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How much we discount John Clarkson's accomplishments

9/21/2014

One of the hardest things to do in baseball is quantify eras, especially when we try to make a case that a player who played in a certain time frame outperformed another of a different one. Some of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game pitched either in the early part of the 20th century or before that in the 1800s. The game as it stands in 2014 cannot be fairly compared to the game as it was in those times. All we have to go by is what is left of the documentation of how things transpired back then as well as the stats accumulated by the players who played during that time.
For obvious reasons, the game of professional baseball is completely different than it was 20 years ago. Even more different 50 years ago and 60 or 70 years ago. Because of that, the thoughts of comparing players who played between 100 and 130 years ago leaves us no room for comparison. The best of this era will always be remembered for being the best of their time. The same could be said about the best players of the steroid era. Artificially enhanced or not, they still were the best of their generation. I think the same applies to the best pitchers of the 19th century.
John Clarkson pitched 12 seasons in the National League and managed to win 328 games for his career. He also pitched in a National League that would make it very difficult for the conventional baseball fan to know enough about the names of the teams in that time. The teams that Clarkson pitched for were the Worchester Ruby Legs, the Chicago White Stockings, the Boston Beaneaters and the Cleveland Spiders. After the 1899 season, only Chicago and Boston still had National League teams. Clarkson pitched in three Championship series, the 1885 and 1886 World Series for the White Stockings against the St Louis Browns; where they tied the first and lost the second and the 1892 Championship Series for the Spiders when they lost to the Beaneaters.
Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn gets a lot of credit for his dominance of the latter part of the 19th century mound. In fact, his record of 59 wins in a season will never be duplicated in two seasons of the modern baseball era. Denny McLain came the closest when he won 31 games in 1968 and followed it up with a 24 win season in 1969.
In 1885, a man of just 17 MLB games prior to the season, John Clarkson made an incredible 70 starts out of the team's 112 games under manager Cap Anson. He won 53 games that season, topped only by Hoss' 59 the season before. Out of his 70 starts, he managed to complete 68 of them, throwing a total of 623 innings. 1885 would be the start of 5 consecutive seasons of 33 or more wins (36, 38 and 33 for the 1886-1888 White Stockings and 49 for the 1889 Beaneaters). His 1889 season was not as impressive as his 1885, but he did start 68 of his team's 128 games, going 49-19 and throwing 68 more complete games. After winning 26 games in 1890 and 33 more in 1891, Clarkson would have his last very good season in 1892 when he won a total of 25 games for the Beaneaters and Spiders.
Clarkson was also one of the more effective hitting pitchers the game has ever seen. His 24 career home runs ranks 7th all time among pitchers. Understandably, by age 32, his arm was shot and he had to stop pitching. That is what over 4500 innings in 12 seasons will do. After his playing career, Clarkson successfully managed a cigar store, before having a nervous breakdown from which he would never recover. In 1906, he was declared insane and spent the rest of his life in a mental institution. He would pass away at the age of 47 in 1909. Baseball enshrined him in their Hall of Fame in 1963.

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Did Tigers use variation of "Moneyball" to help win AL East in 1972?

8/3/2014

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The Detroit Tigers won the World Series in 1968 with a solid combination of pitching and hitting. Previous Passed Ball Show guest Denny McLain won an amazing 31 games that season and Mickey Lolich shut down the St Louis Cardinals in the deciding 7th game in that series. There was no question the Tigers were a formidable team throughout at that time as they won 90 games the following season. Unfortunately, they dropped to 79-83 in 1970, which led to the firing of manager Mayo Smith, the skipper who led them to the WS in 1968. He was replaced by the fiery Billy Martin, who would promptly get the team back on track. The Tigers won 91 games in 1971 finishing in 2nd place in the AL East division. The next season, the Tigers were in a dogfight with the Boston Red Sox- the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees still within striking distance.
This team was led by veteran players Al Kaline and Norm Cash, getting very good defensive seasons from Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodriguez and Mickey Stanley and the leadership of Willie Horton and Bill Freehan, even though both players were not having their best offensive seasons. Pitching wise, it was Lolich and the pitcher McLain was traded for, Joe Coleman, who were the top starters for the 1972 Tigers. And teams found it tough getting to the bullpen led by RHP Chuck Seelbach and LHP Fred Scherman, along with the return of LHP John Hiller. (Hiller's story and comeback will be a future Bases Empty Blog article.) However, it was two moves the Tigers made in early August of that season that were the determining factor in the Tigers edging out the Red Sox by a half game to win the AL East division that season.
On August 2, 1972, the Tigers purchased struggling left hand pitcher Woody Fryman from Philadelphia Phillies. Fryman was having a very difficult season, going 4-10 with 4.36 ERA. Remarkably, he would go 10-3, 2.06 with 6 complete games for the Tigers. Even with Lolich and Coleman, it was Fryman who was their best pitcher down the stretch.
Two days later, the Tigers added veteran catcher Duke Sims to the roster, purchasing him from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The power hiting catcher was not the same guy who hit as many as 23 HR for the Cleveland Indians. He was hitting just .192 with 2 HR in 51 games for the Dodgers when he joined the Tigers. Finishing off the season for the Tigers, Sims hit .316 with 4 HR in 38 games. In fact, Sims started 4 of the 5 games at catcher for the Tigers in the ALCS against the Athletics.
Sure the reason of adding the Fryman and Sims were not to win the World Series. In other words, the additions of the two of them were not intended to make a huge difference; they were to be role players- not impact players. They were both added to provide depth.
Remember, there was a strike during the 1972 season which cost the league 86 games lost. The Tigers would win the division by a half a game because they played one more game (156) than the Red Sox (155).

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Are preventive measures being taken to avoid arm injuries in baseball?

5/20/2014

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The quick answer to the long question is no. The long answer can discuss all and every way pitchers in baseball are being treated differently than ever before. The fact that technology exists as it does today is a blessing to all ball players, especially pitchers. Sandy Koufax could have had a Tommy John like surgery on his elbow which may have saved his career. RHP Art Mahaffey, who pitched for the Phillies from 1960-1965, told me he pitched through a rotator cuff tear the last couple years of his career. In fact, the way it was before the increase in technology, pitchers had no choice but to toughen it out. In some cases, pitchers were able to pitch through pain. In others, the man's career was just about over. When a pitcher's arm went, so did his MLB career.
From that perspective, you can say that Tommy John surgery (surgery to repair a UCL tear), surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule muscle and rotator cuff surgery have saved many a pitcher's baseball career. But: does that mean each and every MLB pitcher that has an operation like this could absolutely not pitch through it? Has every operation absolutely been necessary? The answer is probably no, but it is pointless to go through each and every operation and try to decipher which ones are necessary and which ones can be pitched through. But I am sure there are some that may have not been necessary.
What we know is this: Arm injuries have been around since the beginning of baseball. It is not natural for a human being to throw a baseball an exorbitant amount of times for a considerable amount of years and have no structural damage to the shoulder or elbow. These things have always happened. The difference is due to the MRI, doctors are able to see with their own eyes whether there is structural damage to an arm and exactly how severe it is. Once something is diagnosed, the next step is to do something about and that "something" is seldom just rest and rehab. So those who think these arm injuries are new, the fact is these injuries have been around for years, possibly since the inception of baseball. The difference is that doctors now can see with their own eyes the damage to the muscles, tendons and bones in a pitcher's arm. Because of this, the option pitchers used to have to pitch through an injury like this does not exist. That is what has become obsolete.
What does not make sense is how many do not understand basics in preventing arm injuries. I am no doctor, but when a 10-12 year old kid is throwing a curve ball odds are it will mess their arm/ elbow/ shoulder up sooner rather than later. But lets be honest, parents of gifted athletes care as little about their kid's well being than the coaches. The father of the kid gets to relive his youth through his son. His son is the guinea pig. Coaches, even down at the Little League level, will do anything to win. This goes through high school, college and every baseball league they pitch in until they reach the professional level.
Part of the problem is the fact that Tommy John has become extremely popular because pitchers are, in some cases, coming back stronger and have more success after the surgery than they did before it. That leads many to think the operation is an enhancement and will always work out to make the pitcher better. What a lot of people do not realize is the fact that the surgery is not a 100% science. In fact, it is far from that. I would bet that those that have the operation without it being completely necessary have less of a chance to become a better pitcher with it being done. However, I do not have the numbers to back it up though.
The million dollar question is what can be done to prevent these type of injuries? The answer is nothing as they will happen regardless of what is done. But I feel very strongly that plenty of things can be done to reduce the amount of these operations. There are silly suggestions like offer a bonus to a player or organization if they make it through a period of time without a TJ operation or give a pitcher an option to not have an MRI if they feel elbow pain. All kidding aside, how is it that a coach in Little League, in Babe Ruth League, American Legion, High School or College can pitch somebody excessively just to win games? I understand rules have been put in place to make it better in LL and lower leagues. But what about High School and College? It is pretty evident that pitchers are abused at every level before they become pro.
Pitch counts should be mandatory. Or should they? Pitchers are throwing unlimited pitches in HS and College and all of the sudden, they are on a limit. That makes no sense. A pitcher who is used to throwing 120 pitches in HS and College all the sudden sees his workload diminish. That could lead to some arm injuries. How about the old time pitchers? Guys like Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan threw unbelievable amounts of pitches at all levels and did fine. Perhaps the knowledgeable ones in the game are putting too much emphasis in the pitch count. A guy who has never thrown more than 100 pitches in a game may in turn never be able to throw 100 pitches in a game. When the young stud is pitching in a pennant race, the manager may push him. But contrary to the older pitchers who have done this their entire life, the pitcher is in uncharted water. Even if they were abused in HS or College, they still went 3-4-5 years without throwing that many pitches in a game. And all the sudden, they are expected to "ease" into it. Masohiro Tanaka threw over 120 pitches in a complete game last season, then closed the NEXT GAME. He seems to be doing fine now.
Getting a chance to speak with former MLB catcher Gregg Zaun a couple months back, he told me the real reason he stopped playing after 16 MLB seasons and 21 professionally. It turns out it had little to do the wear and tear on his knees, but more to do with the change in the actions of the young pitcher. Zaun's uncle was Rick Dempsey. Dempsey played 24 seasons in MLB and either Dempsey or Zaun were playing baseball professionally from 1967-2010. Zaun says there has been a complete change in the attitude of the young pitcher. They seldom follow the simplest set of instructions and simply want to do things their own way. Few pitch to location... they just rare back and fire. Little is done now a days to teach a pitcher to throw to spots. That effects arm angles and pitchers have a difficult time repeating their motion. Whether the proof is there or not, I bet there would be less arm injuries if pitchers learned to pitch to spots in the minors. It certainly helps to be able to repeat a motion consistently and have an idea where the ball is going.
And lets be honest, the stud young pitcher is calling his own shots, for the most part. Of course, Stephen Strasburg could not tell the Nationals not to shut him down during the season they made it to the playoffs. But Tim Lincecum comes into the game and says he is going to listen to nobody but his dad. A veteran coach or catcher in the minors has nothing on the pitcher who has already been paid and is the future of the organization. If there is a dispute, the coach is getting fired and the catcher released before anything is said to the pitcher. You have a group of young, unproven rich pitchers who are dictating what they should do and throw and it never used to be that way. I feel they are leading themselves to injuries simply because they do what they want.
Another point was brought up when I spoke to Denny McLain. He was one who certainly benefited from the mound prior to it being lowered after the 1968 season. He went 31-6 in 1968 and is the last pitcher to ever win 30 games. However, he suffered from arm problems and was finished pitching in the majors by 1972. He puts a lot of the blame on the mound being lowered and feels if it were raised, there would be less arm injuries. Baseball would be against it as they feel the mound being lowered increased the offensive production and took a distinct advantage away from the pitchers. Perhaps more should look into the strain of a pitcher throwing from a more flat surface as opposed to a higher mound.
In all honesty, there is no true formula to saving pitchers from this sad stage of TJ surgeries. But with a little attention put to a couple of different things, I am sure the amount can be reduced.

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What Jim Bunning's stats say about Jack Morris' Hall chances

4/10/2013

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Jim Bunning is the known as the long time MLB pitcher who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996 and later became a United States Senator. Bunning finished his career with a 224-184 record. And though it takes a lot to pitch as long and stay competitive like he did, his win-loss record was probably not enough to get him in on its own. In fact, he served his 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot from 1977-1991 and did not get elected. He almost made it in 1988, getting 74.2% of the votes- just short of the 75% needed for induction. His last year of eligibility saw him get 63.7%. Jack Morris (254-186) is in a similar situation, with just one year left before he can only be voted in by the veterans committee.
Bunning was selected by the veterans committee just 5 years after his last eligible year. Bunning was dominant in his early years with Detroit, but was even better in his time in Philadelphia. Looking at his career, it is better to look at his best seasons rather than his total statistics. In his final 4 seasons, Bunning was just 32-51, something that hurt his overall career winning percentage. Prior to that, he was a more respectable 192-133. His winning percentage at that point was .590 and it dropped to .549 when he retired after the 1971 season. Would he have been in the Hall sooner if he retired after 1967, when he went 17-15, 2.29 and led the NL with 253 strikeouts? Possible but unlikely as it was quite known that Bunning was second on the all time strikeout list when he retired, trailing just Walter Johnson.
The problem Bunning ran into was the generation in which he pitched. He pitched the same time as Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal and Bob Gibson. However, those and others did not leave Bunning in the dust when it came to talk about the game's best pitchers. In his time in Detroit, he was 118-87, leading the AL in strikeouts in 1959 and 1960 and approaching 200 Ks several times. He won 20 games in 1957 and 19 in 1962. He threw a no hitter in 1958 and made the AL All Star team 5 times wearing a Tigers uniform.
His best seasons came after he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1963 season. He won 19 games in 1964, 1965 and 1966 and finished 1967 with 17 wins. During those 4 seasons, he had his 4 highest IP seasons and 4 highest strikeout seasons. Prior to joining Philadelphia, his lowest ERA was 2.69 in 1957. All 4 of his seasons in Philadelphia, he managed to keep his ERA lower than 2.69. Like I said earlier, he did not stand out as much due to the before mentioned pitchers he pitched with in the NL at that time.
He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1968 season. 1968 was known as the year of the pitcher. Gibson had the historic 1.12 ERA and Denny McLain went 31-6 that season. Bunning was coming off his best season as he finished 2nd in the Cy Young in 1967. He was 17-15, but led the NL in 6 pitching catagories including strikeouts, shutouts and innings (as well as starts, batters faced and hit batters). Bunning managed to finish 1968 4-14, 3.88 with 95 Ks in 160 innings as he made just 28 starts. This was the beginning of the run I mentioned earlier where he finished his career 19 games under .500 in his last 4 seasons with Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Bunning was good, but looking at his numbers makes more of a case for Jack Morris to get a look at the Hall. I still think Morris falls short, with the biggest turnoff being his career 3.90 ERA. Morris was dominant in the 1984 and 1991 postseasons, going 7-0 while Bunning never pitched a postseason game. Morris finished with a higher winning percentage (.577-.549) and won 30 more career games. Morris also pitched more complete games (175-151) in an era where complete games were starting to get phased out. Bunning had the advantage in shutouts, no hitters and strikeouts. I am open for the argument, but I do not see a distinct winner either way if you want to compare stats as to who was the better pitcher. I think if Bunning is a Hall of Famer (which I am not here to discredit), Morris should get more consideration. Even if it is after next year's election when Morris is no longer eligible.

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Aurelio Rodriguez: one of the last defensive first 3B

12/28/2012

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A couple of months ago, I wrote about another former MLB player with the first name of Aurelio, Aurelio Lopez, a pitcher for the Tigers and Astros who was also known as "Senor Smoke". Aurelio Rodriguez managed to play in over 2000 games and was one of the more underrated defensive 3B to play within the last 50 years. Part of that reason had to do with Brooks Robinson, who was the best defensive 3B to ever play this game. It was Rodriguez who ended Brooks' consecutive Gold Glove Award run when he took the award in 1976.

    Rodriguez stuck around in the majors for nearly 17 seasons, and hit just .237 for his career. He spent the majority of his career as the everyday 3B for the Detroit Tigers, but also spent some time with California, Washington, San Diego, the Yankees, the White Sox and Baltimore. His best offensive season was in 1970, when he hit .249, 19, 83 with the Senators. (He was traded 17 games into the season from the Angels in the deal that brought California more offensive minded 3B Ken McMullen.) After that season, he was traded to Detroit in the Denny McLain deal and never came close to those offensive numbers. He led the AL in total zone runs (30) and TZR for 3B (27) in 1970. While leading the AL in assists in 1970 (377), in 1972, he led the AL in assists (348), putouts (150) and range factor (3.36). He would also lead the AL in range factor in 1975 (3.56) and in fielding percentage in 1976 (.978) and in 1978 (.987).
    From 1971-1979, Rodriguez was the Tigers primary 3B, playing in the 1972 ALCS against the Athletics. Showing his defensive only qualities, he went 0-16 in the series, as the A's went on to their first of three consecutive World Series victories. He would make three postseason appearances after his Tigers career, going 2-6 in the 1980 ALCS for the Yankees against the Royals. One appearance (no ABs) for the Yankees in the ALCS against the Athletics in 1981. However, he did go 5-12 in the Yankees loss in the 1981 World Series against the Dodgers. He also made two defensive appearances in the 1983 ALCS for the White Sox against the Orioles, ironically the team Rodriguez started the season with. The 1983 season was Aurelio's last in the major leagues, as he finished his MLB career where it started, in the Mexican League.
    Rodriguez was killed in 2000, as he was struck by a car as a pedestrian on a sidewalk in Detroit. Today would have been Aurelio's 65th birthday. He played in a time where consistent defense at 3B was appreciated. After the emergence of George Brett, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose and Wade Boggs, the position became more of an offensive position. Yes, Brooks Robinson was a good hitter, but his defense was among the best ever. Players like Don Hoak, Clete Boyer, Graig Nettles and Ron Cey all won World Series being defensive first. Eddie Matthews was one of the few 3B who was known clearly for his offense, but did play very well in the field. It is safe to say though, none of the before mentioned was as little of an offensive fixture as Rodriguez. He hit .265 in 1977, but other than that never hit more than .254 in a full season. He finished his career with a .275 OBP and .626 OPS. It is hard to imagine a player with numbers like that getting a chance to play everyday for that long in MLB today.

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How much we discount John Clarkson's accomplishments

Did Tigers use variation of "Moneyball" to help win AL East in 1972?

Are preventive measures being taken to avoid arm injuries in baseball?

What Jim Bunning's stats say about Jack Morris' Hall chances

Aurelio Rodriguez: one of the last defensive first 3B

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