The next meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16, at Third Base located at 1717 West 6th Street in Austin. Bill Gilbert will present a quiz on the 2010 major league season. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com.
Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2010?
Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2010?
By Bill Gilbert
Numerous methods have been devised to measure offensive performance. The most common are batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average. Since none of these averages provides a complete picture by itself, a more comprehensive measure of offensive performance is useful. Such a measure would include the following elements:
1. The ability to get on base.
2. The ability to hit with power.
3. The ability to add value through baserunning.
The first two elements are measured by on-base percentage and slugging average. A measure of offensive performance, which encompasses both as well as baserunning achievements, is Bases per Plate Appearance (BPA). This measure accounts for the net bases accumulated by a player per plate appearance. It is calculated as follows:
BPA = (TB + BB + HB + SB – CS – GIDP) / (AB + BB + HB + SF)
Where: BPA = Bases per Plate Appearance
TB = Total Bases
BB = Bases on Balls
HB = Hit by Pitch
SB = Stolen Bases
CS = Caught Stealing
GIDP = Grounded into Double Plays
AB = At Bats
SF = Sacrifice Flies
The numerator accounts for all of the bases accumulated by a player, reduced by the number of times he is caught stealing or erases another runner by grounding into a double play. The denominator accounts for the plate appearances when the player is trying to generate bases for himself. Sacrifice hits are not included as plate appearances, since they represent the successful execution of the batter’s attempts to advance another runner.
Major league BPA for the past fifteen years are shown below along with the number of players with BPA over .550 and .600:
Year 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
BPA .471 .463 .463 .479 .481 .468 .457 .461 .468 .456 .470 .463 .458 .461 .446
.550 41 34 41 50 50 46 39 42 33 34 46 34 41 42 19
.600 21 15 22 29 30 26 17 15 18 13 14 15 11 16 7
Offensive production peaked in 2000 before declining in the early years of this decade. BPA in 2010 was down sharply from 2009, representing a 3.7% decline in offensive production, and a 7.3% reduction from the peak in 2000.
In the 1990s, there were 14 individual .700 BPA seasons. In the ten year period from 2000 to 2009, there were 18. The highest BPA in the 1990s was recorded by Mark McGwire in 1998 (.799). Barry Bonds shattered that with .907 in 2001, the highest figure ever recorded, topping Babe Ruth’s best two years (1920 and 1921). Bonds followed that with .869 in 2002, .818 in 2003 and .882 in 2004. There have not been any hitters with a BPA of .700 in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The last player to make it was Alex Rodriguez (.702) in 2007. Surprisingly, Albert Pujols has not had a .700 BPA in his ten seasons. However, he was the major league leader in 2009 by a large margin with a BPA of .696, the highest figure of his career, and the second time he has finished on top.
The .700 BPA seasons in 2000-2010 are listed below:
Player Team Year BPA
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2001 .907
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2004 .882
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2002 .869
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2003 .818
Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs 2001 .758
Barry Bonds San Francisco 2000 .745
Jim Thome Cleveland 2002 .728
Manny Ramirez Cleveland 2000 .726
Todd Helton Colorado 2000 .720
Luis Gonzalez Arizona 2001 .713
Todd Helton Colorado 2001 .709
Carlos Delgado Toronto 2000 .707
Larry Walker Colorado 2001 .707
Jason Giambi Oakland 2000 .706
Travis Hafner Cleveland 2006 .703
Alex Rodriguez NY Yankees 2007 .702
Jason Giambi Oakland 2001 .700
Ryan Howard Philadelphia 2006 .700
The yearly leaders since 1992 are as follows:
1992 Bonds .734 1993 Bonds .740 1994 Bagwell .768
1995 Belle .692 1996 McGwire .765 1997 Walker .770
1998 McGwire .799 1999 McGwire .735 2000 Bonds .745
2001 Bonds . 907 2002 Bonds .869 2003 Bonds .818
2004 Bonds .882 2005 D. Lee .699 2006 Hafner .703
2007 A. Rodriguez .702 2008 Pujols .685 2009 Pujols .696
2010 Bautista .671
The benchmark for an outstanding individual season is .600. Following is a list of 7 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and with a BPA of .600 in 2010.
Bases per Plate Appearance (BPA) of .600+ in 2010
————————————————-
No. of
2010 2009 .600+
Player BPA BPA LG Seasons Comments
1 Bautista, J .671 .482 A 1 The big surprise of the season.
2 Votto, J. .657 .617 N 2 Some competition for Pujols.
3 Hamilton, J. .653 .460 A 1 Needs to stay healthy.
4 Cabrera, M. .642 .568 A 2 Best year so far.
5 Pujols, A. .634 .696 N 8 A little below par.
6 Gonzalez, C. .632 .596 N 1 Emerging superstar.
7 Konerko, P. .613 .517 A 1 Career year at age 34.
The only repeaters from last year’s list are Pujols and Votto. Fourteen other players had a BPA over .600 in 2009 but fell short in 2010. Most of these players fell off sharply in either power or average after strong seasons in 2009.
No. of
2010 2009 .600+
Player BPA BPA LG Seasons Comments
1 Fielder, P. .555 .640 N 2 Power and average way down.
2 Mauer, J. .488 .619 A 1 Only 9 HR vs. 28 in 2009.
3 Zobrist, B. .458 .617 A 1 2009 looks like a fluke.
4 Lee, D. .454 .611 N 2 Has a history of ups and downs.
5 Utley, C. .542 .611 N 2 HR dropped from 31 to 16.
6 Howard, R. .534 .610 N 3 Power way off in 2010.
7 Bay, J. .479 .610 N 2 Loss of power and injury took toll.
8 Youkilis, K. .623 .609 A 1 Not enough PA to qualify.
9 Reynolds, M. .508 .607 N 1 BAVG of .198 won’t cut it.
10 Rodriguez, A. .538 .604 A 11 Four straight years under .290 BAVG.
11 Ramirez, H. .544 .604 N 3 May have peaked in 2009.
12 Pena, C. .503 .604 A 2 BAVG of .196 was a killer.
13 Braun, R. .535 .603 N 1 First year under 30 HR.
14 Teixeira, M. .532 .603 A 4 Lowest BAVG (.256) of career.
Seven players have a BPA over .600 for their careers:
2010 Career
Player Age BPA BPA Comments.
———— — —- —- ——–
Albert Pujols 30 .634 .650 Consistently great.
Alex Rodriguez 34 .538 .622 Tailing off.
Jim Thome 39 .668 .618 Amazing year.
Manny Ramirez 38 .525 .618 Winding down.
Ryan Howard 30 .534 .609 Surprising drop.
Joey Votto 26 .657 .607 Looks like the real deal.
Lance Berkman 34 .472 .603 Serious decline in 2010.
Another list of interest is one containing the names of players with a BPA of over .600 in 2010 who did not have enough plate appearances (PA) to qualify for the batting title. These four players were very productive when they played but missed significant time due to injury or other reasons.
Player Age BPA PA Comments
————— — —- — —————————
Jim Thome 39 .668 340 Provided big boost for Twins.
Justin Morneau 29 .652 348 Derailed by concussion
Kevin Youkilis 31 .623 435 Produced when healthy.
Nelson Cruz 29 .608 445 Slowed by repeated hamstring problems.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, sixteen players who earned enough playing time to qualify for the batting title had a BPA less than .400 in 2010. This list is getting longer every year. As usual most are middle infielders and catchers.
Player BPA Comments
—————– —- ——————————
Miguel Tejada .396 Slow decline continues.
Chone Figgins .393 Big disappointment in Seattle.
Elvis Andrus .391 Held back by lack of power.
Kevin Kouzmanoff .391 First year below .400.
Erick Aybar .389 Big drop from strong 2009.
Skip Schumaker .385 Disappointing season.
Orlando Cabrera .380 Slowly declining.
Kurt Suzuki .377 Worst year of 4-year career.
A. J. Pierzynski .376 A little below his norm.
Yadier Molina .372 Carried by his defense.
Alberto Callaspo .370 Only .317 after trade to Angels.
Alcides Escobar .369 Big time sophomore slump.
Yunel Escobar .367 Are these guys the same player?
Ryan Theriot .357 Flopped after trade to Dodgers.
Jose Lopez .334 Way below career norm.
Cesar Izturis .302 Career BPA of .355.
The following four players compiled a batting average over .300, an on-base average over .400, a slugging percentage over .500 and bases per plate appearance over .600 in 2010:
Player (2010) BAVG OBA SLG BPA OPS
Josh Hamilton .359 .411 .633 .653 1.044
Miguel Cabrera .328 .420 .622 .642 1.042
Joey Votto .324 .424 .600 .657 1.024
Albert Pujols .312 .414 .596 .634 1.011
Two active players have these numbers for their careers, although Manny Ramirez fell short in 2010:
Player (Career) BAVG OBA SLG BPA OPS
Albert Pujols .331 .426 .624 .650 1.050
Manny Ramirez .313 .411 .586 .618 .998
Bill Gilbert
12/4/10
2010 Cy Young Award Prognosticator Results
Jim Baker is the winning prognosticator for the 2010 Cy Young Award poll. Craig Lukshin finished a close second.
The complete final results of our chapter’s poll are here (in Excel format)
November Meeting Summary
Twelve chapter members were entertained at the November monthy meeting with the 1944 World Series program, the official score book for the first all star game in 1933 (shown above), and a baseball quiz in which members had to name one baseball player for each letter of the alphabet.
Norman Macht brought the program and score book, which elicited oohs and aahs from the group.
Jan Larson brought an interesting quiz — using last names, name active or retired baseball players for each letter of the alphabet — and it came with a 10-minute time limit. Ira Siegel and Mike Dillion tied for first, with Siegel winning on a tie-breaker. His prize was “Take Me Out to the Ballpark: An Illustrated Tour of the Baseball Parks Past and Present.” Mike, a Boston Red Sox fan, turned down the second place prize — the 2010 New York Yankees Media Guide, which went to the next runner-up, Norman Macht.
The group also discussed Monte Cely’s Cy Young Prognosticator Poll, in which members made their guesses on Sept. 1 for the winners and runners-up to the award. The poll was won by Jim Baker, followed by Craig Lukshin. Jim took home the book, “The Last Days of Shea: Delight and Despair in the Life of a Mets Fan” for his crystal-ball skills.
We also discussed the announcement of Felix Hernandez as the American League Cy Young Award Winner. Some thought it was a victory for sabermetrics because Hernandez won on the strength of leading the league in earned run average (2.27) and innings pitched (249 2/3) and being second in strike-outs (232), despite having a 13-12 record for the offense-challenged and last place Seattle Mariners. One member thought Hernandez was undeserving because he pitched in meaningless games with the Mariners falling out of contention early in the season.
Tentative plans were made for the meeting in December — it will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, with location to be announced.
Triple Milestones – 2010
Triple Milestones – 2010
By Bill Gilbert
Offensive production in the major leagues in 2010 was down significantly from 2009. The number of runs per game has declined each year from 9.72 in 2006 to 8.77 in 2010. The home run rate of 1.90 per game was down from the 2.02 rate in 2009. The major league batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average were all the lowest since 1992. All offensive categories are significantly below the peak year of 2000 as illustrated in the following table:
Year Runs/Game HR/Game BAVG OBA SLG OPS Triple Milestone Hitters
—- ——— ——- —- —- —- — ————————
1990 8.51 1.58 .258 .324 .386 .710 2
1991 8.62 1.61 .255 .323 .384 .707 3
1992 8.23 1.44 .256 .322 .377 .699 2
1993 9.20 1.78 .266 .332 .404 .736 5
1994 9.85 2.07 .270 .339 .424 .763 3
1995 9.69 2.02 .267 .338 .417 .755 8
1996 10.07 2.19 .270 .340 .427 .767 21
1997 9.53 2.05 .267 .337 .419 .756 7
1998 9.58 2.08 .266 .335 .420 .755 14
1999 10.17 2.28 .271 .345 .434 .779 19
2000 10.28 2.34 .271 .345 .437 .782 26
2001 9.55 2.25 .264 .332 .427 .759 21
2002 9.24 2.09 .261 .331 .417 .748 12
2003 9.46 2.14 .264 .332 .422 .754 8
2004 9.63 2.25 .266 .335 .428 .763 12
2005 9.18 2.06 .265 .330 .419 .749 10
2006 9.72 2.22 .269 .336 .432 .768 13
2007 9.59 2.04 .268 .336 .423 .759 8
2008 9.30 2.01 .264 .333 .417 .750 7
2009 9.23 2.02 .262 .333 .418 .751 6
2010 8.77 1.90 .257 .325 .403 .728 6
Jose Bautista of Toronto hit 54 home runs, the first player to reach 50 since Alex Rodriguez in 2007. Two players hit 40 or more home runs in 2010 compared to five in 2009. The 30 home run level was reached by 18 players in 2010 compared to 30 in 2009.
A useful indicator for tracking offense is the number of players who hit for both power and average by achieving a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in. A record 26 players reached all three milestones in 2000, but that figure has dropped significantly in recent years. Only six players reached all three milestones in 2010, the same as in 2009. Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera were the only players who made it in both 2009 and 2010.
The remarkable career of Albert Pujols merits further attention. He has now played exactly 10 full seasons in the major leagues, establishing his Hall of Fame credentials. In each season, he has batted over .300 with over 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. Only Babe Ruth (12) has more such seasons and his best was eight in a row. An average season for Pujols is .331-41-123. Surprisingly, he has led the National League in batting only once, in home runs twice and once in RBIs.
Three players from each league achieved all three milestones in 2010. Pujols became the only player to do it in his first 10 seasons. There were two newcomers to the .300-30-100 club in 2010, Joey Votto and Carlos Gonzalez, bringing the total to 166 players who have registered at least one .300-30-100 season starting with Babe Ruth in 1920.
Following is a listing of players who achieved triple milestones
in 2010:
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI Comments
National
Albert Pujols 10 .312-42-118 One of the all-time greats.
Joey Votto 1 .324-37-113 Strong contender for MVP.
Carlos Gonzalez 1 .336-34-117 An emerging superstar.
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI Comments
American
Miguel Cabrera 4 .328-38-126 New high in home runs.
Josh Hamilton 2 .359-32-100 Three RBIs in last weekend.
Paul Konerko 2 .312-39-111 Consistent all year.
Four players achieved triple milestones in 2009 but fell short in 2010:
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI BAVG-HR-RBI
In Past 2009 2010 Comments
Derrek Lee 2 .306-35-111 .260-19- 80 Couldn’t get untracked.
Ryan Braun 3 .320-32-114 .304-25-103 Power down.
Kendry Morales 2 .306-34-108 .290-11- 39 Season wrecked by injury.
Adam Lind 2 .305-35-114 .237-23- 72 Couldn’t overcome slow start.
The biggest obstacle in reaching triple milestones in 2010 was batting average. Nine players had 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in 2010 but fell short of a .300 batting average.
Adrian Gonzalez .298-31-101 Just missed.
Dan Uggla .287-33-105 New highs in all three categories
Corey Hart .283-31-102 New highs in HR and RBI.
Ryan Howard .276-31-108 Well below his norms.
David Ortiz .270-32-102 Came on strong after slow start.
Alex Rodriguez .270-30-125 Is he starting a decline?
Jose Bautista .260-54-124 The year’s big surprise.
Adam Dunn .260-38-103 Typical Dunn year.
Mark Teixeira .256-33-108 Another slow start.
Four other players came close to triple milestones in 2010, just missing on home runs.
Robinson Cano .319-29-109 Would have been first time.
Vladimir Guererro .300-29-115 Has done it 8 times.
Matt Holliday .312-28-103 Did it in 2006-2007.
Adrian Beltre .321-28-102 Did it with Dodgers in 2004.
A growing list contains the names of players, active in 2010, who have had multiple .300-30-100 seasons in the past but have not done it in the last three years. Many have been limited by injuries. Some are still very productive players but not at the same level they were in their peak years. Since this list was started in 2004, not one player has come back with another .300-30-100 season.
Last
.300-30-100 .300-30-100
Player Seasons Season 2010 Comments
Vladimir Guerrero 8 2006 .300-29-115 Comeback year fell just short.
Todd Helton 5 2003 .256- 8- 37 In serious decline.
Chipper Jones 5 2001 .265-10- 46 Has become injury prone.
Jason Giambi 4 2002 .244- 6- 35 Strictly a bench player now.
Magglio Ordonez 4 2002 .303-12- 59 Season cut short by injury.
Ken Griffey, Jr. 3 1997 .184- 0- 7 Two generations are now gone.
Lance Berkman 3 2006 .248-14- 58 Bat has slowed down.
David Ortiz 3 2007 .270-32-102 Still has power.
Jim Thome 2 2002 .283-25- 59 Still a useful player.
Aramis Ramirez 2 2004 .241-25- 83 Can’t stay healthy.
Miguel Tejada 2 2004 .269 15- 71 Gradual decline continues.
Travis Hafner 2 2006 .278-13- 50 Can’t play every day.
Vernon Wells 2 2006 .273-31- 88 Somewhat of a comeback.
Matt Holliday 2 2007 .312-28-103 Made it only with Rockies.
In his 1988 Baseball Abstract, Bill James referred to triple
milestone seasons as "Hall of Fame Seasons". This was because all of the
eligible players with 5 or more triple milestone seasons had been
elected to the Hall of Fame. This correlation has continued to hold but is likely to break down when Juan Gonzalez becomes eligible in 2011.
No teams had two players with triple milestones in 2009. With Joey Votto of the Reds making the list, twenty nine of the thirty major league teams have now had at least one triple milestone hitter since the year 2000. Kansas City has not had a triple milestone hitter since Danny Tartabull in 1991.
Minor league players also recorded triple milestone seasons in 2010.
Player Team (Level) Organization Age BAVG-HR-RBI
Rich Poythress High Desert (HiA) Seattle 22 .315-31-129
Paul Goldschmidt Visalia (HiA) Arizona 22 .314-35-108
Another had Triple Milestone Stats in the minors but not overall.
Mark Trumbo Salt Lake City (AAA) Los Angeles 24 .301-36-122
Los Angeles (AL) .067- 0- 2
.294-36-124
Another came very close.
Clint Robinson NW Arkansas (AA) Kansas City 24 .335-29- 98
No college players achieved triple milestones in 2009
Pitchers also strive for triple milestones – 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an ERA under 3.00. No pitchers made it in 2009. However, in 2010, the year of the pitcher, two pitchers made it, Adam Wainwright (20-11, 213, 2.42) and Roy Halladay (21-10, 219, 2.44). Halladay made it in 2008 and Wainwright just missed in 2009.
TRIP2010.DOC
11/5/10
Edited to correct the number of times Albert Pujols has led the National League in RBIs. 11/7/10.
Post-Season Prediction results – 2010
The only player to correctly name the winner in all four LDS, Craig was also only one of three players to glean any points from the rounds beyond the LDS. Only he, Brian and Norman had the foresight to pick the Rangers to make it to the World Series and only Brian did it in the correct amount of games: six. For his efforts, Brian is the 2010 runner-up. Third place goes to Tom, who gets the nod over Michael and Steve on the basis of having been the closest on the total number of games played in the postseason. Even though we don’t know the duration of the World Series yet, we do know the game total won’t exceed 34.)
|
Hornsby Postseason 2010!
|
Total
|
PHI-CIN
|
ATL-SFG
|
TBR-TEX
|
NYY-MIN
|
NLCS
|
ALCS
|
World Series
|
# games
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
Win
|
G
|
Pts
|
predicted
|
||||
|
1
|
Craig
|
Lukshin
|
27
|
PHI
|
3
|
5
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TEX
|
4
|
4
|
NYY
|
5
|
4
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
TEX
|
7
|
9
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
35
|
|
2
|
Brian
|
Rogers
|
17
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
ATL
|
4
|
-5
|
TEX
|
4
|
4
|
NYY
|
5
|
4
|
PHI
|
5
|
0
|
TEX
|
6
|
10
|
PHI
|
5
|
0
|
33
|
|
3
|
Tom
|
Wancho
|
9
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TEX
|
5
|
5
|
MIN
|
4
|
-5
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
MIN
|
6
|
0
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
35
|
|
4
|
Michael
|
Bass
|
9
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TBR
|
5
|
-4
|
NYY
|
4
|
4
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
NYY
|
7
|
0
|
PHI
|
7
|
0
|
37
|
|
5
|
Steve
|
Fall
|
9
|
PHI
|
5
|
4
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TBR
|
5
|
-4
|
NYY
|
5
|
4
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
7
|
0
|
TBR
|
7
|
0
|
39
|
|
6
|
Wells
|
Oliver
|
8
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
SFG
|
3
|
4
|
TBR
|
5
|
-4
|
NYY
|
4
|
4
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
6
|
0
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
34
|
|
7
|
Norman
|
Macht
|
8
|
PHI
|
5
|
4
|
ATL
|
5
|
-5
|
TEX
|
5
|
5
|
MIN
|
5
|
-5
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
TEX
|
7
|
9
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
39
|
|
8
|
Monte
|
Cely
|
0
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TBR
|
5
|
-4
|
MIN
|
5
|
-5
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
7
|
0
|
TBR
|
7
|
0
|
38
|
|
8
|
Gary
|
McIntosh
|
0
|
CIN
|
5
|
-5
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TEX
|
5
|
5
|
MIN
|
5
|
-5
|
CIN
|
6
|
0
|
MIN
|
6
|
0
|
CIN
|
7
|
0
|
38
|
|
10
|
Jim
|
Baker
|
-1
|
PHI
|
3
|
5
|
SFG
|
5
|
4
|
TBR
|
4
|
-5
|
MIN
|
4
|
-5
|
PHI
|
5
|
0
|
TBR
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
7
|
0
|
34
|
|
11
|
Gilbert
|
Martinez
|
-1
|
PHI
|
5
|
4
|
SFG
|
4
|
5
|
TBR
|
4
|
-5
|
MIN
|
5
|
-5
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
7
|
0
|
37
|
|
12
|
Jan
|
Larson
|
-2
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
SFG
|
5
|
4
|
TBR
|
4
|
-5
|
MIN
|
4
|
-5
|
PHI
|
5
|
0
|
TBR
|
6
|
0
|
PHI
|
6
|
0
|
34
|
|
13
|
Bill
|
Gilbert
|
-2
|
PHI
|
4
|
4
|
ATL
|
5
|
-5
|
TBR
|
4
|
-5
|
NYY
|
4
|
4
|
ATL
|
6
|
0
|
TBR
|
6
|
0
|
ATL
|
6
|
0
|
35
|
Final Predictatron Results – 2010
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The 2010 Hornsby Chapter Predictatron has come to an end and with that we find Gilbert is the champion. Gilbert’s rise from 9th place (out of 11) in 2009 is most dramatic. He improved by 62 points, which should give hope for 2011 to all who did not fare so well this year.
For the second year in a row, Tom finished in second place; this time, by the smallest possible margin. While Gilbert’s winning score was six points less than Michael’s championship tally from 2009, the group averaged 12 more points than it did last year: up from 755 to 767. The biggest improvement was made by Jim, who only scored 718 last year, while the biggest drop was recorded by Jan, who fell 44 points. Michael’s loss of 40 points from 2009 caused a 10th-place finish in 2010 on the heels of last year’s championship.
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November Meeting
The next meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18, at Third Base located at 1717 West 6th Street in Austin. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jan Larson at jan.a.larson@gmail.com.
Hornsby members take in Game 1 of the ALCS
Four Hornsby Chapter members got a chance to watch Game 1 of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Pictured, from left, are Cy Morong, Monte Cely, Jan Larson and Gilbert Martinez.
As the first ALCS game in Texas Rangers franchise history, the atmosphere at the game was electric. Team President Nolan Ryan threw out the first pitch with his signature leg kick and fast ball. After the Yankees went down in order on the top of the first, the crowd really went wild when Josh Hamilton smoked a line drive down the right field line for a three-run home run and early lead.
The Rangers later increased their lead to 5-0, but the Yankees showed they weren’t done. With a solo home run by Robinson Cano in the 7th inning, the Yankees brought their bats to bear in the 8th inning. In that inning, they had seven batters reach base safely – a single, a double, two walks and three singles – before the Rangers recorded an out. The Rangers used five pitchers that inning, but the damage was done as the Yankees scored five runs that inning to take the lead.
Some of the Rangers fans lost faith and headed for the exits, but many were still around, hoping for a response by the home nine. When Ian Kinsler reached first on a walk to start the bottom of the 8th inning, many in the crowd sensed a come-back. But alas for the Rangers, Yankees reliever Kerry Wood picked off Kinsler at first. The Yankees held on to win Game 1, 6-5.
October Meeting Summary
Thirteen members and guests of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter enjoyed League Championship games at Gilbert and Raeanne Martinez’s house on Saturday, Oct. 16. The Rangers won Game 2 of the ALCS to even their series and the Giants topped the Phillies in Game 1 of what was supposed to be a pitching duel that instead turned into a homerun derby with four long balls.
Cy Morong won the award for traveling the furthest (from San Antonio) to attend the 2nd Annual Playoffs Watch Party and Cookout.
Steve and Katty Fall won the award for most consecutive hours awake among the party participants – some 17 hours (!), thanks to prior commitments throughout the day.
Chuck and Jennifer Kaufman took home the prize for most sporting-related events during the weekend, which included watching part of the Rangers-Yankees game, a Texas State Bobcats football game and a Texas Stars hockey game the next night!
After the baseball games, we watched the latest episode of The Simpsons, an animated show that depicts Lisa becoming manager of Bart’s little league baseball team and injecting sabermetrics and statistical analysis. It’s well worth watching if you haven’t seen it. Look for appearances by Bill James and Mike Scioscia. The episode, called “MoneyBART,” can be seen on the Fox website, or by clicking here.
No date was set for the November meeting, but it will probably be in mid-November. More details soon.
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