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Post by kaybli on Mar 11, 2023 7:59:13 GMT -5
On April 15, 1941, Lou Stringer of Chicago set the major league record for most errors (four) by a shortstop in the first game played of a career. And then he had to go home to file his taxes. Bad day all around for Lou "Third" Stringer.  |
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 10:33:11 GMT -5
On April 15, 1941, Lou Stringer of Chicago set the major league record for most errors (four) by a shortstop in the first game played of a career. And then he had to go home to file his taxes. Bad day all around for Lou "Third" Stringer. He only played a total of 37 career innings at SS. Never made another error at that position. Two years later he was in the military, and missed three seasons of baseball. He’s one of those guys that’s listed as having had a ten year career in MLB, but only actually played for seven years, with military time being counted. Too bad it wasn’t meaningful that those years were included in total seasons played… |
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 10:41:00 GMT -5
One guy that seldom gets mentioned, almost a forgotten Yankee and one of the best “one year wonders” in base ball is Rick Cerone. His 1980 season of .277 .321 .432 .753 107 OPS+ might not leap off the page at you, but for a guy that had a career OPS+ of 78, that was one heckuva season. He hit 30 doubles, 4 triples, 14 HR and drove in 85 runs that season, no doubt feeling as though he had turned his bat around. But alas… it was not to be…
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Post by rizzuto on Mar 11, 2023 11:14:44 GMT -5
One guy that seldom gets mentioned, almost a forgotten Yankee and one of the best “one year wonders” in base ball is Rick Cerone. His 1980 season of .277 .321 .432 .753 107 OPS+ might not leap off the page at you, but for a guy that had a career OPS+ of 78, that was one heckuva season. He hit 30 doubles, 4 triples, 14 HR and drove in 85 runs that season, no doubt feeling as though he had turned his bat around. But alas… it was not to be… Rick Cerone was supposed to take over after the death of Thurman Munson. Alas, he could not hold Munson's baseball card. And, the Yankees gave up Chris Chambliss, Damaso Garcia and Paul Mirabella to the Toronto Blue Jays to get him. But, he was not a bad catcher - a la Sandwich. A catcher has to be doing something right to be in the big leagues in three different decades. Cerone started in 1975 and played until 1992. Solid career in MLB. |
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 14:43:17 GMT -5
Don Baylor played under many managers and once commented, “Playing for Yogi (Berra) is like playing for your father. Playing for Billy (Martin) is like playing for your father-in-law.”…
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 14:46:49 GMT -5
In 2003, Eric Hinske hit forty-five doubles, but only had one-hundred nine hits. In the history of the American League (1901-today), no player with a minimum of one-hundred hits, has had a higher percentage (41%) of doubles during a single season…
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 15:10:20 GMT -5
9/25/1970, forgotten Yankee Loyd Colson makes his MLB debut. He allows one run in two innings, and is never heard from again n MLB. A true “cup of coffee” player…
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 18:39:33 GMT -5
"It (player salaries) blows my mind. I was in baseball for eighteen years before I made $20,000." - Jim Leyland in the Washington Post (10/06/1996)…
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Post by pippsheadache on Mar 11, 2023 20:10:38 GMT -5
Don Baylor played under many managers and once commented, “Playing for Yogi (Berra) is like playing for your father. Playing for Billy (Martin) is like playing for your father-in-law.”… Wonder what he thought of playing for Earl Weaver. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Mar 11, 2023 20:28:57 GMT -5
One guy that seldom gets mentioned, almost a forgotten Yankee and one of the best “one year wonders” in base ball is Rick Cerone. His 1980 season of .277 .321 .432 .753 107 OPS+ might not leap off the page at you, but for a guy that had a career OPS+ of 78, that was one heckuva season. He hit 30 doubles, 4 triples, 14 HR and drove in 85 runs that season, no doubt feeling as though he had turned his bat around. But alas… it was not to be… Rick Cerone was supposed to take over after the death of Thurman Munson. Alas, he could not hold Munson's baseball card. And, the Yankees gave up Chris Chambliss, Damaso Garcia and Paul Mirabella to the Toronto Blue Jays to get him. But, he was not a bad catcher - a la Sandwich. A catcher has to be doing something right to be in the big leagues in three different decades. Cerone started in 1975 and played until 1992. Solid career in MLB. I was a bit surprised that Cerone's career offensive stats were so modest. I guess that 1980 season made a big impression, because I remember thinking that the Yanks had found a solid successor to the irreplaceable Munson. But almost 25 percent of his career HRs came in that one year, and almost 20 percent of his career RBIs. He was obviously a good defensive catcher and had outstanding leadership qualities. But after 1980 he wound up sharing time with the likes of Barry Foote and Johnny Oates and by 1982 Butch Wynegar was nudging him out of the job. He took a certain amoung of grief from Yankee fans for having the temerity to not be Thurman Munson. One of my main memories of Rick Cerone was when he had the stones to tell George Steinbrenner to eff off while The Boss was berating the team in the clubhouse after a post-season loss in 1981. Cerone told George he had no business lecturing since he had never played the game. George told Cerone he was through with the team after the season, but actually he came back for three more years and then returned again in 1987 as the regular catcher for one year and then back for a third time in 1990 backing up Matt Nokes and Bob Geren. So The Boss, at least in this case, didn't hold a grudge against a player who had the guts to fight back. At some level he probably liked it. Cerone and Graig Nettles were two guys who would come right back at George. |
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 22:57:58 GMT -5
Don Baylor played under many managers and once commented, “Playing for Yogi (Berra) is like playing for your father. Playing for Billy (Martin) is like playing for your father-in-law.”… Wonder what he thought of playing for Earl Weaver. Playing for your first father in law after the divorce? … |
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Post by inger on Mar 11, 2023 23:00:20 GMT -5
Rick Cerone was supposed to take over after the death of Thurman Munson. Alas, he could not hold Munson's baseball card. And, the Yankees gave up Chris Chambliss, Damaso Garcia and Paul Mirabella to the Toronto Blue Jays to get him. But, he was not a bad catcher - a la Sandwich. A catcher has to be doing something right to be in the big leagues in three different decades. Cerone started in 1975 and played until 1992. Solid career in MLB. I was a bit surprised that Cerone's career offensive stats were so modest. I guess that 1980 season made a big impression, because I remember thinking that the Yanks had found a solid successor to the irreplaceable Munson. But almost 25 percent of his career HRs came in that one year, and almost 20 percent of his career RBIs. He was obviously a good defensive catcher and had outstanding leadership qualities. But after 1980 he wound up sharing time with the likes of Barry Foote and Johnny Oates and by 1982 Butch Wynegar was nudging him out of the job. He took a certain amoung of grief from Yankee fans for having the temerity to not be Thurman Munson. One of my main memories of Rick Cerone was when he had the stones to tell George Steinbrenner to eff off while The Boss was berating the team in the clubhouse after a post-season loss in 1981. Cerone told George he had no business lecturing since he had never played the game. George told Cerone he was through with the team after the season, but actually he came back for three more years and then returned again in 1987 as the regular catcher for one year and then back for a third time in 1990 backing up Matt Nokes and Bob Geren. So The Boss, at least in this case, didn't hold a grudge against a player who had the guts to fight back. At some level he probably liked it. Cerone and Graig Nettles were two guys who would come right back at George. I was a fan of Cerone… I always wanted to see him pop for another good year…. |
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Post by inger on Mar 12, 2023 12:38:58 GMT -5
What do these seven players have in common? Tough trivia…
Amos Otis
Norm Cash
Eric Soderholm
Bobby Grich
Dusty Baker
Willie Randolph
Roberto Alomar…
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Post by inger on Mar 12, 2023 13:25:05 GMT -5
"I'd rather be the shortest player in the Majors than the tallest player in the minors." - Freddie Patek in The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball (Light, Jonathan Fraser. McFarland Publishing. 30 July 2005.)
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Post by inger on Mar 12, 2023 13:39:08 GMT -5
There have been 1,137 known and recorded switch hitters in MLB history… bear in mind that there are quite a few players tgat batted or threw “unknown” in early baseball, so there could be more…
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