Bottom of the Ninth

 

Bottom of the Ninth
Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the
Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself
 
by Michael Shapiro
 
A Baseball Book Review                 
Monte Cely  
(512) 310-9777
                                                                                                           
            Bottom of the Ninth is the story of the ill-fated Continental League, and how its conception and ultimate demise led to Major League Baseball expansion in the early 1960s. 
 
            The main story-lines revolve around Branch Rickey and Casey Stengel, focusing mainly on a 1958 – 1960 timeline. Rickey is portrayed as the aging genius reaching for one more innovation with his proposed third major league. Stengel’s role is to represent baseball’s past and resistance to change. Supporting characters are Walter O’Malley (as the NL strongman), Del Webb (AL strongman), Bill Shea (Rickey’s “man in New York” for the Continental League), and expansion interests in Houston, Minneapolis, Denver, Toronto, and LA.
 
            The book did a good job of bringing the planning, politics and intrigue of the Continental League back into the daylight. The machinations of the National and American Leagues to first block the Continentals, and then co-opt the new league by agreeing to expansion, are both intriguing and mind-bending. The profiles of baseball power brokers of this era are insightful (although the Stengel sub-plot seems off-point and superfluous; he seems to have had no involvement with the Continental League). The book also highlights the concurrent founding of the American Football League, and discusses how the AFL succeeded where the Continentals failed.
 
            SABR members interested in 1950s-1960s baseball history and the “business of baseball” should enjoy this book. 
 
Here are the key statistics:
 
Book: Bottom of the Ninth
Author:  Michael Shapiro
Authors Credentials: Shapiro is a professor at the Columbia School of Journalism, has authored five previous books including The Last Good Season, and has had articles published in the New York Times and Sports Illustrated.
Published: 2009, Times Books, ISBN 978-0-8050-8247-0
Length: 303 pages
Price: Retail list – $26.00;    Online: from $6.95 (used) + shipping.

The ‘Tis-the-Football-Season Baseball Quiz

The ‘Tis-the-Football-Season Baseball Quiz

(presented on Dec. 17, 2009 )

(Move the mouse over the blank space to see the answer)

 I. Warming Up With the Ground Rules


1. How much more is the most a team can score on one play in football than the most a team can score on one play in baseball? (1 point)
 Two. Six for a touchdown and four for a grand slam
2.

Assuming an unimpeded path, who has to run the furthest: a batter who hits an inside-the-park home run, or a return man who catches a kickoff at teh back of his own end zone and returns it for a touchdown? (1 point)

 The batter. He must run 360 feet (4×90) while the returner must run 330 feet (110 yards x3)
  II. Shared Roots?
  
3.

Which one of these NFL teams started out with the same name as their local Major League Baseball team? (3 points)

a. Detroit Lions (as Tigers)

b. Pittsburgh Steelers (as Pirates)

c. Philadelphia Eagles (as Phillies)

d. Chicago Bears (as Cubs)

 b. The Steelers name started to take hold in 1940.
4.

The NFL’s Redskins began their existence sharing the same name as what baseball team? (Must have city and name for points.) (5 points)

 Boston Braves. They started as the Braves in 1932 and became the Redskins the next year. They moved to Washington, DC in 1937.
5.

Which two of these baseball team and city name combinations were never used by an NFL franchise? (2 points each)

Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Browns
 

 Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Browns.
  III. The Two-Sport Guys
  
6.

Name all the NFL and MLB teams for which Deion Sanders played. (There are nine. You get 12 guesses. 1 point for each correct guess)

 Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants; Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens
7.

This long-time major league umpire (22 years) was also a two-way back for the New York Giants for nine seasons and once scored the game-winning touchdown in an NFL championship game. (3 points)
 
a. Hank O’Day            

b. Hank Sauer              

c. Hank Soar    

d. Hank Bauer
 

c. Hank Soar. Hank O’Day was an umpire mostly before the NFL was born. Hank Sauer was a hard-hitting Cubbie and Hank Bauer was either a ’50s Yankee or a San Diego Charger from 1977 to 1982.
8.

Name the combined number of career major league home runs hit and career NFL touchdowns scored by Bo Jackson. (3 points)
 
a. 157

b. 201

c. 129

d. 185

 a.157 (141 homers and 16 TDs).
9. It’s not everyone who can say they played for a World Champion baseball team and also coached an NFL champion team. This fellow could, though. He even did the latter twice. Name him. (5 points)
 Earl "Greasy" Neale. A member of the 1919 Cincinnati Reds and the head coach of the 1948-49 NFL Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
10. The same year the answer to the previous question was on the winning side in the World Series, this future charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame had a cup of coffee in the bigs and became the incorrect-but-oft-asserted-otherwise answer to the famous trivia question, "What player did Babe Ruth replace in right field for the Yankees?" (5 points) George Halas, he of the 2-for-22 big league career.
11. Aside from the man who is the answer to the previous question, five former big league baseball veterans are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as players.  Name two of them. (5 points each)
 
 Jim Thorpe, Paddy Driscoll, Ernie Nevers, Ace Parker and Red Badgro. Greasy Neale is in the Hall as a coach, but never played in the NFL.
12. While no former NFL player has ever made it to Cooperstown as a player; this one hit more career homers than any of the other NFL/MLB hybrid guys. (5 points)
 
 Brian Jordan, the former Atlanta Falcons safety.
  IV. Side by Side
  
13.

At the present time, there are six NFL cities/geographic areas that do not have a major league baseball counterpart. (Green Bay/Milwaukee counts as one area for the purposes of this question and the next one.) Name them. (2 points each)

 New Orleans, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Carolina
14.

Name the three current major league baseball teams that do not have a geographic counterpart in the NFL. (2 points each)

 Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Toronto Blue Jays
15.

It has so happened that, on seven occasions, a baseball team and an NFL football team from the same city/region have won championships in the same season. (For football, that means the year in which the regular season took place, not the year in which the Super Bowl was played.) Listed below are 10 such pairings. Seven of them are true and three of them are not. Name the three that are wrong. (3 points each)

2004: New England/Boston: Red Sox and Patriots
1986: New York, FB Giants and Mets
1979: Pittsburgh, Steelers and Pirates
1970: Baltimore, Colts and Orioles
1956: New York, FB Giants and Yankees
1948: Cleveland, Rams and Indians
1935: Detroit, Lions and Tigers
1934: New York: FB Giants and Yankees
1933: New York: FB Giants and BB Giants
1927: New York, FB Giants and Yankees
 

 1948: Cleveland, Rams and Indians (Rams left Cleveland after 1945, the year they won it all); 1934: New York, FB Giants and Yankees (Yankees were not champs that year); 1933: New York: FB Giants and BB Giants (Giants were not NFL champs that season)

Bonus

What distinction do Bo Jackson and Vic Janowicz – who played for the Pirates in 1953 and 1954 – share? (5 points)
 Janowicz, like Jackson, won the Heisman Trophy. They are the only two big league baseball players to have done that.

 

 

Hornsby Chapter Winter Meeting 2010

Society for American Baseball Research
ROGERS HORNSBY CHAPTER
Fourth Annual WINTER MEETING
 
at TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
OLD MAIN BUILDING, ROOM 320
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2010
10am – 4pm
 
 
AGENDA   (as of December 18, 2009)
 
10:00 – 10:20am – Meet and greet
 
10:20 – 10:30am – Welcome and logistics – Bill Gilbert & Gilbert Martinez
 
10:30 – 11:00am – Icebreaker – Baseball Quiz – Norman Macht
 
11:00 – 12:15pm – Houston Astros’ broadcaster Bill Brown
 
12:15 – 1:15pm – Lunch, mingle, and memorabilia review
 
1:15 – 1:45pm – Scott Barzilla – Player Rating Stat
 
1:45 – 2:15pm – Fred Worth – Ballplayer Gravestones
 
2:15 – 2:45pm – Norman Macht – Oral History, a Visit with Ted Lyons
 
2:45pm – 4pm – Panel discussion – Hot Topics in Baseball – Mike Capps, Gene Watson, and Jim Baker. Jan Larson will moderate.
 
 
Book Exchange – members are encouraged to bring a baseball book to exchange
 
Memorabilia – if you’d like to bring a memorabilia item, take a minute to tell about it
 
Dress Code – wear your favorite team jersey or cap, especially if there’s a story to tell about them
 

You may contact any member of the organizing committee if you have any questions:

Gilbert Martinez : gmartinez46@austin.rr.com

Monte Cely : cely@swbell.net

Jan Larson : jan.a.larson@gmail.com

Bill Gilbert : billcgilbert@sbcglobal.net

December Meeting Wrap-Up

Eleven members met Thursday evening, December 17, at Third Base in Austin for the monthly meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter.  New member Wells Oliver was welcomed to the group.

Jim Baker developed the trivia quiz, entitled "Tis the Football Season Baseball Quiz".  The theme was the intersection of football and baseball.  Norman Macht blitzed the field to win the quiz by several touchdowns.  Jan Larson took second.

The planning committee for the Hornsby Chapter annual Winter Meeting finalized the lineup.  The Winter Meeting will be held Saturday, January 16 on the campus of Texas State University in San Marcos.  Much more information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

Discussion revolved around recent trades and free agent signings, as well as other hot-stove issues.

Our next meeting will be the Winter Meeting on Saturday, January 16.

Sixty Feet, Six Inches

 

Sixty Feet, Six Inches
A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter
Talk about How the Game is Played
 
by Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson, with Lonnie Wheeler
 
 
                                               Monte Cely
                                                                                                            cely@swbell.net
                                                                                                            (512) 310-9777
                                                                                                           
            Sixty Feet, Six Inches is a conversation between Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson about their approaches to playing baseball, their recollections of their careers, and their thoughts on current baseball topics.
 
            The two Hall of Famers are “in character” throughout the book. Jackson is articulate and self-centered; Gibson blunt and focused. On a particular topic, Jackson may speak for four paragraphs, Gibson for two sentences. Both still display their fierce competitiveness, while effectively relaying their insight about the game on the field.
 
            The bulk of the book is devoted to in-game tactics surrounding the pitcher-hitter confrontation, and the authors’ approach to that battle. Other chapters are devoted to the authors’ relationships and thoughts on other players, umpires, and owners; the atmosphere around the ballpark and specifically during the World Series; the characteristics of good player “makeup”; and the changes that baseball has gone thru over the decades since the authors have retired from the field.
 
            For those SABR members that like in depth discussion about game tactics, this book is for you. If extended discussion of the pitcher-hitter confrontation isn’t your cup of tea, Sixty Feet, Six Inches still has much to offer, especially if you’re a fan of either of the authors.
 
Here are the key statistics:
 
Book:   Sixty Feet, Six Inches
Author:  Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson, with Lonnie Wheeler
Authors Credentials: Gibson and Jackson need no introduction to SABR members. Wheeler is a veteran sportswriter who has collaborated on several baseball books, including I Had a Hammer with Hank Aaron.
Published: 2009, Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-52869-6
Length: 273 pages
Price: Retail list – $26.00;    Online: from $15.00 (used) + shipping.

Working at the Ballpark

Working at the Ballpark

The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People
 
by Tom Jones
 
A Baseball Book Review                                                                 
Monte Cely
                                                                                                            cely@swbell.net
                                                                                                            (512) 310-9777
                                                                                                           
            Working at the Ballpark, The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People is based on a series of interviews of fifty folks that work at major league ballparks. The author covers a broad range of baseball people, from GMs and team presidents, to players, coaches, clubhouse workers, vendors, media, and even a “ticket hustler.”
 
            The interviewees were asked three questions: “What is your job?”, “”How did you get into this line of work?”, and “What does this job mean to you?” The book consists of a recollection of these conversations, in the subjects’ own words. Some of the personnel are familiar names to a baseball fan: Johnny Pesky, Sandy Alderson, Bob Watson, Leo Mazzone, Omar Vizquel, among others. Others are not familiar, but in most cases just as enlightening: umpire Fieldin Culbreth, “Bernie the Brewer” mascot Chris Hanson, Tampa official scorer Jim Ferguson, San Diego groundskeeper Luke Yoder, and many more. 
 
            The Astros and Rangers are well-represented by current and former employees Ron Jackson (Express hitting coach), Doug Mansolino (Astros coach), Phil Merkord (Rangers ball boy), Woody Williams (Astros pitcher), Arnie Murphy (the “Peanut Dude” vendor at MinuteMaid), and Bruce Wilson (Rangers scoreboard operator).
 
            The broad range of personnel and their duties provides great insight into the many efforts that go on behind the scenes so that we can enjoy a major league baseball game. I was impressed by the long hours that many worked, as well as their dedication and attachment to the game.
 
            For those SABR members interested in “the business of baseball”, I would highly recommend this book.       
 
Here are the key statistics:
 
Book:   Working at the Ballpark
Author:  Tom Jones
Author Credentials: He has worked for thirty years as a legislative director in the administrations of the last five California governors. This is his first book.
Published: 2008, Skyhorse Publishing, ISBN 978-1-60239-226-7
Length: 361 pages
Price: Retail list – $17.95;    Online: from $2.00 (used) + shipping.

Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2009?

 

Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2009?
       
     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 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 BPA .463 .471 .463 .463 .479 .481 .468 .457 .461 .468 .456 .470 .463 .458 .461
.550   37   41   34   41   50   50   46   39  42   33   34   46   34   41   42
.600   15   21   15   22   29   30   26   17  15   18   13   14   15   11   16
 
Offensive production peaked in 2000 before declining in the early years of this decade. BPA in 2009 was up slightly from 2008.
 
      In the 1990s, there were 14 individual .700 BPA seasons. In the ten year period from 2000 to 2009, there have been 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 were no hitters with a BPA of .700 in 2008 and 2009 and the only player to make it in 2007 was Alex Rodriguez (.702). Surprisingly, Albert Pujols has not had a .700 BPA in his nine 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 2000-2007 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
 
      The benchmark for an outstanding individual season is .600. Following is a list of 16 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and with a BPA of .600 in 2009.
 
Bases per Plate Appearance (BPA) of .600+ in 2009
————————————————- 
                                No. of
                 2009   2008     .600+
   Player         BPA    BPA LG Seasons Comments          
 1 Pujols, A.    .696   .685   N    7    Clearly the top offensive player.
 2 Fielder, P.   .640   .552   N    2    Only Pujols had a better year.    
 3 Mauer, J.     .619   .484   A    1    Career year so far.
 4 Zobrist, B.   .617   .555   A    1    Exceptionally versatile player.
 5 Votto, J.     .616   .547   N    1    Getting better every year.
 6 Lee, D.       .611   .484   N    2    Bright spot for the Cubs.
 7 Utley, C.     .611   .593   N    2    Top offensive second baseman.
 8 Howard, R.    .610   .577   N    3    Pure power.
 9 Bay, J.       .610   .581   A    1    Best offensive outfielder in AL.
10 Youkilis, K.  .609   .591   A    1    Consistently productive.
11 Reynolds, M.  .607   .511   N    1    Big home run bat.
12 Rodriguez, A. .604   .623   A   11    Good recovery after slow start.
13 Ramirez, H.   .604   .629   N    3    Has emerged as a top player.
14 Pena, C.      .604   .567   A    2    Good power but poor contact.
15 Braun, R.     .603   .578   N    1    Provides strong 1-2 punch with Fielder. 16 Teixeira, M.     .603   .593   A    4    Hasn’t had a bad year yet.
 
 
      The only repeaters from last year’s list are Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Hanley Ramirez. Eight other players had a BPA over .600 in 2008 but fell short in 2009. Most of these players had strong seasons in 2009 but not up to their exceptional performance in 2008.
 
 
                                 No. of
                 2009   2008     .600+
   Player         BPA   BPA LG Seasons Comments            
 1 Ramirez, M.   .596   .636   N   11    Wasn’t the same after suspension.
 2 Berkman, L.   .573   .633   N    5    An off-year.
 3 Jones, C.     .505   .625   N    4    Worst year of career.
 4 Holliday, M.  .560   .624  A/N   2    Came on strong after trade.
 5 Bradley, M.   .507   .617   N    1    Major disappointment.
 6 Ludwick, R.   .485   .615   N    1    2008 looks like career year.
 7 Quentin, C.   .496   .612   A    1    Injury riddled season.
 8 Sizemore, G.  .517   .611   A    2    Injuries took toll.
  
      Five players who had a BPA over .600 and qualified for the batting title in 2009 also have a career BPA over .600. These are the top offensive players in the major leagues who are currently performing at a peak level.
 
                             2009      Career
Player             Age       BPA        BPA    Comments.
————        —       —-       —-   ——–
Albert Pujols        29      .696       .651    Consistently great.
Alex Rodriguez       33      .604       .627    Led majors in homers 2000-09.
Ryan Howard          29      .610       .624    198 homers in last 4 years.
Hanley Ramirez       25      .604       .608    Building solid credentials.
 
 
Another list of interest is one containing the names of players with a BPA of over .600 in 2009 who did not have enough plate appearances (PA) to qualify for the batting title. Three veteran minor leaguers with a minimum of 100 PA made the list in 2009 with strong performances after promotion to the majors.
                                   
Player          Age  BPA   PA    Comments
————— —   —- —   —————————
Randy Ruiz       31  .623 130   Too old to be a prospect
Garrett Jones    28  .617 358   Another late bloomer.
Andres Torres    31  .609 170   Not consistent with prior performance.
 
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, nine players who earned enough playing time to qualify for the batting title had a BPA less than .400 in 2009. As usual most are middle infielders and catchers.  
 
Player               BPA      Comments
—————–   —-      ——————————
Russell Martin      .398      Disappointing season.
Orlando Cabrera     .396      Sub-par season.                                
Jhonny Peralta      .390      Power disappeared.
Cristian Guzman     .390      Career BPA of .411.
David Eckstein      .378      Lowest year ever.
Jason Kendall       .375      Fifth straight year under .400.
Emilio Bonafacio    .369      Career BPA of .373.
Edgar Renteria      .354      Worst year of career.
Yuniesky Betancourt .340      Career BPA of .384.
 
 
The following five 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 2009:
 
Player (2009)        BAVG       OBA       SLG       BPA       OPS
Albert Pujols        .327      .443      .658      .696     1.101
Joe Mauer            .365      .444      .587      .619     1.031
Joey Votto           .322      .414      .567      .616      .981
Kevin Youkilis       .305      .413      .548      .609      .961
Hanley Ramirez       .342      .410      .543      .604      .954
 
      Three active players have these numbers for their careers, although Helton and Manny Ramirez fell short in 2008:
 
Player (Career)      BAVG       OBA       SLG       BPA        OPS
Albert Pujols        .334      .427      .628      .651      1.055
Manny Ramirez        .313      .411      .591      .621      1.002
Todd Helton          .328      .427      .567      .608       .994       
           
 
 
Bill Gilbert
11/20/09
 
bpa2009.doc