Obscurities in Baseball
Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 10:41 am
I kinda dig obscure records. Nah, I love 'em.
There is an obscure record that I know is impossible to keep, but I would love to know who leads in the category.
Let me explain....
Yesterday, Brandon Belt was hitting against the Marlins. Leading off an inning and with an exaggerated shift against Belt, he tried laying down a bunt.
It was fouled off.
The next pitch is slammed for a homer.
I would just love to know who leads in the category of trying a bunt, then hitting a homer.
Back in the day, the category would have been a bad one to lead.
It meant that the batter failed (maybe even twice) to lay down a sacrifice bunt, then hit a homer with two strikes. The result was great and everybody celebrated, but the hitter knew that he faced a kangaroo court fine and probably a stern talk from the Manager.
Ha! Stern talks from Managers....soooo back in the day.
Anyway, just thought I'd talk about a few other more obscure records and invite you to list any favs you may have.
One of my all-time favorite obscure record is a probable unbreakable record held by Barry Bonds.
While others were fawning over Bonds hitting, me and Joey Votto were incredulous about the walking part of Bonds game.
Bonds was walked whenever a pitcher saw an opportunity to walk him. The same thing happened to Ted Williams.
When a hitter dominates the game, a walk becomes a pitcher's weapon and not an offensive statistic.
Anyway, here is the obscure record....
Bonds was intentionally walked 688 times!
A season's worth of 'I give up, you're better than us', by Managers.
Until Bonds shattered his record, Henry Aaron held the record with just 298 intentional walks.
Before Aaron, it was Ernie Banks. Before Banks, it was Musial. And before Musial, it was Ted Williams.
It should be said that Albert Pujols has passed Aaron with 310 intentional walks.
There are no real records for Ruth or Gehrig, but I would bet Gehrig received more since walking Ruth led to Gehrig. Just opinion there.
One record we think should be broke, especially in today's game, would be the record for striking out.
But guess what?
Those striking out more today are NOT having the longer careers as those striking out less.
Think about it. The players with longer careers who are hanging on today like Pujols, Cabrera, Holliday, and Ichiro did not strike out a lot.
Even recent players like Ortiz, Ramirez, Jeter, and Rodriguez were not known for striking out.
Bryce Harper, Joey Gallo, and others seem to have their sights on this record. They will probably not be alone as today's hitter strikes out more during a season than we have bowel movements.
I'll bet you can't name the two current players who have struck out the most.
With lesser and lesser at bats, neither are a threat to the record.
Think about it and the answer is at the bottom of this post.
Reggie Jackson still holds the record for striking out the most. 2,597 times.
As I wrote before though, striking out is a by-product of production. The four players who have held the record for striking out the most are all Hall of Fame inductees. They are Jackson, Willie Stargell, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth.
Cal Ripken held the record for grounding into the most double plays.
350 times represents half a season of at bats and 700 outs. Ouch.
Ripken was the prime candidate to hold the record.
He had a long career.
He wasn't fast.
He played in an era when a lot of fields had artificial turf, making the balls truer and faster to infielders.
Ripken was thankful to be passed by Albert Pujols. Pujols is on his way to 400 times grounding into double plays.
He has done it 383 times, including being one of the league leaders this year with nine.
Robinson Cano is on the all-time list at 26th all-time.
Eddie Murray beat out Ripken for most Sacrifice Flies. 128-127.
Sacrifice Flies as a statistic is a joke among score keepers.
There is truly no 'sacrifice' involved. The batter just happened to hit a fly ball with a man on third base.
An RBI should be given to the batter for producing a run, but all score keepers agree that an at bat should also be charged to the hitter.
BUT, it is better than the old days. Back in the day, ANY advancement of a base by runners, even from first to second on a fly ball was ruled a Sacrifice Fly.
Pujols has 109 sacrifice flies.
What about Sacrifice bunts?
You know that no current player is even close.
Sacrifices have been left to pitchers for years.
Eddie Collins (512)had more than 500 sacrifices while no other player could break 400.
Collins played in a time where a run was a run and he was particularly adept at bunting.
Before Ruth, Collins also held the record for base on balls.
No records were kept of sacrifice flies then, but if Collins had a lot of those, he was an original 'three true outcome' batter of three categories in which an at bat is not charged! Pretty cool.
Modern day for sacrifices?
No current player is even in the top 100.
In fact, there are only three players from the last 40 years in the top 100.
Omar Vizquel is 35th on the list. Vizquel played on some powerhouse teams. His job was defense and moving the line offensively, he did both well.
Ozzie Smith is 73rd on the list....See 'Omar Vizquel'.
69th on the list is a guy who should be the proudest to make the list. Tom Glavine.
That's right. Glavine sacrificed 222 times to put himself in with the greats of the game.
Though Glavine, being a pitcher, had opportunities to sacrifice, he is surrounded by buntsmen from other generations who made bunting an art form.
A salute to you, Tom Glavine!
There is an obscure record that I know is impossible to keep, but I would love to know who leads in the category.
Let me explain....
Yesterday, Brandon Belt was hitting against the Marlins. Leading off an inning and with an exaggerated shift against Belt, he tried laying down a bunt.
It was fouled off.
The next pitch is slammed for a homer.
I would just love to know who leads in the category of trying a bunt, then hitting a homer.
Back in the day, the category would have been a bad one to lead.
It meant that the batter failed (maybe even twice) to lay down a sacrifice bunt, then hit a homer with two strikes. The result was great and everybody celebrated, but the hitter knew that he faced a kangaroo court fine and probably a stern talk from the Manager.
Ha! Stern talks from Managers....soooo back in the day.
Anyway, just thought I'd talk about a few other more obscure records and invite you to list any favs you may have.
One of my all-time favorite obscure record is a probable unbreakable record held by Barry Bonds.
While others were fawning over Bonds hitting, me and Joey Votto were incredulous about the walking part of Bonds game.
Bonds was walked whenever a pitcher saw an opportunity to walk him. The same thing happened to Ted Williams.
When a hitter dominates the game, a walk becomes a pitcher's weapon and not an offensive statistic.
Anyway, here is the obscure record....
Bonds was intentionally walked 688 times!
A season's worth of 'I give up, you're better than us', by Managers.
Until Bonds shattered his record, Henry Aaron held the record with just 298 intentional walks.
Before Aaron, it was Ernie Banks. Before Banks, it was Musial. And before Musial, it was Ted Williams.
It should be said that Albert Pujols has passed Aaron with 310 intentional walks.
There are no real records for Ruth or Gehrig, but I would bet Gehrig received more since walking Ruth led to Gehrig. Just opinion there.
One record we think should be broke, especially in today's game, would be the record for striking out.
But guess what?
Those striking out more today are NOT having the longer careers as those striking out less.
Think about it. The players with longer careers who are hanging on today like Pujols, Cabrera, Holliday, and Ichiro did not strike out a lot.
Even recent players like Ortiz, Ramirez, Jeter, and Rodriguez were not known for striking out.
Bryce Harper, Joey Gallo, and others seem to have their sights on this record. They will probably not be alone as today's hitter strikes out more during a season than we have bowel movements.
I'll bet you can't name the two current players who have struck out the most.
With lesser and lesser at bats, neither are a threat to the record.
Think about it and the answer is at the bottom of this post.
Reggie Jackson still holds the record for striking out the most. 2,597 times.
As I wrote before though, striking out is a by-product of production. The four players who have held the record for striking out the most are all Hall of Fame inductees. They are Jackson, Willie Stargell, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth.
Cal Ripken held the record for grounding into the most double plays.
350 times represents half a season of at bats and 700 outs. Ouch.
Ripken was the prime candidate to hold the record.
He had a long career.
He wasn't fast.
He played in an era when a lot of fields had artificial turf, making the balls truer and faster to infielders.
Ripken was thankful to be passed by Albert Pujols. Pujols is on his way to 400 times grounding into double plays.
He has done it 383 times, including being one of the league leaders this year with nine.
Robinson Cano is on the all-time list at 26th all-time.
Eddie Murray beat out Ripken for most Sacrifice Flies. 128-127.
Sacrifice Flies as a statistic is a joke among score keepers.
There is truly no 'sacrifice' involved. The batter just happened to hit a fly ball with a man on third base.
An RBI should be given to the batter for producing a run, but all score keepers agree that an at bat should also be charged to the hitter.
BUT, it is better than the old days. Back in the day, ANY advancement of a base by runners, even from first to second on a fly ball was ruled a Sacrifice Fly.
Pujols has 109 sacrifice flies.
What about Sacrifice bunts?
You know that no current player is even close.
Sacrifices have been left to pitchers for years.
Eddie Collins (512)had more than 500 sacrifices while no other player could break 400.
Collins played in a time where a run was a run and he was particularly adept at bunting.
Before Ruth, Collins also held the record for base on balls.
No records were kept of sacrifice flies then, but if Collins had a lot of those, he was an original 'three true outcome' batter of three categories in which an at bat is not charged! Pretty cool.
Modern day for sacrifices?
No current player is even in the top 100.
In fact, there are only three players from the last 40 years in the top 100.
Omar Vizquel is 35th on the list. Vizquel played on some powerhouse teams. His job was defense and moving the line offensively, he did both well.
Ozzie Smith is 73rd on the list....See 'Omar Vizquel'.
69th on the list is a guy who should be the proudest to make the list. Tom Glavine.
That's right. Glavine sacrificed 222 times to put himself in with the greats of the game.
Though Glavine, being a pitcher, had opportunities to sacrifice, he is surrounded by buntsmen from other generations who made bunting an art form.
A salute to you, Tom Glavine!