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Post by rizzuto on Mar 15, 2023 13:17:10 GMT -5
In 1950 Ferris Fain participated in 192 DPs as a 1B, which was 2 short of the record he sat the year before. He still holds the top two spots. Fain is 15th all time in OBP, ahead of such stalwarts as Mickey z Mantle and Shoeless Joe Jackson. It is said he would charge bunts that were on the third base side of the infield and successfully start DPs. #3 on the DPs list is Donn Clendenon with 182… Ferris Fain had in many ways a Sabrmetrician's HOF career. His career OBP of .424 would rank eighth all-time if you only consider the live ball era. Only Williams-Ruth-Gehrig-Hornsby (and yes Bonds, I know, I know) level players were higher. He has the fourth-best BB-K ratio of any player in history, behind only Joe Sewell (who never struck out), Mickey Cochrane and Tommy Holmes. He had a higher ratio of walks to hits than Ted Williams, the only person among those who also have a batting title to do so, and he is seventh all-time in that category. He was a five-time All Star in his brief span. And then there were all those DPs he participated in. Fain had the misfortune, for a baseball player, of being born in 1921. That would just about maximize the amount of time your career would be interrupted for World War II. He was too young to be called up before the widespread draft began in 1942, and by the time players were returning in 1945 he still had to prove he was big league material. He didn't make his debut until 1947, when he was 26 years old. He was finished by age 34 in 1955, the victim of bad knees. So he had nine full seasons, not enough to rack up big counting numbers, although excellent comparative numbers. As far as I know, he has never been on a HOF ballot, perhaps because he didn't play ten years? Not sure what that rule is. One big problem Ferris Fain had was that nobody could stand him. He had a violent temper, drank heavily and was quick to get into fistfights. His teammates hated him. Now I know there are people in Cooperstown who meet some of those standards, but hitting on all of them is pretty rare. The people with the Philadelphia A's Historical Society would regularly invite old A's players to attend their meetings in the 80s and 90s (the period I know most about for that group) but the one guy nobody ever asked to see was Ferris Fain. I know he lived in California, but so did Gus Zernial, and he was often in attendance. Fain had a few convictions for growing and selling cannabis back in that period -- yeah I get that it's legal now, so maybe he was a trailblazer, but it didn't sit well with his ex-mates of that generation who already disliked him for plenty of other reasons. It's hard to find many quotes from him, but the ones I found made him seem like an all-around grouch. He said that "Reggie Jackson has no more business being in the HOF than my grandmother" because of all his strikeouts. He took shots at Connie Mack, never a good way to curry favor among the old Athletics' players. All of those DPs at first is definitely an eye-opener. SS Eddie Joost and 2B Pete Suder were famous in their time for turning them, so that helped. You could say the same about Donn Clendenon, who piled up those numbers on the receiving end of throws from Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley, the best DP combo in the NL of the 1960s and one of the best ever. BillyBones saw Fain play, so I hope he chimes in here. All real Philadelphians pronounced his name as "Furris Fain." Excellent post, Pipps! |
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Post by inger on Mar 15, 2023 13:42:33 GMT -5
In 1950 Ferris Fain participated in 192 DPs as a 1B, which was 2 short of the record he sat the year before. He still holds the top two spots. Fain is 15th all time in OBP, ahead of such stalwarts as Mickey z Mantle and Shoeless Joe Jackson. It is said he would charge bunts that were on the third base side of the infield and successfully start DPs. #3 on the DPs list is Donn Clendenon with 182… Ferris Fain had in many ways a Sabrmetrician's HOF career. His career OBP of .424 would rank eighth all-time if you only consider the live ball era. Only Williams-Ruth-Gehrig-Hornsby (and yes Bonds, I know, I know) level players were higher. He has the fourth-best BB-K ratio of any player in history, behind only Joe Sewell (who never struck out), Mickey Cochrane and Tommy Holmes. He had a higher ratio of walks to hits than Ted Williams, the only person among those who also have a batting title to do so, and he is seventh all-time in that category. He was a five-time All Star in his brief span. And then there were all those DPs he participated in. Fain had the misfortune, for a baseball player, of being born in 1921. That would just about maximize the amount of time your career would be interrupted for World War II. He was too young to be called up before the widespread draft began in 1942, and by the time players were returning in 1945 he still had to prove he was big league material. He didn't make his debut until 1947, when he was 26 years old. He was finished by age 34 in 1955, the victim of bad knees. So he had nine full seasons, not enough to rack up big counting numbers, although excellent comparative numbers. As far as I know, he has never been on a HOF ballot, perhaps because he didn't play ten years? Not sure what that rule is. One big problem Ferris Fain had was that nobody could stand him. He had a violent temper, drank heavily and was quick to get into fistfights. His teammates hated him. Now I know there are people in Cooperstown who meet some of those standards, but hitting on all of them is pretty rare. The people with the Philadelphia A's Historical Society would regularly invite old A's players to attend their meetings in the 80s and 90s (the period I know most about for that group) but the one guy nobody ever asked to see was Ferris Fain. I know he lived in California, but so did Gus Zernial, and he was often in attendance. Fain had a few convictions for growing and selling cannabis back in that period -- yeah I get that it's legal now, so maybe he was a trailblazer, but it didn't sit well with his ex-mates of that generation who already disliked him for plenty of other reasons. It's hard to find many quotes from him, but the ones I found made him seem like an all-around grouch. He said that "Reggie Jackson has no more business being in the HOF than my grandmother" because of all his strikeouts. He took shots at Connie Mack, never a good way to curry favor among the old Athletics' players. All of those DPs at first is definitely an eye-opener. SS Eddie Joost and 2B Pete Suder were famous in their time for turning them, so that helped. You could say the same about Donn Clendenon, who piled up those numbers on the receiving end of throws from Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley, the best DP combo in the NL of the 1960s and one of the best ever. BillyBones saw Fain play, so I hope he chimes in here. All real Philadelphians pronounced his name as "Furris Fain." The great take away here is that a first baseman can and does have an affect on how many DPs he participates in, but it takes three to compile those impressive numbers. I meant to review the list and see where modern contemporaries Keith Hernandez, Don Mattingly, Vic Power were on that single season list. I did take a quick cursory glance and didn’t see them. Of course Fain also played at a time where contact was at more of a premium, so fewer K’s and a lot of ground balls were in the mix. If must be miserable to be on a team with a guy that’s such an arsehole that he wants to fight all the time, even with team mates. … |
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Post by inger on Mar 15, 2023 15:32:14 GMT -5
1870’s star Ross Barnes scored 698 runs in 499 games in his 9- year (hence, not qualified for HOF) career, which was a remarkable 1.40 runs per game. Included was his rookie season with 66 runs in 31 games. Still a record of 2.13 runs per game…
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Post by inger on Mar 15, 2023 15:46:19 GMT -5
Continuing to honor the consecutive batting title winners who are not in the HOF:
A charter member of the New York Gothams (later Giants), Tip O’Neill began his professional career in 1883 as the back-up pitcher to HOFers Mickey Welch & John Montgomery Ward.
The highest honor given by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is the Tip O’Neill award. Larry Walker has won it 9
Times and Joey Votto 7 times.
The Tip O'Neill Award is an annual distinction given out by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to the Canadian baseball player "…judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to the highest ideals of the game of baseball."…
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Post by domeplease on Mar 15, 2023 18:36:47 GMT -5
Speaking of RIBS = My type of Gal and Dress = Oscars.
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Post by inger on Mar 15, 2023 19:08:28 GMT -5
Speaking of RIBS = My type of Gal and Dress = Oscars.
Wrong thread alert❗️🚨. Horny police alert 🚨! Nice boobies alert 🚨❗️… |
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Post by rizzuto on Mar 15, 2023 19:27:28 GMT -5
Speaking of RIBS = My type of Gal and Dress = Oscars.
Those look very fake - not my type - but I do like the feather. |
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Post by inger on Mar 15, 2023 21:48:28 GMT -5
Speaking of RIBS = My type of Gal and Dress = Oscars.
Those look very fake - not my type - but I do like the feather. She could use a little meat on those bones, too. The starvation look is not a favorite of mine… |
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Post by inger on Mar 16, 2023 10:10:57 GMT -5
The last of the two-consecutive batting title guys not in the Hall of Fame is Paul Hines. Not a well-known name today. After his baseball career was over he worked for the Dept. of Agriculture and faced accusations of being a pickpocket. It seems to be unknown whether he paid a penalty, apparently the case was closed out quietly, but a search of his home revealed a couple dozen pairs of eyeglasses and a small assortment of purses and wallets. He was a senior citizen at the time of the accusations. He died both deaf and blind. Link attached. The baseball story follows, then a link to the pickpocket story: #2 He passed away not knowing he had won a Triple Crown. The recognition of it was delayed because for many years he was thought to have been runner-up in the batting race. Abner Dalrymple was initially shown as winning the NL’s 1878 batting title with a .356 BA. However, modern research using tools that are found in The Baseball Encyclopedia & Total Baseball now list Hines in the top spot for that season with a .358 BA. This contrast was due to the NL’s policy in 1878 of not including statistics from tie games in its official records. Consequently, hits made in tie games were not originally counted. So, after recalculating the final averages, including those with stats compiled in ties, Dalrymple’s BA dropped to .354, just short of Hines’s BA which remained at .358. Hines emerged with the higher BA and since he’d also led the NL in both HR & RBI in 1878, was posthumously crowned baseball’s first Triple Crown winner in 1968, 33 years after his death. The link: medium.com/sportsraid/did-mlb-star-paul-hines-pickpocket-arrest-block-his-hof-bid-343dc424070b |
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Post by inger on Mar 16, 2023 10:18:09 GMT -5
In a bit of a frivolity, in Frank Robinson’s glorious 1966 triple crown season he both drove in and scored 122 runs. While 18 players in MLB history have driven in 100+, scored 100+ and those numbers have exactly the same, Robinson’s 122 of each is the highest number.
In a side note, pitcher Bob Feller scored 99 runs and drove in 99 runs in his career…
There is a never-ending flow of numerical coincidences on this game. They come from every era, don’t they? They’ve been a big part of my life, saving me from boredom, fame, and fortune no doubt…So many things I could have done, but clouds (of numbers) got in my way…
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Post by inger on Mar 16, 2023 10:21:35 GMT -5
I guess I should have mentioned that the career leader on the previous post since 1901 is Gene Woodling, with 830 of each. In more recent times Howard Johnson came in second at 760…
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Post by inger on Mar 16, 2023 10:24:05 GMT -5
There is a fellow named Bert Haas that had 263 of each and a career batting average of .264. That was close to a triple match!…
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Post by inger on Mar 16, 2023 10:32:49 GMT -5
350 sets of brothers are known to have played MLB baseball, but there only 6 sets that have both reached the 100-career homer plateau:
#1 486 Joe DiMaggio (361 HRs) & Vince DiMaggio (125 HRs)
#2 462 Justin Upton (298 HRs) & B.J. Upton (164 HRs)
#3 444 Ken Boyer (282 HRs) & Clete Boyer (162 HRs)
#4 378 Bret Boone (252 HRs) & Aaron Boone (126 HRs)
#5 322 Roberto Alomar (210 HRs) & Sandy Alomar, Jr. (112 HRs)
#6 262 Bob Meusel (156 HRs) & Irish Meusel (106 HRs)…
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Post by rizzuto on Mar 16, 2023 12:11:51 GMT -5
There is a fellow named Bert Haas that had 263 of each and a career batting average of .264. That was close to a triple match!… Haas also had the best avocados in MLB. |
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Post by inger on Mar 16, 2023 12:13:23 GMT -5
There is a fellow named Bert Haas that had 263 of each and a career batting average of .264. That was close to a triple match!… Haas also had the best avocados in MLB. I didn’t know. I never showered with him…🤓 |
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