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Post by inger on Apr 25, 2023 15:43:17 GMT -5
"The (golf) pro kept telling me since I hit right-handed I had to keep my left arm straight. I told him, 'If I could do that, I'd still be pitching.'" - Sandy Koufax (1970)…
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Post by inger on Apr 25, 2023 15:51:10 GMT -5
Koufax was born Sanford Braun. His three Cy Young Awards were all unanimous, the first three unanimous CYA’s in the history of the grand old game…
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Post by inger on Apr 25, 2023 15:59:55 GMT -5
“Sandy would strike me out two or three times a game. And I knew every pitch he was going to throw -- fastball, breaking ball or whatever. Actually, he would let you look at it. And you still couldn't hit it," says Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays about Sandy Koufax…
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Post by inger on Apr 25, 2023 16:00:19 GMT -5
Braves’ right-handed pitcher (and 1957 World Series hero, Lew Burdette hit as many home runs and drove in as many runs off Sandy Koufax as Willie McCovey and Dick Allen COMBINED – and he did in in 64 fewer at bats.
Burdette hit .308, with two home runs and three RBI in 13 at bats versus Koufax. McCovey and Allen hit a combined .181, with two home runs and three RBI off the Hall of Fame southpaw in 77 at bats…
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Post by pippsheadache on Apr 25, 2023 16:08:05 GMT -5
Rube Waddell had an interesting three year stretch among many other interesting seasons and his interesting and unusual life. 1902- Pitches the first recorded immaculate inning. 1903 - Fans 302. The first AL pitcher to pass the 300 mark in a season 1904 - Fans a record 349 batters, which is still the AL record for lefties. Sam McDowell is closest at 325 in 1965… Both Connie Mack and Walter Johnson said that Rube Waddell had more natural talent than any pitcher they ever saw. Striking out 349 batters in 1904 is insane. He had years where he was 115 and 110 strikeouts ahead of the runnerup. Although one year Koufax was 106 ahead of runnerup Bob Veale, which isn't too shabby either. It seems like a movie about Waddell would be a natural. I've never found a satisfactory biography of him -- mostly just tedious chronological recountings of old newspaper stories. For such an extraordinary life it seems there should be more than that. Bill James speculated that Waddell was either autistic or afflicted with severe ADD. I've thought that had he been born 50 years later he would have been institutionalized, and had he been born 100 years later he would have been shot through with behavior-modifying drugs. In neither case would he have likely developed into the kind of legendary pitcher he became. The one person I knew who actually saw him in action always said the stories about him were not exaggerated. He would do cartwheels off the mound, mimic the actions of the umpires while looking to the fans for support, go sit in the stands during the game and chat with the crowd -- things that would not be possible even a few years later. In my only visit to San Antonio, there were three things I had to see -- the Alamo, the River Walk and Rube Waddell's grave. Check on all three. His grave was paid for by Connie Mack. He is buried in the same cemetery as HOFer Ross Youngs. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Apr 25, 2023 16:12:31 GMT -5
Sandy Koufax has no minutiae related to his statistics. We’ve pored over them countless times, particularly back in the days Jwild roamed these parts and often attempted to denigrate Koufax’ work. No, no numbers here. At least none I can think of right away. Maybe get some insight from an expert or two on the subject. Let’s start here: The great Ernie Banks described what it was like to face Koufax. “It was frightening. He had that tremendous fastball that would rise, and a great curveball that started at the eyes and broke to the ankles. In the end you knew you were going to be embarrassed. You were either going to strike out or foul out.”1 Banks said, “He was the greatest pitcher I ever saw. Most of the time we knew what was coming. He held his hands closer to his head when he threw a curveball, but it didn’t matter.”.. MrG agreed with me that we never saw a pitcher who seemed to overmatch hitters as much as Sandy Koufax. And we were both rooting against him. He was spectacular. Stats can't quantity how dominant he looked. |
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Post by rizzuto on Apr 25, 2023 16:47:53 GMT -5
Rube Waddell had an interesting three year stretch among many other interesting seasons and his interesting and unusual life. 1902- Pitches the first recorded immaculate inning. 1903 - Fans 302. The first AL pitcher to pass the 300 mark in a season 1904 - Fans a record 349 batters, which is still the AL record for lefties. Sam McDowell is closest at 325 in 1965… Both Connie Mack and Walter Johnson said that Rube Waddell had more natural talent than any pitcher they ever saw. Striking out 349 batters in 1904 is insane. He had years where he was 115 and 110 strikeouts ahead of the runnerup. Although one year Koufax was 106 ahead of runnerup Bob Veale, which isn't too shabby either. It seems like a movie about Waddell would be a natural. I've never found a satisfactory biography of him -- mostly just tedious chronological recountings of old newspaper stories. For such an extraordinary life it seems there should be more than that. Bill James speculated that Waddell was either autistic or afflicted with severe ADD. I've thought that had he been born 50 years later he would have been institutionalized, and had he been born 100 years later he would have been shot through with behavior-modifying drugs. In neither case would he have likely developed into the kind of legendary pitcher he became. The one person I knew who actually saw him in action always said the stories about him were not exaggerated. He would do cartwheels off the mound, mimic the actions of the umpires while looking to the fans for support, go sit in the stands during the game and chat with the crowd -- things that would not be possible even a few years later. In my only visit to San Antonio, there were three things I had to see -- the Alamo, the River Walk and Rube Waddell's grave. Check on all three. His grave was paid for by Connie Mack. He is buried in the same cemetery as HOFer Ross Youngs. Just reading up on Rube Waddell, and he was a Pennsylvania native. Also, learned this tidbit from Wikipedia: "On August 19, Waddell pitched the first game of a doubleheader for Milwaukee, winning in the 17th inning on his own triple. Mack offered Waddell a three-day fishing vacation if he agreed to pitch the second game. After Waddell threw a complete game shutout for the victory, he headed to Pewaukee Lake to go fishing." After reading about the strange behaviors, I doubt ADHD or ADD would have been the primary mover. Being on the spectrum, however, would explain many of his antics. You are correct that his was a life that deserves a biography. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Apr 25, 2023 17:45:44 GMT -5
Both Connie Mack and Walter Johnson said that Rube Waddell had more natural talent than any pitcher they ever saw. Striking out 349 batters in 1904 is insane. He had years where he was 115 and 110 strikeouts ahead of the runnerup. Although one year Koufax was 106 ahead of runnerup Bob Veale, which isn't too shabby either. It seems like a movie about Waddell would be a natural. I've never found a satisfactory biography of him -- mostly just tedious chronological recountings of old newspaper stories. For such an extraordinary life it seems there should be more than that. Bill James speculated that Waddell was either autistic or afflicted with severe ADD. I've thought that had he been born 50 years later he would have been institutionalized, and had he been born 100 years later he would have been shot through with behavior-modifying drugs. In neither case would he have likely developed into the kind of legendary pitcher he became. The one person I knew who actually saw him in action always said the stories about him were not exaggerated. He would do cartwheels off the mound, mimic the actions of the umpires while looking to the fans for support, go sit in the stands during the game and chat with the crowd -- things that would not be possible even a few years later. In my only visit to San Antonio, there were three things I had to see -- the Alamo, the River Walk and Rube Waddell's grave. Check on all three. His grave was paid for by Connie Mack. He is buried in the same cemetery as HOFer Ross Youngs. Just reading up on Rube Waddell, and he was a Pennsylvania native. Also, learned this tidbit from Wikipedia: "On August 19, Waddell pitched the first game of a doubleheader for Milwaukee, winning in the 17th inning on his own triple. Mack offered Waddell a three-day fishing vacation if he agreed to pitch the second game. After Waddell threw a complete game shutout for the victory, he headed to Pewaukee Lake to go fishing." After reading about the strange behaviors, I doubt ADHD or ADD would have been the primary mover. Being on the spectrum, however, would explain many of his antics. You are correct that his was a life that deserves a biography. Yep, Bradford PA in the Western part of the state. Two years after Honus Wagner was born in the same general region. Rube only lived to be 37 years old; at least three marriages (two perhaps overlapping) and no children. His great grand nephew Tom Waddell showed up on some baseball history thread I was reading. I wish I had gotten in touch with him. Any article on Waddell will bring up his obsession with fire engines and the verifiable instances of him leaving a ballpark to go chase a fire. Connie Mack was the only manager he ever had who managed any small measure of control over him, but after a few years even Mack had to throw in the towel. Rube was apparently a fairly skilled actor who appeared in a traveling play to good reviews. He was however incapable of memorizing his lines and was permitted to just ad lib his part. The person I knew who saw Waddell said he caused a sensation whenever he pitched. Crowds were much larger than normal and expectations were high. He told me that one year in the early 1900s he saw every Waddell start in Philadelphia at prehistoric Columbia Park because he was guaranteed entertainment. Although he was not nearly as out there as Rube Waddell, maybe as close as we've gotten in the past 50 years was Mark Fidrych in terms of sheer almost childlike exuberance. But the Bird was still far more grounded and responsible than Rube. Not that that was a difficult achievement. |
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Post by inger on Apr 26, 2023 14:52:15 GMT -5
Sam McDowell had three consecutive seasons leadi g the major leagues in K’s 1968-1970.
In 1967 he lead the majors in WP with 18, tying Otto Hess for the most WP in Cleveland’s AL history. Hess flipped 18 WP in 1905 for the Cleveland Naps. The only team ever named for a player/manager.
More on Hess soon as a little side track. He was interesting in his own right…
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Post by inger on Apr 26, 2023 15:04:45 GMT -5
Otto Hess posted a 70-90 career record. His ERA + was a so-so 98. He had one 20 win season and he posted some strange black ink in his career, the first of which was those wicked WP’s in 1905.
Oddly, he was never charged with more than 5 WP in any other season.
In his only 20 win (20-17) season he posted a fine + 144 ERA of 1.83, but those were not his black ink numbers. Hess, nor anyone else had a clue at the time that his 3 saves were league leading. His wildness no longer produced copious numbers of WP, but in this season he plunked a league leading 24 batters. He hit only 80 in his ten year career, so in this one season he hit batters at a ratio 3x his norm.
In 1913 he allowed a league-leading 13 HR. In no other season did he allow more than 4.
To make him even a bit odder he was good enough with the bat to also play a bit of outfield, mostly in LF. His slash of .216 .248 .291 .540 63+ isn’t terrific but for a deadball pitcher it wasn’t bad, either…
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Post by inger on Apr 26, 2023 15:10:04 GMT -5
Max Scherzer:
His top rate of 12.690 Ks per 9 innings pitched is good for 7th all-time. He owns 3x of the top 18 single season K rates.
He’s in the “club” of pitchers who have won a Cy Young Award in each league. The others who have done it are Gaylord Perry, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay…
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Post by inger on Apr 26, 2023 15:47:19 GMT -5
Ryan’s rate of 6.5553 hits per nine innings leads the field.
Ryan’s career total of BB #2,795 is so far ahead that the pitcher in 2nd place on the list, Steve Carlton, walked almost a thousand fewer, 1,833, in a similar number of innings pitched.
He racked up 277 WPs. The leader among active pitchers, Zack Greinke, has 99 after a career of 19+ seasons.
If you have to ask Ryan who? You’re not a baseball fan… 🤡
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Post by inger on Apr 26, 2023 15:52:17 GMT -5
TOM SEAVER
Seaver had the highest balloting percentage for many years when he passed Ty Cobb with his 98.84% of the vote in 1992. Griffey passed him 24 years later with a vote of 99.32%. The only members now ahead of Griffey are Mariano Rivera at 100% and Derek Jeter at 99.74%.
BDPOY in 1969. That’s Baseball Digest Player of The Year and it’s significant because Seaver was the first one chosen.
Tom Terrific wax the first to win the CUA with less than 20 wins in 1973 when his record was 19-10. He had won the award in 1969 and would win it again in 1975…
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Post by inger on Apr 26, 2023 17:00:08 GMT -5
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Post by kaybli on Apr 26, 2023 17:58:54 GMT -5
I think this fits as an item in the new Misc BS thread:
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