So, amid all the bickering about health concerns and economic issues, it hasn't been touched on much that the designated hitter will be used in both leagues should Major League Baseball get underway in 2020.
It makes a lot of sense to use the DH this season -- if things get going, I don't think there are going to be a lot of starting pitchers going deep into ballgames. When the pitcher's spot in the batting order would come up, a pinch hitter would be used more often than not. Why bother with that? Just put a regular hitter in the lineup and move on, right?
The DH will not be used in the National League in 2021, but there's little question it will be back in both leagues in 2022 as part of the next collective bargaining agreement.
Players are for it -- it prolongs careers and increases earnings for a lot of guys. And front offices are for it, as they don't desire to see high-priced pitchers doing things that are unnatural acts for them, such as swinging bats and running bases.
Traditionalists are going to have to face it on this: Pitchers can't hit worth a damn. In nearly 5,000 plate appearances last season, pitchers posted a .127 batting average and a .137 on-base percentage. They struck out 2,230 times. A pitcher making a plate appearance seems like a great time to use the bathroom or head to the refrigerator for a snack -- you aren't missing anything.
I have nothing more than my gut to go on with this, but I'm thinking pitchers were at least somewhat more competent at the plate when I was a kid -- in the 1980s. But with the increased specialization in the game, pitchers don't swing the bat much once they graduate high school. Heck, the designated hitter is universal in the minor leagues, so you see very few pitchers who can hit anymore.
Being an American League fan, I'm a DH proponent. The only thing I'll miss about pitchers hitting is the arguments between the fans of the two leagues. It's a unique and fun quirk of baseball that the two leagues have such a significant difference in rules, and it creates a lot of discussion. However, I think I'll get over that pretty quick once the DH is implemented in the National League
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Most career walk-off home runs in MLB history (answer key)
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| Jim Thome |
Here are the answers to Saturday's quiz:
13 walk-off home runs (1)
1. The all-time leader in walk-off homers, this hitter is the only player to hit a walk-off blast for his 500th career homer.
Jim Thome
12 walk-off home runs (6)
2. This player is the active leader in walk-off homers -- one of only two active players on this list.
Albert Pujols
3. This former Yankee was the first player to reach double-digits in walk-off homers.
Babe Ruth
4. This former Cardinal had nine bases-empty walk-offs, the most in MLB history.
Stan Musial
5. This player hit five walk-off homers while his team was trailing, tied for the most in MLB history.
Frank Robinson
6. This former Yankees had 12 walk-offs in the regular season, plus one in the postseason.
Mickey Mantle
7. This three-time MVP led the AL in home runs three times in four years from 1932-35.
Jimmie Foxx
11 walk-off home runs (3)
8. This former Red hit a record seven walk-off homers with two outs.
Tony Perez
9. This active player won a World Series ring in 2019 with the Washington Nationals.
Ryan Zimmerman
10. Two outs and two strikes with his team trailing? This player hit two walk-offs in that situation.
David Ortiz
10 walk-off home runs (8)
11. This longtime Philadelphia Phillies slugger won his lone MVP award with the White Sox.
Dick Allen
12. This player once was drafted first overall by the White Sox.
Harold Baines
13. This player is baseball's all-time home run king. (Duh.)
Barry Bonds
14. This player was with the White Sox earlier this decade, and was considered a bust.
Adam Dunn
15. This former MVP had a record three walk-offs with two outs and two strikes.
Jason Giambi
16. This slugger has 10 career World Series home runs, in only 27 games.
Reggie Jackson
17. This former White Sox player is the only man to hit 60-plus homers in three separate seasons.
Sammy Sosa
18. This Philadelphia slugger hit four home runs in a game at Wrigley Field on April 17, 1976.
Mike Schmidt
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Most career walk-off home runs in MLB history
There are 18 players in MLB history who have hit 10 or more walk-off home runs in their careers. Can you name them? Below you'll find a clue for each of the 18. Answers to come Sunday ...
13 walk-off home runs (1)
1. The all-time leader in walk-off homers, this hitter is the only player to hit a walk-off blast for his 500th career homer.
12 walk-off home runs (6)
2. This player is the active leader in walk-off homers -- one of only two active players on this list.
3. This former Yankee was the first player to reach double-digits in walk-off homers.
4. This former Cardinal had nine bases-empty walk-offs, the most in MLB history.
5. This player hit five walk-off homers while his team was trailing, tied for the most in MLB history.
6. This former Yankees had 12 walk-offs in the regular season, plus one in the postseason.
7. This three-time MVP led the AL in home runs three times in four years from 1932-35.
11 walk-off home runs (3)
8. This former Red hit a record seven walk-off homers with two outs.
9. This active player won a World Series ring in 2019 with the Washington Nationals.
10. Two outs and two strikes with his team trailing? This player hit two walk-offs in that situation.
10 walk-off home runs (8)
11. This longtime Philadelphia Phillies slugger won his lone MVP award with the White Sox.
12. This player once was drafted first overall by the White Sox.
13. This player is baseball's all-time home run king. (Duh.)
14. This player was with the White Sox earlier this decade, and was considered a bust.
15. This former MVP had a record three walk-offs with two outs and two strikes.
16. This slugger has 10 career World Series home runs, in only 27 games.
17. This former White Sox player is the only man to hit 60-plus homers in three separate seasons.
18. This Philadelphia slugger hit four home runs in a game at Wrigley Field on April 17, 1976.
13 walk-off home runs (1)
1. The all-time leader in walk-off homers, this hitter is the only player to hit a walk-off blast for his 500th career homer.
12 walk-off home runs (6)
2. This player is the active leader in walk-off homers -- one of only two active players on this list.
3. This former Yankee was the first player to reach double-digits in walk-off homers.
4. This former Cardinal had nine bases-empty walk-offs, the most in MLB history.
5. This player hit five walk-off homers while his team was trailing, tied for the most in MLB history.
6. This former Yankees had 12 walk-offs in the regular season, plus one in the postseason.
7. This three-time MVP led the AL in home runs three times in four years from 1932-35.
11 walk-off home runs (3)
8. This former Red hit a record seven walk-off homers with two outs.
9. This active player won a World Series ring in 2019 with the Washington Nationals.
10. Two outs and two strikes with his team trailing? This player hit two walk-offs in that situation.
10 walk-off home runs (8)
11. This longtime Philadelphia Phillies slugger won his lone MVP award with the White Sox.
12. This player once was drafted first overall by the White Sox.
13. This player is baseball's all-time home run king. (Duh.)
14. This player was with the White Sox earlier this decade, and was considered a bust.
15. This former MVP had a record three walk-offs with two outs and two strikes.
16. This slugger has 10 career World Series home runs, in only 27 games.
17. This former White Sox player is the only man to hit 60-plus homers in three separate seasons.
18. This Philadelphia slugger hit four home runs in a game at Wrigley Field on April 17, 1976.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Why 'safety' won't determine when I return to the ballpark
If the 2020 baseball season is played, we know it likely will be played without fans. Even if the White Sox are allowed into Guaranteed Rate Field this year, you and I and other common folks probably will not be.
But what about 2021? As a season-ticket holder, I routinely receive surveys from the Sox. The most recent one covered a wide variety of topics, but the most interesting question addressed what fan attitudes will be like in the post-pandemic world. Or, maybe it seeks to find out what fan attitudes will be like in a post-COVID-19, pre-vaccine world.
I was asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how safe I would feel about returning to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch a ballgame -- with 1 being "not safe at all" and 5 being "very safe."
I chose 5.
If baseball opened its gates tomorrow, with normal day-of-game rules in place, I would be fine going to a game. We all know that's not going to happen, but clearly, we're dealing with a hypothetical situation here anyway.
The Sox allow you to offer comments when you fill out these surveys, and I took the opportunity to explain to them that "safety" will be irrelevant when it comes to my decision on when to return to the ballpark.
I explained that I simply am not willing to come to a game if I'm going to be forced to practice social distancing. What fun is it to sit three or four chairs away from your friends? And, if you think I'm sitting there wearing a mask for three and a half or four straight hours, you can forget it. Restrictions on concessions and restroom use? No thank you. Nope. Sorry, no sale, not coming.
You see, I'm not going to pay my hard-earned money to come to the game if I'm going to have some off-duty cop barking orders at me about where to sit, where to stand and what to wear. That's not my idea of a good time.
I understand that the Sox may have no choice but to impose rules such as that, either at the direction of the government or league officials, but if that's the case, I will simply exercise my right to stay home.
The moral of this story is I'm not interested in anyone's Third World, totalitarian experience, with government-imposed crackdowns and some idiot governor who thinks he's king deciding what is best for me and my family.
I'll come back to the ballpark when it gets back to being the fun experience I've always known and enjoyed since I was a child. That has little to do with safety. It's about entertainment and value for my money, plain and simple.
But what about 2021? As a season-ticket holder, I routinely receive surveys from the Sox. The most recent one covered a wide variety of topics, but the most interesting question addressed what fan attitudes will be like in the post-pandemic world. Or, maybe it seeks to find out what fan attitudes will be like in a post-COVID-19, pre-vaccine world.
I was asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how safe I would feel about returning to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch a ballgame -- with 1 being "not safe at all" and 5 being "very safe."
I chose 5.
If baseball opened its gates tomorrow, with normal day-of-game rules in place, I would be fine going to a game. We all know that's not going to happen, but clearly, we're dealing with a hypothetical situation here anyway.
The Sox allow you to offer comments when you fill out these surveys, and I took the opportunity to explain to them that "safety" will be irrelevant when it comes to my decision on when to return to the ballpark.
I explained that I simply am not willing to come to a game if I'm going to be forced to practice social distancing. What fun is it to sit three or four chairs away from your friends? And, if you think I'm sitting there wearing a mask for three and a half or four straight hours, you can forget it. Restrictions on concessions and restroom use? No thank you. Nope. Sorry, no sale, not coming.
You see, I'm not going to pay my hard-earned money to come to the game if I'm going to have some off-duty cop barking orders at me about where to sit, where to stand and what to wear. That's not my idea of a good time.
I understand that the Sox may have no choice but to impose rules such as that, either at the direction of the government or league officials, but if that's the case, I will simply exercise my right to stay home.
The moral of this story is I'm not interested in anyone's Third World, totalitarian experience, with government-imposed crackdowns and some idiot governor who thinks he's king deciding what is best for me and my family.
I'll come back to the ballpark when it gets back to being the fun experience I've always known and enjoyed since I was a child. That has little to do with safety. It's about entertainment and value for my money, plain and simple.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
More home runs than singles in a season
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| Mark McGwire |
Bruce, who started 2019 with the Seattle Mariners before being traded to Philadelphia, totaled 26 home runs and 24 singles among his 67 hits in 333 plate appearances.
Can you name the other five players on the list?
OK, I'm ruining it for you by giving you the answers:
1. Barry Bonds. No surprise here, right? In 2001, Bonds hit a record 73 home runs and totaled only 49 singles as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
2. Mark McGwire. The slugging first baseman accomplished this four times, three times with the St. Louis Cardinals and once with the Oakland A's. McGwire hit a career-high 70 home runs in 1998, to go along with 61 singles. The next season, he hit 65 home runs and 58 singles. In 2001, McGwire had 29 home runs and 23 singles. Going back to his time in Oakland, he had 39 home runs and 35 singles in 1995.
3. Joey Gallo. The Texas Rangers outfielder did this twice in back-to-back years, 2017-18. In 2017, Gallo finished with 41 homers and 32 singles. He had 40 home runs and 38 singles in 2018.
4. Matt Olson. In 2017, the Oakland A's first baseman finished with 24 home runs and 23 singles.
5. Ryan Schimpf. I'm guessing you didn't think of this guy, unless you're a fan of the San Diego Padres. Schimpf totaled 20 home runs and 18 singles during the 2016 season.
Monday, May 11, 2020
MLB owners OK plan that could start 2020 season in July
Major League Baseball owners on Monday approved a plan that would allow for the 2020 season to start Fourth of July weekend -- without fans. Negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association will reportedly begin Tuesday.
The guess here is this will all fall apart because of a dispute between owners and the players' union about money -- this is ridiculous and petty, given that millions of Americans are out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic -- but more on that later.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the plan:
1. Each team would play 82 games against clubs within their own division, plus nearby teams from the opposite league.
2. Fourteen clubs would make the playoffs instead of 10 -- three division champions and four wild-card teams from each league.
3. Teams would play at their own ballparks, unless not allowed for medical or political reasons. Backup locations would be spring training sites. In other words, I hope the White Sox like Glendale, Ariz.
4. A universal DH is likely.
5. Rosters would expand from 26 to 30 players. Expect teams to carry extra pitchers, since the long layoff is harder on arms than it is on position players.
6. The All-Star Game, scheduled to be in Los Angeles this year, will not be played.
Spring training could resume in mid-June, if the owners and players can come to an agreement on what to do about salaries -- and given the first-rate jerks involved in these negotiations, I'm not counting on it.
In March, the players agreed to take a prorated portion of their salaries for the 2020 season, and union chief Tony Clark says that negotiation is over.
Owners, however, want players to get a 50-50 split of revenues during the regular season and postseason. Why? Well, without fans, revenues will be down, and owners want the players to help absorb some of that hit.
The players' union considers this to be tantamount to a salary cap, and frankly, there's no way in hell they are going to agree to that.
So, billionaires will be fighting with millionaires over large sums of money, as everyday people in America are trying to hang on with the economy in the toilet while enduring a once-in-a-century health crisis.
Aren't the optics great on that?
It's too bad because baseball has a great opportunity here. ... Most of us are going to be stuck at home -- notice I said stuck at home, not safe at home -- for the foreseeable future, and we would love some live sports to help us through. There's no question ratings will be up if a baseball season is played. What else do we have to do besides watch?
Now, that said, if the season gets torpedoed because the players have health concerns, I totally understand. I may not like it, I may be sad, but I'll understand. You can't really criticize someone, or a group of people, if they say, "I'm not doing this because it is a risk to my health."
However, if the season is not played because of disputes about money, all you can really do is shake your head.
The guess here is this will all fall apart because of a dispute between owners and the players' union about money -- this is ridiculous and petty, given that millions of Americans are out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic -- but more on that later.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the plan:
1. Each team would play 82 games against clubs within their own division, plus nearby teams from the opposite league.
2. Fourteen clubs would make the playoffs instead of 10 -- three division champions and four wild-card teams from each league.
3. Teams would play at their own ballparks, unless not allowed for medical or political reasons. Backup locations would be spring training sites. In other words, I hope the White Sox like Glendale, Ariz.
4. A universal DH is likely.
5. Rosters would expand from 26 to 30 players. Expect teams to carry extra pitchers, since the long layoff is harder on arms than it is on position players.
6. The All-Star Game, scheduled to be in Los Angeles this year, will not be played.
Spring training could resume in mid-June, if the owners and players can come to an agreement on what to do about salaries -- and given the first-rate jerks involved in these negotiations, I'm not counting on it.
In March, the players agreed to take a prorated portion of their salaries for the 2020 season, and union chief Tony Clark says that negotiation is over.
Owners, however, want players to get a 50-50 split of revenues during the regular season and postseason. Why? Well, without fans, revenues will be down, and owners want the players to help absorb some of that hit.
The players' union considers this to be tantamount to a salary cap, and frankly, there's no way in hell they are going to agree to that.
So, billionaires will be fighting with millionaires over large sums of money, as everyday people in America are trying to hang on with the economy in the toilet while enduring a once-in-a-century health crisis.
Aren't the optics great on that?
It's too bad because baseball has a great opportunity here. ... Most of us are going to be stuck at home -- notice I said stuck at home, not safe at home -- for the foreseeable future, and we would love some live sports to help us through. There's no question ratings will be up if a baseball season is played. What else do we have to do besides watch?
Now, that said, if the season gets torpedoed because the players have health concerns, I totally understand. I may not like it, I may be sad, but I'll understand. You can't really criticize someone, or a group of people, if they say, "I'm not doing this because it is a risk to my health."
However, if the season is not played because of disputes about money, all you can really do is shake your head.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Chris Sale: Best strikeout-to-walk ratio among those with 2,000 or more Ks
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| Chris Sale |
I was reading Baseball Digest recently when I learned that Sale has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of all-time among pitchers with at least 2,000 career strikeouts.
Sale reached that career milestone in 2019, despite having a down and injury-plagued season.
Here is that leaderboard. Four of the top seven pitchers are active:
1. *Sale: 2,007 Ks, 374 BBs, 5.37 ratio
2. Curt Schilling: 3,116 Ks, 711 BBs, 4.38 ratio
3. *Max Scherzer: 2,692 Ks, 618 BBs, 4.36 ratio
4. *Clayton Kershaw: 2,464 Ks, 577 BBs, 4.27 ratio
5. Pedro Martinez: 3,154 Ks, 760 BBs, 4.15 ratio
6. Dan Haren: 2,013 Ks, 500 BBs, 4.03 ratio
7. *Zack Greinke: 2,622 Ks, 667 BBs, 3.93 ratio
*active player
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Will home runs continue at absurd rates when baseball returns?
 |
| Pete Alonso led MLB with 53 homers in 2019. |
One of the things I'll be watching when baseball returns is whether home run totals continue to spike in video game-like fashion, as they did in 2019.
Most of us already are familiar with the absurd numbers. The 2018 New York Yankees set a single-season home run record, hitting 267 as a team. That record lasted one year, as four teams surpassed that total in 2019.
The Minnesota Twins hit an almost-unbelievable 307 homers as a team, followed by the Yankees (306), Houston Astros (288) and Los Angeles Dodgers (279).
Individual home run totals reached ridiculous heights as well, with 58 players totaling 30 home runs or more. How much of an outlier is that? Consider this chart:
Players with 30-plus home runs
2019: 58
2018: 27
2017: 41
2016: 38
2015: 20
A whopping 31 more players hit 30-plus homers in 2019 when compared to 2018. That total of 58 is even more than 2000, perhaps the height of the steroids era, when 47 players topped the 30-homer plateau.
Then there's this:
Players with 40-plus home runs
2019: 10
2018: 3
2017: 5
2016: 8
2015: 9
Ten players hitting 40-plus homers in 2019 pales in comparison to 2000, when 16 guys reached that milestone. But it's still a significant jump to go from three 40-home run hitters to 10 in one year's time.
Here's something else crazy to chew on while you're waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic: Before 2019, only 47 teams in the history of Major League Baseball hit 226 home runs in a season. In 2019, the league *average* was 226 homers -- that's equivalent to 25 home runs per spot in the batting order.
We already know we won't have a full 2020 season to use as a point of comparison, but if baseball resumes and we have, say, a 100-game season, if you see teams getting up to 140 or 150 home runs as a lineup, that's about the threshold where we'll be able to say the long-ball trend has continued.
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