Oh ya I still need to complete this. The Loser League goes out with a whimper which should have been expected.
1988 Atlanta Braves def. 1988 Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 0
Game 1: Braves 5, ORIOLES 3
Game 2: Braves 11, ORIOLES 1
Game 3: BRAVES 5, Orioles 4
Game 4: BRAVES 5, Orioles 4 10 innings
The series ended on a Gerald Perry RBI single off of Tom Neidenfuer (man never count on this guy in the postseason) to complete the sweep and crown the 1988 Baltimore Orioles as the Worst Team of My Lifetime. Congratulations guys!
Yes, Pujols is too low but again I was conservative with players who still have several years left in their career.
#40
Jeff Kent, 2B
#39
Will Clark, 1B
#38
Carlos Beltran, CF
#37
Vladimir Guerrero, RF
#36
John Smoltz, SP/RP
#35
Tom Glavine, SP
#34
Alan Trammell, SS
#33
Jim Edmonds, CF
#32
Curt Schilling, SP
#31
Ozzie Smith, SS
#30
Derek Jeter, SS
#29
Lou Whitaker, 2B
#28
Mike Mussina, SP
#27
Albert Pujols, 1B/LF
#26
Jim Thome, 1B/DH/3B
#25
Paul Molitor, DH/3B/2B
#24
Tim Raines, LF
#23
Craig Biggio, 2B
#22
Ryne Sandberg, 2B
#21
Ivan Rodriguez, C
1982 Minnesota Twins def. 1988 Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 2
Game 1: Twins 6, ORIOLES 4 10 innings
Game 2: Twins 3, ORIOLES 2
Game 3: TWINS 7, Orioles 1
Game 4: Orioles 7, TWINS 5
Game 5: Orioles 6, TWINS 2
Game 6: Twins 7, ORIOLES 2
After dropping their first six games of the postseason the '88 Orioles made a spirited comeback but all it meant was that they forced their fans to see another home game. Eddie Murray may be in the Hall of Fame but he takes Least Valuable Player honors in this series he scrapes together only 2 hits in 25 at bats.
1981 Chicago Cubs def. 1988 Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2
Game 1: BRAVES 7, Cubs 4
Game 2: Cubs 7, BRAVES 4
Game 3: Braves 5, CUBS 3 12 innings
Game 4: CUBS 2, Braves 1 10 innings
Game 5: CUBS 4, Braves 3
Game 6: Cubs 3, BRAVES 0
The Cubs once again can't even win the big one as they eliminate themselves from the Loser League setting an all 1988 match-up to crown the worst team of my lifetime. After hitting .480 against the Padres in the previous round, Ron Gant takes the LVP by hitting .115 and committing three errors which reminds you why he was moved to the outfield.
It's playoff time for the Loser League and remember it will be loser advances. There's only one Losertober!
1979 Oakland A's def. 1988 Baltimore Orioles 3 games to 0
Game 1: A'S 24, Orioles 4
Game 2: A'S 11, Orioles 3
Game 3: A's 7, ORIOLES 3
That Game 1 score is not a misprint as this series reminds you why Baltimore lost 21 games to start the 1988 season. Baltimore's team ERA for the series was 14.40 as the A's hit .374 as a team. No word yet if Cal Ripken will request to pull himself out of the line up for the next series.
1979 Toronto Blue Jays def. 1982 Minnesota Twins 3 games to 1
Game 1: TWINS 6, Blue Jays 1
Game 2: Blue Jays 3, TWINS 0
Game 3: BLUE JAYS 7, Twins 6
Game 4: BLUE JAYS 5, Twins 4
Do you believe in miracles, eh? The '79 Blue Jays were the only team to top 100 losses in the Loser League and were the runaway favorite to take the title entering the postseason but they shock the world but beating the '82 Twins. The Jays mounted a five run 8th inning comeback in the deciding Game 4 to send the Twins to the Loser Championship Series and many of their players to suicide.
1998 Florida Marlins def. 1981 Chicago Cubs 3 games to 2
Game 1: Marlins 4, CUBS 1
Game 2: CUBS 10, Marlins 6
Game 3: MARLINS 5, Cubs 4 12 innings
Game 4: Cubs 5, MARLINS 1
Game 5: Marlins 6, CUBS 4
Cubs' fans this might be your year! No team was happier that two months of the 1981 season was wiped out by a player's strike than the Cubs and it almost seems cruel to make them keep playing. I don't know if Bartman stole a foul ball from Steve Henderson in the deciding game.
1981 San Diego Padres def. 1988 Atlanta Braves 3 games to 2
Game 1: Braves 4, PADRES 2
Game 2: Braves 6, PADRES 4 11 innings
Game 3: Padres 8, BRAVES 3
Game 4: Padres 4, BRAVES 2
Game 5: PADRES 9, Braves 8 18 innings
Go Braves! After dropping two at home the Padres make a remarkable comeback and in Game 5 defeated the Braves in an 18 inning classic or really 6 hours and 26 minutes of torture if you had watch these two teams play. The game ended on an Ozzie Smith RBI single off rookie Tom Glavine who was forced into the game as a pinch hitter and remained in the game to pitch after the Braves bench and bullpen had been used up. Here's the boxscore:
BOXSCORE: 1988 Atlanta Braves At 1981 San Diego Padres 10/6/2008
Braves AB R H RBI AVG Padres AB R H RBI AVG
R.Gant 3B 7 1 2 1 .480 O.Smith SS 9 2 3 1 .278
D.James LF 9 2 3 2 .304 R.Jones CF 6 0 1 1 .167
G.Perry 1B 7 0 1 1 .167 J.Curtis P 0 0 0 0 ----
D.Murphy RF 7 1 1 2 .238 N-S.Swisher PH 1 0 0 0 .000
O.Virgil C 9 2 4 1 .348 S.Mura P 0 0 0 0 .000
A.Thomas SS 8 1 2 0 .120 P-D.Gwosdz PH 1 0 1 01.000
M.Lemke 2B 3 0 1 0 .357 C.Welsh P 0 0 0 0 .500
A-J.Blauser PH 1 0 1 1 .286 G.Richards LF 9 2 3 0 .261
B-L.Smith PR 0 1 0 0 .250 T.Kennedy C 8 1 4 2 .346
E-J.Royster 2B 5 0 1 0 .200 B.Perkins 1B 6 0 1 1 .125
T.Blocker CF 7 0 1 0 .222 K-J.Moreno 1B 2 1 1 0 .500
R.Mahler P 3 0 0 0 .000 J.Lefebvre RF 7 2 2 0 .188
C-P.Runge PH 0 0 0 0 ---- L.Salazar 3B 7 0 3 2 .476
D-A.Hall PH 0 0 0 0 .167 J.Bonilla 2B 5 0 2 1 .500
G.Jimenez P 0 0 0 0 ---- M-T.Flannery PH,2B 2 0 0 0 .200
F-B.Benedict PH 1 0 0 0 .000 J.Eichelberger P 3 0 0 0 .000
J.Alvarez P 0 0 0 0 ---- D.Boone P 0 0 0 0 ----
H-T.Simmons PH 1 0 0 0 .500 J.Urrea P 1 0 0 0 .000
C.Puleo P 0 0 0 0 ---- T.Lollar P 0 0 0 0 ----
P.Assenmacher P 0 0 0 0 ---- G-B.Evans PH 1 0 1 0 .385
L-J.Acker PH,P 1 0 1 01.000 J.Littlefield P 0 0 0 0 ----
B.Sutter P 0 0 0 0 ---- G.Lucas P 0 0 0 0 ----
O-T.Glavine PH,P 1 0 0 0 .000 I-R.Bass PH 0 0 0 0 .000
J-D.Edwards PH,CF 3 1 2 1 .308
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 70 8 18 8 Totals 71 9 24 9
A-Pinch Hit For Lemke In 8th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Blauser In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Mahler In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Runge In 8th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Smith In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Jimenez In 9th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Lollar In 11th Inning
H-Pinch Hit For Alvarez In 12th Inning
I-Pinch Hit For Lucas In 13th Inning
J-Pinch Hit For Bass In 13th Inning
K-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Perkins In 15th Inning
L-Pinch Hit For Assenmacher In 15th Inning
M-Pinch Hit For Bonilla In 15th Inning
N-Pinch Hit For Curtis In 15th Inning
O-Pinch Hit For Sutter In 17th Inning
P-Pinch Hit For Mura In 17th Inning
INJURY: Broderick Perkins INJURED (for 0 more games) in 14th inning
Braves.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 8 18 1
Padres.......... 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 - 9 24 2
Braves (2-3) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
R.Mahler 7 12 5 4 0 3 0 109 3.75
G.Jimenez 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 24 5.68
J.Alvarez 3 1 0 0 2 3 0 48 4.00
C.Puleo 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 20 5.40
P.Assenmache 1 2/3 1 0 0 2 2 0 38 0.00
J.Acker 0 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0.00
B.Sutter 1 1/3 3 1 1 2 2 0 31 3.00
T.Glavine LOSS(0-1) 1 2/3 5 3 3 1 0 0 39 5.40
Totals 17 2/3 24 9 8 8 10 0
Padres (3-2) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
J.Eichelberg 7 7 4 4 3 4 1 134 3.75
D.Boone HOLD(2nd) 0 1/3 1 1 1 0 1 0 8 3.86
J.Urrea BS(1st) 1 1/3 2 0 0 2 0 0 30 0.00
T.Lollar 2 1/3 1 0 0 0 3 0 34 0.00
J.Littlefiel 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7.36
G.Lucas 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 3 0 20 0.00
J.Curtis 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 25 2.45
S.Mura 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 33 4.91
C.Welsh WIN(1-0) 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 21 6.43
Totals 18 18 8 8 5 12 3
ATTENDANCE- 24,996 DATE- Monday, October 6th 2008 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
T- 6:26
LEFT ON BASE- Braves:17 Padres:19
DOUBLE PLAYS- Braves: 0 Padres: 1
ERRORS- R.Mahler, O.Smith, L.Salazar
DOUBLES- O.Virgil(2nd), O.Smith(1st), R.Jones(3rd), T.Kennedy(3rd),
J.Moreno(1st), J.Bonilla(3rd)
TRIPLES- D.Edwards(1st)
HOME RUNS- D.James(1st), D.Murphy(1st), O.Virgil(1st)
STOLEN BASES- R.Gant-2(5th), D.James(2nd), G.Richards(1st), L.Salazar(1st),
D.Edwards(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- G.Richards, J.Bonilla
SACRIFICE HITS- R.Gant, L.Salazar
SACRIFICE FLIES- R.Gant, D.Murphy, T.Kennedy, L.Salazar
WALKS- G.Perry-2, D.Murphy, A.Thomas, T.Blocker, O.Smith, R.Jones, B.Perkins,
J.Lefebvre-2, J.Bonilla, T.Flannery, D.Edwards
HIT BY PITCH- A.Hall
STRIKE OUTS- R.Gant-2, D.James, G.Perry, D.Murphy-2, O.Virgil-3, A.Thomas,
T.Blocker, R.Mahler, O.Smith, R.Jones, G.Richards, T.Kennedy,
J.Moreno, J.Lefebvre, L.Salazar, J.Eichelberger-2, D.Edwards
GIDP- T.Blocker
Now we start to get to the meat of the list and I swear that's not a crack at the next player on the list.
#60
Andruw Jones, CF
#59
Bret Saberhagen, SP
#58
Kenny Lofton, CF
#57
Robin Ventura, 3B
#56
Albert Belle, LF
#55
Kevin Brown, SP
#54
Fred McGriff, 1B
#53
Sammy Sosa, RF
#52
Jorge Posada, C
#51
Jason Giambi, 1B
#50
Lance Berkman, OF/1B
#49
Larry Walker, RF
#48
Kirby Puckett, CF
#47
Brian Giles, OF
#46
Bobby Abreu, RF
#45
Mariano Rivera, RP
#44
Bernie Williams, CF
#43
Scott Rolen, 3B
#42
Edgar Martinez, DH
#41
Rafael Palmeiro, 1B
Ohhhhhhh what a finish! Okay not really as all races were decided before the last day of the season. But we did have a surprise as the '03 Tigers, losers of 119 games, will not advance to the postseason as they were beat out by the '88 Orioles for the Loser Card. All the division races went to those who have been "leading" most of the year. Here are your A.L. playoff match-ups.
'88 Orioles vs. '79 A's
'79 Blue Jays vs. '82 Twins
And let's recognize those who were the best of the Loser League on the A.L. side.
C: Jeff Newman, '79 A's
1B: Eddie Murray, '88 Orioles
2B: Bobby Grich, '80 Angels
3B: Carney Lansford, '80 Angels
SS: Cal Ripken, '88 Orioles
LF: Albert Belle, '91 Indians
CF: Roberto Kelly, '90 Yankees
RF: Emil Brown, '05 Royals
SP: Roger Clemens, '92 Red Sox
RP: Mark Clear, '80 Angels
FINAL STANDINGS/LEADERS
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
1990 NYA 93 69 R.Carew LAA .339 E.Murray BAA 40 A.Belle CLA 124
1992 BOA 87 75 E.Brown KCA .337 A.Belle CLA 38 E.Brown KCA 116
2002 TBA 84 78 T.Long KCA .334 K.Maas NYA 36 E.Murray BAA 114
1988 BAA 74 88 R.Kelly NYA .334 K.Hrbek MNA 35 C.Baerga CLA 112
1979 TOA 59 103 K.Hrbek MNA .332 C.Ripken BAA 32 OTHERS TIED W 105
1989 CHA 86 76 WINS SAVES ERA
1991 CLA 82 80 R.Clemens BOA 19 T.Niedenf BAA 36 R.Clemens BOA 2.13
2005 KCA 81 81 F.Tanana LAA 16 E.Yan TBA 29 C.Hough TEA 2.18
2003 DEA 75 87 C.Hough TEA 15 B.Thigpen CHA 28 F.Viola BOA 2.76
1982 MNA 69 93 G.Swindel CLA 15 G.Harris TEA 27 D.Aase LAA 2.89
OTHERS TIED W 14 M.Macdoug KCA 24 F.Bannist SEA 2.95
1980 LAA 100 62
1985 TEA 83 79 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1980 SEA 76 86 K.Witt DEA 12 A.Sanchez DEA 65 R.Clemens BOA 226
1979 OAA 69 93 D.Slaught TEA 9 R.Kelly NYA 63 T.Underwo TOA 201
E.Murray BAA 8 A.Cole CLA 50 F.Bannist SEA 187
M.Lewis CLA 8 O.Guillen CHA 41 D.Darwin BOA 170
OTHERS TIED W 7 OTHERS TIED W 38 G.Swindel CLA 169
The '81 Cubs reversed the curse of the goat! Most of the season it was the '91 Astros and '85 Pirates fighting over the bottom of the N.L. Central but the Cubs blew past them with a clutch September record of 4-21 and ending the season on a 13 game losing streak! Truly remarkable. No surprises in the other races as the '98 Marlins did eventually pass up the '88 Braves for the league's worst record but as expected the Loser Card comes out of the East. Here are your N.L. playoff match-ups.
'88 Braves vs. '81 Padres
'98 Marlins vs. '81 Cubs
Here's the All-NL Loser League team.
C: Craig Biggio, '91 Astros
1B: Eddie Murray, '93 Mets
2B: Jeff Kent, '93 Mets
3B: Scott Rolen, '00 Phillies
SS: Jay Bell, '98 Diamondbacks
LF: Bernard Gilkey, '95 Cardinals
CF: Ray Lankford, '95 Cardinals
RF: Bobby Bonilla, '93 Mets
SP: Mike Krukow, '85 Giants
RF: Gregg Olson, '98 Diamondbacks
FINAL STANDINGS/LEADERS
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
1993 NYN 94 68 A.Galarra CON .379 R.Lankfor SLN 39 S.Rolen PHN 134
2008 WAN 90 72 J.Mabry SLN .359 B.Bonilla NYN 38 R.Lankfor SLN 123
2000 PHN 88 74 C.Biggio HON .336 E.Murray NYN 33 D.Bichett CON 110
1988 ATN 66 96 B.Gilkey SLN .325 S.Rolen PHN 33 E.Karros LAN 108
1998 FLN 63 99 C.Guzman WAN .325 E.Karros LAN 31 OTHERS TIED W 104
1995 SLN 99 63 WINS SAVES ERA
1982 CIN 89 73 M.Krukow SFN 21 M.Dejean MLN 45 M.Krukow SFN 2.07
2002 MLN 85 77 G.Rusch MLN 18 G.Olson ARN 42 R.Reusche PIN 2.48
1991 HON 75 87 M.Soto CIN 17 T.Henke SLN 41 D.Gooden NYN 2.48
1985 PIN 72 90 R.Reusche PIN 17 S.Garrelt SFN 33 R.Person PHN 2.64
1981 CHN 67 95 OTHERS TIED W 16 D.Holmes CON 31 O.Daal ARN 2.75
1985 SFN 96 66 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1992 LAN 88 74 D.James ATN 14 B.Butler LAN 61 M.Soto CIN 278
1998 ARN 85 77 B.Jordan SLN 11 V.Coleman NYN 58 D.Gooden NYN 200
1993 CON 81 81 OTHERS TIED W 9 S.Finley HON 56 B.Sheets MLN 200
1981 SDN 74 88 E.Young MLN 55 P.Harnisc HON 198
E.Young CON 51 B.Berenyi CIN 194
With a month left in the season the '79 Blue Jays have an outside chance of losing more games in the Loser League than they did back in 1979. That would truly be an astonishing feat of futility. We finally had a "lead" change in the West as the '80 Mariners eeked by the '79 A's by one game setting up what should be a thrilling finish. The '03 Tigers still cling to the Loser Card by two games over the '88 Orioles.
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
1990 NYA 79 58 R.Kelly NYA .339 A.Belle CLA 36 A.Belle CLA 109
2002 TBA 75 61 E.Brown KCA .339 E.Murray BAA 33 E.Brown KCA 109
1992 BOA 74 63 R.Carew LAA .337 K.Maas NYA 32 J.Barfiel NYA 100
1988 BAA 61 76 A.Huff TBA .334 K.Hrbek MNA 31 B.Grich LAA 92
1979 TOA 47 90 J.Orsulak BAA .329 A.Huff TBA 27 K.Hrbek MNA 92
1989 CHA 74 62 WINS SAVES ERA
2005 KCA 69 68 F.Tanana LAA 16 T.Niedenf BAA 30 C.Hough TEA 2.16
1991 CLA 68 68 R.Clemens BOA 15 E.Yan TBA 25 R.Clemens BOA 2.27
2003 DEA 59 78 F.Martine LAA 13 G.Harris TEA 24 F.Martine LAA 2.64
1982 MNA 54 83 C.Hough TEA 13 B.Thigpen CHA 24 F.Viola BOA 2.87
G.Swindel CLA 13 M.Macdoug KCA 22 D.Aase LAA 2.88
1980 LAA 86 50
1985 TEA 70 68 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1979 OAA 63 74 A.Sanchez DEA 18 A.Sanchez DEA 53 R.Clemens BOA 197
1980 SEA 62 74 M.Lewis CLA 13 R.Kelly NYA 48 T.Underwo TOA 172
C.Baerga CLA 12 A.Cole CLA 45 F.Bannist SEA 160
B.Higgins DEA 12 S.Sax NYA 36 D.Darwin BOA 146
A.Berroa KCA 11 OTHERS TIED W 33 M.Perez CHA 144
YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS
CHA 4 at BOA 5 BAA-Bautist(8-6, 3.24) at BOA-Hesketh(7-5, 3.83)
SEA 3 at CLA 6 CHA-King(9-8, 3.66) at CLA-Nagy(10-13, 5.22)
KCA 3 at DEA 8 SEA-Honeycu(9-12, 4.11) at TEA-Hooton(7-5, 5.32)
TEA 2 at LAA 8
TOA 3 at NYA 12
MNA 3 at OAA 4
BAA 1 at TBA 8
YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES
BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB
B.Higginson DEA KCA 3 2 1 2 2 1 1 1
W.Morris DEA KCA 5 2 3 3 0 0 1 0
J.Barfield NYA TOA 5 1 3 3 0 2 1 0
O.Velez TOA NYA 3 1 2 1 1 0 1 0
B.Grich LAA TEA 5 2 2 2 0 2 1 0
PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS
D.Heaverlo OAA MNA 4.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 S
P.Quantrill BOA CHA 3.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 W
T.Felton MNA OAA 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 0
T.Phelps TBA BAA 2.2 1 0 0 1 3 0 S
D.Pall CHA BOA 4.0 2 2 0 3 3 0
WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
C.Pena DEA .344 32 11 7 8 4 D.Schmidt TEA 5 1 0 1 4 0 100
K.Maas NYA .321 28 9 6 5 4 J.Bautista BAA 9 3 0 1 4 0 100
G.Ward MNA .462 39 18 7 3 4 B.Milacki BAA 9 3 0 3 10 0 100
B.Higginson DEA .371 35 13 10 8 2 D.Heaverlo OAA 11 5 0 2 7 0 102
E.Brown KCA .400 35 14 11 2 3 R.Langford OAA 23 22 4 1 12 1 200
WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
R.Velarde NYA .148 27 4 1 0 0 M.Mason TEA 6 11 12 7 1 1 010
M.Mendoza SEA .143 35 5 1 1 0 Z.Greinke KCA 12 25 15 3 4 5 010
S.Sax NYA .160 25 4 0 1 0 R.Dressler SEA 10 20 8 1 3 2 020
R.Washington MNA .211 38 8 0 0 0 C.Knapp LAA 7 9 7 4 5 1 010
L.Sheets BAA .179 28 5 0 1 0 M.Norris OAA 6 9 7 5 4 2 000
INJURY REPORT
P.Stanicek, Baltimore - 4 more games
D.Pasqua, Chicago (AL) - 3 more games
J.Browne, Cleveland - 11 more games
S.Sax, New York (AL) - 1 more games
E.Munson, Detroit - 6 more games
We have a three dead horse race in the N.L. Central as the '91 Astros pulled ahead of the '85 Pirates but a half game with the '81 Cubs making a late season charge, sitting three games back. Surprising development in the East as the '88 Braves and '98 Marlins haven't complete sucked ass in the last couple of months where there's now a chance the Loser Card might not come out of the division. Could this be a major choke job? And in the West the '93 Rockies are chipping away at the '81 Padres lead, now within three games going into the final month.
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
2000 PHN 79 58 A.Galarra CON .386 R.Lankfor SLN 36 S.Rolen PHN 116
1993 NYN 77 60 J.Mabry SLN .356 B.Bonilla NYN 30 R.Lankfor SLN 111
2008 WAN 71 66 B.Gilkey SLN .340 S.Rolen PHN 30 A.Galarra CON 96
1998 FLN 57 81 B.Buckner CHN .339 E.Karros LAN 28 D.Bichett CON 96
1988 ATN 55 82 S.Rolen PHN .329 E.Murray NYN 27 E.Karros LAN 94
1995 SLN 80 57 WINS SAVES ERA
1982 CIN 75 63 M.Krukow SFN 18 G.Olson ARN 36 M.Krukow SFN 1.86
2002 MLN 70 66 R.Reusche PIN 16 M.Dejean MLN 36 R.Reusche PIN 2.50
1981 CHN 63 74 M.Soto CIN 15 T.Henke SLN 33 R.Person PHN 2.65
1985 PIN 60 76 O.Daal PHN 14 S.Garrelt SFN 29 D.Gooden NYN 2.67
1991 HON 60 77 B.Sheets MLN 14 D.Holmes CON 28 T.Candiot LAN 2.73
1985 SFN 81 55 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1998 ARN 74 62 E.Karros LAN 20 B.Butler LAN 53 M.Soto CIN 236
1992 LAN 73 64 S.Rolen PHN 10 E.Young MLN 51 P.Harnisc HON 178
1993 CON 70 68 B.Jordan SLN 9 V.Coleman NYN 49 B.Sheets MLN 173
1981 SDN 66 70 A.Cedeno HON 8 S.Finley HON 47 D.Gooden NYN 168
OTHERS TIED W 7 A.Sanchez MLN 43 OTHERS TIED W 160
YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS
LAN 2 at ARN 3 SLN-Morgan(10-5, 3.66) at ARN-Sodowsk(7-3, 4.43)
SFN 4 at CIN 9 HON-Deshaie(6-12, 5.55) at CHN-Krukow(12-13, 3.55)
NYN 2 at FLN 3 SFN-Krukow(18-3, 1.86) at CON-Harris(11-11, 4.87)
SLN 6 at HON 0 ATN-Mahler(9-14, 4.56) at FLN-Larkin(3-6, 5.75)
MLN 5 at PIN 6 SDN-Wise(6-7, 3.11) at LAN-Hershis(10-9, 4.37)
CON 3 at SDN 2 NYN-Tanana(8-8, 4.68) at MLN-Quevedo(9-9, 5.43)
ATN 4 at WAN 3 PHN-Wolf(13-9, 4.04) at WAN-Perez(7-9, 3.79)
PHN 5 at CHN 4
YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES
BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB
T.Pena PIN MLN 5 2 4 4 0 1 1 1
A.Trevino CIN SFN 4 2 2 4 0 0 1 0
L.Smith ATN WAN 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
T.Kennedy SDN CON 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 0
B.Brenly SFN CIN 4 1 1 3 0 0 1 0
PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS
M.Petkovsek SLN HON 9.0 3 0 0 0 5 0 W
T.Glavine ATN WAN 7.0 3 1 0 2 4 0 W
L.Hernandez FLN NYN 8.0 5 2 1 3 7 0 W
A.Holland PIN MLN 3.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 W
D.Capilla CHN PHN 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 0
WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
T.Pena PIN .375 32 12 11 3 4 M.Petkovsek SLN 11 5 0 0 7 0 300
B.Jordan SLN .300 30 9 10 3 4 R.Delucia SLN 5 1 0 1 5 0 000
E.Karros LAN .400 35 14 10 5 3 P.Byrd PHN 8 4 0 1 8 0 100
D.Strawberry LAN .500 24 12 10 2 1 V.Padilla PHN 6 2 0 0 2 0 000
B.Gilkey SLN .370 27 10 6 6 2 B.Anderson ARN 13 8 1 0 2 0 100
WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
K.Orie FLN .057 35 2 0 0 0 B.Caudill CHN 8 21 15 7 9 1 020
J.Clark CON .214 28 6 0 0 0 J.Sanchez FLN 8 13 11 7 5 1 020
L.Gonzalez HON .143 35 5 2 2 0 J.Alvarez ATN 8 14 12 3 7 2 010
O.Smith SDN .222 36 8 2 0 0 J.Cabrera MLN 5 11 7 1 2 2 011
D.Hansen LAN .179 28 5 2 1 0 C.Puleo ATN 7 14 9 3 5 0 000
INJURY REPORT
T.Blackwell, Chicago (NL) - 3 more games
R.Jones, San Diego - 3 more games
B.Evans, San Diego - 1 more games
E.Davis, Los Angeles - 1 more games
C.Hayes, Colorado - 2 more games
D.Sheaffer, St. Louis - 8 more games
T.Pagnozzi, St. Louis - 5 more games
G.Zaun, Florida - 3 more games
M.Lieberthal, Philadelphia - 2 more games
A.Sanchez, Milwaukee - 1 more games
A.Kearns, Washington - 14 more games
Now granted the '88 Braves have scraped together some wins lately but they still are the Braves and they are featured in our boxscore of the month for August. They were drubbed by that juggernaut that was the '08 Nationals 18-2 on August 29th as the Nats banged out 24 hits.
BOXSCORE: 1988 Atlanta Braves At 2008 Washington Nationals 8/29/2008
Braves AB R H RBI AVG Nationals AB R H RBI AVG
J.Morrison 3B 4 0 1 0 .138 W.Harris 2B 6 4 3 2 .260
D.James LF 4 0 1 0 .263 C.Guzman SS 6 4 5 1 .319
G.Perry 1B 4 1 0 0 .331 D.Young 1B 4 2 2 2 .270
D.Murphy RF 3 1 1 0 .241 L.Milledge CF 5 0 5 5 .286
A.Thomas SS 4 0 2 0 .261 A.Gonzalez 3B 6 0 0 1 .183
O.Virgil C 4 0 2 2 .294 J.Flores C 4 2 2 1 .275
A.Hall CF 3 0 0 0 .238 E.Bonifacio RF 4 3 3 0 .305
J.Blauser 2B 4 0 1 0 .243 R.Bernadina LF 5 1 2 2 .381
K.Coffman P 0 0 0 0 .143 T.Redding P 5 2 2 2 .107
C.Puleo P 1 0 0 0 .118 M.Estrada P 0 0 0 0 .000
A-P.Runge PH 1 0 0 0 .136
J.Alvarez P 0 0 0 0 .273
B-L.Smith PH 1 0 0 0 .248
R.Mahler P 0 0 0 0 .045
C-T.Simmons PH 1 0 0 0 .203
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 34 2 8 2 Totals 45 18 24 16
A-Pinch Hit For Puleo In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Alvarez In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Mahler In 9th Inning
Braves.......... 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 8 0
Nationals....... 1 5 4 0 5 2 0 1 - 18 24 0
Braves (54-81) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
K.Coffman LOSS(5-4) 1 1/3 5 6 6 2 0 0 45 6.00
C.Puleo 2 2/3 8 4 4 0 3 0 64 5.60
J.Alvarez 2 9 7 7 1 2 1 71 4.52
R.Mahler 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 38 4.56
Totals 8 24 18 18 4 6 1
Nationals (70-65) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
T.Redding WIN(10-7) 8 8 2 2 1 2 0 122 2.88
M.Estrada 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3.12
Totals 9 8 2 2 1 2 0
ATTENDANCE- 33,441 DATE- Friday, August 29th 2008 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad
T- 3:18
LEFT ON BASE- Braves: 7 Nationals: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Braves: 2 Nationals: 1
DOUBLES- D.Murphy(41st), C.Guzman(36th), L.Milledge(22nd), J.Flores(17th),
R.Bernadina(4th)
HOME RUNS- W.Harris(17th)
STOLEN BASES- W.Harris(17th)
SACRIFICE FLIES- L.Milledge
WALKS- A.Hall, D.Young-2, J.Flores, E.Bonifacio
HIT BY PITCH- D.Murphy
STRIKE OUTS- J.Morrison-2, J.Flores-2, R.Bernadina-2, T.Redding-2
GIDP- D.James, A.Gonzalez-2
WILD PITCHES- K.Coffman-2, J.Alvarez
PASSED BALLS- O.Virgil, J.Flores
WEB GEMS- Bot 4th: Jeff Blauser robbed Tim Redding of a base hit.
See the first entry as to why certain players won't be on the list. And I think I should be commended for my courage in putting a certain someone on this list.
#80
Rat Piece of Shit, DH/RF
#79
Tony Phillips, 2B/LF/3B
#78
Matt Williams, 3B
#77
Mike Cameron, CF
#76
Tim Salmon, RF
#75
Lenny Dykstra, CF
#74
Johnny Damon, CF
#73
Miguel Tejada, SS
#72
Dave Stieb, SP
#71
Don Mattingly, 1B
#70
John Olerud, 1B
#69
Paul O'Neill, RF
#68
Brett Butler, CF
#67
Nomar Garciaparra, SS
#66
Moises Alou, LF
#65
Tony Fernandez, SS
#64
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
#63
Luis Gonzalez, LF
#62
David Cone, SP
#61
Carlos Delgado, 1B
Not a whole lot of movement in the A.L. as the division "leaders" are still the '79 Blue Jays, '82 Twins, and '79 A's with the '03 Tigers holding down the Loser Card spot. Only in the Loser League could Emil Brown lead the league in RBI.
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
1990 NYA 63 46 A.Huff TBA .362 A.Belle CLA 30 E.Brown KCA 87
2002 TBA 56 52 E.Brown KCA .343 E.Murray BAA 26 A.Belle CLA 83
1992 BOA 56 53 R.Kelly NYA .342 A.Huff TBA 24 A.Huff TBA 82
1988 BAA 49 60 R.Carew LAA .342 K.Hrbek MNA 22 J.Barfiel NYA 80
1979 TOA 37 71 T.Long KCA .329 K.Maas NYA 22 B.Grich LAA 77
1989 CHA 59 49 WINS SAVES ERA
2005 KCA 60 50 F.Tanana LAA 14 T.Niedenf BAA 24 C.Hough TEA 1.70
1991 CLA 51 57 C.Hough TEA 13 G.Harris TEA 19 R.Clemens BOA 2.39
2003 DEA 46 63 R.Clemens BOA 12 B.Thigpen CHA 19 G.Swindel CLA 2.96
1982 MNA 41 67 F.Martine LAA 11 E.Yan TBA 19 F.Martine LAA 2.99
T.Sturtze TBA 11 M.Macdoug KCA 19 R.Langfor OAA 3.04
1980 LAA 71 37
1985 TEA 56 53 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1980 SEA 51 57 R.Kelly NYA 19 R.Kelly NYA 41 R.Clemens BOA 160
1979 OAA 47 60 C.Fisk CHA 16 A.Sanchez DEA 41 F.Bannist SEA 135
D.Young DEA 12 A.Cole CLA 32 T.Underwo TOA 133
S.Sax NYA 9 S.Sax NYA 31 D.Darwin BOA 117
A.Sanchez DEA 9 J.Cruz SEA 29 C.Hough TEA 116
YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS
DEA 5 at CLA 1 OAA-McCatty(5-7, 3.44) at BOA-Viola(9-9, 3.17)
CHA 10 at MNA 0 CHA-Hibbard(6-7, 4.15) at KCA-Greinke(7-7, 6.17)
LAA 5 at NYA 6 CLA-King(7-9, 4.71) at MNA-William(6-9, 6.13)
SEA 3 at TEA 4 LAA-Martine(11-0, 2.99) at NYA-Cary(3-7, 3.80)
BAA-Ballard(6-6, 3.95) at SEA-Abbott(8-8, 3.45)
DEA-Maroth(10-7, 5.32) at TBA-Sturtze(11-4, 4.28)
TOA-Underwo(9-12, 4.28) at TEA-Hough(13-5, 1.70)
YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES
BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB
B.Bochte SEA TEA 4 1 3 2 0 0 1 0
D.Gallagher CHA MNA 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 0
B.Grich LAA NYA 4 1 1 2 1 2 1 0
C.Fisk CHA MNA 5 1 3 4 0 1 0 0
C.Monroe DEA CLA 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 0
PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS
E.King CHA MNA 9.0 7 0 0 2 4 0 W
E.Plunk NYA LAA 4.0 1 0 0 3 7 0
D.Righetti NYA LAA 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 0 W
M.Sarmiento SEA TEA 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 0
D.Schmidt TEA SEA 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 S
WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
T.Armas OAA .281 32 9 10 3 4 A.Sisco KCA 5 1 0 0 5 0 000
B.Grieve TBA .343 35 12 11 6 3 G.Harris TEA 5 0 0 3 8 0 101
C.Fisk CHA .459 37 17 14 3 2 R.Clemens BOA 18 10 1 5 16 0 200
S.Cox TBA .429 21 9 6 4 1 G.Cadaret NYA 15 5 1 6 12 0 201
R.Johnson MNA .318 22 7 4 4 2 J.Kennedy TBA 17 10 1 1 9 0 110
WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
C.Wilkerson TEA .114 35 4 2 1 0 R.Hernandez KCA 9 14 14 6 3 6 020
J.Browne CLA .120 25 3 2 1 0 B.Havens MNA 12 25 16 2 8 2 020
G.Wright TEA .167 30 5 0 3 0 J.Tibbs BAA 6 11 9 5 6 0 020
O.Guillen CHA .212 33 7 1 1 0 D.Carrasco KCA 7 10 8 6 2 2 020
E.Williams CHA .182 22 4 0 3 0 P.Huffman TOA 6 16 10 5 5 0 110
INJURY REPORT
D.Murphy, Oakland - 9 more games
M.Edwards, Oakland - 3 more games
B.Campaneris, California - 6 more games
J.Cruz, Seattle - 6 more games
J.Anderson, Seattle - 5 more games
M.Tettleton, Baltimore - 5 more games
S.Lyons, Chicago (AL) - 3 more games
T.Hall, Tampa Bay - 3 more games
C.Pena, Detroit - 2 more games
B.Higginson, Detroit - 11 more games
E.Kingsale, Detroit - 4 more games
In the N.L. the only change was the '98 Marlins finally wrestled away the bottom of the N.L. East away from the '88 Braves although still both are very much on their way to postseason. The '81 Padres are only five games under .500 yet have now built a six and a half game "lead" in the West over the '93 Rockies but if you are under .500 in this league you really do suck.
TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN
2000 PHN 62 46 A.Galarra CON .386 R.Lankfor SLN 34 S.Rolen PHN 100
1993 NYN 60 49 J.Mabry SLN .367 S.Rolen PHN 26 R.Lankfor SLN 95
2008 WAN 57 51 C.Biggio HON .343 B.Bonilla NYN 25 D.Bichett CON 81
1988 ATN 42 66 B.Gilkey SLN .341 E.Karros LAN 24 C.Cedeno CIN 75
1998 FLN 42 68 B.Butler LAN .340 E.Murray NYN 23 E.Karros LAN 75
1995 SLN 61 50 WINS SAVES ERA
2002 MLN 59 50 B.Sheets MLN 13 G.Olson ARN 30 M.Krukow SFN 1.65
1982 CIN 57 53 R.Reusche PIN 12 M.Dejean MLN 30 D.Bird CHN 2.45
1981 CHN 53 56 M.Krukow SFN 12 T.Henke SLN 25 J.Jones HON 2.50
1991 HON 50 57 K.Gross LAN 12 D.Holmes CON 23 D.Gooden NYN 2.51
1985 PIN 49 60 OTHERS TIED W 11 G.Lucas SDN 22 R.Person PHN 2.53
1985 SFN 65 42 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS
1998 ARN 59 49 J.Ray PIN 14 E.Young MLN 42 M.Soto CIN 174
1992 LAN 59 49 J.Clark CON 13 V.Coleman NYN 41 P.Harnisc HON 151
1993 CON 59 51 L.Mazzill PIN 11 B.Butler LAN 40 B.Sheets MLN 149
1981 SDN 52 57 K.Caminit HON 11 A.Sanchez MLN 37 B.Berenyi CIN 129
E.Murray NYN 11 S.Finley HON 35 D.Gooden NYN 129
YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS
CHN 5 at MLN 6 PIN-Rhoden(6-11, 5.53) at CHN-Bird(8-5, 2.45)
SLN 9 at ATN 0 MLN-Rusch(11-9, 4.30) at ATN-Smith(9-5, 2.72)
CON 5 at FLN 4 CON-Harris(10-8, 4.75) at FLN-Meadows(5-10, 5.17)
ARN 5 at LAN 4 NYN-Gooden(7-5, 2.51) at HON-Harnisc(10-8, 3.12)
PHN 1 at WAN 9 ARN-Anderso(9-7, 3.25) at LAN-Ojeda(4-6, 4.05)
PHN-Wolf(11-5, 3.58) at SLN-Osborne(5-3, 3.54)
SFN-Krukow(12-3, 1.65) at SDN-Eichelb(5-11, 4.98)
CIN-Soto(11-9, 3.37) at WAN-Bergman(8-4, 3.82)
YESTERDAY'S BEST PERFORMANCES
BATTER TM OPP AB R H RB BB Ks HR SB
J.Flores WAN PHN 3 2 2 4 1 0 1 0
T.Blackwell CHN MLN 3 2 1 3 1 1 1 0
D.White ARN LAN 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 0
T.Lee ARN LAN 4 1 1 3 0 1 1 0
G.Zaun FLN CON 3 1 1 2 0 1 1 0
PITCHER TM OPP INN H R ER BB Ks HR WLS
T.Redding WAN PHN 9.0 2 1 1 0 4 0 W
D.Holmes CON FLN 3.0 1 0 0 1 5 0 S
A.Watson SLN ATN 8.2 6 0 0 1 1 0 W
C.Puleo ATN SLN 2.0 0 0 0 1 3 0
A.Benes ARN LAN 5.0 2 2 2 1 2 1 W
WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
R.Lankford SLN .325 40 13 15 6 5 C.Politte PHN 9 2 0 2 14 0 000
T.Blackwell CHN .286 21 6 5 6 2 M.Mantei FLN 8 1 0 2 5 0 003
D.Driessen CIN .323 31 10 11 4 3 J.Parrett SLN 5 3 0 0 6 0 000
C.Cedeno CIN .364 33 12 12 2 3 D.Tidrow CHN 9 5 0 1 8 0 101
P.Householder CIN .310 29 9 8 4 3 J.Gott SFN 18 8 1 7 9 0 200
WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS
BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS
J.Orsulak NYN .156 32 5 1 1 0 K.Coffman ATN 8 7 9 12 5 1 020
K.Reitz CHN .208 24 5 0 1 0 M.Portugal HON 8 19 12 6 7 2 110
M.Trillo SFN .233 30 7 0 1 0 J.Deshaies HON 5 7 7 9 1 0 010
K.Jordan PHN .130 23 3 1 2 0 J.Smoltz ATN 10 14 10 3 5 2 020
J.Leonard SFN .171 35 6 3 1 0 O.Daal PHN 10 14 11 5 9 1 020
INJURY REPORT
T.Fernandez, New York (NL) - 2 more games
T.Pagnozzi, St. Louis - 4 more games
G.Pena, St. Louis - 2 more games
M.Redmond, Florida - 5 more games
D.Lee, Florida - 1 more games
A.Boone, Washington - 2 more games
C.Guzman, Washington - 1 more games
The boxscore of the month for July again features the '82 Twins getting lit up and it was appropriately on the 4th of July this time in a 16-3 drubbing at the hands of the '91 Indians. Starting pitcher John Pacella's line: 5 2/3 IP, 13 H, 13 R, 13 ER, 7 BB, 3 SO. On top of that he was left out there for 142 pitches! He must have fucked Twins manager Billy Gardner's wife or something to be made to suffer like that. Albert Belle hit three home runs for the Tribe.
BOXSCORE: 1991 Cleveland Indians At 1982 Minnesota Twins 7/4/2008
Indians AB R H RBI AVG Twins AB R H RBI AVG
A.Cole CF 6 1 1 1 .268 M.Hatcher RF 5 1 2 2 .220
J.Browne 2B 5 3 3 2 .243 D.Engle LF 4 0 0 0 .288
C.Baerga 3B 6 3 4 3 .307 K.Hrbek 1B 4 0 3 0 .353
A.Belle LF 5 4 3 6 .326 T.Brunansky CF 4 0 0 0 .300
M.Whiten RF 4 1 0 0 .274 G.Gaetti 3B 3 0 1 0 .210
C.James DH 6 1 3 2 .257 J.Vega DH 4 0 0 0 .283
M.Aldrete 1B 4 0 2 0 .242 T.Laudner C 4 1 1 0 .265
J.Skinner C 4 2 1 1 .249 R.Washington SS 4 1 2 1 .308
F.Fermin SS 5 1 3 1 .282 J.Castino 2B 4 0 0 0 .275
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 45 16 20 16 Totals 36 3 9 3
Indians......... 2 0 2 2 1 6 2 1 0 - 16 20 0
Twins........... 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 - 3 9 0
Indians (39-48) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
G.Swindell WIN(7-5) 9 9 3 3 1 7 1 144 2.75
Totals 9 9 3 3 1 7 1
Twins (33-53) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
J.Pacella LOSS(1-2) 5 1/3 13 13 13 7 3 3 142 7.16
P.Redfern 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 19 4.69
P.Boris 2 2/3 4 1 1 0 0 0 54 4.54
Totals 9 20 16 16 7 3 4
ATTENDANCE- 11,478 DATE- Friday, July 4th 2008 TIME- Night
T- 3:25
LEFT ON BASE- Indians: 9 Twins: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Indians: 0 Twins: 1
DOUBLES- A.Cole(8th), J.Skinner(15th), K.Hrbek(19th), T.Laudner(23rd)
HOME RUNS- C.Baerga(11th), A.Belle-3(27th), M.Hatcher(2nd)
STOLEN BASES- J.Browne(2nd)
WALKS- J.Browne, A.Belle, M.Whiten-2, M.Aldrete-2, J.Skinner, G.Gaetti
STRIKE OUTS- J.Browne, A.Belle, M.Whiten, K.Hrbek, G.Gaetti, T.Laudner-2,
R.Washington-2, J.Castino
GIDP- A.Cole
This is something I've wanted to do for a while and have tried a couple of similar lists before but ended abandoning them. I once had an almost completed list for the top 100 players since 1986, which I consider my sports lifetime, but I ran into problems when it came to evaluating players who may have had their peak occur after 1986 but had played several years before 1986. I also felt the list I had compiled was overly subjective and I just simply was not satisfied by my results.
Now of course trying to assemble a list of the top 100 players since 1979 was going to have the same problems. My intention was to only take into account what players have done since 1979 and nothing before. Tom Seaver for example is one of the greatest pitchers of all time but the majority of his career occurred before I was born so it wouldn't make sense to include him on this list. So I decided I would have to have a cut off year which would admittedly eliminate some players who if you considered on their career from 1979 on would warrant placement on this list. But I also want to be able to consider a player's whole career and not just a portion of it.
The cut off I decided on was I would only consider players who's official rookie year was no later than 1978 as I was born on the final scheduled day of the 1978 season (the day before the Bucky F'n Dent game). Now I emphasize their official rookie season as to include players who had cups of coffee in the Majors prior to '78. Now this obviously eliminates some great players who I did grow up watching as a kid but I had to put a cut off year in to real make this manageable. Because of this some of the players you will not see on this list are:
Mike Schmidt
George Brett
Dave Winfield
Eddie Murray
Robin Yount
Dennis Eckersley
Gary Carter
And that's just the Hall of Famers as there's also Andre Dawson, Dave Parker, Dale Murphy, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Evans, and Willie Randolph. I didn't put in a cut off debut year for active players but it ended up being 2001 by default because of 9/11....okay not really, it just kind of worked out that way. If I was just focusing on peak certainly someone like Chase Utley could appear on the list but since career is being considered Utley just wouldn't really fit on this list. That's important to keep in mind when it comes to active players and where they end up on the list. Albert Pujols on peak alone is one of the five best players of my lifetime without a doubt but we don't know if he'll have a serious decline at some point thus he won't be in the Top 5 on this list.
For the statistics I used, I went with Win Shares and Wins Above Replacement (WARP3). I went with them because both are good for career/peak evaluations and both take defense into account, although both have huge flaws when it comes to how they measure defense. To assemble a list of players to put under consideration I used career Win Shares with cut offs of 200 Win Shares for position players, 180 for starting pitchers, and 150 for relievers. I ended up with around 160 players to consider and I ranked them by the players primary position first, grouping designated hitters with first basemen and grouping left and right fielders together, before doing the main list. I will say I wouldn't completely rule that I accidentally left a deserving player off the consideration list who would have made the top 100, in fact I'd say the odds are pretty good.
As mentioned I mentioned part of the problem of prior lists I've tried to do is I felt they were too subjective. This time around though I decided that is almost impossible to not have subjectivity in a list like this. I could have put in several months of research to make this list completely objective but I'm not Bored enough to do that. In fact this list is probably too subjective when it comes down to it as for example I'm not a fan of career closers so don't be shocked but the dearth of closers on this list. I also say that my placement of pitchers in the list is a bit haphazard. I finished the list a few days ago and already thought about making changes but I said "fuck it" I'll just go with what I came up with originally, even if the final list sucks ass. In fact don't even bother looking at it.
Top 100 MLB Players from 1979 - 2008 (#100 - #81)
Disclaimer: If you didn't read anything above, cut off was 1978 rookies.
#100
Ellis Burks, CF
#99
Steve Finley, CF
#98
Bobby Bonilla, 3B/RF
#97
Juan Gonzalez, RF
#96
Lance Parrish, C
#95
Harold Baines, DH/RF
#94
Trevor Hoffman, RP
#93
David Justice, RF
#92
Mark Grace, 1B
#91
Cuck Finley, SP
#90
Eric Davis, CF
#89
Magglio Ordonez, RF
#88
Ken Caminiti, 3B
#87
Chuck Knoblauch, 2B
#86
Andy Pettitte, SP
#85
Andy Van Slyke, CF
#84
Darryl Strawberry, RF
#83
Pedro Guerrero, 1B/OF/3B
#82
Kevin Appier, SP
#81
Todd Helton, 1B
Quicky entry here. First off I'm currently working on a list of the 100 greatest baseball players of my lifetime. Whether I actually finish it is another story as I've tried to do similar lists like this before and always ended up chucking the whole thing.
Hey it's World Baseball Classic time and for this entry just going to very quickly put together my own Team USA. I did this a for 2006 (LOLZ Dontrelle Willis) so might as well do it for 2009 since I need an excuse for an entry. This time around though I'm going construct a roster based on a more standard baseball roster rather than the extreme reliever heavy WBC rosters. This is totally based if no one was injured and if Alex Rodriguez wasn't a TRAITOR TO OUR COUNTRY!
Starters
C.C. Sabathia
Brandon Webb
Tim Lincecum
Roy Halladay
Relievers
Joe Nathan
Jonathan Papelbon
Brian Fuentes
Brad Lidge
Heath Bell
David Price
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Mark Texeira
2B: Chase Utley
3B: David Wright
SS: Alex Rodriguez
LF: Matt Holliday
CF: Grady Sizemore
RF: Nick Markakis
DH: Chipper Jones
Bench
Brian McCann
Lance Berkman
Dustin Pedroia
Jimmy Rollins
Evan Longoria
Curtis Granderson
Roy Oswalt is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore!
Okay first off this is just silly. You're an active player and a very good one at that. A-Rod hasn't cost you a spot in the Majors, hell he's not even a pitcher!
So why did God let these heathens have their performance enhancing drugs? Jesus didn't need steroids to hit a curveball!
Hmm, interesting considering they've never even played in the same league together but they have faced off in three games in interleague play so let's go to the video tape! Or let's go to baseball-reference.
June 8, 2001
Oswalt failed to retire Rodriguez in three plate appearances as he doubled, walked, and doubled. Obviously those doubles would have been infield pop outs without steroids. Oswalt also gave up home runs to Ivan Rodriguez and Rusty Greer and I now demand both have their records removed the books as obviously Oswalt's God given gifts would not surrender home runs to clean players. Oswalt got a no decision but the Astros won, but who cares because A-ROD COULD HAVE COST HIM MONEY!!!
June 28, 2002
In this game Oswalt did get the better of Rodriguez in two of his at bats but in the 4th inning A-Fraud hit a home run off our hero and if I were Roy I would demand that MLB lower his ERA for the 2002 season immediately! But our hero did win the game but hey he could have also lost it which means A-ROD COULD HAVE COST HIM MONEY!!!
June 15, 2008
Rodriguez reached base only once against Oswalt on a walk. But with these new fangled PEDs they keep coming up with who knows they might actually give players telekinesis. I think A-Fraud may have caused Roy's pitches to land out of the strikezone with his mind! Oswalt lost this game and this certainly means that A-ROD COST HIM MONEY!!!
For those scoring at home Roy Oswalt has made $46,950,000 in his career and his current contract will guarantee him another $45 million over the next three seasons. And you know what he deserves it, he's a fantastic pitcher and I'm just having some fun here. He has a right to be pissed that there will be a cloud over all players who played in the last 15 years. But he really comes off like a sanctimonious crybaby in this and does anyone really want to hear a millionaire whine about possibly being cost money? Also if Roger Clemens is ever "proven" to have used PEDs in his career, I hope Roy has the same conviction that he has with A-Rod and demand the Astros be stripped of their 2005 National League Championship.
Another day, another OMG BASEBALL IS DEAD story. But I'm here to help the healing begin with a distraction. It's time to decide who was the worst team of my lifetime!
In a desperate need for content for this blog I've decided to run a simulation using Strat-O-Matic to crown the worst team of last 30 years. Each MLB franchise will be represented with their worst team from the last 30 seasons. I'll be using the 2008 MLB schedule as a guideline for the league as no way I'm going to take the time to create my own schedule and Strat's computer generated schedules aren't particularly good. It will be a couple of weeks before I actually begin the simulation as the 2008 rosters won't be shipping for another week and the '08 Nationals are the Montreal/Washington rep.
Now to truly decide who is the worst team of the last 30 years, the standings will be turned upside down. Last place teams in the six divisions and the worst next to last teams in each league will qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs will be just like the current playoff format but loser of each series will be the one who advances.
Start making your predictions now!
AL East
1979 Toronto Blue Jays (53-109)
1988 Baltimore Orioles (54-107)
1990 New York Yankees (67-95)
1992 Boston Red Sox (73-89)
2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays (55-106)
AL Central
1982 Minnesota Twins (60-102)
1989 Chicago White Sox (69-92)
1991 Cleveland Indians (57-105)
2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119)
2005 Kansas City Royals (56-106)
AL West
1979 Oakland Athletics (54-108)
1980 California Angles (65-95)
1980 Seattle Mariners (59-103)
1985 Texas Rangers (62-99)
NL East
1988 Atlanta Braves (54-106)
1993 New York Mets (59-103)
1998 Florida Marlins (54-108)
2000 Philadelphia Phillies (65-97)
2008 Washington Nationals (59-102)
NL Central
1981 Chicago Cubs (38-65)
1982 Cincinnati Reds (61-101)
1985 Pittsburgh Pirates (57-104)
1991 Houston Astros (65-97)
1995 St. Louis Cardinals (62-81)
2002 Milwaukee Brewers (56-106)
NL West
1981 San Diego Padres (41-69)
1985 San Francisco Giants (62-100)
1992 Los Angeles Dodgers (63-99)
1993 Colorado Rockies (67-95)
1998 Arizona Diamondbacks (65-97)
As I've mentioned previously I love original televised footage of classic games and I recently added two more DVD sets to my collection one for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one for Oklahoma Sooners football. First off regarding the Oklahoma set, I probably should have actually looked up the scores to the games on the set before purchasing it as only one of the five games was decided by single digits (1976 Orange Bowl), but oh well. There is a bonus feature "The Best of the Barry Switzer Show" which might actually be worth an entry if I ever get around to watching it.
The Steelers set has all five of their Super Bowl victories. Well it was supposed to have all five Super Bowls but my set showed up with no Super Bowl XL disk. Bang up job their NFL! If it had been any of the 70's Super Bowls I would have mailed it back. Since I had no intention re-watching that boring, horribly officiated, Jerome Bettis lovefest I decided not to bother with the hassle of returning it. And also NFL, get off your ass and release a 49ers Super Bowls set already.
Now Super Bowl X and XIII annually make All-Time Great Super Bowl lists and Super Bowl XIV might be one of the most underrated Super Bowls of all-time. But anyone can watch the good games, so I decided to watch Super Bowl IX which is just 60 minutes of the Steel Curtain destroying the Vikings' offensive line.
January 12, 1975 - Super Bowl IX: Pittsburgh Steelers (12-3-1) vs. Minnesota Vikings (12-4)
-There were several poor reviews for the set on Amazon due to the video quality of this game and Super Bowl X. The video quality ended up not being quite as bad as some the reviews painted it but it's not very good either.
-Sadly there are no player introductions on the disk and no postgame. Announcers for the game are Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis, and Don Meredith.
STEELERS OFFENSE
LT: Jon Kolb
LG: Jim Clack
C: Ray Mansfield
RG: Gerry Mullins
RT: Gordon Gravelle
TE: Larry Brown
WR: Frank Lewis
WR: Ron Shanklin
QB: Terry Bradshaw
RB: Franco Harris
RB: Rocky Bleier
VIKINGS DEFENSE
LE: Carl Eller
LT: Alan Page
RT: Doug Sutherland
RE: Jim Marshall
LLB: Roy Winston
MLB: Jeff Siemon
RLB: Wally Hilgenberg
LCB: Jackie Wallace
RCB: Nate Wright
SS: Jeff Wright
FS: Paul Krause
VIKINGS OFFENSE
LT: Charles Goodrum
LG: Andy Maurer
C: Mick Tingelhoff
RG: Ed White
RT: Ron Yary
TE: Stu Voight
WR: Jim Lash
WR: John Gilliam
QB: Fran Tarkenton
RB: Chuck Foreman
RB: Dave Osborn
STEELERS DEFENSE
LE: L.C. Greenwood
LT: Joe Greene
RT: Ernie Holmes
RE: Dwight White
LLB: Jack Ham
MLB: Jack Lambert
RLB: Andy Russell
LCB: J.T. Thomas
RCB: Mel Blount
SS: Mike Wagner
FS: Glen Edwards
FIRST QUARTER
-Vikings use a 14 man defensive huddle where they would run off three defenders after the Steelers break their huddle, a practice that is of course no longer permitted in today's game.
-On the Vikings first play on offense, Tarkenton completes a pass to John Gilliam on the sideline and as Gilliam is knocked out of bounds he runs over a cameraman who I'm pretty sure was Steve Sabol.
-Steelers would blow two scoring chances in the quarter after getting the ball on the Vikings' 44 and on their own 47. Roy Gerella missed an relatively easy field goal attempt and then the holder bobbled a second attempt.
-Curt Gowdy makes only one mention of Rocky Bleier being a Vietnam vet, playing with shrapnel in his body. I can only imagine how many times a modern announcer would make mention of fact like that during a game if an active player was a veteran. Good thing Tim Tebow isn't a Gulf War II vet.
-Gowdy also brings up the story Terry Bradshaw being pissed during the week because the media kept bringing up how he was viewed as a dumb player. Hasn't he pretty made a career out of this?
SECOND QUARTER
-Lynn Swan and John Stallworth were both in their rookie year and were not starters but they take almost every snap at wideout from the second quarter on.
-Vikings get their first opportunity to score after Bleier fumbles and the Vikings recover on the Steelers 24. But as would be the case through the much of the game, the Vikings could not move the ball and settle for a field goal attempt but kicker Fred Cox hits it wide right.
-After the Steelers were forced to punt on the ensuing possession, Vikings punt return Sam McCullum would field the punt on a hop inside his own 10. Al DeRogatis thinks it was a bad decision but there were two Steelers near by when he fielded the punt and I think they probably would have downed it inside the 5 anyways. Nevertheless this does lead to the first score of the game when what appears to be miscommunication between Tarkenton and fullback Dave Osborn as Tarkenton pitches it but Osborn doesn't even attempt to grab it. The ball gets kicked back, Tarkenton reaches the ball just before the goal line but slides into endzone where he is touched down by Dwight White for a safety.
-On the Vikings next possession, they put together their best drive of the game reaching the Steelers 25. But on a Tarkenton pass over the middle to Gilliam at the Steelers 5, Gilliam attempts to making a leaping grab but he is immediately nailed by Glen Edwards and the ball pops up in their air and is intercepted by Mel Blount. Game heads to the half with a 2-0 score.
THIRD QUARTER
-Huge break for the Steelers on the second half kick. Gerela slips just as he kicks the ball and it ends up being an accidental squib kick. One of the upbacks Bill Brown doesn't field it cleanly and the Steelers would recover on the Vikings 30. Three Franco Harris runs later and it was 9-0.
-There's a bizarre moment on the Vikings next possession. It was 4th and inches on their own 38 and lined up like they were going to run the play but are just trying to draw the Steelers offsides. As Tarkenton tries to draw them offsides a couple of Steelers players start pointing that one of the Vikings lineman flinched, although on the replay it doesn't appear anyone moved, and then the Steelers run across the line. The refs of course blow the play dead but none of them threw a flag. After a quick discussion, there's no false start on the Vikings, no offsides on the Steelers, no timeout was called by the Vikings, and essentially no play. It was like the refs all forgot to throw a flag and when then decided to just say "fuck it, no play." Vikings end up punting.
-Probably the most infamous play of the game happens on the Vikings next possession. L.C. Greenwood deflected a Tarkenton pass, which happened quite a bit in this game, that went right back to Tarkenton who catches it and then throws another pass to a wide open Gilliam for a huge gain into Steelers territory but that's of course that's a penalty. Gowdy doesn't appear to know the rule as he calls it like it's a huge play for the Vikings, all the while Don Meredith tries to correct him during the play. But considering a 14 year veteran in Tarkenton apparently didn't know you couldn't throw two passes on the same play, I guess Gowdy deserves a pass.
-Even though it's only 9-0 after three, the game already felt like a blowout.
FOURTH QUARTER
-Oh but the Vikings actually do have a glimmer of hope. Early in the quarter the Vikings recover a Harris fumble on the Steelers 47 and a pass interference penalty sets them up with a first a goal on the 5. But Chuck Foreman promptly fumbles the ball right back to the Steelers.
-Steelers can't move the ball and Matt Blair would block the punt which the Vikings recover in the endzone for a touchdown. But the Vikings can't do something good without screwing something else up so the kicker Cox shanks the PAT to keep it a three point game.
-The things we take for granted watching football today like knowing how much time is left in a quarter. We don't get a camera shot of the clock here until there is 9:52 left in the game. Although there's no plays missing from the disk, there are several times during the game where the time between a play is edited out so this made it very difficult to figure keep track of how long was left in a quarter.
-The Steelers would put the game away with what was really the only sustained drive of the game by either offense on a 11 play, 66 yard march that at up 7:02 of the clock that ends on a Bradshaw touchdown pass to tight end Larry Brown. There was some mild controversy earlier in the drive on a 30 yard completion to Brown where he appeared to fumble and it was initially ruled the Vikings had recovered but another ref ran in and changed the call. Replay shows that he was clearly down before the ball came loose though.
-Late in the game it's noted that L.C. Greenwood had signed with the Birmingham Vulcans of the short lived World Football League. He ended up changing his mind.
-As the game goes off the air, Gowdy notes that the Steelers were only going to get better. Okay announcers say that almost every time after a team wins a championship but guess one deserves credit when they actually are right in making that proclamation.
In a couple of weeks we have the chance to witness something none of us have seen before (I assume we have no one in their 60's on this board) and that is see the Cardinals as champions of the NFL. This got me to wonder about how many franchises in the four major North American professional sports leagues have never won their league's championship in my lifetime. I also wanted to know who would replace the Cardinals as the most moribund franchise in the NFL (I know you will all be shocked!) and who in the NBA and NHL have the longest run since their last championship.
In total there are 47 teams who have failed to win a single "world" championship in the last 30 years, of course that does not include expansion franchises who have come into existence since. Note I do count championships won in the AFL, ABA, and WHA for those franchises who were grandfathered in to their current leagues. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Phoenix Coyotes (won the last ever Avco Cup in the WHA as the Winnipeg Jets in 1979) are set to join this list after this year. The Seattle Supersonics would have also joined the list if they hadn't had their franchise stolen away.
1. Chicago Cubs - 100 years
1908 World Series Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Have not played in a World Series since 1945 which is a longer drought for playing for a championship than any other franchise has gone without winning a championship (current streak).
2. Arizona Cardinals (Chicago/St. Louis) - 61 years
1947 NFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Before this year had won one playoff game since last championship.
3. Cleveland Indians - 60 years
1948 World Series Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Had a 41 year World Series drought between 1954 and 1995.
4. Sacramento Kings (Rochester Royals/Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City) - 57 years
1951 NBA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Haven't played in a NBA Finals since '51 championship.
5. San Francisco Giants (New York) - 54 years
1954 World Series Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Haven't won a championship since moving to San Francisco in 1958 and hopefully never will.
6. Detroit Lions - 51 years
1957 NFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: One playoff win since last championship.
7. Atlanta Hawks (St. Louis) - 50 years
1958 NBA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Last conference/division finals appearance was in 1970.
8. Philadelphia Eagles - 48 years
1960 NFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Have now lost four conference championship games this decade.
9t. Chicago Blackhawks - 47 years
1961 Stanley Cup Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Only one playoff appearance in last 11 years, although that will change this year.
9t. Minnesota Vikings - 47 years
Misery Fun Fact: 0-4 in Super Bowls and 0-4 in conference championship games since their last Super Bowl in 1976.
9t. Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers) - 47 Years
1961 AFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: 1-4 in conference championship games.
9t. Texas Rangers (Washington Senators) - 47 years
Misery Fun Fact: Oldest franchise in the Big Four leagues to never reach the championship round of it's sport. Zero playoff series wins.
13. Houston Astros - 46 years
Misery Fun Fact: Took 43 years win their only NL pennant.
14. San Diego Chargers - 45 years
1963 AFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: 1-5 in AFL/AFC Championship games since '63.
15. Cleveland Browns - 44 years
1964 NFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: 0-6 in NFL/AFC Championship games since '64.
16. Buffalo Bills - 43 years
1965 AFL Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Only franchise in the Big Four to lose in the championship round of it's sport in four consecutive years.
17. Atlanta Falcons - 42 years
Misery Fun Fact: Advanced past divisional round of playoffs only twice.
18t. New Orleans Saints - 41 years
Misery Fun Fact: Did not win a playoff game in their first 33 years of existence.
18t. Toronto Maple Leafs - 41 years
1967 Stanley Cup Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Haven't played in a Cup Final since '67 championship.
20t. Cincinnati Bengals - 40 years
Misery Fun Fact: One playoff appearance in last 18 years.
20t. Denver Nuggets - 40 years
Misery Fun Fact: Have yet to reach the NBA Finals since merger in '76-'77.
20t. Los Angeles Kings - 40 years
Misery Fun Fact: Reached Cup Finals only once.
20t. New York Jets - 40 years
Misery Fun Fact: If Brett Favre couldn't bring them a Super Bowl, who can????
20t. St. Louis Blues - 40 years
Misery Fun Fact: Last Cup Finals appearance was in 1970.
25t. Kansas City Chiefs - 39 years
Super Bowl IV Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Have only reached conference championship game once since Super Bowl IV win.
25t. Milwaukee Brewers (Seattle Pilots) - 39 years
Misery Fun Fact: Won only two division championships.
25t. Phoenix Suns - 39 years
Misery Fun Fact: Despite a .559 all-time winning pct., only reached NBA Finals twice.
25t. San Diego Padres - 39 years
Misery Fun Fact: 1-8 in World Series games.
25t. Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) - 39 years
Misery Fun Fact: Only playoff appearance was in the bizarre '81 split season.
30t. Buffalo Sabers - 37 years
Misery Fun Fact: Only two Stanley Cup Finals appearances.
30t. Cleveland Cavaliers - 37 years
Misery Fun Fact: 35 year wait for their only NBA Finals appearance.
30t. Los Angeles Clippers (Buffalo Braves/San Diego) - 37 years
Misery Fun Fact: .364 all-time winning percentage and never reached a conference final.
30t. Milwaukee Bucks - 37 years
1971 NBA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Advanced past first around of playoffs only once in last 19 years.
30t. Vancouver Canucks - 37 years
Misery Fun Fact: Their two Stanley Cup Finals appearances are the only two years they've reached the conference finals.
35. Boston Bruins - 36 years
1972 Stanley Cup Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Only one playoff series win since 1995.
36t. Indiana Pacers - 35 years
1973 ABA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: 1-5 in Eastern Conference finals series.
36t. Miami Dolphins - 35 years
Super Bowl VIII Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Best all-time winning pct. of any active NFL franchise (.583) but haven't played in a Super Bowl in 24 years.
36t. New York Knicks - 35 years
1973 NBA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Seven straight losing seasons.
39t. Golden State Warriors - 33 years
1975 NBA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Haven't reached conference finals in 32 years.
39t. Philadelphia Flyers - 33 years
1975 Stanley Cup Champions
Misery Fun Fact: 0-5 in Stanley Finals series since '75 championship.
39t. Utah Jazz (New Orleans) - 33 years
Misery Fun Fact: Only one losing in last 25 years but only two NBA Finals appearances to show for it.
39t. Washington Capitals - 33 years
Misery Fun Fact: Reached conference finals only once.
43t. New Jersey Nets (New York) - 32 years
1976 ABA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: Only advanced past first round of playoffs six times since NBA merger.
43t. Seattle Seahawks - 32 years
Misery Fun Fact: Just two conference championship game appearances.
45t. Portland Trail Blazers - 31 years
1977 NBA Champions
Misery Fun Fact: 8-17 in first round playoff series since '77 championship.
45t. Seattle Mariners - 31 years
Misery Fun Fact: 14 straight losing seasons at their inception and played in the ALCS only twice.
47. Washington Wizards (Bullets) - 30 years
1978 NBA Champions
Miser Fun Fact: Advanced past first round of playoffs only three time since '78 championship.
While I'm still trying to figure out what to do next with this blog, King Kamala's post about the A's 20th straight win in 2002 in offseason thread reminded me that I recently tripped upon some old A's highlights. This past season was the A's 40th year in Oakland and they had some Top 40 Moments poll, which I didn't even realize until after the season, but I guess on MLB.com at one point they posted a ton of old A's clips. I think they've been taken down off the A's site since then but by accident I found them with a url to the Cubs website of all places.
Almost all the clips from the 70's and 80's were old MLB home video footage but there were some cool 90's and 2000's clips in there with many of them having the radio call by the legendary Bill King. Here are the more choice ones that I found, or were at least the ones that were still working. I was disappointed that the clip to Ramon Hernandez's game winning bunt single in Game 1 of the '03 ALDS was not working.
October 18, 1988 vs. Los Angeles - Mark McGwire's forgotten walk off in Game 3 of the '88 World Series
June 29, 1990 at Toronto - Final out of Dave Stewart's no hitter
August 15, 1990 vs. Boston - Mark McGwire walk off grand slam
October 1, 2000 vs. Texas - Final out of division clinching win
-Was at this game and it was my birthday too.
August 12, 2001 vs. New York - Jason Giambi walk off to sweep the Yankees
September 1, 2002 vs. Minnesota - Miguel Tejada walk off for 18th straight win
September 4, 2002 vs. Kansas City - Scott Hatteberg walk off for record 20th straight win
-Covered this game in a prior entry.
Mark Grace, First Baseman
Chicago Cubs 1988-2000
Arizona Diamondbacks 2001-2003
Awards
1992 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1993 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1995 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1996 NL Gold Glove - 1B
All-Star Selections: 3 (1993, 1995, 1997)
League Leader
1995: Doubles
Career Ranks
Doubles: 39th
Walks: 79th
Runs Created: 98th
Best Performance
July 7, 1989 - San Diego at Chicago
Goes 4 for 4 with three doubles and a home run.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 3 (507) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 86 (265) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 38.0 (165) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 60.5 (309) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Enos Slaughter)
Other Similar Batters: Keith Hernandez, Mickey Vernon, John Olerud, Hal McRae, Wally Joyner, Bill Buckner, Al Oliver, Joe Judge, Joe Kuhel
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1988: 16/4.3
1989: 25/7.6
1990: 22/6.4
1991: 17/5.4
1992: 25/8.0
1993: 23/7.6
1994: 12/4.3
1995: 23/6.9
1996: 20/5.7
1997: 20/6.8
1998: 27/6.4
1999: 21/5.2
2000: 18/4.8
2001: 16/4.8
2002: 8/2.0
2003: 1/-0.1
Career Win Shares: 294
Career WARP: 86.2
My Stupid Opinion
Grace always hit for a good average (Top 10 in N.L. batting average nine times), get on base at a good rate (Top 10 in OBP seven times), and was a superb defensive first baseman. Problem with him though is that he had very little power and the standards for HOF first basemen are higher than any other position and he just doesn't really have much of a case. Among first basemen who had a minimum of 3000 plate appearances between 1988 and 2003 (when Grace was active), he ranks only 17th in OPS+
Jay Bell, Shortstop
Cleveland Indians 1986-1988
Pittsburgh Pirates 1989-1996
Kansas City Royals 1997
Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2002
New York Mets 2003
Awards
1993 NL Gold Glove - SS
1993 NL Silver Slugger - SS
All-Star Selections: 2 (1993, 1999)
League Leader
None
Career Ranks
None of note
Best Performance
July 27, 1991 - Pittsburgh at Houston
Goes 4 for 5 with two home runs, four runs scored, and four rbi.
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 32 (727) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 26.9 (352) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 30.5 (576) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Toby Harrah, Ray Durham, Bobby Grich, Benito Santiago, Devon White, Alan Trammell, Frank White, Edgar Renteria, Alvin Dark, Amos Otis
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 1/0.3
1987: 1/0.3
1988: 2/0.0
1989: 8/2.5
1990: 17/8.1
1991: 22/9.0
1992: 24/8.0
1993: 26/10.6
1994: 19/6.8
1995: 13/4.6
1996: 15/4.0
1997: 21/11.1
1998: 20/7.6
1999: 23/6.9
2000: 19/5.5
2001: 12/3.8
2002: 1/-0.1
2003: 1/-0.2
Career Win Shares: 245
Career WARP3: 88.8
My Stupid Opinion
Certainly not a HOFer but a much better player than the average fan probably remembers. Good hitting shortstop with good defense, at least early in his career, who was very durable as from 1990-2000 he never missed more than 13 games in a season. Fun Fact: Only player in MLB history to ever have 30+ sacrifice hits in a season (39 in 1990 and 30 in 1991) and also have a 30+ home run season (38 in 1999) in their career.
Matt Williams, Third Baseman
San Francisco Giants 1987-1996
Cleveland Indians 1997
Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2003
Awards
1990 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1991 NL Gold Glove - 3B
1993 NL Gold Golve - 3B
1993 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1994 NL Gold Glove - 3B
1994 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1997 AL Gold Glove - 3B
1997 AL Silver Slugger - 3B
All-Star Selections: 5 (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999)
League Leader
1990: RBI
1994: Home Runs
Career Ranks
Home Runs: 61st
AB/HR: 79th
Best Performance
April 18, 1993 - Atlanta at San Francisco
Goes 4 for 6 with two home runs, including a walk off in the 11th inning.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 8 (272) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 58 (426) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 29.4 (286) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 70.0 (258) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Johnny Bench)
Other Similar Batters: Vinny Castilla, Andruw Jones, George Foster, Rocky Colavito, Ron Cey, Robin Ventura, Frank Howard, Gil Hodges, Jack Clark
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1987: 5/2.1
1988: 2/1.6
1989: 7/3.4
1990: 28/8.3
1991: 22/8.8
1992: 11/4.0
1993: 28/10.0
1994: 18/9.5
1995: 20/6.9
1996: 18/6.1
1997: 18/6.5
1998: 12/5.9
1999: 26/9.1
2000: 7/2.5
2001: 10/3.5
2002: 6/2.0
2003: 3/0.9
Career Win Shares: 241
Career WARP3: 91.2
My Stupid Opinion
Most famous for being "on pace" to tie Roger Maris' then single season record of 61 home runs (OMG STILL NON-STEROID RECORD!!!) in 1994 before the strike killed that opportunity. He was the best third baseman in baseball from 1993-1995, though it was in '95 where he started to have injury problems. Had a lot of power and played a very good third base but also a big time hacker who posted only a .317 career OBP. Overall just not impressive enough to warrant serious consideration for the HOF.
Ron Gant, Left Fielder
Atlanta Braves 1987-1993
Cincinnati Reds 1995
St. Louis Cardinals 1996-1998
Philadelphia Phillies 1999-2000
Anaheim Angels 2000
Colorado Rockies 2001
Oakland Athletics 2001, 2003
San Diego Padres 2002
Awards
1991 NL Silver Slugger - OF
All-Star Selections: 2 (1992, 1995)
League Leader
None
Career Ranks
Home Runs: 96th
Best Performance
July 5, 1990 - New York at Atlanta
Easy pick as he matches he career high in hits (four), home runs (two), RBI (six), and total bases (eleven) in the same game.
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 52 (477) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 26.0 (377) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 41.5 (441) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Reggie Sanders, Jeromy Burnitz, Jimmy Wynn, Andruw Jones, Bobby Bonds, Roy Sievers, Greg Vaughn, Darryl Strawberry, Bobby Thomson, Frank J. Thomas
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1987: 1/0.4
1988: 16/5.3
1989: 1/0.1
1990: 21/7.4
1991: 25/8.6
1992: 17/3.8
1993: 25/6.0
1995: 21/6.1
1996: 18/5.8
1997: 11/3.3
1998: 11/2.5
1999: 16/5.3
2000: 7/3.9
2001: 4/1.4
2002: 12/3.3
2003: 0/-0.4
Career Win Shares: 206
Career WARP3: 62.9
My Stupid Opinion
Had a nice combination of power and speed in his prime but was never among the best players in the game in any particular year. Don't think the dirt bike accident he had in '94 where he broke his leg, costing him the entire season and a contract with the Braves that he just signed a week before (oops!), hurt him too much as he followed that up with of his best seasons in '95. His #1 comp of Reggie Sanders is one of the more apt comparisons I've seen with the Similar Batters tool.
David Cone, Starting Pitcher
Kansas City Royals 1986, 1993-1994
New York Mets 1987-1992, 2003
Toronto Blue Jays 1992, 1995
New York Yankees 1995-2000
Boston Red Sox 2001
Awards
1994 AL Cy Young
All-Star Selections: 5 (1988, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999)
League Leader
1988: W/L Pct.
1990: Strikeouts, K/9, K/BB
1991: Strikeouts, K/9
1992: Shutouts, K/9
1995: Innings
1998: Wins
Career Ranks
Strikeouts: 22nd
Games Started: 99th
W/L Pct: 95th
H/9: 62nd
K/9: 20th
Best Performance
July 18, 1999 - Montreal at New York (A)
Throws only 88 pitches in tossing the 15th perfect game in MLB history.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 19 (101) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 165 (76) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 39.0 (73) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 103.0 (90) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: 2 (Dazzy Vance, Bob Lemon)
Other Similar Pitchers: Dwight Gooden, Tommy Bridges, Bob Welch, Orel Hershiser, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, Jack Stivetts, Dave McNally
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 0/0.2
1987: 5/1.9
1988: 19/7.2
1989: 11/4.4
1990: 13/6.9
1991: 15/7.0
1992: 18/7.5
1993: 21/9.0
1994: 20/10.8
1995: 19/9.7
1996: 8/3.7
1997: 16/7.7
1998: 17/6.7
1999: 15/6.6
2000: 0/1.0
2001: 8/3.6
2003: 0/0.1
Career Win Shares: 205
Career WARP3: 94.2
My Stupid Opinion
You know there are crazier cases to be made than trumpeting David Cone as a HOF, although I'm not going to do it. The 1994-95 strike very likely cost him a shot at 200 wins as it occurred in the prime of his career and he had 10 to 11 potential starts wiped out in the middle of his Cy Young season of '94. But that being said he was definitely a notch below the elite pitchers of his era. Would be worthy of staying on the ballot but I think he has less than a 50/50 chance of getting the necessary 5% of the vote.
