1990, against San Francisco.  This was the 8th no-hitter pitched in 1990.  The only baserunner allowed by Mulholland came on a seventh-inning error by third baseman Charlie Hayes.  However, Hayes caught a line drive by Gary Carter to end the game, preserving the no-hitter.  In June of 1989, Mulholland and Hayes had been traded to Philly — by the Giants (in the Steve Bedrosian deal).
• Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants, 7/10/2009, against San Diego.

It’s been a while since I purchased anything on eBay. In fact, it’s been so long that it’s been six months since I’ve posted an official New Addition post, sans the one I wrote a few weeks ago regarding the trade with Night Owl. Anyway, Here are the goodies, one nice card for a set I’m building, and a few others for my collection and for a non-card collecting friend who was in awe over one 2009 card featuring Christy Mathewson.

Might as well start with the 2008 Allen & Ginter  Baseball Icons Babe Ruth pictured on the right. I LOVE this insert set. Ginter+Mini+Baseball Icons=AWESOME. Sorry to sound like a goof ball, but everything I’ve written is tfact. This mini set is probably my favorite insert set in the last decade, if not longer. Ruth, obviously, is the most expensive card in the set, and at one point was selling for $10-$12 cash. I got this one for less than $5 shipped. Very happy.

The next group of cards all came from the same seller. I paid $1 to $1.29 for every single one of these … and I got free shipping. In a nutshell, that’s 8 cards for just over $8. The cash value isn’t very high, but the intrinsic value is off the charts.

We’ll start with  a pair of Red Sox: 2009 Topps Turkey Red Jacoby Ellsbury, and 2009 Goudey Red Four In One Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon and Justin Masterson. I might already have the Ellsbury — need to double check; I’m behind on updating my Red Sox Collection — but there will always be someone else who can use it should I not. The Goudey card I definitely need.

Being a Red Sox fan, I am not big on buying Yankee cards — unless they are of baseball legends: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig … and on occasion Derek Jeter. I could have done without this card, but in order to get free shipping, I had to buy one more card. Dude, a Derek Jeter card serial numbered to just 25 copies, essentially for free? I’ll take it … even if it is 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones, home of the 5 bazillion serial numbered subsets.

And now onto some more New School featuring Old School cards.

In February, I purchased a hobby box of 2009 Topps baseball and posted the break. Among the cards I pulled was a Turkey Red Insert of Christy Mathewson. At the time, a friend of mine — who does not collect cards — was jocking the Mathewson as he is his favorite pitcher of all time. Then about three weeks ago we went to a Giants-A’s game (Lincecum pitched a complete game shutout) and this friend again asked about the card. Mind you 1) he is not a card collector, 2) this is now some four months later. Well, I love the card too, so I was not giving it to him. BUT, that didn’t mean I couldn’t find a copy for him. Fast forward to last week. I searched for the card, found it and that’s what started this whole little purchase. Below are some Turkey Red inserts of Hall of Famers, some of the ones I’d been hoping to obtain via trade. I ended up with the Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Pee Wee Reese and two Honus Wagners. My friend also digs Wagner. Then again, who doesn’t.

King Kelly, now- beloved base-skipper

Doug Glanville posted a New York Times column about the A-Rod pitch-tipping allegation, in which he argues that:

If in fact there was a pitch-tipping scheme, I would expect a full investigation, not just of Alex but of any player who would share information with his opponent. It is that serious.

It’s a little hard for me to view this whole tipping sidenote with the stern and worried attitude that Glanville presents in the column. In 50 years, such episodes will be remembered fondly, as signs that baseball was still a quirky game with lots of little ins and outs and rules-trifling trickery. Excepting steroids (which I consider an entirely different level of “oh shit”), Pete Rose and the Black Sox scandal, the baseball literati and fanerati look back on most of the gambling and cheating and boozing and fighting from the old days as symbols of freewheeling charm and the anti-establishment nature of the game, with the canonization of rogue leagues and managers and players who were giant assholes. Here I’m thinking of your King Kellys (drank himself to death, ran from first to third directly), and your Ty Cobbs (old X-ACTO-Spikes).

It’s notable perhaps that pitch-tipping to the other team can affect the outcome of the game, in the manner of “throwing” a game. It remains, though, that if Honus Wagner devised a secret code between he and Nap Lajoie, with a double shuffle-left hand twitch-triple-spit, it’d be a fantastic quip about the simpatico between baseball legends. The stories that survive over time are those that transgress. The only incidences of nicety that last are those involving extreme nicety (Christy “The Christian Gentleman” Mathewson comes to mind).

Not so cute when it's contemporary.

In times like these, it bears remembering that people used to really fucking hate pirates. The global outrage over this Somali pirate business, with calls for government actions and protections and whatnot, echoes the way populations used to view the pirates of yesteryear. The bastards impeded commerce and scared everybody. Now, of course, our nations most beloved hero is a pirate: Ross Ohlendorf.

All I’m saying is that, as ever, let’s be careful about the nature of our unrest. For there will come a time when we’ll laugh at ourselves and the mess we made back then.

My wife Corinn arrived, donning her best New York Yankees cap, and sat down next to me.  The Inn’s owner, Mr. Loring Schultz, was there getting his place ready for a busy afternoon.  He walked passed us and stopped to comment on my wife’s hat.  He asked her if she was a baseball fan, she replied yes and I said I was as well.  Mr. Schultz then asked us if we knew the name of a Hall of Fame player who was born and raised in Gettysburg.  My wife looked at me for help, and I turned, scratching my head, to Chris.  None of us had any idea.  No matter how many hints he gave us, we had no clue.

“Eddie Plank of the Philadelphia Athletics”, he said.  “Have you heard of him?”

I answered that I had heard of him, but truth be told, a faint memory of the name was the extent of my knowledge of Eddie Plank. Mr. Schultz told us a bit, like how he played for the Philadelphia Athletics and just how good he was, but it left me with a lingering curiosity.  How could I know so little about a Hall of Fame pitcher that was being described to me as one of the best southpaws ever? I was determined to find out more.

I began researching Plank as soon as I returned home.  I first reached out to the folks at the Farnsworth House again, hoping to get some details.  Eileen heightened my curiosity even more when she told me that Eddie Plank once gave Connie Mack a tour of the battle field.  She also stated that Ty Cobb had said he was the greatest pitcher he ever saw.  This guy must have been something else.  So I hit the library and the Internet, and contacted every old-time baseball fanatic I know.

Born in Gettysburg in 1875, Plank grew up on a farm.  At the age of 25, he was enrolled into the Gettysburg Academy prep-school which at the time made him eligible to pitch for the Gettysburg College varsity.  He never graduated from the college, a fact often missed by even the most reputable of baseball historians.

His short time on the Gettysburg College team was enough to earn him an offer from Philadelphia Athletics’ owner and manager Connie Mack.  “Gettysburg Eddie” went straight to the major league club, never once taking the mound in the minors.  His first year was successful, going 17-13 with a 3.31 ERA for the fourth place Athletics.  But Plank would get much, much better. 

By the time Plank retired in 1917 at 42 years old, he left behind a legacy that still fills the record books.  In fact, Plank’s name comes up so often on “all-time” lists that reading through them made me more and more embarrassed that I didn’t know him better.  His 69 career shutouts are more than any other lefty in baseball history and fifth overall, better than Warren Spahn and only 7 short of the great Cy Young.  He’s 13thon the list of all time wins, with 326, and his 2246 strikeouts puts him in the top 50.  This is probably the most accomplished Hall of Famer you’ve never heard of.

While Plank was dominating hitters on the mound with a sidearm delivery that must have had lefty batters ducking for cover, he was also aggravating them to no end.  In an era long before the current trend of pitchers taking their time on the mound, Plank would routinely get on the batter’s nerves, by walking around the mound, fidgeting with his cap, and anything else that would knock their rhythm off.  Opponents complained endlessly, but there was nothing they could do about it and none could argue with the tactic’s success. 

With all of Eddie Plank’s achievements and eye-popping statistics, he was considered a “hard luck” pitcher in the World Series.  He appeared in 7 games, and in over 54 innings of work he only gave up 8 earned runs.  From looking at those numbers, you would think Plank would have won more than only 2 games, but 2 and 5 was his postseason record.   In more than one start, Plank’s dominating performance was lost to an error, or an equally dominating opposing pitcher.

One of those dominating pitchers was a man who overshadowed Plank for most of his career, the great ChristyMathewson of the New York Giants.  But on one autumn day in 1913, Gettysburg Eddie got the best of his nemesis.  Leading up to the decisive Game 5 of the World Series, Matty had beaten Plank in their previous two postseason meetings, including Game 2 when the Athletics lost a heart breaker in extra innings.  But the A’s won the next two, and had a chance to win the title.  Despite the pressure, the worthy opponent, and his 38 years, Plank delivered a complete game shutout and the championship for Philadelphia.

After losing yet another hard luck game to the Boston Braves in Game 2 of the 1914 World Series, Plank was traded the following year to the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League, a short lived attempt to establish a third independent major league.  In 1916-17 he pitched for the St. Louis Browns and then retired.  Despite his retirement, he was traded to the New York Yankees, but he was well into his forties and no longer interested in pitching.  Instead, Gettysburg Eddie went back to his hometown and sold cars.  He died in 1926. 

Many ballplayers, especially those from the era before Babe Ruth, are lost to time.  Despite Eddie Plank’s storied success, many baseball aficionados can’t tell you much about him.  But if the folks at the Farnsworth House are any indication, the great southpaw has not been lost to Gettysburg’s time.  In fact, few things ever are.

Posted by: David McBride

Earlier I posted some initial thoughts on the 2009 Topps product. Here are the results of my single hobby box. If anyone has anything off my need list to finish the set, hit me up.

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Base Set: 297 of 330 cards

Comments: I love the fact that there was not a single duplicate base card in the entire box. This is the way things should be when busting a hobby box of a basic product. The design on these cards is simple and appealing, and the photography used is above average. Below is a list of cards I still need for this set. If you got anything, let me know

Edit, my set is complete.

Relic: Career Best Alex Rodriguez game-used bat

Comments: The design on these game-used cards is fresh, although I am not sure if I like it. Honestly, I’m really starting to HATE the specialized die-cut window. What happened to the simple square of rectangle?

WBC Redemption:

Comments: As noted in my earlier post, I’m intrigued, but the fact that I won’t even sniff my card until SEPTEMBER is very unappealing, especially since the WBC is being played in MARCH.

Black parallel: Jeff Baker /58

Comments: I’ve had good luck in recent years pulling a black parallels, but they are always dogs. Jeff Baker? Yikes. I don’t think there is a Jeff Baker fan outside anyone to whom he is related. And I’m going to have a tough time finding a Rockies team collector.

Gold Parallel:  /2009

Comments: The very first pack I opened featured the American League Batting Leaders Gold card, which is cool because the card features Dustin Pedroia. The other triple card is cool too because it highlights the Rays victory over the Sox. The singles are bland.

Ring of Honor:

Comments: Cool looking inserts, love the David Ortiz card. As noted before, I wish they’d left them out of the 2008 Updates set.

Legends of the Game:

Comments: I really like the Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson cards here.  I have not looked at the check list for this set, but I’m pretty happy with the six I pulled. Teddy Ballgame is headed to the Sox collection. I may trade the others.

Turkey Red:

Comments: As noted earlier, I think we as a whole could have done without these cards for at least a year. I like Turkey Red, but after last years poor effort — the drawings sucked, Topps! — we needed to be cleansed of this set.  Maybe this is Topps’ way of redeeming itself.  Honestly, I like the idea of this as an insert-only set. It kind creates a situation where people are chasing the cards, making them seem more appealing … By the way, the Christy Mathewson from this set (featured at the top of the post) is absolutely gorgeous. Kudos to Topps on that one.

I would like to thank ‘AuntieStress,’ a Twitter follower for providing me with a wonderful baseball analogy.  Like other Tweeters, her kind words of encouragement provided me with the motivation I needed to work out over the weekend.  I would like to carry her analogy a little further too, in taking about me weight loss program, and previous failures.

More than once I have lost over 35 pounds.  Unfortunately, I have only lost the same pounds several times, not new pounds for the first time.  I have had a lot of extra base hits in my attempts to lose weight, maybe even a home run or two.  But I always seemed to go into a slump, and a strike-out or two would cause me to bench my efforts, and soon I was right back to where I started my diet-often, a little bit heavier.

Well, the best hitters in baseball make outs 65 times or more out of every 100 times at bat.  Even Hall of Famers strike out.  Golden Glove fielders make an occasional error.  And even the craftiest pitches don’t have good stuff every outing, and sooner or later get knocked out of the box.  But they don’t quit.  How many times did Babe Ruth hit a home run after striking out his last time at bat?  How often did Ozzie Smith stir Cardinal fans with an amazing fielding display after committing an error a few chances before?  Giant hurler Christy Mathewson may have been baseball’s greatest right handed pitcher, but there were games opponents feasted on his offerings.

I don’t mean to compare myself with Hall of Fame baseball players.  My point is that they never quit because of one bad outing.  They kept coming back for more, and that is what I need to do too.  It isn’t easy to work hard at something than fail.  But accepting that we all fail and refocusing on my commitment is what is going to be important to me this “season.”  I can do this.  I certainly have had lots of practice at losing weight.  Like the ball players I can’t dwell on an occasional foul ball like my sore shoulders, or someone deciding we need pizza for lunch at work.  I’ll make errors, and I am going to strike out.  BUT, I am not going to bench myself this time.

Thank you AuntieStress for helping me refocus.  This week I did full work outs three times, and it has been weeks since I felt able to do all the lifting.  And yesterday I had one of my best cardio work outs ever.  I’ll give myself a single for the week, and keep on working hard in the coming week.

Thanks for stopping by.

A few weeks ago I was reading a column by Chicago-based sportswriter Rick Telander, who as a longtime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) gets a Hall of Fame vote every year.  This was his (presumably) annual column about his vote.  One of the benefits of being a BBWAA member is that every year you get an easy column by just writing about your ballot.

Telander’s column is a bit of a ramble.  He whines about steroids, decides he’s getting old, and also mentions the “grandeur” of the Hall.  He writes:

When you go to Cooperstown, there is not a player enshrined (other than maybe Rabbit Maranville) who doesn’t blow your socks off.

There it is again.  Somebody who doesn’t understand why Rabbit Maranville is enshrined in Cooperstown.

It’s not like Telander’s the only one.  I remember reading an article on the Hall of Fame back in 1989 by Steve Wulf, then writing for Sports Illustrated.  While leading up to a paragraph about Abner Graves (!), Wulf wrote:

Some are more deserving than others, but once you walk into the Hall of Fame Gallery—the wing that holds the famous bronze plaques—you know you are in a place of worship, and you could never begrudge a man his place there. You might wish that Phil Rizzuto, Richie Ashburn, Leo Durocher, Roger Maris, Nellie Fox, Bill Mazeroski, Ron Santo, etc., could be there too, but you wouldn’t wish to unscrew Rabbit Maranville’s plaque to make room for another, even if Maranville did hit just .258 lifetime.

Besides, there’s no sense in trying to read the minds of the baseball writers who vote for the Hall of Fame candidates (in the first election, in 1936, 11 of them left Ruth off their ballots). And there’s no benefit in chastising the veterans’ committee, which, in trying to undo past injustices, has perhaps relaxed the standards a bit; Jake Beckley may not be a household name, but that’s not to say his name doesn’t belong here. No, the overwhelming feeling you get in that splendid room is one of gratitude. Thanks, fellas, for filling up the afternoons and evenings of so many, for bringing them to their feet, for the memories.

The story was accompanied by a picture of Maranville’s plaque.  I don’t remember the caption under the photo, but I am fairly sure it was something along the lines of “he only hit .258 and shouldn’t really be in the Hall, but don’t sweat it”.

Re-reading that passage, I think it’s interesting that of Wulf’s list of players “you might wish” would also be enshrined, all of them have now been elected except for Maris and Santo.  (Poor Santo.  A quarter-century of being the woulda-coulda-shoulda guy when it comes to the Hall.)

The thing that kills me, though, is that he says that while Jake Beckley “may not be a household name” that doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong in the Hall, even though he mentions Beckley while mildly criticizing the Veterans Committee.  He says that and then talks about Maranville as something of a lesser pick than Beckley, despite the fact that Maranville wasn’t a VC pick — he was elected by the BBWAA.  It’s obvious that Wulf doesn’t know anything about Maranville either, other than his .258 career batting average.

Wulf was only three years old when Maranville was elected to the Hall (in 1954).  Still, a little research wouldn’t have hurt any.  Of course today finding out about past players is much easier than it was in 1989, so Telander has even less of an excuse.  The thing is, though, Maranville still comes up on lists of “least deserving” or “not deserving” Hall of Famers, even among people who follow the sport fairly closely.  At first glance he looks like a guy who didn’t hit for average, had little power, and just hung around a long time.  All of that is true, and yet…

Maranville debuted in the majors in 1912, for the Boston Braves.  He was 20 years old and appeared in 26 games that season.  In 1913, he became the everyday shortstop for the Braves, batting .247 in 143 games, with two homers.  His OPS+ that season was 83, right around his career average (82).  Not impressive, at first glance…but then you realize that in 1913, at the age of 21 and playing his first full season in the major leagues, Maranville finished third in the MVP voting, just ahead of the great Christy Mathewson (who won 25 games that year with a 2.06 ERA).  So how does a guy batting .247 with no power finish so high in the MVP voting?

Well, he was a great defensive shortstop, and a great defensive shortstop can be tremendously valuable, especially if he can hit just a little (and it’s arguable that such a player had more value in the Dead Ball era than at any other time in baseball history).  This was the first of several years in which Maranville fared very well in the MVP voting without obvious offensive numbers to justify it.  That in itself probably is a good indication of just how good a fielder Maranville was.

Another indication, of course, is just how long a career he had.  Maranville had a 23-year career in the majors, playing a total of 2670 games, all but four of which were as a middle infielder (80% of those appearances came as a shortstop).  Maranville held the record for chances for a shortstop for decades and still holds the record for putouts by a shortstop.  At age 41, Maranville batted .218 in 143 games, with no homers (OPS+ of 60)…and finished in a tie for 12th in the MVP voting, ahead of Frankie Frisch (who batted .303 that year with an OPS+ of 111).

Maranville was the runner-up in the MVP voting in 1914 to his middle infield partner, Johnny Evers, as the “Miracle Braves” won the pennant and swept the World Series.  Maranville batted cleanup on that team.  He also finished seventh in the voting in 1924 (OPS+ of 86) and had two other top-10 finishes.

From 1915 through 1923, there was no MVP award for the National League.  It just so happens that Maranville’s seven best offensive seasons (in terms of OPS+) came during that stretch.  I think it’s likely that he would have finished in the top 10 in the MVP voting (if not the top 5) in most, if not all, of those seasons.  If you add, say, five top 10 and two Top 20  finishes (which is probably a bit conservative) to his already impressive MVP history, you would have a player who in his career compiled ten seasons in which he finished in the Top 10 of the MVP voting and another five seasons in the Top 20.

I compared that to some of the players on his “most similar batters” list, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.  Ozzie Smith finished second in the ‘87 MVP voting (he probably should have won it; that was a weird year) and had three other Top 20 finishes.  Luis Aparacio had two top 10 finishes and four other finishes in the top 20.  Like Smith and Maranville, Aparacio was also an MVP runner-up, in 1959.

Tangent:  the top of the 1959 AL MVP vote mirrored the top of the 1914 NL MVP vote.  For both, the top three finishers played for the pennant winner, and the order was second baseman (Nellie Fox/Evers), shortstop (Aparicio/Maranville), and pitcher (Early Wynn/”Seattle Bill” James).  Also, the fourth place finisher both times was an outfielder.  The 1959 outfielder was Rocky Colavito, who played in 1841 career games.  The 1914 outfielder was George Burns, who played in 1853 career games.

Next on Maranville’s most-similar list is Omar Vizquel, who has one Top 20 MVP finish in his entire career.  Part of why I’m posting about Maranville is that I suspect Maranville’s name is going to pop up more and more as people continue discussing the Hall of Fame candidacy of Vizquel.  They are going to be compared, and my hope is that folks are able to start understanding Maranville’s career a little better.

Nellie Fox follows Vizquel on the comp list, and here finally we have a player who shares Maranville’s propensity for getting MVP votes.  Fox finished in the top 10 six times (as mentioned above, winning in 1959) and had three other Top 20 finishes.  Fox was elected by the Veterans Committee after narrowly missing election by the BBWAA; really, the writers should have elected him.  He’s not as big a miss by them as Arky Vaughan or Johnny Mize, but it was still a mistake.

One other player on the similar-list to note:  Dave Concepcion had two Top 10 MVP finishes and another in the Top 20.

I realize that the MVP voting is not the end-all and be-all.  There is a danger that you can compound a mistake by referencing an error of the past (i.e. the 1987 AL MVP vote, which still haunts Alan Trammell).  Still, when you have a player whose statistical batting line does not immediately suggest greatness, it’s worth it to check the historical record.  In the case of Maranville, in his time he was obviously considered to be something special.  Generally speaking, the MVP voting tends to favor offensive-minded players (especially HR-RBI guys).  This is why a comparison to Maranville’s peers is appropriate; I think most people consider Ozzie Smith to have been a great player, but other than one season he never did very well in the MVP race.  Yet despite the historical tendency by MVP voters to not recognize defensive specialists, Maranville still did well.

Of course, there was another thing about him that probably is reflected in his MVP voting — he was famous, for he was a great player who also happened to be a clown of the highest order.

There are many, many Maranville stories, and a lot of them are actually true.  If you needed a player to wax another player’s bat with soap, or swallow a goldfish, or jump into a hotel pool fully clothed, or offer a pair of eyeglasses to an umpire after a bad call, Maranville was your man.  If you needed a player to go drinking with Jim Thorpe, and swing through tree branches screeching like Tarzan, or to be dangled outside the 15th floor of a Manhattan hotel by Thorpe (with one arm), Maranville was your man.  If you needed a player to paint iodine streaks on a hapless ump, or to throw buckets of ice at fellow train passengers (which he did as a player-manager), or trick a teammate into thinking he had accidentally killed him, Maranville was your man.

Maranville once got a hit off Carl Mays by making him laugh so hard he couldn’t maintain his control.  He was in the dugout during the infamous Babe Herman-three men on third base play; when Wilbert Robinson asked Maranville what had happened, Maranville said, “There’s three men on third and if they hang on long enough I’ll go down and make a quartet out of it.”

Once during a pitcher-vs.-batter fight, Maranville distracted everyone, including the fans, by going into the first base coach’s box during the fracas and pantomiming a fight against himself, pretending to knock himself out.  (Judge Landis thanked him later for that one.)  Entertaining the crowd during a slow part of the game with various pantomime activities was one of his specialties.

When Maranville caught a popup, he usually caught it by holding his glove open at his navel, allowing the ball to strike him in the chest, and having it roll down his shirt into his glove.  He called it his “vest pocket catch”.

Bill James (not the Boston Braves hurler), in his New Historical Baseball Abstract, refers to Maranville having a “Marx Brothers life”, and I think there’s a lot of truth to that.  He was probably on Chico’s level, but definitely ahead of Zeppo.

Maranville was elected by the BBWAA in 1954, shortly after his death.  The fact he had recently died had little to no impact on his election; he had risen in the balloting gradually over the preceding decade, finishing tenth in 1949, ninth in 1950 and 1951, seventh in 1952, and fifth in 1953.  Two players were elected in 1953, meaning that Maranville was in the top three of those on the ballot who had not been elected, along with Bill Dickey and Bill Terry.  All three of those players were elected in 1954.  Maranville actually jumped ahead of Dickey and Terry in the voting to finish first overall that year.  Keep in mind that the Hall had only been around for a few years and there were many outstanding players on the ballot.  Nineteen of the top 20 vote-getters from 1954 are now in the Hall (the exception is Hank Gowdy).

After his career in organized baseball was over Maranville helped run youth baseball programs in Detroit and New York.  One of the kids he taught was Whitey Ford.

Anyway, to sum up:  Maranville wasn’t a great hitter, but he was a great player.  His specialty was in preventing runs as opposed to producing them, and this was recognized by his contemporaries.  He was considered something of a clutch hitter (although I tend to find most claims of being “clutch” not involving George Brett to be somewhat dubious).  He had an incredibly long career, and he was enormously popular.  Thinking of him as just being a .258 hitter is small-minded, to say the least.

I’m not saying he was the greatest player who ever lived.  All I’m saying is that if you’re a writer and you’re trying to reference a player who doesn’t belong in the Hall, Maranville is not the right guy to name.  Look, you want suggestions?  Try Chick Hafey or George Kelly, or Rube Marquard if you need a pitcher (don’t get him confused with Rube Waddell, though).  You’ll be safe criticizing those selections — unless a member of one of their families is reading your column.

Just leave Maranville’s plaque alone…

Mike Mussina retired last week.  Mussina finished his career with a 270-153 record and a 3.68 ERA, pitching his entire career in the American League for two teams, the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees.  He won 20 games this past season, the first (and as it turns out, only) time in his career he reached the 20-win milestone.

There has been considerable discussion in the press about whether or not Mussina deserves to be in baseball’s Hall of Fame.  In an article by Tyler Kepner of The New York Times, several writers interviewed by Kepner expressed reservations about voting for Mussina, mostly because he wasn’t perceived as a dominant pitcher.  One of them, Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant, stated that while he hadn’t ruled out voting for Mussina, “his candidacy would be based on longevity, and longevity candidates need 300.”

This is probably the typical line of reasoning behind people not supporting Mussina’s candidacy, but there is a problem with it, namely that Mussina isn’t strictly a “longevity candidate”.  Rather, he is a different sort of peak candidate.  He never had a big-win season or won an ERA title, but he was really good almost every season, and as a result posted a career .638 winning percentage, which is extremely impressive.  Sometimes you hear longevity-type Hall of Fame candidates dismissively referred to as “compilers”.  A pItcher with a career winning percentage of .638 is definitely not a compiler.  As pointed out in the article, the only pitchers with as many wins as Mussina and a better winning percentage are his former teammate Roger Clemens and four immortals of the distant past: Lefty Grove, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

Of course, all of them were demonstrably better than Mussina, with longer careers, but it speaks to the unusually successful nature of his career.  Wins aren’t everything, obviously, and are often overrated, particularly in individual seasons, but over a long career wins generally give you a good idea of the value of a pitcher.

Even if you dispute that, there is no arguing that wins and winning percentage are key considerations for most writers who have a Hall of Fame vote.  That leads me to this point:  Mussina, by the Hall’s own standards, is a no-questions-asked Hall of Famer.  He is 113 games over .500 in his career as a pitcher.  That’s a very large win-loss differential, and every Hall-eligible pitcher who has finished his career at least 100 games over .500 has a plaque in Cooperstown.  Every pitcher except one, that is.  The lone exception, the man on the outside looking in, is Bob Caruthers, who had a career win-loss record of 218-99.

Caruthers debuted with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association late in the 1884 season, after starting his pro career with Grand Rapids, a minor league club in the Northwestern League.  He was only 5′7″ and weighed less than 140 pounds, but the 20-year-old Caruthers impressed his new team immediately, appearing in 13 games with 7 starts and compiling a 7-2 record (125 ERA+).  St. Louis finished fourth that season, but thanks to Caruthers and teammate Dave Foutz, the Browns would dominate the AA in 1885, winning the pennant by 16 games.  Caruthers went 40-13 (158 ERA+), pitching 482 innings.  He started and completed all 53 games he pitched.  He led the league in wins, ERA, shutouts, and winning percentage.

During the winter he held out for more money.  Caruthers had traveled to Europe, and did his negotiating from Paris via telegraph.  That aspect of the contract dispute led to his nickname, “Parisian Bob”.  Caruthers eventually returned and led the Browns to another pennant, with a 30-14 record and 148 ERA+ in 387 innings.  Caruthers led the league in winning percentage and was second in ERA.  He was more than just a pitcher, though — a lot more.  That season, Caruthers played 43 games in the outfield when he wasn’t pitching (and also made two cameo appearances at second base).  He batted .334 (with a .448 OBP) and a .527 slugging percentage.  That added up to an OPS+ of 200.  Caruthers led the league in OBP, OPS, and OPS+, was second in slugging, and was fourth in batting average.

Caruthers missed three weeks of the 1887 season with malaria, but still managed a 29-9 record with an ERA+ of 138 (341 innings), leading the league in winning percentage.  As a batter, he continued to shine, batting .363 with a .453 OBP and a slugging percentage of .547, playing 54 games in the outfield and 7 games at first base when he wasn’t pitching.  Caruthers finished third in OPS, OPS+, and OBP, and fifth in batting.  The Browns won their third consecutive pennant.

The Browns lost a postseason exhibition series to the NL’s Detroit Wolverines, which angered eccentric (I’m being kind here) St. Louis owner Chris Von der Ahe.  He accused the players of playing too hard off the field, and sold the contracts of those he considered blame-worthy.  One of those players was Caruthers (a known cardsharp and an excellent pool player).  Caruthers went to Brooklyn with Foutz and catcher Doc Bushong for $18,500.

Brief digression Number One:  Bushong was a dentist as well as a catcher, and is credited by some sources as the inventor of the catcher’s mitt.  Bushong was an alumnus of Penn who never let anyone forget that dentistry was his longterm career path, not baseball.

In 1888 Caruthers went 29-15 for Brooklyn (128 ERA+), pitching 391 innings.  Caruthers also played 54 games in the outfield, but his batting declined substantially, with a .230 batting average (still an OPS+ of 111, though).  Brooklyn finished second in the AA, as St. Louis managed to hang on for its fourth straight pennant.

The next season, Caruthers would win 40 games for the second time in his career.  His 40-11 record wasn’t quite as impressive as his sensational 1885 season.  In 1889 his ERA+ was only 112, although that was in 445 innings.  He finished in the top three in the league in WHIP for a fifth consecutive season.  He led the AA in wins, winning percentage, and shutouts.  Caruthers rarely played the outfield this season, although his hitting was still quite respectable (OPS+ of 126).

Brief  (okay, maybe not so brief ) Digression Number Two:  The pennant race in 1889 would be a memorable one.  Brooklyn had to play all its games on the road for a month after its home grandstand burned to the ground, but recovered to catch St. Louis in the standings in August.  A crucial two-game series at home in early September against the Browns would turn into a farce.

In the first game, St. Louis led 4-2 in the eighth, with darkness approaching.  Von der Ahe set up a row of lighted candles in front of the visitors bench in an effort to intimidate the umpire into calling the game for darkness, which would have given the Browns the victory.  The umpire refused to take the bait, and the game continued even after Brooklyn fans threw beer at the candles and started a small fire.  The Browns refused to take the field for the ninth inning, and the game was forfeited to Brooklyn.  In protest, Von der Ahe also would not allow his team to play the next day.

After considerable deliberation, the AA president decided to call the two-game series a split, with the first game awarded to the Browns (because of darkness) and the second to Brooklyn (because of forfeit).  Brooklyn would eventually win the pennant by two games, but in part because of the club’s unhappiness over how the situation was handled by the league office, Brooklyn resigned from the AA after the season and joined the National League.

In his first year in the NL, Caruthers went 23-11 in 300 innings (112 ERA+).  He would finish in the top 10 in wins, winning percentage, and WHIP.  Caruthers also played 39 games in the outfield.  His batting average for the season was .265, with a high OBP (.397) and an OPS+ of 114.  Brooklyn would win the pennant in its first season in its new league.

Caruthers would slip to 18-14 in 1891, although his pitching statistics were very similar to the year before, with the exception of WHIP (which rose noticeably).  Caruthers only played 17 games in the outfield, although his batting improved from the 1890 season (.281 BA and an OPS+ of 120).  Brooklyn would collapse to sixth in the standings, 25 1/2 games out of first.

Caruthers returned to St. Louis (which had by then joined the NL) in 1892, but he could no longer pitch effectively.  His pitching career ended ignomiously, with a 2-10 record.  However, Caruthers could still hit, and he wound up playing 122 games in the outfield.  He compiled an OPS+ of 120 in over 600 PAs.

Caruthers would finish his major league career in 1893 with one appearance for Chicago and thirteen for Cincinnati, all in the outfield.  He would play a few more years in the minors, and also umpired in the American League for two seasons.  Caruthers died at age 47 in 1911 after a long illness (at least one source suggests he had a nervous breakdown).

The three main arguments against Caruthers’ candidacy for the Hall of Fame are 1)  his career length, 2)  the fact he played most of his career in the American Association, which while designated a major league (in retrospect) is generally considered to have been inferior to the National League, and 3) he won a lot of games because his teams were a lot better than their competition.  Of the three arguments, I think the third is weakest, partly because Caruthers wasn’t just winning those games as a pitcher – he was helping his team at the plate, too.  I’m not going to say he was Babe Ruth before there was a Babe Ruth, but he was a remarkable two-way player.  His value to his club was enormous.

He did have a short career, but so did Addie Joss, and Dizzy Dean, and Sandy Koufax (no, I’m not saying he was as good as Koufax).  None of them could hit like him, either.

What is held against Caruthers the most, though, is the level of play in the American Association.  It’s a legitimate point (as is noting the shortness of his career), but if Caruthers is not a Hall of Famer because most of his career was in the AA, then why is the AA considered a major league?  Also, his rate stats from 1889 (when he pitched in the American Association) and 1890 (when he pitched for the same team, but in the National League) are very similar.  The difference is that he only pitched 300 innings instead of 445, which is a significant difference to be sure, but it seems obvious to me that by 1890 he was already on the downside of his career (even though he was only 26 years old).  I suspect that he would have been dominant in the NL in his early years, probably to a similar degree as he was in actuality in the AA.

I’m not saying that Caruthers definitely should be in the Hall, but he is certainly a serious candidate, right on the border.  The main thing held against him is the quality of his competition.  Mike Mussina, on the other hand, pitched his entire career in the AL East.  Nobody’s going to argue about the level of his competition.  Given that, and the history of the Hall voters when considering pitchers with similar numbers, there shouldn’t be any question that Mussina will be (and by the Hall’s own standards, should be) enshrined shortly after he becomes eligible for election.

This haiku is in memory of the baseball pitcher, who, in the first decades of the 20th century, changed the way baseball was looked upon. A Hall of Fame pitcher and winner of 373 games, Christy Mathewson (1880-1925), unlike most ballplayers, never drank, never smoked, and never pitched a game on Sunday. He was the best thing that ever happened to baseball before Babe Ruth.

Christy Mathewson:
a true Christian gentleman
on the field and off

A.J. Chilson
17 November 2008
2:48 PM

You thought the Nap Lajoie I own was in bad condition, check out this badboy. If this card were out of its SGC graded case, I’d have to wear gloves while holding it because the card appears to have mold spots. But all of this is fine. I mean the card is nearly 100 years old. This is a 1909-11 T206 Sweet Caporal Christy Mathewson card, one of three cards “Big Six” has in the set, and I am proud to say I own one.

Mathewson was one of the first five players to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame, along with a few guys you might have heard of: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson.

To say Mathewson was one of the best of his time would be an understatement. Look at these career numbers: 17 seasons, 373 wins, 2,500 strikeouts, 4,700 innings pitched, 434 complete games and 79 shutouts. Who the hell does this?

And during the 1905 World Series he pitched THREE complete game shutouts in six days to propel the New York Giants to the title. And people were going ga-ga over CC Sabathia last month? Please.

But here’s a factoid you may not know. Mathewson died from tuberculosis, which he contracted while serving in World War I, at age 45. Yeah, 45, the same age that Randy Johnson is right now.

In closing, here’s a quick quote from Mathewson. This is a great quote, one that can be applied to everything in life.

“You can learn little in victory. You can learn everything from defeat.” — Christy Mathewson

I admit to being an information junkie.  I have admitted it before, and know there is no cure for my illness.  I love facts, and few facts seem to be of so little value that I will ignore them.  I love atlases, gazetteers, almanacs, and encyclopedias.  The odder the fact, the more likely I will store it away in some nook or cranny of my mind, keeping it there for the unlikely scenario it may prove valuable some day.

Matt and Amanda got me the 3^rd Edition Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball for my birthday this year.  It is hundreds of pages of facts and figures, and I could look at it for hours a day and find something new each time. Here are some facts from 1908.  You do remember 1908 don’t you?  The season of the infamous Fred Merkle “Bonehead” play?  The year the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series, defeating the American League champion Detroit Tigers 4 games to 1?

There were 42 different minor leagues in 1908.  The Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals played an astounding 204 regular season games, finishing with a record of 100-104.  In any league today, winning 100 games means winning a championship, not ending the season with a losing record like the Seals.

Some odd team nicknames included:

Freeport Pretzels of the Wisconsin-Illinois League.

San Jose Prune Pickers of the California State League.

Waterloo Lulus of the Central Association.

Jacksonville Lunatics and Hannabal Cannibals of the Illinois-Missouri League.

Christy Mathewson led the National League with 37 wins, while Ed Walsh of the Chicago White Sox claimed an amazing 40 pitching victories.  Wahoo Sam Crawford of the Tigers led the American League with a robust 7 home runs, not all of which left the ball park. 

Despite being able to pencil in a ‘W’ every time Christy Mathewson pitched, the NY Giants still finished a game behind the Cubs-note the above mentioned Merkle incident.  In a three way battle for the NL pennant, the Pittsburgh Pirates also finished just one game behind the Cubs. Honus Wagner led the Pirates and the National League with 201 hits, and a batting average of .354.

77 no hitters were thrown in the major and minor leagues that year, including a gem by Boston Red Sox pitcher Cy Young-yes, THAT Cy Young.

After the beating my 401(K) took today, it was either write of baseball, or go ballistic writing about politics.  To me, Cleaning Up The House took on a whole new meaning today, and a good start would be replacing Republican Congressman who have decided that Washington politics as normal is more important than either Main Street or Wall Street. These people ignored both their own President and their Presidential candidate. I happen to be one of the tax payers they are supposedly protecting.  If they continue to protect me in this manner for a few more weeks, I am not going to have much left to retire on. Thanks guys.

Personally, at the end of the 2007, after Mike Mussina went 11-10 in 150+ innings with a 5.15 ERA and a WHIP over 1.4, I had hoped the Yankees would banish him to the bullpen, or better yet the waiver wire.

I’m back, though, at the end of 2008 and I can say that I am thankful that the Moose stayed.  With the misery that was the Yankees 2008, one of the best things to watch was Moose’s quest for 20 wins.  In 17 “full” seasons in the majors, Mussina had won over 18 games five times and 19 games twice. He entered Sunday’s start, his final start of a strong 2008 rebound campaign 19-9 in 194 innings with a 3.47 ERA and 1.2 WHIP.

Last year, Mussina’s gas would be clocked at 87-89 miles an hour and guess what?  Major League hitters abused him.  That’s ok, he still tried to throw it by people.  It didn’t work.  This year, however, Mussina evolved into a Greg-Maddux-type nibbler and he was great.  He honed his control and was able to spot pitches.  He walked fewer runners than any season in his career.  He gave up the fewest earned runs (75) in his career since 1992 (68).  The best part about it, though, is that he still struck people out.  Although he was resigned to spotting his fastball and not trying to throw it by people, I am willing to bet he had more people caught looking than anyone in the American League.

With his win today against the Red Sox, Mike Mussina won his 20th game of the season, becoming the oldest player to get 20 wins for the first time.  In my opinion, this year clinches a spot for Mussina in Cooperstown.  The big knocks against him were that he had never won 20 and had never won the Cy Young (He finished second in 1999).  Now that Mussina has won 20, let’s look at his key numbers:

• 270 career wins with a legitimate shot at 300 if he pitches 2-3 more years (33rd all-time: more than HOFers Jim Palmer, Bob Feller, Juan Marichal, Whitey Ford)
• At least 11 wins for every year in his career (17 times) except 1991 when he only pitched 87 innings and started 12 times
• 270-153 overall (with every pitcher 100 games over .500 in the Hall)
• 8 Cy Young Top 6 finishes (9th should be this year)
• 6 All-Star games
• 3.69 career ERA, 1.192 career WHIP
• 2813 career strikeouts (19th overall: more than HOFers Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Bob Feller, Christy Mathewson, Sandy Koufax, et al)
• Six gold gloves
• 7.11 K/9 innings (77th all-time)
• 3.59 K:BB ratio (13th all-time)

Given these numbers (and who he is ahead of), I think it’s difficult to argue that the Moose isn’t a Hall of Famer.  His only drawbacks are no Cy Young and no World Series titles.  Two big ones, I know, but he was a great pitcher with consistency.  He won a ton of games and was absolutely one of the best of this generation.  Even if he chooses to retire after this season, I think Mike Mussina should start writing his speech for Cooperstown.

Stealing can be fun but in the modern age it never ceases to amaze me that people don’t get that you shouldn’t sell the things you steal right away on eBay. I mean, you don’t rob a Picasso from a museum and then two days later walk around to art galleries and offer it to them right? You gotta space these things out, wait some time, let the heat die down. Doesn’t anyone pay attention to heist movies anymore? Clearly Richard Trofatter Jr. (left), a mail-carrier in Maine has no idea as to how these things work.

That’s because he swiped a rare 1915 Christy Mathewson Cracker Jacks card that someone else had purchased on eBay. When the buyer never received the package, he contacted the seller, who had purchased $655 in insurance on the package. The seller then contacted the USPS who launched an investigation into the disappearance of the package. What they were able to find was that the exact same card had been sold on eBay, from Maine, for $1,211 and the seller was one, Richard Trofatter Jr. Smooth dude!

If you’re going to steal, be smart about it. Scams can be, and are, quite fun, but only if you’re smart about it. To be fair, he is a postal worker, in Maine, so I’m not sure brains are his best attribute, but if you’re going to break the single biggest rule about being a mail carrier, than at least be a little smarter about it no? I am in constant amazement of how many people think that the things they do on eBay can’t be traced. EVERYTHING CAN BE TRACED! The amount of stories I’ve seen of idiot thieves who immediately sell their
hot goods, often RIGHT BACK TO THE PEOPLE THEY STOLE THEM FROM, who then get busted make me sad for the good ol’ days when criminals knew what they were doing and were actually smart. Now every douchebag with a computer thinks he can become some master thief. First get some brains, then start life of crime. Why am I the only one who realizes these things? Or am I simply spending way too much of my time planning elaborate heists.

I think I’ve said too much.

Prank caller PRANK CALLER.

[Sports by Brooks]

By Elizabeth Dinan

edinan@seacoastonline.com

August 26, 2008 3:46 PM

PORTSMOUTH — A city postal worker who stole a rare baseball card while it was being mailed from a Wisconsin seller to a Maine buyer, was fired, fined, given a suspended jail sentence, ordered to perform community service and to pay restitution to the U.S. Postal Service.

Richard Trofatter Jr., 31, of 1090 Meetinghouse Road, Wells, Maine, pleaded guilty in Portsmouth District Court Tuesday to a class A misdemeanor count of theft of lost or mislaid property. His attorney, James Noucas, told the court his client was recently treated for “obsessive compulsive behavior surrounding baseball cards” and according to a police report, Trofatter described himself as “borderline addicted” to collecting the cards.

A police affidavit filed with the court by detective John Peracchi says he was contacted by a representative of the U.S. Postal Service on May 7, reporting the “mail theft” of a 1915 Cracker Jack baseball card depicting New York Giants pitcher and Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson.

The card had been graded and given a serial number before it was put in the mail by an eBay seller in Michigan who insured it for $655, according to court records. When an eBay buyer in Maine reported he never received it, the Postal Service launched an investigation, discovered the card had been sold on eBay for $1,211, then traced it back to mail handler Trofatter, who was working at the 345 Heritage Ave. postal facility, according to Peracchi’s affidavit.

Trofatter first denied ever seeing the card, then admitted his “borderline” addiction and to selling it at a Market Square jewelers, according to police. Meanwhile, the Postal Service reimbursed the Wisconsin seller the $655 insured value.

Prosecutor Corey MacDonald told the court that Trofatter was fired from his job as a result of the charge.

Judge Sawako Gardner described the crime as more than a theft case, because Trofatter committed “a breach of trust” as a mail handler.

“The card was lying in the bottom of a postal bin,” Noucas told the judge who responded that she “can’t imagine” how a $655 baseball card, packaged for mail, would end up that way.

Judge Gardner accepted Trofatter’s guilty plea and imposed a six-month county jail sentence, with all of it suspended pending two years of good behavior. She also imposed a $2,000 fine, with $1,000 suspended pending the same good behavior and ordered payment of $655 restitution to the U.S. Postal Service.

Trofatter was also ordered to perform 30 hours of community service for a Portsmouth nonprofit agency.

MacDonald said he does not know the current whereabouts of the Cracker Jack card.

I know where the card is, it’s probably in the wall of his house or apartment.  Someone is going to find it years from now and have a nice valuable card.  So folks becareful what you send through the mail.  This guy might be your carrier:

I feel good after another hard work out at the Wellness Center.  I spent 45 minutes on cardio, all on the treadmill, 2.5 miles walked at a pace of a little over 3.3 mph, with 606 calories burned.  I also did an upper body work out, lifting 8,650 lbs. with my arms and 3,000 lbs on the Paramount abdominal machine.  I did 8 arm routines using free weights.

This took about 70 minutes, and as always, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I come home with a sweat-soaked t-shirt. 

I like that my mind says “do more, go back,” but I also know that I am at least in the top 100 in the world for overdoing a good thing.  I’ll let my muscles rest, and hit it again tomorrow.

I am enjoying reading Nelson W. Wolff’s Baseball For Real Men.  Maybe it is comforting to know that there are approximately a half-million other men at least as crazy as me. 

Wolff’s Spiritual Law #3-Let baseball, dreams, and imagination ignite your soul, spark your spirituality, and lead you to a sanctuary between the white lines of play. 

Spiritual Law #4-The souls of the patron saints of the church of baseball can bring exhilaration and enchantment to your life and improve your game. 

Baseball, my dreams and imagination have certainly sparked something within me.  I am not looking for excuses to keep me from getting better I am doing what I can in the best way I know how.  That is a big change, and it has to be a continuing change for me to find that sanctuary between the white lines.

I greatly enjoy reading baseball history.  Babe Ruth and Christy Mathewson seem larger than life to me, even though both died before I was born.  Their exploits are incomparable.  Barry Bonds is not the slugger that Ruth was, nor is Roger Clemens the hurler Mathewson was known to be.  Ruth was a larger than life hero when America needed such a figure.  Mathewson was perhaps the first baseball idol.  Perhaps neither would have survived the scrutiny that public figures endure today.  Still, both will always be known as saints of the church of baseball, something neither Bonds nor Clemens figures to be.

A huge crowd stormed the Polo Grounds in Manhattan and witnessed baseball history in the Cubs-Giants playoff game on October 8, 1908.

So, what were you doing in 1908? Unless you’re a centenarian you weren’t doing anything, but the Chicago Cubs were on their way to their second straight World Series title in 1908. They haven’t won one since.

You remember 1908. Theodore Roosevelt is President. Mother’s Day is celebrated for the first time. The average cost of a home is $4,500; of a gallon of milk is 38 cents, a stamp is 4 cents. And the average salary for a major league baseball player is $2,500.

In sports, Penn and LSU share the college football championship; there is no BCS. The Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup; James Braid takes the British Open; and Stone Street wins the Kentucky Derby. In the Olympics in London, Italian Dorando Pietri staggers at the end of the Marathon and is assisted across the finish line by officials. Johnny Hayes of the USA is later declared the winner.

In 1908, the Cubs edged out the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates to win a tight, controversial pennant race which hinged on the so-called Fred Merkle boner in late September. The Giants and the Cubs were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York’s Polo Grounds. With two outs, the rookie Merkle was on first base and Moose McCormick on third when Giants shortstop Al Bridwell singled to center.

Merkle’s Mistake

Thinking the game was won, and with a crowd of happy fans swarming the infield, Merkle bypassed second base and made for the New York clubhouse. But Chicago second baseman Johnny Evers got the attention of the umpire who, after seeing Evers tag second base with a ball declared Merkle forced out at second, nullifying the winning run.

This ignited a storm of protests, counter-protests, and league hearings. Finally, National League president Harry Pulliam ruled that the game would be replayed after the season if it proved to have a bearing on the pennant race.

It did. New York and Chicago finished in a tie, which was broken when Chicago’s Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, left, defeated Christy Mathewson 4-2 in the make-up game. Matty won 37 games that year, but couldn’t win this one. The Cubs finished with a 99-55 record, one game up on the Giants and Pirates, both at 98-56.

In the American League, a four-team race came down to the wire, with Detroit (90-63) finally slipping past Cleveland (90-64) by .004 percentage points, the smallest margin of victory in AL or NL history. Chicago finished 1 1/2 games back and St. Louis faded late to end up 6 1/2 behind.

For the second straight year, the Cubs won the World Series over the Tigers, this time 4 games to 1. Cubs batters hit .293 off Tigers pitching, while Brown’s 0.00 ERA in 11 innings paced the Chicago staff to a 2.60 ERA. Ty Cobb, the AL batting champion, hit .368 with four RBI and a pair of stolen bases in a losing effort. Cobb, perhaps the greatest hitter in baseball history, never won a World Series.

The Cubs won National League pennants in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 and 1945, but lost the World Series each time. They haven’t been back since. And they haven’t won a World Series since 1908.