What he did: Kenny Lofton finished his career with 1,528 runs, the 33rd most by a lefty in MLB History. In 2000, his run scoring was at its zenith as he scored a run in 18 consecutive games, tied for the seventh longest streak since 1893. While a player needs someone to knock him in [...]
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Any player/Any era: Kenny Lofton
Posted: 17th May 2012 by Albert Lang in Any player/Any eraTags: cleveland indians, kenny lofton
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Any Player/Any Era: Larry Walker
Posted: 3rd May 2012 by Albert Lang in Any player/Any eraTags: johnny mize, larry walker
What he did: Clearly, if Graham can do a Does he belong in the Hall column on Walker, he had a long and storied career. I also added a blurb on Walker for Graham’s 50 Best Players not in the Hall: Larry Walker is one of the greatest left-handed hitters in the history of baseball. [...]
Any Player/Any Era: Ed Walsh
Posted: 19th April 2012 by Albert Lang in Any player/Any eraTags: chicago white sox, ed walsh
What he did: If you’ve heard of Old Hoss Radbourn and marvel at his Baseball Reference page, Ed Walsh should be right up your alley. Walsh is one of baseball’s earliest greats, yet is often forgotten. Walsh began his career in earnest at 25 in 1906, by throwing 278.1 innings for the Chicago White Sox. [...]
Any Player/Any Era: Al Rosen
Posted: 5th April 2012 by Albert Lang in Al Rosen, Any player/Any eraTags: al rosen, cleveland indians
What He Did: If you don’t know Al Rosen, it’s because his career was just a smidge away from absolute greatness. Because of his military background, the War and some fluky poor performances in small samples from 1947-1949, Rosen didn’t get a full time gig until 1950. He was 26. He had an immediate impact, [...]
Managers with the Most Wins and Their Playing Careers Part II: Decades
Posted: 29th March 2012 by Albert Lang in Baseball Hall of Fame, MLBRecently, we looked at how the group of managers with 900 or more wins broke down globally. This piece attempts to ascertain how the attributes of managers with 900 or more wins changed or not over time. 1980s – Average playing career: 11.5 seasons – War: 20 Mgr Played in MLB WAR W L W-L% Plyof App [...]
Managers with the Most Wins and Their Playing Careers Part I, an Overview
Posted: 23rd March 2012 by Albert Lang in Best of lists, MLBTags: great managers in baseball history, great players in baseball history, relationship between players and managers
Let’s get this out of the way: team wins are an imperfect way to measure managerial success. Throughout this series, we’ll look at different ways to ascertain a good manager. While many (from GM to utility infielder) have a hand in a win, certainly managers who stuck around long enough to manage teams that won [...]
Any Player/Any Era: Bobby Grich
Posted: 22nd March 2012 by Albert Lang in Any player/Any eraTags: any player/any era, Bobby Grich
What he did: For an even longer take on the enormity of Bobby Grich’s career, check out Graham’s Does he Belong in the Hall of Fame piece on Grich. For whatever reason, some players lack the mystique or aura of great players, while some flawed players have that “it factor” that creates an undeserved reputation [...]
The germ of this project was seeded a long time ago, probably around the time I read Earl Weaver’s book on managerial strategy for the second time. While I was continually struck by his outlining of basic sabermetric principles, I was also struck by his experience (or lake thereof) playing baseball. In my mind, at [...]
What he did: In 1997, the Baltimore Orioles signed Eric Davis, but he appeared in just 42 games because he was diagnosed with colon cancer. However, he beat the odds and returned that year, eventually hitting the game winning homer in game five of the ALCS (let’s avoid what happened in game six). It was [...]
Having a fiancé who is Polish must have led me to Mike Krukow’s 1987 Topps card. The backside of the card lists a nickname. I think it’s pretty cool. “The Polish Prince” sounds crafty and it’s nice to get one’s heritage in a nickname, complete with alliteration. Mike Krukow played catcher in high school and [...]