September 2024 Newsletter
By Gilbert D. Martinez
As the season winds down and playoff races heat up, eighteen chapter members and guests chatted about everything baseball at the September chapter meeting.
By virtue of having won the previous chapter quiz, quizmaster Jerry Miller thought of some of the biggest moments in baseball history and turned his attention to the footnotes. He challenged us with 13 multi-part questions.
Jim Baker (pictured above, left) emerged victorious with 16 points (out of 34), followed by Jan Larson with 13 and Mike Dillon with 12. For prizes, Jerry presented vintage team posters; Jim claimed the Mets and Jan, donning a sharp Chicago White Sox cap, chose the Southsiders.
Take a swing at Jerry’s quiz by downloading this document (note: the answer follow the quiz): Jerry Miller’s September 2024 quiz
This was the 214th consecutive month with a chapter meeting, a streak that dates to December 2006.
MVP contests over, or not?
I conducted an informal poll of the group to find out which players they thought would win the AL and NL MVP awards. There continues to be strong support for the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for their respective league awards, but some have suggested that other players may challenge them. I wondered what our group thought with about two weeks left in the season.
Support was overwhelming – but not unanimous – in our group. Judge and Ohtani both received 14 out of 16 votes (87.5%). The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. and the Mets’ Francisco Lindor each received one vote. One participant wrote in the Royals’ Freddy Fermín and the Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas.
We won’t know until November whether we got it right. We’ll also find out how well (or not!) we did in Ryan Pollack’s Awardatron contest, in which we tried to predict the major award winners before the start of the season.
Bailey Hall poster presentation win and beyond
As you know, chapter member Bailey Hall won best poster presentation at SABR 52 last month for her study evaluating which is worse, leadoff walks or leadoff singles. She’s also been featured in Ben Lindbergh’s Effectively Wild podcast on FanGraphs: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/effectively-wild-episode-2204-is-a-leadoff-walk-worse-than-a-hit/
But that’s not all! Ryan Pollack shared that Bailey earned high praise as an aspiring saberist by Tom Tango, senior data architect for MLB and creator of the WAR framework and metrics such as wOBA, FIP, and Leverage Index:
http://tangotiger.com/index.php/site/comments/leadoff-walk-v-single
And! Because of the attention her poster received at SABR 52 and online, she’s been invited to contribute to North Side Baseball, a blog about the Chicago Cubs. Her first contribution, in which she focused her leadoff single/leadoff walk study on the 2024 Cubs, was published online Sept. 4: https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/which-is-more-costly-for-the-2024-cubs-leadoff-singles-or-leadoff-walks-r1089/
Congratulations, Bailey!
Dispatches from SABR 52
I asked Bailey Hall and Mike Lassman, both of whom attended SABR 52 in Minneapolis, to share their impressions of the annual national convention.
By Bailey Hall
Hey everybody! Bailey here, and my family and I just went to our first ever SABR national convention, and so I figured I would give everyone a little review! I won’t be able to tell y’all all the cool things we did, so I’ll just focus on the best parts.
The conference was three days in downtown Minneapolis, and every day was filled with tons of events like baseball games, panels, research talks, happy hours and so much more! We had an amazing time, and let this be a PSA to everyone that we should all go next year because it’s in Dallas, so I’m sure more of us might be able to attend.
The first day had some amazing panelists including a Twins hitters panel with Tony Oliva and Rod Carew and a Twins pitchers panel with Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Glen Perkins, and LaTroy Hawkins. The hitters panel was unbelievably cool because we got to hear from some of baseball’s greatest hitters of all time! They talked about being roommates for 11 seasons, the harsh realities of being players of color, and the process of being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
They commented on Reggie Jackson’s recent appearance at Rickwood Field, and they both agreed with Jackson’s assertions about playing in a segregated world. Lastly, we went to the pitchers panel, which I think was my favorite. They commented on pitchers getting hurt more and more, basically saying that there wasn’t much to be done to stop injuries. They said that since pitchers know they can pitch faster and faster, the risk of injury won’t slow them down. Instead, they said medicine needed to learn how to make injuries “recoverable” and make it easier to get back into the game, especially if a pitcher’s shoulder blows out.
That night, we went to a St. Paul Saints game, and we loved it! The stadium was beautiful, with this cool glass structure holding up the suites that gave it a very futuristic feel. The Saints won, and I will say that by the end of the game, my parents and I were downright freezing! Minnesota is no Texas :). The next morning, we went to another panel of the Saints’ office staff. It was really interesting to hear how running a Triple-A team is different from a major league team because the focus is more on entertainment than purely baseball. They mentioned their most successful theme nights that attracted tons of press, most notably bobble-foot night for the anniversary of “Footloose” and a food fight night. Later that day, I got to go to the Twins front office and learn about things that are run there, which was very interesting. I learned about the player development side of the business and how to translate the hard statistics to digestible and tangible things to work on from the coaching side. We also went to a Twins game after that, where the Twins won and they played fireworks after the game!
On the last day, I heard probably my favorite talk given by a fellow SABR member titled “Where did the 24 Minutes Go?” by David W. Smith, and it explained how MLB was able to cut down game time in recent years. I then had to go answer questions about my poster because it was time for the poster Q&A, and I met some really nice people who had really interesting questions! My poster was about leadoff walks versus leadoff singles, and it was really fun to be able to debate with everyone about it. The conference commenced with closing ceremonies like the trivia championship, awards and closing thoughts from the SABR board.
Overall, I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis and at the conference, and I highly suggest anyone who hasn’t been to attend at least one just to see what it’s all about!
By Mike Lassman
The Society for American Baseball Research conducted the 52nd edition of its convention from Aug. 7 to 11, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Attendees from across Canada and the U.S. visited the Twin Cities to partake in discussion, analysis, baseball history and analysis.
Baseball-Reference sponsored the welcome reception. Fans in attendance discussed the Oakland to Sacramento to Las Vegas movement. Where else would you discuss the organization movement, but also go back in time to talk about the 1922 St. Louis Browns club that featured sluggers George Sisler and Ken Williams?
The reception was just the start of a very memorable convention. Attendees were able to walk to Target Field to see the Guardians and the Twins and take a bus to see the Columbus Clippers play the St. Paul Saints. Both the Minnesota Twins and St. Paul Saints organizations took immense pride by providing tremendous panel members from both front offices.
Twins Hall of Famers Tony Oliva and Rod Carew participated in a hitter’s panel. Oliva and Carew were roomies for 11 years. After Carew made it to the big leagues, he told Oliva that he would end up with more batting titles than Oliva. Despite the prediction, Oliva helped his roommate tie his first tie on a road trip. Carew was so inspired that he would wear the same tie for three years on road trips without adjusting the tie. Oliva talked about his resilience. The Twins released the future Hall of Famer and Oliva went back to Cuba prior to making it to the major leagues. Both Oliva and Carew told delightful stories about their time in the big leagues. Carew talked about Calvin Griffith promising him the second base job when Carew was playing in the Carolina League. The Twins were one of the first teams to charter flights instead of commercial ones.
Bert Blyleven briefly interrupted the dialogue and asked what the panel knew about hitting. Eventually, Blyleven, Jim Kaat, LaTroy Hawkins and Glen Perkins started their pitching panel. Whitey Ford graciously taught Kaat how to change his grip on a fastball. Blyleven received similar mentoring from pitching coach Marv Grissom who placed a chair next to Blyleven so that he would land correctly. The pitchers commented on the different conditioning that pitchers did in the old days. Kaat discussed analytics by commenting that players should be data informed instead of data driven.
The agenda included a fantastic panel on women in baseball. Melissa Ludtke spoke about her attempt to gain access to the Yankees and Dodgers during the 1977 World Series. Despite the teams permitting access, Bowie Kuhn did not allow it. Reggie Jackson provided accommodation by allowing Ludtke to interview him in his automobile on the way to a game. Eventually, a judge ordered equal access for female reporters.
The convention concluded with Hornsby Chapter member Bailey Hall winning the Poster Presentation Award regarding leadoff hits and walks. Congratulations, Bailey!
Minor League Baseball News
Andy York, a Round Rock Express season ticket holder, shared news from the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate that the 2025 schedule includes series against teams from the International League: the Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers), the Charlotte Knights (Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox) and St. Paul Saints (Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins). The Dell Diamond will host the Mud Hens from April 1 to 6, 2025. The series against the Knights and Saints will be on the road.
Cool Baseball Stories
Cool Baseball Stories is a new feature in our newsletter to give members a chance to share an interesting recent experience. This month, we hear from Syd Polk, a former Oakland A’s season ticket holder, and diehard Cardinals fan Monte Cely, who traveled by train with his son between Busch Stadium and Wrigley Field.
By Syd Polk
On Sept. 7, I flew out and said goodbye to the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, and the Oakland incarnation of the Athletics.
I went to a handful of games before from 1988 to 2000, and then got season tickets for the playoffs in 2000 through the 2006 season, when I moved to Texas. Those Moneyball A’s were so much fun, and the Moneyball game was the most fun I have ever had at a ballpark.
On Saturday night, the weather was perfect, the crowd was big enough to be fun but small enough not to be annoying. The A’s lost 2-1 to the Tigers, but you can’t have everything.
And having old friends there with me was fantastic.
By Monte Cely
My son Matt and I (pictured above, Monte on the right) traveled to St. Louis to see the Cardinals-Rangers series at Busch and on to the Cubs-Cardinals series in Chicago. A highlight of the trip was traveling from St. Louis to Chicago by train.
Traveling by train for an away series is popular for Cards and Cubs fans. We took the “Texas Eagle” from downtown St. Louis to Chicago Union Station. We were an hour late leaving as Amtrak had to hook up extra passenger cars for the many Cardinals fans. Cubs fans piled onto the train at stops in Illinois. Riding the rails was a comfortable and fun experience.
In Chicago, we took the “L” (elevated train) Red Line from our hotel to “The Friendly Confines.” We enjoyed walking around Wrigleyville and had lunch outside the park before the day game. The restaurant was about 60/40 Cubs/Cardinals fans. It’s a “friendly rivalry” with a little trash talk about how poorly both teams were playing. Cubs fans are also really bummed out about the White Sox and were very anti-new-stadium for the South Side.
After the day game, we went to a popular indoor mall to look for gifts. There was a Harry Caray Restaurant on the top floor, so we had dinner there. Once settled at our table, I looked around and realized Cardinals 1B Paul Goldschmidt and his family were sitting right behind us! We didn’t want to bother them, but several young kids rushed up to talk with him. He was very friendly and gracious to them and their families. The waitress told us he usually just walks in with his family, no private reservations.
We flew home from O’Hare the next day. As they say in the Midwest, “A good time was had by all!”
Mike Vance’s second part of duology
You may recall when book author and Dierker Chapter member Mike Vance visited with us in April to promote the publication of the first part of his baseball duology. He’s just published his second part.
“Wingo’s Redemption,” the second and final part of Mike’s Wingo baseball historical fiction duology, is now available on Amazon.com and on the author’s website.
Mike shared the description on the back of the book jacket:
116-year-old Rube Wingo recounts another half century of his remarkable life, beginning with a personal tragedy that compels him to leave New York City to pick up the pieces in Cincinnati. His friendships, new and rekindled, and his ill-fitting attempts to again find love surround his behind-the-scenes roles with baseball’s oldest franchise and one of its newest ones–all amidst a backdrop of seismic changes in the game and in American society.
At an age when most people are considering retirement, Rube must reinvent himself one last time, starting with deciding what is most important in his life. After decades of following his dreams, he’s forced to face hard truths about himself and the game which he so dearly loves.
From consummate history storyteller Mike Vance comes the conclusion of Wingo’s captivating and hysterical romp through an American century of life, love, race and baseball.
Here is the praise for the book:
“Mike has a passion for history and baseball. He is an accomplished writer with an active imagination.” – Larry Dierker, MLB All-Star player, manager and broadcaster
“Wingo’s Redemption is simply a great read… a first-class yarn spun by a storyteller and writer at the top of his craft.” – Chris White, Acclaimed author and internet humorist
In pursuit of 25 points: Pavin Smith misses history, Kyle Schwarber makes it
By Jim Baker
This past Sunday night (Sept. 8), Pavin Smith of the Diamondbacks had hit three home runs by the fifth inning against the Astros, including a grand slam, a solo shot and a three-run homer. All he needed to become the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit a home run cycle was a two-run blast. (Only two minor leaguers have ever done this; both from the Texas League. Tyrone Horne did it in 1998 for Arkansas and Chandler Redmond did it two years ago for Springfield.)
The big chance came in the top of the seventh inning. Eugenio Suarez singled to start the inning, but Smith, facing Hector Neris, struck out swinging. Smith was slated to bat second in the ninth inning as well, but this time, Suarez hit a home run off of Josh Hader, meaning there would be no home run cycle. There was still a chance at immortality for Smith, though, as a round tripper would put him in the elite company of players who hit four homers in a game. Only 17 men have done this, including six Hall of Famers.
Instead, he walked. This left him one more shot at joining a select group: those with 25 simple fantasy points in a game (calculated as one point for every total base, run scored, run driven in, walk, hit by pitch and stolen base). Smith stood at first base with 24 points. meaning a stolen base (something he literally does once a year) or a run scored would put him over the threshold.
And yes, this threshold was created by me. I wanted to know which players had most productive games in history and I wanted to do it in a way that would not require any math other than addition. Twenty-five seemed like a good milestone number and the list was born. So far as I know, it’s been done 89 times by 87 players (more on that in a second.) If 89 seems like a lot, consider this: since 1902, there have been 3.3 million player starts in major league games. That number is even higher when you include the 19th century. Now the feat seems a lot more impressive, no?
Pavin Smith was wiped out on a double play and ended the game one point short of joining this select group. Had he homered and walked instead of striking out and walking in his last two plate appearances, he would have joined an even more elite group: those with 30 points in a game. Only 11 men have ever done that, the latest being Adolis Garcia last season.
Though Smith fell just short—while still enjoying a career game the likes of which the vast majority of players will never come close to matching—just a few weeks ago a player did it for the second time in the space of a month! On September 3, Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies hit his third home (and fourth extra base hit) in the ninth inning, a three-run shot that gave the Phillies a 10-9 win over the Blue Jays. It also put him at 25 points on the night to match his score from August 7 against the Dodgers. (One headline after the Blue Jays game read “Schwarber career night leads Phillies” which made me wonder if the headline writer had already forgotten what he’d done four weeks prior.)
With this performance, Schwarber became only the second player to hit the 25-point threshold twice, the other being hitting legend Lou Gehrig, who did it in 1928 and again in 1932 (meaning he had two of the first 11 in history; he also had a 24-point game in 1930). But Schwarber did it twice in the space of just 25 games, which is nothing short of miraculous!
Furthermore, Schwarber’s contributions in these games were mostly essential. A great majority of the players who get 25 points in a game do so in service to a blowout. In 60 percent of the games, the player’s team scored 15 runs or more. Schwarber’s pair were two of the 12 games in which the player’s team scored 10 or less (it’s only been done three times in losses). Only eight of the winning games were settled by two runs or less.
Next meeting – World Series Watch Party!
The October meeting will continue a longtime chapter tradition – the World Series Watch Party at Jim Baker’s house in Cedar Park!
More details to come at the beginning of October, but the watch party will be the evening of Saturday, Oct. 26. Depending on scheduling, it will either be World Series Game 2 or Game 4. We won’t know until the conclusion of both League Championship Series.
More details and a call for RSVPs to come.