And the Baseball Gods Spoke

 

I have always been a big fan of Kevin Cash. I've been paying attention to him since he became the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays before the 2015 season, but especially since he (along with the Rays' front office) implemented the concept of the Opener in 2018. I was fascinated by the idea, and really fascinated by how well it worked. The Rays had tremendous success with this system, using hard-throwing bullpen arms to start games and face the top of the opposition order, before bringing in one of their more traditional "rotation" arms as the “bulk guy", to pitch the bulk of the game. (The Rays did continue to use Tyler Glasnow and ace Blake Snell as traditional starters that season.) Since that time, Cash, working in tandem with the rest of the Rays brain trust, has consistently been one of the most innovative and exciting managers in baseball, and was a huge inspiration to me during my two seasons as manager of an amateur baseball team in Buenos Aires, during which time my team gained promotion from the third division to the second division in my first season, and reached the second division championship in my second season. And as Ben Clemens wrote in an article on Cash and the Rays for FanGraphs on October 21, the day of Game 2 of the World Series, "he’s pushed the right button at seemingly every turn."

Then came Tuesday night.

The Rays came into Game 6 of the World Series trailing the Dodgers three games to two, and they gave the ball to their ace, Blake Snell. Snell proceeded to throw a masterpiece. Through five innings, he gave up one hit and no runs and struck out nine, and absolutely owned the Dodgers. He had their entire lineup off balance, making hitters look uncomfortable; they were unable to do anything against him. "We didn't hit him at all," said Cody Bellinger after the game. "He was nasty today. He was on his A-game." 

"He was tough all night," said Corey Seager. "You tip your cap to him. He threw a hell of a ballgame. He had us off balance, he made pitches, we grinded, we battled, and we didn't really have an answer for him."

Snell got A.J. Pollock to pop out for the first out of the sixth. Then, Austin Barnes, the 9-hitter, lined a base hit to center field.

Cue this article's cover photo.

Kevin Cash took Blake Snell out of a World Series game that he was utterly dominating, with one out in the sixth inning, having given up two hits and no runs. He had thrown 73 pitches.

Mookie Betts, due up next, looked back at his manager Dave Roberts and smiled.

[An aside: I get it. Obviously, you can give me all your reasons for why you made the move to the bullpen at this moment. You've got the top of the order coming up, Betts, Seager, Turner (R, L, R); it's the third time through the order; you want to get the right hander in there to face Betts, and prevent the top of their order seeing Snell a third time through. Cash had said the night before that the Rays were going to "get aggressive" with their bullpen in Game 6; and as that FanGraphs article referenced at the top of this piece points out, this is the way Cash has managed his bullpen all year, and it's what's gotten them to the World Series. But on this night, that top of the order of Betts, Seager, and Turner were a combined 0-for-6 with six strikeouts. Snell hadn't just navigated this fearsome one-through-three; he had made them look bad. Living by the third-time-through-the-order rule does not come close to justifying the removal of Snell from this performance.]

But there's another consideration beyond the numbers and analytics. This is the World Series, a win-or-go-home game, and your ace is on the mound. He's pitching at the top of his game, and the opposing hitters can't figure him out. They're begging for this guy to come out of the game. When you take him out with one out in the sixth, you're not just making your team weaker, you're giving a huge confidence boost to the other team.

"I was pretty happy because he was dominating us, and we just weren't seeing him," said Roberts. "We were all kind of excited that Snell was out of the game."

"Once he came out, it uplifted us a little bit, for sure," said Seager. "We started feeling a little momentum, we scratched a few runs, and we ended up winning."

And said Bellinger: "I was shocked. I was like, 'what is going on?' We were kinda joking around in the dugout, like 'way to get him out in the sixth!' That was what we wanted to do, get him out in the sixth."

The Dodgers rallied around Snell's departure, scoring two runs in that sixth inning, which would ultimately be enough for them to win Game 6 and the World Series.

Even Joe Buck, shocking though it may be, offered an interesting perspective, speaking on the modern game and specifically Cash's decision: "Managers are looking for any reason to get a guy out of the game, instead of looking for the reasons to keep a guy in the game."

But beyond even all that, there's still another element to this, the element that makes Cash's move utterly inexcusable: Blake Snell is your guy. Snell is your ace. Snell is a Cy Young Award winner. And he's pitching the game of his life, in Game 6 of the World Series. He is rolling. This is his game. These are the situations where history is made.

Kevin Cash took his Cy Young ace out of a game he was utterly dominating, in the World Series, with two hits and no runs allowed, nine strikeouts, one out in the sixth inning, and 73 pitches thrown. This was not just a bad baseball move; this was disrespectful. It was disrespectful to Snell, it was disrespectful to his team, and it was disrespectful to the game of baseball itself. And when you disrespect the game of baseball, the baseball gods usually have their say. And they did.

Tropicana Field Somehow Keeps Finding New Ways to Be Even Shittier

Tropicana Field is a dumpster of a Major League ballpark. This is news to no one, of course; I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been campaigning for years to get this place torn down. All of the obvious things that make it a terrible place for baseball have been well documented. But somehow, unbelievably, fresh examples of its shittiness continue to unveil themselves to us even today.

Case in point: last night's game between Trop tenants the Tampa Bay Rays and their guests, the New York Yankees. With the Rays trailing 3-1 as the top of the ninth inning was just beginning, play was delayed because of..a power outage. Which lasted 43 minutes. Rays pitcher Austin Pruitt had thrown one pitch to Thairo Estrada before the delay; when play finally resumed, Estrada took him deep on the second pitch after the restart. The Yankees would go on to score four runs in the inning to blow the game open, and it finished 7-1.

Now, Tropicana Field is obviously not the only major sporting venue that has suffered a power outage. The Superdome in New Orleans famously lost power for an extended period during Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, to name one instance that stands out in recent memory. But last night's power outage at the Trop is just another reminder of what a tragic joke of a ballpark that place is. I pray every night to the Baseball Gods for the day that Major League baseball is no longer played at Tropicana Field. Hopefully that day is getting closer.

Don't Ever Change, Jose

Last night, in his last start of the season, Jose Fernandez, in addition to dominating the Braves over seven innings, jacked his first homer of the season, and stood to admire it for a couple seconds before rounding the bases, drawing the annoyance of some of the Braves (McCann was classy about it and stopped Fernandez at home plate to say "Hey man, you don't do that up here"; Chris Johnson acted like a jackass). Anyway, I understand all that. Fernandez does too; he admitted after the game that he had made a mistake. What bothers me is a quote I saw in an article about the incident on mlb.com:

Before games, the pitcher commonly interacts with the opposition, and he will exchange playful words while on the mound. Perhaps it will be suggested that Fernandez does less.

"I haven't seen anybody quite like that," manager Mike Redmond said. "He likes to have fun with guys on the other team, but he's a fierce competitor. That might be a part of his game that maybe he needs to look at, and maybe try to do differently. That's part of his youth."

FUCK that. Watching Fernandez on the mound this year has been one of the most refreshing things I've seen in baseball in a long time, and as a pitcher, has influenced how I carry myself on the mound as well. I don't know much about Redmond, but the fact that he would want to change this part of Fernandez's game really bothers me. Luckily, from the same article:

"I'm going to keep being who I am," Fernandez said. "That's what got me here. It was a little mistake yesterday. I talked to some of the players I needed to apologize to, McCann and Minor. 

"I think everything is good. I'm going to keep doing what I do, and hopefully, I get better."

Don't ever change, Jose.

Pete Rose and an Excuse to Talk About the Hall of Fame

Yes, this is an article about Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame. And yes, this ground has been thoroughly covered. However, this article is about more than just Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame. It is about establishing a set of rules by which it is possible to evaluate the candidacy of any baseball player for the Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is just the bait. It’s a case that most people are familiar with, it’s controversial, and it provides a good test case for our Hall of Fame evaluations. Evaluations will take the form of first presenting a very brief Major League Baseball (MLB) background for the player, expanding upon any special circumstances associated with the player, an itemized interpretive run through all of Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame voting guidelines, and finally a conclusion regarding the player's Hall of Fame candidacy.

MLB Background
Pete Rose played Major League Baseball from 1963 through 1986. During that time he was widely considered to possess above-average baseball talent. He was considered a maximum effort player and earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle.” He played multiple positions throughout his career. He began his career as a second baseman but moved to the outfield from 1967-1974. From 1975-1978 Rose played primarily at third base before finishing his career as a first baseman. Rose is best known for accumulating the most hits by any player in MLB history.

Special Circumstances
Pete Rose was found guilty and eventually admitted to gambling on MLB while being an active participant. As MLB’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose is in possession of one of the more visible sports records. Pete Rose’s style of play, running hard, sliding headfirst, taking extra bases, and appearing very involved in the outcome of games, endeared him greatly to a large number of baseball fans.

MLB’s Hall of Fame Voting Guidelines
MLB provides the following guidelines for HOF voters. These are meant to serve as the primary criteria upon which a Hall of Fame case should be made. They are as follows:

"Voting will continue to be based upon the individual's record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the game of Baseball. All candidates receiving votes on at least 75 percent of ballots cast will earn election.” ( MLB.com)

That’s not nearly as helpful as one would hope. The criteria listed by MLB are, to say the least, poorly constrained. This is of course intentional to allow voters leeway, and encourage diversity among the HOF’s membership. Not to mention inspire controversy and discussion about which candidates are worthy (see this article). All of which is of course good for MLB. But, this is not an article about controversy; it is about providing answers and supporting them. Ambiguity is the enemy of that cause and must be struck down. With that in mind, definitions of each voting criteria will be provided, and the analysis of Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame case will adhere to a more extensively explained (if not universally accepted) voting paradigm.

The Individual’s Record: The individual record is interpreted to mean the record of accomplishments of a baseball player or manager while actively participating in Major League Baseball. What did a player or manager actually do to help in accomplishing the main goal of the sport: winning games.

Baseball is a wonderful sport for this type of analysis. Unlike many other sports it is fairly easy to isolate the individual performance from the team performance. Furthermore, recent advances in player evaluation have allowed for quantifiable and critically falsifiable statements to be made about the magnitude of a player’s contribution towards winning games. These methods of statistical analysis, though not without flaws, can provide us with a baseline for evaluating Pete Rose’s candidacy in regards to “The Individual’s Record” criteria.

Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a statistical construct that attempts to combine all of a player's accomplishments into one number which approximates how many victories a player was individually responsible for. It is a complex (preventing a full outline here) but incredibly well thought out methodology. But more importantly, it is proven to work. If you don’t want to just take my word for it (note: you should never do this), please visit the following links, offered both as proof of WAR as a viable metric for evaluating baseball players' performance, and in explanation of its calculation:

What is WAR? | FanGraphs Sabermetrics Library

WAR: It Works | FanGraphs Baseball

Position Player WAR Calculations and Details - Baseball-Reference.com

(30 minute pause for the readers to become acquainted with WAR)

For those who didn’t travel down the WAR rabbit hole, WAR is a number that does an incredibly good job of representing how good a person is at baseball, the higher the number the better. Pete Rose accumulated ~91 WAR (the error margin on WAR is such that including any further significant figures with career numbers is meaningless) over the course of his career. This is good for the 31st best mark of all time. Here is how his career breaks down:

Source: Fangraphs.com

As you can see, Pete Rose essentially stopped being a useful play after the age of 38. However, by that time he had already accumulated ~90 WAR. For this time period (age 22-38 seasons) Pete Rose was a great player. This satisfies the Individual Record criteria for the Hall of Fame.

It is worth noting here that the tail end of Rose’s career, wherein he achieved his often-cited greatest accomplishment (the hits record), consisted of his age 38-45 seasons when he was essentially worth nothing. During that time period Rose accumulated 1,092 hits, and was worth ~1 WAR. This is the worst 8-year stretch by any player given regular playing time (that I can find) in the history of baseball. The hits record is an impressive display of longevity. That Pete Rose was able to accumulate that much playing time while being a terrible player speaks volumes to his popularity both with fans and with management of the teams he played for.*

*Yes, I know he managed himself for a good portion of this time, but the fact that he kept writing his own name into the lineup and didn’t get fired is remarkable.

Ability: A player’s ability is interpreted to mean how efficient that player was at producing value for his team. This criteria deals with rate-based performance and discounts time lost to injury or other factors which would prevent a player from accumulating playing time. This criterion addresses a player’s peak (the period of time when he was performing best during his career).

Towards evaluating this criterion it is worthwhile to look at a player’s career year by year:

Source: Fangraphs.com

Pete Rose had an impressive and sustained peak, maxing out at 8.1 WAR in his age 35 (!!) season. A season of 6 or above WAR is a good baseline for near league leading performance (top 10% ish) and Pete Rose had 8 years at such a level. Rose passes this criterion with flying colors too.

Integrity/Character: We will take these two together as they are essentially getting at the same thing. This is an attempt to evaluate the morality of a player. Did he contribute to the community he lived in? Was he well liked by teammates? Was he arrested and convicted for any crimes?

Morality is inherently a difficult concept to quantify because each person has a different standard. However, in the case of Pete Rose, a man who bet on a sport in which he was participating and proceeded to lie and deny his guilt, there can be little doubt that he fails with regard to this criterion.

Sportsmanship: This criteria attempts to account for the nature in which a player participated in MLB. Did the player support his teammates? Did he act in a respectful manner with regards to the umpires, his opponents, the media, and any other baseball affiliates?

Again it must be concluded that this is not the case. Betting on baseball calls the integrity of the game into question. This harms all people associated with the game of baseball, and discourages fan interest. This can lead to losses in fan base and therefore revenue. This actively harms the livelihood of all those involved with the game and is definitely not sportsmanship.

Contribution to the Game of Baseball: Any special accomplishments of particular importance towards changing the way the game of baseball is played or managed. This includes the development of new hitting, pitching, fielding, or managerial approaches.

Pete Rose did not contribute to changes in the way baseball is played. He fails this Criterion.

Conclusion
As a manager, Pete Rose should never be inducted into the Hall of Fame, if only because he continued to play himself beyond the point that it was reasonable. As a player, Pete Rose merits induction to the Hall of Fame. He played at a superior level for a long period of time. However, Pete Rose should never be admitted into the Hall of Fame. He bet on baseball. Major League Baseball has a rule against betting on baseball. It is one of the few rules associated with the sport which carries the punishment of a lifetime ban. Considering the repercussions of a player/manager actively wagering on an event in which that person is a participant, the punishment is entirely justifiable. The implication that Major League Baseball is in any way not a competition between players attempting to win undermines the foundation of the sport. This is inarguable. The rule existed at the time of Pete Rose’s playing and managing career. He was aware of it. He broke it anyway, and if short choppy sentences are not enough to convince you that a lifetime ban is an appropriate punishment for betting on baseball, consider the following:

Baseball history is full of gambling scandals. Well, at least the early portion of baseball history. To wit:

• In 1877, the Louisville Greys were found guilty of throwing games in exchange for bribes.
• In 1908, an attempt was made to bribe the umpire before the league champion-deciding final game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants.
• In 1917 and 1918, amid mounting suspicion of game fixing, Heinie Zimmerman and Eddie Collins were banned for life from baseball.
• 1919: The Black Sox. This is the most well-known occurrence of gambling influencing Major League Baseball. Eight players on the Chicago White Sox conspired and accepted money to throw the World Series. By this point fans were beginning to lose faith in the integrity of baseball and drastic measures had to be taken. All 8 players were banned from baseball for life.

In the aftermath of the Black Sox Scandal, most notably in 1920, several players received lengthy suspensions for simply being in the presence of known gamblers. Notably Leo Durocher, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was suspended for the entire 1947 season. Baseball developed and enforced incredibly stringent policies against gambling out of necessity. And, strict adherence to those policies worked. From 1947 till the 1980’s there were no further suspensions for any baseball players with regards to gambling. Why only till the 1980’s? Pete Rose. It is worth mentioning here that since Pete Rose’s banishment from baseball, there has not been another occurrence of gambling-related issues in Major League Baseball.

Pete Rose bet on baseball. Betting on baseball is a bad thing for a player/manager to do. The league has a clearly defined rule against this practice and its strict implementation has prevented corruption effectively for nearly 100 years. Pete Rose’s personal pain is not a justifiable reason to overturn a policy that effectively provides an essential safeguard.

Another HBP Walk-Off

Tuesday night saw the season's second extra-innings hit-by-pitch-off, the Indians this time benefitting as the Tigers' David Pauley hit Kosuke Fukudome with the bases loaded to end the game in the 14th. You can watch the video here.

This was the first game of a series with huge implications, too, as Cleveland and Detroit are vying for first place in the AL Central. With the win, Cleveland is now only three games out, with two more games to come in the series.

Great Ejections in Baseball History: Rod Allen

While there's no ejection actually shown in this clip, it can be pretty safely assumed that the proceedings herein resulted in at least one. The clip features Rod Allen, currently a commentator for the Detroit Tigers' television broadcasts, and a former player for the Tigers as well. At the end of his playing career, Allen spent three seasons in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp, where for the most part he was actually fairly successful. But Allen will always be remembered for one particular incident that took place during a game against the Yokohama Taiyo Whales. After running over the Whales' catcher on a play at the plate earlier in the game, Allen was hit by a pitch by Kazuhiko Daimon, which Allen took to be intentional; judging by Daimon's reaction to what followed, it wasn't, or at least he hadn't thought the consequences through ahead of time. Observe, and enjoy:

Great Ejections in Baseball History: José Offerman

Today's Great Ejection is extra special because it's not just an ejection from a game: it's an ejection for LIFE.

Good old José Offerman. Offerman's relationship with baseball was a happy one for a long time. He spent 15 seasons in the Major Leagues, including three and a half with the Red Sox, and even made two All-Star Teams, in 1995 and 1999. He played his last Major League game in 2005.

After this, however, is when the relationship began to sour. And very sour it went. It hit its first major hurdle in 2007, when Offerman was playing for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. On August 14, in a game against the Bridgeport Bluefish, Offerman, after being hit in the calf (the calf) with a pitch, charged the mound wielding bat in hand. The Bluefish pitcher ended up with a broken finger; the catcher, who had come out to protect his pitcher, received a severe concussion. Offerman, after being ejected, was arrested by the Bridgeport police, and was suspended indefinitely from the Atlantic League. He has not played or managed a game in the United States since.

But Offerman was not to be discouraged. He went on to play two final seasons with Triple-A Veracruz of the Mexican League before becoming manager of the Licey Tigers in December of 2008 in his native Dominican Republic. This went well for awhile, too; the Tigers won the league championship in Offerman's first season as manager. But the next season, in a playoff game against the Cibao Giants on January 16, 2010. . . .



To be fair, it's not clear that Offerman actually touches umpire Daniel Rayburn at all here; it's been suggested that Rayburn would do well as a professional wrestler. Really, however, whether he hit him or not hardly matters. Offerman threw a punch at an umpire. Not surprisingly, this earned him a lifetime ban from Dominican baseball.

This incident was likely the last straw in the tenuous relationship Offerman was clinging to with baseball by this point. Now banned from leagues in two countries, it appears the relationship is over.

Julio Lugo Gets Thrown Out at the Plate to Win the Game for the Braves

Last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves played a 19-inning game at Turner Field. It was an historic game, the longest in terms of time in either franchise's history (6 hours, 39 minutes). There were fantastic performances by both teams, particularly the bullpens; going into the bottom of the 19th, the Pirates' and Braves' bullpens had each thrown 13 innings of scoreless baseball, including 5 innings by Pirates reliever Daniel McCutchen, and 6 from the Braves' Cristhian Martinez, who had just recently been recalled from Triple-A. And then, it ended like this.



This is one of the worst calls I've ever seen in baseball. How can you end a 19-inning, six hour and thirty-nine minute epic, like that? I'm pretty sure Jerry Meals just wanted to go home.

Great Ejections in Baseball History: Sweet Lou

Lou Piniella doing what he does best.



And this was perhaps the best he ever did it.

Baseball Is Back! Some Notes from the First Night of the Second Half

So, after three nights with no baseball (okay, there was the All-Star Game, but that's not really baseball, is it), the season has begun in earnest once again. Here are some things that caught my attention as I watched the second half get underway last night.

I started off watching the Orioles broadcast of the Indians-O's game in Baltimore. Camden Yards is a truly picturesque ballpark, a great place to watch a baseball game; it's easy to get caught up in the beauty of the setting. But then, this graphic flashes across the screen:



Honestly, couldn't the Orioles' TV network come up with a slightly less hideous graphic?

Moving on to Toronto for the Yankees-Blue Jays game, however, we got this fantastic graphic from the Blue Jays' network:



I didn't see the whole game, but I gathered that there was some kind of flash-back-to-the-'80s deal going on, and these excellent '80s graphics were part of it. Man that old Blue Jays logo is awesome.

Finally, in San Diego, the Padres were sporting some pretty excellent throwback uniforms:



and Luke Gregerson was sporting a pretty excellent mustache:



All did not end well for Gregerson, however. You'll note in the above photo that the score is tied 1-1, the inning is the 12th, the bases are loaded, and the count is 3-0. As you may have guessed from the foreshadowing, Gregerson walked this batter to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. He would go on to be charged with 5 runs in all, although none were earned because of a fielding error made by (you guessed it) Luke Gregerson. The Padres went on to lose 6-2.

Great Ejections in Baseball History: Wally Backman

This week's Great Ejection features a video that I didn't think was real the first time I saw it. It is indeed real, however; the South Georgia Peanuts were a real team in the South Coast League, and their manager, Wally Backman, is a real manager (and former Major League player), who was in fact a finalist for the Mets' managerial position this past offseason. Here, we observe him at his finest.



The footage was filmed for a documentary TV series called Playing for Peanuts, documenting the team's 2007 season (the team, and league, folded after just one year of existence). Let's hope Backman gets that job managing in the Majors sometime soon.

My Take on Improving the All-Star Game

With the All-Star Break coming up next week, many around the world of baseball have taken the opportunity to vent about the All-Star Game's problems, and present their opinions on how to fix them. I certainly agree that there are problems with the current format, so here I'll offer my take on some of the ideas that have been put forth.

First off, the most obvious thing that needs to happen is something that nearly everyone who's made their voice heard on this issue seems to agree with: the World Series home-field advantage rule needs to be done away with. Home-field advantage is worth a lot in the World Series, and should be awarded to the team with the best record during the regular season, not to the team whose league won the All-Star Game. I understand Selig's desire for the All-Star Game to carry some kind of meaning, but in reality, the All-Star Game has always been fun because it's an exhibition. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports has proposed a system of bonuses for players making the All-Star Team, as well as the game MVP, as a means of encouraging players to want to make the team, and to play hard in the game itself. I don't have a strong opinion on this one either way; seems like an interesting idea, at least.

One idea Passan puts forth that I strongly agree with, however, is to start the game earlier. As Passan points out, the first pitch is currently thrown at around 8:50 p.m. ET, meaning the game ends at around midnight. When you think about the fact that the All-Star Game is probably most exciting to kids, this really doesn't make much sense.

So, these are my main thoughts on the subject. Please post your own ideas in the comments. Finally, it should be noted that Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs has also advanced a quite interesting list of ideas to improve the Midsummer Classic. In all seriousness, I think vintage uniforms are a pretty good idea.

Baseball in San Francisco

While I don't particularly like the Giants, I must say I do like what San Francisco brings to baseball. San Francisco has always been one of the United States' more eccentric cities, as well as one of its more progressive ones. Its countercultural history has informed its identity, and this identity is expressed in its attitude toward baseball. The Panda hats, the Brian Wilson beards (primarily worn by ladies, it seems); these are things that make sense on the heads of San Francisco baseball fans. Of course, these accessories relate to actual Giants players, players who are also somewhat unique and eccentric in a manner fitting of their city: the Panda, Pablo Sandoval, a very large and exuberant man widely beloved in San Francisco; and closer Brian Wilson, with his beard more impressive than any replica any fan could wear, his jersey undone several buttons to show off his chest hair. Tim Lincecum also deserves mention here; his surfer hair and violent delivery absolutely belong in San Francisco.

There are also things like the World Championship Baby promotion the Giants are currently running: expecting Giants fans are encouraged to enter a contest which would award the first baby born after 7:54 p.m. on August 1 (the moment exactly 9 months after the Giants got the final out to win the 2010 World Series) the title of "World Championship Baby."

Of course, also making the baseball scene in San Francisco easy to love are the facts that it's home to one of baseball's most beautiful ballparks, and that the Giants sell out this ballpark almost every night. The atmosphere at AT&T park is fantastic, and games there are a joy to watch (although I do find their broadcasters a bit annoying).

Losing in Style: Another Balk-Off

Last night, the White Sox won on the second balk-off of the MLB season, the Royals this time taking a cue from the Mets on ways to lose creatively. Enjoy:

Great Ejections in Baseball History: Phillip Wellman

Well I've had limited ability to post recently because my laptop's been in the shop (my cat spilled some Sprite on the keyboard). Happily, though, I am able to bring you your Great Ejection for Monday:



I imagine anyone who was paying attention to baseball in 2007 will remember this one. This is one of the all-time most over-the-top, and most famous, post-ejection managerial meltdowns, and gained Wellman, then manager of the Double-A Mississipi Braves, considerable Internet attention at the time it happened. Incidentally, the following season, Wellman went on to lead the Mississippi Braves to the Southern League championship.

Great Ejections in Baseball History: "You're here just to fuck us!"

Another excellent baseball moment, this time involving the ejection of Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver by umpire Bill Haller, and the dialogue that ensues. Let us all be thankful that Haller was wearing a microphone during the exchange.



Earl Weaver, it should be noted, was also born in 1930, the same year as Jack McKeon.

Baseball in the Year of Jack McKeon's Birth

Earlier this week, the Florida Marlins named 80-year-old Jack McKeon as their interim manager, making him the second-oldest manager in MLB history, behind only Connie Mack, who managed until he was 87. Plenty of jokes have been made on this subject already, so I'll refrain from adding to those. What I will do, however, is take a look back at what baseball looked like the year McKeon was born: 1930.

In 1930, there were sixteen teams in the Majors, eight in the American League and eight in the National League. Only ten different cities had Major League clubs, and New York had three. The westernmost city with a team was St. Louis, which had two. The AL teams were:

Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Washington Senators

and in the NL:

Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals


The 1930 Philadelphia Athletics

The Philadelphia Athletics were the year's World Series Champions. After winning 102 games to finish the regular season with the best record in baseball, they defeated the NL Champion St. Louis Cardinals in six games to win the World Series for the second year in a row. George Earnshaw threw a complete game to win Game 6 and clinch the series, giving up one run on five hits and striking out six. Earnshaw won two games in the series for the Athletics; the other two were won by Lefty Grove, who also won the Major League Triple Crown during the regular season with 28 wins, 209 strikeouts and a 2.54 ERA in 291 innings. And the manager of these Philadelphia A's: none other than Connie Mack. He was only 67 at this point, though.

Elsewhere during the regular season, Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs led the Majors with 56 home runs and 191 RBI. The 56 home runs set a National League record that stood for 68 years; the 191 RBI are a Major League record that stands to this day, and likely will stand long into the future. His .356 average wasn't enough to win him the batting Triple Crown, though; in fact, it was 8th in the NL. The owner of the best average in baseball was Bill Terry of the New York Giants: along with 23 home runs and 129 RBI, Terry finished the season with a batting average of .401. He is the last National League player to hit .400.


Bill Terry

So, 1930 was a fairly eventful year in baseball. A few final facts about the year: Hall of Famers Luke Appling, Dizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, and Hank Greenberg all made their debuts in 1930, while Pete Alexander, Dave Bancroft, Eddie Collins, and George Sisler played their final Major League games. The Cubs had the highest average attendance during the regular season at 18,527, while the Browns had the lowest, with an amazing average attendance of 1,950. The ground rule double was first implemented by the American League in 1930, but in the National League, a ball bouncing over the outfield wall was still counted as a home run (the NL implemented the rule in 1931). And finally, one other notable 1930 birth: George Steinbrenner was born on July 4.

Santos Win Copa Libertadores; Brawl Ensues

"Esto es Sudamerica, señores. Esto es Sudamerica." These were the words of the commentator for Fox Sports at the end of the match between Santos (of Brasil) and Peñarol (Uruguay) on Wednesday night. Santos had just won the Copa Libertadores, the most important club tournament in South American football, in front of their home fans. But instead of it being a joyous scene, the moment was marred by a brawl that broke out amongst players, coaches, fans, and basically anyone who was on the field at the time.

This was the scene following the final whistle:



It apparently all started when some fans of Santos ran onto the field and provoked the Peñarol players; the players did not handle the situation professionally. "Qué lástima, realmente," said the commentator. I couldn't agree more.

Mets Win on Bases Loaded HBP; Baseball Gods Smile

Last week, the Mets suffered a painful extra-innings loss to the Atlanta Braves on a balk-off. Wednesday night, they got redemption: A's pitcher Brad Ziegler hit Justin Turner with the bases loaded, and the Mets won in extra innings on a hit-by-pitch-off. Almost gives the impression that the baseball gods do have a sense of fairness, until you remember the Cubs.

Great Ejections in Baseball History: "He's taking the bag home!"

I came across this video on YouTube, and I liked it so much I decided to post it here.



Definitely one of the best post-ejection scenes I've seen. What I think makes this video so good, though, is the commentator's giddy depiction of the proceedings, in his thick Boston accent.

Long live Butch Hobson.