Stuff

[DOUGHBOYS]

There have been 18 perfect games thrown in baseball. All baseball fans know that, the press has clubbed us over the head with it since Mark Buehrle and DeWayne (enjoy your 15 minutes, DeWayne) Wise became household names.

The press is fond of saying that it is the hardest thing to do in baseball. Not now. You see, throwing a perfect game was tied with triple crown winners before Buehrle's gem. Jimmy Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, and Ted Williams each won the triple crown twice. It hasn't been done for over 40 years, when Yaz did it for the Red Sox in 1967.

A trivia question for you and the answer will be at the bottom of the post. When was the last time that team members have combined for a triple crown during the same year? Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau are in the top three of each of those categories



The Detroit Tigers have been in the rumor mill as far as trades go. Don't count on it. They owe Willis, Guillen, Robertson, and Bonderman 73.5 million and they are all under contract through 2010.

Steve Stone started a rumor that the Tigers were interested in Milton Bradley. He said the Cubs ought to send him on a private plane. Stone was half joking and half wishing as probably all Cub fans were. Here's what Bradley said upon hearing the rumor, "I'm one of those guys thats multitalented. That can do a lot of things. I'm not surprised.

If multitalented means brood, whine, give minimum effort, and be a distraction, Bradley is right. Later in the day, Bradley had these comments. "I don't have a bond with anybody in the clubhouse. There's really not one guy I can sit and talk to. I could talk to the batting coach but they fired him, I could talk to Gathright but they traded him. There's nobody left".

It's hard to picture Bradley playing James Taylor's 'You've got a friend' on his ipod or watching reruns of 'Friends' at home.



Buying and holding, has it been worth it?

Smoltz, Wieters, and Hanson were three names that were taken in every draft. Smoltz and Wieters owners are disappointed, while Hanson owners are satisfied. Should they be? It tied up a roster spot for half the year. 5 wins, 37 k's, 2.95 ERA, and a 1.31 WHIP. Sounds good.

Here is what somebody got from the Dump a little later without taking a roster spot for half the year: 3 wins, 21 k's, 2.00 ERA, and a 1.17 WHIP. This would come from another Tommy(Pete Townshend influence?) Tommy Hunter.



Jamie Moyer- 20 G,113 ip, 131 h, 65 k, 5.35 ERA, team 57 wins.....10 wins

Randy Wolf- 22 G, 134 ip, 117 h, 99 k, 3.45 ERA, team 62 wins..... 5 wins



Jamie Moyer has more strike outs than Joel Pineiro



Clayton Kershaw is the only pitcher allowing more than three walks per game with an ERA under 3



Dan Haren: Two years ago, after the All Star game, his ERA went up with each start through the rest of the year. Last year his ERA at the break was 2.85, after the break 3.85. Haren had his worst start of this year last week. After the break.



Numbers guys are going to have to figure out David Wright's stats this off season. Less power with more strike outs, usually don't go hand-in-hand. Here is another unusual thing about Wright. He is approaching 100 k's for the season already, but only six of those k's have come against lefties. Just for refernce, Pujols has struck out 11 times vs. lefties. Pujols has 39 k's.



Without injury, the biggest fantasy disappointments?

Russell Martin, Chris Young, and Jhonny Peralta



Best pickup of the year?

Ben Zobrist



A recent disagreement on the Boards about the importance of k-bb ratio's as they relate to home runs had me curious.

Robin Roberts, in 1956 gave up 40 bb, while giving up 46 hr's.

Since then three others have given up less bb than hr's.

Brian Anderson, 1998, 39 hr's, 24 bb's

Jose Lima,1998, (Ron Shandler just smiled) 34 hr's, 32 bb's

Greg Maddux, 2004, 35 hr's, 33 bb's



Joe Blanton, 2009, the name in the disagreement, has given up 20 hr's while walking 34.



The Angels are 18-5 when O'Sullivan, Palmer, or Loux start. 40-35 when their 'reliable' starters start.



Philadelphia is the only city with more attendance this year, than last.



Adam Dunn has more hits than Ian Kinsler

Adam Dunn has more rbi than Mark Teixeira

Adam Dunn's batting average is more than 20 points higher than Jason Bay's



Evan Longoria has batted .230 since May



The answer to the question is teammates Wade Boggs and Jim Rice in 1983.

[Glenneration X]

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

There have been 18 perfect games thrown in baseball. All baseball fans know that, the press has clubbed us over the head with it since Mark Buehrle and DeWayne (enjoy your 15 minutes, DeWayne) Wise became household names.

The press is fond of saying that it is the hardest thing to do in baseball. Not now. You see, throwing a perfect game was tied with triple crown winners before Buehrle's gem. Jimmy Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, and Ted Williams each won the triple crown twice. It hasn't been done for over 40 years, when Yaz did it for the Red Sox in 1967. Great and interesting stuff as always Doughboys....



One FYI though....more rare than either a perfect game or a triple crown is the 4-homer game, only done 15 times in baseball history.

Last done by Delgado in '93.....of course prior to his Mets career.....



Glenn

[Glenneration X]

Originally posted by Glenneration X:



Last done by Delgado in '93.....

Glenn That should have read '03, but I'm sure you realized that.....

[DOUGHBOYS]

You are right. I thought Cameron and Shawn Green were the last players to do it, but Delgado did it the year after. What a roto day that was for Green!

Brings to mind one of my favorite questions-

Who are the only players to hit four home runs in a game AND win the triple crown?

Answers at the bottom. And here is one more-



Five players have hit .325, hit 325 home runs, and 500 doubles- Who are they?



I failed to mention that yesterday was ARod's birthday. At age 34, he has more homers (572) than anyone by that age. Jimmy Foxx was the previous record holder with 511 by the age of 34.

Foxx would only hit a mere 23 home runs the rest of his career.

Contrasting that, Barry Bonds had 386 home runs before his 34th birthday and 376 after his 34th birthday.

Selfish, I know, but one positive for me, from Bonds playing those last three years in San Francisco. His lifetime batting average ended up at .298

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Chuck Klein and Lou Gehrig are the only ones to hit four home runs in a game AND win the triple crown.



Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Todd Helton are the only players to hit .325, have 325 home runs, and hit 500 doubles.

Rogers Hornsby was a mere 24 homers short of this, and played a lot of his days during the dead ball era.



[ July 28, 2009, 04:10 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]