Top 20 Hitters thru Sunday, May 27, 2012

Breakdown of Top 20 hitters by team:

Wahoos 2; Bums 3; Cubs 3; Monarchs 1; Chiefs 2; Bombers 2; Redbirds 1; Tigers 2; Senators 0; Bears 0; Blues 2; Tribe 2; Skipjacks 0.

Top 20 Pitchers thru Sunday, May 27, 2012

Breakdown of Top 20 pitchers by team:

Wahoos 1; Bums 2; Cubs 2; Monarchs 2; Chiefs 2; Bombers 1; Redbirds 1; Tigers 1; Senators 3; Bears 2; Blues 1; Tribe 1; Skipjacks 2.

TOP 3 PLAYERS BY POSITION

BASE RUNNING Part 1

From the BILL JAMES HISTORICAL ABSTRACT, pp. 514-515:

“This actually happened July 11, 1963, in Philadelphia.  Go check the newspapers if you don’t believe me.  Willie Mays draws a walk leading off the second inning.  He has second base stolen standing up, but Orlando Cepeda fouls off the pitch.  Second pitch, Mays has second base stolen again, Cepeda fouls off the pitch again; strike two.  There’s a pitchout and a ball outside; the count reaches two-two, and Mays takes off for second again.  Once more, Cepeda fouls the ball off.

Finally, fourth try, Mays goes for second and Cepeda squibs the ball off the end of his bat to the second baseman, Tony Taylor.  Mays sees the ball rolling behind him and figures that he can make third on the throw to first, so he heads for third.  Tony Taylor, however, has seen Willie Mays play baseball before, so he holds the ball a second before throwing to first.  When Mays heads for third, Taylor throws across the infield, Mays is out at third by 40 feet.

Mays, however, decides to stay in a rundown long enough to let Cepeda make second.  Catching Willie Mays in a rundown is like trying to assassinate a squirrel with a lawn mower, so this goes on for some time, and Cepeda races down to second base, while Don Hoak (Philadelphia third baseman) chases Mays back to the same base.  Mays and Cepeda, both near second base, stare at each other for a moment, while the ball pops loose on the ground before anybody can apply a tag to either of them.

So Mays heads back to third base.

And Cepeda heads back to first.

Taylor retrieves the ball, and fires to third, and Willie Mays, for the second time on the same play, is caught in a rundown between second and third. 

Well, that out is eventually recorded; it’s officially scored 4-5-6-1-6-4, but, as the official scorer noted afterward, he couldn’t be sure who all had handled the ball, and a player can only get one assist on a play anyway, so he just gave an assist to everybody in the vicinity.”

These are the kinds of plays that make you wish you could have seen a player like Willie Mays on a regular basis.

BASE RUNNING Part 2

At a recent Creighton baseball game, I saw a play I had never seen before, at least not in person.  Wichita State had runners on first and second, one out, when the batter hit a rocket over the rightfielder’s head.  The ball hit the ground, bounced off the wall, and the rightfielder fielded it and threw to the second baseman, who had gone out to get the relay throw in short right.

About this point, I looked back to the infield to see the batter rounding first very slowly, because both of the other baserunners were still between second and third.  The lead runner then tried to make it home, but the relay throw nailed him at the plate, and the second runner, not far behind, was also tagged out at the plate a second later.  Double play, no runs scored, on a hit that should have been a stand-up double with two RBI.

I never saw a replay, but I’m sure the runner on second must have started for third, then thought the ball was going to be caught, so he slammed on the brakes and started back for second.  This slowed up everyone’s progress to the point that when they finally started back in the right direction, both baserunners were out at the plate.  Needless to say, the always pleasant Wichita State manager, Gene Stephenson, who was also the third base coach on the play, was not amused. 

I heard a story about a guy who had a similar experience while on the basepaths for a Lincoln softball team, but you’ll have to get the particulars from Lightfoot Ernst.

PETE IS REALLY SORRY

As most of you probably know, every year during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Cooperstown, Pete Rose sets up a card table down the street from the Hall, and sells his autograph to the public.  I’m pretty sure that Pete will sign about anything for a price, and that this hasn’t gone over so well at MLB headquarters. 

A few years ago, I reported that there were baseballs for sale on eBay, on which Pete wrote “I’m sorry I bet on baseball” and signed them.  Just to show you how sincere these apologies must be, there are now baseballs on eBay, signed by Pete, in which he has written “I’m sorry I shot J.F.K.” and “I’m sorry I broke up the Beatles.”  Really makes you think that Pete’s apology for betting on baseball will get him in the HOF.

SPORCLE QUIZ

There is a website that has timed trivia quizzes on just about everything, but there are some fun ones about Major League Baseball, which are worth checking out.  Try this quiz on the original logos for the current 30 major league teams:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/mctacos/baseball-franchises-first-logo

I only got 20 out of 30 correct.